OF ROBERT LESLIE ELLIS. xvii 



justice in the examination. His health of course introduced an 

 element of uncertainty; but when the examination was con- 

 cluded, and it was found that he had been able to take every 

 paper, the result was quite sure. He was Senior Wrangler; 

 and I can truly say, that for myself I had almost as much 

 satisfaction in seeing his name at the top of the list, as in 

 seeing my own next to it, for I felt convinced that it was 

 his rightful position, and that nothing but the accident of ill 

 health could have put any of his competitors above or even 

 near him. 



His appearance in the Senate-House when he took his 

 degree was very striking. He looked very pale and ill, but 

 this perhaps enhanced the intellectual beauty of his counte- 

 nance. A person who was present remarked to me very 

 pithily, "If I had seen him before, I could have told you 

 you could not beat him." 



In October, 1840, he was elected Fellow of Trinity College. 

 He retained his fellowship until the year 1849, that is, for 

 seven years after the degree of M.A., when as a layman he 

 ceased to be a fellow in due course. 



His intention after taking his degree was to read for the 

 bar, and at one time there was a notion of his entering upon 

 political life by becoming a candidate for his native city Bath. 

 His name was publicly discussed with reference to the election, 

 but the design was given up on the ground of the weakness of 

 his health. Had he been a candidate, it would have been 

 on Whig principles; he was not a very earnest politician, 

 but always professed himself a Whig, a profession which 

 was probably strengthened by his intimacy with Sir William 

 Napier, to whom he always expressed himself as much at- 

 tached. 



With regard to the bar, he was duly called, but did not 

 study long with the intention of practising. The fact is that 

 his worldly position was unexpectedly altered. Both of his 



