MATTHEW ARNOLD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2253, 6 May 1897, Page 50

MATTHEW ARNOLD.

Some Memories by Dean Fakbab.

In the course of his reminiscences of . Matthew Arnold in the Temple Magazine for March, Dean l^arrar tells us that " Valuable as were Matthew Arnold's contributions to literature, high as bis rank will always be among English pacts, exquisite as was both his prose and verse, he, like Mr Browning, was for many years so far unrecognised that his contributions to literature added little or nothing to his income. When he was at Harrow be was surcharged on the income tax, and appealed to the commissioners, who were mostly local tradesmen and others. He told them' that they bad added to the income which he returned, which was not more than the £1000 a year which was all be ever received from his post of inspector of school?. * Ob, but, Mr Arnold, you are a writer,' eaid the commissioners. • Gentlemen,' he said, in his amusing tone, ' you see before you that unfortunate beicg,- an unpopular author 1 My books so far iiave not added to my income.' It was not till later years that his writings materially increased Mb somewhat narrow resources. He used sometimes to asy at gatherisga where he was recsived with the loudest applause, ' Gentlemen, you see before you a humble inspector of schools.' But though he can hardly t have failed to feel at times that he was in the position of a racehorse set to draw a market cart, he continued to discbarge the humble requirements of his position with undiminisbed dignity and conscientious cheerfulness. His genuine kindnexs.and consideratpness, both to teacher and pupils, made him one of the most beloved of inspector?.

" When he visited America, his first lecture was delivered at New York, and many had paid large fees for good places. But before he had spoken long he was met by cries of ' Speak up. Mr Arnold I We cannot hear you, Mr Arnold 1 ' and many (as is not uncommon is America) left the hall while he •was speaking. • Next morning,' he said, • a professor of elocution called on me, and remarked, "this will never do, Mr Arnold. People buy tickets to come and hear you, but yon are very inaudible. Let me give you a lesson."

" I gratefully accepted the kind offer, and we went to the ball before the delivery of the second lecture. The elocution professor gave me some excellent hints, and I was much better heard at subsequent lectures. At the ball I saw a sort of music stand, which was just the right height for me, and as the eight oE one of my eyes is stronger than the other, I used to place it at my right, read a sentence, and then raise my head as I delivered it. Next morning there appeared in a New York paper a criticism in which was the remark, "As for Mr Arnold's manner, it reminds us of an elderly parrot pecking at a trellis ! '" " These and all similar criticisms, however frank, he took with absolutely imperturbable good humour. He used to travel about the United States to deliver his lectures, with Mrs Arnold, his two daughters, ' and the agent whom he elegantly called his 4 Impresario.' Thty usually had free railway tickets presented to them, and when the ticket collector in the train was told this, he remarked in a condescending tone, ' Ob, the Arnold troupe, I suppose 1' — 'Just as if we were a travelling circus I ' said Mr Arnold, •with a hearty laugh.

"Among other places he visited Chicago. The next morning there was an article in one of -the newspapers beginning. 'We have seen him ; he is an elderly gentleman, who parts his hair in the middle, with supercilious manners, and ill-fitting clothes 1 ' Many might have- been annoyed by such liberties. To Mr Arnold they only caused extreme amusement, as. he narraied them to bis friends."