The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-09
cup of tea, looked at the poet steadily and

cup Of tea. looked at the poet steadily and
said:
Young mon, Let me tell ye that ye have
within ye the capahci,ec Of becoming one
of the greatest boares in the Kingdom.
And 30 dismissed him H."
I, l. possible, perhaps. that the following
story illus, rating the late Queen Victoria's
sense of humor may find "A reader who
has not heard it, When somebody asked
her il it wa. because Of his politics tina,
she didn't Get on with Gladstone she AN
swcred
Not at all It's because he will insist
on addressing m" a. IL | we're II public
meeting"
OF Thackeray. his great Idol. Merivale
tells. among other stories, tho following:
"Onc. | wandered under Thackeray's
wing through the exhibition Of 1852. a
tawdry, uninviting show Of industry and
ugliness. | thought. Thackcray'4 mind
brought its own beauty 10 bear on il. or
should remember nothing Of the hid"ous
! monster AZ all.
A, We wandered down an unintoresting
street Of shop. each shopper than its
neighbor. but supposed 20 be remarkable
LOT Il4llS ll''t III W li'IlN'' we iNN
school OF little girls in gray. with very
widc-oren eyes indeed. improving their
harmless little minds under their mist resss
guidance, in a quaint row Of two-and-two.
Thackeray stopped when he saw the little
maidcn-, and they stopped too, and bobbed.
How many little girls are there he
asked the mistress.
'Four-and-twcfy. sir.
'Four-aid-twenty little girls
They mus, have four -and-tN nnty little
sixpences. to buy four-and-twenty little
things with
And the procession was stayed till he
had 60, all the change for himself and him
self deposited a bright siNpence in every
tiny hand. The eight-andforty eyes grew
very large ard bright and the chorus Of
Of Thank you sir,' very sweet ard general.
Then the procession passed and 20 did we"
Referring TO his Oxford days-he was
at Balliul Merivale tells tho following
stories of DR.. Thompson. the master Of
Trinity:
My uncle always credited DR.. Thomp-
son with the best classical pun he remen-
berad. In his commOn-room days one Of
the fellows bore The name Of Money. But
he took 10 himself a wife and retired, ard
grow noted for his uXorious ways. On
the lady becoming a. one of those who love
their lords. somebody said Of Money thnt
the nearer the event approached the more
marked his devotion became.
Quite So said Thompson. 'CrescR
amor nu'p"li. quaatum ipsa pccuniG croscit
'The delicate difference Of gender could
scarcely hn more wittilv marked
II was Herman Merivalc's grandfather
who discovered one of the most famous
actors Of the English stage. when with his
wife's father. the famous scholar, DR.. Drury,
Merivalo thus tells he story:
'On "A stag" in IHcter one night thov saw
strollng player enact OheHo and Hdrie-
gun. And 50 overcome and startled were
they by the mans extraordinary power
that my grandfather at once wrote to
Byron, then of the mana ying committee Of
Drury Lane which was but at "A low ohb
and advised him 10 find the player out.
Byron only laughed and pooh -poohed
him. assuring him that he was always hear
ing Of these wandering genii, who never
came to anything. But Drurv Lane ehbcd
more and more, and one morning my grand
father 60, a letter from Byr n To sav that
something had to he done, and that If the
Exeter genius could he unearthed he
would give him "A chance on the recon-
mendation Of - good "A critic.
$50 the seekers set To work and after
much ado discovered the wanierer in some
out -of-the-wav corner of mere rustic Devon,
ebbing like Prury Lane. and run low down
indeed, The story that followed j. known
TO all the world, for the poor wOrld-'ossed
genius went 10 London. and waited hope
le-sly enough for the chance that came
az last
And they called him a. the theatre the
little man In the Capes,' and his name was
Edmund Krau.-
Of Cha,,e. keau. with whom a. a small
boy Merivalo wa great favorite, we read
that he first invented the notion Of the
scene 80, -lautwi~c To give depth through
perspective" Charles k"an was also the
fir, in tho field with elaborate stage set
ting in which mechanical arts and devices
were freely employed
He made HI iricls and angels float In
the apparent air bv mechanical contriv-
ance all his own. ku"eling on .olid perch
hidden 10y gau2" n TIA" back, which glided
up and down "A groove and was covered by
long trains or petticOats, they were puzzle
Away 20 the audience"
One chapter OF his book, headed -Har-
ro,iana with Dgrc. sions." should he read
hv every father Of a family in Great Britain.
tn" following passage alone would teach
them much, for they apply 10 many hun-
drrti- Of men in this country who have been
educated on the same principle, or want Of
principle.
Il never shall, and never could UNDER
stand" says Merivale. the principles on
which was educated. Why was | pitch
| forked into bad private school at s? Why
war made fifthform Harrow boy, when
was only a nervous child Of II; Why was
| | Withdrawn thercfrom just when | was
| ripening under Vaughan, 10 matriculate
at Balliol when | was not quite ~
| why was ] not discouraged moro con-
| sistently As ] was not TO be encouraged
| in all sorts of literary and theatrical bar
gains. when AT Is | was 20 bc, 10y an oS-
pensivc modernism. dumped down at q bar
which from my heart and soul ! loathod?
| Why was permitted nay, obliged to live
| tho eStravagant life Of an Oxford under
graduate of the day, with wines. and rides.
and tennis courts, and all the rest of 1t,
| and then hauled severely over the parent al
coaln because | left college with few "A
| Ill 4. \. 1T, ..l