SENT TO ENGLAND 235 



from England saying that I would be very acceptable to the 

 literary and scientific men of England at the coming exhibition. 

 Small ventured to tell me that I was going to be appointed, as 

 Sir Charles thought it better to please the friends in England, 

 and, on his advice, I commenced to prepare to go. 



A few days before Dr. Adams was to start, Dr. Selwyn came 

 to me and said that he had decided that I would be the proper 

 man to go to England instead of Mr. Whiteaves, and he would 

 be glad if I could prepare to go at once. After simulated hesita- 

 tion, I said that I thought I could and, of course, being ready, I 

 had no trouble in leaving with Dr. Adams. I learned, before I 

 left, that Sir Charles Tupper told Dr. Selwyn that he must send 

 me as I would be very acceptable to friends in England. This 

 added to my standing when I reached England, because I was 

 placed at once on the list of distinguished Canadians and Dr. 

 Selwyn and myself were the only two of our contingent who were 

 on this list. 



We were hardly settled down to work before invitations 

 commenced to pour in and the first At Home that I attended 

 was one given by the Foreign Minister to Gladstone's Government. 

 I confess I was bewildered when ushered into the suite of rooms 

 which he occupied in the Foreign Office in London. It was 

 simply indescribable, as it was the first great function I had ever 

 attended. I may state here that, while in London, one of the 

 things that surprised me was that, on all occasions, every man that 

 pretended to be a gentleman, wore a tall hat and I followed suit 

 so that, on all the occasions of which I speak, the reader can think 

 of me as going around in a frock coat and a tall hat, and, often, 

 with a flower in my button hole. I will not attempt to go into 

 details and give a picture of any of the gatherings I attended, but 

 shall only mention a few of the principal ones. 



A short time after we reached London, I was invited, with 

 many others, to go to Normanhurst, the country estate of Sir 

 Thomas Brassey. Lady Brassey had just written a book called 

 'The Voyage of the Sunbeam" (a yacht that Sir Thomas owned) 

 and she was with him on the voyage which lasted for nearly a 

 year. Somehow it was mentioned while I was there that I had 



