In proposing "The City and County of Bristol," Mr. Edward Bennett said that he had attended a great number of these banquets, and had had on several occasions to propose the toast of the particular town which was for the moment entertaining the Society. For this reason he was, perhaps, looked upon as a special pleader, and when he was praising a provincial city his tongue was thought to be in his cheek, and London was written on his heart. When Stella was told that Dean Swift had composed a poem, not in honour of her, but of Vanessa, she replied, with exquisite feminine amenity, that it was well known that the Dean could be eloquent over a broomstick. If he that night extolled Bristol above her other rivals, it would be said of him that he was a verbose individual, who had called in past years Leeds a beautiful and inspiring city, Liverpool a rising seaport, and Glasgow a town where urbanity and sweet reasonableness prevailed. It might be remembered of him that he had praised the Birmingham man for his childlike humility, and the Edinburgh man for his excessive modesty. It was his first visit to Bristol, and it was presumption on his part to speak on the subject at all. Silence was the better part when a man was situated as he was. There were some exquisite lines he learnt as a child which conveyed a deep moral lesson to all day trippers:--
There was a young lady of Sweden She went by the slow train to Weedon, When she arrived at Weedon Station she made no observation, But returned by the slow train to Sweden.
That was what he ought to have done. His heart went out to that young lady, and he often had pondered whether it was disgust, astonishment, or admiration which had inspired her silence. There was a special reason why Civil Servants should be drawn to Bristol. Doubtless even the Bristol Chamber of Commerce was acquainted with the process known as "passing over"--many persons in that room had perhaps undergone the operation--and those who read the history of Bristol felt a pull at their heart strings when they realised the fact that she also had been "passed over" by younger and more pushful rivals. But the capable Civil Servant never admitted the justice of being passed over. In many instances he established his case, and he did not rest satisfied until he had retrieved his position, and in time caught up his quondam rivals. That, he took it, was the position of Bristol at the present time. She had relied too much on her ancient name, and had allowed mushroom places like Liverpool and Manchester to steal a march on her. She was coming to the front again; she had a glorious past, but she was going to have a brilliant future. He coupled with the toast the name of the High Sheriff. If he knew any evil of the High Sheriff he would not mention it that evening. He had still 24 hours to spend in Bristol, and a man could do a lot of evil as well as good in that time.