New-York tribune., 1922-02-01
Mrs. Asquitl'
Saves Lecture
By Calneness
Continued from pace one)

Or. Nicholas Murray Butler. who intro
duced her. had been such that the floor
OF thc theater was still rising Just a
little and the walls wabblng. She
jumped to her feet when DR.. Butler
hnlshed, 1.-the, quick figure. extreme
~ thin, clad in a draped gown of pale
gray velvet. outlined against the glow
of rosecolorcd reading lamp and a
stage hung with brilliant tapestry.
Stcadying herself with her right arm
on the table and her left akimbo on
her hip. she laughed into the eyes of
quer, If not. to startlc
u thank you for your great kindness
IN welcoming me ard for your ap-
plausc, though think that is clever Of
you, too" she said. at is clever of
you to applaud me now before begin.
Tor after | finish may put a strain
upon your courtesy which would he
painful to both Of us"
Then she sank into her arm chair.
pulled out pair of tortoise-shell
glasses and began to read about the
last horse that ever threw Margot
Asquth
Her second "act' was sermon on
gossip. based on her experiences as
wife Of Brtains Premier during part
of the war. She said that suffering
such as the English people endured in
those days should have made people
kind. but It did not; that the treatment
accorded to Germans in England was
as cruel as anything in the Middle
Ages.
English Cruel During War
"Thcy say war teaches nations" she
went on, but certainly our war did not
make us good. The New Testament
was forgotten and the people read only
the newspapers"
She related conversation with n
young American actress whom you
all know railroad train, when the
American did not know who her com
panion was. She informed Mrs. As
quith that the Premier had made for
tune out of krupps, that his daughter
was engaged to a German admiral. "It
was so sad it wasn't really him at all
but his wife she chattcred on. She is
a terrible woman. She's so ugly and
she is hard and artificial. but she is so
clever she can get anybody to DO her
dirty work
And when they reached London Mrs.
Asuuith took the fellow traveller to
Cavcndish Square in her automo oblc
and allowed her to repent over the tea
cups.
"My First Visit to Windsor Castle"
was the title Of the third chapter OF
the new book. from the manuscript Of
which Mrs. Asquith was reading. She
came nearer in this chapter to the
"startling revelations" which had made
Eny- {n,, I ~.
thing else she had said or done in her
first twenty-four hours in New York.
For example, she revealed the fact that
nobody listened to the sermon at the
castle: that the page boy" for the
Premicr's suite was eighty seven years
old, and that "when with royalty YOU
must keep a firm grip on yourself. or
you notice little and enjoy nothing.'
Then She came to the episode of The
pcevish King This was in 1908. The
King had commanded Mr.. and Mrs.
Asduith to be ready al / o'clock for
an automobile ride. but Mr.. Asouith did
not show up Nobody knew where he
was. With her best curtsy Mrs.
Asquith explained to his indignant
majesty that tho message must have
miscarried. that Mr.. Asuuith could not
have received it,
Ho~ to Soothe an Angry King
"rhe King fused and hdeetcd and
snapped that he would not go without
the Prime Minister Mrs. Asquith con-
tinued, land | got fearfuly cmbar-
rassed. SO | went to the Queen and
said. Your ma jestv. fear there has
been a scandal at court and the Prime
Minister has clopcd with one of the
maids OF honor. Have pity on my
bushes and command the King to 70
along to his party So The Queen went
to tho King and with sweeping
gesture pointed to the auto
"Ile got in, and we all went to ride.
Later VIC found out that the Prime
Minister had gone for a long walk i'm
mediately after lunch with the Honor
able Vaughan Vivian, ono of tho love
licst of tho maids of honor And the
King was iovial and even cloquent.'
The Princess Bibesco, Of Rumania.
who is Mrs. Asouth's daughter. and
several friends went back Of the scenes
after the lecture to watch the writer
have her picture taken. Mrs. Asquith
waved her hand and cried out ahcc-
tionate greetings to friends in the
boxes while the audience was dispcrs-
ing. Among these acquaintances were
Colonel and Mrs. House, former Am
bassador Davis, Paul u. Cravath and
MIR and Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt.