MEMOIR OF STANLEY. 463 



parts and pluck. In the class-room there was only one lad who approached 

 him in diligence and success, but in the play-ground, whether in the amuse- 

 ments proper to his years, or in a rough stand-up fight, he was without a 

 rival. Notwithstanding the comfort and even indulgence he enjoyed at St. 

 Asaph's, his adventurous disposition manifested itself in more than one attempt 

 to escape from the house. As Mr. J. Hughes, teacher, Llandudno, who knew 

 him after he left St. Asaph, says: — " He burst the trammels of beadledom 

 three times ! The widow of his uncle, Mrs. Parry of Dale Street, Denbigh, 

 tells that, on one occasion, he presented himself at her house at an unusually 

 late hour, and without any companion — circumstances which, taken in con- 

 nection with his sheepish look, led her to suspect that something was wrong. 

 On asking him some questions, she found he had run away. After consult- 

 ing with some of her friends, John got supper and went to bed. 



" Next morning he was sent to St. Asaph in the coach in charge of the 

 guard, who had strict orders to leave him at the school. Before he left Mrs. 

 Parry gave him a sixpence, which gratified him much, and reconciled him 

 to his return. Years afterwards, in speaking of this incident of his life, he 

 spoke of the feeling of being rich, which the possession of that sixpence gave 

 him." * 



When John Rowlands, who was then fifteen years of age, left St. Asaph's, 

 in May, 1856, he joined a cousin, Mr. David Owen, teacher of the National 

 School at Mold, with whom he remained for some time, acting as his assistant. 

 His residence with his cousin was a period of much trial and discomfort. The 

 young man and the boy had nothing in common, and quarrels and bickerings 

 were the result. Mr. John Hughes, who saw a good deal of him at this period, 

 gives an interesting account of him. He speaks of finding a copy of Johnson's 

 " Rasselas" on his table, and describes him as being possessed of " an indo- 

 mitable will, that really knew no impediment to its purpose. . . . His 

 youthful struggles, the character of his reading, and his bold, inflexible nature, 

 eminently fitted him for adventure. ... I knew every ingredient in his 

 nature, I thought, and used to sum him up as a full-faced, stubborn, self-willed 

 round-head, uncompromising, deep fellow. In conversation with you, his 

 large black eyes would roll away from you as if he was really in deep medi- 

 tation about half-a-dozen things besides the subject of conversation. He 

 was particularly strong in trunk, but not very smart or elegant about the 

 legs, which were slightly disproportionately short. His temperament was unu- 

 sually sensitive ; he could stand no chaff, nor the least bit of humour." 



* "Henry M. Stanley, the Story of the Life." By Cadwalader Rowlands. London, 1873. We 

 shall have frequent occasion to quote this work, to which we are indebted for our account of the 

 incidents in the early life of Mr. Stanley. The book purports to be written by a countryman, who 

 has had unusual facilities for collecting the materials. 



