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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL JUNE 29, 1907.

a good French scholar, writing reviews in that language for Le Lime, and under- stood both Italian and Spanish. Through- put his life he was a resolute bibliophile, if not a bibliomaniac, and his splendid library (which had to be extended to a room in the next house to his own by the taking down of the dividing wall) included many rare poets. There were bargains to be had then. He once bought an edition of Wither for a halfpenny which afterwards sold, I believe, for some twenty pounds. He had at different times in his life three book-plates.

Mr. John Morley, then of The Pall Mall Gazette, was the occasion of his entering dramatic criticism, and during Knight's first years in London the two in conjunction are credited with writing most of The Literary Gazette. The Athe- naeum shared for many years with ' N. & Q.' the better part of his literary activities, and to the last he wrote important reviews, by no means con- fined to the drama, in both papers. Further work on the stage was contri- buted to The Sunday Times (where his articles were always eagerly followed), The Globe, and The Daily Graphic. His latest effort in the book way was a little introduction to Sheridan's plays for Mr. Frowde's " Oxford Edition." Pre- viously he had written a life of ' David Garrick,' and a record of D. G. Rossetti (1887) for the "Great Writers" Series, the merits of which have long been recog- nized by the judicious. He also edited the rare ' Roscius Anglicanus ' (1886), and reprinted with Lawrence & Bullen a volume of his Athenceum notices of plays from 1874 to 1879, which contains an excellent portrait of him surrounded by his books. His lives of actors and others in the * Dictionary of National Biography ' represent a good deal of careful research in a compact form. He wrote for some years a monthly record as " Sylvanus Urban" in The Gentleman's Magazine, and his style was one which showed to great advantage in a " causerie." His interests were many ; in his earlier days he played chess, billiards, and the piano, and to the end of his life he was a con- stant card player.

In his favourite clubs, the Garrick and the Beefsteak, he enjoyed unequalled popularity, being always a mine of good nature and good talk. He was an artist in speech as in writing, nimble- witted and

quick at repartee, with a Gallic neatness of expression. Chancellor Christie once said, when he was asked why he did not go into literary circles, that he preferred his own society. " Epicure ! " was Knight's concise and complimentary retort. Kindly as he was, he preserved his independence, and those who ventured on undue liberties, whether they were lords or commoners, found themselves I sternly rebuked. He was once asked to take the place of an art critic on a daily paper. " You know more than he did," said the questioner. " Yes,


 * but " was the reply, and the con-

I science of the expert in that " but " is

j a great thing. To his fellow-critics,

I when their interests combated his, he

i showed, as I happen to know, unexampled

I generosity. What he spoke of with most

pride was his part as the leading spirit

in getting the whole of the Comedie

Franchise over to this country to act in

1871. Here, he contended, he had made

history, a precedent which was fruitful

of good for both nations.

He was always a lover of poetry, of which he had great knowledge. Shake- speare and Milton were, I think, most in his mind ; he quoted constantly from ! excellent sonnets and translations him- ! self. The Athenceum for Jan. 13th, 1906, has a neat rendering by him of the keenness and freshness in the apprecia- tion of fine letters suggested a scholar of the. Renaissance rather than of our present day. He bewailed the loss of public taste, the prevalence of snippets, the commercialism of all forms of writing. But he held with unabated optimism that scholarship was to come again, and to be held in due regard as the fine flower of the human mind.
 * both with equal felicity. He did some
 * ' Sonnet d'Arvers.' His extraordinary

If there were more like him who were eminent both as scholars and men of the world, the leaven of the honourable minority would work the quicker. But, alas ! he is dead, and we are not likely to see his equal. His life was so full and various that it is difficult even to summarize its main points. That I have given any adequate idea of his vivid charm and personality is hardly to be hoped. But I have recalled, to the best of my power, the points which he wished to be emphasized in any account of him. VERNON RENDALL.