people out of the sphere of his
younger auditors, I remember only the way of the telling, not what was
told. I recalled, later, his anecdotes of Kit North, who was a friend of
his, on account of the contrast between the stalwart proportions of that
old worthy and the diminutive physique of the novelist; they must have
looked, together, like a bear and a monkey. Warren was born in Wales,
though whether of Welsh ancestry I know not.

When we saw him he was only a trifle over five-and-forty years of age,
so his famous books must have been written when he was hardly more than
a boy.

As for Layard, eminent in his time for his work in Nineveh and Babylon,
and afterwards as a statesman, he did not, I think, come to Rock Park,
nor am I sure that I ever saw him. And yet it seems to me that I have
the picture in my mind of a vigorous, frank, agreeable personage who
was he; not a large man, still less a handsome one, but full of life,
manliness, and honest English simplicity. He was at this time, like so
many of his countrymen, very anxious concerning the Crimean War, then in
its first stages, and vehemently opposed to the policy which had brought
it about, for, up to that time, England and Russia had been on friendly
terms, and Layard could see no promising or useful future for the
Turk. My father shared his views, and he wrote the following passage
in commenting upon the general European situation of that day and the
prospects for England. It has never been printed, because it stood only
for the sentiment of the moment, but may be opportunely quoted now that
the aspect of European politics shows symptoms of soon undergoing vital
changes. "The truth is," wrote my father, "there is a spirit lacking in
England which we in America do not lack; and for the want of it she will
have to resign a foremost position among the nations, even if there
were not enough other circumstances to compel her to do so. Her good
qualities are getting out of date; at all events, there should be
something added to them in the present stage of the world." England has
a good deal changed since those words were written, and the changes have
probably been mainly for the better, though all the important ones have
caused our old mother discomfort and embarrassment. The medicine of
a new age, the subtle infiltration of anti-insular ideas, the slow
emergence of the democracy have given her many qualms, but they are
wholesome ones. Her best and most cultivated