s Jubilee Day,
The Day of a thousand years!"

This song was set to excellent music, and went well, especially in the
chorus. Several Americans were of our company, in particular, Richmond,
a literary friend of mine. At the dinner I had to make a principal
speech, and my cousin Gaspard of the Artillery (now General) answered
for the Army.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SHAKESPEARE COMMEMORATION.

On the three-hundredth anniversary of Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon I
contributed an ode, to be found in my extant book of poems. Among the
notabilia of the feastings and celebration, I remember how Lord Houghton
raised a great laugh by his pretended indignation when the glee singers
greeted the guests at dinner as "Ye spotted snakes with double
tongue!"--Doubtless it was a Shakespearean old English piece of
music,--but stupidly enough selected for a complimentary greeting. My
ode was well received, but I'll say no more of that, as it can speak for
itself. Lord Leigh made us all very welcome at his splendid Palladian
mansion, and there I met Lord Carlisle, then Viceroy of Ireland, who
kindly told me that as he had known my father, and knew me, and my son
was then in Ireland (he was a captain in the 29th Regiment), he would
put him on his staff, as a third generation of the name. I am not sure
if this happened, for my son soon was sent elsewhere; and he has long
since gone to the Better Land. But Lord Carlisle's kindness was all the
same. At the ball I remember Lord Carlisle's diamonds hanging like a
string of glass chandelier drops at his button-hole with a Shakespeare
favour, and jingling perilously for chippings as he danced: for size
those half-dozen Koh-i-noors must be--foolishly--invaluable.

At Stratford Church, either then or some while after, I strangely was
the means of saving Shakespeare's own baptismal font from destruction,
as thus: the church had been "restored,"--_i.e._, all its best patina
was polished away; and among the "improvements," I noticed a brand new
font. "Where is the old one?" "O sir, the mason who supplied the new one
took it away." So I called and found this font--quite sacred in
Shakespearean eyes as where their idol had been christened--lying broken
in a corner of the yard. Then off I went to the rector, I think it was a
Mr. Granville, expostulating; and (to make the matter short) with some
difficulty I got the font mended and put back again, as it certainly
never should