Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 19, 1908)
i THE r OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL, PORTLAND. SUNDAY ' MORNING, JULY IV I9M v i V i xiii ii i w i ii ii ill i i f i t ri ii ntiv iihiiiiiiiiwii- 7 1 1 i n ii mi 1 1 . i jam ju a mm ct n is I INROADS Bi-i'- SiXPfi -:y ENGLISH L-'ii'' !v&?"V X 5 a law 1 a a a. a wr A . ' : . 14 i . WWH.Vt T K I ll . 1)1 r s r . v. , i-""Kv-. ' -. "V "X. X II. , - 7- r. " r K. -. ill 1 iU i yl Vfyii i" XvV F7 JMIM WhW TS v" v ' v-. ' , v wx ' ' 4 A V, I I She married plain Herbert H. Asqulth. who was' 40 I W-p3 I f '" ' ' ' V I yean old. home secretary under Gladstone, compara- ImmbbbV BMiMl tT ? Pamela, dear, you vAU :arry a prayer book?" England's first lord of the , admiralty, Reginald McKenna, formerly the Solemn and staid minister of education, ' in 0 tilled into the heseechingness of his query Iff much of the gravity pertaining to his quar " tcr century of seniority as he dared. - f But he did not dare overmuch. Wilful, Uncompromisingly esthetic Pamela Jekyll,. pcn of England's famous society of "Souls," iad, indeed, consented to exchange her ravish youth and seductive charm for the first lldras distinction and devoted love, albeit his ears were somewhat frosted, if not hoar. i He had woi her. She was a "Lost Soul." But she was bound to lose herself in her own utterly artistic way, as a tribute to the aspira tions she forsook, and as a blow at the con ' ventionalities she derided. Had characterised their ha while aha waa virginal Margrot They discovered that new and dangerous creature of the new and ticklish science of psychology, the af finity. Some of the afflnltlea happened to be married. Bo there ensued quit a few scandals, rows, dissensions and bickerings among the "Souls" remaining; and all the "Souls" concerned hastened to decide that the best thing they could do would be" to forget It But such glory a had been theirs does not entirely fade; and scandal does die out within a generation, un less It has aotually landed In the dfvorce courts. When the children of the original "Souls" were Just about old enough to discover that they had souls of their own, a new leader was prepared to revive the dormant cult. Sweet Pamela Jekyll drew to her the sweet sister Barbara, who had her soul ready for the flowing Greek gown, which Pamela preferred, the minute sh - f I ij . ; 1 '"'-:- rK - r f And so, when the fateful word went forth to the expectant world of fashion only a few. weeks ago that the leader of the "Souls" id found her Adam and was on the eve of her departure from that Paradise of maiden- Siwod which every well-bred hngltsh maiden t&hould properly cherish until a wholly pros perous suitor appears to take her away from , it was made known, too, that the resolute .Pamela would not carry a prayer book, or tven a bouquet. She would not wear, at the altar of St'. Margaret' s, in Westminster, the close-fitting gown which fashion regarded as essential as the church regards the prayer Ibook. She would not have half a dcrzen brides- maids. Only her sister, Barbara, would be permitted to accompany her and that in a ' fareek robe, flowing free. a Pamela Jekyll, latest leader of the ' 'Souls," was true to :he traditions of her cult. their varied assortment of pure white, fluttering, soul ful souls it waa enough to set every man in England at work, with pick and ahovel, trying to reaurreot his dead soul because, maybe, it might lit in somewhere. It waa more than a dosen yean ago that Margot Tennant. youngest of Sir Charles Tennant's six daughters, founded the Society of the Souls. At least, that is the nam which has been popularly given it, when English folk try to bo really accurate in refer ring to them. She was the wonder of her day, as fascinating aa she was Intellectual, aa pretty as she was learned, aa lovely as sh was daring, as athletto as she was ac complished Di Vernon, MIgnon, Fanella and Hypatla, all rolled Into on entrancing bit of modern femi ninity. The only heroin she wasn't was burning Sappho, although she was as bluo-stocklnged as a Madame de Sevigne and as charming as a Ninon de l'Enclos but not that way. She would talk world politics with Gladstone in ' the afternoon, to his Infinite satisfaction; ah woul do a riotous skirt dance in the evening, to society's infinite delight. She would discuss religion with a bishop at night until he was argued Into dogmatics, and she would hunt a fox In the morning with a sporting vicar until he was ridden nearly to apoplexy. She shocked one-half of prim English society, and edlfled the other half; then she turned around, to ed ify the first and shock the others. And nobody dared hint that she was anything but a care-free, brilliant, whole-souled, high-spirited, ador able girl. It was Just nt the time when England and Scot land, too, for that matter was thtnklng of the gay Margot every hour of the time it wasn't thinking of bread and liuttfr. that she ram to the conclusion life wasn't worth living, after alL Her soul was cribbed, cabined, confined and various other things which usually show that a girl Is about ready for female suffrnga or for marriage. But Mar got Tennant simply hud to do something unexpected. So she did it. he selected from among her vast circle of friends and admirers, men and women, a few who, she shrewdly suspected, rralght actually have a soul lying around loose, waiting for somebody to breathe life into It. Beerbohm Tree and his talented wife, the Hon. Ar thur Balfour. Lady (iranhy, now duchess of Rutland. and quite a number of others discovered that they had jouls kindred to hers, that needed plenty of freedom irom tht- iron-bound decorums of conventionality, with a lltt.le bit of romance on the side. They came from the ultra-fashionable set. and they came from the extremely artistic set; they came from hlh rolitics. and they came from the etare. And they had a most lovely time of it, being so esthetic that they felt as though they were composed of soul exclusively, and so intellectual that only the higher aspirations and Inspirations of their souls kept them from being thinking machines. Then the marvelous Margot. -who had set the whole thing going and kent It on a level as lofty as her own Psyphe fluttering, did her next moat original thing. She married plain Herbert H. Asqulth. who was 40 years old, home secretary under Gladstone, compara tively poor, reputed as cold of nature a Margot-was full of fire, and of all suitors a widower with five children. She had become a "Lost Soul" via matrimony; but ahe had fulfilled her destiny of amaiing the British public And, incidentally, she had embarked upon the destiny which she had chosen for herself soma years previously, when she announced that the highest hap piness she could enjoy in life would ba to become the wife of a prime minister. ' It Is an ambition which does not permit of quite so many vagaries and flauntings of the conventions aa . had characterized the Margot Tennant of maidenhood. ""But, to use a phrase that fits well with one aspect of lier chameleon character, she was a good sport; and she played the game of premier-maker for all there was In It, from marshaling to her chosen widower's aid all her vast coterie of friends to playing the model stepmother to his batch of children. As Mrs. Asqulth, the gay Margot surely should have vanished from all but the most discreet brand of fame. And. Indeed, she did her best to conform to that ideal of domestic privacy which is so reverenced by the British pub.ii. But her old fames, under their varied guises, re fused to let her sink Into the obscurity of the domes tic chrysalis for which she now so ardently longed Very speedily young Benson's book. "Dodo," took the literary world by storm; and Instantly all Britain hailed the sprightly Margot In the more sprightly Dodo. "Lost Soul," Indeed, was the lovely founder of the " "Souls," now that she was vicarious mamma to five young ones, real mamma to another, insatiably ambi tious helpmeet to a poor parliamentarian, and hence forth to be known by the sobriquet of Dodo. And sh didn't like It much, either. Meanwhile some cf the other "Ronls" aba ho behind did not seem 'to retain the angel whiteness that S5 heard Pamela waa ready for First Lord McKenna ana the altar. To them came beautiful Viola Tree, daughter of, an original "Soul," whose person Is as pretty as her soul can ever dare be. And graceful, popular Miss Cecily Horner Joined them, wondering whether handsome Vi ola would stay a "Soul" or turn traitor and marry the marquis of Grarrby, who, they say. Is engaged to her. And they won over, too, , the lovely Lady Marjorla Manners, daughter of the duchess of Rutland, most courted of the English beauties of today, who would have been consort of Prince Arthur of Connaught if King Edward hadn't hated her mother, the duchess, from the days when, as marchioness of Qranby, she waa a shining "Soul" among the earlier group. The "Souls" of this new batch are younger and mostly unmarried. So it Is only romances, and not scandals, which thus far have stirred up the Interest , that attaches to them. But It Is a remarkable coincidence that, almost at the hour when the earlier leader of the "Souls," Mrs. Asquith, attains the summit of the ambition she set herself by becoming the wife of the prenirlr. the new leader, Pamela Jekyll, should make a match that par allels the marriage of clever, shrewd Margot. Is she, too, destined to make a premier of her hus band?' And Lady Marjorie Manners, who Ik generally re garded as most likely to become .he new leader of the mysterious society will she continue to ward off the determined assaults of Cupid? Already reports have had her engaged no fewer than half a dozen times, and society Is expecting al most dally an announcement of a real engagement Just as it Is expecting the marriage of Viola Tree to the marquis of Gronby. '"f-'ige that such a aulful lot of persons as the n.ou,d be ""'" through the machinations of the little love god! 0 Ii ElEWL a L w HO are the "Souls"? Long, long years ago the world asked another question, "Where Is the lost Atlan tis?'' No one has answered positively yet. ust as no one has yet positively learned what was : lh lost Atlantis. So, too, there Is no sure reply to the question, Wh are the Souls?" ' On grtat coterie In England will declare that the Fouls vanlshe! utterly years ago, soon after they f rat began to loe themelvc. a la the winsome, wll- 1 Pameia of today. Another group will declare they t mere numerous and m..r nouiful than ever, and j-retty nearly ready now to take the world by th liars and time by the forelock and make all of us rtlstlc. esthetic, unconventional, classic and ecstatic ally eung. But to say who all of them are would be to take census of th butterflies, here on minute and gone tb next; and to say precisely wrsat they are even . t iiav them say it of themselves would be like ask ing th butterflies to write their own autobiographies tat benefit of science. They doo t know. But, so fr as t!.ey know, they )r csceplional human beings ho, having dincovered that they really hav soui. as distlr gulsr -d from tn VromL wearied. clvllid tody with its gross apre i'te aad It palnfai vanities, are agreed to loose th tag ef tbos souls to all the artistic Joys, and all tarte tatUada of thought, which their eager star errk Mo try. they are g1rlat-nd sotn are mighty pretty Itlrls. If tbey weren't, aobody would ever t.ave cared k sirgl range klMMin whether they bad souls or v- ether vry en cf then was Fagging around in y.ds f br aa ava rorated rhinoceros, i Uut Bunch f pretty girl, ail troubled with ADY FAKQUJIAIt tonight entertains the qucc;. and l'rincoas' Victoria at dinner find afterward at a dance, to which the king, the prince of Wales and his majesty's Jockey Club dinner party will come on from Buckingham Palace." Such a modest paragraph in London's society journal; but whnt a momentous one, this which appeared on Derby Day. It chronicled the putting t f the scepter of the most rigorously ordered gocirty the world contains from the hand of the dowagor duchess of Devon shire, in mourning for the death of hey devoted husband, to the grap of a new uren of the social activities of England. Long dt laved, the reward of Lord Faruliar, master of the king's household, has been received at laau And Lad.: Farquhar becomes the new social leader of Kngland, in exercising the functions of hostess to her kir.g and qui'en on Derby Day. L ORD FA nd'HAR used to be modest Fir Horace Farquhar. heir presumptive to a baronetcy a century old. with a somewhat earlier baronetcy la the family, which was created under Will- ism Pitt, and anutber ancestor who had the honor of being knight. ! at fur tack as the middle of th eighteenth cr'.ur Hut still, he aa plsn ir Hrsc Farquhar, mn tiojxh. he owned In. posing Castle Rising, nesr t-ei dnagbam. But be was also Terr rich. f?r he was a member cf the great banking firm f H err let si Farquhar. and In 111. e had Judiciously married the bandtom widow. Ladr b"5tt. who brought bin tht magnificent resi dence, N. 1 iirfivmor fouare hr the nearest neighbors sr the duke of Manchester. Karl FttswIM lam. lbs duke ef Portland. Lerl HaversBam and tb marquis ef Anglesey. And he was on of tb clot friends ef tb prlnc eader f England 4oq "N " a MM TT" WJU ' ' asnannnnn.,.aTi y t - rhen Albert of Wi es. In the Joyous, hslcycn data Ldward had al. aorta of trouble, from iil-ntling Wigs te million doi.ar debts, and Deeded friends to straighten both of them. "Where's frarquharf tb prince would demand when anything went wrong, as ft did one night when r- was due at a fancy diett ball In a French ces tume and couidn t make the nig stay on. It w in Marlborough K"a. and there waa vast S'umtng to and fro to find the omnipotent f arquhar. Meanwhile th prlnc aad his valets wrestled wltk th lg vainly. Thank, fceavear eiiad th prlnc, as his friend an- ' tered. with his air of calm efficiency, "Here'a Horac." H wouldn't hav been Horac tarquhar if h had not happened to have some retoarc at hi beck. vn for that comical emergency. His own barber was Frenchman, who was hastily summoned. A deft touch, and tb wig was aa though Albert Edward bad been adapting himself to It for years. And, an th spot Hlr Horace' French barber became th prince's. when the prlnc became the king ther wr all art of odd million ef indebtedness lying araund 1mv, which he would hav to pay up la full and wltk nicaearabl promptness. If playing prlnc had ba aauavagaat, being king wa far mora costly. and the Income wasn't handy. He owed the famous Sam Lewis, money lender by calling to nobility and royalty, the tidy sum of 11.250, 000 on notes duly signed and witnessed. Sam. having come to die. and affectionately loyal, wanted to make his prlnc a present of the notes; but Albert Edward could not In decency accept them. So Sam, anxious to be truly magnanimous anyway, bequeathed the notes to the Prince of Wales Hospital. That proved how testatorlally generous the old money lender could be; but It transformed the prince's easiest debt of all into the-most pretslng. for he sim ply had to pay up when his creditor became his own hospital. Eatn had been good hearted, but thoughtless. When the crown landed on King Edward's brow, after be had become bald headed waiting, that royal brow was corrugated Into all brands of grapevine twists over the fearful contemplation of tb debts that were clamoring for satisfaction. "Where's Horace?" came to the worried king's llp. as naturally In this emergency as It had when his wig needed straightening. Horace was on the Job. efficient, as usual. He actually worked miracles with those ' mangled finances. Using his powerful banking influences, he organised a syndlcat that took over all his king's Jndebttdneta. He took over. also, the king's income. And, Uktwlss. th king's household. Sir Horac arranged to so admlnlstar th king's royal income that hi majesty shouldn't vn know he wss economising same old favarlt brand of cigars at II S1 apiece, sam old happy sporting life so far a his new dignities would let him enjoy It. same old everything. And yet. in ten yar. th king should b free of all hi Indebtedness, and th syndlcat would hav mad per cent, on Its Investment. Of course, blr Horac bcam Lord Farquhar. But that was n reward commensurate with such a huge service King Edward and. perhaps. Lord Farquhar waited for th rexl guerdon. Lady Farquhar ia said to b capable ef bearing her nw honors with commendable dignity, altbouga she was never trained for the high position of England s social leader, leadership subordinate, of course, to that af the qoeen aad tb member of tb royal family 8b Is said to b a companionable, good-hearted woman, not especially good looking, but with th tact and foresight necessary to leadership. Doubtless her qualifications were duly considered before th king aad queen promoted her to Uim place long IUld by tb dachas of Xvonshlr. J
