Latham

“ Latham, so it was arranged through him that I was to come, and here I am.”
“A most fortunate arrangement,” said Miss Carrington. “I never saw Richard Latham look so alive, so happy, so—— My dear, he is a charming man! I am a selfish woman; people who reach my age through years of solitude are likely to be, but to be so young, with your mind, your heart to devote to a life so highly endowed, yet so denied, is a lot that guardian angels might envy! Richard Latham can never again be pitied, having you.”
Anne straightened herself, her eyes widened with a startled look. ”

“ Latham smiled, and there was the least tinge of a sneer in his smile.
When Cherokee closed her eyes to sleep that night, she could only see Willard Frost—the one man in all the world whom she loathed; the coldest, most unsympathetic creature that ever got into a man’s skin instead of a snake’s. ”

“ Theodore Watts, an intimate friend for many years, characterises Latham as 'one who for brilliance of intellect and encyclopædic knowledge had, in conversation at least, scarcely an equal among his contemporaries, and who certainly was less enslaved by authority than any other man.' This independence of mind gave his literary work its success, despite his frequent obscurities of style and his occasional inaccuracy. ”

“ Latham was a singular anomaly of our organization. No one could help liking and disliking him. He was logical in mind, illogical in action. As captain of Eton College, he became a Fellow of King’s, and before long was the greatest authority on English grammar. He was Physician to the Middlesex Hospital; he was Professor of the English Language at University College. He dressed like a respectable clergyman. Then, from being a great man, he gradually became a little man, and dressed like a clergyman of a less reputable type ”

“ Chapter XII THE SOUND UP ON the first landing, Latham waited in a state of indescribable suspense. Seated on the top stair, he watched for he knew not what, listening intently, yet not knowing for what he listened. ”

“ Now, I must tell you that I know Sir John Latham well, and, indeed, have just left him, for he is now in London. He has confirmed your story to me, and says that your father is a good, honest man, who, although he loves you very much, would rather that you did not return to Aylesbury with the memory of your disgrace still fresh in his mind. So this is what I now offer you. This gentleman here is Captain Duck, the master of a ship of mine which is leaving Gravesend in a day or two for the South Seas. He is willing to take you with him and try to make a man and a seaman of you. ”

“ Latham said; “he is certainly one of the smartest fellows on board the ship. He is very popular with all the men, and is full of life and go, and always the first to set an example when there is any work [pg 141] to be done. I suppose we shall also lose the services of that boy Tom?”
“I think so,” Will laughed; “I should be quite lost without so faithful a hand, and indeed, though he still ranks as a boy, he is a big powerful fellow, and a match for many an A.B. at hauling a rope or pulling an oar.” ”

“ Latham, but, naturally, he wouldn’t marry a girl who loved another man! Like the honourable man that he is he renounced his own happiness for hers. Anne won’t see me yet; she is miserably unhappy about Latham, but she will see me, and it won’t be long before I introduce my wife to you, Aunt Anne,” said Kit.
“I hope so, but you won’t introduce Anne Dallas to me as your wife,” Miss Carrington had answered, instantly in a towering rage as she recognized in Kit a determination that made him at once a man to be reckoned with. ”

“ White did not believe very much in God even then, but this positive disbelieving frightened him. It was going too far. There had been a terrible moment in the dormitory, during a thunderstorm, a thunderstorm so vehement that it had awakened them all, when Latham, the humourist and a quietly devout boy, had suddenly challenged Benham to deny his Maker. ”

“ She flattered him, and she gave him some rare dole of subtle petting, but she did no wooing, and seemed inclined to brook none.
What a woman! She set him to thinking. And he thought.
Next to his profession, in which he was deeply absorbed—but not narrowly so, for this dapper, good-looking man was a great physician, and not in-the-making—Horace Latham cared more for music, and needed it more, than he did for anything else—even pictures. ”

“ Latham interjected.
“Me! Good gracious, man, American women don’t obey. Me! I wouldn’t obey Georgie Washington come to life and richer than Rothschild. Obey!” Only an American voice could express such contempt, and no British pen convey it. “But the juries obeyed him all right—as a rule! Those were good days in Chicago. There’s no place like Chicago.”
“So I’ve heard,” Latham admitted.
“But they didn’t last long. An uncle of John’s died out in California, and left us ever so many millions.” ”

“ Latham to-day—showed him exactly the right deference combined with frank friendliness. He is just what Mr. Latham likes and needs.”
“Enthusiastic praise, my dear, but Kit deserves it, if you can trust the judgment of one who is to all intents and purposes his mother. I not only dote on him, but I mean to make him a man who will be felt in the world. I expect him to marry a brilliant girl whom he has known for years, who will push his fortunes. I think one of these fine days we shall all be proud of Christopher Carrington.”
Anne looked at her steadily, surprise in her brown eyes. ”

“ They stared in disbelief at the caricature that suddenly came out of the night to stand in the doorway of Penger's place. Clothes ripped in shreds, mud and blood bespattered, one arm dangling, tangled hair that looked unreal as if sewed to his scalp. An awful whiteness about the lips and eyes that were dark empty pools. Maybe it had once been an Earthman, but it was unrecognizable now! Joel Latham stood there for an instant, seeking out Penger behind the bar. Black exhaustion threatened to take him, but with an effort he hoisted himself up. ”

“ Such disconnected masses of facts are heaped together in these works, such incredible dulness is shown in presenting them, such careful avoidance of any generalization or of any interesting particular, such a bald and conceited style, and such a cockneyish and self-opinionated view of human history, as our soul wearies even to think of. Mr. Latham disdains any link of philosophy, or any classification, among his "ten thousand facts," as being a fault of the "German School" (whatever that may be) of Ethnology. ”

“ Marching his prisoner up to where his horse was tethered, Calhoun took Latham’s sword and carbine which hung to the saddle and pitched them into the river after the revolver.
Mounting the horse, Calhoun said, “Now, no fooling. The slightest attempt on your part to escape, and I shall shoot you without compunction of conscience.”
[pg 186] “I am not fool enough to run when there is a revolver at my head,” growled Latham.
“Nevertheless you will bear watching. I am of the opinion you are a slippery customer. You just walk by my side here until we reach deep water.” ”

“ But she said pleasantly:
“Quite right, Kit! I can’t help feeling sorry that Richard Latham is going to miss complete intellectual companionship. No matter what nice things he says of her, of course we know that Miss Dallas is not his equal. However, she is a nice, trusty, sympathetic girl, and on the whole I am glad—since he can’t have such as Helen, for the good reason that there is none like her!—that he will be taken care of, and at least be secure of the self-sacrificing devotion that a blind man needs. It is hard to keep in mind that he is a blind man; not only a great poet.” ”

“ Lumley.
“It is truly said, Mr. Carrington, that it is pleasanter dining here than at her boarding place. This is a beautiful house, so cunning seers tell me; let alone Mr. Latham’s being even more agreeable as a man than as a poet. And it is true that there are many days. There are many of most things, Mr. Carrington; fish in the sea and much besides. So it is well to keep our minds on this well-known fact so’s’t not to let ourselves feel’s if there wasn’t hardly more than one of a thing, day, or whatever it may be. ”

“ Latham,’ nor ‛the poet,’ but ‛Mr. Richard Latham, the poet.’ That’s too much to get wrong.”
“It’s too much, whatever Merton’s boy said. How in the world did it happen?” Miss Carrington speculated. “I suppose the secretary asked him there for some reason——”
“The reason wouldn’t be hard to guess, Miss Carrington,”34 said Minerva, who knew how to ingratiate when she wished to. “Mr. Latham’s housekeeper, as you well know, is a friend of mine. She goes to Allen’s, the grocer’s, at this hour every day. ”

“ Penger shrugged and sighed as if this was what he expected. He took up the Josmian. "The deal is closed, Latham! I'd better put this away in my safe."
He walked to the end of the bar. When he came back, the glass in Latham's hand was empty.
Penger met George Elston's gaze. "You'll have to keep looking, Elston. You'll have to look for a man, not a—"
The tall man smiled, stopping the words. He pointed to the mirror where a splash of blue, glutinous tsith was dripping.
Latham threw the empty glass at Penger's head. ”

“ In 1829 he settled in Cheshire, near his father, whom he succeeded as squire in 1843. He died on 30 Jan. 1853. His eldest son, John Henry Latham (1823–1843) , an accomplished scholar, had died while an undergraduate at Oxford, but two sons and a daughter survived him. His only publication was a volume of poems, published anonymously at Sandbach in 1836, but a volume of two hundred and fifty pages was printed in 1853, after his death, 'English and Latin Poems, Original and Translated.' They are devotional and domestic, the best being on the death of his wife. ”

“ His voice ran down and Latham said briskly: "All right, then. You just come around when you've arranged the financial details and I'll contact Finsen. He's a good man; you won't have to worry about a thing. And remember: the sooner, the better."
Oliver slumped out of the office and went straight to the Mob Building, office of the Regan Benevolent Fund. An acid-voiced woman there turned him down indignantly: "You should be ashamed of yourself trying to draw on the Fund when there are people in actual want who can't be accommodated! ”

“ She knew that Richard was speaking to her, telling her not to grieve, to remember that he was sincerely glad to carry with him the memory of the days that had left him only memory. Kit, seeing Anne’s face, came forward to take her chair and give her his place, a little back of his aunt.
“Don’t look like that, honey!” he whispered. “People will notice, and hang and quarter me! There’s always someone about who knows too much! I don’t care if Latham did write ‛The Guerdon!’ ‛But notta Carlotta! I gotta Carlotta!’ However you pity him, you can’t marry us both, dear! Latham is happy! That’s true. ”

“ The pattern book of letters for working people 1840. d. 11 North villas, Camden sq. London 6 Jany. 1891. Hatton’s Journalistic London (1882) 224, portrait; I.L.N. 10 Jany. 1891 p. 38, portrait.
LATHAM, Daniel. b. Buenos Ayres 1860; amateur actor in South America; studied acting in England under name of Veovide; engaged the first English dramatic company that ever appeared in the Argentine republic 1882, toured there for three seasons with his own companies 1882–4. d. St. Thomas’ hospital, London 29 Oct. 1885.
LATHAM, George William (2 son of John Latham of Bradwall hall, Cheshire 1787–1853) . ”

“ Latham’s a great man; no one knows that better than I!”
“Thank you, Kit Carrington, for your praise of my future husband,” said Anne, tremulous, but fighting for self-control. “You will never tell him these things. When you’ve had time to consider you will know that this is false, specious reasoning and cowardly. Neither of us will do anything selfish or dishonourable. I shall keep my word, Kit, and you will help me keep it. At any cost we will guard our honour. If Richard were another man—— But even then, how could we? ”

“ Lumley and was she satisfactory?” Miss Carrington asked.
“As to satisfactory, she is a lump!” declared Minerva with scornful emphasis. “But she did speak of Mr. Kit’s being there, and I know all about it. It seems that little Anne Berkley brought him there with her. As though you didn’t know Mr. Latham! That little witch is a prime favourite of Mr. Latham’s and visits him a great deal; she’s everybody’s favourite, and she would amuse a blind man. And the child is very fond of Miss Dallas, the secretary. So Master Kit gets little Anne to take him there. And he is asked to lunch. ”

“ Latham has at once done justice to that distinguished man, and expressed very neatly the opinion which will be entertained by the great majority of his readers of his own acquirements, and of the merits of this his last contribution to our stock of knowledge.
The Family Almanack and Educational Register for 1851, with what its editor justly describes as "its noble list of grammar schools," to a great extent the "offspring of the English Reformation in the sixteenth {111}century," will be a very acceptable book to every parent who belongs to the middle classes of society ”

“ Latham appears to have considered as a variety of Coracius afra, his African Roller, which I have not seen; but from his account of it, it must vary considerably. The bill is of a brownish horn colour, rather more than an inch and half long, very much and abruptly forked at the tip, and having the edges of each mandible narrowed in. Length of the bird about 121⁄2 inches; the lower part of the neck, behind, the back, and part of the scapulars, reddish brown, with a tinge of olive green: the chin, front, and eye-brow white, as in No. 6 ”