Mexico weekly ledger., 1882-09-07
An Odd English Gentleman.
Lord Dudlsy's Habit of Thinking Out Loud-oth

Lord Dudlsy's Habit of Thinking Out Loud-othsr
Eccentricities.
Lord Dudley" says Mr.. Moore, sit
Is well known, has q trick OF ~rehearslng
over to himself, in an undertone, the
good things he is about to deliver to the
company, SO that the person who sits
next to him has generally the advantage
of his wit before any of the rest OF the
party. A man not very remarkable for
agreeableness once proposed to walk
from the house of commons to the Trav-
elers' club with Lord Dudley, who, dis
cussing the proposal mentally Gas he
thought) with himself, said audibly, I
don't think it will bore me very much
to let him walk with me that distance
On another occasion, when he gave
somebody a sea- in his carriage from
some country-house, he was overheard
by his companions, after a fit o~fthought
and silence, saying to himself: Now,
shall I ask this man to dine with me
when we arrive in town. 1t is said
that the fellow-traveler, not pretending
to hear him, muttered out in the same
sort of tone: Now, if Lord Dudley
should ask me to dinner, shall I accept
his invitation"
A happy specimen of his wit was this
retort to a German lady at Vienna who
had somewhat rudely complained OF the
bad French spoken by ''you English"
In London. True. madam" he said,
swe have not enjoyed the advantage of
having had the French twice in our
capital"
This recalls a retort about as good
made by an E~nglishman to the Due de
Broglie when ambassador in England,
who said, with equally lax manners,
that they were right in thinking the
English native of shopkeepers. Per
haps so," was his reply, lust as we al
ways thought you were a nation OF sol
diers."
After his retirementhi his curious mania
and various oddities increased to an ex-
travagant degree, and were the talk OF
the town, which, however. o o came to
accept them as it does all kind OF oddi-
ty. He would 60 to dinner parties and
sit without uttering a word excepting to
himself. During some brief CLASHES OF
silence" Mr.. Raikes tells of a friend Of
his whom he describes as g~ood-natured
and a very good-looking man, not over
| AOWlUg WILL lUtCllCSts Y q a. .
time when poor Dudley's mind was or
the wane, when his caustic humor would
still find vent through the cloud which
was gradually overshadowing his mas
terly intellect; he was sitting in Ii
room, unheeding those around him. anc
soliloquizing aloud, as was so often hi:
custom. His favorite Newfoundland
dog was at his side, who seemed to en-
gross his whole attention. At length
patting his head, he exclaimed: Eide
MIC, they say dogs have no souls
Humph! And still they say - has
soul!' Upon one occasion he found MI
Allen at Whites, about Z o'clock, AM
asked him to dinner. On his arrival a
Park lane, he found it was a tete-a-tet
with the host. When, in the evening
he was asked how the dinner went of
Allen said: Lord Dudley spoke a littl
to his servant and a great deal to hi
dog, but said nothing"
, In this state, too, he would invit
large companies to dinner, who, strane
r er still, would accept his invitation:
though when they came he would nc
l address them. MI. Moore, who love
cheerfulness and gayety, complaine
%mournfully of these festivities as damn
ing and depressing. Forthe host woul
sit the whole time in a sort of stupor, {
converse with himself, orhave a volun
of Hume open before him, which /
would read throughout his dinner. TIL
8 was the beginning Of the end. A sho.
time afterward, in 1882, it was know
that the doctors had directed that
should be put under restraint, and G
> the 9th Of March, 1888, this brillial
but eccentric man expired. He W:
. only 81. A relation of his, the Rev. NJ
Ward, succeeded to the title with f4,0(
a year only, while ESQ, 600 ayear passt
to this clergyman's son, the presel