Sir Wilfrid thought it particularly fitting that he should address a Scottish audience in terms of dollars and cents, and genially announced his intention of making a financial address, though disclaiming that he was a man of figures..... It sounded well, but Mr. Fielding [his finance minister] sitting at his side was driven almost to profanity in his efforts to make whispered corrections of the errors with which it bristled. The Scots listeners were frankly puzzled...
After the meeting...Sir Wilfrid...entrusted his bag to Alexander Smith...[a] Liberal organizer to carry to the hotel. This was Mr. Fielding's chance. "Get rid of that speech," he whispered to Smith. The organizer fell in with the suggestion and, as he crossed the picturesque bridge of Paisley, extracted the precious notes and scattered them on the bosom of the Saugeen River... Sir Wilfrid never knew what became of the fruits of his summer's browsing among the blue books.
Michael Bliss, Right Honourable Men (HarperCollins: 1994).
