124 REMINISCENCES. 



which he especially liked among those which my mother 

 played giving in a few words the impression that each one 

 made on him but these notes are unfortunately lost He 

 was sensitive to differences in style, and enjoyed the late Mrs. 

 Vernon Lushington's playing intensely, and in June 1881, 

 when Hans Richter paid a visit at Down, he was roused to 

 strong enthusiasm by his magnificent performance on the 

 piano. He much enjoyed good singing, and was moved 

 almost to tears by grand or pathetic songs. His niece Lady 

 Farrer's singing of Sullivan's " Will he come " was a never- 

 failing enjoyment to him. He was humble in the extreme 

 about his own taste, and correspondingly pleased when he 

 found that others agreed with him. 



He became much tired in the evenings, especially of late 

 years, and left the drawing-room about ten, going to bed at 

 half-past ten. His nights were generally bad, and he often 

 lay awake or sat up in bed for hours, suffering much discom- 

 fort He was troubled at night by the activity of his thoughts, 

 and would become exhausted by his mind working at some 

 problem which he would willingly have dismissed. At night, 

 too, anything which had vexed or troubled him in the day 

 would haunt him, and I think it was then that he suffered if 

 he had not answered some troublesome person's letter. 



The regular readings, which I have mentioned, continued 

 for so many years, enabled him to get through a great 

 deal of the lighter kinds of literature. He was extremely 

 fond of novels, and I remember well the way in which 

 he would anticipate the pleasure of having a novel read 

 to him, as he lay down, or lighted his cigarette. He 

 took a vivid interest both in plot and characters, and 

 would on no account know before-hand, how a story 

 finished ; he considered looking at the end of a novel as a 

 feminine vice. He could not enjoy any story with a tragical 

 end, for this reason he did not keenly appreciate George 

 Eliot, though he often spoke warmly in praise of 'Silas 



