He used
to express great contempt for Borrow's method of learning languages
from dictionaries only.
[Footnote: He was Mr. Watts-Dunton's uncle--Mr. James Orlando Watts.]
I do not think that any one connected with literature--with the
exception of Mr. Watts-Dunton, Mr. Swinburne, my father, and Dr. R.
G. Latham--knew so much of him as I did. His personal appearance was
exactly like that of 'Philip Aylwin,' as described in the novel.
Although he never wrote poetry, he translated, I believe, a good deal
from the Spanish and Portuguese poets. I remember that he was an
extraordinary admirer of Shelley. His knowledge of Shakespeare and
the Elizabethan dramatists was a link between him and Mr. Swinburne.
At a time when I was a busy reader at the British Museum
Reading-Room, I used frequently to see him, and he never seemed to
know any one among the readers except myself, and whenever he spoke
to me it was always in a hushed whisper, lest he should disturb the
other readers, which in his eyes would have been a heinous offence.
For very many years he had been extremely well known to the
second-hand booksellers, for he was a constant purchaser of their
wares.
Pages:
817
818
819
820
821
822
823
824
825
826
827
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841