MANNER. 117 



This does not strike me as quite a good comparison ; in his 

 ease and naturalness there was more of the manner of some 

 soldiers ; a manner arising from total absence of pretence or 

 affectation. It was this absence of pose, and the natural and 

 simple way in which he began talking to his guests, so as to 

 get tl^em on their own lines, which made him so charming a 

 host to a stranger. His happy choice of matter for talk 

 seemed to flow out of his sympathetic nature, and humble, 

 vivid interest in other people's work. 



To some, I think, he caused actual pain by his modesty ; 

 I have seen the late Francis Balfour quite discomposed by 

 having knowledge ascribed to himself on a point about which 

 my father claimed to be utterly ignorant. 



It is difficult to seize on the characteristics of my father's 

 conversation. 



He had more dread than have most people of repeating 

 his stories, and continually said, ''You must have heard me 

 tell," or " I dare say I've told you." One peculiarity he had, 

 which gave a curious effect to his conversation. The first 

 few words of a sentence would often remind him of some 

 exception to, or some reason against, what he was going to 

 say ; and this again brought up some other point, so that the 

 sentence would become a system of parenthesis within paren- 

 thesis, and it was often impossible to understand the drift of 

 what he was saying until he came to the end of his sentence. 

 He used to say of himself that he was not quick enough to 

 hold an argument with any one, and I think this was true. 

 Unless it was a subject on which he was just then at work, 

 he could not get the train of argument into working order 

 quickly enough. This is shown even in his letters ; thus, in 

 the case of two letters to Prof. Semper about the effect of 

 isolation, he did not recall the series of facts he wanted until 

 some days after the first letter had been sent off. 



When puzzled in talking, he had a peculiar stammer on 

 the first word of a sentence. I only recall this occurring with 

 words beginning with w ; possibly he had a special difficulty 

 with this letter, for I have heard him say that as a boy he 



