He had
measured the animal food consumed by the working classes, and knew
the exact amount of alcohol swallowed by the average Briton. He had
seen also the luxury of baronial halls, the pearl-drinking
extravagances of commercial palaces, the unending labours of our
pleasure-seekers--as with Lord Rufford, and the dullness of
ordinary country life--as experienced by himself at Bragton. And
now he was going to tell the English people at large what he
thought about it all.
The great room at St. James's Hall had been secured for the
occasion, and Lord Drummond, the Minister of State in foreign
affairs, had been induced to take the chair. In these days our
governments are very anxious to be civil to foreigners, and there
is nothing that a robust Secretary of State will not do for them.
On the platform there were many members of both Houses of
Parliament, and almost everybody connected with the Foreign Office.
Every ticket had been taken for weeks since. The front benches were
filled with the wives and daughters of those on the platform, and
back behind, into the distant spaces in which seeing was difficult
and hearing impossible, the crowd was gathered at 2s. 6d. a head,
all of which was going to some great British charity. From
half-past seven to eight Piccadilly and Regent Street were crammed,
and when the Senator came himself with his chairman he could hardly
make his way in at the doors.
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