Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-02-26
THAT INSCRIPTIONS PITT.


NAV have called William Pitt unscrupu-
lous but surely no one has had better
NIGHT 70 apply that epithct 90 the great i
Minister than have. Justly proud as |
nav have been Of my acquaintance with
the son of Lord Chatham indeed, he is
the only son of peer with whom have
ever been able 10 scrape an acqnaint-
ancc--I consider the price that ] paid for
the honor more than outweigbs the honor
itself. and leaves me perfectly free to
criticise his conduct and pass what judg-
ment on il please IL may seem i'm
possible that should have known a man
who died so early in the century. Never
theless il is a fact that ! have both seen
him and spoken TO him. You remember
those touching lines of the poet
And dii YOU then see william plalnf
And DID he speak 20 your
And ala you answer him AGAIN.
How strange 10 seems, and new.
Though. by the way / do not think it
Well. I cannot exactly pretend that
saw him plainly, Still, did see him,
spoke 10 him, aud was answered. As to
its being "strange and new" l do not
say that our meeting was not both what
do say emphatically Is that | found
him very expensive acquaintance.
NV name is Thomas PuncheOn a very
good name in itself and very highly re-
spected one both in the city of London
and on the west coast of Africa. From
the river OF Senegal 20 the Cameroons
tine negroes clAmor for "Puncheon
pure rum and they get H. If the re- /
tail-traders ont there choose TO water 1t
it is not my fault, and / have no doubt
that they do 50 purely from cOnsidera-
ton for the health Of their customers.
No man. may say, has done more to
open out that wide market for British
trade than | have. Go where you will,
from the gold coast 10 Timbuctoo, every
where you will find Puncheon's rum
invaluable TO traders who barter 1t for
gold and ivory. 1 have no wish to boast, |
merely want YOU to understand that |
am respectable British merchant and !
worthy Of your credit.
I am "a married man, having wife and !
one daughter We are not exactly in |
socicty-tbat is 10 say, the society papers
do not think either ourselves or our af- |
fairs worth Publishing to the world at |
large. For myself, 1 AN glad that it |
should be so, bat my wife thinks differ |
emily, and gives me her ideas on the sub /
ject pretty often. We have our country /
seat and our town house the latter WAS /
chosen by my wife on account o. its posi- /
ton between barOnet on one side and |
IN earl on the other. We have lived |
in II for some years. and found il |
very inconvenient. hut We can now say /
that We know our neighbOrs very we'll /
by sight. Still we are happy enough |
among our own friends, ana ii my wife
does choose to look down upor them it
does them no harm and gives hsr great
deal of pleasure. | am not a member of
Parliament, though / have contested two
elections unsuccessfully- in the in
ierests of my wife and the Conservative
party, the other in the interests of my
wife and the Radical party My wife
now wishes me 10 try again as a Liberal
Unionists, but | have had enough; an
election is an expensive amusement,
aud few more unsuccessful attempts
would reduce me 10 a union which
is not liberal. Nevertheless still take
a lively interest in the politics of my
couEtfy, aud. moreover, have many
ideas OF my own on the subject. original
in themselves, and invaluable - any
young statesman who might care to
profit by the matured wisdom Of one
who has contemplated bis cOuntry's wei
fare from every point of view. The very
superabundance OF my ideas drives me
10 spend many weeks of every year In
quiet seclusion at the seaside not that |
suffer from i'll health, but merely from
tendency to nervous excitabilitv ten
dency which, my doctor assures me, is
common with men of abnormal brain
development
1t was early in the month OF April,
when | was enjoying the sea breeze at
Brighton, that L first met the man to
whom l owe my acquaintance with Mr..
Pitt. Every day, as | paced the parade,
j passed and repassed a slight middle
aged man with dark foreign face, care
fully wrapped up in fur coat that had
certainly not been made in England. AS
q rule object to foreigners on principle
they are a frivolous people, with more
ideas in their heads than money in their
pockets. altogether lacking that solidity
which IS Characteristic of us English
men. But this particular foreigner at
tracted me IN spite of myself. He had
wonderful eyes that seemed 10 search,
examine, and approve me every time
that | passed him. Soon he began to :
low to me with great Difference. | re-
turned his salute with, l hope, due !
dignity. Finally we spoke to each
other, then took to walking the parade
together, and IN a short time We were
on quite a confidential footing.
cannot say that there was anything
about the man that inspired confidence ]
except his eyes, aud they seemed rather l
to command than inspire it they were =
and it was difficult to keep !
ones own eyes of them. Sometimes S
they looked like dark, unfathomable !
pools-black, bottomless, and battling all
Inquiry then again they would turn t
TO such sharp-piercing scrutiny L
that they seemed to read the very d
thoughts that tumbled in ones brain. II |
was not long before he was in possession OF {
the whole of my family history ; the extent e
Of my fortune, my ambitions, both those s
that | bad abandoned and those that L Il
still cherished. In return | can hardly a
SAY that confidence begat confidence, for b
| learned but little of him save that he n
was a Greek, that his name was Robert b
and that he had been exiled II
from his country for a political offence. p
He spoke English with perfect correct Il
ness aud fluency, though with decided p
Ioreign accent and slight mixture OF e
French words and phrases which / did N
bot understand. He told me he con a
ldered England to be the only really c.
bee country aud that he loved her peo- !
Ne. He declared himself much struck b
rith the great beauty Of my daughter W
nd the amiable conntenance OF madame N
~ wife. j.
B UNFORTUNATELY, my family were not ?
nually struck with his appearance, and k
<propositlon on my part to present my m
70 friend to them met with great dis d.
in "
e What !" exclaimed my wife "that az
|61rid Frenchman, with billiards written o.
4 his face and eyes like obelisks? Ger W
e. -