s that Sid. came duly along, but they could not keep from
sharing the joke with my uncle.

During term-time some of our grown-up relatives would occasionally
visit us. But alas, it was only their idiosyncrasies which used to
make any impression upon us. One, a great-uncle, and a very
distinguished person, being Professor of Political Economy at Oxford,
and a great friend of the famous Dr. Jowett, the chancellor, was the
only man we knew who ever, at any time, stood up long to my father in
argument. It was only on rare occasions that we ever witnessed such a
contest, but I shall never forget one which took place in the evening
in our drawing-room. My great-uncle was a small man, rather stout and
pink, and almost bald-headed. He got so absorbed in his arguments,
which he always delivered walking up and down, that on this occasion,
coming to an old-fashioned sofa, he stepped right up onto the seat,
climbed over the back, and went on all the time with his remarks, as
if only punctuating them thereby.

Whether some of our pranks were suggested by those of which we heard,
I do not remember. One of my father's yarns, however, always stuck in
my memory. For once, being in a very good humour, he told us how when
some distinguished old lady had come to call on his father--a house
master with Arnold at Rugby--he had been especially warned not to
interrupt this important person, who had come to see about her son's
entering my grandfather's "House." It so happened that quite
unconsciously the lady in question had seated herself on an old
cane-bottomed armchair in which father had been playing, thus
depriving him temporarily of a toy with which he desired to amuse
himself. He never, even in later life, was noted for undue patience,
and after endeavouring in vain to await her departure, he somehow
secured a long pin. With this he crawled from behind under the seat,
and by discreetly probing upwards, succeeded suddenly in dislodging
his enemy.

Our devotions on Sunday were carried out in the parish church of the
village of Neston, there being no place of worship of the Established
Church in our little village. In term-time we were obliged to go
morning and evening to the long services, which never made any
concessions to youthful capacities. So in holiday-time, though it was
essential that we should go in the morning to represent the house, we
were permitted to stay home in the evening. But even the mornings were
a time of great we