FACILITY IN LATIN TONGUES 79 



made these last two days amongst the most 

 memorable of my life.' 



With the echo of Cosas de Espana in ears 

 and memory I may here mention my brother's 

 facility in the Latin tongues. French, Spanish, 

 and Italian came easily to him, and his accent 

 was extremely correct. He was cosmopolitan to 

 a degree that few Englishmen are, unless they 

 have lived much out of their own country. 

 He did not understand British isolation on 

 foreign soil, and was ready for conversation 

 with any intelligent foreigner who came in 

 his way. 



On the steamer that plies between Pauillac 

 and Bordeaux, when we were shut into the 

 crowded passenger saloon on account of heavy 

 rain, and amiability was at a low ebb, my 

 brother, in spite of his lameness, bore the dis- 

 comfort with great good humour. He at once 

 entered into conversation with a self-important 

 little Bordelais who, with wife and child, was 

 coming up the river. My brother asked 

 questions about the year's vintage, the state of 

 the wine-trade, and other local topics, and the 

 little Frenchman's voluble answers were not 



