NOTABLE BOOKS. 



625 



a small table was drawn up. and fine battles 

 ensued over the board. 



I shall never forget one occasion when he 

 accused me of cheating. He was .so appa- 

 rentlv serious that I beoarne infuriated, and, 

 unmindful of his high estate or mv dutv as 

 hostess, I impulsively leant across "the table 

 and boxed his ears! His sense of humour 

 and the satisfaction of having been so .suc- 

 cessful in working upon my feelings saved 

 the situation. I received full punishment 

 later, for ever afterwards when he met me 

 he u.sed to cry, " I know a lady who cheats 

 at draughts." 



The author's life in Portug-al left her 

 with the highest opinion of King Fer- 

 dinand, though her defence of his policy 

 is too general to be convincing. In re- 

 gard to the Portuguese people, she has 

 some interesting things to say — especi- 

 ally in the matter of their looks : — ■ 



Conway Thornton, who was with us as 

 First Secretary both at Copenhagen and 

 Li-sbon. said with some truth that all the 

 Portuguese had one pair of eyes. They cer- 

 tainly have beautiful eyes, but they are all 

 exactly the same, and they have no other 

 noticeable feature; for they are not good- 

 looking as a race, and are very dark and of 

 a distinctly Jewish bype. An anecdote is 



told of King Joseph I. and his celebrated 

 >rinister. Marquis Pombal. The King con- 

 sulte<l Pombal how they could distinguish 

 the Jews from the Christians. " Ah," said 

 the King, " I know. We will make it obliga- 

 tory for all Jews to wear a white hat." The 

 nex't day Pombal appeared carrying two 

 white hats. When the King inquired the 

 reason, Pombal replied. "Your ^Ia,iesty and 

 your humble sei-vant must wear them first.'" 



As was to be expected, perhaps, we get 

 few glimpses of English life and its 

 leading figures in this book. Gladstone 

 and Queen Victoria appear for a 

 moment, but nothing new is told of 

 them. Ruskin, again, comes in, but,' 

 though the author met him and talked 

 to him, she has nothing more exciting to 

 tell us about him than this: 



Among others I had the great pleasure of 

 meeting Mr. Ruskin, with his heavy brow 

 and piercing eyes. His nieco, Mrs. Arthur 

 Severn, was devoted to him, and full of con- 

 sideration for his fads — commencing with an 

 apple and tea at 4 a.m. every day. 



Lady Macdonell's book, it will be 

 guessed, is rather slight. None the less, 

 it is quite livel\- and entertaining. 



A KING'S BOSWELL. 



^Yh<lf I kno}!-. By C. W. Stamper. (Mills 

 and Boon.) 



In ?\Ia^-, 1905, it was arranged that 

 King Edward's motor-cars should be 

 driven by Metropolitan police con- 

 stables, and this necessitated a motor 

 expert w^hose duty it was to always sit 

 by the chauffeur to be prepared to act ui 

 case of accident. Mr. W. Stamper, who 

 had been manager of the Lacre Car Co., 

 was chosen for this office, and during 

 the last five years of the King's life 

 travelled continually with him, sitting 

 by the driver, responsible not only for 

 the car. but often for all the arrange- 

 ments as to route, etc. Hence we get de- 

 tails of the King's journeys in England 

 and abroad, a vivid idea of his popu- 

 larity with all classes, and a confirma- 

 tion of the opinion that King Edward 

 was a great-hearted gentleman. Natur- 

 ally the account is largely of the gossipy 

 kind and the stories rather of the tit- 

 bits style, so that now and again we arc 

 brought np short with an ungratifted de- 

 sire to know what hapjicned afterwards. 



The King detested delay, and was al- 

 ways put out if he were kept waiting. 

 He would also drive at top speed when- 

 ever it was possible. Now and again 

 difficulties were caused b}- the police on 

 duty, as once near Brighton when a 

 policeman stopped the car (for the 

 King's car never carried a number) and 

 could not be |)ersuaded to let it pass 

 until suddenl}' he caught sight of the 

 face within the carriage. Mr. Stamper 

 seems to have been rather gratified to 

 find how pale the officer turned ! 



An old woman was the cause of an- 

 other stoppage when King Edward w^as 

 on his wa\' to Navarta : — 



On the way there, shortly after passing St. 

 Jean-de-Luz, we cam(> to a levt^l crossing, 

 . . . whore an old woman was in the act 

 of closing the iron gates. I jumped off the 

 car. and, running up to her, begged her to 

 allow His ^rajesty's car to pass; but she 

 would not be entreated, and swung the gatos 

 into j)osition. An express, she explained, 

 IkuI been signalled, and. as it was long over- 

 due, was sure to appear any moment. Five 

 minutes later the train roared by. . . . The 

 old dame leaned comfortably against one of 

 the liairiers. and. half-closing her eyes, 



