It is with deep regret that we record the death
of Mr. W. T. Arnold, which took place in London on Sunday last. Mr. Arnold, who was a grandson of Dr. Arnold of Rugby; and so a nephew of Matthew Arnold and a brother of Mrs. Humphry Ward, was among the most thoughtful and efficient of public writers when nine years ago a serious illness overtook him, and rendered it impossible for him any longer to pursue his work on the Manchester Guardian. Mr. Arnold joined the staff of that paper on leaving Oxford, where he distinguished himself by gaining the Arnold Prize by an essay on "Roman Provinoial Administration." His work as a journalist was always sincere, always sane, always fair and honourable, and always marked by a rare distinction of thought and style. But when one has said this, and added that he never lost in the practical business of journalism his love of letters and art and his fine sense of scholarship, one has nevertheless failed to give any real or true impression of the mind and character of the man. His personal influence as well as his personal charm were very great, and like all men who influence others, he was as good a listener as he was a talker. The courage with which he bore nine years of almost uninterrupted suffering, suffering which was only made endurable by the devotion and tenderness of his wife, produced a deep impression on his friends. It is to us no small satisfaction to think that his last journalistic work took the form of the admirable letters signed " Vigilans sed Aequus " which appeared in the Spectator last spring, and were republished in book form. Nowhere were the force and insight, as well as thoroughness, which marked his intellect better displayed. The work, indeed, may be said to have been inspired by a sense of filial duty. He felt, as a true son of England, that he must warn the Mother- land of the feeling of jealousy and hostility towards Britain with which political literature in Germany is now permeated.
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