BY ORDER OF THE CZAR. 2oi
modern art of Society journalism. He is not only a famous paragraphist, but in his social records knows exact- ly where to draw the line. " There are At Homes and At Homes," he said to Selwyn. " One does not care to meet Little Lomas nor to be hobnobbing with the Mem- ber for Ballyraggan, but Lady Forsyth leavens the stodgy lump of mediocrity with blood and distinction ; " and if you had read Lightfoot's account of the Forsyth At Home you would have come to the conclusion that the company consisted of the most ultramarine of the aristocracy. He knew how to give the affair sufficient tone for the Review. In Lightfoot's narrative the great statesman came with his intellectual and charming wife ; the Duchess of Malapert brought her niece, the Hon. Miss Stannyward, whose con- tributions to the fiction of the year had lifted her at a bound into the foremost ranks of lady novelists ; the Misses Flaherty wore delicious Empire gowns. The calm eyes of the Irish leader surveyed the scene with interest, except when he was comparing notes with his friend the American essayist, who had just arrived in London from cultured Boston. The Russian came with his handsome mother ; several members of the Chinese embassy were present ; Miss Rollin, the Shakesperian reciter, gave Portia's speech with much classic correctness, and Mr. Garrick Macready electrified the company with "The Spanish Mother ; " Sir Peter and Lady Freame, fresh from the Royal function at Windsor, put in a brief but welcome appearance ; and on the other hand the latest political thorn in the side of the Government, Mr. Stewart Montrose Morency, and his sister, the founder of the Home for Distressed Socialists, was welcomed by the hostess with her well-known Cos- mopolitan views of the world, of society, and politics. And so on ; it is an education in the ways and peculiarities of society, artistic, Bohemian and Royal, to read Mr. Lightfoot's accounts of men and things in the Review.
