Page:Diary, reminiscences, and correspondence of Henry Crabb Robinson, Volume 1.djvu/21



Rh be tolerant." But there were two classes of persons who formed exceptions. One consisted of those who spoke disrespectfully of his demigods; the other class is indicated by his own words: "I cannot tolerate the toleration of slavery." Of these two forms of intolerance, the first, which cost him some friendships, he acknowledged as a fault, and, on various occasions, expressed his deep regret at it, as arising from a want of control over his temper; the second he felt to be a virtue. To one who was satirical on the subject of slavery, he said, "Lord John is fair game, and the Times, and the Whigs, too, if by Whigs you mean the great Whig families; but humanity is too sacred a subject for irony."

Mr. Robinson used to lament that he had not the faculty of giving a graphic account of the illustrious men with whom he came into contact. He had, at all events, one qualification for interesting others—he was interested himself. The masters of style have no arts which can take the place of a writer's own enthusiasm in his subject. Mr. Robinson's descriptions are often all the more effective from their very naturalness and simplicity. The Italian tour, with Wordsworth, may be cited as an example. What was written on the journeys is, on the whole, hardly equal to the ordinary home Diary. Nor is that tour one of the best, so far as the record is concerned. And yet the few notes, jotted down day by day, are admirably illustrative of Wordsworth's mind and character, and are strikingly confirmed by the "Memorials" written by him afterwards. The poet's love for natural beauties rather than