chains?" Yet his taste was not at all severe, and he valued things for
their associations and interest as much as he did for their beauty. He
had a great accumulation of curious, pretty, and interesting things at
Hare Street, and took a real pleasure in possession. At the same time he
was not in the least dependent on such things, and could be perfectly
happy in bare and ugly rooms. There was no touch of luxuriousness about
him, and the adornment of his house was one of the games that he played.
One of his latest amusements was to equip and catalogue his library. He
was never very much of a reader, except for a specific purpose. He read
the books that came in his way, but he had no technical knowledge of
English literature. There were many English classics which he never
looked into, and he made no attempt to follow modern developments. But
he read books so quickly that he was acquainted more or less with a wide
range of authors. At the same time he never wasted any time in reading
books which did not interest him, and he knew by a sort of intuition the
kind of books he cared about.

He was of late years one of the liveliest and most refreshing of
talkers. As a boy and a young man he was rather silent than otherwise in
the family circle, but latterly it was just the opposite. He talked
about anything that was in his mind, but at the same time he did not
wish to keep the talk in his own hands, and had an eager and delighted
recognition of his companion's thoughts and ideas.

His sense of humour was unfailing, and when he laughed, he laughed with
the whole of himself, loudly and contagiously, abandoning himself with
tears in his eyes to helpless paroxysms of mirth. There was never the
smallest touch of affectation or priggishness about his attitude, and he
had none of the cautious and uneasy reverence which is apt to overshadow
men of piety. He was intensely amused by the humorous side of the people