, he was always
deferred to as an authority in anything approaching classics. He could
read and quote Greek and Latin like English, spoke German and French
fluently, while he was an excellent geologist, and Fellow of the
Geographical Society. Here is quite a pretty little effusion of his
written at eight years of age:

O, Glorious Sun, in thy palace of light,
To behold thee methinks is a beautiful sight.
O, Glorious Sun, come out of thy cloud,
No longer thy brightness in darkness shroud.
Let thy glorious beams like a golden Flood
Pour over the hills and the valleys and wood.
See! Mountains of light around him rise,
While he in a golden ocean lies:
O, Glorious Sun, in thy Palace of Light
To behold thee methinks is a beautiful sight.

Algernon Sydney Grenfell
Aged eight years

Some of my brother's poems and hymns have been published in the school
magazine, or printed privately; but he, too, has only published a
Spanish grammar, a Greek lexicon, and a few articles in the papers.
While at Oxford he ran daily, with some friends, during one "eights
week" a cynical comic paper called "The Rattle," to boost some
theories he held, and which he wished to enforce, and also to "score"
a few of the dons to whom he objected. This would have resulted in his
being asked to retire for a season from the seat of learning at the
request of his enemies, had not our beloved provost routed the special
cause of the whole trouble, who was himself contributing to a London
society paper, by replying that it was not to be wondered at if the
scurrilous rags of London found an echo in Oxford. Moreover, a set of
"The Rattle" was ordered to be bound and placed in the college
archives, where it may still be seen.

My father having a very great deal of responsibility and worry during
the long school terms, as he was not only head master, but owned the
school as well, which he had purchased from his great-uncle, used to
leave almost the day the holidays began and travel abroad with my
mother. This partly accounts for the very unusual latitude allowed to
us boys in coming and going from the house--no one being anxious if
now and again we did not return at night. The school matron was left
in charge of the vast empty barracks, and we had the run of
play-field, gymnasium, and everything else we wanted. To outwit the
matron was always considered fair play by us boys, and on many
o