Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/179



Nothing but the warmth of personal friendship could excuse what the paper you sent to me represented you to have said to the gentleman who reported your views. I have been overwhelmed with the kindnesses of my friends and feel myself somewhat in the position of the litigant who did not recognize himself in the description given of him by his Counsel, but when he did he wept to know what a fine fellow he had been and did not know it himself. Sincerely I most heartily thank you, and believe me, I am deeply, etc.

The picture of the criminal weeping in the dock, while his Counsel tells the jury what a noble fellow he is, causes my family much amusement.

From Bath on December 12, 1912 he wrote:

The Dinner was very successful and devoted to Imperial affairs, wide-world postage, wire and wireless. I did not realize how important the plumbers are in this planet until I heard Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Vesey Strong. The new Lord Mayor spoke vigorously and carried his audience by his undoubted honesty and earnestness. The new High Commissioner for New Zealand, Mr Mackenzie, who was Prime Minister there for a long while (as successor to Sir Joseph Ward) also spoke, telling us the story of his introducing compulsory training in that new land—the Great Britain of the Southern Hemisphere. He