Part 31 (2/2)
I ae'
”The 'First coe in which fellows, scholars, etc, appeared in order The short, disconnected sentences were intentional, as being characteristic
Such a line as 'All that can be known I know it' (which some newspapers substituted for line 2) would express a rather vulgar, Whewellian foible of on to the Master's nature; the line as originally written was intended to express the rather sad, brooding h he were a spectator of all tis Of course, the last line expressed, with necessary exaggeration, what, as a fact, was his attitude to certain subjects in which he refused to be interested, such as y, and Greek inscriptions”
When Iand he was old; but, whether froht, I never felt this difference I do not think I was a good judge of age, as I have always liked older people than ine it was because of this unconsciousness that we becaer than half the young people I kno and we understood each other perfectly If I a friends and skip the preface, I always read it afterwards
A good deal of controversy has arisen over the Master's claieneration It is not denied that Joas a man of influence Men as different as Huxley, Symonds, Lord Lansdowne, Lord Bowen, Lord Milner, Sir Robert Morier and others have told me in reverent and affectionate terms how much they owed to him and to his influence It is not denied that he was a kind ood about money It may be denied that he was a fine scholar of the first rank, such as Munro or Jebb, although no one denies his contributions to scholarshi+p; but the real question re men, men of intellect, intellectual reat man is difficult to find, and it needs--apart frohty is a wonderful handicapper: He will not give us everything I have never met a woman of supreme beauty with more than a ence Therenetisence may have neither intellect nor character I have known one , real wit, aratitude and instability injured everything he touched You can only discover ingratitude or instability after years of experience, and few of us, I alad to think, ever suspect meanness in our fellow-creatures; the discovery is as painful when you find it as the discovery of a worm in the heart of a rose A man may have a fine character and be taciturn, stubborn and stupid Another ent, heartless and a liar There is no contradiction I have not met with in men and women: the rarest combination is to find fundae and the power to love; when you come upon these, you reatness
Huood many pieces Nature, character, intellect and tes cover every one The men and women whom I have loved best have been those whose natures were rich and sweet; but, alas, with a few exceptions, all of theimcrack characters; and the qualities which I have loved in theence
The present Archbishop of Canterbury is one of these exceptions: he has a sweet and rich nature, a fine temper and is quite unspoilable I have only one criticism to make of Randall Davidson: he has too much moderation for his intellect; but I daresay he would not have steered the Church through so many shallows if he had not had this attribute I have known him since I was ten (he christened, confirmed, married and buried us all); and his faith in such qualities of head and heart as I possess has never wavered He reminds me of Jowett in the soundness of his nature and his coh no two reatness is fundamental humbleness (this should not be confused with servility); the second is freedoe, which, taken in its widest interpretation, generally goes with truth; and the fourth, the power to love, although I have put it last, is the rarest If these go to the ht have mocked at the confined coance, vanity and conventionality of the Church; intellectual scorn and even bitterness ht have come to him; but, with infinite patience and imperturbable serenity, he preserved his faith in his fellow- creatures
”There was in him a simple trust in the word of other men that won for him a devotion and service which discipline could never have evoked” [Footnote:] I read these words in an obituary notice the other day and thought how much I should like to have had them written of me Whether his criticisms of the Bible fluttered the faith of the flappers in Oxford, or whether his long silences raduates more stupid than they would otherwise have been, I care little: I only know that he hat I call great and that he had an ennobling influence over my life He was apprehensive of my social reputation; and in our correspondence, which started directly we parted at Gosford, he constantly gave me wise advice He was extremely sih tone, wide education and lofty example of the British aristocracy It shocked his s of a hen on the bank; nevertheless, I loved his exhortations In one of his letters he begsbears with the Prince of Wales in Russia It was the first I had heard of it! In another of his letters to ood advice Child, why don't you ifts? And yet you do not do anything wrong--only what other people do, but with more success
And you are very faithful to your friends And so, God bless you
He wasthat I s--breaking a young man's heart; not the first time nor the second, nor the third--I believe? Poor fellows! they have paid you the highest co of all love Shall I give you a small piece of counsel? It is better for you and a duty to them that their disappointed passions should never be known to a single person, for as you are well aware, one confidante ood-natured world, who are of course very jealous of you, will call you cruel and a breaker of hearts, etc I do not consider this advice, but s as others see theirls at Davos told me that you smoked!!! at which I aland I always i, since I heard this; give it up, et you a bad name Please do observe that I am always serious when I try tolife and friends and the weather: and believe me
Ever yours truly, B JOWETT
He asked me once if I ever told any one that he wrote to me, to which I answered:
”I should rather think so! I tell every railway porter!”
This distressed him I told him that he was evidently ashamed of my love for hi silence): ”Would you like to have your life written, Margaret?”
MARGOT: ”Not much, unless it told the whole truth about rapher like Froude or Lord Hervey, it would be divine, as no one would be bored by reading it Who will you choose to write your life, Master?”
JOWETT: ”No one will be in a position to write aret; he thought it sounded less faot)
MARGOT: ”What nonsense! How can you possibly prevent it? If you are not very good to ): ”If I could have been sure of that, I need not have burnt alllady and would certainly never have concentrated on so dull a subject”
MARGOT (indignantly): ”Do you e Eliot's letters, Matthew Arnold's, Swinburne's, Temple's and Tennyson's?”
JOWETT: ”I have kept one or two of George Eliot's and Florence Nightingale's; but great ood letters”
MARGOT: ”Do you know Florence Nightingale? I wish I did”
JOWETT (evidently surprised that I had never heard the gossip connecting his naale): ”Why do you want to know her?”
MARGOT: ”Because she was in love with e, Earl of Pembroke, uncle of the present Earl]
father”