56 THE TEINITY FOOT BEAGLES 



he may have found, as I did myself, that " the teacher listens and 

 learns with his class." Anyhow, when in December 1866 he and I 

 were appointed to be Assistant Tutors, and we began to discuss 

 together the details of our work, I found him a very remarkable 

 scliolar. In particular I delighted in the tact, insight, and judgment 

 which he brought to bear on all matters of interpretation. The four 

 years of our alliance as members of the classical staff of the College 

 were very pleasant to me, and they were not without result. Our 

 experience as "coaches" had taught us the value of translation 

 papers, both as exercises and as means of testing and directing the 

 students work ; so we immediately added translation papers to the 

 compositions supplied by the College. Our venture was completely 

 successful. For, whereas previously classical men had depended for 

 their training upon " coaches," and had regarded teaching given by 

 the College as a hindrance or a superfluity, within a year from our 

 appointment experience had shown that College Lectures could 

 provide for the reasonable needs of very nearly all the candidates for 

 the Classical Tripos. 



During these years Currey continued to take part in some of his 

 undergraduate amusements, for it was characteristic of him that he 

 could combine several occupations, and do justice to all of them. 

 For example, when he was examining for the Classical Tripos, he 

 would fix a certain amount of work to be done in a certain number 

 of days, and, having saved a day upon his calculation, would joyfully 

 say to me, " General, to-morrow I shall pursue " : and here I may 

 note that he had quaint tricks of speech ; thus hunting was with him 

 " pursuing," and the beagles were " the little dogs." He still acted 

 at the A.D.C. He still sang songs at picnics at Haslingfield. He 

 still played wliist, not for love of the game, but out of sociabiHty : 

 and for the pleasure of his company whist players still forgave his 

 ignorance of " Cavendish " and " Clay." 



It was, I think, in the first year of his Assistant Tutorship, 1867, 

 that he started the Foot Beagles.^ I knew little of the official 



^ They were not at first nominally identified with Trinity, and one of the meet 

 cards of those days, contributed by Lord Ernest St. Maur, is headed simply The 

 Foot Beagles.— F. C. K. 



