r and unaffected courtesy. Boys who
did not understand him, and whom he did not care to try to understand,
thought him simply fanciful and eccentric. It is perhaps to be regretted
that unforeseen difficulties prevented his being elected Tutor of his
old College, and still more that in 1860 he was passed over in favour of
Kingsley, when the Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, submitted his name
to the Queen for the Professorship of Modern History at Cambridge. Four
men were suggested, of whom Blakesley and Venables refused the post. Sir
Arthur Helps was set aside, and it would have been offered to Johnson,
if the Prince Consort had not suggested Kingsley. Yet Johnson would
hardly have been in his right place as a teacher of young men. He would
have been, on the one hand, brought into contact with more vigorous and
independent minds, capable of appreciating the force and width of
his teaching, and of comprehending the quality and beauty of his
enthusiasms. But, on the other hand, he was too impatient of any
difference of opinion, and, though he loved equal talk, he hated
argument. And after all, he did a great work at Eton; for nearly a
quarter of a century he sent out boys who cared eagerly and generously
for the things of the mind.

A second attempt was made, in 1869, to get him appointed to the history
professorship, but Seeley was considered to have a better claim. Writing
to a friend on the subject, Johnson said: "I am not learned. I don't
care about history in the common meaning of the word."

It is astonishing to see in his Diaries the immense trouble he took to
awaken interest among his pupils. He was for ever trying experiments;
he would read a dozen books to enable him to give a little scientific
lecture, for he was one of the first to appreciate the educational value
of science; he spent money on chemical apparatus, and tried to interest
the boys by simple demonstrations. His educational ideals can best
be seen in an essay full of poetical genius, on the education of the
reasoning faculties, which he contributed to the "Essays on a Liberal
Education," edited in 1867 by F. W. Farrar. Any one who wishes to
understand Johnson's point of view, should study this brilliant
and beautiful discourse. It is not only wise and liberal, but it is
intensely practical, besides containing a number of suggestive and
poetical thoughts.

He loved his Eton life more and more every year. As with Eumelus of
Corinth, "dear to his hea