I shall never forget going down, some
thirty-two years ago, to Birmingham with my wife for a Saturday to
Monday party, and finding that the chief guest was the new American
Ambassador. When one is young and going to a pleasant house, there is
nothing more delightful or stimulating than the moment of waiting at the
side of a country-house omnibus consecrated to station work and
wondering who are to be one's fellow-guests. On that occasion it was not
long before we discovered that they were Colonel and Mrs. Hay and their
daughter Helen. It did not take one long to see what a memorable man Hay
was. It was indeed a case for me of friendship at first sight. Though it
only took, even in pre-motor days, some twenty minutes to drive to
Highbury, I had become, long before we reached the front door, a fervent
admirer of the man who had been Private Secretary to the greatest man of
modern times,--Abraham Lincoln.
The acquaintance begun at Highbury ripened for both of us into a true
friendship. I was deeply touched to find that Mr. Hay met me half way in
my desire to be friendly, for I knew enough about him to know that his
reputation was that of a very reticent, very fastidious man--a person by
no means inclined to fall into the arms of the first comer.
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