The life of Henry Labouchere

Front matter

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Preface

IT would be unfair both to the reader and to the subject of this memoir to let this book go forth without a word of introduction. The lot of Henry Labouchere, who was born in the reign of William IV. and lived to see George V. on the throne, was cast during a period of European development as important, perhaps, as any that modern history records. For certainly the most significant, if not the most salient, fact in the history of modem Europe is that democratisation of England which, in spite of many set-backs and obstacles, has at length been, in principle at all events, definitely achieved. To-day we are all democrats, Tories and Radicals alike. In that process, the full significance of which has still to unfold itself, Mr. Labouchere played a striking and original part. It was not always a successful one, but it was always played honestly, daringly, and, above all, characteristically. Although a convinced, and in spite of himself^ if one may say so, even an enthusiastic Radical, no politician was ever less of a party man. His loyalty was given to principles, not men, and some of his bitterest attacks both in Parliament and in the press were reserved for Radical Ministries that, according to his lights, were untrue to their profession. He was also, what is not so common in politics, a thoroughly disinterested man. He sought neither office nor honour. Circumstances placed him beyond the need of money, and just as no personal feelings could ever blind him to political shortcomings in his leaders, so the strongest and most vehemently expressed disapproval of his opponents vi PREFACE

frequently went with a marked attachment to their persons, and the strange thing is that he succeeded in convincing both sides of the House of the genuineness of this emotionallydisinterested attitude.

The opinions of Englishmen are rarely disinterested, and it should never be forgotten that Henry Labouchere was, in fact, a Frenchman. French by birth, he remained, to the day of his death, French in his method of formation of opinion, in his outlook on Hfe, in the pecuHar quaUty of his wit. It was this that enabled, or rather obliged, him to take that curiously detached view of English ideals which was at times so disconcerting even to those who thought that they understood him. Ideals, he held, were only entitled to respect when translated into material currency. "How much £ s. d. does he believe in what he says?" he would ask concerning some fervid prophet. And if convinced that the requisite materialisation had occurred, he would accept the prophet as one more strange and amusing phenomenon in a strange and amusing universe. It would have never occurred to him that because the prophet was sincere he was right. That was a matter for reason. He once observed to me, in his whimsical way, of a colleague, that the mere denial of the existence of God did not entitle a man's opinion to be taken without scrutiny on matters of greater importance. No "mere" Englishman could have said that.

That essential foreignness rendered him hard of comprehension even to those who sympathised with his aims. For instance, he was a Radical, as sincere and convinced a Radical as the late Mr. Stead, but in a very different way. His Radicalism was based on Reason. It represented Reason applied to that particular department of hirnian affairs called Politics, and so appHed, one may add, in spite of the irrationality of most of the men called Radical politicians. EngHsh Radicalism, on the other hand, rests mainly on humanitarian sentimentalism. The religion du docker of feudal England has been largely replaced by a rival cult, the

PREFACE vii

hysterical excesses of which found in him a scathing critic. He did not resent the hereditary principle in government because it was unjust, but because it was absurd, and when he fought some concrete instance of injustice, as he was constantly doing, the emotional aspect of the case made Httle, if any, appeal to him. He disHked injustice on rational and, as it were, aesthetic grounds. He had no passionate love of virtue, pubHc or private ; he thought it, on the whole, a sound investment, but then even sound investments sometimes go wrong. In his personal outlook on things he was as completely non-reHgious as a man could be. He was not anti-reHgious. He fully recognised the utihty of rehgious beHef in others, perhaps even in society at large, and he based this recognition not so much on the hardness of men's hearts as on the thickness of their heads. But personally he, Henry Labouchere, took no interest whatever in the matter. In philosophy he was a strict agnostic, owning Hume, for whom he had the greatest admiration, and the Kant of the Critique of Pure Reason, as his masters. And he was remarkably well read in the works of those philosophers.

He was constitutionally suspicious of strong feelings or enthusiasm of any kind. All sensible people smoked, he used to say, in order to protect themselves against such disturbing factors. He loathed every kind of humbug. He did not, however, disdain it as a weapon. During the General Election of 1905 the Tories made a party cry of Tariff Reform; he calmly observed one day, throwing down his paper: "Well, of course I think we are right, but whether we are or not, we 've got all the bunkum on our side."

In his personal relations with others he was very sociable and courteous, retaining even in old age the fine manners of an earlier generation. He was immensely kind-hearted, and suffered fools, if not gladly, at least with poHteness and equanimity. His love for children is well known. There was nothing he enjoyed more than giving children's parties,

Vlll

PREFACE and on these occasions would take any amount of personal trouble to ensure the pleasure of his little friends. My eariiest recollection of him is, as a child of eight or so, sitting on his knee drinking in the most fascinating and horrible tales of the Siege of Paris, which he would tell me by the hour. And almost my last recollection is of his interest in a Christmas tree prepared for my own children on the very day on which he took to his bed for the last time.

These traits make up a character more familiar in France than elsewhere. In his political ideas he resembled Clemenceau more nearly than any English statesman, and in general habit of mind he was a direct descendant of Voltaire. In character he was more like Fontenelle. He had Fontenelle's moral scepticism, his personal confidence in reason qualified by his distrust of most people's reasoning powers, and his profound sense of the dangers of enthusiasm. People called him a cynic ; and, if that somewhat vague term denotes one who attempts to discount the emotional factor in judgment, who endeavours to see the bare facts in as dry and objective a light as possible, a cynic he was. But he was a kind-hearted, even an affectionate cynic. It was not easy to win his regard, but, if you succeeded in winning it, you were sure of it. His own feelings he never expressed; this was not because he had none, but because of the exaggerated pudeur which he felt on the subject of the emotions. There was something both ridiculous and indecent to his mind in even the most restrained exhibition of affection. Briefly, he may be said to have worn a fig-leaf over his heart.

A word or two as to the method and scope of this book. In order to give a full and detailed account of the whole of Labouchere's career, it would have been necessary to write at least a dozen volumes; some sort of selection imposed itself. I have endeavoured to concentrate my own (and I hope my readers') attention on Labouchere himself. There is a danger which lurks for the biographer of a public man lest the environment of his hero — the narrative of the events

PREFACE ix

in which he played a part — should hang too loosely to his figure. There is also the danger that the frame, so to speak, should not be given its due value in the portrait. In order to appreciate the part played in public affairs by an individual, it is necessary to understand what is going on. As this book has been written for the general public, I have felt it desirable to retell certain episodes in modem politics, in which Mr. Labouchere played an important part, in greater detail than would have been necessary had I been writing for politicians. In such retelling I claim no originality. I have followed standard authorities, and the point of view of my narrative has been, to a great extent, that of Mr. Labouchere himself, although, when I have come to the conclusion that that point of view was mistaken, I have not hesitated to say so. In this way I hope that the reader may be enabled to see the inevitability of much of Labouchere' s political action, which at the time, looked at piecemeal, may have appeared gratuitously mischievous.

I feel I ought to call the reader's attention to the fact that if Mr. Labouchere's many-sided life is considered as a whole, his political proceedings represent but a small part of his activity. He had lived an average lifetime before he seriously took up political work, and genuine as his principles undoubtedly were, still politics were never really more to him than a means of self-expression and, it must be said, amusement. He loved watching the spectacle of life, and he came to find in the game of politics a sort of concentrated version of life as a whole. This feeling, the strongest perhaps that he possessed, combined with a passion to enter as an effective cause into the spectacle he loved, was responsible for his political incarnation. And he had a certain halfperverse, half-childish love of mischief which he was not always at pains to restrain, and which found in the intrigues of parties and groups abundant scope for exercise. It could not have found so much scope elsewhere, and was the motive power of much of his political action, particularly towards

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the end of his time in ParHament. After his retirement indeed, when politics had literally become nothing but a game to him, he would watch the cards as they fell with complete detachment from party views: "I wish I was entering politics now as a young Tory blood," was a frequent comment on public events during his last years.

Of course, he had his own way of putting things, which was not that of other people, and this brings me to the part in life as to which both friends and foes are agreed that he achieved complete success. Whatever else he was or was not, everybody is agreed that he was the greatest English wit since Sheridan. His gently modulated voice had a good deal to do with his conversational success, and the bland quiet manner with which the most startling remarks would be accompanied gave them weight, if not point. Still, even in cold print many of his sayings and appreciations will live as long as men laugh from intellectual motives. "I do not mind Mr. Gladstone always having an ace up his sleeve, but I do object to his always saying that Providence put it there, " is a dictum which will not soon be forgotten. That observation, gently drawled out one evening in the lobby of the House of Commons, is a specimen of hundreds. I am persuaded that originally he had no intention of being witty, but supposed his quips and paradoxes to represent the bare facts expressed with the greatest economy of language. It is certain that no one was more surprised than he at the entertainment people found in the Letters of a Besieged Resident. He soon discovered his reputation for wit and deliberately made use of it, both as a shield and as a weapon of defence. It also served another purpose. There was a strong tendency to indolence in him that was gratified by his success in turning off awkward or puzzling questions with some witty or irrelevant remark. If this analysis is correct, it throws light on the nature of his wit, which consisted largely in a naive and shameless revelation of the Secret de Polichinelle. For he said what every one thought but did n't

PREFACE

XI dare say. The originality of his mind, really consisted in the complete absence in his case of those conventional superstructures which imprison most of us. When he replied

to some one who asked him if he liked Mme. X , "Oh

yes, I like her well enough, but I shouldn't mind if she dropped down dead in front of me on the carpet," he was only saying what many of us think but would never dream of saying even to ourselves of some of our friends.

It is a commonplace of moralists to say that human nature is full of contradictions. A subtler critic of man than the mere moralist would add that much of men's time is spent in smoothing out, or, at all events, conciliating, these contradictions. We choose a possible type of humanity — Aristotle, or some other Greek, gave an exhaustive list of them — and see ourselves in the part we have selected. According to our imaginative power and our strength of will we succeed more or less in playing that part at least for social purposes. Years pass and the mask grows to the face, as in the case of Mr. Beerbohm's Happy Hypocrite, and our friends and acquaintances cease in time to distinguish between our pose and our character. But there are moments when the mask cracks and close observers have their surprises.

Mr. Labouchere gave up early in life any consecutive attempt to make himself appear different to his real nature. A fragment of an early diary which I have utilised does indeed discuss the possibilities of success to the writer, and criticises, in scathing terms, achievements up-to-date. But this document, interesting and amusing as it is, is itself but a piece of boyish introspectiveness. In point of fact he was a terribly sincere person, partly from pride and partly from indolence. Had he been willing to condescend to insincerity, he would have been too lazy to do so for long. Here, then, was an additional stumbling-block. It is easy enough to understand a pose, or even a succession of poses, but a person who says neither more nor less than exactly what he means, xii PREFACE

and means exactly what he says, not because he thinks he ought to do so, or wishes to be understood as doing so, but because so, and not otherwise, his nature spontaneously expresses itself, is, in our present social state, almost unintelligible. What saved him under these circumstances from becoming a "prophet" was the pliability of intelligence that enabled him to understand other people and the sense of humour that enabled him to enjoy them.

I have selected from the voluminous correspondence put at my disposal only those letters which throw most light on Mr. Labouchere's state of mind and the part he played in political events with which he was connected.

I have to thank my many relatives and friends who have allowed me to make use of their letters from Mr. Labouchere, and also my cousin, M. Georges Labouchere, for communicating the result of his researches on the life of my greatgrandfather. Among old friends of Mr. Labouchere, who have given me personal reminiscences of him, I have especially to thank Mrs. Emily Crawford, Mr. Wilfrid Blunt, Lord Welby, Sir Audley Gosling, and Mr. Robert Bennett, the editor of Truth, whose help has been invaluable in the narrative of Mr. Labouchere's founding of Truth and of its subsequent fortunes. Most of all, my thanks are due to Mr. Thomas Hart Davies, without whose constant sympathy and assistance this biography could not have been written.

Algar L. Thorold.

12 Catherine Street, Westminster.

August 15, 1913.

Chapter I Page

The Huguenots of Orthez— Youth of Pierre-C6sar— Exile— The Dutch counting-house — A double ruff and a bid for a bride — Napoleon and peace — Fouch6 — The French agent — Ouvrard— The wrath of Csesar — The French loan — Residence in England — Lord Taunton — ^Mr. John Labouchere i

Chapter II Childhood And Youth

Birth of Henry Labouchere— Early education— His first moi— Eton days — The young pugilist— The toper — Views on fagging — Trinity College, Cambridge — Insubordination — Suspension — His defence — He lives ata London tavern— Severe judgment of himself — Travels with a bear-leader— Wiesbaden — Voyage to Mexico — Gambling and good resolutions — Letter to his tutor ... 16

Chapter III (1853-1864)

Travels in Mexico — In love — The Chippeway Indians — In New York — His American sympathies — His views on American education — On American diplomats — On American girls — Becomes attach^ at Washington — Mr. Crampton — Gambling again — ^The Irish patriot — Views on diplomatic negotiations — At Munich — Stockholm — Frankfort— Bismarck at Frankfort — Similarity of their opinions xiv CONTENTS

PAGE about diplomacy — His popularity at Frankfort — Petersburg — In love again — His opinion of Russians — Anecdotes — Dresden — Economical family at Marburg — Republic of Parana — Revolution in Florence — Constantinople — His stories about Lord Bailing — Close of diplomatic career — Mrs. Crawford's estimate of his character and remarks on his diplomatic career — Memoir of Henry Labouchere, by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt ...... 38

Chapter IV ( 1 866-1 869)

Why men enter Parliament — New Windsor — His agreement with Sir Henry Hoare — Imprudent choice of agents — Election — Is unseated on petition — Repartee before Special Commission — His line of defence in the Times — Another letter on the subject — His maiden speech — Reminiscences of the Windsor election — Anecdote about Lord Taunton — Becomes member for Middlesex — His speeches in the House — General Election of 1868 — Lord George Hamilton — His quarrel with Lord Enfield — The Times on the quarrel — Nomination of candidates — Conservative rowdies — the poll — Dignified speech — Absurd reminiscence — Henry Irving at Brentford — General Election of 1874 — Is defeated at Nottingham . . 74

Chapter V Journalism And The Stage

His connection with the Daily News — He buys a share — Manager of the Queen's Theatre — Time and the Hour — Dearer than Life — Contretemps — Financial loss — Poor opinion of artists — A Bohemian — His knowledge of London — Edmund Yates tells how he came on the staff of the World — His city articles — Trial of Abbott at the Guild Hall — A calculator — Labouchere and Grenville Murray — He leaves the staff of the World — Journey with Mr. Bellew — Adventure with Dumas p^re — With Dumas fils — His visit to Newgate — Sensations as a man about to be hanged — Remarks about the Claimant — Immense popularity of Truth — The Lying Club in Co. Durham ......... 95

CONTENTS XV

Chapter VI The Besieged Resident

(September, 1870-February, 1871)

PAGE

He replaces Mr. Crawford as correspondent — Mrs. Crawford's impressions of him — Chaos at the Post Office — Immediate events leading up to the siege — His account of how the news of Sedan was received in Paris — The Prussians at Versailles — How he got his letters to London — Ennui — Letter to his mother — Theatrical behaviour of the Parisians — Further letters to his mother — His wardrobe — His hat — The Gaulois — New Year's address to the Prussians — His opinion of French Journalists — His estimate of General Trochu — Meals during the siege — Castor and Pollux — Another letter to his mother — The leg of mutton and the sentimental Prussian soldier — His departure from Paris — How he behaved when under fire . . . . . . . .119

Chapter VII Labouchere And Bradlaugh

The General Election of 1880 — The "Radical" coUeague — A faithful constituency — Mr. Bradlaugh and the oath — A House divided against itself — Labouchere's views on religion — His support of Bradlaugh — Unscrupulous use of the affaire Bradlaugh by the Opposition — Victory of Mr. Bradlaugh — His upright character and final popularity in the House — Mr. Gladstone's tribute — Mr, Labouchere on his colleague — The parallel of Wilkes . . . 142

Chapter VIII Labouchere And Ireland

(1880-1883)

Ireland in 1880 — ^The Land League — Outrages — Lord Cowper and Mr. Forster demand suppression of Habeas Corpus — Mr. Gladstone's hesitation — He yields under threat of Lord Cowper's resignation — Introduction by Forster of Bills for the Protection of Life and Property in Ireland, January, 1881 — Labouchere's Irish views — Not at first a Home Ruler — Labouchere criticises Forster's measure in the House — ^The arrest of Parnell — His liberation — The "understanding" with Mr. Gladstone — Murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke — Renewed coercion opposed by Mr. Labouchere — He negotiates between the Government and Irish xvi CONTENTS

PAGE

leaders in order to modify the Coercion Bill — Correspondence with Mr. Chamberlain — Interviews with Mr. Parnell — Identity of his Irish policy with that of Mr. Chamberlain .... 165

Chapter IX

LABOUCHERE AND MR. GLADSTONE'S EGYPTIAN POLICY

Mr. Gladstone and Egypt — A legacy from Disraeli — Cyprus and the Berlin Congress — The "Comedy of the Liars" — The Anglo-French Condominium — Ismail — Nubar and Sir Rivers Wilson — Sir Evelyn Baring — Deposition of Ismail — Khedive Tewfik — Revolt — Arabi Pasha — Mr. Wilfrid Blunt — Labouchere and Egypt — Labouchere drops his burden of Egyptian bonds — A letter to Sir Charles Dilke — Labouchere and military occupation — The Egyptian Government and the debt — The champions of Arabi — Speeches in the House — The Soudan — General Gordon — Correspondence between Labouchere and Chamberlain; between Labouchere and Mr. Blunt — Letters from Arabi to Mr. Labouchere — ^A later letter to Mr. Blunt 190

Chapter X

Labouchere's political attitude — His faith in Chamberlain — Despair at Chamberlain's secession — His article in the Fortnightly, 1884 — The Radical creed — The House of Lords and the Crown — The Church — ^The Land Laws — The Royal Family — Female suffrage — Whigs more to be detested than Tories ..... 225

Chapter XI In Opposition

Sir Henry Lucy on Labouchere — "The friendly broker" — Lord Salisbury's First Administration — Irish and Tories — Labouchere, Healy, and Chamberlain — The General Election — The Midlothian manifesto — A letter from Mr. Davitt — From Mr. Parnell and Lord Randolph Churchill — Letters from Mr. Healy — Labouchere's letter to the Times about Home Rule — Correspondence between Mr. Labouchere and Mr. Chamberlain ..... 250

CONTENTS xvii

Chapter XII Page

Legislators in correspondence— Further letters from Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Healy— Resignation of Mr. Chamberlain— Labouchere's eflEorts to reconcile Mr. Chamberlain with the Cabinet— His disappointment * 304

CHAPTER XIII SOME CONSEQUENCES OF BALFOUR's COERCION POLICY

Lord SaUsbury's Second Administration— The new Coercion Bill— "Pamellism and Crime"— The facsimile letter— Mr. Healy on the condition of Ireland— Radical demonstration in Hyde Park- Mr. Labouchere on a waggon— He goes to Michelstown— The famous meeting— He describes the meeting in the House— Lord Randolph Churchill's cnticism— Truth on the Michelstown murders —More incriminating letters— Mr. Labouchere enters the lists— The Parnell Commission— Correspondence with Pigott— First interview-Correspondence with Irishmen in America— Letter from Patrick Egan— Letters from Parnell— Pigott and the Attorney- General • 357

Chapter XIV Collapse Of Pigott

Lord Russell's cross-examination of Pigott— The disappearance of Pigott— His confession to Mr. Labouchere— Mr. Lewis returns the confession— The Commission hears from Pigott— He sends the confession, under cover, to Mr. Shannon— The confession read out in court— Mr. Labouchere in the witness-box— Mr. Sala describes the scene at 24 Grosvenor Gardens— Pigott's end— Mr. Labouchere's compassion for his orphans— Letter from Dr. Walsh — Mr. Labouchere and Primrose dames— Trying to hoax Labby . 391

Chapter XV

MR. LABOUCHERE NOT INCLUDED IN THE CABINET

Speeches on the Triple Alliance— He is not in the Cabinet— Queen Victoria's objection to the editor of Truth— Mr. Gladstone's correspondence with Mr. Labouchere— The indignation of Northampton — Mr. Labouchere's desire to be appointed Ambassador at Washington — Another disappointment for him .... 409 xviii CONTENTS

Chapter XIX

Retirement from Parliament — Farewell to Electors — Some correspondence — Last days . . . . . _ . . . 517

INDEX 541

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE y RIGHT HON. HENRY LABOUCHERE, P.C. . FfOntispiece

From a photograph by Messrs. Brogi of Florence, taken in 1905 at Villa Cristina, Florence.

FACSIMILE LETTER SENT BY BALLOON POST . . . 126

XIS

THE LIFE OF HENRY LABOUGHERE

THE LIFE OF LABOUCHERE

Chapter I The Labouchere Family

SOME forty miles south of Bayonne, on the right bank of the Gave, Hes the Uttle town of Orthez, the ancient capital of Beam. Famous for the obstinacy of its resistance to the apostoHc spirit of Louis XIV. and the excellence of its manufactured cloth, Orthez was further distinguished during the Wars of ReHgion by the possession of a Protestant tiniversity founded by Jeanne d'Albret in which Theodore Beza was professor. In 1664, the most Christian King sent his intendant Foucault to deal with the nest of heretics. Foucault did not waste time in theological subtleties, but gave the inhabitants twenty days in which to conform under penalty of a dragonnade. They did so unanimously, but there still remain more Protestants in Orthez than in any other town of Beam.

Among the cloth merchants of Orthez none were more distinguished than the Laboucheres. According to the Freres Haag, the compilers of La France Protestante, their name should be Barrier de Labouchere, the patronymic which they came to adopt being in reality the name of a property in the possession of the family. The earliest known ancestor of the Laboucheres seems to have been a certain Jean Guyon Barrier, who married in 1621 one Catherine de la Broue.

Pierre-C6sar, the founder of the British branch of the family and the grandfather of the subject of this memoir, was bom at The Hague in 1772. He was the second son of Matthieu Labouchere and Marie-Madeleine MoHere. His father, who, in consequence of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, had been sent to England for his education, had subsequently settled in Holland. Pierre-Cesar was sent at the age of thirteen to learn his uncle Pierre's business at Nantes,^ where he remained until 1790, at which date he entered the house of Hope at Amsterdam as French clerk. In this himible position he laid the foundations of the great fortune and financial career which were to be his. The rise of the young French clerk was rapid. In six years he was a partner in the house of Hope and had married Dorothy, sister of Alexander Baring, who had become a partner in the Dutch firm at the same time as his French brother-inlaw. The well-known story of the clever ruse by which Pierre-C6sar won the hand of his bride and also his partnership in the house of Hope was told to the present writer some twenty years ago by the Rev. Alexander Baring' as follows :

Pierre-Cesar was sent by Mr. John Hope to England to see Sir Francis Baring on some business, and fell in love with Sir Francis 's third daughter Dorothy. Before leaving England he asked Sir Francis to permit him to become engaged to his daughter. Sir Francis refused. Pierre- Cesar then said: "Would it make any difference to your decision if you knew that Mr. Hope was about to take me into partnership? " Sir Francis imhesitatingly admitted that

^ Presumably Uncle Pierre had conformed and stuck to it.

' The portraits of Pierre-C^sar Labouchfere and Dorothy his wife, now in my possession, were then at Famham Castle, and Mr. Baring was visiting my father, the then Bishop of Winchester, when he related to me this anecdote of my great-grandparents.

it would. Pierre-C^sar then went back to Holland and suggested to Mr. Hope that he might be taken into partnership. On Mr. Hope discouraging the idea, he said: "Would it make any difference to your decision if you knew that I was engaged to the daughter of Sir Francis Baring?" Mr. Hope replied, "Certainly." Whereupon the wily clerk said: "Well, I am engaged to Miss Dorothy Baring." That very day he was able to write to Sir Francis announcing the news of his admission to partnership in the house of Hope, and in the same letter he claimed the hand of his bride. "^

The following picture of Pierre-Cesar by a contemporary is interesting. The writer was Vincent Nolte, for many years a clerk in the house of Hope at Amsterdam. "Mr. Labouchere was at that time but twenty-two, yet ere long assumed the highly respectable position of head of the firm, the first in the world, and studied the manners of a French courtier previous to the Revolution: these he soon made so thoroughly his own, that they seemed to be a part of his own nature. He made a point of distinguishing himself in everything he undertook by a certain perfection, and carried this feeling so far that, on account of the imtractable lack of elasticity of his body and a want of ear for music which nature had denied him, he for eighteen years deemed it necessary to take dancing-lessons, because he saw that others surpassed him in the graceful accomplishment. It was almost painful to see him dance. The old school required, in the French quadrille, some entrechats and one or two pirouettes, and the delay they occasioned him always threw him out of time. I have often seen the old gentleman, already more than fifty, rettim from a quadrille covered with perspiration. Properly speaking, he had no refined education, understood but very