"I hope Lady Watkin, Miss Watkin, and your son are enjoying good health. Have the goodness to present my best regards to Lady Watkin, and to remember me kindly to your dear daughter and son; and, my dear Sir Edward, reiterating to you my sincere thanks for all you have done for me, and expecting the pleasure of seeing you very soon in London, believe me, as always, "Your very sincere, "And devoted friend, "GEO. ET. CARTIER. "Sir EDWARD W. WATKIN, 21, Old Broad Street, London. "On my leaving Canada Lady Cartier and my daughters have asked me not to forget to present to you and Lady Watkin their best wishes and kindest regards, to remember them kindly to your son, and to offer their compliments to Miss Watkin, in the hope of making her acquaintance hereafter." CHAPTER XXII. Disraeli--Beaconsfield. No one aided the cause of Canada more readily than Mr. Disraeli, and I ought to explain how I first gained his confidence and kindness. But Mr. Philip Rose, who was his solicitor, his friend, his executor; who had stuck by him "per angusta ad augusta," was of priceless service in placing before him, from time to time, the facts, affecting Confederation, as I collected them. My first acquaintance with Mr. Disraeli was the consequence of my connection, as an honorary secretary, with the "Manchester Athenaeum," a literary institute, originated in 1835 by Richard Cobden, on his return from a visit to his brother in the United States, a country at that time on the rage for social clubs with classic names. The "Manchester Athenaeum," owing partly to defective management and architectural costliness, partly to some years of bad trade and deficient employment, and partly to an unfortunate sectarian conflict, had fallen into debt and difficulty; and a few of the younger members, who had profited by the existence of the institution, came to the rescue, and by various methods got rid of its debts, and set it fairly on the way again. One method was, the holding of a great literary soiree in the Manchester Free Trade Hall. The audience was more than 4,000. The President was Charles Dickens. On the morning of the day before the soiree, which took place on Thursday, the 5th of October, 1843, I received a note, in these terms, from Mr. Cobden:-- "MOSLEY St, "_Wednesday_. "Dear Sir, "Mr. Benj'n Disraeli, the author of 'Vivian Grey,' is at the Mosely Arms Hotel, with Mrs. Disraeli. "I wish you would call and invite them to the soiree. "Yours truly, "R. COBDEN. "Mr. E. Watkin, "High St." I print the note exactly as it was written. It has appeared to me, since, that Mr. Cobden at that time considered it necessary to identify Mr. Disraeli as Mr. "Benj'n" Disraeli, "the author of Vivian Grey."