The speech began: “Now, we invite the most honorable recipient of the Order of the Garter, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George, the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, the Victoria Cross, and the Knight Bachelor; the leader of the anti-colonial movement; the bell-ringer of the East India Company; the hero of the Crimean War; a Fellow of the Royal Society; a lifelong friend of literary giants such as Dickens and Dumas; a staunch supporter of scientific stars such as Faraday and Darwin; the former Assistant Under-Secretary, Under-Secretary, and Permanent Under-Secretary of the Home Office and Admiralty of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; the Kingdom's first Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service; one of the first graduates and the most outstanding alumnus in the history of this school—the respectable Sir Arthur Hastings, to deliver a speech at the 50th-anniversary celebration of the founding of the University of London.” Arthur's gaze swept across the audience...