A 'A A o 1 X 1 RNREG 4 3 !I0 ^i .LIBR ARY 2 Z- !|l''l"(l'4l lil'il^^ '^Mll'flllli'''''"'''^''^^^ 'fpHsor Howilon, Hompaa 75 66 Amorica. tVyptoRmms ... 76 67 St>uth .\frira. Ciildooott ... 77 68 Aiupriort. .Vppleton Morgan 77 69 Dr. Isaac Hull Piatt ... 78 70 Flio5 in the Baconian Pot 79 71 Edwin Rood 80 72 (icrmany, Meier, Holzer ... 81 7.'> Spediiing. Hayloy. Ames. Greenwood 81 71 Dr. Abbott 82 PAOR 75 William Theobald 82 76 George Dawson. J. S. Mill. Chess. George Macdonald 83 77 Mrs. Ik'sant. A. J. Scott. Sir Henry Bishop. Rev. W. T. Davi.son 84 78 Dr. David Wilson. Dr. Kidd 85 79 My Experiences in Homoe- opathy 86 80 Slight Importance of Fool- ish or Extravagant Advo- cacy 86 81 Rev. Walter Begley ... 87 REMINISCENCES. I. — Introduction. A LETTER from one of my most valued correspondents has given me much pleasure and more surprise by the following sugges- tion : — " It would be interesting if you will write some memories of all the remarkable people you have consorted with. Such a record could not fail to be of value." I will not give his name ; it is one well known ail over the world, and my reminiscences must include him among the rest ; but I dare not run the risk of doing any injury to his high reputation by associating him with a work which may not contain much that he would value, and may contain much that he would repudiate. He might regret having given me the impulse. The suggestion is not entirely new ; it has faintly flashed across my own mind that I might add my own name to the ever-increasing number of those who narrate their experiences. And a very intelligent lady, Mrs. Ernest Brown, of New York, who has been for many years interested in all I have written on the Baconian con- troversy, gave me the same advice two or three years ago. But I distrusted my own ability to record anything that would be permanently valuable, until the letter from which I have quoted came ; and tliea I began to jot down the names of those who might enter into my list, and was almost surprised at the large number (over 100) that immediately presented themselves, and the number is still increasing. So that each fresh record calls up to memory other names more or less distinctly associated with those already registered. So I resolved to make the attempt. And here is the result. II. — New College. My life has been a very chequred one. All family traditions and influences seemed to pronounce theology and the work of a dissenting minister as my vocation, and for this I was prepared by early education and first collegiate study. But destiny decided otherwise. My career was rudely and roughly altered soon after I entered a college — that at St. John's Wood— for the B RF.M1M8CFNCF.8. tmiiilnp «»f 8tn(l«->nls for \ho dissoiitincj ministn-. My cMMliodoxy was inipoai'luHl, ami I was civilly roaldi, and associated with him both in work and suffering, for her political activity was at one time rewarded with im- prisonment. I was very much attached to her ; her influence was very strong, but tended more to more active intellectual work and study than to the tender passion ; yet some of our friends made interesting prophecies as to more domestic issues to our friendship. But this was not to be. When I married it was not to a literary or political lady devoted to books and schemes of national emancipation. The grey mare in that case might have proved the better horse. I selected a lady after my own heart — sweet and attractive, but not particularly gifted in anv way. I knew" both Mr. W. H. Wliite and F. M. Wliite in their homes at Bedford and Portsmouth. I visited Portsmouth many times, and preached for Mr. Chignell, w^ho was minister of the Independent Chapel there. He was what is termed an "advanced" thinker. Indeed, he advanced beyond the limits of Christian belief, and became almost a deist. Among his hearers Avere many highly intellectual young men who were studying naval architecture at the dockyard, among them Sir Nathaniel Barnaby and Sir Edwin Keed, afterwards M.P. and chief constructor of the nav}', both well known for their work in naval construction. Both became near neighbours of mine at Blackheath, and I often visited them, and had conferences with them on my own personal interests in the medical pro- REMINISOENOES. 7 fession. When Sir Edwin first called on me asking me to attend to his daughter, he reminded me of an interesting (as he considered it) discussion on paradoxes which I had given at Portsmouth when preaching from the words, " When I am weak then am I strong," The text itself is a paradox, and my discourse on paradoxes showed that Christianity itself is a religion of paradoxes. The Christian evangelist works by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report, as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well-known, as dying and behold, we live, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing and yet possessing all things ; and the 7th and 8th chapters of the Romans abound in paradoxes. The world is governed by self- contradictory actions and facts. One of the greatest benefactors of humanity is Pontius Pilate, who crucified Jesus Christ, and by the very act conferred the greatest good on humanity. The worst evil produces the highest benefit to humanity. He was interested in my " Studies," but protested very strongly against the first sentence, in which I speak of Bacon as greatest and Shakespeare also as greatest in literature. I reminded him that I was a chartered libertine in paradoxes, but this did not pacify him. Pie was a generous and gifted man, not particularly devoted to orthodox Christian faith — indeed, more inclined to agnoticism. At his house I met the poet Philip James Bayley, the author of "Festus." Mr. Chignell afterwards moved to Exeter, where he preached and lectured for some years. His sermons and lectures gene- rally contained some reference to Carlyle or Goethe or Emerson or Jean Paul Richter. His heterodoxy made him very un- acceptable to the wealthy gentleman who had founded the chapel and endowed it, and when Mr. Chignell spontaneously resigned, knowing how distasteful his theology was to the orthodox patron of this dissenting benefice, he sent Mr. Chig- nell a cheque for £100. III. — New College Professors. The indictment of our orthodoxy was made by the Principal of the College, Dr. John Harris, well known as the author of various works. One of these was a prize essay on the use and abuse of money — " Mammon " was its title. Dr. Harris wrote in a fluent, easy style, with well-rounded sentences, and what he wrote was generally valued, and deservedly so, by the denomina- tion to which he belonged. But there was no exceptional ability either in the matter of his teaching or the style in whicli it was communicated. He was neither a poet nor a philosopher ; his theological prelections contained no research — nothing to bring 8 RKMINI8CFNCE8. ihem rn rtipfh^rt with hist oroatioiis «»f liisown brain, and no one licarin^jj Ihcni c\>\iU\ tiuii out wholhcr ho had ever road any of tlio Cliristian Fathors, or any stan^lard work in thoology or p^noral litoratunv Tho classical toaohinp at Now Collofj^o was (^f a nuicli liigluT onlor, hoing j>rosi».lod ovor by Dr. William Smith, wh(»so classical dictii>narios aro of world-wide ropuUntion, and his brother, Piiilip Smith, equally learned and aci-omplishcd. Ijoctures on the Ctreok Tostamont were given l)y Mr. CJodwin, and they wore valuable, but quite as self-originated as those of Dr. Harris. Hebrew was taught by Professor Nenner, a very learned German and a goxl scholar. I think the fjuality of his teaching was somewhat depressed and its value deteriorated by the atmosphere of the College where he taught. But he remained my valued friend to the last, and I hardly think he ai)proved of our expul- sion. After I had eml»raced another vocation 1 frequently met him, and 1 was not a little surprised by his gentle suggestion when he paid me a wedding visit, that I must admit, on review- ing my College experiences, that I had been very unwise, not sulliciently conciliatory, and that my fate was not entirely un- deserved. I was sincerely sorry that I coidd not assent to his views, and now, after sixty years, I am still impenitent. But such proceedings could not take place now. The Zeitgeist has shed his light even into the unillumined recesses of dissenting colleges, and the heresy of a former generation has become the orthodoxy of later times. Reverence and piety are not less ; but a broader theology and a deeper philosophy has created not only tolerance but sympathy with beliefs which were so fiercely denounced when I was a student. Professor Nenner, among other accomplishments, was a musician and a good pianist, and I recall with pleasure my first acquaintance with Beethoven's lovely Andante in F major. Op. 35, played with excellent vigour and feeling by Professor Nenner. IV. — Early Life. But I am far on in my autobiographical memories before I have made a beginning. I have skipped infancy, childhood and l)oyhood and, unlike Cupid, who was always a child, have stepped into existence like Minen-a, from the brow of Jupiter, fidl grown as soon as born. I must retrace my steps and make a fresh start. I was born at Birmingham, November 28th, 1829. I have learnt that the great pianist and composer, Rubenstein, was bom on the same day and the same year. Perhaps the star of Terpsichore was then in the ascendant, and the gift of music was REMINISCENCES. 9 bestowed on all those born on that day. For though this gift was not so abuntantly granted to me as to Rubenstein, yet in my humble way I, too, was born a musician and my household divinities have been the classic composers, especially and equally Bach and Beethoven. My father held an appointment in a paper warehouse in Birmingham — not a very remunerative position — and when I was three or foar years old became comiected with the Religious Tract Society and moved to London. I have a dim recollection of travelling from Birmingham to London in a stage coach, for at that time the London and North Western Railway had not advanced so far as Birmingham. V. — The Morell Family. My mother's maiden name was Morell, and she belonged to a family in which many high qualities were indigenous. The family was originally French — refugees from persecution when the Huguenot massacres occurred, and there is a tradition that one of the soldiers employed in the bloody work was on the point of plunging his sword into the heart of a sleeping infant, but his stroke was arrested by the plea, " Spare the babe ! He is not a heretic." That baby became one of our ancestors, and the Huguenot faith and piety has remained in the blood of the Morell family as almost an elementary constituent. My grand- father, Stephen Morell, was a Congregational minister at Little Baddow, Essex, for more than fifty years, and was succeeded by his son Thomas, who held that position for about twenty-eight years. Many monuments in the churchyard, and some tablets in the chapel, commemorate the virtues and endowments of the j\Iorells. Music was one of their gifts. My grandfather had a deep, rich bass voice and good musical feeling, more, however, for melody than harmony. He would sing the melody of the tunes selected for the chapel services two octaves below their natural soprano. His eldest son, Stephen, a year younger than my mother, who was the oldest in the family, died in 1824. He was for a short time settled as a Congregational minister at Exeter, and knew Jackson, the composer of the Te Deum and many well-known musical canticles, which my uncle copied. He afterwards moved to Norwich. My mother was his house- keeper, and there she first met my father, who was a Norwich man. My grandfather had two brothers, Tliomas and John. Tliomas, after a pastoral life in Suffolk, and as tutor of Wymondley College, became principal of the same college when it was transferred, as (toward College, to Gordon Square, London. He wrote several volumes of history with moral and religious reflections. These books are occasionally to be met with on second-hand 10 KKMlMSCrNrKS. U^ksollors' slu«l\»>s. Tlic im^ral ami rolijiious ivllortlons did nt>t matori.illy iinpiovo llio narrative. 'ronnysonH "Day- dream."' with its moral, appliiaMe as much to thooiojiiy as art, was not published early enough to reach my j^reat-uiicle, who might, in that case, have li'ft the story to tell its own moral — '■ And hbcnil npplicntions lie In art, like nature, dearest friend ; So 'twere to cramp its use if I Should book it to some useful end." The other brother of my grandfather, Dr. John ]\forell, was, perhaps, the best scholar of the three. He became a Unitarian minister, and iiis son, John Kcynell ^lorell, has made his mark as a translator of Fourier, and author of several educational books. He, too, became a Unitarian minister, but the Huguenot strain seems to have entirely disappeared from his blood. Ho became a Koman Catholic, and was for a short time Inspector of Catholic Schools in England. He was highl}' intellectual, but constantly irregular in his professional work, by which he lost his appointment. He resided for many years on the Continent as tutor in noble or royal houses, but he was fre- quently plunged into deepest poverty, and dependent on the generosity of liis more opulent relations, especially my uncle, Dr. J. D. Morell, whose lavish generosity was untiring. His surviving sons live by pen or pencil as journalists or artists. One of them may be generally found in the reading-room of the British Museum. A taste and gift for art is more developed in this section of our family than in any other, but in literary gifts they are not deficient. My cousin, who frequents the British Museum, has given mo much valuable help in the re- search work incidental to my Baconian and Shakespearean studies. His brother is editor of an art journal in Paris. Both of them can write with almost equal facility in English, French, and German. One of them was at a Catholic school in Birming- ham, and liad frequent interviews with Cardinal Newman, who had pastoral and priestly relations with the school. Catholic ideas and Ijeliefs have not taken a very strong hold even on this branch of our family, and the natural reaction and alterna- tive, agnosticism, has generally succeeded. VI.— Dr. J. D. Morell. My grandfather's youngest son was John Daniell Morell, born in 1816, and he is widely known by his writings, both philo- sophical and educational. After a college course at Ilomerton and Glasgow and Germany, he became an Independent minister at Gosport, and there he published, in 1846, his work on the " Speculative Philosoj)hy of the Nineteenth Century." For this RBMINISOENOBS. 11 he was qualified by a residence in Bonn, where he attended the philosophical lectures of Brandis and Fichte. He wrote other philosophical works, and published four lectures, which I heard him deliver at Glasgow, on the " Philosophical Ten- dencies of the Age." In 1849 he published what I regard as his best work — that on the " Philosophy of Religion." I owe much to this book. It shaped my elementary philosophical and theological conceptions, and gave them a form and colour which they have always retained. His " Philosophy of Re- ligion " is based on the writings of Schleiermacher, whose definition of religion in its essence as a feeling, and that of absolute dependence, seems to me a true and most vital descrip- tion of that which is deepest and holiest in our nature. All these works had a temporary use ; they are not likely to take a permanent place in literature, and are now rarely met with. One happy result of my uncle's earliest philosophical work was that it was the means of securing him an appointment as Inspector of Schools, which Avas offered to him by Lord Lans- downe. This office he retained for many years, and left it with a retiring pension. He wrote many educational books, especially on grammar, which he regarded as the porch of psychology. For many years he lived at Bowden, near Manchester, and when I visited him there I accompanied him in many of his visits as inspector, and was greatly interested in his grammar examina- tions, which were really lessons in the philosophy of language. Thus, holding up his pencil he would ask the children, " What part of speech is this ? " and if the reply was, " A noun," he would remind them that a noun is not a thing, but the name of a thing ; consequently the pencil was not a part of speech at all. In the musical part of his inspection his rich bass voice could be heard apart from the soprano of a multitude of singing children. For he, too, like the rest of his family, and more than most, was a musician, played the organ and violoncello, not brilliantly, but accurately, and had regular musical evenings at his house, which I frequently attended when they were within reach, especially at Beckenham, and was often installed as leader of the tenors, or accompanist to the glees, madrigals, part-songs, and masses. After his retirement from his work as Inspector he lived at Clapham, Beckenham, Folkestone, and lastly at St. John's Wood. Ho married Miss Wreford, of Bristol, where her family were prominent in Unitarian circles. Her brother, Henry Wreford, was for many years Italian (-orrespondent of tiio Times. My uncle died, childless, in 1891, after an attack of gradual cerebral ramollisscment, which lasted ten years — a pathetic close to a life of high intellectual activity. His grave at Folkestone is surmounted by the well-known and pathetic words of Horace, which he had placed there when his wife died ten years before, I? KlMINISrKNCES. '* Quit Jmiihrio Uii<>r ant modus tain rnri capilin.'' After his (loalli 1 puMislu'il a small nuMUorial voliiino. Tlio I'lHt of his works at tlio viv\ of tlu> volunu* coiilains l\vonty-(*i}j;lit original «>r translated works. His luniks were nim-li rtniowcd and highly applauded when they appeared. The best reviews were thost» by the j^reat and eminent philosopher, Dr. dames Martinoau, who wn)te searehinjx notices both of his history and his " Philosophy of Keli^rion," containinj^ both miieh praise and some critieal roftMind. I'erhaps, for my undo personally, it was scimethin^ like a i-alamity that his books were subjected to the criticism of a j^jreater philosopher than himself, and one equally entlowed in the special departments of German philosophy which he had chosen for treatment ; for the critical analysis was made by one of the greatest philosoj)hers of all time — one worthy to rank with Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Bacon, Des Cartes, and all the greatest metaphysicians and philosophers — for such I consider Dr. 31artineau. VII. — Rev. D. G. Bishop ; Dr. John Pye-Smith. *-«^ ■ My iather's second daughter, Sophia, married Rev. Daniell Goilffey Bishoj), a very learned classical scholar, who became classical tutor at Homerlon (College, where I often visited him. The principal of this college was the learned and greatly re8pe<'ted Dr. John Pye-Smith, who was also minister of the Old Gravel Pit meeting-house near the college. It was my great delight, as a very small child, to wait, after the service, for the dear and revered doctor, and walk back with him, holding a finger or two of his hand. Dr. Pye-Smith was the author of .some theological works whicli were greatly prized, one of them beinj; entitled, " Scrijjture Testimony to the j\lessiah." It was a topic which involved the discussion of many contro- verted questions, and the doctor, always gentle and tolerant, handled these topics with a gentleness, courtesy, and dignity that was almost apologi'tic. Ho had a sort of a deferential way of meeting an opponent, by which the strength of his argu- ments was somewhat disguised. His son, Ebenezer Pye-Smith, was a modieal practitioner. He attended our family during our Ijondon life, and was a constant attendant on my mother during her last illness. He, too, was a gentle, amiable man, but very resolute in his medical orthodoxy, and when in after years I mot him, when our family had resorted to homoeopathic treatment, he tried to convince me of the unsoundness of homojopathy by retailing some of the many exploded stories REMINISCENCES. 13 about Hahnemann which were current in medical circles. I had not then the necessary knowledge to refute these absurd and calumnious fictions, but I formed a strong impression of our doctor's bigotry and of the mal-a-propos nature of his argu- ments against homoeopathy. Mr. Bishop, my uncle, became subsequently a clergyman of the Church of England and master of an endowed grammar school at Buntingford. It was a pleasant and instructive experience to hear him preach. He generally had a Greek Testament in his pocket, and the exordium of his sermons usually consisted of some illuminating exposition of his text, based on a revised translation from the original Greek, He was also an accomplished musician, played the violin, or viola, or violoncello. His family inherited his musical gifts ; they would all play together— three strings, a flute, and the piano, the daughter being the pianist. Their favourite music was Haydn's Symphonies, which they rendered in a very masterly way. My great love for Haydn's orchestral and chamber music originated on these occasions, and now, in old age, these ever charming and melodious compositions, as pianoforte duetts, are favourites with my second daughter and myself ; we have twenty-four of them in four bound volumes, as well as the nine symphonies of Beethoven in two other volumes. Some of these we attempt to play, and with some success ; but they are of a higher order of music than Haydn's, more intricate, fugal, and embellished, and consequently more difficult in their pianoforte adaptations. Mozart's Symphonies seem intermediate between Haydn's and Beethoven's, and we find intense delight in the Jupiter Sym- phony, with its grand fugal finale and exquisitely melodious adagio. Others of Mozart's, especially that in G minor, with its extremely chromatic first movement, are included in our reper- toire. Being self-taught and untrained, I cannot venture on such music as Chopin's, and most of Schumann's, which can only be rendered by a brilliant performer, well schooled, and after much practice of technical phrases. A self-taught pianist plays only for his own gratification, and his fingering is likely to be unsound. In my own case this was to some extent corrected by long study of Bach's forty-eight preludes and fugues, from a fingered edition. For two years I scarcely played anything else, and learnt the wiiole of these glorious compositions — some of them by heart. I was even daring enough to set one of the fugues to words as an anthem — that in A minor in the first book — the subject of which closely resembles the phrase of a hynm tune. Anyone wiio knows this fugue will recognise its easy adaptation to the words, " I lift up mine eyes unto the hills — the hills whoncte cometh aid " ; and for the second division, " The Lord shall preserve thee from all ill ; He shall preserve thy soul." I have 14 KI:M!NI8CENCKH. niM'or siuvoodotl in mast«'r'm^ tlio wliolo of (licso very (IKTicuU works, but 1 Kvinit to uniicrstHiitl tlicin all, and came to rofjjard ihoni ns suproinc in musical art. Hacli and Hoctliovcn socni to mo to stjind on the pinnaoh* of musical ai'liiovcmtMit, ([uite apart fnMu all the rest, and in scientific skill and nllluonco of melody, which pervades all his music, entering into their most interior structure, Bach stands almost alone. But ho is caviare to the general. I have known even well-endowed musicians say that they cannot relish Bach's music, and think it too dry and academic to he ;2;enerally pleasing;. Doubtless some patienco and study is reipiired before Bach can be appreciated. At first his works seoin like a luminous mist in which no distinct form can be recognised. But as you watch, tlio mist gradually clears off; angels of high and almost supernatural splendour are seen in the midst of the glory, and a divine voice is heard proceeding from the burning bush of brilliantly shining music. VIII. — My Mother and Father. Before taking leave of the Morell family, I may notice that my mother also was gifted in music and played the pianoforte with much taste and some skill. Slie used to j)lay to me " The Battle of Prague,'' a piece now forgotten, but then much in vogue. I was charmed with the music, and the various dramatic conce|)tions involved in it, such as the marching of troops, repre- sented by triplets in the bass, the cries of the wounded, the dismissal to rest, and so on. ]\Iuch the same kind of dramatic art is to be found in Beethoven's first sonata dedicated to Haydn. Indeed, these sonatas lend themselves largely to such interpretation. Ex gr., the third of Beethoven's Haydn sonatas represents a storm ; we hear the weighing of the anchor, the gradually augmenting movement of the waves in the first move- ment, a voice of distress constantly interrupted by the noise of the waters (this is the adagio movement), the steady rise and fall of the waves in the minuet and trio, leading in the finale to a swift and prosperous voyage, with a long cadenza while the vessel is weighing anchor, and then triumphantly enters into port. I have little doubt that some such conception as this was in the composer's mind when he wrote. My mother died in 1*^45 from an attack of pneumonia. Bleeding was then gener- ally resorted to in such cases, and my mother Avas copiously bled three times. I cannot help but think that this, more than the pneumonia, was the cause of her death. At that time we knew nothing of homeopathy and its more gentle, yet more potent, niotho'ls of subduing disease — not killing in order to cure. This might have saved her, for she was only 46 at the time of her death. Her last days were peaceful and even triumphant, REMINISCENCES. 15 and when she knew that her term was nearly completed she spoke loving farewells and gentle admonitions and exhortations to all around her dying bed. To me she said, " Be a faithful minister of Jesus Christ," for such was then my own aspiration, though at that time the idea seemed to me something like profanation. The reason for this will soon appear. My father wrote a brief account of her life and last illness, to which he gave the title, " The Fear of Death Removed by the iProspect of Immortality." For my own part, I cannot feel that this fear can be so removed. Anyone who has experienced the tcedium vitce must feel how intolerable such a feeling would be in an endless life, deprived even of the privilege of suicide. The only conceivable refuge from this is the persuasion that almighty power and infinite wisdom has inexhaustible resources by which motives of action and thought bring into play all that is holiest in our nature, and that this can never fail. My father used often to preach, especially at the Fleet Prison in Farringdon Street, now abandoned — a prison for debtors. I often joined him in these excursions and acted as precentor for the singing. He sometimes preached on Kennington Common in a tent, and at the Female Penitentiary, Pentonville. I remem- ber nothing of his sermons ; I cannot suppose they were particularly exalted in thought or expression, for he was not a deep thinker, and was devoted to a puritanical scheme of life and destiny. I think my expulsion from New College, and later the Rivulet Controversy, which will come into a subsequent section, gave a better and broader tone to his thought, and some- what unsettled its puritanical conceptions. He was a truly excellent man, skilful and clever in many ways, especially in mechanical inventions. He died in 1867. IX. — Earliest Life : Birmingham — London. I can recall few incidents of my earliest childhood at Birming- ham. My parents were members of the church at Carr's Lane, presided over by the Rev. John Angell James, and from my earliest years the ultra-evangelical and puritanical training inculcated by Mr. James shaped my morality and wakened my aspirations. The theatre was the Gate of Hell ; the oratorio was perhaps even worse, for it was regarded as a sort of pro- fanation that sacred music should be performed for the gratifica- tion of an audience and sacred words sung by unconverted persons. Those ideas were not exactly formulated, but this was the impression inevitably produced by the evangelical teacliing and practice of the time. My love of music and my interior sense of its essential sacredness, even if nominally secular, was the first influence that led mo to rebel against these restrictions. 1R RBMINIS0BNCB8. In 1S|(), wluMi I w;is luwrly 17, 1 visltrd some old friciids at, nirmiii:;li;im, and tlii'i>n;xli (lit* kindness of other friends I was privilfp'il to attend one of t lie fest ival peifofMiaiices. Mendelssolm had the day hoforo hrouj^ht out his " lOlijah," and a |)erft)rniancu of the lovely quartotto, " Holy ! Il<»]y ! "' was substituted for one of the pieees which had to 1)«> omitted, and I hail the inexpros- silde jjrati Ileal ion of secin;^; the illustrious composer as he con- ducted his own ijuartette. (I may here note that some years afterwards I saw the j^rcat composer, Spohr. He was an eklerly man, larjjje and burly — somethinjj; like a country farmer. His intensely chromatic music is always i)leasinri>se it at such an unp;odly performance, for they were staunch tlisciplcs of John Angeil James. They expressed their ilisapproval in no measured terms, so much so that I was pro- voked to exclaim, " Rubbish ! " as ra}' irresistible comment on one of their arn;uments. v^till I was not entirely emancipated, and felt there mijT;ht be .some truth in their disap|)roval. It was not till lonfi; afterwards that I perceived that holy things might be contemplated in various ways as suitable not only for prayer and praise, but for admiration and song, as things of beauty and joy, that there may be much religion where there is no worship, and that musical delight and enjoyment is not unholy — is indeed sacred and divine. Moreover, my ideas about conversion were completely altered. X. — John Angell James. John Angell James was a truly excellent and saintly man, a most earnest and persuasive preacher. But I believe that his influence was, to a large extent — i.e., independently of his own personal religious magnetism — mischievous. When my solf- con.sciousness and religious sentiments were being developed, and I believed, what I had been taught, that above all things conversion was necessary, I had put into my hands Mr. .James's book, " The Great Question Answered, or the Anxious Enquirer After Salvation Directed and Encouraged." As the " great question " was, " What must I do to be saved ? " it soon occurred to me that this momentous question was originally asked by the Phillipian jailer, and that the craven, terrified caitiff was not thinking of his soul, but of his skin, and that the salvation which he craved was from the danger caused by an earthquake .ind the shaking walls of his prison, and that the reply of the apostle, " Believe in the Lord Jesus (Jhrist and thou shalt be savei], and thj lumsc,'" was rather irrelevant, and contained an implied rebuke to the terror of the unhappy man, who was only concerned for his own safety, and did not concern himself about REMINISCENCES. 17 his family. And thus it dawned upon my mind that the question itself is a very ignoble one, even more when it related to the soul than to the body ; that no one can do anything to save himself, and that the apostle's reply removed the anxiety and purified the terror, by bringing the trembling inquirer into the presence of Divine Humanity, when all thoughts of safety were forgotten under the nobler inspiration of divine communion. Mr. James's book was the cause of inexpressible mental agony to me. I tried to follow its directions, to be as penitent and lachrymose as I ought to be, to feel the terrors of perdition impending from which I could be delivered only by an interior vital change, a sort of reconstruction of my nature — a result which I hoped to reach according to the pre- scriptions of Mr. James's book. But it was all in vain ; I could never assure myself that I was a new creature, and at last I gave it up in despair, lioping that some flash of divine influence might reach me, as it did St. Paul on his way to Damascus, and that in this way the necessary change would be produced. And so I drifted till more mature thought and riper philosophy taught me that life itself is a process of conversion, beginning with simple physical experiences and ending in a full develop- ment of nature, physical, intellectual, moral and religious, and that no ictus of Divine interposition would be granted to supersede the entire discipline of life, and concentrate into a moment the result only to be attained by a life-long, gradual process. Some years after, when 1 was a student for the ministry, and visiting friends in Wolverhampton, I met Mr. James, and we walked together, arm-in-arm, to the chapel where he was to preach. He then urged me, and my companion and fellow- student, to remember that the one object of preaching was to " save souls." He did not say what this salvation means, from what peril souls are to be delivered, or how preaching of any kind could effect such a momentous result. I had, however, by that time learnt how unreal all these dogmas are, and how inevitably productive of despair, or of infidelity, contempt and disgust. To me now it seems that Mr. James's book should have been entitled, " The Anxious Enquirer After Personal Safety Driven to Despair." While, however, insisting on the fact that sudden conversion is rare and exceptional, I would not be understood to deny that it does occur. Anyone who reads Mr. Harold Begbio's remark- able and interesting book (" Broken Eartiionware," etc.) will find many such instances. Mr. Begbie's writings are equally characterised by profound i)hilo8ophy, deep piety, and literary interest and enchanting narrative. It afterwards appeared to me that Mr. James's representa- tion of the chief aim of preaching is that of pure unmitigated 18 REMINI8CKNCRB. 8«'lfisliiioss. nn«i a snception of (lod tlian to picture Ilim as the Creator of myriads of beings whose inevitable doom is evcr- lai^ling torment ? IJeligion, in its best aspect, is certainly not a clamorous a|>peal for divine help and deliverance, and the best aim of preaihing is not to lead men to seek for safety, but for imion with eternal truth and goodness. We are bidden to fear (ukI — we are never bidden to be afraid of Ilim. The aim of preacliing shoidil be to bring heaven down to earth, to spiritualise life, to make common things and deeds pursuits divine; so that, in Cieorge Herbert's immortal words, "Who sweeps a chamber in Thy laws, makes that and the action fine." And prayer is not simply petition, it is communion, so that there may be much prayer and little request, and that little not necessarily personal. Indeed, as a doctor, seeing sick and sorrowing and sad persons, I have sometimes advised them, not to give up praying altogether, but to cease praying for themselves ; to pray for others, for the spread of holy thought and action in society and this world — to pray, " Hallowed bo Thy Name ; Tiiy kingdom come ; Thy will be done,'' before praying for daily bread. The conception of endless misery, of course, involves a conception of infinite sin, and a confession of absolute wickedness. And these conceptions are untrue. Indeed, even the words of Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer often require so much explanation as apparently to explain them away. What right has anyone possessing a conscience and moral sense to say, " There is no health in us " ? And it is not true, except in a very modified sense, that " the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately Avicked." A heart that is deceived is so far absolved from blame in respect to that in which its knowledge is deficient, or its belief mistaken. x\iid if we are " miserable sinners," our misery may bo as much a cause for pity as for penalty. It behoves the worst offender to call God his Father, and to feel absolute pride in the glory and mystery of his owti nature. All these conceptions are jilmost foreign to evangelical theology and the evangelical view of life, its nature, origin, and destiny. Job was neither a hypocrite nor a blasphemer when he said, " ^ly righteousness will I hold fast, and will not let it go. My heart shall not reproach me so long as I live " ; and the prayer of thanksgiving may include praise to tlie creative goodness which has made man conscious of his own essential affinity, even unity, with the Divine — conscious of the personal element in his nature which is human as well as the impersonal element which is divine. Only as there is a divine " light which ligliteth every man that cometh into the world,"' can we rightly understand such paradoxical, REMINISOBNCBS. 19 even self-contradictory, expressions as, " When I [the personal] am weak, then am I [the impersonal] strong '' ; and the expression of St. Paul, " I know that in my flesh [in my merely human nature] dwelleth no good thing " — for the good things to which St. Paul refers belong not to bodily sensation, but to interior bodiless spirit. We thank God for nothing if we thank Him for the bestowal of a life that is exposed to tlie most unutterable and enduring calamity. St. Peter spoke not as a rhetorician, but as a philosopher, when he said we may become " partakers of the divine nature " (2 Peter i. 4). And the reason is that we can escape the seductions that arise out of our merely personal appetites and desires. This interpretation is justified by the original Greek of St. Peter's words. The "corruption that is in the world through hcst" does not necessarily refer to sexual immorality. The word ^viOvixLa is eager desire for anything — personal possession or advantage, yearning, longing, coveting. Anything of this kind may be pollution. XI. — William Pole, and Poel. During one of my visits to Birmingham I became acquainted with old Mr. Pole and his wife. Their son, whom I afterwards knew. Dr. William Pole, was a very skilful organist, and played at one of the city churches. He was a great cultivator of scientific whist and wrote a book on this subject. When I knew him he lived at Blackheath, and I was present at some of the musical parties held at his house. He was a very ardent admirer of Mozart's music, and these vocal and instrumental compositions were the chief items in his programme. His son is now widely known as William Poel — he has, somewhat arbitrarily, as I think, altered the spelling of his name, which has not descended from Pole to Pole, but from Pole to Poel. William " Poel " married a grand-daughter of Sir Charles Locock, Physician to the Queen. She became a patient of mine in London, before her marriage, and continued my patient after her marriage. She was a very attractive and devout lady, and joined ^ the " Catholic Apostolic Church," founded by Edward Irving. Old Mr. Pole (grandfather of William Poel) was an excellent, pious old man, who, after a somewhat stormy youth, became a convert to evangelical religion under the pastorate of John Angell James. He had retired from business when I knew him, and occupied himself every morning in copying the daily meditations and Scripture portions in the " Diarium " which he used. He had many volumes of these collections — useless books, but touching memorials of an old man's piety. XIL — Early Schooldays. I recall little of my earliest school-life. I remember being at 20 RKMIMSrF.NCF.a. a dainc'a scluxM at Tj<~>ndon, kept by a wortliy, kindly old lady, \Nh«>si» piinishmtMit oftni consisted in lixin<; a very high conical paper f(X)lscap on the ofTender's head, and placing him apart in a ct>rner ; and once, when 1 was a victim of this ignominious chastisenuMit, I seized the cap from my head, put it on the head of the d«'ar old governess, and rushed out of the room. I was easily forgiven, for the amiable old lady was more amused than ofTeniled at this rebellions behaviour. \\'hen I was about 8 years old I was sent to the City of Ix>ndon School, where I remained for about a year. I remember a rather painfid incident in the earliest period, when I was in the lowest form. I made rather a naughty remark to one of my schoc^lfellows respecting the master, that his antipodes was averted ; but the actual word I used was more vernacular. The little wretch repeated this to the master : " Please, sir, Theobald says that your antipodes is turned " ; on which the master said, " Theobald, come here ; we do not allow such language ; liold out your hand '' — and again, and again — about six times — receiving a stroke with the cane each time. When I snatched away my hand from another stroke, he finished off with a few strokes on the Ivack. I think I deserved some punishment, but the actual penalty was unnecessarily severe; a verbal rebuke, or an imposition, would have been enough. I also think that this little tell-tale should have been admonished as a little sneak, with- out any proper sense of camararderic, which would have shown him that there was not mucli harm in my naughty remark, that it need not have been reported, and that it was somewhat mean to do so. Probably the little lad had an exaggerated idea of the impropriety of any vernacular allusion to the human antipodes and considered it his duty to expose it. Evangelical teaching might easily originate this impression. He did not know that Thomas Hood had wittily consigned flogging school- masters to the bottomless pit. The vernacular word which I used may be represented by the Latin words dorsum lateris. I saw little of other masters besides those who presided over the forms in which I was a pupil. The Headmaster was Rev. John Allen Giles, whose Greek Lexicon was much used before that of Liddell and Scott superseded all others. XHL — School-life at Danbury. In 1839 my elder brother and I were sent to a boarding schotry as scluMtl tasks, and 1 tliink my uncle was s«imewhat proud of my achievements in this line; for in our oi>untry walks he would ask mo to repeat Hyron's "Ode to the Ocean," or Horace Smith's "Address to the Mununy in Hel/.oni's Exhibition," and on these occassions he became f^enial, and f«>r a very brief period 1 loved him, Tho " Ode to tho Ocean" is not in all editions of Byron. It is in Canto IV., Stanzas 178— IS 1. XIV. — Edward Miall and the " Nonconformist.'' Purine: tlio Danbiiry period my uncle had a visit from his old friend and relative, Edward Miall, who had just gjiven up pastoral work in Leicestershire in order to found and edit tho Nonconformist newspaper. Edward Miall's wife was my grand- father's niece, her mother,Caroline Holmes, being a Morell, sister to my grandfather; consequently, Edward Miall was my uncle's first cousin by marriage. His paper became to mo my political oracle and I used to read it from end to end. He was an admirable editor; his leading articles were original and ingenious ; and his ])ublic speeches on tho platform or in Parliament were full of earnest thought and public spirit. I have always remained a " political Dissenter." This used to be a term of reproach, as if Dissent was not essentially a political rather than an ecclesiastical or theological matter. But the extreme theories of Edward Miall did not long command my assent; the strict separation between the secular and the sacred in public life ; the exclusion of State action and support from education, and everything except material interests. Israel's prophet taught me that " Holiness to the Lord " may be inscribed even on the bells of horses, and on every pot in Jerusalem (Zech. xiv. 20, 21) ; that what is material may represent and express what is spiritual ; that all language, even the most philosophical, ultimately points to material facts and things; that religion and dogma are not identical, and that the Church, the family and the State are but different departments of divine ministration. But the depart- ments are different, and their organisations separate. As the Church may not rule the family, so the State may not rule tho Church ; and it will be a happy day for England when tho Church established by the State — called, and erroneously called, the Church of England, for just now the Salvation Army better deserves the title than tho State-supported, State-endowed and Aristocratic Church — shall be disestablished and disendowed, and the Church of England no longer exist as, practically, a Tory organisation — the annexe of a political party. My sympathies as a young man always belonged to Edward Miall REMINISCENCES. 23 as a politician, but to Maurice, when I came to know him and to read his books, as a philosophical theologian and ecclesiastic. Maurice found his ideal in the so-called " Church of England." I never could. By its monoply of the title and by its somewhat insolent ignoring of all other ecclesiastical bodies, it has concealed from Dissenters their true position in the State, provoked them to antagonism instead of sympathy, widened the breach between Christians of different ecclesiastical persuasions, and allowed to the clergy no recognition of other denominations, except that of condescending and offensive patronage. Many an English village can verify this description of the Established Church of England. XV. — City of London School — Dr. Mortimer — Mr. Edkins. After spending about four years at Danbury, not seeing home except during the vacations, I was transferred again to the City of London School, and was successively a pupil in the Latin class (intermediate between the third and fourth), and in the 4th, 5th and 6th classes. Mr. Harris was master of the Latin class, a genial man, who made friends of his pupils, and was a guest at the dinners of the Carpenter Club — an organisation of old pupils. He was a strict and somewhat formidable disciplinarian, but just also — not a " just beast," as the Rugby boy called Dr. Arnold. He never forgot his pupils, and I was quite startled when I met him, many years after the termination of my school and college courses, when I was a full- grown man with the usual growth of hair on my face, to find that, notwithstanding the changes wrought by time, he still recognised me, and remembered that I was one of three brothers who at different and not the same time belonged to his class. Dr. ]\Iortimer was the head master, and I learnt, as I knew him better, to look up to him with reverence and affection. He usually came to our class once or twice in the week to hear our Latin lesson. At that time Livy was the author, and when the pupils had given their version the Doctor would give his, and I was always interested and delighted with the combined textual accuracy and literary felicity of his translation. In his rendering of Horace he was equally felicitous ; we learnt to recognise the poetical beauties as well as the techinal phrasing of the exquisite Odes and Satires. Dr. Mortimer was an earnest evangelical clergyman, and I heard him preach in the pulpit usually occupied by the Hon. and Rev. Baptist W. Noel. I remember nothing of the sermon, but the style of delivery was memorable. It was that of a clergyman and a schoolmaster, very clear and decided, but somewliat oracular and academic. No dissenting minister ever preached in that stylo, and while I loved the preacher I felt that the personal element was so strong ?4 RKMINISCKNCKa. as to woaktMi tho spiritual iiniin^ssion of tho diRcourso. llo did not pn^ludc his st>nnou l>y n K>n^ oxt<'inpon> prayer, as Maptist Ntvl always did. And, imlt'od, this distinj^uishcd preachcM' w;ih always nioro a dissenter than the elerfxyman of an aristocratic church, and it was without surprise that 1 heard tlial he after- wards became a Haptist minister. The r)th and fith classes were virtually incorporate; tho 6th, headed by Dr. Mortimer, representing the classic element ; the 5th, headed by Mr. Robert Pitt Edkins, tho mathematical. Mr. Kilkins was a fairly accomplisiicd mathematician, but a foolish and unjust man, and I was i)erpetually j^etlinp; into scrapes with him. For instance, he was always about ten minutes late in the morning (for ho lived at Islington), and as lie did not go home in the middle of the day ho was punctual in the afternoon. If I was a minute or two late on my return from our mid-day meal, Edkins would severely question me as to the reason of my lato arrival, and 1 would give him some facetious explanation, such as, " Tho pudding was so hot that I could not finish it in time," or that my crossing tho road was delayed by a " flock of pigs." We called liim " Man " ; perhaps the name was suggested by the ver.se, " I will not fear what man can do unto me." I was always rather catarrhal, and used to blow my nose with a noisy energy that rather irritated " Man," and on one occasion he said, " Theobald, if you must make those frightful explosions, I beg you will go out of the room and do it " — a foolish injunction with which I promptly complied ; and as I was moving from my seat towards the door, " Man," who was busy with an exercise paper, looked up to see the reason of this irregular movement, and seeing I was the traveller, muttered to himself (audibly to us) — " Oh ! to explode ! to explode ! " Of course, the class was "exploding" with laughter, as my explosion was made just outside the open door and was heard as plainly as if it had been in the room. Even "]\Ian" was amused, and on my return said, " There, Theobald, do not let that occur again!" virtually repealing his own injunction, and ignoring the fact that he was himself responsible for tho disturbance. He often locked me up in the large circular basement corridor for trivial or imaginary offences. Dr. Mortimer knew that he was an absurd and unreasonable di.sciplinarian, and at one time gave me a hint: "Theobald, 3'ou should try and not provoke !Mr. Edkins " ; and I could see that the doctor blamed " Man " more than me, but I tried to comply with his direction. Edkins was not only foolish, undignified and unju.st, but also cruel, and I rather wondered that he did not sometimes use his cane on me, for I was a provoking scholar. lie probably knew that my father would have resented and remonstrated. The only time when I saw REMINISCENCES. 25 him use this instrument of torture was when his own nephew incurred his displeasure. The unhappy youth was dressed in very close-fitting garments, almost as close as flesh-tights, and the many and merciless strokes which Edkins inflicted on the screaming and wriggling child made my blood boil, and I wished I could punish him in the same way. What the offence was I never knew, but the lad was a quiet, harmless fellow, and I am sure could not have done an}i,hing to deserve such pitiless chastisement. " Undignified," I have said that Edkins was, but when he was silent, or walking, he seemed the very type of stately serenity, as if dignity was wrought into his organisation — a notable instance of the Latin aphorism which Juvenal wrote : ^^ Frontis nulla fides" — do not attach too much importance to outward appearances. As a specimen of the different estimate of my character and punctuality entertained by Dr. Mortimer and Mr. Edkins, the following extract from one of the reports may be given : — Character and Conduct . . . Excellent (G. F. W. M.) Rude and ill-behaved (R. P. E.) Attendance Regular (G. F. W. M.) Almost always late (R. P. E.) My father showed this to Dr. Mortimer, who showed it to the School Secretary, and my father heard Dr. Mortimer mutter, "Absurd ! " The sense of humour must have been very small in Mr. Edkins, or he would himself have seen how ridiculous was the contrast between his judgment and that of Dr. Mortimer. XVI. — French Teaching. My schoolfellows were, some of them, youths of groat ability who afterwards became distinguished, especially one of the Seeley brothers, whose father was a bookseller in Fleet Street, and who wrote a very admirable prize essay on the " Expansion of England." My great " chum " was Andrew Richard Scoble, now Sir A. R. Scoble. He was a good French scholar even at that time, and could read, write and speak French with ease and accuracy. The chief French master was Mr. Delisle, and we often had French debates in class on political or social subjects. This was a great delight to me, and I was a conspicuous debater, speaking in tolerably accurate French; thougJi sometimes Mr. Delisle would interject, " Eh ! Bein ! " if I began a reply with " Well ! " We liked our French master well, and he was generally just and kind. Once, however, his very largo and heavy iiand gave me a stunning box on the cars wlien 1 was unduly " larky." I nearly fainted, but tlie quietus was uecom- ?n IlI'MINISiM-NrKS. plishiNl ns .1 pliysiral iiocossity. Kar-l>oxinp is a danporous punishmtMit. and «>uj;lit lu'vor to he usimI, osjiocially l>y a l)i^ man with a lioavy hand. A strong fillip with iho rni|:;(rH wouKl l>o quito as i'IT(l at Hlaiklu-atli. hut at that tinio a sKmuKm", haiulsoino vium^ man. Ho antl Or. M«>rtiiuor woro close fruMuis, and bolonpvl to tiic same t\po of cvaii^olical clcrf^yinen. Hefon^ leaving solux>l I joino*! the Gorman class, for a short time, and had eipht or ten lessons in (lerman, which were extremely useful to mo. I pursued this study myself after leavinp; scIum)!, went througli " Ollendorf " and other books, read and trans- lated, and so gained a tolerable mastery of literary German, which has been of great advantage to me in my Bacon and Sliak(Si)eare studies. But I never had any opportunity of speaking Gorman. Mr. Foiling was tho teacher. XX. — Glasgow University Mr. James Yates. In the year 1846, at the suggestion of my uncle, Dr. J. D. Morell, I competed for one of the schoIarsliii)s to Glasgow University, founded by Dr. Williams for tho education of students for tho dissenting ministry. There were three vacancies and four competitors. All of us were considered entitled to a bursary, and, as I was the youngest, the examiners recommended me to spend a year of study at University College, L«3ndon, after which a ])ursary would be granted to me without further examination. Tiie chief examiner was Mr. James Yates, an admirable scholar and an extensive contributor to Dr. \\'iHiam Smith's classical dictionaries. lie made a special study of the weaving of the ancients, and wrote a learned treatise on it, entitled TextrinumAntiquonnn, worthy of Dr. Dryasdust himself. He was a wealtliy man, and had a large and splendid house at Norton Hall, near Sheffield, where, on one of my travels to Glasgow, I spent a day or two, and had an opportunity of look- ing into the Tcxtrinuvi treatise. Mr. Yates was a Liverpool ■aian and, I lielicve, at one time a Unitarian minister, but was more devoted to clas.sic rescairli than to preaching or pastoral work. He subsequently lived at Lauderdale House, Highgate, the residence at one time of X'ell Gwyn, now acquired by the municipality of the district as a public library. It is situated in Waterloo Park. Mr. Yates subsequently added botany to his cla.ssic studies. One of my fellow-students reported with great amu.sement one of ilr. Yates's vaunts, " I believe I know more C, about Cy/zids than any man living." XXI. — Dr. Carpenter. When visiting Mr. Yates I met Dr. Carpenter, who belonged to a family greatly respected in Unitarian circles both in Liver- pool and Bristol. In after-years I became more intimate with REMINISCENCES. 29 him when he was Principal of University Hall, Gordon Square. He was an organist — not a very skilful one — and every Sunday morning walked to the Unitarian Chapel, Eoslyn Hill, Hamp- stead, where he presided at the organ. I never heard him play the organ, but his pianoforte attempts sufficiently showed the measure of his gifts, and in his special work as an expositor of physiology he was truly great and accomplished. Never was a more industrious and painstaking teacher. His great works on physiology, human and comparative, are monuments of exhaustive exposition and elaborate research. The list of his Avorks — some very voluminous, written between 1835 and 1885 — includes over 290 books, or articles contributed to reviews, encyclopaedias and newspapers, and probably others were written which could not be traced when his son wrote a memoir after his death in 1885. His death was tragic and painful, caused by the upset of a petroleum stove which heated his bath. The accident caused extensive burning, which proved fatal. Dr. Carpenter was in many ways an interesting man. I regarded him as a sort of half Puritan and half Unitarian, for to a Unitarian creed he united the rigid ethics of an evangelical Puritan, stern and somewhat exacting in his demands for self- restraint, especially in reference to food, e.g., cake before bread and butter at tea-time he regarded as culpable self-indulgence. His musical evenings were very attractive, and I was accustomed every Sunday evening after service at Mr. Lynch's church, a few minutes' walk from University Hall, to join the choral meetings at Dr. Carpenter's rooms, singing in the glees, or madrigals, or masses, and generally acting as accompanist on the piano- forte. XXII. — Music at University Hall. These musical evenings were very attractive, and many remarkable people were present. The music was chiefly vocal, but occasionally a good pianist would perform. Among them Kate Lodor was the best. She had married a very di/tiiiguished surgeon. Sir Henry Thompson, president of the Cremation Society, and himself a good amateur musician, playing, if I remember rightly, on the violoncello. He attended and operated on Napoleon HI. On one occasion Lady Thompson played one of Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words" — the fifth in the first book in F minor, which is somewhat difficult to amateurs, especially because there is so much unsupported syncopation, Kate Loder's rendering of it was brilliant, and gave mo some insight into the mode of its ])roduction, which I subsequently turned to good account. Herr Jansa afterwards conducted the concerted vocal music. He Avas director of the music at the Catholic church in Warwick Street, and invited me to join their ^^ RKMINISCBNCKS. choir. I coviKl iidt Ao this as a romih-ir Ihinp; ; my Prolostant oonvirtioiis uouhl not permit it. But 1 attciHh'd once or twice, and oneo 1 sanj; a toiior soh> from one of ^h>/art's uiassos. I hacked the training necessary for a pood |)erformer cither in viH'al or instrumental music. If I had Iiad this I mij^ht possibly have hwomc a professional musician. Mrs. Carpenter, who did not join in our choral sin<^in<^, hut was always an interested listener, once said to me, " Mr. Theoliald, I do not believe you ctuihl sinp false even if you tried," and I accepted the flattering judjjjment as not altopjetlier undeserved. I once had a few lessiins, when at scluxil, inthorougch bass and pianoforte playing, in ortler to make me more competent to play at my uncle's and grandfather's chapels, and I could never manage to count time aloud except by singing ; it seemed quite impossible to me to say " one and two and three, and four," etc., in a conversational mode of utterance. At that time the Manchester Unitarian College had recently migrated to Tx^ndon, and its headquarters were at University Hall. Kev, John James Taylor preached there every Sunday. I remember a fellow-student remarked that the Almighty must feel Himself considerably flattered in being addressed in prayers of such exceedingly literary beauty. XXIII. — Dr. James Martineau. Here I met Dr. James Martineau, and was introduced to him as one of the students recently expelled from New College as an irreclaimable heretic. Dr. Martineau referred to this in a few kindly, sympathetic words. I did not then know how great ho was as a philosopher and teacher, for his works on ethical theories and religion had not been published, and I had not heard of his " Endeavours After the Christian Life." His face, pale and deeply lined with the furrows of a profound thinker, and the noble expression which wisdom and study had graven on his countenance, could not but mark him as a leader and teacher of men. I heard him preach at Little Portland Street, and his sermon, like all those published in his " Endeavours " and " Hours of Thought," were full of great ideas, most felicitously expressed. The collection of exquisitely musical and instructive prose lyrics and meditations in these volumes is perhaps unrivalled in literature. Some time afterwards I had a letter from Dr. Martineau. I had sent him a copy of an address which I gave at the hall of the Royal Society of Literature, on Bacon as a poet, in which I referred to Bacon's discourse on Wonder, Philosophy, and Rarity, as related conditions. This is Dr. ]\Iartineau's reply, which ought not to be locked up in a private portfolio : — "The Polchar, Rothiemarrhus, .Airemore, N.B., July, 12, 1895. My dear Sir, — I must rely on your forbearance to pardon my REMINISCENCES. 31 delay in answering your kind letter of the 20th ult. Necessary preoccupation detained me till to-day from reading the interesting pamphlet, without the knowledge of which I could not be sure of rightly replying to your main question. The assumption of Plato that Wonder is the primitive intellectual impulse whence all philosophy springs, has perhaps its most emphatic expression in his ' Thegetetus,' 155d, where he says, ' Wonder is the special affection of a philosopher ; for philosophy has no other starting point than this ; and it is a happy thought which makes Iris the daughter of Thaumas,' i.e., which treats the messenger of the gods, the winged thought that passes to and fro between heaven and earth and brings them into communion, as the child of Wonder. Aristotle, in his more prosaic way, makes the same assumption in his ' Metaphysics,' I., 2. To prevent misinterpre- tation I have commented upon it in ' Types of Ethical Theory,' Vol. 11, p. 152. " My knowledge of the literature of the Renaissance is so slight that I have no right to any confident opinion respecting the origin and order of its characteristic phenomena. But I incline to think that on the removal of the barricades which had so long kept back the Greek literature from contact with the European mind, its influence burst in a flood upon the thirsting genius of Italy and the Western nations, and that Platonic ideas in particular, as most relieving to the dry scholasticism worked up out of Aristotle, were diffused and absorbed in eager drafts till they became an element in the com- mon literary thought, first of Italy and thence of the wider republic of letters, far beyond the limits of Greek reading in the originals. The dialect and general conceptions of philosophy, and even of the sciences, became changed, and brought into nearer conformity with a pantheistic representation of the world. I should not be surprised if some of the coincidences between Bacon and Shakespeare which appear to be identical charac- teristics, proved explicable as current commonplaces of con- temporary literary coteries. I admit, however, the striking character of several of your instances. But I cannot recognise in Bacon's writings, notwithstanding his command of figurative expression and illustration, anything like the creative imagina- tion, and various insight into human character and life, which are so commanding in Shakespeare. " Your essay curiously recalls to me the first opening to me of the Bacon-Shakespeare theory some 40 — 45 years ago, by an American, I\Iiss Bacon (its originator, so far as I knowj, who was introduced to me by Emerson on her pilgrimage to Stratford-on- Avon, and visited me in Liverpool, and with whom I had long discussions, interesting but unconvincing. She was a very attractive and ingenious person, overwrought at last, I have been told, by her own enthusiasm. 3? KKMINI8CBN0B8. " It is vory pleasant to hoar that my old miscoUaiioous essays retain some little interest to a reader who comes to tluMn under the stronger li^ht of the present day. I have allowed them to reappear, nt)t lurause they satisfy nie, but rather hecAuso they show the process which has leil mo to limi satisfaction beyond them. It is astonishing to mo that any honest thinking j)orson can pretend to live by the standards of any fixed Church and creed, in an ac;e which has pjiveii us the insight W(> now ])ossosa into the early history of Chrisliauty and the growth of doctrine through the i>ast three centuries. The divine spiritual revela- tion is disguised and deformed Ijy the barbarous formulas of a semi-pagan tiieology. — I remain, my dear sir, yours very sin- cerely, James Martineau." XXIV. — Dr. Martineau on the Bacon-Shakespeare Theory. Dr. Martineau's suggested explanation of "«07nc" of the Baconian parallels with Shakespeare does not seem to mc very probable or satisfactory, lie admits that his explanation only applies to some of these parallels. What of others ? Is not the only possible alternative either that Bacon and Shakespeare wrote in collaboration, and each had access to the writings, published or unpublished, of the other ; or that Bacon was the sole author ? And very few out of the multitude of coincidences can be regarded as either commonplaces or current literary notions, and very few of them supply any perceptible reflection of Greek philosophy. Indeed, many of them do not refer to ideas at all, especially the " Promus " notes, but to phrases, turns of expression, specimens of retort, such as law courts may supply. These are matters of style rather than thought. And as to Dr. Martineau's inability to recognise in Bacon the " creative imagination and various insight into human character in life which are so commanding in Shakespeare," these qualities are by no means deficient in Bacon ; see especially the 8th book of the "De Augmentis." And, obviously, scientific writings do not afford the same scope for imagination and insight as dramatic composition. One side of Bacon's personality appears in his prose writings, and another in his poetry ; and it is just as unreasonable to look for creative imagination in the " Novum Organum," as to look for science and philosophy in Coleridge's " Ancient Mariner,'' rather than in the " Friend," or " Aids to Reflection." Moreover, all such a priori considerations are over- weighted and disposed of by the probative force of the great multi- tude of the coincidences which no a priori arguments can displace, and by all the negative considerations which make William Shakspere impossible. If all coincidences can be explained by any other fact than common authorship, let the explanation be REMINISCENCES. 33 given. Dr. Martineau does not give a hint of such explanation, and no Shakespearean has ever supplied it. XXV. — Dr. Adam Thompson. I have said that my journey to Glasgow was once broken by a visit to Mr. Yates. At another time I visited Dr. Adam Thompson, of Coldstream, en route to Glasgow. This most admirable Scotch pastor was well known for his great work in promoting the circulation of the Bible in all languages and among all people. A sweet, gentle old man, who seemed to know almost by heart the book which he did so much to circulate. I heard him preach once or twice, and nearly every sentence con- tained a Scripture quotation — nearly every idea was enforced, illustrated, or substantiated by a text or a more extended passage from the Bible. His hearers must have learnt that of all books in the world the Bible is the one most alfluent in moral and philo- sophical ideas, and that nearly every subject of thought and circumstance of experience finds its comment in the words of Holy Writ. St. Paul, with his philosophic mind, saw the same thing, and told his young disciple, Timothy, how variously profitable the Word of God was for reproof, correction and instruction, and that the reader and student of Scripture may become thereby perfect, thoroughly furnished, well equipped for all good work in action or in teaching and thought. Dr. Adam Thompson, like the parson in Chaucer's pilgrimage, "first followed him- self" what he taught to others. XXVT. — BuLWER Lytton, Canon Freemantle. For some years I was accustomed to write reviews for the Nonconformist, and this brought mo into contact, more or less immediately, with some interesting men. In 1863 I wrote a review of Bulwer Lytton's " Gaxtoniana," and this brought to the editor the following letter : — " Sir, — I presume that I am indebted to your courtesy for a copy of the Noncoiiformist containing a review of ' Gaxtoniana.' In that case please accept my thanks, and in any case allow me to convey my acknowledgments to tiio writer of that review for a criticism in which praise, wheio given, is given with cordial generosity, and blame, where assigned or implied, is expressed with a moderation, and even a kindliness, which cannot but do good to an author in subjecting his mind to the same careful examination of the blemishes alleged, which would result from the criticism of an intelligent friend whoso opinion he values and respects. I have the honour to be, Sir, etc." The reasons for Bulwer Lytton's acknowledgments may be 34 RFMINIRCRNCKS. soon in tlio following; (^xtract fnun my n^vlow. Tt is dated \W. IClh. IMU:— •' Caxtoniana." ^ '* Many of onv readers are doul)tl(>ss already familiar witli the series of I'.ssays by the author of ' Tlio (.'a.\tx)ns,' whicli lias appeared in lilackrcoturs Magazine. In their com])loted form they make one of the pleasantest books that havo fallen under onr notieo for some time. ' Pleasantest,' wo repeat ; for Sir Hulwor Lytton is ]ire-eminently a pleasant writer — whether lie ^ives counsel or information — whether he discourses on morals or history, on criticism or ])olitics — whether ho writes in a narra- tive or a didactic style, — he always writes so as to please. His style is singularly lucid and transparent, — often rising into real eUxiuence and poetry. He conveys his ideas not only clearly, but genially — there is fire and warmth as well as light in his writings. One of the most remarkable features, however, about Sir Bulwer Lytton's stylo is the occasional violence done to good tasto l)y the intrusion of tawdry ])hrases or fantastic conceits of expression which one would have thought impossible to a writer of such practisf-d experience, and sucli finislied elegance. He cannot resist the temptation to introduce threadbare (piota- tions, such as ' The cups that cheer but not inebriate,' — ' From morn to noon, from noon to dewy eve.' He will even call Nature 'The Universal Mother,' and fishes 'the scaly flocks of Proteus.' And having occasion to allude in a delicate way to a black draught and a stomach-pump, he is actually capable of perpetrating the following penny-a-liner-ism : — " ' The poison [viz., of " a villainous entree,^' provided by " a perfidious host,'' or " the pure beverage,'' secured to ns by com- mercial treaty at a shilling a bottlej may bo neutralised by sable antidotes, combining salts with senna ; or scientifically withdrawn from the system by applying an instrument, con- structed on hydraulic principles, to the cavity assigned to digestive operations.' — Vol. I., p. 70. " Such blemishes as these, however, are not frequent. Usually Sir Hulwer Lytton expresses his ideas without affectation, and with a boldness and range of diction which can only be success- fully managed by a true artist and poet. As a novelist by pro- fession, his first object is to amuse ; and a well-constructed sentence in the manner of a penny-a-liner is sure to be amusing to a large number of readers. But he has higher, though not more ab.sorbing, aims. If he can convey instruction or sound principles of morals and behaviour, while, at the same time, he * Caxtoniana. A Series of Essays on Life, Literature, and Manners. By Sir E. Bclwee Lytton, Bart. Two Vols. W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London. 18G3. REMINISCENCES. 35 can satisfy the claim of the fancy to be stimulated and of the imagination to be roused, he will discourse eloquently and profitably on all matters that affect the conduct of life. When he has secured the attention of his reader he can then discuss the gravest topics in a style that is almost sure to captivate. There are many essayists who treat the subjects they select in a profounder way, Avitli more condensed wisdom, with more subtle analysis, with keener and more ample philosophic discernment. There are many who speak more earnestly and impressively to the heart and conscience of their readers. There are many, though not so many as of the classes before indicated, with as large an acquaintance with men and manners, with books and literature. But there are few who have the art of fascinating more completely than our author. Evidently this is the purpose which he has most at heart. As we have already hinted, he is never so overwhelmed by the gravity or vastness of his subject as to disdain the graces of style for the sake of enhancing the weight and solemnity of his utterances. Perhaps if the two purposes came into actual collision, and ho was conscious that he must be sternly true without alloAving the dis- tracting influence of a poetical quotation i^ an ' elegant allusion,' c/^t he might then consent for a time to dip his brush in more sober colours, and dispense with the ornaments which he loves so much. But the collision scarcely ever arrives — he nearly always remains safely secular — if he coasts along some holy land he takes care to look at it only through his own highly- coloured glasses. Occasionally he does approach the confines of topics where a more earnest writer — or, let us say, a writer more disposed to look at the spiritual and eternal aspects of life — would feel constrained to lay aside the lighter and more decorative qualities of style and speak with severe and un- adorned simplicity. Sir Edward, however, even here cannot cease to address himself to the fancy and imagination. Even if he talks about the next world, it must still be in a sparkling and alluring style. He is the Rossini of essayists, and sings most appropriately when the footlights burn the brightest and the scenery is most sunny and picturesque. There is no un- compromising severity, analagous to the music of Bach, no gloomy grandeur like Beethoven's, no massive sublimity like Handel's. He is fond of trills and cadenzas, of florid ornament, and sparkling fancies. Perhaps the severest taste would have led him to abandon this style in writing on such a subject as is treated — only incidentally, however, to the main topic of tlie essay — in the following paragraph (the italics are our own) : — " ' Wo are not sent hero to do merely some one thing, which wo can scarcely suppose that we shall bo required to do again, when, crossing the Styx, we find ourselves in eternity. [Observe, 30 RRMIMSPRNCRS. roailor, tho pn'»tosqiio l>ltMulinj^ of papan and riiristlan pliraso- t»lo^y in this soiittMUf.j \\ lictlier I am a painter, a sculptor, a |HK'l. a iDuiaiK-o writiM'. an essayist, a politician, a lawyer, a nu'R'hant, a hatter, a tailor, a mechanic at factory or loom, it is certainly much for me in this life to do the one thing I profess to do as well as I can. Hut when I have done that, and that thinjj; alone, nothing more, where is my profit in tho life to come? I do not believe that I shall 1)0 asked to paint ])ictures, carve statues, write odes, trade at exchange, make hats or coats, or manufacture jnns and cotton prints, uhcn I am in Uic Evip>ireau. Whether I be the grandest genius on earth in a single thing, and that single thing earthly, or the poor peasant wiio, behind his plough, wiiistles for want of thouglit, — I suspect it will be all one irhcn I pass to the covipetitive examination — yonder! On the other side of the grave a Raffaelle's occupation may be gone as well as a ploughman's. The world is a school ft«r the education, not of a facultv, but of a man.' — Vol. I., pp. IGl, 162. " We are quite willing to assent to the maxim expressed in the last j)aragrai)h of this quotation, though we are by no means sure that tlie balance of speculation would not lead to the con- clusion that special faculties will find their opportunity of action in the next world as much or more than in this. But we refer to this passage rather to show the jaunty, almost flippant, stylo in which our essayist alludes to the gravest topics. Probably Sir Edward does not profess to be a preacher, — though lie might be without mounting any rostrum. He wishes, howevei-, to invest all the ethics of honour and gentility in the fairest and most attractive colouring, and he will not hesitate, if the oppor- tunity offers, to fling a bouquet through the gates of Paradise, or hang an illuminated star on the walls of the Celestial City. Whether the ornament fits is a matter we will leave our readers to determine." Another review of Canon Freemantle's "Gospel of the Secular Life '' led to some correspondence in the paper itself, and sub- sequently to a delightful personal interview with the reverend gentleman himself. I went to Canterbury with some members of my family, and called on the Canon. lie received me most cordially, lent me his key by which we could open all the gates in the cathedral and go where we liked without the restrictions of a party under the guidance of an inspector ; and afterwards he himself went with us and explained many things which were not intelligible to a casual visitor. My criticism had not been altogether commendatory — indeed, in some respects I expressed resolute dissent. But the Canon, holding his own opinion, received mine with perfect courtesy and even generous praise. REMINISCENCES. 37 XXVII. — Barbican Services. After the removal of our family from Birmingham to London, we lived in the very heart of the city, in Aldersgate Street and Bartholomew Close. That was the time when night-watchmen, in their multitudinously hooded capes, called out the time at night — which I well remember. On Sunday we attended the ministry of Rev, Arthur Tidman at Barbican Chapel. Mr. Tidman was a man of considerable intellectual power, which he employed chiefly as Secretary of the London Missionary Society, and his Barbican preaching was much neglected. Indeed my father was so provoked by the poverty and sameness of the Barbican discourses that he was provoked to say that Mr. Tidman had just two texts ; one was, " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature " ; the other was, " Now concerning the collection." Mr. Tidman's connection with the L.M.S. brought some eminent missionaries into his pulpit. Among others I remember Rev. Jolin Williams, the martyr of Eromanga, who was killed by the barbarous natives of that island when he attempted to effect a landing. Also I heard the equally famous African missionary, Rev. Robert Moffat, who had interminable stories to tell of his experiences. Only the moni- tion of the clock stopped his interesting narratives ; and on one occasion, when the clock stopped, Mr. Moffat continued his speech so long that at lengtli it dawned upon his mind that the clock had been for some time stationary ; so with a jocular allusion to the contrast between the falsity of the clock and the veracity of his hearers, he wound up his speech. Here we heard also other celebrated preachers, the most eloquent of whom was Rev. James Parker, of York. His sermons were admirably con- structed, full of interesting and original thought, forcibly and felicitously expressed ; but his voice and delivery were shocking, — a monotonous grunt from beginning to end, with never a pause or a break. XXVIII.— Rev. John Davies. At last my father so strongly rebelled against the poverty and monotony of the Barbican teaching that we left Barbican and attended the ministry of Rev. John Davies at Aldcrmanbury Postern Chapel, rather more distant from our residence than Barbican, but within easy reach. Mr. Davies was a truly admirable preacher and pastor, and his instructive and thoughtful sermons were a " feast of fat things " to all of us. He married a wealthy lady, lived at Upper Clapton, and drove to Aldcrmanbury in his double brougham. Subsequently ho abandoned Aldcrmanbury and became co-partner with Dr. Jolin Pye-Smith at the Old Gravel Pit Meeting House, Hackney. .'i8 RKM1MSCF.NCF.S. Aftor twenty yonrs' pastns were minutely divided and suh-diviiUnl. A volume of his sermons, entith-d " The Kingdom Without Ohservation, and CUher Sermons" lias been jndilished. 'Ihe lirstof these contains alxnit twenty divisions or sub-divisions, and the next fifteen. His preaching was in pithy, sliort sentences — a mosaic of beautiful utterances, i)ersuasivo by their tnith and practical power and by the simple earnestness witli which they were enunciated. XXIX. — Key. Alfred Morris. Destiny. One of the most thoughtful preachers at that time was Rev. Alfred Morris, of HoUoway, whom I frequently lieard in later years. To his intellectual gifts he added a tender, almost over- whelming i)athos, speaking with a voice full of tears. For instance, preaching on a future life and the destiny, results or l)enalties of a sinful course, he fronted the question, Will the sufferings of tiie impenitent last for ever ? He could scarcely believe it, but could not definitely arrive at any other conclusion, and with almost agonising urgency he asked, " \M11 God relent ?"' Other teachers and theologians have answered the same question and in a more satisfactory way. If Mr. ^Morris had put the question, "Will a good man relent?" after any offence com- mitted against him has been penalised by long pain and misery which he could at any moment terminate, surely the answer could have been easily made. It is somewliat remarkable that so acute a thinker as !Mr. ^lorris could not at once see that infinite love and goodness cannot be less capable of relenting, but Lnfmitely more, than simple humanity. It is one of the anomalies of antique theology that it can represent God as inferior to man in mercy and forbearance, while it theoretically represents man as made in the image of God ; and philosophy teaches us that human nature is the only possible channel by which we can find any interpretation of the Divine. Scripture does not leave the question unanswered, — it tells us that He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger for ever, and that His tender mercies are infinite. Strictly speaking, God does not either relent or resent ; for these are personal sentiments belonging to a finite nature, and the infinite Being who has im- planted in humanity these attributes is yet Iiim.self a stranger to them. Moreover, the assumption of everlasting punishment in- volves the impossible assumption of infinite sin in a finite being. A sinner may be guilty of any amount of hideous crimes, but the limitations of his nature express themselves even in his sins ; and to inflict an endless penalty on a finite creature would be REMINISCENCES. 39 infinite cruelty, which we may not attribute to a God of in- finite love. XXX.— Rev. T. T. Lynch. On one occasion when I went to Holloway to hear Mr. Morris, a young man, slight, slender, of insignificant appearance, mounted tiie rostrum and I was prepared to hear something inferior or commonphice. But this unpromising-looking young man no sooner opened his lips than I felt I was in the presence of genius, greater even than that of Mr. Morris. Every sentence that he uttered was memorable, and I had an instinctive persuasion that I should never lose sight of this remarkable young man. The subject of his discourse was the Transfigura- tion, and when he came to the words " This is My beloved Son, hear Him ! " he caught up the words " Hear Him ! " and repeated them many times, always with a different application. " Hear Him," ye wise men and learned ! " Hear Him," ye toiling and struggling men ! " Hear Him," ye doubting, half- believing men ! " Hear Him," ye rich and powerful men ! Each time with a wealth of thought by which the needs and relation to Christianity of different kinds of circumstance and character was most admirably indicated. This man of power, inhabiting a small and feeble frame, was Eev. Thomas Toke Lynch, and not long afterwards I was the means of introducing him to tlie chapel of Aldermaubury, where some thought him a fool and others a philosopher. One week-day evening when frost and snow covered the ground he presided at a week-day service and his text was, " Who can stand before His cold ? " And as he spoke on this topic with the same affluence and originality of thought as that which marked the first sermon I heard him deliver, it was evident that his good sermons were not travellers, exceptions above the level of the rest. Whether in set discourse or in conversation I have met with few men equal to Mr. Lynch in abundance and individuality of thought. You could not hear him for five minutes without hearing some- thing you would wish to remember all your life, and during all the years that I attended his ministry I never heard him repeat himself, either in preaching or in prayer. At one time the dinner-table talk at the table of Mr. James Yates, of Highgate, turned on earnestness. Some very distinguished gentlemen were present, and their talk was so commanding and incessant that there was little chance of a hearing from a small, feeble man like Lynch. But at last he gained his opportunity, and said, " Earnestness may take many forms, not all equally good. You may have the earnestness of an old maid, and be always in a fuss, or the earnestness of a martyr ready to die for his faith," and so on. As soon as Lynch spoke he eclipsed all the l<» BEM1NI8CF,N0R8. rost ; one sontoncc from him was aa gcxnl ns, or bettor than, a lon^ haraiitjiie from sonuM>f the rt'st. lli> hecaine minister, first at lligh^ate. and then t(^ a <^n>ii|i of \\(>rshi|)|)ers \\h<» had s llampstead Koad — .Moinin<;t(in Chapel. Mr. Lyneh was frail and feeble, not only in appearance but (physiially) in reality. Long before his death he could only preach once on the Sunday, and his life was darkened by tho acute agonies of angina jn'ctori)^. Even then liis sermons, lire]iared without writing while he was lying on the rug, with only brief intervals of freedom from acute i)ain, and dictated for delivery by those whom he called his curates, were such finished compositions that they scarcely required a word of alteration before they were printed, gems of sparkling thought expressed in words of dazzling splendour or genial humour. Thus, preaching a memorial sermon on the death of Dr. John Pye- Smith. he referred to his gentleness and urbanity in controversy, contrasting him in this respect with some militant dissenters, whose tem])er was " little, tart, pert, and snarly " — " all angles, asperity, clamour and vulgarity.' The great doctor was tho re- verse of all this, and almost too conciliatory, using a " beg-pardon air," as if difference of opinion might be regarded as somewhat offensive and requiring an apology. When we three students were expelled from New College for our views on Scripture inspiration and authority, Mr. Lynch was our strong champion and preached a sermon from the text in Job. xxxii. 6 — 10. No text could have been more happily selected, — "I am young, and ye are very old ; wherefore I was afraid, and feared to show you mine opinion. But there is a spirit in man : and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Great men are not always wise ; neither do the aged understand judg- ment. Therefore I said, Hearken unto me ; I also will show mine opinion : " — vindicating our right to a place in the College whether our belief were right or wrong. Mr. Lynch was also a musician, played the piano with good taste but small power, composad tunes to his own hymns, and when I visited him was interested in my rendering of one of Beethoven's early sonatas. XXXL — Letters and Books by Mr. Lynch. Mr. Lynch was also a poet, and some of his hymns arc now to be found in most books of psalmody. Everyone accustomed to congregational singing must know Mr. Lynch's beautiful hymn, " Gracious Spirit, dwell with me," and his volume of REMINISCENCES. 41 sacred hymns and poems, " The Rivulet," is one of the finest collections of sacred prose lyrics by one author ever published. A few volumes of his sermons and letters have been published, such as " Thoughts on a Day : Its Morning and Evening," " Sermons for my Curates," " The Mornington Lectures." These were week-day addresses on various subjects, such as " Cowper and his Hymns," " The Great Law of Tit-for-tat," "How Not to be Vulgar," "Bible Trees," etc. His earliest publication, " Memoirs of Theophilus Trinal," may be regarded as in some sense autobiographic. On Christmas Day, 1866, a small group of his admirers presented him with an affectionate address, accompanied with a binocular microscope and a gold watch and chain. To the leaders in this presentation he wrote the following letter — a typical specimen of his style :— " Dear Sirs, — I was much surprised, pleased, and puzzled, on receiving, yesterday morning, the shining gifts from kind Morningtonians, with a letter from you. I may suppose, I think, that at the spark of your generous suggestion their benevolence flashed forth in ready response. Whether the gifts are sent in consideration of my merits or my woes I am left to discover. Very likely you perceive that the former are not strong enough to do without a little support, and the latter quite keen enough to be the better for a little balm. To think of my becoming the actual possessor of a gold watch, just as if I was a layman ; and of a binocular microscope, just as if I was a savan bent on discovering that magical dust-grain which, being dead, becomes alive of itself, without any divinity to help it. " My venerable silver friend ticks wistfully by the side of the bright stranger, as if asking, ' May I rest now ? ' I will say this for him, that as years have gone on his pace has be- come faster. He can always get through sixty-one minutes in an hour, and if he and the sun start fair at dawn he can any day arrive at noon ten minutes before the sun. Such a watch as this ought not to be slighted. " But I suspect you mean to be homiletic. Knowing that my time is now shorter, and may be but short, you wish me to treat every minute as a golden one. And by the plain gold chain you signify that the parson should always gravely do his best, and strongly knit together divine words, precious to the spirit and plain to the understanding. You wish, further, to intimate that unless I look with both eyes into the very elements of things I shall not be able any longer to satisfy such a discriminating people as the Morningtonians. Lot mo assure you that I will endeavour to bo as much edilied by your presents as I am gratified by them. Please say this to your Christmas 1? KKMIMSCRNTF.S. ooii^titiuMiiy, ami bolifvo mo, dcixr Sirs, yours <^r;il('fiilly and affivtionatfly. Thomas T. Lyntii." Mr. Lyiuh sc>t no special valii(> on orthodoxy in any dcpart- nuMit. Ilo was not dottM-rcd fmiu a Ix'licf in 8i)iritiialism by tho vulj^ar contonipt with wliicli it was regarded by small jiri'ssmiMi and scientific authorities, lie felt himself, with his frail body anil larjiie interior life, as ho told me, rather a spirit than a body, and though he had no occult experiences of his own, ho listened with patient interest to those reported to Idni. His congregation often contained persons from distant places, who embraced the opportunity of hearing a preacher of whose genius they had lieard so mucli. The eloquent Hungarian patriot, Kossuth, was a constant attendant on his ministry ; also Dr. Russell Reynolds, who became Professor of iMedicine in University College, Dr. Lankaster, Coroner for i\liddlesex, father of Professor Ray Lankaster. These, together with ^Ir. Binney, Mr. Godwin, of New College, and Rev. Edward White, of Kentish Town, were among those present at his funerak He was born in 1818 and died in 1871. A memorial of him was published by Rev. Samuel Cox, who presided at his funerak He left one son. XXXII. — The " Rivulet " Controversy. Mr. Lynch's "Rivulet" was bitterly attacked by orthodox journalists, who considered its theology negative and its teach- ing unscripturak The asperity and extravagance of calumny displayed by these assailants was incredibly base. Lynch defended himself with characteristic vigour and wit, both in prose and poetry, and a large group of his ministerial brethren united in an energetic protest againt the unscrupulous falsity, ferocity, and venom of these attacks, led by Dr. Campbell, of the Britiim. Ouco only did I si>o anger on the j;enlle, plaoid features o[ Professor Maiden, and that was when one of the students put on his hat durin<^ class time. The professor llamed witli intlignation and lieret'ly exelaimed, " Will you he gi>Hl enouj;h. sir, to take otT your hat?" Mr. Francis \\'illiam Newman, brother to Cardinal Newman, was the j)rofessor of Litin — a prtifound scholar, and a combative theolojrian — a singular contrast to his brother. His " Phases of Faith," "Tho Soul, Its Sorrows and its Aspirations," and "History of tho Hebrew Monarchy " raised some fierce controversy. He was more allied to the Unitarians than to any other body — a friend and correspondent of Martincau. 1 heard him lecture onco or twice as a visitor to his class. At the general meetings at tho end of the session many distinguished men were present, presiding or interested spectators — such as Lord Brougham, Mr. Monkton Milnes, and others. Mr. Crabb Robinson, whose literary breakfasts were so frequent and renowned, was generally present, and Professor Tom Taylor, well known by his contribu- tions to Punch. It was an inspiring and memorable circum- stance in my life to find myself in close contact with so many great men of world-wide reputation. XXXR^. — Medical Studies. After the New College studies came to an untimely end, and I returned to University College as a medical student, these associations were much enlarged. Besides the classes required for a curriculum, before a degree can be obtained — viz., anatomy and dissections, physiology, chemistry, surgery, medicine, morbid anatomy, materia medica, botany — I added zoology and medical jurispioidence. These classes were conducted by Ellis, Sharpey, Erichsem, Walsh, Jenner, Garrod, Lindley, Grant, and Dr. Carpenter. Professor Grant, the teacher of comparative anatomy and zoolog>', was an interesting old Scotchman, who drew large diagrams to illustrate his lectures, which he called coarse daubs. It was a very small class, and the genial professor entertained us at breakfast at his house during the session. Professor Graham, who taught chemistry, was admirable and quite infallible as an experi- menter, but hesitating and sometimes almost incoherent as a speaker, and his pronunciation was something amazing; as when he referred to a substance as " shootable for pharma- shootical purposes." But he was one of the profoundest expositors of chemical philosophy that ever lived, and I felt intense reverence for his depth of thought, brilliance of research REMINISCENCES. 45 and subtle demonstrative illustrations. In the chemistry class one of my fellow-students was George Carey Foster, who became afterwards Professor of Natural Philosophy. He and the family with which he was connected were members of Mr. Lynch's church and interested in the musical part of the services, in which my elder brother and myself were leaders, first as precentors, and subsequently I became organist. Professor Foster gave me a copy of Beethoven's Mass in C, one of the loveliest of all such compositions, which I still retain and value. Dr. Maudesley, who became eminent as a specialist in brain disease, was also a fellow-student. Another fellow-student was Michiili Foster, who is well known by his "Expositions of ^' Physiology." I resided for six months in the hospital as physician's-assistant to Dr. Jenner, and occasionally accompanied him in his carriage when visiting distant patients. He was rather fond of quoting Tennyson's line from " In Memoriam," " I trust I have not wasted breath," after a lecture or a classical demonstration ; and while we were riding together I told him that we might retort by a line a little further on in the same stanzas — " What matters science unto men, at least to me ? " He was amused and interested in the aptness of the repartee. At that time I was a crypto-homoeopath, but took care to keep the fact to myself, though when resident in the hospital I Avould sometimes administer a dose of a homoeopathic medicine when I visited the wards late at night. One of the patients so treated implored me to give him some " more of the same stuff," which I did, for the success had been something swift and striking ; but I asked the patient to say nothing about it to students or doctors as such an exercise of private judgment and personal action might get me into trouble. Indeed, my medical heresies did leak out and exposed me to some ridicule and dark looks, both from the medical staff and the students. But it caused no other inconvenience. Mr. Richard Quain was one of the hospital surgeons ; his nephew became subsequently President of the General Medical Council. Mr. Quain was a good surgeon, but I cannot say that I regarded him as exceptionally gifted, either generally or professionally. Dr. (afterwards Sir William) Jenner was an admirable classical lecturer, and had at that time acquired fame by his original researches into the diagnostic features of zymotic diseases, especially typhoid and typhus fevers. Many students accom- panied him to the Fever Hospital at Islington and were thus shown typical cases of the various fevers. On one occasion when a smallpox case was under observation, Dr. Jenner remarked on the highly contagious character of the disease, adding that in all probability one or more of the visiting students would contract it, which turned out to bo true. For •If) RKMINiaCENCES. ennuo Umo I was ivs'ul(>nt at tho K(n-or Ih^spital, taking tlio work of th«» n'siiloiit physician, who had faUon a victim to the disease*, ami gained a kiiowleil^t* and (>xi)erienc(> of fev(>r cases which became very useful to me when 1 practised on my own account. l>r. .(enncr was somewhat l)i^ototl and intolerant on nictlical matters, abhorred iioma^'pathy and all its believers, and if ho had discovered my lieresies would doubtless have given up all friendship with me. In diapjnosis and practical medicine I rejiarded Dr. Walsii as very much his superior. I once saw the great surgeon Lister, the most daring operator of his time, wiien chlorno time he contracteil tyi)hoid fever, aiif roalisinp; its ileairefl." Without a liri-ain of iTitirisni 1 listiMitHl tt> llu\so I'liniptunnl discourses. Soiuo years afterwards 1 luvird Daniell O'C'ouneil, but he was oKl ami feeble, and none of the lierv eloquence of early days survived. All that 1 heard and read nuide ine an ardent Free Tratler. I was fortunate enough to bo pre.'^ent at a ineetinf^of the Anli-l'orn Law League^ at ( 'ovent (Jarden Theatre, and heard Milner (Jibson, C'obden, antl \\ illiani Johnson Fox. (Iii)S()n was quietly argumentative. (.'obdon was luminou.sly instruc- tive, rich in fact and ligures drawn from Hluo Hooks and i)ul)lic and private information. Fox was brilliantly eloquent, lie was a small man, with a penetrating eye and a musical voice, and his eloquence, once heard, was never to be forgotten. I believe that some of the brilliant passages of his speeches were travellers, as they were well entitled to be, and were produced many times at his orations, lie would describe the glorious effects of unfettered trade. " I see France sending her wines ; I see America sending her various products; I see Kussia, I see India, I see China, I see Italy '' — and as each country came into view the impassioned speaker would describe, in a few well-chosen words, their special contributions to human comfort or necessity till the audience was spell-bound by the grand panorama of ideal pictures, and the house rang with sustained and uncontrollable applause. I have heard many eloquent speakers, but for brilliancy of utterance, power of argument, and majesty of representation, I think W. J. Fox was un- surpassed. He became M.P. for Oldham. lie was a preacher to the Unitarian, nearly Deislic, audience at South Place, Finsbury, and he edited some periodical devoted to free speech both in politics and theology. He had been a Homerton student under Dr. John Pye-Smith, and, I believe, a fellow-student with my uncle, Dr. J. D. ilorell, l)ut he abandoned orthodoxy soon after his college days were passed. I have occasionally heard John Bright, but only on slight, unimportant occasions not requiring any set speech. The last time I saw him was at the funeral of Edward Miall. ^liall, Henry Kichards, M.P. for Cardiff, a Welshman, and formerly Independent minister, and others, were accustomed to dine together every week in order to discuss current politics and the mode in which they should be treated in their public utterances by Press or jjlatform. XXXIX. — The Theatre. Helen Faucit, Macready, Irving, Sothern. During my Glasgow days I ventured, in company with a fellow-student, to cross the threshold of a theatre. My visits were frequent, and, I think, a useful contribution to a liberal REMINISCENCES. 51 education. The first play I ever witnessed was the Lochj of Lyons, by Bulwer Lytton, in whicli Helen Faucit took the leading part. She was the greatest actress I ever saw. I saw her as Rosalind in As You Like It, as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, as Lady Macbeth, and in one or two other plays, and her acting well interpreted the play. She afterwards married Sir Theodore Martin. I saw, also, Charles Kean, but he made no special impression upon me. The greatest actor I ever saw was jNlacready, whom I saw in several parts— Hamlet, Macbeth, Richelieu, and (greatest of all) King Lear. I saw him again in London as King Lear, and a more wonderful impersonation I never saw. It was hard to realise that the noble, grand, mad old man, playing with straws, and talking senselessly to his fool, banished from his kingdom, and exposed to the pitiless storm that was raging around him, was not a genuine reality, and when Gloster, in an aside, says, " Is't not the king?" the old king, who has overheard him, returns to his normal con- dition — his madness vanishes in a moment ; with majestic dignity he draws himself up to his full height and says, " Ay ! every inch a king'' (IV. vi. 105). Macready's rendering of this sublime passage was incomparably splendid. No other actor that I have ever heard approached Macready in power and verisimilitude. Sir Henry Irving won a great reputation in his time, and was considered a great actor. I never thought so. No one ever put pieces on the stage more effectively, but as an actor I never thought him even second-rate — not good, but positively bad. His mannerism, his pronunciation ("Cod" was always "Gut"), and his feeble style repelled me. For example, the first soliloquy in Hamlet begins, "Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt." Macready spoke this soliloquy of distress with the utmost possible agitation, pacing the platform with frequent breaks and pauses. I saw Irving in the same part, and he spoke the soliloquy in a calm, reflective way, seated in his armchair, one leg cocked over the arm of the chair, without a pause, without the least indication of the unutterable agitation which the dramatist intended to express. And, again, in Coriolanus, when Coriolanus confronts and defies his enemy, TuUus Aufidius, and contradicts his accusation of cowardice with the words, " Measureless liar ! " — to my mind this should bo spoken in a voice of thunder, as the utterance of uncon- trollable passion. Irving spoke it quietly, in a voice in which no passion could bo heard. If it had been only a friendly remonstrance — you are mistaken, or, you do me injustice — it could not have been more pacifically uttered. I tliought Irving could scarcely have understood the situation. No ! Irving was a good stage manager, but a thoroughly bad actor, and his reputation is to mo an insoluble riddle. .>_ RrMIMSCFNCES. Aftor Macroady, Sotliorn, in liis single part of Lord Diin- ilroary, j^avo nio the most vivid impression of reality. In other parts, as in David Garriek, he did not seem to rise ahovo the average level. Never was a more vivid and amusing imi)ersona- tion «^f a nniddle-headed aristocrat. It was a stroke of genius by which he maile a second-rate part more interesting than all the rest put together. David James in Our Boys was also supremely effective. XL, — F. D. M.uRicE AND HIS Associates. "When I was " removed " from Xew College I had for some time been accustomed to attend the afternoon s(>rvices at Lincoln's Lui, where the l^ev. Frederick Denison Maurice was the preacher. Anil I attended the working men's debates and the Sunday evening Bible Classes presided over by ]\[aurice at the hall of the Working Taylor's Association, in Castle Street, Oxford Street. Thus 1 camo to know ^Maurice, and to know him was lo love and revere him. No one associating with him would recognise the great learning which is shown in the philosophical articles which he contributed to the " Encyclo- paedia Metropoliiana" — characteristic compositions, comprising deep wisduni, profound scholarship, and great simplicity, addressed alike to scholars and to youths and ladies. All abstract ideas in his mind were connected with ordinary spiritual experiences, and peasants, as well as adults and savans, would feel their power and appreciate their interior meaning. The debates were attended by ripe scholars and university men, and Maurice was the medium by whom all were iinited. When the speakers at these debates had concluded, ]\Iaurice would sum up their conclusions, and in a few well-chosen words express the thought of each one, accepting everything, rejecting nothing. What was feeble or faulty or mistaken became thus strong and valuable as he, in his usual style, claimed some deep element of truth in every belief that the heart of man can entertain. He was very kind to me when my position at Xew College was endangered by my heresies. In- vited me to breakfast at his house, talked over the differences between me and the authorities, and suggested modes of accom- modation without the sacrifice of truth or sincerity. When his own turn came and he was impeached for heresy by Dr. Jelf and the King's College Council, he referred, in a letter to one of the associates of the working men, to his own case as resembling mine and anticipated the same result. I was present at several of the breakfasts when he received friends for interchange of thought and experience. Here I met some interesting men : J. A. Lud- low, who has recently died ; well known for his official work in connection with insurance and investment institutions ; West- REMINISCENCES. 53 lake and Vansitart Neale, who took active parts in the propa- gation of Christian Socialism. Thomas Hughes, the immortal Tom Brown, Lord Goodrich, afterwards Lord Eipon and Governor- General of India, who took Maurice's idea with him to India, did great good and roused fierce antagonism. Lord Goodrich spoke occasionally at the debates, but not very fluently, and with long pauses of hesitation, but the result was always something sensible and worthy of being remembered . The whole of his subsequent career in Parliament and in India bore traces of ilaurice's influence. Also Mr. Hansard, who became rector of Bethnal Green, whose son and my second son were fellows at school, and very chummy. Walter Cooper, the Chartist Taylor, who was at the head of the Taylor's Association in Castle Street. He was a remarkably eloquent speaker, and be- came vehemently rhetorical as soon as he began. Scarcely had he spoken a word before his voice became ringing, his arm was raised, and his gesticulations animated. Under him, in the Taylor's business, was Gerald Massey, now widely known as a poet, and a lecturer on various topics, especially spiritualism. He had then published a small volume of " Lyrics of Love." He gave me a copy. His great and most meritorious work is that on Shakespeare's Sonnets, which is by far the best commentary ever written on those enchanting poems. XLI. — F. J. FuRNivALL — Maurice at Home — Kingsley. Among those present at the debates and Bible-class meetings Mr. Frederick James Furnivall was usually present — a hand- some 3"oung man, not then known to fame as a Shakespearean scholar and commentator, and what I saw of him did not lead me to expect that he would achieve any high reputation. I probably misjudged him, as he had not then given to the world any fruits of his study and research. Maurice did not long continue to influence Furnivall very strongly. Ho became an agnostic in thought when he became a Shakespearean in litera- ture. Indeed, his literary reputation is somewhat damaged by his methods of flxing the chronology of the plays, by hunting up weak and strong endings, run-on lines, central i)auses, rhymes and blanks, end-stopped and un-stopped lines, in order to lix the chronology and succession of the plays. All these cliaracteristics have some significance, but Furnivall relied on them too absolutely ; they can only be fairly used when tiieir limitations are recognised, and due reliance is placed on histoiicnl and other evidence. And I do not think a first class man of letters would treat his adversaries with such contempt as Furnivall did. His behaviour in tiiis respect was quite the reverse of gentlemanly. Baconians are " over grown children " ; the Baconian hypothesis K .11 ItFMIMSCKNCKS. " is inlinito l<>mf(>>l(>rv " ; ami lie wrolo to tlio vcnoiaMc' Dr. 'rintmpsoii, «)f .McHhiimik^ a Ikuoiiian author, coolly advising him to put hiinsi'lf uiulor restraint till his luiiacy was cured. Ho gave ine much thesiimeailvico. .My friend Langley and I visited .Maurice at his liouso in Queen's Square, and found him in the oom|>any of a clerical friend in higii discourse on eccle- siastical ami philosophical questions. As we listened and joined in the ctniversation a maid servant entered the room to ren)ove the sofa on which .Maurice and his friend were seated. Maurice at once moved and attempted to a.ssist the servant in the removal of the sofa. lie stooped, ducked uniler the seat, tried to raise the sofa on his shoulders, and to take the work of the maid iipon himself. Langlc}' and I were greatly amused ; his help was not in the least needed, and his intervention was obviously futile, his strength and size were too small to be of much use, but wo prized the opportunity of seeing another side and another manifestation of his gentleness and humility. He was as friendly with the maid as he would have been with a bishop ; none were too lowly for his sym- pathy. Louis lilanc was often present at the de])ates at the Working Tailors' Hall, a small, dark, interesting man, at that time an exile from his native land, after his connection with the revolutionary movements of 1818. Once only Charles Kingsley was present. I was introduced to him, and heard him speak and lecture. He was a tall, powerful man, and when we shook hands together, grasped my smaller hand with such energy as to be quite painful. I learnt, especially from this circumstance, to be very careful when shaking hands with rheumatic persons, knowing that a hard squeeze might cause much distress and long-lasting pain. It had no such efTect on me, for rheumatism is no part of my constitutional infirmities, but rather catarrh and pulmonary weakness, and the rapidity of my breathing has often prompted questions as to my asthmatic condition, but that also is no part of my physique. Many of my near relations, including my eldest son, have (lied of consumption. And in my younger days this seemed likely to be my ending, for copious and exhausting night sweats were very frequent, sometimes necessitating a change of linen three times in one night. All this I have outgrown, and now at the age of 82 am as likely as most persons to live ten years longer. XLH, — Glad.stone. After completing my medical education, and becoming .M.H.f'.S., I commenced practice at Kentish Town and Camden Town, and married in 1858. But I did not long remain in Lon- don ; after about a year I removed to Cambridge, Avhere I re- REMINISCENCES. 55 mained scarcely a year, and then removed to King's Lynn, and then to Blackheath. At Cambridge I had many memorable experiences. The great and illustrious Dr. Whevvell was often to be seen walking in Trumpington Road ; and at the Senate House, I heard Gladstone speak. It was at a meeting to pro- mote African missionar.y work, and Bishop Wilberforce was also one of the speakei's, and others. But none spoke so luminously and in all respects so admirably as Gladstone. A smooth, easy flow of speech, always using the right word, and never pausing for its selection, was its special characteristic. In after years, when he was member for Greenwich, I frequently heard him. I heard the famous " bag and baggage " speech, spoken under a tent on Blackheath, when the wrath of the nation was aroused by the Bulgarian atrocities, and the wrath of Liberal politicians was stirred by the cynical way in which Mr. D'Israeli referred to them. My eldest son Langley was with me when we heard this speech, and I counselled him to take deep note of the event, and the speech, for history was in the making. I heard Gladstone at Woolwich when the Afghanistan war broke out, leading among other tragic events to the death of Sir Lewis Cavagnari. Gladstone's denunciation of Govern- ment action, especially that of Lord Lytton, by which war was provoked, was most powerful, and every statement he made was supported by official documents, which he quoted. But his invective Avas directed against the measures, not the men, and he several times paused in his oration to tell his audience that his blame was solely attached to the measures, not to their advocates and supporters. " They are as good patriots as I am." Never was a statesman so animated by the spirit of Christian love and philosophic toleration. Some year or two afterwards Lady Cavagnari, widow of Sir Lewis, became a patient of mine in London. She had a suite of apartments allotted to her at Hampton Court Palace, which was sarcas- tically named " Quality Workhouse " ; she was a beautiful, gracious lady, her beauty unspoiled even by the deep sorrow caused by her husband's death. XLIII. — Sterndale Bennett, Bach's Passion Music. At Cambridge I was a member of the Fitzwilliam musical society. Our chief soprano was Mrs. Ellicott, whoso husband became Bishop of Bristol — a very admirable vocalist. Among other music, we performed Sterndale I5ennett's Cantata, the May Queen, conducted by the composer himself. Afterwards I joined the Bach Society in London, traincul and conducted by liennett himself, and sang in liach's Matthew passion music many times — perhaps in nearly all the earlier performances of it in ')() KKMINISCENCKS. l'inj»laiul. Ouco this inusic wjis ixM'fonnoil at Wiiulsor Castle. This was in I'.astor in IS;")!). It was a ^roat event for all eoncerned, tlie Queen, the I'rince Consort and the IJoyal Ilouso- hohl bein<; present. The choir dined at various \\'inds(M' hotels and after the evening performance had sujiper in St. (Jcorp;o'8 Hall at the Castle. We were somewhat disajtpointcd Ixn-auso the nnisic was conducteil, not by Stcrndalc H(Minett, who sat inactive in front of the orchestra, l)ut l)y .Mr. Anderson, tho Queen's Hand Master. We thought he should have allowed Sterndale IkMinett to take his place, for he alone knew the music well, and we were accustt)med to his conducting. Indeed, at one point wo nearly came to grief for want of skilled guidance. In the Passion Music tho narrative i)art of the Evangelist's history is given in recitative, and the spoken words in melody, for single voices or chorus. There is one short chorus of only a few bars, to the words, " Lord, is it I? " The words in recita- tive leading to these words are, " And they were exceeding s«)rrowful, and begun every one to say unto Him," and then with instantaneous " attack " the little chorus follows, and the words " 7.S it 1 .' '' are tossed about from one part to another with passionate reiteration. Most accurate conducting is here necessary or the whole chorus is spoilt. !Mr. Anderson did not conduct with the requisite precision. Fortunately, tho choir knew the music so well that we almost immediately recovered, and few would notice the slight hesitation at the commence- ment. It is now generally admitted that Bach's Passion JMusic is the most sublime oratorio ever written. The majestic choruses, the sublime chorales, the enciianting solo-melodies, the stately-moving eloquent recitatives — all combine to jilace this noble work of genius on a more exalted pinnacle than that occupied by any other similar composition. XLIV. — Prof. Flinders Petrie. When practising at Blackhcath, I frequently acted as a sub- stitute for my friend and colleague ^Ir. William Piowbotham, who was often incapable of visiting owing to attacks of acute gout. I take pride in having visited the family of Mr. Flinders Petrie, and attended to his young son " Willie,' who had repeated attacks of asthma. He is now known all over the world as Professor Flinders Petrie, piofessor of Egyptology at University College. He was the only child of an elderly couple, themselves archaeologists, and Willie was an antiquarian Avhen a young child. I used to chaff him for the litter of curios which were scattered about his bedroom. His antiquarian studies and researches began early, and when quite a youth he wrote a curious paper on old or existing roads, and the course taken as REMINISCENCES. 57 indicated by wayside hedges and trees. I have visited his exhibition of Egyptian relics at University" College several times, and always had some interesting conversation with him. He shakes his head sceptically at the Baconian hypothesis, and my " Studies '' which I sent him have not changed his attitude. He now looks more like an Egyptian than any man I ever knew, with his tall figure, black hair and beard, dark complexion and oriental expression of feature. He has Avell earned his high reputation. His family when they left Woolwich came to the Avenue, Blackheath, and were my patients, and remained so even after they had removed to Bromley, where Mrs. Petrie died. XLV. — John and Frederick Morgan. While at Camden Town I attended the family of John Morgan, the artist. His son Frederick still lives, and generally exhibits at the Royal Academy. His pictures are Avell known, especially those reproduced in oleograph. John Morgan was a most interesting man ; his son inherits his artistic gifts, but there is a humour and expression of character in the father's pictures which those of tiie son do not possess in the same degree. John Alorgan Avas full of humour, with subtle observa- tion of men and manners, — -a great admirer of Thackeray ; and ho generally had one of Thackeray's Avorks in his hand or his pocket. His eldest daughter, some years younger than Frederick, Avas born at this time, a few weeks before the birth of my eldest daughter. And his " Lilly " and my " Emma " became bosom friends. John Morgan Avas a delightful raconteur. He told us how he went to one of the revival meetings of Moody and Sankey, and joined those who, after the service, Avent into an adjoining room, set apart for " Anxious Inquirers," Avhere they received counsel and special prayer. John Morgan reported the prayer of the evangelist wiio attended to him, thanking the Lord that "our brother iMoody " had been instrumental in touching so many hearts, and leading them to the Saviour. The eA^mgelist asked his interesting penitent Avhat Avas his occupa- tion, and John Morgan replied, " A painter," which was also presumed to mean that he Avas also a plumber and glaziei'. Tli(> story was infinitely amusing, but I could not help feeling that the facetious narrator was a little infirm in reverence and A'eracity. But to know the Morgans was both a pleasure and contributory to romantic; thought and keen observation. XLVL — William and Mary Howitt. At Kentish Town I Ix^canu! acfiuaintcd Avitli William and Mary Howitt, and through them 1 had some personal ac.()uaintaiice with Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hail ("Shirt-collar Hall," as ho Avas r)S Rl MINISCENCES. humorously calloil, his initials hoiuK aptly dost rii)tiv(^ of his luvk-i^oar. .Mr. aiul Mrs. llowitt wero thoninlho zenith of their fanio as pools aiul journalists. Their eklest dauj^hter, Anna Mary, was variously onilowed with