attended by the survivors and by the crews of the rest of the squadron, he very thoughtfully read the service in German. A laudatory recognition of his good offices appeared in the Cologne Gazette, which further remarked:—“Mr Roberts on every occasion read the solemn service for the dead in the German language. This fact contributed greatly to the satisfaction of the mourners who were present by rendering the prayers intelligible to them.” In 1878 Mr Roberts accepted Dr Hawtrey's offer of a classical mastership together with the chaplaincy at Aldin House School, Slough, where he was associated with Charles Hawtrey and W. F. Hawtrey, both now of world-wide theatrical fame. It was while at Slough that Mr Roberts received a letter from Count Munster, the German Ambassador, conveying to him the thanks of William the First for his services. This was followed by a handsomely-bound and valuable Bible with an impressed inscription recording that it was given him by “William, Emperor of Germany, in recognition of his services on the occasion of the loss of H.M.S. Grosser Kurfürst.” In 1879 Mr Roberts was presented to the benefice of Elmstone, near Cheltenham.
Four years before this, however, Mr Roberts took the step which was the beginning, so to speak, of the justification for his appearance in this collection—he joined the E.C.U. To-day he is not only the historian of that important organisation, but
