Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/61

 but if it should be a paltry scheme his career will end in a London fog

Apropos of fogs, I hope Mrs Heaton is facing the winter courageously. We have had very satisfactory weather since you have been here with the interval of a day or two. In France we are in some danger of a general overturn. The leading men of the republic who have held the government for twenty years are all suspected of complicity with corruption and of plundering the savings of the industrious classes invested in the Panama Canal.

If you send me a copy of Gladstone's bill as early as you can, it will be very welcome.

I notice that Ritchie met the fate you predicted, but it is doubtful policy in Lord Salisbury to allow his son to spoil the career of one of his colleagues.

My daughters join in kindest remembrances to Mrs Heaton.

During the twenty-six years H. H. sat in Parliament he saw many changes, and very few of the original members of his first Parliament were left by the time he retired.

Some interesting letters from old Parliamentary colleagues may here be included. Lord Curzon wrote, from Viceregal Lodge, Simla, on May 9th, 1901:

I was much gratified at receiving your letter, and at learning that I am not quite forgotten at home. I follow these struggles of Sassoon and yourself with much interest. In these contests the ultimate result is quite certain. But it often takes a long time. I am glad to notice that in the midst of Parliamentary labours you find time to lend an ear to the whispers of society talk, and to repeat them for my edification