XXV11 



edition of the " Forms of Animal Life " before the regular business of 

 the day commenced. 



It is impossible for those who had no personal knowledge of 

 Rolleston to realise what sort of a man he was, and how great his 

 loss will be to those who remain behind him. JSTo one can ever have 

 passed an hour in his company, or heard him speak at a public meet- 

 ing, without feeling that he was a man of most unusual power, of 

 lofty sentiments, generous impulses, marvellous energy, and wonderful 

 command of language. In brilliant repartee, aptness of quotation, 

 and ever-ready illustration from poetry, history, and the literature of 

 many nations and many subjects, besides those with which he was 

 especially occupied, he had few equals. " In God's war slackness is 

 infamy " might well have been his motto, for with Rolleston there 

 was no slackness in any cause which he believed to be God's war. He 

 was impetuous, even vehement, in his advocacy of what appeared to 

 him true and right, and unsparing in denunciation of all that was 

 mean, base, and false. To those points in the faith of his fathers 

 which he believed to be essential he held reverently and courageously, 

 but on many questions both social and political, he was a reformer of 

 the most advanced type. Often original in his views, always out- 

 spoken in giving expression to them, he occasionally met with the 

 fate of those who do not swim with the stream, and was misunder- 

 stood ; but this was more than compensated for by the affection, admira- 

 tion, and enthusiasm with which he was regarded by those who were 

 capable of appreciating his nobility of character. The loss of the 

 example afforded by such a nature, and of his elevating influence upon 

 younger and weaker men, is to our mind a still greater loss, both 

 within and without the University in which he taught, than the loss 

 of what scientific work he might yet have performed. 



Dr. Rolleston's personal appearance corresponded with his character. 

 Of commanding height, broad-shouldered, with a head of unusual 

 size, indicating a volume of brain commensurate with his intellectual 

 power, and with strongly-marked and expressive features, in which 

 refinement and vigour were singularly blended, in him we saw just 

 such a man as was described by the public orator at the late Oxford 

 Commemoration, in words with which we may conclude this notice — 

 "Virum excultissimi ingenii, integritatis incorruptissimse, veritatis 

 amicum, et propugnatorem impavidum." — W. H. F. 



