Neither were
they such complete masters of their subject. Like Carlyle he required
suitable auditors to bring him forth at his best: but while Carlyle was
mightiest when, his hearers were opposed to him Wasson always needed a
somewhat sympathetic audience. If he saw unfriendly faces around him his
ideas became congealed and his discourse controversial. At other times
it was like following the course of a great unknown river, full of grand
views and surprising discoveries. Nothing interests like imagination, or
is more wholesome than good criticism. Yet he had no desire to be an
autocrat of the drawing-room. He welcomed the opinions of others and
encouraged free discussion. No man could be more ready to accept
amendments to his propositions. Pride of opinion was nowhere to be found
in him: he was only too modest and unassuming. If his friends did not
agree with him he would reply with a mildly interrogative "Yes?" and
then proceed as before. The finest rhetoric and even splendid oratory
seemed poor compared with the plain statement of this unswerving seeker
of the truth.
His knowledge was prodigious. He was a good linguist, a fine
mathematician and versed in all the different schools of philosophy. He
knew English literature as well as Macaulay; French and German as well
as Carlyle. There seemed to be no period of history with which he was
unacquainted.
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