r Treasurer of
most of the College institutions. After taking an excellent degree he
was elected to a Fellowship. He took advantage of this to go abroad for
a year to Germany, and returned a first-rate German scholar, with a
considerable knowledge of German methods of education; and was shortly
afterwards given a lectureship. I believe he is one of the best
lecturers in the place; he knows his subject, and keeps abreast of it.
He is extraordinarily clear, lucid, and decisive in statement, and
though he is an advanced scholar, he is an extremely practical one. His
men always do well. I made his acquaintance over a piece of business,
and found him friendly and pleasant. He is fond of taking long,
solitary walks on Sunday, as he seldom has time for exercise in the
week; and I asked him to come over and see me; he walked from Cambridge
one morning, arriving for luncheon, and I accompanied him part of the
way back in the afternoon. Since that time he generally comes over once
or twice a term. I do not quite know his object in doing this, because
I always feel that he has a sort of polite contempt for my ways of life
and habits of thought; but it makes a good goal for a long walk, and,
moreover, he likes to know different types of people.
He is now about forty-five. In appearance he is trim and small, and
gives the impression of being, so to speak, in first-rate training. He
has a firm, pale face, of which the only distinction is that it has a
look of quiet strength and self-confidence. He has rather thick dark
hair, and a close-cropped beard, sprinkled with grey; strong, ugly
hands, and serviceable feet. His dress is precise and deliberate, but
in no particular fashion. He wears a rather stiff dark suit, low
collars, a black tie, a soft black hat, and strong elastic-sided boots.
If one met him in the road, one would think him a Board-School Master.
He is very considerate and polite; for instance, if he is coming over
he always lets me know a few days before, so that I may get his
post-card forwarded to me if I happen to be away. If the day is wet or
if he is prevented from coming, he invariably wires in the morning to
let me know that he will not appear.
He has one of the best-filled and most serviceable minds I know; though
he is overwhelmed by business of all kinds--he is Secretary to two or
three boards--he always seems to have read everything and to have a
perfectly clear-cut idea about it. He does this by the most
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