bout the possibilities of human nature and human life, we shall
think of him and take courage. If ever our religious faith should
be perplexed by the

"Blank misgivings of a creature,
Moving about in worlds not realized,"

the memory of his strong confidence will reassure us. And if ever
we are told by the flippancy of scepticism that "Religion is a
disease," then we can point to him who, down to the very verge
of ninety years, displayed a fulness of vigorous and manly life
beyond all that we had ever known.

II

_HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND_[*]

[Footnote *: Written in 1907.]

The Hollands spring from Mobberley, in Cheshire, and more recently
from the town of Knutsford, familiar to all lovers of English fiction
as "Cranford." They have made their mark in several fields of
intellectual effort. Lord Knutsford, Secretary of State for the
Colonies from 1887 to 1892, was a son of Sir Henry Holland, M.D.
(1788-1873), who doctored half the celebrities of Europe; and one of
Sir Henry's first cousins was the incomparable Mrs. Gaskell. Another
first-cousin was George Henry Holland (1818-1891), of Dumbleton Hall,
Evesham, who married in 1844 the Hon. Charlotte Dorothy Gifford,
daughter of the first Lord Gifford.

George Holland was an enthusiastic fox-hunter, and frequently changed
his abode for the better enjoyment of his favourite sport. In 1847
he was living at a place called Underdown, near Ledbury; and there,
on the 27th of January in that year, his eldest son was born.

The first Lord Gifford (1779-1826), who was successively Lord Chief
Justice and Master of the Rolls, had owed much in early life to the
goodwill of Lord Eldon, and, in honour of his patron, he named one of
his sons' Scott. This Scott Gifford was Mrs. George Holland's brother,
and his name was bestowed on her eldest son, who was christened
"Henry Scott," but has always been known by his second name. This
link with George III.'s Tory Chancellor is pleasingly appropriate.

Let it be remarked in passing that the hyphen so often introduced
into the name is solely a creation of the newspapers, which, always
rejoicing in double-barrelled surnames, gratify a natural impulse
by writing about "Canon Scott-Holland."

I regret that the most exhaustive research has failed to discover
any recorded traits of "Scotty" Holland in the nursery, but his
career in the schoolroom is less obscure. His governess was a Swiss
lady, who pronounced her young pupil "th