In this room, years ago, when the sunny,
courteous, and humorous "Jem Onions" was the host, a number of notable
men used to assemble. Here you might meet men who at that time, or
since, have been known as mayors, alder-men, and councillors. Here,
"Blue-brick Walker" first propounded his scheme for superseding the
"petrified kidney" pavement. Here "Wedding-ring Edwards," in his
quaint, sententious manner, growled out brief epigrammatic sentences,
full of shrewdness and wisdom, most strangely seasoned with
semi-contemptuous sarcasm. Here Isherwood Sutcliff, with his
well-dressed, dapper figure, and his handsome Roman face, was wont to
air his oratory; and here occasionally he, placing his right foot
upon a spittoon, would deliver himself of set orations; most carefully
prepared; most elegantly phrased; copiously garnished with Byronic
quotations; and delivered with considerable grace and fervour. These
orations, however, having no basis of thought or force of argument,
and, indeed, having nothing but their sensuous beauty of expression to
recommend them, fell flat upon the ears of an unsympathetic audience,
composed mainly of men whose brains were larger and of tougher fibre.
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