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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 | both with equal felicity. He did some ! excellent sonnets and translations him- ! self. The Athenceum for Jan. 13th, 1906, has a neat rendering by him of the | ' Sonnet d'Arvers.' His extraordinary 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.
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.
