Page:The Story of the House of Cassell (book).djvu/100

 Long before his death his health had begun to fail, and the last year or two of his life was a gallant struggle against physical infirmity. It was characteristic both of his courage and of his love for writing that when the physicians told him he had only a few months to live, he should have set to work upon his "Recollections." In this race against time his rapid pen was the winner. The first volume was published in the year of its author's death (1905); the second volume is being kept back until its piquant political revelations can be made public without indiscretion.

With the death of Wemyss Reid we reach the end of the third epoch in the direction of the House of Cassell, and the beginning of its modern history. Before approaching it we turn to some outstanding figures and their achievements in other departments.