Li during his visit to Barrow-in-Furness caused no little consternation
by suddenly announcing that he did not intend as arranged to go to Windermere early in the morning, but would put it off till 3 o'clock. This would, of course, have caused endless confusion. Fortunately one of the officials of the railway was a man of commanding nature, and he quickly appeared on the scene with the remark, "Not go till 3 o'clock ; your Excellency must go at once !" Li, like a true Oriental, made no attempt to withstand the clear finger of fate, and did go at once. The meeting of the Duke of Devonshire and the Grand Secretary was not a little entertaining. The Duke, per- haps to avoid questions like those with which Lord Tweeddale was assailed, opened the campaign by an interrogatory of his own :—" I have been shooting grouse. Does your Excellency ever do that ? " "I have never shot grouse," replied Li, perhaps a little nettled at finding himself in the position of
the answerer, "but I have often shot rebels." We would give anything to know what Li thinks of this strange, mad world of ours, where the great tramp about like coolies when they might be carried in velvet chairs, where even Princes cannot change the hours at which trains are arranged to start, and where a mysterious power called " arrangements " seems to be as strong as fate. An opera-bonffe played by Titan savages of great brain-power, but with no more real wisdom than children, —that, we expect, is his real judgment on our social life.
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