A PHOTOGRAPHIC SOUVENIR 



in the fact that it represented a close and unbroken 

 intimacy of over thirty years without a single 

 rift in the lute. If, as an old writer once said, 

 "the value of a gift lies much in the manner of 

 its bestowal," then the grace accompanying the 

 presentation in this case and the kindliness of the 

 thought that prompted it puts this gift outside 

 the region of any mundane valuation. 



It was a happy coincidence that when the 

 Oxfordshire Agricultural Society desired me to 

 have something to remember them by, I received 

 it from the hands of the then Lord Lieutenant 

 the late Earl of Jersey of my native county, 

 and when the Bath and West Society, thirty 

 years afterwards, followed suit, the Lord Lieu- 

 tenant the Marquess of Bath of my adopted 

 county was the intermediary. 



I possess another souvenir of the occasion, 

 though of an altogether different type, consist- 

 ing of a photograph. A friend, by means of some 

 ingenious manipulation and a little help from 

 myself, succeeded in producing a very effective 

 piece of photographic portraiture. It represents 

 the Mayor apparently engaged in a delicate 

 negotiation with the Secretary-Showman. The 

 latter is in his official get-up frock-suit, badge 

 of office, and " topper " all complete which he 

 is in the habit of assuming when interviewing 

 distinguished personages. Hat in hand, his sub- 

 missive deportment indicates that he is treating 

 his Worship with all " the deference due to me," 

 as the original Pooh Bah expresses it. The 

 Mayor, on the other hand, cock-hatted, robed and 

 chained, wears an impressive and superior air of 



289 u 



