Dinner-time, and still no Hundreds of people. In the arrangements of the little household, Miss Pross took charge of the lower regions, and always acquitted herself marvellously. Her dinners, of a very modest quality, were so well cooked and so well served, and so neat in their contrivances, half English and half French, that nothing could be better. Miss Pross's friendship being of the thoroughly practical kind, she had ravaged Soho and the adjacent provinces, in search of impoverished French, who, tempted by shillings and half-crowns, would impart culinary mysteries to her. From these decayed sons and daughters of Gaul, she had acquired such wonderful arts, that the woman and girl who formed the staff of domestics regarded her as quite a Sorceress, or Cinderella's Godmother: who would send out for a fowl, a rabbit, a vegetable or two from the garden, and change them into anything she pleased.
HENLEY, WILLIAM ERNEST (1849-1903), British poet, critic and editor, was born on the 23rd of August 1849 at Gloucester, and was educated at the Crypt Grammar School in that city. The school was a sort of Cinderella sister to the Cathedral School, and Henley indicated its shortcomings in his article (_Pall Mall Magazine_, Nov. 1900) on T. E. Brown the poet, who was headmaster there for a brief period. Brown's appointment, uncongenial to himself, was a stroke of luck for Henley, for whom, as he said, it represented a first acquaintance with a man of genius. "He was singularly kind to me at a moment when I needed kindness even more than I needed encouragement." Among other kindnesses Brown did him the essential service of lending him books. To the end Henley was no classical scholar, but his knowledge and love of literature were vital. Afflicted with a physical infirmity, he found himself in 1874, at the age of twenty-five, an inmate of the hospital at Edinburgh. From there he sent to the _Cornhill Magazine_ poems in irregular rhythms, describing with poignant force his experiences in hospital. Leslie Stephen, then editor, being in Edinburgh, visited his contributor in hospital and took Robert Louis Stevenson, another recruit of the _Cornhill_, with him. The meeting between Stevenson and Henley, and the friendship of which it was the beginning, form one of the best-known episodes in recent literature (see especially Stevenson's letter to Mrs Sitwell, Jan. 1875, and Henley's poems "An Apparition" and "Envoy to Charles Baxter"). In 1877 Henley went to London and began his editorial career by editing _London_, a journal of a type more usual in Paris than London, written for the sake of its contributors rather than of the public. Among other distinctions it first gave to the world _The New Arabian Nights_ of Stevenson. Henley himself contributed to his journal a series of verses chiefly in old French forms. He had been writing poetry since 1872, but (so he told the world in his "advertisement" to his collected _Poems_, 1898) he "found himself about 1877 so utterly unmarketable that he had to own himself beaten in art and to addict himself to journalism for the next ten years." After the decease of _London_, he edited the _Magazine of Art_ from 1882 to 1886. At the end of that period he came before the public as a poet. In 1887 Mr Gleeson White made for the popular series of _Canterbury Poets_ (edited by Mr William Sharp) a selection of poems in old French forms. In his selection Mr Gleeson White included a considerable number of pieces from _London_, and only after he had completed the selection did he discover that the verses were all by one hand, that of Henley. In the following year, Mr H. B. Donkin in his volume _Voluntaries_, done for an East End hospital, included Henley's unrhymed rhythms quintessentializing the poet's memories of the old Edinburgh Infirmary. Mr Alfred Nutt read these, and asked for more; and in 1888 his firm published _A Book of Verse_. Henley was by this time well known in a restricted literary circle, and the publication of this volume determined for them his fame as a poet, which rapidly outgrew these limits, two new editions of this volume being called for within three years. In this same year (1888) Mr Fitzroy Bell started the _Scots Observer_ in Edinburgh, with Henley as literary editor, and early in 1889 Mr Bell left the conduct of the paper to him. It was a weekly review somewhat on the lines of the old _Saturday Review_, but inspired in every paragraph by the vigorous and combative personality of the editor. It was transferred soon after to London as the _National Observer_, and remained under Henley's editorship until 1893. Though, as Henley confessed, the paper had almost as many writers as readers, and its fame was mainly confined to the literary class, it was a lively and not uninfluential feature of the literary life of its time. Henley had the editor's great gift of discerning promise, and the "Men of the _Scots Observer_," as Henley affectionately and characteristically called his band of contributors, in most instances justified his insight. The paper found utterance for the growing imperialism of its day, and among other services to literature gave to the world Mr Kipling's _Barrack-Room Ballads_. In 1890 Henley published _Views and Reviews_, a volume of notable criticisms, described by himself as "less a book than a mosaic of scraps and shreds recovered from the shot rubbish of some fourteen years of journalism." The criticisms, covering a wide range of authors (except Heine and Tolstoy, all English and French), though wilful and often one-sided were terse, trenchant and picturesque, and remarkable for insight and gusto. In 1892 he published a second volume of poetry, named after the first poem, _The Song of the Sword_, but on the issue of the second edition (1893) re-christened _London Voluntaries_ after another section. Stevenson wrote that he had not received the same thrill of poetry since Mr Meredith's "Joy of Earth" and "Love in the Valley," and he did not know that that was so intimate and so deep. "I did not guess you were so great a magician. These are new tunes; this is an undertone of the true Apollo. These are not verse; they are poetry." In 1892 Henley published also three plays written with Stevenson--_Beau Austin_, _Deacon Brodie_ and _Admiral Guinea_. In 1895 followed _Macaire_, afterwards published in a volume with the other plays. _Deacon Brodie_ was produced in Edinburgh in 1884 and later in London. Beerbohm Tree produced _Beau Austin_ at the Haymarket on the 3rd of November 1890 and _Macaire_ at His Majesty's on the 2nd of May 1901. _Admiral Guinea_ also achieved stage performance. In the meantime Henley was active in the magazines and did notable editorial work for the publishers: the _Lyra Heroica_, 1891; _A Book of English Prose_ (with Mr Charles Whibley), 1894; the centenary Burns (with Mr T. F. Henderson) in 1896-1897, in which Henley's Essay (published separately 1898) roused considerable controversy. In 1892 he undertook for Mr Nutt the general editorship of the _Tudor Translations_; and in 1897 began for Mr Heinemann an edition of Byron, which did not proceed beyond one volume of letters. In 1898 he published a collection of his _Poems_ in one volume, with the autobiographical "advertisement" above quoted; in 1899 _London Types_, Quatorzains to accompany Mr William Nicolson's designs; and in 1900 during the Boer War, a patriotic poetical brochure, _For England's Sake_. In 1901 he published a second volume of collected poetry with the title _Hawthorn and Lavender_, uniform with the volume of 1898. In 1902 he collected his various articles on painters and artists and published them as a companion volume of _Views and Reviews: Art_. These with "A Song of Speed" printed in May 1903 within two months of his death make up his tale of work. At the close of his life he was engaged upon his edition of the Authorized Version of the Bible for his series of _Tudor Translations_. There remained uncollected some of his scattered articles in periodicals and reviews, especially the series of literary articles contributed to the _Pall Mall Magazine_ from 1899 until his death. These contain the most outspoken utterances of a critic never mealy-mouthed, and include the splenetic attack on the memory of his dead friend R. L. Stevenson, which aroused deep regret and resentment. In 1894 Henley lost his little six-year-old daughter Margaret; he had borne the "bludgeonings of chance" with "the unconquerable soul" of which he boasted, not unjustifiably, in a well-known poem; but this blow broke his heart. With the knowledge of this fact, some of these outbursts may be better understood; yet we have the evidence of a clear-eyed critic who knew Henley well, that he found him more generous, more sympathetic at the close of his life than he had been before. He died on the 11th of July 1903. In spite of his too boisterous mannerism and prejudices, he exercised by his originality, independence and fearlessness an inspiring and inspiriting influence on the higher class of journalism. This influence he exercised by word of mouth as well as by his pen, for he was a famous talker, and figures as "Burly" in Stevenson's essay on _Talk and Talkers_. As critic he was a good hater and a good fighter. His virtue lay in his vital and vitalizing love of good literature, and the vivid and pictorial phrases he found to give it expression. But his fame must rest on his poetry. He excelled alike in his delicate experiments in complicated metres, and the strong impressionism of _Hospital Sketches_ and _London Voluntaries_. The influence of Heine may be discerned in these "unrhymed rhythms"; but he was perhaps a truer and more successful disciple of Heine in his snatches of passionate song, the best of which should retain their place in English literature. Entry: HENLEY
CINCINNATUS LUCIUS QUINCTIUS CLARINA CINDERELLA CLARINET CINEAS CLARK, SIR ANDREW CINEMATOGRAPH CLARK, FRANCIS EDWARD CINERARIA CLARK, GEORGE ROGERS CINGOLI CLARK, SIR JAMES CINNA (Roman family) CLARK, JOHN BATES CINNA, GAIUS HELVIUS CLARK, JOSIAH LATIMER CINNABAR CLARK, THOMAS CINNAMIC ACID CLARK, WILLIAM GEORGE CINNAMON CLARKE, ADAM CINNAMON-STONE CLARKE, SIR ANDREW CINNAMUS CLARKE, CHARLES COWDEN CINNOLIN CLARKE, EDWARD DANIEL CINO DA PISTOIA CLARKE, SIR EDWARD GEORGE CINQ-MARS, D'EFFIAT CLARKE, JAMES FREEMAN CINQUE CENTO CLARKE, JOHN SLEEPER CINQUE PORTS CLARKE, MARCUS ANDREW HISLOP CINTRA CLARKE, MARY ANNE CIPHER CLARKE, SAMUEL CIPPUS CLARKE, THOMAS SHIELDS CIPRIANI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA CLARKE, WILLIAM BRANWHITE CIRCAR CLARKSON, THOMAS CIRCASSIA CLARKSVILLE CIRCE CLASSICS CIRCEIUS MONS CLASSIFICATION CIRCLE CLASTIDIUM CIRCLEVILLE CLAUBERG, JOHANN CIRCUIT CLAUDE, JEAN CIRCULAR NOTE CLAUDE OF LORRAINE CIRCULUS IN PROBANDO CLAUDET, ANTOINE FRANÇOIS JEAN CIRCUMCISION CLAUDIANUS, CLAUDIUS CIRCUMVALLATION, LINES OF CLAUDIUS (Nero Germanicus) CIRCUS CLAUDIUS (famous Roman gens.) CIRENCESTER CLAUDIUS, MARCUS AURELIUS CIRILLO, DOMENICO CLAUDIUS, MATTHIAS CIRQUE CLAUSEL CIRTA CLAUSEN, GEORGE CISSEY, ERNEST COURTOT DE CLAUSEWITZ, KARL VON CISSOID CLAUSIUS, RUDOLF EMMANUEL CIS-SUTLEJ STATES CLAUSTHAL CIST CLAVECIN CISTERCIANS CLAVICEMBALO CITATION CLAVICHORD CÎTEAUX CLAVICYTHERIUM CITHAERON CLAVIE, BURNING THE CITHARA CLAVIÈRE, ÉTIENNE CITIUM CLAVIJO, RUY GONZALEZ DE CITIZEN CLAVIJO Y FAJARDO, JOSÉ CITOLE CLAY, CASSIUS MARCELLUS CITRIC ACID CLAY, CHARLES CITRON CLAY, FREDERIC CITTADELLA CLAY, HENRY CITTÀ DELLA PIEVE CLAY (substance) CITTÀ DI CASTELLO CLAY CROSS CITTÀ VECCHIA CLAYMORE CITTERN CLAYS, PAUL JEAN CITY CLAYTON, JOHN MIDDLETON CIUDAD BOLÍVAR CLAYTON-BULWER TREATY CIUDAD DE CURA CLAY-WITH-FLINTS CIUDAD JUAREZ CLAZOMENAE CIUDAD PORFIRIO DIAZ CLEANTHES CIUDAD REAL (province of Spain) CLEARCHUS CIUDAD REAL (city in Spain) CLEARFIELD CIUDAD RODRIGO CLEARING-HOUSE CIVERCHIO, VINCENZO CLEAT CIVET CLEATOR MOOR CIVIDALE DEL FRIULI CLEAVERS CIVILIS, CLAUDIUS CLEBURNE CIVILIZATION CLECKHEATON CIVIL LAW CLEETHORPES CIVIL LIST CLEFT PALATE CIVIL SERVICE CLEISTHENES CIVITA CASTELLANA CLEITARCHUS CIVITA VECCHIA CLEITHRAL CLACKMANNAN CLEITOR CLACKMANNANSHIRE CLELAND, WILLIAM CLACTON-ON-SEA CLEMATIS CLADEL, LÉON CLEMENCEAU, GEORGES CLAFLIN, HORACE BRIGHAM CLEMENCÍN, DIEGO CLAIRAULT CLEMENT (popes) CLAIRON, LA CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA CLAIRVAUX CLÉMENT, FRANÇOIS CLAIRVOYANCE CLÉMENT, JACQUES CLAMECY CLEMENTI, MUZIO CLAN CLEMENTINE LITERATURE CLANRICARDE, DE BURGH (Earl) CLEOBULUS CLANRICARDE, DE BURGH (Marquess) CLEOMENES CLANVOWE, SIR THOMAS CLEON CLAPARÈDE, JEAN LOUIS CLEOPATRA CLAPPERTON, HUGH CLEPSYDRA CLAQUE CLERESTORY CLARA, SAINT CLERFAYT CLARE (English family) CLERGY CLARE, JOHN (English poet) CLERGY, BENEFIT OF CLARE, JOHN FITZGIBBON CLERGY RESERVES CLARE (county in Ireland) CLERK CLAREMONT CLERKE, AGNES MARY CLARENCE, DUKES OF CLERKENWELL CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE CLERMONT-EN-BEAUVAISIS CLARENDON, GEORGE VILLIERS CLERMONT-FERRAND CLARENDON, HENRY HYDE CLERMONT-GANNEAU, CHARLES SIMON CLARENDON, CONSTITUTIONS OF CLERMONT-L'HERAULT CLARES, POOR CLERMONT-TONNERRE (French family) CLARET CLERMONT-TONNERRE, STANISLAS CLARETIE, JULES ARNAUD CLERUCHY CLARI, GIOVANNI CARLO MARIA Entry: CINCINNATUS