Page:Pen, pencil, baton and mask; biographical sketches (IA penpencilbatonma00blaciala).pdf/275

Rh point-opposite St, Saviour's Church which makes a picturesque object in the foreground with its creepers and line of trees running down one side; from the left can be seen the barges floating up and down the river. Within the house a recess, half-way up the stairs, forms a perfect bower of palms, ferns, and flowering plants; the long French windows of the double drawing-rooms open ont on a broad verandah, with wicker chairs and little tables under the awning, which makes a pleasant retreat on a sultry evening. The polished floors are partially covered with thick Persian carpets of subdued tints; the carved white woodwork overnantels nold specimens of china collected from many lands; while a big jar of deep crim- son Oriental pottery, high up on a bracket, throws down a bright bit of colour on the collection. The great mar- queterie and several other bookcases, in every available space, are loaded with books, for Mr. Harrison is a student of Nature, and declares that if a reciter is to hold his own at all he must dig deep in the field of literature, and to study Browning alone requires a mining process, though whenever be opens a volume of that poet he finds a fresh gem.' A little glass-covered table is filled with odds and ends, souvenirs from friends, and on it stands a quaint model of a sedan chair of the past century beautifully painted by hand. In the inner room is a Steinway grand pianoforte, a treasured gift, flanked by more book- cases, on one of which is a formidable line of books of recitation, those of each author in a separate compart- inent. Comfortable lounges, saddle-bag chairs, Eastern screens, inlaid tables, and Egyptian curios complete a picture of the quiet home life of one who, so thoroughly imbued with artistic tastes, is under the necessity of lead- ing a comparatively placid existence outside his profes- sional career. A long and serious illness, which left & delicacy of the chest, obliged Mr. Clifford Harrison to eschew society and festive gatherings, where he was so bright an ornament, and to betake himself for six months