d the head of the river. Then
we went to, tea in New College and to see the sights of the different
colleges now on the Thames. The barges of the colleges, painted
different colors and gilded like circus band-wagons and decorated with
coats of arms and flying great flags, lined the one shore for a quarter
of a mile and were covered by girls in pretty frocks and under-grads in
blazers. Then the boats came into sight one after another with the men
running alongside on the towpath. This was one of the most remarkable
sights of the country so far. There were over six hundred men coming
six abreast, falling and stumbling and pushing, shouting and firing
pistols. It sounded like a cavalry charge and the line seemed endless.
The whole thing was most theatrical and effective. Then we went to the
annual dinner of the Palmerston Club, where I made a speech which was,
as there is no one else to tell you, well received, "being frequently
interrupted with applause," from both the diners and the ladies in the
gallery. It was about Free Trade and the way America was
misrepresented in the English papers, and composed of funny stories
which had nothing to do with the speech. I did not know I was going to
speak until I got there, and considering the fact, as Wilson says, that
your uncle was playing on a strange table with a crooked cue he did
very well. The next morning we breakfasted with the Bursar of Trinity
and had luncheon with the Viscount St. Cyres to meet Lord and Lady
Coleridge. St. Cyres is very shy and well-bred, and we would have had
a good time had not the M. P.'s present been filled with awe of the
Lord Chief Justice and failed to draw him out. As it was he told some
very funny stories; then we went to tea with Hubert Howard, in whose
rooms I live and am now writing, and met some stupid English women and
shy girls. Then we dined with the dons at New College, so--called
because it is eight hundred years old. We sat at a high table in a big
hall hung with pictures and lit by candles. The under-grads sat
beneath in gowns and rattled pewter mugs. We all wore evening dress
and those that had them red and white fur collars. After dinner we
left the room according to some process of selection, carrying our
napkins with us. We entered a room called the Commons, where we drank
wines and ate nuts and raisins. It was all very solemn and dull and
very dignified. Outside it was quite light although nine o'clock.
Then