Our Family Affairs, 1867-1896Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
General
Our Family Affairs, 1867-1896
Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic)
Benson family
Close friends though we were, I was always conscious of a side of him
that was formidable, of the possibility of a sudden blaze of anger
flaring up though quickly extinguished again: there was, too, always
present the knowledge of that “dark tremendous sea of cloud” in the
skirts of which he had been before, and into the heart of which it was
inscrutably decreed that he must go. There came a dark December morning;
that time the breakdown was final, and he lived not many weeks.
* * * * *
Once again I made a triumphant tripos in the matter of archæology, was
given an open scholarship at King’s, and immediately afterwards applied
for one of those grants that seemed to hang like ripe plums on the
delightful tree of knowledge. Hitherto those branches had waved high
above my head, but now they graciously swept downwards and I plucked at
the first plum I saw, and applied for a small grant to excavate in the
town-walls at Chester. There was reason to suppose that quantities of
the Roman tombstones of the legionaries that had been stationed there,
had been utilized in the building of the town-wall, and though there
were only Roman remains to be discovered (would that they had been
Greek!) the search for them would be a very pleasant pursuit for the
autumn, and might yield material for a fellowship-dissertation. To my
intense surprise some grant--from the Würtz Fund, I think--was given me,
for the purpose of discovering, if possible, new facts about the
distribution of Roman legions in Britain.
The family went out to Pontresina that August, and I with them for a
week or two before the work at Chester began. There I had a most
horrible experience with Hugh on the Piz Palu, one of the peaks of the
Bernina. Our plan was to make a “col” of it, that is to ascend it on one
side, pass over the top, and descend on another. We tramped and
perspired up southern slopes in deep snow on the ascent, struck an arête
which led to the top, made the summit, and began to descend by another
route. The way lay over a long ridge swept by the most biting north
wind, from which on the ascent the mountain had screened us, and never
have I encountered so wicked a blast. The loose snow whirled up from the
rocks was driven against us as if it was torrents of icy rain, piercing
and penetrating. Once as we halted, I noticed that Hugh shut his eyes,
and seemed sleepy, but he said that he was all right and on we went. He
was on the rope just in front of me behind the leading guide, and
suddenly, without stumbling, he fell down in a heap. He was just
conscious when we picked him up and said, “I’m only rather sleepy; let
me go to sleep ...” and then collapsed again.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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