Re-reading Greville during Easter—like Boswell, he fits every mood. and
every season—I came on the record of an odd conversa- tion between Louis XVIII and the Duke of Wellington. Louis, the Duke told Greville, had an astonishing and accurate knowledge of dates. He once asked the Duke when he was born, and being told the day of the month and year he at once said it was a Tues- day. Greville raises doubts as to whether it really was a Tuesday, but—and this is the point of interest—observes (as comment on the fact that the Duke could neither confirm nor deny King Louis' assertion) that men seldom know the day of the week on which they were born. That, I imagine, is still true. Certainly I have no idea on what day of the week my own birth fell—and most readers of this column no doubt know as little about their own. * * * *
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