Ordinarily, when a distinguished jurist-statesman refuses an invitation to a public banquet, it is only necessary for him to use the words "sorry" and "impracticable," finish off with a sonorous and obviously academical paragraph of good wishes, and sign his name. Last week, however, Elihu Root, having said the ordinary thing to one Merwin Hart of Utica who had asked him to a dinner in honor of Senator James W. Wadsworth Jr., went on and on in a way that would have given any social secretary the willies. Midway in the long second...
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