which it evinced on the part of the speaker, it is in my judgment the
most striking of all Mr. Roosevelt's foreign addresses.

The occasion was a brilliant and notable one. The ancient and splendid
Guildhall--one of the most perfect Gothic interiors in England, which
has historical associations of more than five centuries--was filled
with a representative gathering of English men and women. On the dais,
or stage, at one end of the hall, sat the Lord Mayor and the Lady
Mayoress, and the special guests of the occasion were conducted by
ushers, in robes and carrying maces, down a long aisle flanked with
spectators on either side and up the steps of the dais, where they
were presented. Their names were called out at the beginning of the
aisle, and as the ushers and the guest moved along, the audience
applauded, little or much, according to the popularity of the
newcomer. Thus John Burns and Mr. Balfour were greeted with
enthusiastic hand-clapping and cheers, although they belong, of
course, to opposite parties. The Bishop of London, Lord Cromer, the
maker of modern Egypt, Sargent, the painter, and Sir Edward Grey, the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, were among those greeted in
this way. In the front row on one side of the dais were seated the
aldermen of the city in their red robes, and various officials in wigs
and gowns lent to the scene a curiously antique aspect to the American
eye. Happily, the City of London has carefully preserved the
historical traditions connected with it and with the Guilds, or groups
of merchants, which in the past had so much to do with the management
of its affairs. Among the invited guests, for example, were the
Master of the Mercers' Company, the Master of the Grocers' Company,
the Master of the Drapers' Company, the Master of the Skinners'
Company, the Master of the Haberdashers' Company, the Master of the
Salters' Company, the Master of the Ironmongers' Company, the Master
of the Vintners' Company, and the Master of the Clothworkers' Company.
These various trades, of course, are no longer carried on by Guilds,
but by private firms or corporations, and yet the Guild organization
is still maintained as a sort of social or semi-social recognition of
the days when the Guildhall was not merely a great assembly-room, but
the place in which the Guilds actually managed the affairs of their
city. It was in such a place and amid such surroundings that Mr.
Roosevelt was formally nominated and