Page:The life and letters of Sir John Henniker Heaton bt. (IA lifelettersofsi00port).pdf/76

 ensign, went into action, chased, engaged, and, single-handed, sank the German cruiser "Nürnberg"." [sic] The ensign, which flew all the time, was torn to ribbons.

The complimentary dinner given by the Association to the Kent Eleven in 1906 was a very brilliant function. H. H., apologizing for the unavoidable absence of the Right Honourable Alfred Lyttelton, "who was trying to bowl out or stump out or catch out our present Government," read the following letter:

I am extremely sorry to say that in the existing state of things I cannot leave the House for the banquet to which you were so good as to invite me. Will you express my deep regret at my inability to attend. I can assure you that no one viewed the news of the Kent victory with more satisfaction than myself.

For that victory was achieved by the qualities which I think make cricket worth playing, dash, enterprise, adventure, as well as resolution and tenacity. Long may such qualities flourish in Kent and elsewhere.

An original gift was made to H. H. when the Society presented him with a large solid silver envelope, bearing the Canadian penny stamp.

On H. H.'s retirement from Parliament, the Men of Kent and Kentish Men gathered a brilliant company together to bid him farewell at a banquet at the Trocadero Restaurant.

The chair was taken by the High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir William Hall-Jones; and among those present were the High Commissioner for Australia, Sir George Reid; the High Commissioner for Canada, Lord Strathcona; the High Commissioner for South