XVI 



the last time, I said to him, " Dear Tom, prepare your mind for the 

 worst." His reply was a startled, steadfast look, and, in a moment, 

 he added, "John, my mother is dead. Tell me all; I can bear it." 

 " Ye?," I replied, " she is dead," and he drove away. 



After my severance from Halifax, Hirst was accustomed to hold a 

 little weekly symposium in his lodgings. A group of young fellows 

 desiring intellectual intercourse used thus to meet, mainly for the 

 discussion of questions touching upon religion. One of them, I 

 remember, was the son of a Congregationalist minister ; another a 

 young author of considerable ability at that time an ardent admirer 

 of Carlyle, but who afterwards became an equally ardent Roman 

 Catholic. Hirst had now grown into a tall man, with a singularly 

 noble countenance. It was interesting, indeed, to observe how this 

 nobility of expression increased as thought and aspiration mingled 

 more and more with his physical conformation. His hair was dark, 

 his forehead finely formed, his nose and general features well 

 chiselled. The only exception that could be taken to the beauty of 

 his countenance was a certain looseness of lip, which seemed to 

 indicate a lack of firmness of character. But the indication was 

 deceptive, for Hirst could be immovable when circumstances called 

 forth the exercise of firmness. 



There was, at that time, near Halifax, a tract of heath -land called 

 Skircoat Moor, at one corner of which stood a little cottage called 

 " The Birdcage." The widow who occupied this cottage eked out a 

 livelihood by selling sweets to the children who came to the moor. 

 She had one son, who had begun life as an errand boy in a printer's 

 office, but who, by good conduct and intelligence, had risen to a highly 

 respectable position in one of the mills. This youth, whose name was 

 Booth, attended Hirst's symposium. His health began to fail, and 

 Hirst observed with anxiety the increasing pallor of his countenance 

 as he walked to and from his work. Medical advice was resorted to, 

 and Booth's malady was pronounced to be consumption. His weak- 

 ness increased, his usefulness as a clerk diminished, until at last 

 Hirst insisted that he must cease working and direct the whole of 

 his attention to the care of his health. As to his salary, he (Hirst) 

 undertook to make that good. The poor youth lingered long. Hirst 

 had followed me to Marburg, had quitted that University, and had 

 become a favourite pupil of the illustrious Steiner at Berlin. The 

 Semester had begun ; its busiest time had set in. One morning, how- 

 ever, he made his appearance in London, and told me that Booth, 

 who was obviously dying, had written, imploring his benefactor to 

 visit him. In response to that letter, Hirst had quitted his studies 

 and had come over to England. Travelling down to Halifax, he 

 found that Booth's chief anxiety related to his mother. " What will 

 become of her," he exclaimed, "when I am gone?" The means at 



