[By Houdon.]
424A.Benjamin Franklin.Statesman and Philosopher.
[By Hiram Powers.]
425.Samuel Johnson.Writer and Moralist.
[Born at Lichfield, 1709. Died in London, 1784. Aged 75.]
The son of a bookseller in Lichfield. Educated at Oxford, but compelled to leave the University without a degree, in consequence of the misfortunes of his father. Then an usher,—and then, marrying,—the proprietor of a private academy in his native city. He had only three pupils, but one of them was David Garrick. Master and pupil went up together to London in search of fortune. Both found what they sought—the pupil suddenly and brilliantly; the master, after trial, privation, and suffering. In 1738, Johnson published his first poem, “London.” Twelve years later, he came forth as an essayist in the “Rambler.” In 1755, appeared his “Dictionary of the English Language,” a seven years’ labour; and in 1781, “The Lives of the Poets.” In 1762, a pension of £300 a-year was settled upon him by King George III. The tradition of Johnson in society is of a literary and moral dictator—a character which, as far as he was concerned, implied much rather the depth of conviction with which he championed great interests, than the pride of self-conscious intellect, the taste for conflict, or the thirst of rule; and which the listeners conceded yet more in reverence for the personal worth of the man, than in submission to his intellectual superiority. He is one of the manliest and most robust minds in our letters. From moral sense and religion, from deep natural concern, his giant will was devoted to the great interests of mankind. He felt in himself a vocation to sustain these interests, and he was the sturdiest of combatants in the prosecution of his moral crusade. His style is stately, nervous, Latin, original, singularly suited to his mind, which gave a direction to contemporary minds, and largely fashioned the literature of his time. The prime characteristic of his writings is unquestionably strong, solid sense, mixed it may be with onesidedness, but bright with acutereflection. Johnson’s exterior was unwieldy, his manners were not polished, but a tenderer heart never beat than his own. He could utter a withering epigram. He never committed a deliberately unkind act. His house was a hospital for the sick and distressed; he could not walk the streets without emptying his pockets into the hands of beggars, and his great heart melted under a tale of sorrow and injustice. He had strong prejudices, and although sincerely pious, was superstitious. He loved to speak in aphorisms, and we still quote his sayings, as attributing to him something of the dignity and weight of an oracle. His life influenced his age. After his death he still exercises his influence, for he has given occasion to the most perfect and amusing biography in the language.
425A.Samuel Johnson.Writer and Moralist.
[This statue, by J. Bacon, R.A., is at the South End of the Nave, on the East Side; for account of which, see Handbook to Modern Sculpture.]
426.Adam Smith.Philosopher and Political Economist.
[Born at Kirkaldy, in Scotland, 1723. Died, in Edinburgh, 1790. Aged 67.]
This great master in the science of political economy was the son of an Officer of Customs, and studied first in Glasgow, afterwards at Oxford. He had feeble health, and was of studious habits. In 1748, a lecturer, in Edinburgh, upon Rhetoric and the Belles-Lettres; and in 1751, appointed Professor, first of Logic, and then of Moral Philosophy, in the University of Glasgow. At this period of his life he published his “Theory of the Moral Sentiments,” a work in which he regards Sympathy as the foundation of all morals. In 1763, resigning his Professorship, he became tutor to the young Duke of Buccleuch, with whom he travelled on the continent for several years. He subsequently retired to his native village, where he passed ten years of his life in close obscurity, study, and fruitful meditation. In 1776, he issued from his cell to pour light for ever into the busy world. In that year was published his memorable “Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.” This monument of industry, observation, sagacity, learning, and acuteness, continues the one great hand-book of political economists. The leading points which Adam Smith laboured to urge in his “Inquiry” are—That labour is the only source of the wealth of nations; that wealth does not consist in the abundance of gold and silver, but in the abundance of the necessities, conveniences, and enjoyments of life; that it is sound policy to leave individuals to pursue their own interest in their own way, and that every regulation intended to force industry into particular channels, is impolitic and pernicious. The justice of these axioms has, after years of argument, denial, and resistance, received general acknowledgment in England; and Adam Smith is the author of one revolution in the world’s progress, and a benefactor of his kind. His reasoning is not always sound; but the base of his fabric is unassailable, and the illustration which constitutes its ornament, is amongst the happiest ever employed to give life and light to a solid structure. Adam Smith is the great practical philosopher of an age and a people, craving for his philosophy more than for any other, yet wanting, most of all, the philosophy which shows the soul of a man as the most precious of all his estates, and teaches him the husbandry of it. He died, having won a competence, and fulfilling a government appointment.
[This plaster cast was formerly in the collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence.]
427.John Hunter.Surgeon and Comparative Anatomist.
[Born in Scotland, 1728. Died in London, 1793. Aged 65.]
When John Hunter was twenty years old, he could scarcely read or write; but he could make chairs and tables. At the time of his death, forty-five years afterwards, he was the first anatomist in the country; and he left behind him a museum—the work of his own rare intelligence and industry—which the government purchased for the sum of £15,000, and conferred upon the Royal College of Surgeons. Hunter came to London, from his carpenter’s shop in Scotland, in order to serve as anatomical assistant to his brother William, who had already established a reputation as an anatomist, and was doing well. In a few months John had made sufficient advance to be able to give instruction in the dissecting-room. He then studied on his own account, went to Oxford, and became a surgeon. Intense application, profound observation, ceaseless experiments, and masterly skill and judgment, enabled him in time considerably to enlarge the knowledge of surgery, and to make valuable discoveries in connexion with his favourite science of comparative anatomy. He was, for England, the first great leader in the Science of animal life. He was a bold and clever operator; he wrote several professional treatises; and, besides being Surgeon Extraordinary to the King, he held the offices of Inspector-General of Hospitals, and Surgeon-General. His name is honoured in the profession to which he belongs, and he is justly regarded as the great and worthy guide and pioneer of all the seekers and successful discoverers, who since his time have explored the same paths.
[By Flaxman.]
428.James Watt.Improver of the Steam-Engine.
[Born at Greenock, 1736. Died 1819. Aged 83.]
It has been said that the genius of Watt, as displayed in his mechanical inventions, has contributed more to show the practical utility of the sciences, to extend the power of man over the material world, to multiply and expand the conveniences of life, than the works of any other individual in modern times. His was a rare mechanical genius. It had been nurtured from his infancy at home; where he lived, as a boy, in solitary retirement, cultivating observation and reflexion, and kept apart from other boys by weak bodily health. It may be affirmed that his whole life was one long day’s labour, for his enlightened industry never ceased. When a mere child, he would take to pieces and reconstruct every toy that came in his way. At nineteen he went to London, and placed himself with a maker of mathematical instruments there, making delicate instruments for his employer with his own hands. “With those same hands,” says M. Arago, a little fancifully, since the head now took the place of the hands, “he afterwards constructed those colossal machines which in Cornwall, and on the ocean, perform the service of millions of horses.” But the improvement of the steam-engine, until it attained its highest point of perfection, is not Watt’s sole claim to the title of a discoverer. Without knowing a note of music, he constructed an organ, and in a great measure solved the problem oftemperament. He invented the press for copying letters; he introduced the process of bleaching by the aid of chlorine; he explained the composition of water, and the art of warming by steam. The extent, variety, and accuracy of Watt’s knowledge were amazing. No subject seemed foreign to him, and upon every subject he spoke as if that alone had all his lifeengaged his attention. Sir Humphrey Davy declared that Watt stood upon a higher elevation than Archimedes. Great as were his powers, he was a man of child-like candour, and of the greatest simplicity.
[By Flaxman.]
429.Sir James Mackintosh.Historian and Metaphysician.
[Born in Scotland, 1765. Died, 1832. Aged 67.]
A strong and shrewd intellect: determined by native impulse and aptness to the metaphysical speculations, which, in the country where he was born, make regularly an important part of a liberal education. He sought and maintained the character of a dispassionate inquirer, reading extensively and carefully weighing conflicting opinions. More a student than a man of action; yet, even in study, his energies clogged by a natural indolence. Mackintosh, though descended from Jacobites, was a Whig. In 1791, he wrote a defence of the French Revolution, in answer to Burke; but, in less than four years, confessed that bitter experience had overthrown his generous argument. Adopting the law as a profession, he received promotion in India at the hands of his political allies. After seven years’ service, entered Parliament. He wrote an admirable “Dissertation on the Progress of Ethical Philosophy” for the “Encyclopædia Britannica,” and he was engaged on a “History of the Revolution of 1688,” when he died. A man of great learning, philosophical clearness, and fine perception. Yet his works lack method and elegance, and fail, from the absence of these qualities, to do justice to the intellect that fashioned them.
[By Christopher Moore. Executed in 1829 for Lord Nugent.]
430.Francis Jeffrey.Critic and Essayist.
[Born at Edinburgh, 1773. Died, 1850. Aged 77.]
One of the founders, and for many years the editor, of the “Edinburgh Review,”—a publication which he enriched by his essays on poetry and general literature. He had an acute, ingenious, and spirited intellect, a sensibility of taste, and a constant flow and vivacity of style; but his apprehensions in literature and the arts, were rather trained and authorized than free and original. He had a leaning, scarcely a special gift, to speculate on the questions of the Mind—questions early and familiarly brought before him, as rife in the Scottish school in which he was educated. The influence of Jeffrey upon literature and public opinion, during his life-time, was very great—partly from the character of the Review which he governed, partly from the independence, brilliancy, and ability with which he maintained his principles of taste. Many of his criticisms contain the soundest views, and are eloquently written: others have been signally refuted by time and the public verdict; and their style is defaced by wanton and unjustifiable flippancy of language. Jeffrey studied for the law, and, being always a liberal in politics, was promoted by his Whig friends to the Scottish bench. With the reputation of a brilliant and ingeniously argumentative speaker, he disappointed, in the House of Commons, the general expectation. He was esteemed a very kind and friendly feeling man.
[By Christopher Moore. Executed in 1846.]
431.Francis Baily.Astronomer.
[Born at Newbury, 1774. Died 1844. Aged 70.]
Originally a stockbroker. One of the founders of the AstronomicalSociety, and for many years its President. Also Fellow and Vice-President of the Royal Society. Author of many astronomical works; amongst others, of a volume detailing the repetition of the Cavendish experiment for the determination of the earth’s density.
[Executed in marble, by E. H. Daily, R.A. Posthumous. 1848.]
432.William Yarrell.Naturalist.
[Born in London, 1784. Still living.]
The author of “A History of British Birds,” and of various papers on subjects connected with natural history. Is treasurer to the Linnæan Society of London.
[By Henry Weigall.]
433.George Stephenson.Engineer.
[Born 1781. Died 1848. Aged 67.]
A sturdy plant of English growth. A working mind born ripe for its time. An uncultivated power endowed with immeasurable capability. The story of George Stephenson reads well for his country, well for himself, well for the high faculties which Providence has given to man, irrespectively of birth, station, education, or any accidental condition. His parentage was of the poorest. He could not have begun his race at a more distant point from the goal of fortune. He did not even start with his fellows in open day, under the bright sun, on the earth’s surface. He was a pit-engine boy, and his pay was twopence a day. It was a great rise for him when he was made stoker, and he was on the high road to prosperity when he found himself breaksman. Promoted to the office of engineman, he declared that he was “now a man for life.” He first made known his mechanical genius in the service of Lord Ravensworth, when he repaired and improved, as an amateur, a condensing pump-engine, which had baffled the skill of some professional engineers. Having been, for a time, occupied in laying down some unimportant lines of rail, he went to Liverpool to plan a line of railway between that city and Manchester. He held out great inducements to enterprize, and made unheard-of prophecies of success. He even undertook that a locomotive should accomplish ten miles of distance in every hour. We must not be surprised that the people called him “mad” for proffering the assurance. Similar madmen had preceded him,—Columbus, Galileo,—the inventor of gas, the discoverer of vaccination and others. The line, as we know, was made,—the experiment tried. Stephenson was right, a locomotive can travel at the rate of ten miles an hour. The rise of Stephenson was now rapid as the strides of his own locomotives. He took the lead at once in railway engineering; became a great locomotive manufacturer, an extensive railway contractor, a large owner of collieries and iron-works, and a man of mark in the nation. Our railway system is the result of the multiform operations of his strong practical mind. Stephenson disputed with Sir Humphry Davy the invention of the safety lamp. Other claimants are in the field. We shall never know the discoverer, any more than we shall learn the birth-place of Homer; and George Stephenson may spare the extra laurel from his iron crown.
[By Christopher Moore, 1831. Executed for Robert Stephenson, Esq.]
434.William Fairbairn.Millwright and Engineer.
[Born at Kelso, on the Tweed, 1789. Still living.]
This eminent engineer settled as a millwright in Manchester, in 1815, and distinguished himself at once by his practical improvements in the construction of mills and workshops. To his early efforts, in the science of mill architecture, may be traced much of the improved taste now displayed by mill-owners in the manufacturing districts. His latest achievement in this direction is the magnificent structure at Saltaire, near Bradford, Yorkshire. He was an early builder of iron ships in Manchester, Hull, and London. His experiments, designs, and superintendence, were available in the construction of the Conway and Britannia Tubular Bridges. Mr. Fairbairn, besides his title to respect as a mechanical engineer, and a great improver in the specific sciences to which he has devoted his life, is a contributor of much valuable knowledge through the medium of the press. He is the architect of his own fortunes, and is remarkable, in an age of remarkable engineers, for his great energy, skill, taste, and discrimination.
[By J. E. Jones.]
435.Sir John Herschell.Astronomer.
[Born 1790. Still living.]
The worthy son of a celebrated sire. Educated at Cambridge, where he easily distanced all who competed with him for the honours of that seat of learning. Like his father, Sir John has devoted himself mainly to astronomical pursuits; but he has penetrated with ardour into every field of science, and illuminated by his genius all the ground he has trodden. He is a consummate mathematician, an accomplished chemist, a profound philosopher, a master of his native language, and of style. In 1834, he proceeded to the Cape of Good Hope, for the purpose of making observations in the southern celestial hemisphere, and continued there for the space of four years. His “Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy,” is amongst the most beautiful, eloquent, and useful of modern publications. His treatises on Sound and Light show a profound application of the highest order of mathematics to physical subjects of the most subtle, delicate and ethereal character. Herschell, more than any other man of this day, has contributed to uphold and increase England’s scientific renown; his learning and accomplishments are universal, and his constant zeal in the diffusion of knowledge amongst all classes,—amongst the very humblest as well as the very highest,—constitutes a right to our gratitude and respect equal to that established by his philosophic labours and infinite acquirements. Sir John Herschell is Master of the Mint. Sir Isaac Newton held the post before him.
[From the marble by E. H. Baily, R.A. 1848.]
436.Michael Faraday.Natural Philosopher.
[Born 1794. Still living.]
This illustrious scientific man is the son of a poor blacksmith, and was in early life apprenticed to a bookbinder, at which craft he worked until his twenty-second year. His great delight in electrical researches brought him into acquaintance with Sir Humphrey Davy, whose assistant he became in the laboratory of the Royal Institution, where Faraday himself in time roseto the dignity of Fullerian Professor. The discoveries of Faraday in several branches of science have placed him in the very highest rank amongst European philosophers. The most difficult and abstruse points in connexion with light, heat, electricity, magnetism, and the laws of matter, have been simplified to an extraordinary degree by the force of his sagacity and singular acuteness. As remarkable as his genius for discovery, and for the detection of the hidden operations of nature, is his admirable faculty of exposition. No living man approaches Faraday in the easy power of communicating the results of the most subtle investigation to a miscellaneous audience. Passing through his lucid understanding, every subject, however abstruse or abstract, becomes simple, clear, and attractive.
[By E. H. Baily, R.A. Executed in 1823.]
436*.Mary Somerville.Mathematician and Astronomer.
[Still living.]
One of the few women who step out from the limits which seem naturally assigned to their intellectual avocations, to compete with men in theirs. One of the fewer who do so, deserting none of their proper tasks, forfeiting nothing of their proper character. A profound mathematician and astronomer; a delicate inquirer into natural phenomena. Her work on “The Connexion of the Physical Sciences” spreads out, in a form designed for the uninitiated reader, but not for the inattentive, a large variety of impressive knowledge, on some of the most interesting laws of the natural world. Her manner of writing is remarkably simple, descriptive, clear and exact.
[By Macdonald. Executed in Rome, 1848.]
437.William Whewell.Philosopher.
[Born at Lancaster, 1795. Still living.]
The Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and at this moment the greatest ornament of that celebrated university. He has been tutor in the college of which he is the Head, and Professor of Mineralogy. Subsequently appointed to the Chair of Moral Philosophy, which he still occupies. A great promoter of the study of this branch of human learning, both by his writings and his oral lectures. Has contributed valuable essays on the subject of education, with especial reference to the studies of his own university. Has enriched mathematical and physical science with many original investigations; is the author of a great work on the History and Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences, and of many scientific treatises exhibiting the application of the higher mathematics to natural philosophy. The vigour, activity, vivacity, and quickness of his intellect is extraordinary: his memory, in relation to almost every branch of literature and science, is rich to overflowing, and his faculty of conversation brilliant. The mind of William Whewell, by natural, impetuous action, invades all territories of knowledge, and grasps at a dominion forbidden by the term allotted to human life: but that mind, clearly and beyond all doubt, has power to grapple and to deal effectually with all that it has time to apprehend and seize. It is not to be wondered, that the temper of so ardent a spirit should be hasty: that its nature is frank, generous, and noble.
[By E. H. Baily, R.A. 1850.]
438.Sir Henry Thomas de la Beche.Geologist.
[Born in London, 1796. Still living.]
Distinguished himself early by his geological researches in England, France, Italy, and the West Indies. In 1835, the government instituted, at his suggestion, a Geological Survey of Great Britain, in conjunction with, the Ordnance Survey, and subsequently extended it to the United Kingdom, with Sir Henry as Director General. This post he now holds, in conjunction with the direction of the Museum of Practical Geology, and of the Government School of Mines. The author of many highly esteemed works and memoirs on geology; and has rendered good service to the state, by directing his knowledge to practical and educational purposes, and by inducing politicians, seldom ready to advance in a scientific direction, to found institutions of a high intellectual type.
[By E. H. Baily, R.A. 1845. From the bronze deposited in the Museum of Economic Geology, London.]
439.Thomas Carlyle.Writer.
[Born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, 1796. Still living.]
Critic, Philosopher, Essayist, Censor: the criticism acute, penetrating,, severe; the philosophy idol-worship; the essay-writing picturesque, striking, animated, and strongly coloured; the censorship furious, testy, useless, if not unmeaning. Saturated with German metaphysics, full of German literature, and delighting in the German form of expression. If Thomas Carlyle would throw off his foreign affectations, and forgethimselfin his labours, he would be one of our most instructive, useful, convincing, and admirable writers; for his heart is large, his intellect strong, and both heart and intellect have long striven to inculcate human love amongst men, and to build, upon mutual affection, high deeds, and benevolent aspirations. But Thomas Carlyle, pen in hand, never did forget himself at any one instant of his life, and never will. To use one of his own Germanisms, he is the very incarnation of “Ich.” An instructed author will hold the balance fairly between his subject and his reader, dealing with each with intelligent reference to the other. Carlyle usually cares nothing either for his reader or his subject, but swallows up both. Whatever he shows us, we chiefly see Thomas Carlyle. “The French Revolution” is the best of his works! His pictures, there are startling, wonderful, and highly painted; his eloquence is inspiriting, and his imagery grand. As a social and moral Reformer, he beats the air, belonging to that humblest order of architects who are clever enough at destroying houses, but have no power to set up others in their place. Yet the influence of Carlyle has been great, both in England and America. He has forced men to think—he has appealed with irresistible power to their better natures—given vigour and direction to their impulses, and torn the veil from quackery as often as the evil thing has crossed his manly and indignant path. Sad thought that so serviceable an arm should be clogged with fetters of its own forging—that an almost boundless capacity for good should be restricted by a tether of its own fashioning.
[By H. Weigall.]
440.Frederick Carpenter Skey.Surgeon.
[Born at Upton-on-Severn, 1798. Still living.]
Professor of Surgery to the Royal College of Surgeons of England: Surgeon to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and other institutions. The author of a work on “Operative Surgery,” in which a strong and humane plea is put forwardagainst the use of the knife until the last extremity; and of the Hunterian Oration for 1850.
441.Richard Owen.Naturalist.
[Born at Lancaster, 1804. Still living.]
Owen, Faraday, and Herschell are England’s living representatives of science, and are so esteemed throughout Europe. Comparative anatomy, founded by Cuvier, has been perfected by Owen, and to him is due the great merit of raising that science in England to a position that commands the gratitude and admiration of the whole scientific world. This illustrious philosopher commenced life as a midshipman, but his career was quickly arrested by the close of the American war in 1813. In order to re-enter the profession, he adopted the medical profession, and became the pupil of Mr. Baxendale, a surgeon in Lancaster. In 1824, he matriculated in Edinburgh. In 1825, he came to London, and passed the Royal College of Surgeons in 1826. Under the advice of his friend, Abernethy, Owen gave up all thoughts of the navy, and accepted an appointment at the College of Surgeons, where for ten years he laboured at completing the catalogue of John Hunter’s magnificent museum. The enormous labour was achieved in 1840. Since that time every form of animal life, from the Sponge to the Man, has been submitted to his sagacious mind, and upon every subject he has thrown illumination. The mere enumeration of his contributions to the literature of natural history would in itself be a task. His “Treatise on the Homologies of the Vertebral Skeleton” has been received with great favour by anatomists and physiologists. His histories of “British Fossil Mammals and Birds,” and of “Fossil Reptiles,” the treatise “On the Nature of Limbs,” on “Parthenogenesis, or the successive production of procreative individuals from a single ovum,” have each brought fresh laurels to his brow. Cuvier asked, “Why should not natural history one day have its Newton?” We answer, “It has found Richard Owen.”
[By E. H. Baily, R.A. 1840.]
442.Benjamin Disraeli.Writer and Politician.
[Born 1805. Still living.]
The author, at an early age, of “Vivian Grey,” a novel. Has since published many interesting works of the same kind, the most popular being “Coningsby,” a book in which the political views of the writer are interwoven in the tale of fiction. Mr. Disraeli has acquired greater fame as a politician than as an author. By his own efforts, and by the force of his great genius, he has risen to one of the highest offices of state, having for a few months served his country as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Disraeli is unequalled in the House of Commons for sarcasm and invective; but he has other, better, more useful, and more lasting qualities of a statesman. If the moral weight of Mr. Disraeli in the country, is less than his talents would seem to claim, public opinion is not so much to blame as Mr. Disraeli, for the discrepancy between his acknowledged ability, and his place in the world’s estimation.
[By W. Behnes.]
443.Thomas Brassey.Railway Contractor.
[Born at Buerton, near Chester, 1805. Still living.]
One of the chiefs of the aristocracy that has risen in these latest timesupon the foundations of commercial enterprise. A prince of the new dynasty, whose dominion extends wherever civilization is fostered by the Rail, and whose coronet is of iron. He commenced life as a surveyor at Birkenhead, and his first connexion with a railway was a contract to supply the stone for a viaduct of the “Manchester and Liverpool.” Since that time his labours have been incessant and extraordinary, both in his own country and out of it. Since 1846, he has, upon his own responsibility and credit, constructed upwards of 500 miles of railway, representing an aggregate of £9,250,000 of contract money. In France and Spain, his joint contracts with Mr. Mackenzie were for 189 English miles of road, and for nearly £3,000,000 sterling. His engagements, in Scotland and England, with Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. John Stephenson, from 1844 to 1851, comprised 511 miles of railway, and an aggregate of £7,200,000. His hands are still full, and his men are carrying out his behests in all parts of the world. In more senses than one the career of Thomas Brassey may be described as princely. The “Barentin” viaduct, of 27 arches, on the “Rouen and Havre” line tumbled down when all but completed; and the casualty involved a loss of £30,000. Mr. Brassey the contractor was neither morally nor legally responsible. He had repeatedly protested against the material used in the structure, and the French lawyers maintained that his protest freed him from liability. The contractor was of a different opinion. He had contracted, he said, to make and maintain the road, and no law should prevent him from being as good as his word. The viaduct was rebuilt at Mr. Brassey’s cost. For the construction of this stupendous work (accomplished in seven months) 16,000,000 bricks were required, of which 14,000,000 were new, and made on the spot. Thomas Brassey is beloved by his countless retainers. Riches, power, influence, and dominion, have not touched his sound and feeling heart. We dare to speak truth of this living worthy, for his life is in all respects one of the highest examples we can offer to our generation, absorbed as we are in the production of great industrial undertakings, and, above all things, intent upon the pursuit of wealth.
[By J. E. Jones.]
443*.William Dargan.Railway Contractor.
[Still living.]
Born at the beginning of the present century, of humble parents, in the county of Carlow, Ireland. After leaving school, was placed in a surveyor’s office. Then served with Telford the engineer, on the Holyhead-road; afterwards engaged, on his own account, in forming the Howth Road, and some canal works in other parts of Ireland. Since the introduction of railways he has been the chief maker of the iron paths that traverse the sister kingdom. When all the works shall be completed, which owe their construction to his skill, ingenuity, and industry, nearly a thousand miles of railway will be due to his enterprise. William Dargan is not only a railway contractor, but a railway owner, a steam-packet proprietor, a flax grower, and a farmer. Whilst too many of his fellow-countrymen have been engaged in destroying—as far as in them lay—the elements of industry in Ireland, he has laboured to develop her resources, and to rouse the physical energy and the self-respect of all classes. He is a patriot, not a partizan—not an Orangeman, nor a Ribbandman, nor a Repealer, nor a Protestant-ascendancy-man, but a true-hearted Irishman, a useful citizen, a loyal subject. IfSir Robert Peel could have counted a dozen Dargans amongst his coadjutors in Ireland, he would never have had cause to reckon the government of that portion of the United Kingdom, amongst his insuperable “difficulties.” The greatest work of the patriotic Dargan remains to be mentioned. He placed £20,000 at the disposal of the Committee formed in Dublin, for the construction of a Crystal Palace in that city. Before the Palace was ready to receive the contributions of all nations, William Dargan had contributed a much larger sum. He has his reward in the affectionate gratitude of the Irish people—in the approving smiles of his sovereign—in the lasting good wrought by his act in the land of his birth.
[This statue, by J. E. Jones, is at the south end of the nave.]
444.Samuel Warren.Lawyer and Writer.
[Born in Denbighshire, 1807. Still living.]
Is the author of “The Diary of a Physician,” and “Ten Thousand a-Year,” in the department of fiction, and of a work on the Study of the Law. Mr. Warren was originally educated for medicine. He has risen to the rank of Queen’s Counsel in the profession which he subsequently adopted; and his writings have acquired a wide popularity. The genius of Mr. Warren lies especially in the detection and dissection of character, in which he exhibits great skill and power.
[By Henry Weigall.]
445.Edward Shepherd Creasy.Historical Writer.
[Born in Kent, 1812. Still living.]
Educated at Eton, where he obtained the “Newcastle Scholarship.” Subsequently proceeded to King’s College, Cambridge. In 1837, called to the bar. Is Professor of History in University College, London, and the author of some able historical works.
[By E. G. Papworth, jun., by whom it is presented to the Crystal Palace.]
446.Judge Haliburton.Lawyer and Writer.
[Still living.]
Off the bench, better known under his assumed name of “Sam Slick.” He is a judge of Nova Scotia. In 1835, first appeared in a Canada paper as the author of a series of letters, illustrating the Yankee character. In 1842, was Attaché in England to the American Legation; one result of this appointment was the publication of “Sam Slick in England.” Sam’s pen continues from time to time to enliven and amuse the world, and to set it broadly grinning. He has infinite humour, a rollicking, racy, uncontrolled style, an exuberance of animal spirits, great acuteness, much worldly sagacity, and marvellous good sense under all his fun. A genial satirist, and one of those who have the best succeeded in making the low, corrupted, half-provincial, and half-slang language of an inferior social class serve literary use.
[By J. E. Jones.]
447.Edward Forbes.Naturalist.
[Born at Douglas, Isle of Man, 1815. Still living.]
One of the most eminent of our scientific men, remarkable for his originality, sagacity, lucid research, and general scientific attainments. Studied at Edinburgh, and afterwards lectured there on Natural History.Joined, in 1841, the Hydrographical Survey of the Ægean, under Captain Graves, R.N., and made important discoveries respecting the laws of bathymetrical distribution of marine animals and plants. In 1842, explored the antiquities, geology, and natural history of Lycia. During this expedition the sites of eighteen ancient cities were brought to light. In 1845, appointed Naturalist to the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, and in 1851, a Professor of the Government School of Mines. President of the Geological Society, one of the Royal Commissioners of the Great Exhibition, and author of numerous works and memoirs on geological, zoological, and botanical subjects. In 1854, upon the decease of Professor Jameson, raised to the Chair of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh.
[By E. H. Baily, R.A.]
448.William Murray, Earl of Mansfield.Lord Chief Justice.
[Born at Perth, in Scotland, 1704. Died in 1793. Aged 88.]
This great lawyer and upright man was the fourth son of David, Lord Stormont. In 1718, being thirteen years old, he travelled to London on the back of a pony, and went to Westminster school. In 1723, he proceeded to Oxford. At both places of learning he was distinguished for his industry and classical attainments. Afterwards entered at Lincoln’s Inn, and in 1730 was called to the bar. He gradually made his way upward. In 1742, Solicitor General; 1744, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench; 1776, advanced to the dignity of an Earl. Other events are worthy of record. During the Gordon Riots of 1780, the Protestant mob, thinking him favourable to the Catholics, burned his house to the ground, and cruelly destroyed a valuable collection of books and manuscripts. He was the principal victim of the merciless assaults of Junius; and he is remembered in the law books, as the chief justice who, in the celebrated case of “Rexv.Almon,” arising out of one of Junius’s Philippics, attempted in vain to withdraw the cognisance of the question of libel from the jury, to vest it in the court. In politics Lord Mansfield was a Tory; as a judge he recognised nothing but his duty to his sovereign and his country; and he must always be regarded as one of the greatest men that have adorned the judgment-seat in England. He possessed an amazing clearness of apprehension, vast learning, and marvellous perspicuity of exposition. His love of justice was the sole passion that absorbed his otherwise calm nature, and his integrity was spotless. In law, as in religion, the mind of Mansfield was essentially liberal. It was a saying of Burke’s that Murray—superior to the technicalities of his profession—still made the liberality of law keep pace with the demands of justice and the actual concerns of the world, conforming our jurisprudence to the growth of our commerce and of our empire. He was thus the founder of the commercial law of England, which before his time had no existence. Brave as a lion on the bench, Mansfield exhibited unaccountable timidity as a statesman. He quailed before Lord Chatham, whose schoolfellow he had been, and who mercilessly opposed him from the school to the grave. The illustrious rivals now lie quietly side by side in Westminster Abbey.
[From the statue in Westminster Abbey. Executed in 1801 by Flaxman.]
449.William Pitt, Earl of Chatham.Statesman.
[Born 1708. Died at Hayes, in Kent, 1778. Aged 70.]
A grand Minister, an idol in the memory of the nation, but failing in some of the elements of true greatness, for he was haughty, overbearing, inconsistent, insolent, obstinate, and petty. The statesman who would never be seen on business, except in a full dress coat and tie wig—who never allowed the highest considerations to interfere with his constant study of effect—who, in opposition, anathematized men for attempting that which he himself, in power, was the very first to carry out—who never suffered his under secretaries to sit in his presence—who never blushed at the most barefaced and vehement self-contradiction, can hardly be ranked with the very highest characters that adorn the pages of History. Yet he was superb withal, and potent in his influence upon the age in which he lived. He had tremendous earnestness; his thoughts blazed in his mind, and were communicated in burning words to his listeners. He had the faculty of uttering great truths, in language that carried not only conviction to every understanding, but enthusiasm to every soul. He had a noble person—an eye like an eagle’s—a voice of thunder. His oratory was splendid, and his speeches maintained some of their power when transferred to paper. He was always terrific. He began his career as a Cornet in the Blues, and entering Parliament as member for Old Sarum, in 1735, he so astonished Sir Robert Walpole by the violence of his assault, that the astute Minister was fain to intreat some one “to muzzle that terrible Cornet of horse.” The great glory of Chatham, as Minister, consists in the war policy which he advocated and upheld to the great advantage and pre-eminence of his country. In spite of all his errors he was adored by the people. He could feel and act with true nobility, and the multitude were touched by the lofty sentiments by which he was himself animated. Almost his whole fortune consisted of private benefactions. The Duchess of Marlborough left him £10,000, and Sir William Pynsent bequeathed him £3000 a year, and £30,000 in ready money. He opposed the war with America, but with his latest breath denied the right of the colony to independence. Whatever he did, he was still the most popular man in England. Proud and domineering as he was in public, his private character, as Lord Chesterfield declared, “was stained by no vices, and sullied by no meannesses.” In his own household, by his children and dependents, he was beloved for his gentle kindness. The statue before the visitor is highly characteristic of the man. “Graven by a cunning hand,” says Macaulay, “it seems still with eager face and outstretched arm, to bid England be of good cheer, and to hurl defiance at her foes.”
[The original model of the statue by J. Bacon, R.A., in Westminster Abbey. It will be found at the South end of the Nave.]
450.Edmund Burke.Orator, Writer, Statesman.
[Born at Dublin, 1730. Died 1797. Aged 67.]
Coleridge, speaking of Edmund Burke, has said that “he referred habitually to principles—he was a scientific statesman.” He is by far the most philosophic politician that ever dealt with public affairs in England. He takes rank with those who have applied their genius to the transactions of their own fleeting day, in order to extract from them truth, wisdom, and instruction for all ages. Gifted with gorgeous eloquence, he spake like a prophet. We read his words, which we are told fell as he uttered themupon dull insensate ears, and are astounded to find how nearly, under altered circumstances, they concern ourselves. Our descendants shall peruse the same syllables with the same living interest, desire, and benefit. Châteaubriand has asserted that when Fox spoke in the House of Commons, he and all strangers could not keep back their tears. When Burke rose, the act was a signal for general flight. We can understand the difference. Burke walked sublimely in advance of his contemporaries; Fox was abreast of them, sharing in their prejudices, and, it may be, inflaming their passions. Burke had great knowledge of men and books, an imagination rich to overflowing, and although a philosopher and a theorist, business-like habits. His genius was unmatched in the House of Commons, and his industry did not fall short of that of the most plodding member of that assembly. He was the son of a Dublin attorney, and in early life found favour with Lord Rockingham, who, bringing him into Parliament, allied him to the Whig interest. The connexion was subsequently broken off, when. Burke, in alarm at the frightful results and portents of the French Revolution, strove to preserve Liberty by holding her back from the too ardent embrace of her professed friends. His “Reflections on the French Revolution” was the most memorable treatise of the time; and it was followed by others as remarkable for splendid diction, as for the profoundest philosophical thought. When starting into life, Burke wrote his celebrated essay on “the Sublime and Beautiful,” and set on foot the “Annual Register,” the historical portion of which he wrote for many years. He would have been raised to the peerage but for the premature death of his only son, of whom he was very fond. His character has been variously estimated. There is no reason to doubt that he was as conscientious, as honest, and as sincere, as he was mighty in his high mental endowments.
[By Christopher Moore, 1850.]
451.George Washington.First President of the United States.
[Born in Virginia, United States, 1732. Died, 1799. Aged 67.]
If we were asked to single out from ancient or modern story one bright unsullied example of true greatness, of perfect patriotism, disinterestedness, consistency, and self-devotion, it would be difficult not to select George Washington. England, that suffered by his acts, has reason to be proud of his surpassing glory; for he came from the common stock, and he wrought the liberty of his country by the exercise of virtues dear to all Englishmen, and—let us dare to say—characteristic of their race. He received the most ordinary education, for he lost his father when ten years old; and he had to make his way in life by his own best efforts. At the age of eighteen he was appointed surveyor, in Virginia, to Lord Fairfax. At twenty he was Major in the colonial militia. In 1775, he took the command of the army in America against England. How he acted from that hour until 1783, when the treaty of peace was signed,—what intrepidity he exhibited,—what wisdom, what coolness, what courage, what moderation, what rare self-command under defeat, for, fighting at great disadvantage, he lost more battles than he gained,—is known to all. In 1789, he was elected President of the United States. As chief of the government, he declined all remuneration, save the bare payment of his official service: he had shown the same abstinence when in command of the army. In 1796, worn out by the labours and anxieties of his momentous life, he laid down his power and withdrew into privacy; but not until he had delivered to the American people, as his lastpublic work, his solemn advice for their future self-government and conduct. His words of weight may be read to-day with singular advantage by the millions who enjoy the inappreciable blessings of freedom and prosperity, which his good right hand, sound heart, and sagacious judgment, chiefly secured to them. If hero-worship may be pardoned, he shall be forgiven—for his offence shall induce in him only humility—who kneels before the quiet, unpretending shrine of Washington.
[By Canova.]
451*.Warren Hastings.Statesman.
[Born 1732. Died 1818. Aged 86.]
Descended of an ancient and honoured line, seated at Daylesford, in Worcestershire, but ruined by taking the King’s side in the civil war. The boy, motherless, from his birth, and left in the hands of his grandfather, the impoverished incumbent of the parish, was sent early to the village school, and taught his letters with the peasantry. At seven years old, as he basked on the bank of the little stream that ran through the domain of his fathers, the thought of repossessing the lost inheritance broke on his imagination. The vision of the child was the single personal aim of the man’s life. What a life, ere the vision took reality! At 10 he was placed at Westminster school, at 17 he sailed with a writership for Bengal. His courage and intelligence, when the English authorities had fled from Calcutta, with his services in Clive’s army, raised him rapidly to distinction, and in ten years after setting foot on Indian ground, he was member of Council. At 32, he returned, with a moderate fortune, to England: and—that given and spent—at 36, back to India. At 40, Governor of Bengal. At 41, Governor-General. Ere the five years of his appointment had elapsed, he was more! He had overthrown his mortal foes in the Council: and was Lord Paramount of British India. In his 53rd year, his reign ceased. What had it been? With a resolution which no dangers and no difficulties could daunt, with a genius for resource, fertile in proportion to the demand, with a sagacity that disabled opposition and commanded success, with a self-possession calm in every tempest, he had taken in hand a set of provinces imperilled by their disorganization and by terrible enemies: and he left a constructed and fortified empire. What had been his means? Good and ill. He had stood between the rapacious rulers and the feeble ruled, and was alike beloved by both. A civilian, he held the heart and allegiance of the army. But in India he had used Indian powers. He had not amassed money corruptly, but he had corrupted with it. He had extorted treasure, he had broken faith, he had authorized and instigated cruelty, he had violated justice to shed guilty blood, he had held the ordinary moral laws suspended, for the safety and the aggrandizement of the dominion committed to his sway. Called to answer before the highest tribunal in the land, by all the intellect, eloquence, and power of a great party in Parliament, he was acquitted after a process of unheard-of duration, reaching through many years: but ruined by the costs. Partially compensated by the India House he retired to the ancestral home which, according to his early resolve, he had taken care to secure. Here for years he lived a tranquil, happy life in the midst of books, which he loved, and of endeavours to improve English cultivation from his experience in India.
[By J. Bacon, R.A.]
452.Charles James Fox.Statesman.
[Born 1748. Died 1806. Aged 58.]
This great orator and popular statesman, like his rival William Pitt, was trained from his youth for political life. He was the son of Henry, first Lord Holland, and received his education at Westminster, Eton, and Oxford. His acquaintance with ancient and modern literature was extensive, his taste highly cultivated, and his literary ability great. Had he not been a politician, he might have won high distinction as a scholar; or, had he not been constitutionally indolent, have reflected lustre upon his public deeds by labours in more classic fields. There was a difference of ten years in the ages of Pitt and Fox; Pitt being the younger man. Both were second sons: both had been sedulously prepared for the great arena by their ambitious fathers. Pitt began his work as a Reformer, but quickly turned aside into the ranks of the Tories. Fox, starting into life under the wing of his Tory parent, spoke and voted against Wilkes; but quickly repenting of his act, threw himself into the arms of the Whigs. And then the battle between the two rare combatants was well fought out unto the end—Pitt dying in harness in 1806, Fox following him the very same year. Fox was a Liberal, as the name was in his time understood by the great Whig families—an aristocrat with popular ideas, sympathizing with progress, but holding fast to the pillar of the constitution, every stone of which he jealously upheld. On every great subject he stood opposed to Pitt; he inveighed bitterly against the war with France, as he had formerly steadily opposed the rupture with the American Colonies. He was a speaker of extraordinary power; his oratory being bold, argumentative, impassioned, and unpremeditated. His followers were attached to his person, and in private life he was beloved, for he had an affectionate and noble nature, clouded by sad weaknesses. He was a desperate gamester, and a lover of pleasure to excess. At St. Ann’s Hill, withdrawn from the heat of conflict and dissipation, to his quiet and beloved garden—to his friends and his books, he was more faithful to himself, and to the good gifts of Providence within him.
[By I. Nollekens, R.A.]
453.John Philpot Curran.Lawyer.
[Born near Cork, 1750. Died in London, 1817. Aged 67.]
Of very humble parentage. Obtaining a sizarship, he received his education at Trinity College, Dublin, free of expense. He went to London, and entered himself as student at one of the Inns of Court. Called to the bar in 1775. His brilliant qualities soon brought him into notice. He was employed to defend various persons charged with political offences, and his eloquence, his wit, his withering sarcasm, and touching pathos, carried all before them. In 1784, he obtained a silk gown, and took his seat in the Irish House of Commons as member for Doneraile. When the Whigs came into office in 1806, he was made Master of the Rolls in Ireland. This office he held until 1814, when he resigned it and secured a pension of 3000l.a-year. He then visited England, and took up his residence in London, where he died. He was a popular advocate, and a most successful debater. His personal appearance was as deficient in grace as his intellectual powers were splendid. His country, which loved him when living, lamented him whendead, and perpetuated her love and her grief by the erection of a public monument to his memory.
[By Christopher Moore. 1841. Executed for his monument in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.]
454.Lord Eldon.High Chancellor of England.
[Born 1751. Died 1838. Aged 87.]
A great lawyer. His legal learning, it is said, has never been surpassed, If it has been equalled. For many years of his long life he sat on the judgment seat, and in the councils of his Sovereign. But the fame of Eldon as a politician has not survived him. He was narrow-minded and narrow-hearted. Lord Brougham has summed up his political faith when he says, “he was alike the determined enemy of all who would either invade the institution, or extirpate the abuse.” He worshipped things as they were. Whatever existed—whether a rotten borough, a sanguinary enactment, or an unjust civil disability—to the mind of Lord Eldon it formed part of the “British Constitution,” and that Constitution had in his eye a sanctity, like religion. No argument was admitted against this iron and immovable belief. Hence, though all men respected his sincerity, all enlightened men pitied his bigotry, and felt it as a public relief when he departed in his ripe old age. He was the last great man of the remorselessly obstructive school to which he belonged. As Lord Chancellor, his decisions have obtained great respect, but he was generally so long in arriving at them, and hesitation and doubt formed so marked a characteristic of his judicial character, that the pecuniary losses and human misery for which he became responsible were considerable. Lord Eldon was of humble origin, and his chances of promotion seemed in early life so remote, that he was actually at the minute of quitting London in despair when he received the brief that took him on to fortune.
[By Chantrey.]
455.Horatio Nelson.Lord High Admiral.
[Born at Burnham-Thorpe, in Norfolk, 1758. Died at Trafalgar, 1805. Aged 47.]
The most famous of sea-captains, and the darling of his country. He fought the sea-half of the world’s greatest war. England has a just pride in her Wellington, whose memory she honours. Towards Nelson she looks with a tenderer recollection, and her heart moves when she thinks of his services and renown. As Captain in 1794, he conducted a siege at Calvi, and lost an eye. In 1797, crying to his men “Westminster Abbey or glorious victory,” he captured the San Jose and San Nicolas, at the battle of St. Vincent. In the same year he lost his right arm at Teneriffe, and twelve months afterwards he received a wound in his head at the glorious victory of the Nile. There was in truth very little left of the man—yet all of the hero—when, in 1805, a cruel shot at the battle of Trafalgar, killed him in the very hour of triumph to his fleet, of delivery to his country. His death was felt in England as a personal, as well as national calamity, and was mourned by the whole people as by one man. Gentle as a woman; brave as a lion; devoted to his country; fighting her battles with a passionate ardour that consumed and obliterated all personal considerations; loyal; pious;—these are some of the qualities that combined to form the character of Horatio Nelson. He was always insignificant in person;and after his slender frame had been battered about by the enemy, his appearance in the honoured uniform which, his services had won, was most singular and striking; for he looked like a skeleton clothed in cumbrous magnificence. Yet the influence of this reduced, war-beaten figure was electrical. All who came within its atmosphere partook of its own nature. The followers of Nelson could and did achieve miracles, because they had unbounded faith in the power of their chief—in his heroism, resolution, and determination at all times to win. Nelson was beloved by his sailors. He lies buried in St. Paul’s.
456.William Pitt.Statesman.
[Born at Hayes, in Kent, 1759. Died 1806. Aged 47.]
It has been well said that the life of William Pitt, the second and favourite son of the magnificent Earl of Chatham, had neither springtime nor autumn. It knew neither the fresh delights of boyhood, nor the tranquil happiness of age. His father had trained him from his very childhood, like an athlete, for the feverish arena of politics. Before he was twenty-one, he stood a gladiator armed; and from that age until his comparatively early death he knew no rest. He was twenty-four—a period at which our English youth are quitting college, and looking around them for a profession—when he became Prime Minister of England. For seventeen years, in the midst of broil and battle, of discontent at home and warfare abroad, this great man held the place which his eagle ambition had chosen for its eyrie on the rock, defying opposition by his commanding eloquence, by the fertility and grandeur of his resources, by his singular financial ability, and by his unquenchable energy. In 1801, he descended from his lofty seat in order to make way for a Minister of peace; but in 1804, all hope of peace being blasted, he was again summoned to direct the councils of the nation, and again he exercised all his varied powers for the development and consummation of the policy, which, right or wrong, he deemed essential to the safety of England, and to the tranquillity and freedom of the world. Two years after his return to office, he fell a victim to his life-long labours and to an hereditary gout, nourished by intemperate habits. It is somewhat curious that Pitt, the cherished head of the aristocratic and Tory party, had expressed himself in favour of nearly all the principles which the liberals of subsequent times have struggled, not fruitlessly, to uphold. He was friendly to Church Reform, to Financial Reform, to Parliamentary Reform, and to the removal of disabilities on account of religious belief. He died at the same age as Lord Nelson; and as to Lord Nelson, so to him, a public funeral was decreed. The sum of forty thousand pounds also was voted to pay his debts. Whatever had been the faults of Pitt, he was not avaricious. He had made no money by the State, for he had ever been the most unostentatious of men. The character of his eloquence was unlike that of his father. It was logical, dignified, equable: now rising into indignant invective, and now taking the shape of the keenest and most cutting sarcasm; but always self-possessed. It did not burst in torrent from an overflowing fount of wrath and passion like the submerging oratory of Chatham. The form of Pitt was gaunt, his countenance harsh, and his action ungraceful. He was, in many respects, one of the greatest Ministers our country has ever seen. His rapid comprehension was well described by his tutor, who said that he seemed to him to justify the doctrineof Plato, that the act of learning is reminiscence only, and not acquisition. He was the favourite of the nation: Fox of a party.
[By J. Nollekens, R.A.]
457.General Jackson.President of the United States.
[Born in South Carolina, U.S., 1767. Died at Nashville, in Tennessee, 1845. Aged 78.]
The son of an Irish emigrant. He was originally destined for the Church: but he quitted school to take part in the War of Independence. The war over, he adopted the law as a profession, and became judge in Tennessee, as well as Major-General of the Forces of the same state. In 1815, as Major-General of the United States, he gained a decisive victory over the English at New Orleans. In 1821, appointed Governor of Florida, and the next year elected member of the Senate for the state of Tennessee. Elected President of the United States in 1828 and again 1832; so that he was at the head of the American government for the space of eight years. An ardent democratic chief throughout life. His presidency was distinguished by the development of democratic tendencies, of the spirit of territorial extension, and by the marked encouragement of the slave-holding interest. He successfully opposed Congress in the matter of the United States Bank, regarding it as a monopoly in the State injurious to the general interests of the people. Jackson was a man of Roman virtues, a true patriot, and of uncompromising integrity, simple, and austere. Straightforward and blunt as a soldier.
[By Hiram Powers.]
458.Henry William Paget, Marquis of Anglesey.English Field Marshal.
[Born 1768. Died 1854. Aged 86.]
A distinguished, brave, and gallant military commander. In 1793, served in Flanders. Later, won honour in Spain, especially by the skill with which he covered General Moore’s retreat. At Waterloo, where he commanded the whole British cavalry, he lost a leg. He was member of the government under Canning, and in 1828—a memorable epoch—Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. Again held this appointment under Lord Grey, in 1831.
[By Christopher Moore. 1840. Executed for W. H. Curran, Esq.]
459.Arthur, Duke of Wellington.Soldier and Statesman.
[Born in Ireland, 1769. Died at Walmer Castle, 1852. Aged 83.]
The third son of the Earl of Mornington, and of Anna, daughter of Viscount Dungannon. Received his early education at Eton—then studied at the military school of Angers, in France; and in 1787, entered an infantry regiment as Ensign. Later became by purchase Lieutenant-Colonel of the 33rd, and in that regiment took part in Holland in the campaign of 1794. His first great military exploit was at the beginning of the century, in India, where his brother was Governor-General, and where, fighting in the war against the Mahrattas, he annihilated at Assaye an army of 60,000 men, with only 12,000 troops. From this period until his defeat of the French army, and the overthrow of Napoleon on the field of Waterloo (1815), his career was a series of triumphs. Many comparisons have been made between Napoleon and Wellington; all are unnecessary, and from the purpose. There is no resemblance whatever in the two characters. If it is contended that Napoleon was the greatest military hero of his time, it is sufficient for the admirers of Wellington to state, that after the Englishcaptain had beaten, one upon another, the great Marshals of Napoleon, he conquered Buonaparte himself, and put an end for ever to his splendid authority and terrible misrule. Madame de Staël has said, speaking of Wellington, that “Never was so great a man made out of such small materials.” Another writer has remarked, that in him “common sense amounted to genius.” A third tells us that he accomplished everything by that system of self-subjugation which made every wish, desire, aim, and object of life subordinate to a paramount and an ever-present sense of duty. We may gather a notion of the true character of Wellington from such criticism. There was nothing brilliant and overpowering in his genius; but he commanded respect, and won greatness by the wisdom of his combinations, the steadiness of his will, the simplicity of his aim, and the pertinacity of his course—his mind being once made up as to the direction to be taken. Wellington had boundless influence over his men, because he had irresistible power over himself. He knew better than any other great captain what not to do: and having resolved upon the propriety of inaction, no consideration, no amount of obloquy, blame, or reproach, could incite him into action. When he undertook command in Portugal, it was his conviction that the enemy were to be finally defeated by a passive policy on his part at starting. For months, against general opinion, he persisted in that policy; and after it had succeeded beyond all expectation, once a-foot, he advanced resolutely with his troops, scoured Portugal and Spain, drove the French before him, followed them into France, and never slackened until he had caught Napoleon, and chained him to the rock of St. Helena. Into the field of politics Wellington brought the same policy to play. He knew when to act on the defensive, how long he might defend with safety, when it was prudent to retreat or capitulate upon honourable conditions. The life of Wellington, from his boyhood until his death, is an instructive lesson for his countrymen. His daily habits, as we all know, were of the simplest; and his business-like activity was the most remarkable characteristic of his old age. In manners Wellington was soldierly and rough, but he was fond of children. He had few intimate male friends, but he has left behind him a correspondence that shows the delight he took in opening his mind freely, on the most delicate questions of State policy, to more than one of the gentler sex. A great contemporary poet, a friend and warm admirer of Wellington, has said that this illustrious, and in many respects perfect man, had one infirmity that brought him down to the level of us all—“he could be angry.”
[By Henry Weigall. This was the last bust for which the Duke sat. It was modelled in four sittings, the dates of which were August 6, 9, 11, and November 18, 1851.]
459A.Arthur, Duke of Wellington.Soldier and Statesman.
[Colossal Bust presented by the sculptor, H. Ross.]
460.John Quincy Adams.President of the United States.
[Born at Boston, U.S., 1769, Died 1848. Aged 79.]
Educated in Europe. At a tender age, private secretary to the American Minister at St. Petersburgh. In 1794, appointed by Washington, Ambassador to the Hague. In 1809, Ambassador to the Court of Russia. Subsequently Ambassador in London. In 1825, President of the United States. His administration worthy of his life, which was pure, disinterested, and strictly honest. Upon his death in 1848, he left a reputation for integrity,independence, and manly straightforwardness, second only to that of Washington. His habits to the last simple and unostentatious, and his industry remarkable. His exterior was cold, but fire glowed within, for his nature was as earnest as his oratory was fierce. He had a tenacious memory, great knowledge, and the faculty of speaking forcibly, clearly, and to the purpose. One of the worthies of the Great Republic.
[By Hiram Powers.]
461.Lord Monteagle.English Peer.
[Born 1790. Still living.]
Comptroller-general of the receipt and issue of Her Majesty’s Exchequer. Before he was raised to the peerage, Lord Monteagle, as Mr. Spring Rice, sat in the House of Commons, and filled various offices of State—amongst others, that of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
[By Macdonald, of Rome.]
462.William Huskisson.Statesman and Financier.
[Born in Worcestershire, 1770. Accidentally killed, 1830. Aged 60.]
A distinguished statesman, whose commercial views, early in the present century, were considerably in advance of those of the political party to which he was attached, and who strongly advocated the principle of the measures carried at a later period by Sir Robert Peel. He served under Pitt, and afterwards was President of the Board of Trade. He was accidentally killed by a train, at the opening of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway.
[For account of this statue, the original of which is at Liverpool, see Handbook of Modern Sculpture, No. 29.]
463.John Singleton Copley, Baron Lyndhurst.Ex-Chancellor of England.
[Born in Boston, U. S., 1772. Still living.]
The son of a celebrated painter. After having studied at Cambridge, where he took high mathematical honours, he was called to the bar, in 1804. In 1826, Master of the Rolls; in 1827, Lord Chancellor. Has held this last high office at three distinct periods of his life. Lord Lyndhurst is remarked for the extraordinary lucidity and quickness of his understanding. His mind has the utmost facility in grasping the most intricate and involved points of any case submitted to it; and his facility of exposition is as perfect as his perception is acute. Hence, though not the greatest of the lawyers who have dignified the woolsack, he has always been the most agreeable and popular of Lord Chancellors. He is eloquent without labour, and convincing without vehemence—in many respects a master of oratory. In his eighty-third year, his polished intellect has lost none of its lustre. It has all the vigour, in debate, which it possessed half a century ago. Lord Lyndhurst at first took side with the Liberal party in politics, but he soon became a follower of Sir Robert Peel, and with that Minister he remained to the last.