Three generations

PROFESSOR FREEMAN 349
and elsewhere. He was a very short, very stout,
irascible elderly gentleman, a curious blend of the
independent, hot-headed Somersetshire squire, and
the imperiously dogged, fiercely accurate historian. A
friend of mine wrote to him requesting permission to
quote from his " Norman Conquest " in a guide-book
to Normandy which she was preparing. She had
been steeped for the time in French idioms, and in
absent-mindedness dropped into one in her letter. She
called the Norman Conquest the " Conquest of Nor-
mandy." He presently replied he was sorry he could
not oblige her, since, though he had heard of the
Norman Conquest, he was unacquainted with the
Conquest of Normandy.
The anecdote was told of him that in making a
private survey of the field of the Battle of Hastings he
was, as he considered, pestered by the attention of a
gentleman hovering in his vicinity, who would venture
to address him apparently with the purpose of convey-
ing some piece of information.
Freeman snubbed the stranger impatiently, telling
him he had all the information he wanted, and for
anything else the Duke of Cleveland had given him
permission to examine his grounds.
"But," remonstrated the speaker, " I am the Duke of
Cleveland."
Professor Freeman's lecture when I was one of the
audience electrified the room in a different manner
from that produced by Mr. Froude when he came
forward with his spoils from the past. It had been
announced that Professor Freeman was to give a
public lecture on England and her Colonies, and a
large audience gathered to listen to the doughty little
professor without having the least idea what he was