WOMAN'S WORLD

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3054, 16 April 1917, Page 3

WOMAN'S WORLD

(Continued from Page 2) THE ORIGINAL OF DODO" MBS. ASQUITH AT . DOWNING . - ' STREET. . ; An interesting description of the late Prime Minister of England (Mr. • Asquith) and of Mrs. Asquith is given, by "J.L.M. ,, in /the . Melbourne ~ "Argus." Of Mrs. Asquith the writer '.says:— : .'.•"■ -..;■■ ■'. ■■... ' , Todescribe her is alinost'impossible. ■■'... Her quick smile, ready sympathy, humour, and impulsiveness formed part , .of a personality whose very essence is i-""'- expressed in the French abbreviation; '■ .of ner name—-by which London sooiety knows her—"Margot." To know her ■a little is to be fascinated; to know '•■■'■ ' her better is to love her. Over the sober, history-laden .rooms of No. 10 Downing Street she oaet the glamour of that charm'which has won ner for , friends all the' great men! of her day. .'. As Margot Tennant/she- was quite.a celebrity. Men as widely. diverse as Professor Powett and J. A. Symonds were her intimate friends, and between them range a company of world-famous names —soldiers,' politicians, and . artists. In the 'drawing-room. of 10 Downing Street, when she lived there,' was a bookcase' full of first editions, each with the.author's autograph on the ■fly-leaf—an almost'.,'unique.collection, 'to which she is'still adding.' It -is said • thatßenson drew the' portrait .of "Dodo" "from Margot Tennant. She was ■ . told about-it, and expressed her .annoy-. '•■• ance in characteristic fashion. "I hear • you have written'a.'book," she is re- ' ported to have written to him.. "How ■clever of you! Will you come to" lunch' with me?" .■', •.'■■.. • '._''.■ '■" l Mrs. Asquith. was ;a,,jealous -guardian of her husband's peace and comfort. Art.i'ur Balfour used the Cabinet-room itself as a' study. Asquith preferred to be away from the official quarters, ■ and chose a room leading out .of'the drawing-room. On v one occasion, as he was passing through the hall from his study, lie paused to speak on a matter •of business to his wife's private secre- ' tary. Mrs." 'Asquith overheard ■■ from * the drawing-room. 'Don't speak to Henry," she cried out; "I won't have

Henry bothered," and she rushed in .like a whirlwind which it needed the Prime Minister himself to calm.

One striking characteristic of Mrs. Asquith Is her unbounded kindness and generosity. No appeal, from whatever source, for assistance, monetary or otherwise, ever oame to her in vain. Many times have I known her to give up an afternoon's amusement to'visit a sick friend or relation. Many_ are the unknown kindnesses she does to those whose needs become known to her, Mrs., Asquith has been much critioised for her impulsive acts,' but they spring from her kindheartedness and her innate Bohemianism. No.one who knows anything of the sorrows she has been through, or of the kindnesses she has extended' to others in trouble, could judge her harshly. ■ . To,the ordinary acquaintance the-iin-, pression given by Mr.,Asquith was that, of a suave, courteous scholar—quiet/ humorous, and imperturbable. It was Mrs. Lloyd George who once eaid that aothing ever "ruffled" the Prime Minister. The crooked mouth and eyebrows so familiar to everyone in Car-, ruthere Gould's caricatures are no libel on the original. One of trie characteristic features or the Asquith regime was that politics were dropped outeide the official quarters.' Politicians from both sides of the Hou6e were to be met round Mrs. Asquith's luncheon table, and were on terms of familiarity, even to the extent of nicknames' with the Prime Minister's family. Mrs. Asquith was connected by marriage with the late Mr. Alfred Lyttletqn, famous as a cricketer and a politician, whose first wife was, one of her youngest sisters, and among others Arthur Balfour was a frequent visitor and close friend. ■ - •