188 MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN 



bad people ; he, that it was only a confession of 

 blindness on our part, and that we probably called 

 others bad only so far as we were wrapped in 

 ourselves and lacking in the transmigratory forces 

 of imagination. I undertook to describe to him 

 three persons irredeemably bad and whom he 

 should admit to be so. In the first case, he denied 

 my evidence : ' You cannot judge a man upon 

 such testimony,' said he. For the second, he 

 owned it made him sick to hear the tale ; but 

 then there was no spark of malice, it was mere 

 weakness I had described, and he had never 

 denied nor thought to set a limit to man's 

 weakness. At my third gentleman, he struck his 

 colours. ' Yes,' said he, ' I 'm afraid that is a 

 bad man.' And then looking at me shrewdly : 

 ' I wonder if it isn't a very unfortunate thing 

 for you to have met him.' I showed him 

 radiantly how it was the world we must know, 

 the world as it was, not a world expurgated 

 and prettified with optimistic rainbows. ' Yes, 

 yes,' said he ; ' but this badness is such an 

 easy, lazy explanation. Won't you be tempted to 

 use it, instead of trying to understand people ? ' 

 Thepho- In the year 1878, he took a passionate fancy 



nograpb. 



for the phonograph : it was a toy after his heart, 

 a toy that touched the skirts of life, art and science, 

 a toy prolific of problems and theories. Some- 

 thing fell to be done for a University Cricket 



