Mr. Chamberlain, who followed the Duke of Devonshire, declared that
he agreed "most sincerely with every word he [the Duke], had uttered." That is most satisfactory, for it is an endorsement of one of the strongest panegyrics ever made on Free-trade. Mr. Chamberlain ended his speech, which proposed the health of the chairman, Mr Jesse Collings, by telling a delightful little story illustrating how far the fame of the chairman had spread. On one occasion when in his company he was visiting the island of Corfu. "We were conducted over a British man-of-war. As we left the ship we passed through a double line of the gallant defenders of our country, and following, as I did humbly, in his footsteps, I heard a still small voice say 'There goes three acres and a cow." Mr. Chamberlain went on to say how lie turned round and observed "not even a smile on the face of any of those who stood in serried ranks," but it proved to him that Mr. Collings's fame "had gone out to the four quarters of the world." That is a charming story, charmingly told, and was no doubt greatly appreciated by so genial a man as Mr. Jesse Collings.
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