Mr. Harold Begbie The death of Mr. Harold Begbie, the
well-known author and journalist, at the age of fifty-eight, removes a very engaging personality. He had many friends of widely differing interests, and his enthusiasm for good causes infected them all. We have often wondered why he was not a greater figure in his generation than he was, for his sincerity was deeply rooted and his powers of expression were of a high order. The late Lord Grey invited him to write the memoir of his (Lord Grey's) life—a proof of strong approval in one who was a good judge of men and honesty. Perhaps the reason of Mr. Begbie's failure to make a deeper mark was his versatility and a certain verbal excess. The average Englishman somehow does not regard seriously a writer who does not always write of sober subjects with sobriety.
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