Mrs. Chamberlain, née Miss Mary Endicott, belongs to one of the oldest families in New England, one of her forebears having been the first English governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Chamberlain, then a widower for the second time, first met Miss Endicott in 1887, when he was one of the British delegates on the Fishery Commission; but their engagement did not take place till the following year, and Mr. Chamberlain returned to America to be married, the wedding being celebrated at Salem, Mass., the residence of the bride's father.
At the present moment it is interesting to recall that Mr. W. C. Endicott was Secretary for War in President Cleveland's first administration, and perhaps Mr. Chamberlain's openly expressed sympathies with America during the Hispano-American war are greatly owing to the fact that his wife's family have always been ardently patriotic.
Mrs. Chamberlain has now become quite an Englishwoman. Her husband's people have become her people, and she has even gathered Birmingham to her heart, for although Highbury has become a very "smart" house, its mistress is always ready to welcome there her husband's old supporters and early friends; Mrs. Chamberlain has also ever been on the happiest terms with her step-children, one of whom, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, is older than herself.
What orchids are popularly supposed to be to the Colonial Secretary, roses are to his charming American wife; and the rosery at Highbury is one of the most beautiful in the United Kingdom, and this although Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain spend a considerable portion of the year in Prince's Gardens, where they are always reminded, however, of their much-loved Warwickshire home, great baskets full of roses being sent them almost daily from Highbury.
Mrs. Chamberlain does not see very much of what may be called the American colony. On all important occasions she is to be seen in the Ladies' Gallery of the House of Commons, and during the famous Home Rule Bill debates she was as faithful in her attendance as was Mrs. Gladstone herself. She is one of the very few American women for whom the Queen has shown a distinct partiality, and she often accompanies her husband when he receives a "dine and sleep" invitation to Windsor.
Lady Harcourt belongs to an altogether older and more serious generation than that from which have been drawn those American women who now leaven English society. She was the daughter of the famous American historian, Motley, and much of her youth was spent in Europe, where her father, who was a diplomat as well as a student, was seeking materials for his great history, "The Rise of the Dutch Republic."
Miss Motley married Mr. Ives when quite a girl, and after becoming a widow continued to live in England; and thus it fell about that Mr. Vernon Harcourt, himself a widower with one little boy, had the good fortune to win as his second wife one of the most charming and kindly of women.
The Liberal ranks are, when compared with their rivals, poor in hostesses; but it is universally admitted that in Lady Harcourt they are exceptionally blessed, and her house parties at Malwood have done much to make Sir William popular with the party, the more so that Lady Harcourt does not confine her interest to politics. She is devoted to literature and art, and accordingly she is very eclectic in her choice of guests. Thus Sir William and Lady Harcourt were on intimate terms with Disraeli, and after the great Tory leader's death, a very valuable and unique miniature of Byron which had been in the possession of the author of "Lothair" was given to the Squire of Malwood by Lord Beaconsfield's executors.
Lady Harcourt also frequently entertained Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone, and in her garden is a walnut tree planted by the Grand Old Man, while close by is an ash which is known as Mrs. Gladstone's tree.
It is an interesting fact that, through the Vernons, Lady Harcourt is the only American who can claim relationship with Royalty. The story goes that on one occasion, to his annoyance rather than to his amusement, a friend of the Liberal Leader once proposed at a Radical gathering the health of "Mr. Vernon Harcourt and the rest of the Royal Family!"