_Mary._ I wish, Mamma, that there were not so many shocking stories in
history.
_Mrs. M._ History is, indeed, a sad catalogue of human miseries, and
one is glad to turn aside from the horrors of war to the amenities of
private life. Shall I tell you something of the domestic habits of the
English in the early twentieth century?
_Mary._ Oh do, Mamma; I shall like that very much.
_Mrs. M._ The nobility and the well-to-do classes no longer lived
shut up in gloomy castles, but made a point of spending most of their
time in public. They never took their meals at home, but habitually
frequented large buildings called restaurants, fitted up with
sumptuous and semi-Sultanic splendour. In these halls, while the
guests sat at a number of tables, they were entertained by minstrels
and singers. It was even said that they acquired the habit of eating
and drinking in time to the music. They were waited upon for the
most part by foreigners, who spoke broken English, and what with the
babel of tongues, the din of the music and the constant popping of
corks, for alcohol had not yet been prohibited, the scene beggared
description.
_Richard._ Well, I am sure I would rather dine in our neat little
dining-room, with our silent wireless waiter, than partake of the most
extravagant repasts in those sumptuous halls.
_George._ I must just ask you, Mamma, about one thing that has all
along puzzled me very much. What was the House of Lords about all this
time that they let the House of Commons govern the country and have
their own way in everything?
_Mrs. M._ I am afraid, my dear George, that you are animated by a
somewhat reactionary bias in favour of feudalism, which in your own
best interests you would do well to curb. It is enough to say that
some of the peers supported the House of Commons, and the majority
were too timid to make any stand against the numbers and violence of
the other House. Nowadays, thanks to the wide diffusion of peerages
and the fact that they are conferred far more freely on persons of
advanced political views, this lack of independence has largely been
eliminated.
_Richard._ I am sure we must all thank you for the trouble you took to
explain about Free Trade and Protection; but if you are not too tired
will you kindly tell us something about the learned and clever men who
lived at this time?
_Mrs. M._ You know, my dear boy, that I am always happy to impart
information, and am pleased to have such attentive listeners. The
authoress of your favourite poems, Mary, lived in this reign. I mean
Mrs. ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. The Rev. H.G. WELLS, the famous theologian
who abolished the Latin and Greek grammars; the Baroness Corkscrew--to
call her by the name under which she was ultimately elevated to the
peerage--who wrote so many beautiful historical romances that she
quite superseded Sir WALTER SCOTT; Sir JOHN OXENHAM, one of England's
greatest poets; and Lord HALL-CAINE, author of _Isle of Man Power_,
were commanding figures in this period.
_Richard._ Oh, Mamma, did not Lord HALL-CAINE discover the North Pole?
_Mrs. M._ Not that I am aware of, my dear boy, though it is quite
possible. But you are probably confusing him with the Arctic explorer,
Dr. KANE. Among the scientific men I must mention Sir WILLIAM
ROBERTSON NICOLL, the great Scots agriculturist who first applied
intensive culture to the kailyard; General BELLOC, the illustrious
topographer, and HAROLD BEGBIE, who discovered and popularized Sir
OLIVER LODGE.
_Richard._ Ah, Mamma, I know enough about the Georgians to feel sure
that you have left out a great many things. You have never told
us about the Marquis of NORTHCLIFFE'S discovery of America, his
introduction of the potato to that Continent, and his building of
the Yellow House in the Yellowstone Park.
_George._ And you have not fully satisfied our curiosity about Sir
GEORGE ROBEY, Baronet, Lord LAUDER, Sir CHARLES CHAPLIN and other
great Leaders of English Society.
_Mrs. M._ True, my dear, but you must read their lives in the
_Dictionary of National Biography_, for here is the tea, and I
must leave off.
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