Mr. Choate gracefully replied that Dr. Talmage required no introduction anywhere, not even from the President, and arranged to have the Charge d’Affaires, Mr. White, who was later Ambassador to France, take us over to the Houses of Parliament, where we were permitted a glimpse of the Members at work from the cage enclosure reserved for lady visitors.

The Doctor’s friends in England did their best to make us feel at home in London.  We were dined and lunched, and driven about whenever Dr. Talmage could spare time from his work.  Sir Alfred Newton, the Lord Mayor, and Lady Newton gave us a luncheon at the Mansion House on June 5, 1900.  I remember the date because it was an epoch in the history of England.  During the luncheon the news reached the Lord Mayor of the capture of Pretoria.  He ordered a huge banner to be hung from the Mansion House on which were the words—­

“THE BRITISH FLAG FLIES AT PRETORIA.”

This was the first intimation of the event given to Londoners in that part of the city.  Side by side with it another banner proclaimed the National prayer, “God Save the Queen,” in big red letters on the white background.  A scene of wild enthusiasm and excitement followed.  Every Englishman in that part of London, I believe, began to shout and cheer at the top of his lungs.  An immense crowd gathered in the adjoining streets around the Mansion House.  The morning war news had only indicated a prolonged struggle, so that the capture of Pretoria was a great and joyous surprise to the British heart.  Suddenly all hats were off, and the crowds in the streets sang the National Anthem.  There were loud calls for the Lord Mayor to make a speech.  We watched it all from the windows in the parlour of the Mansion House, at the corner of Queen Victoria Street.  Dr. Talmage was as wildly enthusiastic as any Englishman, cheering and waving his arm from the open windows in hearty accord with the crowd below.  There was no sleep for anyone in London that night.  Around our hotel, the blowing of horns and cheering lasted till the small hours of the morning.  It seemed very much like the excitement in America after the capture of the Spanish Fleet.

We left London finally with many regrets, having enjoyed the hospitality of what is to me the most attractive country in the world to visit.  We went direct to Paris to attend the opening ceremonies of the Paris Exposition of 1900.  It seems like a very old story to tell anything to-day of this event, and to Dr. Talmage it was chiefly a repetition of the many Fairs he had seen in his life, but he found time to write a description of it at the time, which recalls his impressions.  He regarded it as “An Object Lesson of Peace and a Tableau of the Millennium.”

His defence of General Peck, the American Commissioner-General, who was criticised by the American exhibitors, was made at length.  He considered these criticisms unjust, and said so.  During our stay in Paris Dr. Talmage preached at the American churches.