14 MEMOIR OF THE AUTHOR 



joys and sorrows than most of those whose span 

 is " three score years and ten," or over. Faults 

 he had, and he suffered much through them. 

 His brother writes : " His strength lay in going 

 at all hazards and forgetful of all else for what 

 occupied his attention for the time being. His 

 weakness was the forgetfulness of everything 

 that did not contribute to and fall into line with 

 the all-absorbing subject occupying his whole 

 mind at the time." His impulsiveness and 

 ardour led occasionally to serious mistakes and 

 aroused enmity ; and in his younger days at 

 least he did not " suffer fools gladly." But he 

 faced his difficulties and " dreed his weird " 

 without whining. As Tennyson said of J. R. 

 Green, " he was a jolly, vivid man " ; and I 

 think that on the balance the joys of his life 

 outweighed the sorrows. Lake Charles Kingsley, 

 he lived each day to the full, and preferred to 

 wear himself out rather than to rust. He had 

 many talents, which he sedulously used and 

 developed, and he spent his last years ungrudg- 

 ingly in the service of others, where his duty lay. 

 His personal friends and those who knew him 

 only through his writings alike deplore the 

 tragic fate which struck him down so suddenly 

 just as he had reached a goal manfully sought 

 for and attained. Mellowed and chastened by 



