Page:Literary Landmarks of Oxford.djvu/305

263 him, or dismiss him with a line or two; he is rarely if ever mentioned, in the Biographies, in the Auto-biographies, or in the Reminiscences of his contemporaries; and yet he wrote some of the most wholesome, most fascinating novels of his century.

All we can learn of him are the bare facts, that he was educated at King's College, London, and at Worcester College, Oxford; and that, in 1853, when he was twenty-three years of age, he went to Australia to gain the personal experiences which resulted in "The Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlin," his first, and not his worst, romance.

That he loved Oxford, and went often back to Oxford, in spirit, if not in. body, is shown throughout his work. He sent "Ravenshoe" to "St. Paul's" in Oxford, which was, perhaps, St. John's. He educated Lord Welter and Austin Elliot at Christ Church. John Thornton in "Austin Elliot," was a Servitor at Christ Church, who fell in love with the pretty daughter of "a well-to-do farmer living down the river not far from Oxford." Arthur Silcote was the youngest Tutor at Balliol. And "Leighton Court" is described as being "very like Balliol, uncommonly like Oriel, and a perfect replica of University."

Henry Kingsley, whatever was his life in Oxford, proved himself in after life to have been one