52 LORD LILFORD 



but he was a good Latin scholar and a master of 

 living languages, at that time so much neglected 

 at the University. He liked to know what was 

 going on in many of the side paths of life, con- 

 sequently he became an ardent Freemason, and 

 enjoyed the mysteries and good-fellowship of 

 the fraternity. One of the dons reproached him 

 with wasting his time on Freemasonry, and 

 contemptuously added, " I believe the porter of 

 Brasenose is a great authority." " Quite true, 

 sir," said Tom Powys, " and so is the principal ; " 

 which quick reply extinguished the sarcastic 

 don, for Dr. Harington of Brasenose was a very 

 great man among the Oxford dons of his day, 

 and Tom happily remembered that he was a 

 supporter of the craft. 



' I have referred to his knowledge of living 

 languages, and it was astonishing with what 

 ease he acquired French, Italian, and Spanish, 

 which he never forgot. His musical ear was a 

 help, I fancy, in picking up the language of any 

 people he was thrown in contact with. I went 

 nine years consecutively, long after our Oxford 

 days, to Gaick Forest, where he killed his first 

 stag, and at the end of the nine years I do not 



