gnity and intelligence, and
occasionally with a touch of humor which I did not expect....
I do not remember to have met any one of his age
[seventy-eight] who seemed to have more complete possession
of his faculties, bodily and mental; and this surprised me
the more because I knew that in his childhood he had been a
feeble-limbed, frail boy.... I found him, having overpassed
by nearly a decade the allotted threescore years and ten,
with step as active and eye as bright and conversation as
vivacious as one expects in a hale man of fifty....

"I shall never forget my surprise when we were ushered by the
venerable philosopher into his dining-room. An apartment of
good size, it was occupied by a platform about two feet high,
and which filled the whole room, except a passageway some
three or four feet wide, which had been left so that one
could pass all round it. Upon this platform stood the
dinner-table and chairs, with room enough for the servants to
wait upon us. Around the head of the table was a huge screen,
to protect the old man, I suppose, against the draught from
the doors....

"When another half-hour had passed, he touched the bell
again. This time his order to the servant startled me:--

"'John, my night-cap!'

"I rose to go, and one or two others did the same; Neal sat
still. 'Ah!' said Bentham, as he drew a black silk night-cap
over his spare gray hair, 'you think that's a hint to go. Not
a bit of it. Sit down! I'll tell you when I am tired. I'm
going to _vibrate_ a little; that assists digestion, too.'

"And with that he descended into the trench-like passage, of
which I have spoken, and commenced walking briskly back and
forth, his head nearly on a level with ours, as we sat. Of
course we all turned toward him. For full half an hour, as he
walked, did he continue to pour forth such a witty and
eloquent invective against kings, priests, and their
retainers, as I have seldom listened to. Then he returned to
the head of the table and kept up the conversation, without
flagging, till midnight ere he dismissed us.

"His parting words to me were characteristic:--'God bless
you,--if there be such a being; and at all events, my young
friend, take care of yourself.'"

His weak childhood had been followed by a healthy a