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250 FRIENDS [CHAP. XVlt
This of course was the secret of his inaeceptability with
Queen Victoria. It made no sort of difference to the
veteran combatant from what quarter a challenge came :
the mere sound of the words seemed to act on him like a
fiery stimulant, and he flung himself on the statement
as if he had " seen a voice," as the Greek poet phrased it.
not reeking in any way whose voice it was. Akin to this
was his foible for spending much time and eloquence
occasionally on very dull subjects. Host racy and perspicacious
was Mrs. Gladstone's interruption to one of
these etfusions at dinner : " Oh I William dear, if you ·
weren't such a genius you'd be such a bore I "
Yet with these drawbacks there was a unique charm
about hi» talk. It was impossible not to listen to him,
and I have never known anyone whose words were so
difficult to forget. But outshining all his other gifts was
the greatness of his moral stature and the unvarying
loftiness of his view of life. It was these eharaeteristics
which made it a priceless privilege to have known him.
C. H. LLoYD
Lloyd, for many years organist and music-master at
Eton, was a gifted musician and a singularly lovable man.
He used to say his musical training had never been sound
or deep, but there was no possible question as to the charm
of his organ-playing. It was no doubt less technically
complete than that of the famous executant Walter
Parratt, his great friend, whom no one could for many
years rival in the austere classical perfection of style
shown in his rendering of a Bach fugue, But Lloyd
stood the test of playing piece after piece of well-known
merit, and his tempo always was thought perfect by the
warmest admirers of the music ; and certainly he appealed
to the modem audience by a certain warmth of feeling
to which his great rival was for the most part strange.
Yet he was restrained by a fastidious taste, and once
when it was suggested to him that he should indulge a
little expansiveness as Bamby did. adding some very