is,
not so clear, so able, so attractive as Hume; does not impress my mind
so much.' In the same year he reads Coxe's _Walpole_, _Don Quixote_,
Hallam's _Constitutional History_, _Measure for Measure_ and _Much Ado_,
Massinger's _Grand Duke of Florence_, Ford's _Love's Melancholy_ ('much
of it good, the end remarkably beautiful') and _Broken Heart_ (which he
liked better than either the other or _'Tis Pity_), Locke _on
Toleration_ ('much repetition').

There is, of course, a steady refrain of Greek iambics, Greek anapaests,
'an easy and nice metre,' 'a hodge-podge lot of hendecasyllables,' and
thirty alcaic stanzas for a holiday task. Mention is made of many
sermons on 'Redeeming the time,' 'Weighed in the balance and found
wanting,' 'Cease to do evil, learn to do well,' and the other ever
unexhausted texts. One constant entry, we may be sure, is 'Read Bible,'
with Mant's notes. In a mood of deep piety he is prepared for
confirmation. His appearance at this time was recalled by one who had
been his fag, 'as a good-looking, rather delicate youth, with a pale
face and brown curling hair, always tidy and well dressed.'[27]

He became captain of the fifth at the end of October 1826, and on
February 20, 1827, Keate put him into the sixth. 'Was very civil,
indeed; told me to take pains, etc.: to be careful in using my
authority, etc.' He finds the sixth very preferable to all other parts
of the school, both as regards pleasure and opportunity for improvement.
They are more directly under the eye of Keate; he treats them with more
civility and speaks to them differently. So the days follow one another
very much alike--studious, cheerful, sociable, sedulous. The debates in
parliament take up a good deal of his time, and he is overwhelmed by the
horrible news of the defeat of the catholics in the House of Commons
(March 8,1827). On a summer's day in 1826, 'Mr. Canning here; inquired
after me and missed me.' He was not at Eton but at home when he heard of
Mr. Canning's death. 'Personally I must remember his kindness and
condescension, especially when he spoke to me of some verses which H.
Joy had injudiciously mentioned to him.'

II

DEBATING SOCIETY

Youthful intellect is imitative, and in a great school so impregnated as
Eton with the spirit of public life and political association, the few
boys with active minds mimicked the strife of parliament in their
deba