CHAPTER I

EARLY DAYS

PAGE

I come into the world.--The story of my ancestry.--My mother.--Wilkie Collins.--The Collins family.--Slough and Upton.--The funeral of the Duchess of Kent.--The marriage of the Princess Royal.--Her Majesty Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.--Their visits to my parents' studios.--The Prince of Wales.--Sir William Ross, R.A.--Westminster Abbey.--My composition.--A visit to Astley's Theatre.--Wilkie Collins and Pigott.--The Panopticon.--The Thames frozen over. --The Comet.--General Sir John Hearsey.--Kent Villa.--My father.--Lady Waterford.--Marcus Stone and Vicat Cole.--The Crystal Palace.--Rev. J. M. Bellew.--Kyrle Bellew.--I go to school.--Wentworth Hope Johnstone. 1