ROMANCE OF A PEER.

Taranaki Daily News, 10 January 1919, Page 7

ROMANCE OF A PEER.

Speaking at the National Liberal Club to a vote of thanks to M. Venizeloa, the Marquis of Lincolnshire told thia story Addressing the Greek Consular-General, he said: "God Almighty, after all, backs up the right side. You have spoken of the action of His Majesty's Fleet. The Fleet was in the Mediterranean, and lay in the Piraeus—for what reasons? Not in the lust of conquest, but for the purpose of doing their best, though hampered by diplomacy—(laughter)—to try and protect the down-trodden nations of the world. And that Fleet was not composed of one kind of man, 6i one creed, or of one class. It is only an hour ago, in the House of Lords, when Sir George Cave was going to be raised ..o the dignity of the peerage, and we were waiting for the Chancellor to take his seat, when a messenger came m and said to me: 'An able seaman wants to Bpeak to you.' I went out and saw a handsome boy, eighteen years old, and he e,aid: 'I want to see Sir George Cave taking his seat. Will you put me on the steps of the throne " (Laughter,) I said: 'Before I can give an answer, what is your name?' He replied: 'My name i 3 De La Warr.'

"That boy," continued the Marquis, "left Eton when he was sixteen, and enlisted in the Royal Navy, and for over a year he has been, picking up mines. I put him on the steps of the throne, and now he has gone ba<& to is ship to do | his duty to his God and his country. (Loud cheers.) That is the kind of men that we breed in this country, aua whom we send to fight for the small nationalities of the world, to keep the flag flying, and protect rivil and religious liberty all the world over." (Bene wed cheers.) Earl Do La Warr is the grandson of the late Lord Brassey the famous maritime peer and succeeded to the <xklom on the death of his father the eighth Earl in 1915. —Westminister Gazette.