Sir Charles Firth was Regius Professor of Modern History for
twenty-one years ( 1904-1925). He had mastered his subject
during the twenty-one years of comparative leisure, which had
preceded his appointment. He aged so slowly that one hardly
noticed the passage of time in him, and it needed an effort to
realize that he was in his seventy-ninth year when he died. It
might seem to be an easy thing to write about him, for he had
lived in Oxford almost continuously, since he entered Balliol
sixty years ago, he was always the same, and "his life was the
study of history". In reality it is not at all easy to write about
this big and lovable man, and one feels rather ashamed to
say anything about him when others who knew him better and
were firmly bound to him by ties of affection feel that they
cannot write. Yet the effort should be made, for many who did
not know him at all have the right, and perhaps the duty, to
learn something about him.

Firth was a kind, genial and friendly man, and also a very
strong man. Chronic asthma and bronchitis made him deliber-
ate in action and quiet in speech, but one could not meet him
without being made conscious of his strength. He abhorred
fuss and rhetoric, and there was a stoical quality in his quiet-
ness. He had great courage and a power of whimsical endur-
ance. He looked like a big administrator, slow moving, firm
and sagacious. The alertness of his eyes was emphasized by
the somewhat drowsy and meditative aspect of his face. To
imagine that massive head and pointed beard above a ruff
was to see one of Queen Elizabeth's wiser counsellors. And,
indeed, he liked the preparation of memoranda and the inti-
mate, allusive discussion of the council chamber, just as he
loved desultory and knowing talk with his cronies, while he

-150-