It was a
large assembly, and if any persons can enjoy a good dinner and lively
conversation, it is those who take an interest in sport. Mixed as the
company might be, it was uniform in its object, which was to be happy
as well as jolly.
That I should have been asked to be present on this historic occasion
was extremely gratifying, but I could find no reason for the honour
conferred upon me, except that it 'might be because I had always
endeavoured to make myself agreeable--a faculty, if it be a faculty,
most invaluable in all the relations and circumstances of life. I was
flattered by the compliment, because in reality I was the guest of all
the really great men of the day.
But a still more striking honour was in store. I was called upon to
respond for somebody or something; I don't remember what it was to
this day, nor had I the faintest notion what I ought to say. I was
perfectly bewildered, and the first utterance caused a roar of
laughter. I did not at that time know the reason. It is of no
consequence whether you know what you are talking about in an
after-dinner speech or not, for say what you may, hardly anybody
listens, and if they do few will understand the drift of your
observations. You get a great deal of applause when you stand up, and
a great deal more when you sit down. I seemed to catch my audience
quite accidentally by using a word tabooed at that time in sporting
circles, because it represented the blacklegs of the racecourse, and
was used as a nickname for rascaldom.
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