200 Life and Times of " The Druid." 



always appeared to regard rest or recreation 

 as totally unnecessary, and, except upon a 

 Sunday — on which day no press of work 

 would induce him to put pen to paper, 

 though he was often waiting, all ready to 

 begin when the clock had struck twelve at 

 night — I can never remember seeing him 

 sitting in front of the fire with a book or 

 newspaper in his hand. When on his 

 numerous railway journeys he invariably 

 wrote in the train, and, no matter how heavy 

 a day he might have gone through, the 

 moment he had swallowed a hasty dinner 

 work was resumed, and he invariably wrote 

 far into the night. In fact, he lived with a 

 pen or pencil in his hand, and I can well 

 remember that, on the occasions of our great 

 annual treat, when, each Christmas, he took 

 his elder children to Astley's, we had 

 scarcely settled down in our places before 

 he was seated, right at the back of the box, 

 with a big book on his knees in lieu of a 

 desk, and there he would remain, steadily 

 writing, until the fall of the curtain. I know 

 this always produced a profound impression 

 on us, for we never could understand how 



