Humphreys

“ I’ve always taken a keen interest in literature myself. Hardly anything to my mind can compare with a good hour’s reading after a hard day’s work; far better than wasting the whole evening at a friend’s house—and that reminds me, to be sure. I shall be getting into trouble with the wife if I don’t make the best of my way home and get ready to squander away one of these same evenings! I must be off, Mr. Humphreys.’
‘And that reminds me,’ said Humphreys, ‘if I’m to show Miss Cooper the maze tomorrow we must have it cleared out a bit. ”

“ Humphreys! Now I shall have the laugh of Miss Foster (that’s our rector’s daughter, you know; they’re away on their holiday now—such nice people) . We always had a joke between us which should be the first to get into the maze.’
‘I think the garden keys must be up at the house,’ said Mr. Cooper, who had been looking over a large bunch. ‘There is a number there in the library. Now, Mr. Humphreys, if you’re prepared, we might bid goodbye to these ladies and set forward on our little tour of exploration.’
As they came out of Mr. ”

“ With the temple she was particularly delighted, and, said she, ‘Do you know, Mr. Humphreys, I think your bailiff must be right about those lettered blocks of stone. One of my mazes—I’m sorry to say the stupid people have destroyed it now—it was at a place in Hampshire—had the track marked out in that way. They were tiles there, but lettered just like yours, and the letters, taken in the right order, formed an inscription—what it was I forget—something about Theseus and Ariadne. I have a copy of it, as well as the plan of the maze where it was. How people can do such things! ”

“ I've never thanked you, except by letter, for all the trouble you've taken to find people to look after me at the Hall.'
'Oh, I'm sure that was nothing, Mr Humphreys; but I really do think that you'll find them give satisfaction. The man and his wife whom we've got for the butler and housekeeper we've known for a number of years: such a nice respectable couple, and Mr Cooper, I'm sure, can answer for the men in the stables and gardens.'
'Yes, Mr Humphreys, they're a good lot. ”

“ Paris is almost the only place with which I am acquainted. But are you, too, waiting to cheer Condé? If not, let us slip away from the crowd; the noise is becoming a nuisance."
He was such a pleasant fellow that I gladly joined him, and we strolled back together to the Palais Royal. His name, as I have mentioned, was John Humphreys, and, although still a young man, he had already been through numerous adventures. In the great English Civil War he had fought at his father's side for King Charles. ”

“ Really, I sometimes say I don't know a nicer district, for the country; and the people round, too: such a quantity always going on. But I'm afraid you've come a little late for some of the better garden parties, Mr Humphreys.'
'I suppose I have; dear me, what a pity!' said Humphreys, with a gleam of relief; and then, feeling that something more could be got out of this topic, 'But after all, you see, Mrs Cooper, even if I could have been here earlier, I should have been cut off from them, should I not? My poor uncle's recent death, you know—'
'Oh dear, Mr Humphreys, to be sure ”

“ The tracing of the plan for Lady Wardrop and the careful collation of it with the original meant a couple of hours’ work at least. Accordingly, soon after nine Humphreys had his materials put out in the library and began. It was a still, stuffy evening; windows had to stand open, and he had more than one grisly encounter with a bat. ”

“ Humphreys, that you’ll catch the archway over the entrance. You’ll see it just at the end of the walk answering to the one that leads up to this very building. Did you think of going there at once? because if that be the case, I must go to the house and procure the key. ”

“ In connexion with this work he visited Europe in 1851. In the earlier part of the Civil War Humphreys was employed as a topographical engineer with the Army of the Potomac, and rendered conspicuous services in the Seven Days’ Battles. ”

“ Predestination,’ &c., 1710, 4to. 42. ‘Wisdom to the Wicked,’ &c., 1710, 8vo. 43. ‘Free Thoughts,’ &c., 1711, 4to (continuation of No. 40; a further issue was projected) . 44. ‘A Daily Morning Prayer,’ &c., 1712 (Calamy) . Some other pamphlets and single sermons are referred to by Calamy. Many of his publications bear only his initials. He seems always to spell his name Humfrey; by others it is given as Humphrey or Humphries. He was confused with John Humphreys, an astrologer, born in 1638 at Shrewsbury, and educated at Cambridge ”

“ It is an error to suppose that animals require very large doses of Humphreys’ Homeopathic Medicines, for experience has shown sick animals to be very impressible, and easily influenced by appropriate medicine, and in general, not to require as frequent repetitions as the human subject. Those who are accustomed to give large and powerful doses of poisonous medicines in order to produce some revulsive action, such as a cathartic or sudorific, or even as an alterative, can not from hence infer the proper quantity required when only a curative result is desired. ”

“ Then another knock at the hall-door summoned her up-stairs.
"What for is a' the parish coming to call on her?" she grumbled. "Deed, an' they kenned the guid leddy as weel as mysel', it's no' haverin' wi' her they'd be in sic a friendly fashion, but tellin' her the plain truth o' her ain ungodly temper. Ah, weel, David laddie, dinna ye be coaxin' the like o' that, for the cream and the cakes are aye for your betters, as they ca' theirselves. Whist! the bell again! I'll be worn off my legs the nicht." ”

“ Ah, Humphrey! this dishonour in thine age
Will bring thy head with sorrow to the ground.
I beseech your majesty, give me leave to go; 20
Sorrow would solace and mine age would ease.
King. Stay, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester: ere thou go,
Give up thy staff: Henry will to himself
Protector be; and God shall be my hope, 24
My stay, my guide, and lantern to my feet.
And go in peace, Humphrey; no less belov'd
Than when thou wert protector to thy king.
Queen. I see no reason why a king of years 28
Should be to be protected like a child.
God and King Henry govern England's realm. ”

“ This versatile activity which characterised Humphrey was part of the Renaissance spirit which brightened his imagination. The men of the new birth were vigorous and enthusiastic in the days of their mental youth, no obstacle daunted them, no branch of life’s interests seemed unworthy of their attention. ”

“ The sea all about is soon dyed with blood, proceeding from the wounds of the Whale, while the enormous animal vainly endeavors to reach its invader, and strikes with its tail against the surface of the water, making a report at each blow louder than the noise of a cannon. ”

“ He was frequently at Colonel Romsey's house in King's Square, Soho Fields (Copies of Informations, p. 28) , desiring interviews with Ferguson early in the morning, before Romsey was dressed; he was at West's chambers in the Temple, offering to get admittance to the Duke of York, under the pretence of discovering some plot against him, and then to kill him (Copies, p. 61) . ”

“ THE FLOOR OF THE OCEAN. The wonders of the ocean floor do not reveal themselves to vulgar eyes. As the oracle was inaudible to sacrilegious listeners, and as none but poetic ears heard the cadenced beating of the feet that danced to unearthly music, near the fountain haunted by the Muses of classic fable—so, none but the initiated can see the myriad miracles that each receding tide reveals on the ocean floor. ”

“ Do not the sublime aspects of the ocean—the sound of its deep, ceaseless voice—the eternal on-coming of its waves, now in calm undulations, and now in hurtling wildness against the base of those cliffs whose white brows are wreathed with perennial flowers—suggest other matters both for reflection and amusement? ”

“ I asked.
“Only yesterday—pray, unhand me, good Humphrey, thy hand is irksome—a pursuivant of his Grace’s, with Timothy Ryder from Stationers’ Hall, and a handful of the Company at their backs, made a sudden visitation, and searched us up and down, till they lit on—you know what.”
“The secret press,” cried I, like a fool, letting him see that I knew of it.
“Alack! Humphrey,” said he, “there is nothing secret that shall not be made manifest. Without more ado, my poor master was seized and hauled away to the White Lion. ”

“ Just as the Goose has long been the symbol of awkwardness and stupidity, so the Swan has been an object of admiration in all ages for its noble proportions, the graceful curve of its neck and its small and shapely head. ”

“ When I told him of the hue and cry, and how near the watch was on the scent, he turned to me and said:
“Where shall we go, Humphrey?”
Which meant, that wherever he went, he counted on me to follow. So I told him of my errand to Rochelle, and of the Miséricorde, which lay below the Bridge. Then his face brightened.
“That is well,” said he. “It matters not whether we go to France or the Pole, so I breathe some freer air than this of England. Let us start now. We must not go together. I will take the wherry while you go by land.” ”

“ Had their majority been uniformly distributed throughout London there would have been an average majority for the Unionists of 400 in every constituency, and in that case the press would have said that London was solidly Unionist. ”

“ Our daily life has been hitherto as monotonous as possible. Sir Humphry sees no society, and wishes to see none, and his only pleasure and amusement seems to consist in shooting. He drives out every day in the surrounding campagna, often to a distance of twelve and fourteen miles from Rome, when he gets out and rides on his pony over the fields in [Pg 196] search of quails or snipes. ”

“ His remarkable business powers, which were recognised on all sides, led to his being invited to become a partner in the great firm of Maudslay, the eminent engineer, but this offer was declined. In 1859 his health began to fail, and he retired from business. ”

“ It is in vain to combat with such feelings, but it is impossible not to regret their existence; for could Sir Humphry be persuaded occasionally to mix more frequently in such society, it would certainly rather be of service to him than not, for his fine mind is still full of intellectual power and elasticity, and he deceives himself in thinking otherwise. ”

“ A wealthy gentleman of sixty, struck with one of her poems, travelled eighty miles to see her, and, after buying a pair of gloves of her, offered to make her his wife, Miss Chandler turned the incident into verse, and a sixth edition of her book being called for in 1744, it appeared with a sub-title, 'To which is added a True Tale, by the same Author.' Soon afterwards Miss Chandler was able to retire from business ”

“ To appreciate Nature, as well as Art, the mind requires a special education, without which the eye and the ear perceive but little of the miracles passing before them. To the eye of the common observer, the farthest field in the landscape is as green as the nearest, in the scene outspread before him; while to the practised glance of the accomplished artist, every yard of distance lends its new tone of colour to the tints of the herbage, till, through a thousand delicate gradations, the brightest verdure at last mingles with the atmospheric hue, and is eventually lost in the pervading azure. ”

“ And yet Humphrey, who knew the forest so well--its mysterious, interminable depths, its trackless, boundless extent, rolling over hill and valley in endless billows--he knew well how silently, how suddenly an ambushed foe might approach, spring out from the thick, tangled shelter to do some murderous deed, and in the maze of giant timber be at once swallowed up beyond all danger of pursuit. ”

“ It seemed to the Squire an eminently right one. Humphrey was going on to the land, on which every man, according to his view, had the best chance of making the most of his life, and escaping the perils that beset the town-dweller. That it was in that great new country, where the land meant so much more even than it did in England, where there were still fields to conquer, still room in the great pastoral or agricultural armies, that Humphrey was going to make himself a place, was an added fitness. He would be entering on a new life in a new land. ”

“ Captain Galsworthy accompanied me for a few miles on the road--across English Bridge, past our old farmhouse (now held by a tenant of Sir Richard Cludde's) , through the beautiful vale of Severn, till at Cressage my way led me southward from the river. Then he held me fast by the hand and looked me in the face.
"God bless you, Humphrey," he said. "Live clean, and--and--hit straight from the shoulder, my boy." ”

“ Anyone who has visited Switzerland has often seen these powerful Birds swaying majestically over the highest point of the Alps. With widespread wings they glide along with easy motion. The sharp eye searches the earth anxiously and discerns the smallest prey from the greatest height. The Bird descends with slow circling movements and presently drawing his wings with loud, rustling noise, he darts to the earth like an arrow. He buries his outstretched fangs into the body of his prey and crushes it sooner or later, according to its size and power of resistance, without the use of his bill. ”