364 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



lay in the ravines, we found the white grouse or ptar- 

 migan, and many of these fell to the guns of my 

 brothers-in-law. But too soon the time for work 

 arrived, and we returned to Manchester to a house 

 which we had taken in Victoria Park, and in which we 

 passed many happy years. 



Though I was much occupied with my professional 

 work, we were able to enjoy plenty of social inter- 

 course with many friends whom I had known, and with 

 a greater number who were friends of my wife. In 

 those days among the most common entertainments 

 were long and heavy dinners, but these social joys 

 were lightened by Halle's concerts and by the charm- 

 ing balls, both private and public, to which we went. 



Our son Edmund was born in 1864. His death at 

 Magdalen is referred to on p. 370. Our elder daughter, 

 Margaret, now married to Mr. Charles Mallet, M.P., 

 followed in 1866, and our younger, Dora, still the 

 joy of our home, appeared in 1870. By this time we 

 found our house uncomfortably small, and through 

 the generosity of my father-in-law we were enabled to 

 buy a piece of land in Victoria Park, and on it built a 

 very charming and comfortable house. It is said that 

 "fools build houses for wise men to live in," but in 

 this case the proverb did not prove true, for we lived 

 there for about fifteen years, and then sold it for what 

 it had cost. 



We had a good lawn attached to the house, and 

 there, in the summer, we had many pleasant gather- 

 ings : sports for the children and their friends, and 

 lawn-tennis every Saturday afternoon for my colleagues, 

 who much appreciated these social meetings. I also 

 saw a good deal of my students, who came to house- 

 parties in the winter and to garden-parties in the 

 summer. 



