WITH HIS CHILDREN. 135 



kept up his delightful, affectionate manner towards us all his 

 life. I sometimes wonder that he could do so, with such an 

 undemonstrative race as we are ; but I hope he knew how 

 much we delighted in his loving words and manner. How 

 often, when a man, I have wished when my father was behind 

 my chair, that he would pass his hand over my hair, as he 

 used to do when I was a boy. He allowed his grown-up chil- 

 dren to laugh with and at him, and was generally speaking 

 on terms of perfect equality with us. 



He was always full of interest about each one's plans or 

 successes. We used to laugh at him, and say he would not 

 believe in his sons, because, for instance, he would be a little 

 doubtful about their taking some bit of work for which he did 

 not feel sure that they had knowledge enough. On the other 

 hand, he was only too much inclined to take a favourable 

 view of our work. When I thought he had set too high a 

 value on anything that I had done, he used to be indignant 

 and inclined to explode in mock anger. His doubts were 

 part of his humility concerning what was in any way con- 

 nected with himself; his too favourable view of our work 

 was due to his sympathetic nature, which made him lenient 

 to every one. 



He kept up towards his children his delightful manner of 

 expressing his thanks ; and I never wrote a letter, or read a 

 page aloud to him, without receiving a few kind words of re- 

 cognition. His love and goodness towards his little grandson 

 Bernard were great ; and he often spoke of the pleasure it was 

 to him to see " his little face opposite to him " at luncheon. 

 He and Bernard used to compare their tastes ; e.g., in liking 

 brown sugar better than white, &c. ; the result being, " We 

 always agree, don't we ? " 



My sister writes : 



" My first remembrances of my father are of the delights of 

 his playing with us. He was passionately attached to his 



