[7] Queens Regnant (and I think Consort) have the _ex officio_ entrée to monasteries; but Fort Augustus had never been so honoured, our only "crowned head" visitor having been King Leopold of Belgium. I remember Prince Henry of Battenberg, who came in a yacht with Princess Beatrice, being put out at the latter being denied admission into the enclosure. There was some talk of King Edward paying us a visit from Glenquoich, where he was Lord Burton's guest; but nothing came of it. [8] I had presided at a festival of the Association fifteen years previously (in 1897). [9] A fine old soldier and sportsman, who had fought in Afghanistan and Burmah, and was afterwards appointed, first Clerk of the Cheque, and later standard-bearer, in the King's Bodyguard. He volunteered, when well over seventy, for service in the Great War, and was given, I think, some post in connection with the defences of the Forth Bridge. [10] "I preach sitting," said Bateman: "it is more conformable to antiquity and to reason to sit than to stand."--Newman, _Loss and Gain_ (ed. 1876), page 70. My friend George Angus had followed suit at St. Andrews. [11] I say "tried"; for our good Belgian _chef_, who _said_ he understood the process, used some mysterious pickle of his own invention--with disastrous results! [12] In the event of no candidate receiving a sufficient number of votes, the "scrutiny" was repeated again and again--often a very lengthy and tedious proceeding. [13] "The winter is now past, the rain is over and gone." It was never really safe to quote these words at Fort Augustus before (say) the end of May. [14] My brother-in-law, Sir Charles Dalrymple, had been one of those who most bitterly resented my change of religion in 1875, and still more my entrance into the Benedictine Order. But time had softened old asperities; and we had been on affectionate terms for many years past. [15] _A Medley of Memories_ (1st Series), pp. 81, 82. [16] Most of the Abruzzi was included in the extensive diocese of Monte Cassino (one of the largest in Italy), which was under the administration of the abbot, although he was not a bishop. His jurisdiction extended over no less than seven ancient dioceses--a fact symbolized by the interesting and unique custom of his wearing, when he celebrated pontifical high mass, seven different mitres in succession. [17] Cardinal Gasparri, at that time Secretary of State to the reigning Pontiff, Benedict XV. [18] The pioneer of the Benedictine revival in Brazil, and my Superior at the abbey of Olinda seventeen years before. See _A Medley of Memories_ (1st Series), chaps, xvi. and xvii. Dom Gerard was consecrated (titular) Bishop of Phocæa on April 18, 1906. [19] Like Dr. Firmin's in _Philip_. "Dreary, sad, as into a great blank desert, looked the eyes."--Thackeray, _Philip_, chap. iii. {246} CHAPTER XIV 1913-1914