Long after his
hearing had failed, his sight become grievously weakened, and his
limbs not always trustworthy, he would never allow a cab to be
summoned for him after dinner, always walking to his lodgings. But
he had to give up by and by his daily canter in Rotten Row, and
more reluctantly still his continental travel. Foreign railways
were closed to him by the Salle d'Attente; he could not stand
incarceration in the waiting-rooms.
The last time he crossed the Channel was at the close of the
Franco-Prussian war, on a visit to his old friend M. Thiers, then
President. It was a dinner to deputies of the Extreme Left, and
Kinglake was the only Englishman; "so," he said, "among the
servants there was a sort of reasoning process as to my identity,
ending in the conclusion, 'il doit etre Sir Dilke.'" Soon the
inference was treated as a fact; and in due sequence came newspaper
paragraphs declaring that the British Ambassador had gravely
remonstrated with the President for inviting Sir Charles Dilke to
his table. Then followed articles defending the course taken by
the President, and so for some time the ball was kept up.
Pages:
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117