Memories of Three Reigns, by Lady Raglan (Nash and Grayson,
21s.) consist chiefly of entertaining descriptions of how very rich people lived not very long ago. One is left with the feeling that so far at least as women and their social life was concerned, the whole system rested upon the low wages of domestic servants. In great houses they were to be counted in tens and dozens and supplied their mistresses with every comfort, an outlet for their instinctive love of sway, and a great deal of satirical amusement. Even now it seems strange and a little comic to Lady Raglan that a servant should take steps to inquire into the character of her prospective mistress. The whole book is light-hearted in the extreme. If the author sees few improvements she is not at all bitter about changes. Country life and town life from the nursery onward she looks back upon as a round of pleasure. Even the schoolroom was a place of delight, though education for girls was thought important even in Lady Raglan's time : " Let brains be the foundation of your personality and you will achieve success " a friend used to say to her daughters I The words " we have enjoyed ourselves " seem to ring through every chapter : and that makes for a jolly book.
Previous page
