This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1883 edition. Excerpt: ...your hearty applause satisfies me I did quite right in paying even such a price." Then he praised and flattered them all round in the most fulsome manner, and at last said, "When our historiographer" This was too much for me. I jumped up and said: "Excuse me, gentlemen, but there are limits to everything--a joke is a joke, but even a good joke may be pushed a little too far.. / am the historiographer of this Sette, and the only one I ever heard of. If any other gentleman here claims to be the historiographer, I must tell him kindly and respectfully that he is a contemptible humbug--a base impostor. I hope he will take this hint, so that I may not have to speak out plainly. And as to you, my good friends, from what I have seen of you, I think you are all very well, but you are not everybody, you know. You, Admiral Quaritch, and Lord Justice Davies, and Dr. Clulow, and all the rest of you, are very unsubstantial people, after all. What you say is mighty fine, doubtless; but you live in a degenerate age, you see. Good and great as you may think yourselves, you are nothing to the original Sette whose name you bear--nothing Ah in the good old times--ha ha --there were something like Odd Volumes I can remember Bernard Quaritch and Charles Wyman. Dear, dear when they did get at it, tooth and nail. But, law bless me there, now What's the use? Yes, I can recollect Clulow, and Walford, and Murrell, and--bless me my memory for names is quite gone Yes, there was Horner, and Renton--and, law, how they did sing, ' to be sure " Here His Oddship looked very kindly, but deuced firmly, at me, for all the world like his grandfather, and said, "Shatter my turret, young man, I fear you are not well Try a bottle of soda-water. (I...