useful to him. I enumerated in my own mind all the various points upon which he had shown me that he was exceptionally well-informed. I even took a pencil and jotted them down. I could not help smiling at the document when I had completed it. It ran in this way—
| 1. Knowledge of Literature.—Nil. | |
| 2. Knowledge„ of„ Philosophy.—Nil. | |
| 3. Knowledge„ of„ Astronomy.—Nil. | |
| 4. Knowledge„ of„ Politics.—Feeble. | |
| 5. Knowledge„ of„ | Botany.—Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium, and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
|
| 6. Knowledge„ of„ | Geology.—Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other. After walks has shown me splashes upon his trousers, and told me by their colour and consistence in what part of London he had received them.
|
| 7. Knowledge„ of„ Chemistry.—Profound. | |
| 8. Knowledge„ of„ Anatomy.—Accurate, but unsystematic. | |
| 9. Knowledge„ of„ | Sensational Literature—Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
|
| 10. Plays the violin well. | |
| 11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer, and swordsman. | |
| 12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law. | |
When I had got so far in my list I threw it into the fire in despair. "If I can only find what the fellow is driving at by reconciling all these accomplishments, and discovering a calling which needs them all," I said to myself, "I may as well give up the attempt at once."
I see that I have alluded above to his powers upon the violin. These were very remarkable, but as eccentric as all his other accomplishments. That he could play pieces, and difficult pieces, I knew well, because at my request he has played me some of Mendelssohn's Lieder, and other favourites. When left to himself, however, he would seldom produce any music or attempt any recognized air. Leaning back in his arm-chair of an evening, he would close his eyes and scrape carelessly at the fiddle which was thrown across his knee. Sometimes the chords were sonorous and melancholy. Occasionally they were fantastic and cheerful. Clearly they reflected the thoughts
