Reminiscences. 207 



His love for racine and coursino- needs 

 no comment here. Towards the end of 

 his life, his fondness for the horse was as 

 strong as ever, but his interest in the race 

 itself had very much evaporated. Indeed, 

 I have been with him at Epsom on an 

 Oaks day when he has looked the fillies 

 carefully over in the paddock, just strolled 

 out to catch a glimpse of the start from a 

 distance, and then made straight for the 

 railway station, quite content to read the 

 placings when he got back to Fleet Street. 

 Perhaps rowing was the sport which 

 appealed to him the least of any. The 

 pages of the " Omnibus " contain little refer- 

 ence to the Inter-University boat-race, though 

 it is rowed at a time when matter is by no 

 means too plentiful with the sporting jour- 

 nalist ; nor was " The Druid " ever present 

 at Henley Regatta, which one would have 

 imagined likely to afford him congenial 

 material for an article or two. 



Only on one occasion can I remember to 

 have seen my father fairly lose his temper, 

 sadly as our false quantities tried him when 

 he assisted us in preparing our lessons for 



