Page:Tupper family records - 1835.djvu/139

 noticed, and especially for Sir John C, to whom

I was principally indebted for the royal interview.

"The king addressed the Indians in French, very distinctly, fluently, and loud : ' I observe you have the portrait of my father ; will you permit me to present you with mine?' The marquess then pro- duced four large and weighty gold coronation peer medallions of his Majesty, suspended by a rich maza- reen blue silk riband. The chiefs, seeing this, dropped again upon their knees, and the king took the four medallions successively into his hand, and said : ' Will some gentleman have the goodness to tie this behind ?' — upon which Sir Edmund Nagle, with whom we had been condoling on account of the gout, while waiting in the library, and who wore a list shoe, skipped nimbly behind the chiefs, and received the string from the king, tying the cordon on the necks of the four chiefs. We were much amused to observe how the royal word can dispel the gout. The instant the grand chief was within reach of the medallion, and before the investiture was completed, he seized the welcome present with the utmost earnestness, and kissed it with an ardour which must have been wit- nessed to be conceived. The king appeared sensibly affected by this strong and unequivocal mark of grateful emotion. The other chiefs acted in a similar way, and nothing could have been managed more naturally, or in better taste. After this ceremony the king desired them to rise and to be covered. They put on their hats, and which appeared extraor- dinary to me, his Majesty remained uncovered all the time. Here it was that the grand chief, as if inca- pable of repressing his feelings, poured out in a most eloquent manner, by voice and action, the following

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