A New Medley of Memories

CHAPTER XIV

Chapter 2811,189 wordsPublic domain

1913-1914

The object of the great gathering, in the summer of 1913, of Benedictine abbots in Rome, whither they had been especially summoned by the _Abbas Abbatum_, Pope Pius X., was not primarily devotional or liturgical, like the assemblage just held at Monte Cassino. It was first and foremost a business meeting, called for the purpose of electing a coadjutor (with right of succession) to the first Abbot Primate of the Order, Dom Hildebrand de Hemptinne, the distinguished Belgian prelate, who, after a life entirely devoted to the interests of the Church and of his brother-monks, had been compelled by impaired and enfeebled health to retire from all active work. One of his most notable achievements had been the planning and erection, at the instance and with the generous help of Leo XIII., of the noble monastic college on the Aventine, which that Pontiff declared would be the greatest material monument of his fifteen years' tenure of the see of Peter. It was pathetic that, although in residence at St. Anselm's College (his own beloved foundation) when we assembled there for the business in hand, Abbot de Hemptinne was quite unable to take any part in it, or even personally to welcome us to Rome. He appeared only once in public during our stay {247} there--a mere wreck of the active personality which had been so long associated with the interests and the progress of our Order in every part of Christendom. We at Fort Augustus owed much to his wisdom and sympathetic kindness; and I was touched to see, during the few minutes' conversation which I had with him, how his face lightened up, and something of the old alertness reawakened in his voice and bearing, as we spoke of new hopes and new developments in connection with our Scottish abbey.[1]

There were at this time just a hundred _abbates regiminis_ (i.e. ruling abbots, excluding those holding merely titular rank) of Black Monks in the Christian world; and of these I ranked last--for we took precedence according to the date of appointment, not according to the antiquity of our respective abbeys. Seventy-five were actually present in Rome and most of the absentees had sent proxies to represent them. Four (two from U.S.A., one Brazilian, and one Australian) were of episcopal rank, and six others, though not bishops, exercised episcopal jurisdiction. There were ten Arch-abbots, or abbots-president, of various national Congregations; the rank and file being "ruling abbots" from every country in Christendom. Latin was, of course, the official language at our meetings, and to some extent the medium also of private intercourse, though the variations of pronunciation made this a matter of some difficulty. The great hall of the abbey where our sessions were held was bad acoustically; and the magnates at the table of honour (some of them {248} prelates of great age) mumbled so inaudibly that we, in our humble places at the end of the hall, raised a cry of "Altius! loquimini altius! nihil audivimus!" and others of the fathers took up the cry of "Nihil! nihil!" At the first scrutiny the abbot of Einsiedeln, in Switzerland, got eighty-four out of the ninety-eight votes, which seemed decisive, and would have been so had he not, "cum magna gratitudine," but extremely emphatically, declared that nothing would induce him to accept. The Pope, who was appealed to, expressed his regret, but declined to put any pressure on the reluctant abbot: two more scrutinies followed, and finally Abbot von Stotzingen, of Maria-laach, was elected by seventy-five votes. _Causa finita est_. Our work finished, I had a few days to renew old happy memories of Rome, greatly changed (I suppose materially for the better) since my first visit in 1875. I went the round of the great basilicas, and explored the vast cemetery of S. Lorenzo in quest of the grave of my uncle David,[2] laid to rest there fourty-four years before. I found it in good repair, with flowering shrubs growing round it, and read with interest the beautiful Latin epitaph, written by the scholarly pen of Archbishop Manning, who had received him into the Church, and afterwards officiated at his simple funeral.

I celebrated the Whitsuntide solemnities in our own church of St. Anselm, much impressed by the virile and sonorous chant of the monastic choir. {249} I left Rome a few days later, travelling by night to Milan, where I said mass early in the duomo--more impressive than I had ever yet seen it in the dull morning light, with the vast spaces in deep shadow, and the great jewelled windows gleaming faintly through the murk. From Milan a long and fatiguing journey brought me to Maredsous, the famous Belgian abbey which I had seen only once since I had spent four months there as a young monk thirty years before. The vast pile of building, of dark slate-coloured stone in the severest Gothic, seemed to have altered little since 1883 (there is something singularly, almost appallingly, unchangeable about these great monasteries); but of course the trees about it had grown, and there were additions near by--one the interesting school of arts and crafts directed by the monks, where I saw excellent goldsmiths' and enamel work done by the pupils, as well as fine embroideries. Another new and striking feature was the nuns' abbey, a quarter of a mile away, with a large and beautiful church open to the public. I found here an English portress, with the English name of Sister Winifred; and the abbess, a sister of our good abbot-primate in Rome, spoke English well; but she persuaded me (after cake and wine) into giving a _conference_ in French to her community, about our doings at Monte Cassino and Rome.

It was interesting to pass straight, as I did, from a great modern abbey in being to the impressive remains of our cathedral priory at Canterbury, and to sleep in an Elizabethan bedroom constructed within the ancient guest-hall of the monks. My kind host, Canon Moore, devoted a day to showing {250} me the wonders of his cathedral; and a party of cathedral dignitaries (and their wives) were asked to meet me at dinner. I had some talk with a pleasant, though minor, canon,[3] who had been for a time in charge of our choir at Magdalen. From Canterbury I went on to Douai Abbey, to preside at their school prize-giving, and then to keep St. Philip's _festa_ with the London Oratorians, who had invited a Fort Augustus monk (Dom Maurus Caruana[4]) to preach this year the panegyric of their patron saint. I look back on these Oratory festivals as among the pleasantest of London summer days--the marble altars in the great church aglow with roses and lilies and orchids; music of the best from the unrivalled choir:[5] sometimes a really eloquent sermon, and luncheon afterwards, in company with all that was best in the Catholic society of the day, in the cool spacious refectory, hung round with portraits of Faber and Dalgairns and Knox and other eminent Oratorians. I sat on this occasion next a kindly _litterateur_ and critic--so kindly a one that even when he does attack you (as Russell Lowell put it)

"you doubt if the toes That are trodden upon are your own or your foe's."

{251} We spoke of printers' perennial errors; and he quoted two new to me--one from the prospectus of a new company: "Six thousand _snares_ of five pounds each"; and the other from a speech of Lord Carnarvon: "Every clergyman is expected nowadays to have the intellect and wisdom of a Jeremy Taylor"--the last two words being transformed by a reporter into "journeyman tailor!" The word "clergyman" (in these days somewhat discredited) suggested to my friend Tennyson's dictum: "The majority of Englishmen think of God as an immeasurable clergyman in a white tie"; and to me a line from the same poet's "May Queen," which had always seemed to me the _ne plus ultra_ of bathos:[6]

"And that good man, the clergyman, has spoken words of peace."

I stayed a night at Kelburn on my way north to congratulate my brother-in-law, as it was not only his eightieth birthday, but his fortieth wedding-anniversary also fell this year. I was glad to find myself at home again after five weeks' absence; but it was only for a few weeks, as I had to go to Yorkshire in June, for the quinquennial General Chapter of our Order at Ampleforth, where our first business was to re-elect and install Abbot Gasquet as our abbot-president.[7] I attended, a few days later, {252} a dinner of our Catholic Etonian Association. Shane Leslie and (Mgr.) Hugh Benson both made capital speeches, and I had the honour of proposing _Floreat Etona_. George Lane Fox (a _quondam_ captain of the boats) was our president; and it was interesting to learn that among Catholic Etonians were three old captains of oppidans, Lords Abingdon and North, and Sir Francis Burnand. I stayed for this function with the kind Oratorians, who always had one or two Etonians in their community.[8] Their spacious house was delightfully quiet, and the verdant shady garden might have been two miles, instead of a bare two hundred yards, from the bustle and traffic of Brompton Road. I assisted next day in their church at the marriage of another Etonian Catholic, Sir Joseph Tichborne, and looked with interest on the smart young lifeguardsman, son of the baby defendant in the famous lawsuit more than forty years before. It is hard now to realize the _furore_ caused by the great "Tichborne Case," which sapped old friendships and engendered lasting animosities among people who had no earthly connection with it[9]--for the old English Catholic families, which _were_ {253} closely interested in the matter, took it very quietly and never discussed it in public. I have never known since any popular excitement in the least like it.

I was back at Fort Augustus before the end of June; and the summer and autumn (both wonderfully fine this year) passed quickly and happily. Long sunshiny days brought us, as always, many visitors, among the first being the large contingent of Glasgow Catholics who came as usual, during their "Fair Week," to spend some days at our abbey, partly in pious exercises and partly in enjoyable excursions. Our most notable guest this year was perhaps the young King of Uganda (I believe his proper title was not King but "Kabaka"), who came to Fort Augustus for a week-end with his dusky suite, and spent some hours with us--a tall, graceful and agreeable, but very shy, youth in a lovely robe of peacock blue (he had arrived at the inn the night before wearing a dingy covert-coat over a sort of white cassock). One of his fellow-chiefs, I think the only Catholic of the party, had a huge rosary slung round his neck during the visit to our monastery. Another distinguished visitor was Cardinal Bourne, whose clerical secretary had been driving him (_incog._) all over the Highlands, and over all sorts of roads, in a little two-seater motor. This had to go into hospital on their arrival; but through the kindness of an American neighbour I was able to escort our guests in a roomy "Fiat" to Glengarry (our most notable beauty-spot), and to the famous little inn, embowered in woods on the edge of the amber rushing Garry, where there were many notable names in the visitors' book, though {254} not, I think, up till then the signature of a Prince of the Roman Church. His Eminence's visit synchronized with our Highland Games and annual concert, both of which he honoured with his presence; and next day he and his faithful monsignor trundled off westwards in their little car, much pleased (as we all were also) with their brief sojourn in our abbey guest-house.

Apart from the normal duties incumbent on the head of a monastic community, I had, from the time of first taking the reins, placed three objects in the forefront of my hopes and aspirations, and had endeavoured never to lose sight of them. These were, first, an increase in our numbers by the admission of suitable aspirants to our life; secondly, the renovation and utilization of the long derelict buildings of the abbey-school, and the reopening of the school itself as soon as feasible; and thirdly, the hastening of the long anticipated day when work should be resumed on our abandoned church, and a part of it, at least, completed and opened for Divine Service. Thanks to the goodwill and support of my own brethren, and to the interested sympathy of many friends outside, I had the happiness of seeing all these hopes in a fair way to be realized within a twelvemonth of my receiving the abbatial benediction. Four of our first year's batch of novices were ultimately admitted to profession and to holy orders: they were joined by two priests from the Scottish mission, both of whom took their vows after due probation; while there were also affiliated to our community two young English monks from a German monastery near Birmingham, as well as a novice from the monastery of Caldey, in South {255} Wales, almost all the members of which had, with their superior, made their submission to the Catholic Church in the previous year.[10] We were all agreed in the wish and hope that the eminently Benedictine work of the education of youth within our own abbey walls, discontinued for several years, should be resumed as soon as circumstances permitted. Carpenters and painters, plasterers and plumbers, were soon busily engaged at the much-needed work of repair and restoration. The buildings were practically ready for occupation in the summer of 1914; but our hopes of reopening the school a few months later were frustrated by the world-stirring events of July and August of that year. It was a great satisfaction to all of us to be able, a little later, to place our renovated college at the disposal of the Red Cross, and to see it utilized as an Auxiliary Hospital, first for the wounded soldiers of our gallant Belgian allies, and then for the wounded of our own armies.[11]

The date of resuming the long suspended work on the fabric of our greatly-needed church, which I had at least as much at heart as the two other objects already mentioned, depended, of course, on the slow but steady increase of our building-fund; and there were always willing helpers, both within and without our community, toward the ingathering of a sum without which it would have been {256} imprudent to recommence operations. Some of our fathers showed most commendable zeal and energy in the not very pleasant or grateful task of begging: they planted and watered, and God certainly sent the increase. Among other efforts, a great garden fete was organized at Terregles, near Dumfries, the beautiful old seat of the Maxwell-Stuarts. I opened the proceedings: the day was lovely and the grounds thronged, and a very substantial sum was realized for our fund. It was a great joy to us all when, thanks to the success of this and other schemes, we were at length able to see our way (let me use the obnoxious phrase with gratitude for once!) to approve of the new plans--a modification of, or rather a complete departure from, Pugin's elaborate Gothic designs, and to see our massive Norman choir gradually rising in its severe and solid beauty. The actual commencement of the work was delayed by a curious incident--the appearance on the far horizon of a supposed benefactress, said to be prepared to provide funds to an untold amount for the erection of our church, on a plan approved by herself. I had actually to go to Harrogate to discuss this Utopian scheme--not with the mysterious lady in person, but with a friend who was supposed to represent her. I never even heard her name, but have every reason to suppose that it was "Mrs. Harris!" Anyhow the next thing I heard was that she had sailed (I think) for China, and we never saw, as the saying goes, the "colour of her money." I do not think that we had ever really expected to, so the disappointment was the less; and there was no worse consequence than a little delay which we could very well put up with after waiting for {257} so many years to get the builders to work again.

The only event outside our own circle which I recall in the later months of 1913 was the solemn blessing of the new abbot of Douai (an old friend and fellow-novice of mine), at which I assisted in October. The ceremony and subsequent luncheon lasted for nearly five solid hours, and I began to think that I was getting too old for such protracted functions! though I found the monks of the Berkshire abbey, as always, most kind, considerate and hospitable. Staying at Keir on my way home, I found a big shooting-party assembled--Tullibardines, Elphinstones, Lovats, Shaw Stewarts and others. All day long they were banging at pheasants (how remote those days of battues seem in 1922!) and in the evening there were ghost-stories and music, Lady Tullibardine's piano-playing and singing (of very high quality indeed) giving especial pleasure to her hearers.

On our national festival of St. Andrew I had the pleasure of admitting two novices to profession--the first ceremony of the kind since 1908. We kept also this month the "silver jubilee" of two of our fathers, of whom one had been born without an ear (in the musical sense), and had never sung mass in his life, but on this unique occasion chanted the Gospel as deacon. December brought wild and stormy weather, which did not, however, interfere with our customary activities; and many of our fathers were at this time out giving missions, or temporary assistance to invalided or absent priests. One of my Boyle nephews--a flying-man like his younger brother--was married this month {258} to the daughter of an Australian judge:[12] I could not be present, but telegraphed to him, "The best of luck to you on earth and in the air!" An unwelcome December visitant was an epidemic of gastric influenza, which prostrated some of our community for a week or two; but all were recovered, and most of our wanderers returned, for the Christmas festival--a real old-fashioned one as regarded the weather, with hard frost and snow lying seven inches deep. This was a rather unusual state of things at Fort Augustus, where the comparatively high temperature of Loch Ness (never known to freeze even in the hardest winters) seemed to affect the whole district.[13] Lochaber too, where winter is as a rule wild and wet rather than cold, was this year frostbound and snowed up; and our afternoon diversion, on a Sunday which I spent there, was to trudge a mile or two through the snow and see the red deer fed by hand--a pretty and unusual spectacle.

Among the domestic incidents of the New Year was the opening of our village drill-hall, to be available to "all denominations" for recreational purposes. Hitherto the "Churches" had run their {259} own halls on more or less exclusive lines; but in the new one the Protestant lion was to lie down, so to speak, with the Catholic lamb (or _vice versa_!) and all was to be harmony and peace. I inaugurated the new era by a lantern-lecture on "Unknown Brazil," which a kindly newspaper report described as "brimful of information and sparkling with anecdote and humour!" It was anyhow a successful start and the hall proved a really valuable addition to our village assets. I was unable to attend the next lecture--a most interesting illustrated history of the old Fort--being called south to attend the funeral of the Bishop of Galloway, an old and faithful friend of our house, with whom I had been intimate for close on forty years. The funeral procession, with crucifix and choir, vested clergy and mitred prelates, passing through the streets of Dumfries thronged with silent mourners, was one of the most remarkable spectacles I ever witnessed in Scotland. Bishop Turner had long been on terms of close friendship with the Bute family; but Bute and his brothers, being all abroad, were represented by their brother-in-law Colin MacRae. I went south from Dumfries, having some business with Cardinal Bourne, who talked, _inter alia_, of the chapel (St. Andrew's) in his cathedral which was being adorned at Bute's expense, and of the question whether the numerous texts should be in Latin or English. I was all for Latin in the metropolitan cathedral of the Empire, the resort of worshippers of every tongue and every nation. His Eminence, however, favoured English, and I (like Mr. Alfred Jingle) "did not presume to dictate."[14] I was elected this {260} week a member of the Oxford and Cambridge Club, of which the big, quiet, and well-furnished library was to me the chief attraction. The Protestant drum had been, I was assured, if not beaten, at least discreetly tapped, by a small clique of members in connection with my candidature--a curious fact in what somebody describes as "the so-called twentieth century"; but a gracefully-worded telegram from my proposer and seconder[15] informed me that the plot (if there ever was one, which I rather doubted) had failed. I went to Arundel for the Lourdes festival, always kept solemnly there; found the kind Duke and Duchess encircled, as usual, by a cloud of youthful Maxwells, and heard Bernard Vaughan (just returned from the U.S.A.) preach eloquently on "The claims of the Church" with a distinctly American accent, and, later on, regale us in the smoking-room with a choice collection of American chestnuts!

I got back to our abbey just in time to give the last blessing to our good old brother Nathalan, who died at the age of ninety-nine, the patriarch of the Benedictine Order in these islands and possibly in Christendom. A native of Glengairn, he spoke the Aberdeenshire idiom of his mother-Gaelic with remarkable purity and fluency; and he could talk for hours about beasts and birds, old smuggling adventures, second sight, and cognate subjects. His grandfather had fought for Prince Charlie at Culloden; and he knew the name and history of {261} every Glengairn man who had taken part in that historic battle. A man of robust faith and deep practical piety, he was content and happy in the monastery, which he had only entered when well over seventy. He was totally blind (though otherwise in good health) for some time before his death; and morning after morning his bowed and venerable figure, supported by a younger brother, might be seen wending its way to the chapel where he daily heard mass and received Holy Communion. I was glad to be at home for the closing hours of the life of the good simple old man, whose death made a felt blank in the family circle of our community.

The early months of the eventful year 1914 passed quickly and quietly enough at our Highland abbey. We resolved soon after Easter to accept the contract for the building of the choir of our church--a venture of faith, for the necessary sum was not yet all in hand; but we felt that we were justified in making a start. A few days later came the interesting and gratifying news that the elevation of Abbot Gasquet to the Cardinalate--often rumoured in recent years--was actually decided on. This entailed an "extraordinary" meeting of Chapter in connection with the Abbot-president's resignation of that office; and going south to attend it, I took the occasion of accepting an invitation to officiate at the Corpus Christi procession at Arundel. It was a curiously impressive function in that old-world English town: the long _cortege_ of clergy and choristers and people, with the tall Venetian lanterns, scarlet and gold, waving above their heads as they passed slowly, to the sounds of sacred psalmody, under the grey walls of the castle and back into the great church of {262} St. Philip. I went on from Arundel to Oxford, to stay with Father Maturin, the acting Catholic chaplain there (his undergraduate flock now numbered nearly a hundred), and was delighted to see the good work he was doing. One was always sure of a good story from him; and _a propos_ of his wish to introduce hymn-singing at his Sunday services, he told me of the Sunday-school superintendent who, dissatisfied with the children's dead-alive singing of the well-known temperance hymn, "Little Drops of Water," himself repeated the first line, adding, "Now, please, put a little spirit into it!" My old tale of the don who objected to men coming to church in slippers reminded him, he said, of a college dean he had heard of in his Cowley days, who, to an undergraduate asking leave to go down to attend his great-aunt's funeral, replied after some hesitation, "Well, you may go; but I must say I do wish it had been for a nearer relation!"[16]

The June of 1914 was exceptionally hot, and I found the long journey to the Highlands so intolerably tedious and dusty that I could not resist jumping out of the train at the head of Loch Lomond, and staying the night there. I wrote on a picture postcard to an editorial friend in London--"not for publication," but just to tantalize him in his stuffy sanctum in Fleet Street:

{263}

Delightful little Highland inn. Just dined--_puree aux pois_, a Loch Lomond trout (pink and flaky), an excellent mutton chop, and gooseberry pie. Here is a view of Loch Lomond from my window, but the Ben has its lace nightcap on. The colours are simply exquisite.[17]

Later in the summer I attended a great gathering at Downside (fifteen bishops and ten abbots were guests of the abbey) for the solemn reception of Cardinal Gasquet at his mother-house. There were imposing church functions, of course, concerts, speeches galore, and on the closing day of the festivities a luncheon-party of six hundred, after which we (Cardinal, bishops, and abbots) motored off in clouds of dust for Bristol and Cardiff, for the opening of the Eucharistic Congress there. I stayed for the week at the castle, where were also Cardinals Bourne and Gasquet, the Gainsboroughs, and others; the Butes gave a banquet one evening, followed by a great reception, in honour of the assembled dignitaries, who were also entertained by the Lord Mayor in the splendid town hall. Just a fortnight after the closing of the Congress, Germany declared war on Russia and France; and three days later, on the midnight which ushered in the feast-day of Saint Oswald, the English soldier-saint and martyr, Britain took up arms against Germany. _Jacta est alea_!

The reverberations of the Great War were not unfelt even in our quiet home among the Highland hills; and our life, like the life of every class of the community in those years of storm and stress, was affected profoundly, and in many ways, by the {264} struggle which for four long years was rending the civilized world. A detailed record of those years of war, even so far as we were touched by it, would be out of place in this chronicle of peaceful days. Many of our former pupils, and some who had worn our habit and shared our life in the cloister, fought, and more than one died, for king and country: a band of devoted priests--few indeed, yet a large proportion of our total number--worked throughout the war, at home and abroad, as chaplains in the army and the navy, two of them being severely wounded, and two decorated by the King for their good service; and, finally, we who perforce remained at home had the consolation and satisfaction of receiving into our provisional hospital a long succession of wounded soldiers, Belgian and British, and of co-operating with the good people of our village and neighbourhood in the work of tending and succouring them. So, according to our measure, we "did our bit" like the rest, and could feel, when the day of peace at length dawned, that we had tried to render service to our country at a time when she had a right to the service of all her sons.

* * * * *

I write down these closing memories in our monastery under the Southern Cross, in the great South American city where my brethren in Saint Benedict, active and devoted men, but far too few for the ever-growing work that lies ready to their hands, are leading the same life of prayer and liturgy, untiring, pastoral labour, and the education of the young in religion and letters, which has been the mission of our Order all through the Christian centuries. It is high noon on this Brazilian summer's {265} day, and the fierce sun beats down from a cloudless sky on the luxuriant tropical garden which glows beneath the window of my quiet cell. At the foot of the last page I inscribe the same words as the monastic annalist inscribed of old beneath the laboriously-written manuscript which had been the work of his life:

Explicit chronicon lx. annorum Deus misericordie miserere miseri scriptoris.

And then, as, my task completed, I lay down my weary pen, there come into my mind some other words--those of a great thinker and a great writer of our own time: "Our life is planted on the surface of a whirling sphere: our prayer is to find its tranquil centre, and revolve no more."

So may it be!

[1] The good old abbot died three months later, on August 13, 1913.

[2] Colonel David Hunter-Blair of the Scots Fusilier Guards, whose conversion to Catholicism, when I was a boy at Eton, had made a great impression on me. He died of consumption at Rome on March 31, 1869.

[3] "We implore Thy protection also," petitioned a certain Dean at family prayers, "for the minor canons of this cathedral; for even they, O Lord, are Thy creatures."

[4] Appointed Archbishop-bishop of Malta in 1914.

[5] I liked to hear once-a-year (not oftener) the prolonged musical masses which were the "festival use" at the Oratory. Once, arriving rather late at the church, I found an old friend (a Gregorian-lover like myself) waiting in the porch, and asked him how far the service had progressed. "Thank God!" said old W---- P---- devoutly, "_the worst is over_--they have just finished the _Gloria_!"

[6] It can be matched, I think, by two lines from a university prize poem--not, of course, by a poet laureate!--on the "Sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers":

"Thus, ever guided by the hand of God, They sailed along until they reached Cape Cod!"

[7] Nine months later he was elevated to the Cardinalate, when he had, of course, to resign his presidency of the English Benedictine Congregation.

[8] At one time there were as many as eight; and I remember one of them (who had himself been "in the Boats" at Eton), saying that they wanted only a ninth to complete the crew!

[9] I recall one engagement broken off in consequence; and also a rift between two lifelong friends which still remained unhealed long after the "unhappy nobleman languishing in prison" (as his most notorious supporter used to call him) had been consigned to the limbo of penal servitude. The cost of the two trials was said to be at least L200,000, and seriously crippled the valuable Tichborne estates for a whole generation. My father prohibited the public discussion of the case at Blairquhan, either in dining-room or smoking-room, or even at a shooting-luncheon in the open air!

[10] The Caldey novice, and one of the affiliated brothers from Erdington Abbey, both left us, after the outbreak of the Great War, and joined the army; and the former was killed on active service.

[11] The school was finally reopened under my successor, in 1920.

[12] And an heiress--at least so a brother wrote to me. The lady's name was Hodges; and he added (but I think this was mere banter) that the question was, if Jack had to assume his wife's name, whether they would be known as "Boyle-Hodges" or "Hodges-Boyle"!

[13] Our first prior, Dom Jerome Vaughan, used to be at much pains to convince his incredulous friends in the south of the mildness of the Fort Augustus winter. I remember his writing to the prior of Belmont, when I was a novice there, enclosing daisies picked on Christmas Day. Unluckily the same post brought another letter from Fort Augustus, mentioning that the frost was so severe that all the beer was frozen in the cellar!

[14] They were, as a matter of fact, inscribed in English, as were also the names of the Scottish saints on the pictured walls. The chapel was opened on St. Andrew's Day, 1915.

[15] "Many congratulations both to you and to the club," it ran.

[16] It was a don of this type who was reported to have written, in a letter of condolence to the father of an undergraduate who had been drowned in Sandford Lasher: "As your son had unfortunately failed to satisfy the examiners in Responsions, he would have had to go down in any case!" Poor Father Maturin! his love of a joke and other good qualities were extinguished (in this life) by the sinking of _Lusitania_ eleven months later.

[17] My friend did print it in his paper, adding, "To read this makes one hungry for Highland air and Highland fare."

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Appendix

I. PAGE 86.

NOVISSIMA VERBA

(LAST WORDS OF FORTY FAMOUS MEN)

Adam, Alexander (the famous schoolmaster) ... "It grows dark, boys: you may go."

Addison, Joseph ... "See how a Christian can die!"

Albert Prince Consort ... "Liebes gutes Frauchen!"

Augustus (Emperor) ... "Plaudite!"

Bede (The Venerable) ... "Consummatum est."

Bossuet, Benigne ... "Fiat Voluntas Tua!"

Bronte, Charlotte (to her husband) ... "I am not going to die, am I? He will not separate us, we have been so happy."

Byron (Lord) ... "I think I will go to sleep."

Charles II. (King) ... "Don't let poor Nellie starve."

Charles V. (Emperor) ... "Ay, Jesus!"

Chesterfield (Lord) ... "Give Dayrolles a chair."

Cicero ... "Causa causarum, miserere mei!"

Darwin, Charles B. ... "I am not in the least afraid to die."

Devonshire (8th Duke of) ... "Well, the game is over, and I am not sorry."

Disraeli, Benjamin ... "I am overwhelmed!"

"Eliot, George" ... "Tell the doctors that I have great pain in the left side."

Etty, William (painter) ... "Wonderful--wonderful! this death."

Frederick the Great ... "La montagne est passee; nous irons mieux."

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George IV. (King) ... "Watty, what is this? It is death, my boy: they have deceived me."

Gladstone, W. E. ... "Prions--commencons--Our Father."

Goethe, W. von ... "Draw back the curtains, and let in more light."

Goldsmith, Oliver (to the question, "Is your mind at ease?" in a melancholy voice) ... "No, it is not."

Haydn, Joseph ... "God preserve the Emperor!"

Hood, Thomas (in a tone of relief) ... "Dying--dying."

Humboldt, A. von ... "Wie herrlich diese Strahlen! sie schienen die Erde zum Himmel zu rufen."

Jerrold, Douglas, asked how he felt, said "he felt like one who was waiting and was waited for."

Johnson, Samuel ... "God bless you!"

Keats, John ... "I feel the flowers growing over me."

Knox, John ... "about 11 of the clock gave a deep sigh, exclaimed, 'Now it is come,' and presently expired."

Lacordaire, Henri ... "Mon Dieu! mon Dieu! ouvrez-moi, ouvrez-moi."

Mackintosh, Sir James ... "Happy!"

Mary Queen of Scots ... "In Te, Domine, speravi."

Mathews, Charles ... "I am ready."

Mezzofanti (Cardinal) ... "Andiamo, andiamo presto in Paradiso!"

Mirabeau, Victor ... "Let me die to the sounds of delicious music."

Napoleon Bonaparte ... "Tete d'armee."

Pope, Alexander ... "There is nothing meritorious but virtue and friendship; and indeed friendship itself is but a part of virtue."

Rabelais ... "Je vais querir le grand peut-etre."

Scott, Walter ... "God bless you!"

Tasso, Torquato ... "In manus Tuas, Domine."

Wordsworth, William ... "God bless you!"

Ximenes, Cardinal ... "In Te, Domine, speravi."

{269}

II. PAGE 136.

DARWIN'S CREDO

"Science and Christ have nothing to do with each other, except in as far as the habit of scientific investigation makes a man cautious about accepting any proofs. _As far as I am concerned, I do not believe that any revelation has ever been made_. With regard to a future life, every one must draw his own conclusions from vague and contradictory probabilities."--(Letter to a Jena student, dated June 5th, 1879.)

"Mr. Darwin was much less reticent to myself than in his letter to Jena. He distinctly stated that, in his opinion, a vital or somatic principle, apart from the somatic energy, had no more _locus standi_ in the human than in any other races of the animal kingdom--a conclusion that seems a mere corollary of, and indeed a position tantamount with, his essential doctrine of human and bestial identity of nature and genesis."--(Dr. Robert Lewins, in the _Journal of Science_.)

It may be instructive to subjoin to the above _Credo_ of Darwin those of three other eminent Victorians, whom the present generation would probably pronounce it unkind and ill-mannered to brand as atheistical or un-Christian. Let them speak for themselves:--

_Stuart Mill_: "This world is a bungled business, in which no clear-sighted man can see any signs either of wisdom or of God."

_Huxley_: "Scepticism is the highest of duties: blind faith the one unpardonable sin."

{270}

_Matthew Arnold_: "The existence of God is an unverifiable hypothesis."

Dr. Liddon, preaching in St. Paul's Cathedral on the Sunday after Darwin's death, devoted his matchless oratory to a eulogy in which there was not the remotest reference to the fact that the subject of it was a man who had formally repudiated not only Christianity but revealed religion. Here are the eloquent canon's opening words:--

"These reflections may naturally lead us to think of the eminent man, whose death during the past week is an event of European importance; since he is the author of nothing less than a revolution in the modern way of treating a large district of thought, while his works have shed high distinction on English science."

Dr. Laing, of Cambridge University, on the other hand, expressed with refreshing candour his objections to the proposed interment of Darwin in Westminster Abbey:--

"They urged his claim to Abbey honours on the very ground of his having been the chief promoter of the atheistic mock-doctrines of evolution of species and the ape-descent of man. It is, therefore, as the high priest of dirt-worship that the English nation has assigned to him the privilege of being interred in a temple dedicated to the service of his Creator."

{271}

INDEX

Abbotsford, 52, 54, 74

Aberdeen, Bishop (Chisholm) of, 73, 124, 139, 149

Abingdon, 7th Earl of, 34, 252

Abruzzi, Duca dei, 82

Aix-les-bains, visit to, 228

Amelie of Portugal, Queen, 226

Ampleforth Abbey, 120, 138, 153, 201, 217; jubilee of, 230, 251

Anderson, Mary (Mme. Navarro), 153

Angus, Rev. George, 19 _note_, 122; death of, 124 _note_, 138, 196, 224, 238

Anson, Sir William, M.P., 138

_Aragon_, R.M.S.P., 155

Argyll and the Isles, Bishop (Smith) of, 240

Arthur of Connaught, Prince, 92; Princess, 225

Arundel Castle, 3, 8, 13, 42, 51, 65, 105, 108, 109, 223, 260, 261

Asquith, Mrs., 198

Athole, Duke of, 64 _note_

Bailey, "Abe," 151

Balfour of Burleigh, Lord, 176

Balfour, Arthur, 59 _note_, 62

Ball, Provost, 102

Balston, Dr. Edward, 171

Bath and Wells, Bishop (Kennion) of, 100

Battenberg, Prince and Princess Henry of, 237 _note_

Beaufort Castle, 61, 81, 99, 106, 119, 132, 151, 195, 220, 227

Beauly, Scouts' monument at, 61

Beethoven's Grand Mars, 217

Bellairs, Lieut. Carlyon, M.P., 143

Bellingham of Castlebellingham, 47, 67 _note_

Belloc, Hilaire, 143

Belmont Priory, 7, 147

Benedictine life and work in Brazil, 159-185

Benn, Sir John, M.P., 186

Benson, Robert Hugh, 93, 129

Bertouche, Baron de, 11

Birrell, Augustine, 69 _note_

Bismarck, William II and, 24

Blairquhan, 119, 149

Blair's College, 124

Blenheim Palace, 20, 44, 65

Bodley's Librarian, 103, 104

Boulogne-sur-mer, 125, 126

Booth, "General," 92

Boothby, Sir Brooke, 153

Bourne, Archbishop, 4 _note_, 43, 75; Cardinal, 223, 231, 240, 253, 259, 263

Bowlby, Eleanor, 141

Bowyer, Sir George, 46 _note_

Boyle, Hon. Alan, 189, 196

Boyle, Dean George, 53 _note_

Boyle, James (consul), 187

Boyle, Hon. John, 257

Bradfield College, Greek plays at, 20, 92

Bramham Park, 96

Brazil, Dr. Vidal, 174

Broughton, Rhoda, 113

Buckie, 220

Buoncompagni-Ludovisi, Don Andrea, 77

Burges, William, 58

Burgon, Dean, 104, 136

Bury St. Edmunds, pageant at, 91, 92

Butcher, Professor, M.P., 138

Bute, 4th Marquis of, 1, 35, 40, 47, 54, 56, 62, 118, 146, 222, 240, 259

Bute, Dowager Marchioness of, 10, 54, 101, 152

Butler, Abbot, 84, 245

Caerphilly Castle, 147

Caldey Abbey, 255

Caledonian Club, 222

Caloen, Bishop Gerard van, 245

Cambridge, 141, 199

Campbell of Skerrington, 124

Campbell-Bannerman, Sir H., 43, 59 _note_

Campden, Viscount, 69

Canterbury, 8, 9, 249

Cardiff Castle, 59, 141, 263

Caruana, D. Maurus, 250

Castlebellingham, 47, 48

Cecil, Lord Hugh, 45, 49, 138, 143

Cecil, Lord William, 225

Chamberlain, Joseph, 59

Chambery, Cardinal Archbishop of, 229

Cheadle, church at, 231

Choate, 69

Churchill, Winston, 47, 171

Clumber, chapel at, 57 _note_

Corehouse, 21

_Corpus Christi_ at S. Paulo, 181; at Arundel, 261

Craigmillar Castle, 152

Cranbrook, Earls of, 193, 194

Crianlarich, 206

Crichton-Stuart, Lord Colum, 79

Crichton-Stuart, Lord Ninian, 10, 67, 129, 130, 176, 203

Cuddesdon College, 128

Cumbrae, Isle of, 69 _note_, 101, 152

Curzon of Kedleston, Lord, 84, 89, 100, 102

Dalrymple, Sir Charles, 62, 141, 240, 241 _note_

Dalrymple, Hon. North, 176

Darwin, Charles, 137, 267, 268

Day, Sir John, 37

De Moleyns, Captain, 112

Derwent Hall, 3

Dillon, 17th Viscount, 12

Dolan, Dom Gilbert, 57 _note_

Dorchester Abbey, 128

Dorrien-Smith, "King of Scilly," 141

Douai Abbey, 137, 200, 221, 250, 257

Doune Castle, 218, 240

Downside Abbey, 42, 56, 84, 129, 263

Dumfries, convent-school at, 21, 49, 94, 117; asylum at, 49

Dumfries House, 54

Dunblane, cathedral at, 205; Queen Victoria's School at, 230

Dunedin, Lord, 81

Dunskey, 9, 48, 118, 149

Eastbourne, 87

Edmonstoune-Cranstouns, 21

Edward VII, King, 83, 127, 155; death of, 179

Ellice, Mrs., of Invergarry, 204

Ellis, Professor Robinson, 86, 87

Elwes, Lady Winifride, 212

Encombe, Viscountess, 109, 139; John Viscount, 139

Eton College, 50, 129, 147, 225

Eugenie, Empress, 99 _note_, 242

Everingham Park, 12, 96

"Evil Eye," the, 77

Exton Park, 51

Faber, Rev. F. W., 145, 250

Fanshawe, Admiral Sir Arthur, 120

Farnborough, Benedictine Abbey at, 11, 241

Farrer, Sir William, death of, 215, 218

Fairlie of Myers, 123

Fergusson, Sir James, 62; death of, 83

Fife, Colonel Sir Aubone, 237

Fitzgerald, Percy, 12

Fort Augustus Abbey: reunited with English Benedictines, 176; railway at, 202; election of abbot at, 239

Franquetot, Marquis de, 125

Franqueville, Comtesse de, 125

Fraser, Hon. Alastair, 215, 221

Gainsborough, 3rd Earl of, 39, 51, 69, 263

Galloway, Bishop (Turner) of, 259

Garrett-Fawcett, Mrs., 128

Gasquet, Abbot, 19, 37, 240, 251; Cardinal, 261, 263

Giustiniani-Bandini, Prince, 16

Gladstone, W. E., at Eton, 170 _note_

Glasgow, George, 6th Earl of, 101

Glasgow, David, 7th Earl of, 149, 203

Gleann Mhor Gathering, 149, 254

Glencarron, 99

Gordon, Brig.-Gen. Alister, 106 _note_

Goring-on-Thames, 147

Gormanston, 15th Visct., 67

Gorwood, D. Paulinus, 98

Goschen, Viscount, 5, 83, 84

Gower, Lord Ronald, 35 _note_

Greene, Wilfrid, 7

Grissell, Captain Frank, 111, 209

Grissell, Hartwell, 11; death of, 86, 111, 206

Guernsey, visit to, 68

Hadow, 142

Haggard, Sir William, 158

Hallam, Arthur, at Eton, 170 _note_

Hamel, Gustave, 211

Hamilton of Dalzell, 2nd Lord, 81

Hampton Court, 147

Harcourt, Sir William, death of, 28

Hautecombe, Abbey of, 229

Hawkesyard Priory, 23

Hay, Bishop George, centenary of, 215, 216

Hay, Malcolm, 124

Hedley, Bishop, 105, 130, 195, 236

Hemptinne, Abbot Hildebrand de, 246

Hemsted Park, 193

Herbert of Lea, Lady, death of, 218

Herries, 11th Lord, 1, 95, 109

Hexham and Newcastle, Bishop (Wilkinson) of, 23; death of, 140

Hicks-Beach, Sir Michael, 5

Hornby, Provost, death of, 170

Horsley, Sir Victor, 43, 191

Howard, Lady Katherine, 223

Howard, Lady Mary, 1

Howard of Glossop, Winifred Lady, 101

Huegel, Baron Anatole von, 107

Hyde, Lord, 51

Italian cavalry officers, at Olympia, 115

Jarvis, Captain and Mrs. Cracroft, 66

Jerningham, Sir Hubert, 72, 80, 95, 151

Keir, 205, 212, 218, 230, 236, 237, 239, 257

Kelburn, Viscount, R.N., 46, 65, 192

Kennard, Mgr. Canon, 19, 20, 23, 43, 80, 112, 121, 127, 135, 197, 208

Kennard, Colonel Hegan, 128, 145

Kerr, Philip, 29, 121

Kerr, General Lord Ralph, 1, 73 _note_, 76, 121, 153, 203; Admiral Lord Walter, 153

Kinharvie, 1

Kipling, Rudyard, at Oxford, 91

Kneller Court, 109, 126, 154

Knill, Sir John, 129

Kruse, Abbot Miguel, 159, 176, 216, 245

Ladycross School, Seaford, 153

Lane Fox, George, 74, 96, 148, 233, 252

Lang, Andrew, 53, 132

Langdon Park, 116

Lansdowne, 5th Marquis of, 5

Law, Bonar, 81

Lee, Dr. Frederick George, 136

Legge, the Ladies, 66 _note_

Leicester, 1st and 2nd Earls of, 35 _note_

Leinster, 6th Duke of, 65

Leo XIII, Pope, 246

Lepicier, Pere, 232

Lichfield, Augustus, Bishop of, 66; Choristers' House at, 105

Liddell, Dean, 31

Linlithgow, 2nd Marquis of, married, 210

Lister, Hon. Laura, 191, 194; married, 198

Littleton Church, regimental colours in, 115

Longridge Towers, 72, 95, 153

Loudoun, 11th Earl of, 48, 49, 121, 133

Louvain University, Jubilee of, 137

Lovat, 14th Lord, 61, 99, 106, 148, 191; married, 198, 208, 214, 220, 240

Lovat, Alice Lady, 73, 132, 191, 211, 235

Lowndes, Selby, 119

Lucerne, visit to, 41

Lucius of Chur, St., 213, 214 _note_

Lyttelton, Hon. Alfred, 45

Lyttelton, Hon. Edward, 51

MacCall, Rev. A. N. L., 14, 242

Macdonald, Andrew, death of, 240

Macdonald, General Hector, lines on, 13 _note_

Macdonell, D. Andrew, 211

Mackintosh, The, 61

MacRae, Colin, 259

Madeira, visit to, 187

Mallock, W. H., 80, 135

Man, Isle of, 49 _note_, 118

Manderston, 100

Manning, Archbishop, 248

Maple, Lady, 146

Maredsons, Abbey of, 249

Marie Louise, Princess, 154

Maryborough, 9th Duke of, 20, 44; Consuelo Duchess of, 20, 44

Martindale, Cyril, S.J., 7, 79

Maturin, Father, 106, 140, 217, 262

Maxwell, Sir Herbert, 154

Maxwell-Scott, Hon. Joseph and Mrs., 53 _note_

Melrose Abbey, 74

Merry del Val, Cardinal, 15, 240

Merthyr Tydvil, 57

Metternich, Prince, 25

Milan, visits to, 18, 64, 249

Milner, Lord, 65, 68

Mitchinson, Bishop, 33, 60, 200

Monte Carlo, 63, 64

Monte Cassino, 17, 243-245

Montrose, Duke and Duchess of, 230

Moore, Canon Edward, 8, 249

Moray, 16th Earl of, 153, 219, 240

Morin, D. Germain, O.S.B., 45

Mountstuart, 1, 35, 72, 118

Munich, festival at, 23

Myres Castle, 123

Naples, visit to, 40

Nathalan, Brother, 209; death of, 260, 261

Neville, Rev. William, 217 _note_

Newburgh, Scoto-Italian of, 16 _note_

Newhailes, 100

Nice, visit to, 63

Niddrie-Marischal, 101, 152

Norfolk, 15th Duke of, 1, 2, 8; married, 12, 69, 76, 139, 144, 202, 219, 240

Norfolk, Flora Duchess of, 203 _note_, 209

Norfolk, Gwendolen Duchess of, 14, 65

Norham Castle, 72

Norwich, St. John's Church at, 202

Nuneham Park, 39

Oakamoor College, 145, 212, 231

Odo, Father, O.S.B., 233, 234

Olinda (Brazil), 153, 155, 157, 187

Oman, Professor, 90, 201

Oratory (Birmingham), 75, 121, 144

Oratory (London), 198, 250

Orr-Ewing, Charles, M.P., 8

Osterley Park, 21

O'Sullivan Beare, The, 154 _note_

Oxford, Benedictine Hall at, 4; chancellor of, 5; floods at, 10; portraits at, 34; boy-prodigies at, 38; pageant at, 89-91

Oxford and Cambridge Club, 260

Pageant at Warwick, 70; Oxford, 89; Bury St. Edmunds, 91; Cardiff, 146

Paris, pictures at, 230

Parker, D. Anselm, 127

Patterson, Bishop, 21

Pelham, Professor, death of, 83

Penha Longa, Condessa de, 227

Pernambuco (Brazil), 156, 187

Phillimore, Professor J. S., 55

Pius X, Pope, 15, 17, 205, 246

Plowden, Alfred, 29

Ponsonby, Sir Frederick, 128, 153

Portugal, murder of King of, 107

Portugal, Ex-king Manoel of, 201

Prado, Dona Veridiana, 180

Pugin, A. W., 57, 145, 226, 231

Radley College, 47, 78

Rampolla, Cardinal, 15

Ramsgate, St. Augustine's Abbey at, 225

Ranguia, New Zealand chieftain, 120

Reid, Mrs. Whitelaw, 92

Restabrig, St. Triduana's well at, 153

Rhodes Scholars at Oxford, 29-31, 200

Rickmansworth, 139

Rio de Janeiro, 157, 182, 202

Ripon, 1st Marquis of, 6 _note_

Roberts, Earl, 59

Rome, Gregorian centenary at, 15; assembly of Abbots at, 246 _et seq._

Rosebery, 5th Earl of, 5, 33, 84

Ruskin, John, on music, 14 _note_; in Abbotsford, 53

Rutland, 7th Duke of, 21

St. Andrews, 27, 122, 196

St. Andrews, Archbishop (Smith) of, 124

St. Anselm's College, Rome, 246-8

Salisbury, 3rd Marquis of, death of, 5, 33, 89

Santos (Brazil), 186

Scarborough, Bank Holiday at, 71

Schmitt, Mgr., Bishop of Chur, 213

Scorton, hospital at, 116

Scott, Sir Walter, 52

Shackleton, Ernest, 144

Sherborne, Susan Lady, death of, 83

Shrewsbury, 10th Earl of, 145

Simeon, John, married, 140

Simonetti, Signor, 77

Sinclair, Archdeacon John, 66

Skene, Felicia, 53 _note_

"Smith of Wadham," F. E., 65

Somerset, 15th Duke of, 152

S. Paulo (Brazil), 156 _et seq._

Stafford, Marquis of, married, 224

Stair, 10th and 11th Earls of, 54 _note_, 123

Stirlings of Keir, 176, 205, 212, 236

Stonyhurst College, 221

Stotzingen, Abbot von, 248

Stronlairg, 214

Sutherland, 4th Duke of, 225

Sutherland, Anne Duchess of, 111 _note_; Millicent Duchess of, 20, 224

Sven Hedin, at Oxford, 135

Talbot, Lord and Lady Edmund, 3, 61, 215

Talcott, Dr. Selden, on early rising, 97 _note_

Teck, Princess Alexander of, 50

Temple, widow of Archbishop, 113

Terregles, 256

Tichborne, Sir Joseph, 252

Tredegar, Viscount, 146

Tree, Beerbohm, 41

Tullibardine, Marchioness of, 257

Twain, Mark, at Oxford, 91, 92

Tylee, Monsignor, 5, 6 _note_

Uganda, King of, at Fort Augustus, 253

University College School, 142

Ushaw College, 23

Vaughan, Father Bernard, 37, 79, 261; Prior Jerome, 258 _note_; Charles, married, 107; Bishop John, 215; Rev. Kenelm, 133

Venice, visit to, 242

Vesey, Hon. T. E., married, 217

_Victory_, H.M.S., 110

Wales, H.R.H. Prince of, 212, 222

Walmesley, Mrs. Robert, 3

Walsh, Archbishop, 66

Waltham Abbey, 148

Ward, Wilfrid, 60, 134

Ware, St. Edmund's College, 222

Warre, Dr. Edmond, 51

Warwick, pageant at, 70

Wauchope of Niddrie, Mrs., 101, 152

Wells, J., 60

Westminster Cathedral, 3, 74, 89, 107, 259

Weston Birt, 26

Wiesbaden, visit to, 189-191

Wilberforce, Bishop Samuel, 121, 128

Wilkinson, Cicely Lady, 193

William II, Emperor, and Bismarck, 24; at Naples, 41

Willoughby de Broke, Lord and Lady, 71

Wimborne, Lord, 99

Winchilsea, Countess of, 45

Woodburn, 1, 153, 203

Woodchester Priory, 26

Worcester, Bishop of, and Lady Barbara Yeatman-Biggs, 66

Wyndham, Sir Charles, 40

Wyndham, George, 81

Wytham Abbey, 35

Yew Luk Lin (Chinese Minister), 225

York, Archbishop (Lang) of, 216

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MOUNT EVEREST

The Reconnaissance, 1921.

By LIEUT.-COLONEL C. K. HOWARD-BURY, D.S.O., AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE EXPEDITION.

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The book opens with a brilliant introduction by Sir Francis Younghusband, President of the Royal Geographical Society and Chairman of the Mount Everest Committee, by which the Expedition was organised. Then comes the fascinating narrative of the expedition itself, told by Col. Howard-Bury, the leader; he is followed by Mr. G. Leigh-Mallory who describes the strenuous climbing which, after many failures and disappointments, discovered what appears to be a feasible route to the summit. Mr. A. F. Wollaston, another member of the expedition, enlarges upon the remarkable fauna and flora of the Tibetan plateau and valleys, and the valuable Survey work undertaken is summarized by Major O. E. Wheeler. The Geological results are dealt with by Dr. A. M. Heron. Especially interesting, in view of the coming season's expedition, is a chapter by Prof. Norman Collie, President of the Alpine Club, upon the difficulties of mountaineering at such unprecedented altitudes and the prospects of reaching the summit of Mount Everest in 1922.

The illustrations, taken from the magnificent series of photographs brought back by the expedition, are visions of beauty and grandeur, and the Maps display for the first time the topography and general features of a vast region hitherto unexplored. The hill-shaded map of the mass of Mount Everest itself on a scale of 1/100,000, will enable readers to trace the progress of the climbing parties in 1922, while showing in detail the assaults made upon the great mountain during the reconnaissance.

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The book is fully illustrated and has twenty-four magnificent plates depicting comets, nebulae, planets, etc., being the pick of the observations of the different Observatories.

A NEW MEDLEY OF MEMORIES.

BY THE

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TITULAR ABBOT OF DUNFERMLINE.

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It will be remembered that the Author's first "Medley" published in 1919 only brought his reminiscences to the year 1903. He has now continued them for another decade, and the contents of the new volume are as full of variety and anecdote as ever. Many a notable personage figures in these pages; many a good story is told and many interesting fragments of antiquarian and ecclesiastical lore are quoted.

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"The man who enormously increased the regard of the public for Landor, who indefatigably forwarded the interests of R. L. Stevenson, and who is unmatched for his scholarly exposition of Keats, would, of course, write a book of literary gossip with distinction and taste. But Sir Sidney Colvin has done more than that. This book is a model of what such books should be; it is well bred, balanced, informing, and yet it is light and readable all through."--_Spectator_.

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Oh! how comely it is and how reviving To the spirits of just men long opprest

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"Full of inimitable pictures."--_Nation and Athenaeum_.

"The leading literary and artistic figures of 60 years flit through the pages with a fascination which will amply repay those who have awaited publication of the book for its real worth. The whole of the fifty pages of Stevensonia give a more faithful picture of R. L. S. on the human side than anyone has hitherto been able to do."--_Daily News_.

ADRIENNE TONER.

By ANNE DOUGLAS SEDGWICK (MRS. BASIL DE SELINCOURT),

AUTHOR OF "TANTE," "THE ENCOUNTER," "VALERIE UPTON," ETC.

Third Impression. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d. net.

"Exquisite is the word that swims, not 'darkly' but with a sense of utter satisfaction, through the brain in summing up Miss Anne Douglas Sedgwick's new novel, Adrienne Toner. Its quality is extraordinarily even. It is a fine book, with flashes of humour and a strong and clear reading of human life, and withal of a quality of which it can only be said at last, as at first, that it is exquisite."--_Country Life_.

"I loved 'Adrienne Toner.' A wonderful book, I thought. It's well worth reading."--From "The Letters of Evelyn" in the _Tatler_.

"As a penetrating study of a rather uncommon personality it must be regarded as a first-class piece of work."--_Daily Telegraph_.

"In this grave and beautiful comedy of English life, with its central figure typifying the strength and crudity of those spiritual influences which have come to us from America, Anne Douglas Sedgwick reveals the growth and maturity of her power."--_Westminster Gazette_.

"An immensely clever study of an American girl and of the havoc wrought by her entry into an ordinary English country family. It is probably the best novel Miss Sedgwick has yet written."--_Evening Standard_.

"Miss Sedgwick has never done better than in this novel and in nothing is it so admirable as in the way in which her laughter leaves us and her ready to admire Adrienne when, not changed, but converted, she learns from Oldmeadow how much she has grown in spiritual wisdom."--_Daily News_.

"A remarkable and living narrative, well deserving all the applause that it has received."--_Outlook_.

"It is a surprising book--delicate and imaginative. Miss Sedgwick excels in the rendering of recurrent moods, changes of attitude, subtle currents of feeling. This is by far the best work she has given us."--_British Weekly_.

"A novel of rare distinction."--_Pall Mall Gazette_.

"No one could read 'Adrienne Toner' without determining to miss nothing from the same pen."--_Birmingham Post_.

"It is a long time since one has read a novel at once as interesting and as satisfying in its craftsmanship as this. Miss Sedgwick's artistry is firmer and stronger in her new book than ever yet. The way in which Adrienne is made visible is from the start quite masterly."--_Review of Reviews_.

"The book is to be read, thoughtfully and carefully, and with the realization that all the time we are seeing into some of the complexities of human nature as they are presented to us to-day. A fascinating and powerful and uncommon book."--_Church Times_.

THE RAINBOW BRIDGE.

By REGINALD FARRER,

AUTHOR OF "MY ROCK GARDEN," "ALPINES AND BOG PLANTS," ETC.

With Illustrations and Map. Second Impression. 21s. net.

"A classic of travel. Of modern travellers with a sense of style, Mr. Farrer must take his place in the forefront alongside of Mr. Doughty, Mr. Cunninghame Graham, and Mr. Norman Douglas."--_Times Literary Supplement_.

"There can be no denying that Mr. Farrer was one of the great masters of English prose. His last book is bright with sidelights on _vie intime_ of the essential China."--_Morning Post_.

THE SOUL AND BODY OF AN ARMY.

By GENERAL SIR IAN HAMILTON, G.C.B.

AUTHOR OF "A STAFF-OFFICER'S SCRAP-BOOK," "GALLIPOLI DIARY," ETC.

One Volume. Demy 8vo. 18s. net.

"Sir Ian Hamilton has performed a _tour de force_. He has written a book on military organization, and in his book there is not a dull page. It will make some angry, it will make some think, but certainly it will not produce a yawn."--Major-General Sir F. MAURICE in the _Daily News_.

"It is an odd, original, unequal, thought-compelling book, often exasperating, but never for a moment dull. It is persuasive, too, and on all the greater matters judicious."--JOHN BUCHAN in _The Evening Standard_.

WAR AND NATIONAL FINANCE.

By the HON. R. H. BRAND, C.M.G.,

FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD.

One Volume. Demy 8vo. 15s. net.

"A work which is not merely interesting but is most valuable."--_Morning Post_.

"By its lucidity, if for no other reason, it will be quite as interesting to the layman as to those who pretend to a small knowledge of economics."--_Daily Telegraph_.

"No one can read it without seeing the world's situation in the white light of fact and truth and it is a sure cure for most current fallacies."--_Financial News_.

HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM.

An Historical Sketch.

By SIR CHARLES ELIOT, K.C.M.G.,

H.B.M. AMBASSADOR AT TOKIO.

Three Volumes. L4 4s. net.

"There can hardly be an over-measure of praise accorded to Sir Charles Eliot for the methods he uses and the qualities he exhibits. A set of volumes which henceforth, surely, must be counted indispensable."--_The Times Literary Supplement_.

NEW SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL BOOKS.

ISOTOPES

By F. W. ASTON, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.,

FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

With Diagrams and Plates. Demy 8vo. 9s. net.

The foundations of the Atomic Theory have been based for over a century on Dalton's definition of the Atom. The discovery of radio-activity and the application of Positive Rays to the analysis of the elements have shown that our conception of the Atom as being homogeneous and indivisible must be modified. No one is better fitted to deal with the subject of isotopes than Dr. Aston, whose memoirs on this subject extend over a number of years. The book deals not only with isotopes, but gives a general survey of the electrical theory of matter.

AN INORGANIC CHEMISTRY.

By H. G. DENHAM, M.A., D.Sc, PH.D.,

PROFESSOR OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAPETOWN.

xii + 684 pages, with 144 figures and 56 tables.

Demy 8vo. Cloth. About 12s. 6d. net.

This is a general survey of inorganic chemistry up to the Intermediate Examination Standard of the Universities. Obsolete manufacturing processes are omitted unless they illustrate some particular type of chemical reaction. The book is treated from a modern standpoint, as much Physical Chemistry being introduced as is necessary for the proper understanding of the subject.

MAGNETISM AND ELECTRICITY.

By J. PALEY YORKE, A.M.I.E.E.,

HEAD OF THE PHYSICS AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT AT THE L.C.C. SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND NAVIGATION, POPLAR.

Second Edition. Crown 8vo. About 5s. net.

The Author has completely rewritten this book and brought it into line with the modern methods of teaching the subject. It is written primarily for the student in Technical Schools and abounds in references to the various problems the student is likely to meet in his every-day work.

RAILWAY ELECTRIC TRACTION.

By F. W. CARTER, M.I.E.E.,

HEAD OF THE TRACTION DEPARTMENT OF THE BRITISH THOMSON HOUSTON COMPANY, RUGBY.

400 pages, with 204 diagrams, photographs and plates.

Demy 8vo. Cloth. About 25s. net.

The author, a well-known authority on this subject, starts with a survey of the different systems of electrification and with a comparison between steam and electric working under various conditions. He then deals with the locomotive, distribution systems, etc., in detail and develops the mathematical calculations necessary for dealing with the various problems which arise. Finally the characteristics of the principal types of electrical locomotives throughout the world are given with photographs of certain of these locomotives.

ELEMENTARY HYDRAULICS FOR TECHNICAL STUDENTS.

By F. C. LEA, D.Sc., M.INST., C.E.,

PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING IN THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM.

Crown 8vo. About 8s. 6d. net.

Professor Lea, who is well known as the author of "Hydraulics for Engineers and Engineering Students," has here written a shorter book suitable for the courses taken in Technical Schools. Certain of the more elementary portions of the original book are included in this volume, but much of the material is new.

IONS ELECTRONS AND IONIZING RADIATIONS.

By J. A. CROWTHER, M.A., Sc.D.,

UNIVERSITY DEMONSTRATOR IN EXPERIMENTAL PHYSICS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

Third Edition. Demy 8vo. 12s. 6d. net.

This book, originally published in November, 1919, has been thoroughly revised. Many portions have been entirely rewritten and of these the Chapter on "The Electron Theory of Matter" should be especially mentioned. The tables of constants have been revised in accordance with the best data available and the book is in all respects abreast of the progress in this fast developing branch of modern Physics.

London: EDWARD ARNOLD & Co., 41 & 43 Maddox Street, W. 1.

End of Project Gutenberg's A New Medley of Memories, by David Hunter-Blair