the great aim of their lives, which he wished them constantly to bear in mind.

Mr. KEBLE had a great fondness for trees, a fondness which was perhaps carried out almost too much for health. It seemed to distress him to cut down a tree, and consequently his vicarage was almost more shut in with large trees and shrubs than was consistent with most people's notions of healthiness. He looked at nature with a Poet's eye, rather than with the utilitarian spirit of the age. When he saw hedge-rows grubbed for the sake of carrying out the modern notions of high-farming, he would lament for the beautiful trees and wild flowers which were destroyed, and for the birds driven away to display their brilliant plumage or sing their lovely songs elsewhere. He did not like to see the furze and the heath give way to the unsparing hand of the assiduous cultivator of so-called waste lands.

Upon one occasion, early in the year 1851, when some alterations were proposed by the Baronet which Mr. KEBLE thought might interfere with the beauty of the scenery, and with the wild flowers in which he delighted, he composed a poem, which he sent to the Baronet, in which he expressed a petition as coming from the wild plants that their homes might be left undisturbed.

Mr. KEBLE used to seem glad to think of himself as a Hampshire man, though he was born in Gloucestershire, and had great love for his native place. His mother was a Hampshire woman (a native of Ring

This Poem, entitled a "Petition to the Lord of the Manor of Merdon," will be found in this volume following the list of Mr. KEBLE's works.

wood), and the last thirty years of his own life were spent in Hampshire: moreover, he died in Hampshire, and was buried in Hampshire.

This holy man used literally to weep with those that wept, and to rejoice with those that did rejoice. The author of this narrative has been present when Mr. KEBLE had great difficulty in performing the funeral service over the mortal remains of a much respected parishioner, on account of the tears which he could scarce restrain. On the other hand, he seemed always to enter cheerfully into the rejoicing of those who were enjoying themselves: especially did he rejoice in the innocent sports of his school children at his school feasts, when he collected the young scholars from the three parishes (Hursley, Otterbourne, and Ampfield), to entertain them with tea in his garden, and (by the Baronet's kind permission) with sports in the park. He was also glad to have young friends from Winchester College to spend Saints' days with him, and he took pleasure in affording them every facility for their enjoyment.

In the autumn of 1862, Mr. KEBLE took his dear wife to Penzance, having been recommended to try that genial climate for her health; and it seems that no other place suited her so well; the distance from Hursley was, indeed, the great drawback which hindered Mr. and Mrs. KEBLE from spending their last winter at Penzance. The scenery there was always a great charm to them. One who had the privilege of close intercourse with Mr. KEBLE at Penzance, and of whom the Poet entertained a high regard, which he expressed in a letter to the author of this narrative, has said of Mr. KEBLE with reference to his sojourn at Penzance :-" He enjoyed the scenery-the bay with its lovely mount, the ever-changing colouring of the sea and the sky, which he was never tired of watching

with a poet's eye. The running streams, too, were a source of pleasure to him, after the scarcity of water (which he seemed to think its only deficiency) in his own parish."

To the same friend the author of this little memoir is indebted for the following particulars with reference to the three visits of Mr. and Mrs. KEBLE to Penzance.

Mr. KEBLE first appeared in church at Penzance on October 5, 1862, and was noticed for his "absorbed reverence" at the Holy Communion. When he was called upon by the Incumbent he at once expressed his willingness to help in any way, in church or among the poor, and spoke of his being "unaccustomed to be without parochial work." During that visit he preached at St. Mary's Church on several occasions, once (Oct. 26) for the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts; on Christmas Day, St. John's Day, and on March 18, 1863, in one of a series of Lent lectures; also on Tuesday in Holy Week, and on the first Sunday after Easter. He also preached at the mother church of Madron, and at St. Paul's Chapel in Penzance: but he declined taking any special duties, charity sermons or the like, out of the parish; in fact, he always disliked doing anything which seemed to imply any call to people to come to listen to the author of "The Christian Year"-anything which involved publicity. It was during this visit that the wedding of the Prince of Wales took place; and though he was vexed at its occurring in Lent, he took great interest in the preparations to celebrate the event, and was especially pleased at the way in which Church-people and Dissenters came to church on the occasion. He once made the remark that "the position of the Church of England in Cornwall was like that of Themistocles among the

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Greek commanders; each religious community, of course, thought itself the best, but each was willing to give the second place—and so practically the first to the Church." He liked much the assemblage of all the Sunday schools of the town to hear some addresses, and sing "God save the Queen" on the occasion; and he kindly adapted one or two of the verses so that they could be sung in church. Mr. and Mrs. KEBLE ended this visit to Penzance about April 23, 1863.

Their second visit to Penzance was a short one in the spring of 1864, having spent the greater part of the preceding winter in Torquay. During this second visit Mr. KEBLE was present at the laying the foundation-stone of Newlyn Church, in the progress of which he was much interested. He also supplied a hymn to be sung at the laying the foundation-stone of the Penzance Public Buildings on the following day. It was the same hymn which he had composed for the thirty-third meeting of the “British Association" at Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the year 1863. He did not officiate at St. Mary's this spring, but took duty nearly every Sunday at Madron, or at the neighbouring parish of Sancreed.

The last visit of Mr. and Mrs. KEBLE to Penzance began about January, 1865. During this visit Mr. KEBLE, although unable to take any share in the duty at church on account of his seizure, from which he was partially recovering, was able and ready to impart "the benefit of his gentle wisdom and ripe experience" to his above-mentioned friend in cases of difficulty. During the Poet's first visit to Penzance he had been much engrossed with the life of Bishop Wilson, but in this his last visit the Greek Testament was generally found in his hands in preference to any other book. Up to the end of his last visit he took lively interest in Church

matters, and in Mr. Gladstone's doings, "which were a sort of Church matter to him;" for his well-known support of Mr. Gladstone as M.P. for the University of Oxford, no doubt arose mainly from his personal conviction of the good which that great Statesman had done in the cause of the Church, and his trust in him as a Churchman, apart from, strictly speaking, political considerations. It must be borne in mind also that he did not by his support of Mr. Gladstone imply agreement with all his

measures.

Mr. KEBLE'S favourite walk at Penzance was on the sands. The friend before alluded to walked there with him for the last time on May 2, 1865, on which day he heard of the death of his old and dear friend the Rev. Isaac Williams. On the following day Mr. and Mrs. KEBLE left Penzance, and were never able to return there again.

The habits of the holy man at Penzance were much the same as at home, and have been described as "very simple." He did not go into society, but was always genial when he came into contact with any. What was perhaps more marked than anything else in his habits at Penzance was "his unremitting affectionate devotion to Mrs. KEBLE. She mostly moved about in a Bath-chair, and he was ever at hand, ready to assist the little carriage over a rough place, and to shed the sunshine of his presence on the whole way."

It was soon known that he did not like being made a lion of, and one reason for which he liked Penzance all the more was that the people did not obtrude themselves upon him, but left him very much at liberty.

The kind heart of Mr. KEBLE always sought to find out the good