532 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -V 



turning to his next neighbor, drank to him; the latter 

 then received the cup, returned the compliment, and in the 

 same way passed it on. 



During the whole entertainment I had frequently turned 

 niy eyes toward the prime minister, and had been much 

 impressed by his apparent stolidity. When he presented 

 his arm to the lady mayoress, when he walked with her, and 

 during all the time at table, he seemed much like a wooden 

 image galvanized into temporary life. When he rose to 

 speak, there was the same wooden stiffness and he went 

 on in a kind of mechanical way until, suddenly, he darted 

 out a brilliant statement regarding the policy of the gov 

 ernment that aroused the whole audience ; then, after more 

 of the same wooden manner and mechanical procedure, 

 another brilliant sentence; and so on to the end of the 

 speech. 



All the speeches were good and to the point. There 

 were none of those despairing efforts to pump up fun 

 which so frequently make American public dinners dis 

 tressing. The speakers evidently bore in mind the fact 

 that on the following day their statements would be pon 

 dered in the household of every well-to-do Englishman, 

 would be telegraphed to foreign nations, and would be 

 echoed back from friends and foes in all parts of the world. 



After the regular speeches came a toast to the diplo 

 matic corps, and the person selected to respond was our 

 representative, the Honorable Edwards Pierpont. This 

 he did exceedingly well, and in less than five minutes. 

 Sundry American papers had indulged in diatribes 

 against fulsome speeches at English banquets by some of 

 Mr. Pierpont s predecessors, and he had evidently de 

 termined that no such charge should be established against 

 him. 



Much was added to my pleasure by my neighbors at 

 the table on one side, Sir Frederick Pollock, the emi 

 nent father of the present Sir Frederick ; and on the other, 

 Mr. Rolf, the i remembrancer of the City of London. 



This suggests the remark that, in my experience among 



