Edward Forbes

“ Like his illustrious preceptor, he taught that wisdom, under which we must comprise goodness, is the attribute of the Godhead,—that philosophy is an intellectual necessity, and, as the fountain of virtue, which it thus includes, the most estimable of all the goods within the reach of man. Abstruse and sublime, seeking to rest science and morals on an immutable basis, Plato trains the intellect more than he teaches. In reading his writings, we enter the Socratic school as hearers, as disputants. The Socrates, who constantly leads the discussion, is rather the presiding Spirit, than the Man. ”

“ With a wondrous dominion suddenly begun, yet prolonged whilst he lived, he swayed and swept back the spirits of his generation on a torrent of delight and desire, into forgotten times, alien to our manner of thinking and of being. But the poet finds one heart of Man under all the shapes of human existence: one universal spirit of human life. Transported by the poet, we find ourselves everywhere with our kind. Reanimated by him, the worn-out and the antiquated rise new-born and of our time. And Scott, in verse or in prose, was a poet. ”

“ The god of wine in the bloom of youth and beauty is crowned with the vine; a fawn’s skin—the nebris—is tied across his chest; in his right hand he holds the cantharus—a two-handled cup sacred to Bacchus—and with the other he grasps the thyrsus. His sandalled feet rest on a square foot-stool, and a leopard sits on the ground to the right of the throne; a drum or tympanum is placed at the opposite side. The main ground of this composition is blue, the architecture of the shrine or canopy around the figure green, yellowish-brown and red. ”

“ There is indeed beautiful instruction in all nature’s phases and mysteries, but none more beautiful than that conveyed by plants and flowers. The greatest minds have turned their strength to the culture of the field or garden, and the gentlest and best hearts seem to be the most fitting home for the love of beauty so pure and true.
It is impossible in the pages of this book to do more than point out some of the most interesting and beautiful of the specimens which constitute the rich botanical collection of the Crystal Palace. ”

“ The ploughman-poet of Scotland; in whom the labour of the limbs appeared to invigorate the intelligence, and the bleak air of poverty to cherish the blossoms of genius. Shakspeare rose from the bosom of the people to delineate kings and queens. Burns, born some steps lower, dwelt, even in his verse, to the last, amongst his own order. That is his dignity and his glory. The life of the Scottish peasant as it remains represented by his pencil, and in his person, seizes the imagination and the sympathies of the educated world. He has drawn the heart of the high towards the low. ”

“ The Revolution of 1830 saw Lafayette, for a day, Dictator of France, but he resigned that supremacy to hand over the vacant throne to Louis Philippe. Lafayette, with purity of intention, and elevation of principle, was the victim of vanity, puerile simplicity, and an overweening-love of popularity. His heart was stronger than his head: his capacity for public business not equal to the virtues which adorned his heart. Brave and chivalrous to a fault, he was without solid judgment. One error ran through his life: he believed that the constitution of America might be transplanted to his own soil ”

“ At Oxford, the first wrestler of his time, and the gainer of the Newdegate prize for the best poem. His genius as passionate as his frame was overflowing with the sap of animal life. Endowed with a lofty and glowing imagination, and with great critical powers, improved by knowledge. A lover of learning for the joy it brings, and a hearty sympathizer with the glorious labours of the great makers of prose and verse, whether in ancient or modern time. He himself excelled as a worker in more than one of the paths of literature. ”

“ He is the great epic poet of England, distinguished by the strength and sublimity of his genius, and hardly less for sensibility to the graceful and beautiful. Laboriously learned, with an admiration as intelligent as devoted, of the great writings preserved from Greek and Roman antiquity, he, more than any other of our poets, has modelled his works on the type of his illustrious predecessors. He has, of all English poets, carried art in his writings to the highest pitch, but neither art nor imitation has tamed the wing of his muse, or impaired his praise of originality. ”

“ The deep recesses in the transepts, the open galleries, the circular roof to the nave, the height of the Central Transept, the great length of the building, and the general aërial appearance of the whole crystal fabric, produce an effect which, for novelty and lightness, surpasses every other architectural elevation in the world. Turning his back upon the building, the visitor beholds on either side of him green undulating lawns, beds planted with rhododendrons and other flowers, and winding gravel walks. ”

“ The convulsions of nature have indeed changed the outline of the mountain, but the varied charms of the beautiful coast remain in undiminished attraction. Deep shades and crystal streamlets, sunny banks and refreshing groves, display the natural loveliness of a locality, favoured with the most luxuriant vegetation, and the finest climate in the world. ”

“ Molière was beloved by his contemporaries: he was generous and warm-hearted—the friend of Condé, Boileau, and Racine. He is by far the first writer of Comedy in modern times. His place is close to the side of Shakspeare, for, like the English writer, he successfully addresses all countries and all ages, appealing to no limited, local, and accidental condition of the human mind, but striking home to the universal and unchangeable heart of man, as it everywhere throbs. Beyond the humorous faculty, he possessed earnestness of feeling, and a deep tone of passion. ”

“ Architecture and sculpture have here made a stride. We have noted even in Egypt the advance from early rude effort to a consistent gigantic system of art, which grew under the shadow of a stern hierarchical religion. We step at once from the gloom into the sunshine of Greek art. The overwhelming grandeur of Egypt, with its austere conventionalities, is exchanged for true simplicity, great beauty, and ideality. Just proportions, truth, grace of form, and appropriate ornament, characterised Greek architecture. ”

“ 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. ”

“ A wonderfully gifted dramatic genius, too soon cut off by death. In France, England, Germany and Italy, she created enthusiastic admiration, as much by her histrionic powers, as by her efforts as a songstress. She was a child of nature, and as benevolent as she was richly endowed with intellectual gifts. She made the noblest uses of the earnings of her industry, and was beloved by her fellow artists for the unaffected goodness of her heart. No actress of her time equalled her for truth and passion. ”

“ A poor printer’s boy, who, by his own unaided powers raised himself from the lowest place of society to the highest, and contributed alike to the advancement of science, and to the independence of one of the finest countries of the earth. His discovery of the identity of lightning and electricity, and the invention of the lightning-rod; the explanation of the aurora borealis and thunder-gusts upon electrical principles, are triumphs of the philosopher. His ardent support of the new Republic, his activity, judgment, and resources, speak for the statesman and the lover of liberty. ”

“ With him, amidst strewings of beautiful poetry, and whilst penetrated with strokes of singular pathos, we too much feel that we step on our own daily and common earth. We miss the elevation of an art which should, in reflecting ourselves, lift us above ourselves: as we have experience in our own Shakspeare. Sophocles said that “he himself represented men as they ought to be, but Euripides as they are.” ”

“ Like Frederic the Great, he never shows himself but in military costume. Is of great height, and said to be very proud of his size. His life one of feverish activity. He gets through more work in a day than other monarchs can manage in a month. He rides, walks, holds a review, superintends a sham fight, goes on the water, exercises the navy, gives a fête, takes his meals, and enjoys his rest, all within the twenty-four hours. He is a wondrous traveller—travelling faster and getting over more ground than everybody else—and has an absolute passion for military evolutions. ”

“ The limits of the present small volume have prevented my doing more than record, as briefly as I might, the salient points in the characters of the various personages whose statues and busts constitute the Portrait Gallery of the Crystal Palace; but I trust sufficient has been done to throw a little light upon the various features which the visitor will contemplate on his pleasant journey, and to indicate, however indistinctly, the universal path which, in life itself, leads to all true greatness. A portrait gallery exhibits the men who have worked their way to eminence. ”

“ The works of Flaxman, whether of the pencil or the chisel, may take rank with the productions of any age or country. They are distinguished by simplicity, dignity, sublimity, grace, and true poetic feeling. If any modern sculptor may take rank with the ancients, Flaxman’s place will be second to none. His productions are scattered over the globe; we meet them in India, the two Americas, and in Italy, as well as nearer home. He is better appreciated everywhere than in England. But we are beginning to know his value. His worth as a man was equal to his greatness as an artist. ”

“ The true-hearted loyal gentlemen who, knowing by experience the character of their master, yet clung to his cause and to his person until the last extremity, counting all sacrifice as delightful service, were not surpassed by the professed knights of chivalry. The devoted Republicans, who for the sake of man’s rights and God’s blessing seized arms for the first time in their lives, and became great Generals and Admirals—the glory of their country, and the terror of the world—take rank in the estimation of history, side by side with her most splendid heroes. ”

“ This illustrious man was the founder of the school in which Beethoven was a faithful disciple. His fertility of creation, the rich luxurious beauty of his music, his purity and melody, can hardly be excelled. In all the relations of life Mozart was blameless. He had a generous soul, and we are pained to think so rare and so richly endowed a genius should at any period of his career have suffered anguish from poverty and distress. ”

“ If Pitt is to be recognised as the boldest and bravest Minister that ever conducted a country through the perils and disasters of a protracted war, Peel must be regarded as the most courageous statesman that ever dared to guide a busy nation through the peculiar dangers that environ a period of long peace. Pitt set up a principle of action as his guiding star, and steered his course by its light, against the bitterest opposition and the most vehement remonstrance, and died, still proclaiming the safety of his chosen path. ”

“ A leading discoverer in Chemistry whilst the science was advancing with the most rapid steps and surprising disclosures. Of a spirit exact and large to reason out abstruse principles, subtly curious to hunt on the track of new marvels, and patient and inventive to repeat, vary, and heap experiments, his long life of labour might well leave a name memorable to his own science, and to the arts which it enlightens and aids. ”

“ The sturdy, keen, practical plain sense of the master, and the soaring, brilliant imagination, and subtly-dividing wit of the pupil, have come down to us mingled ever in the same composition. In these extraordinary dialogues, which display the spoken Greek of Athens in its utmost purity, beauty, and melody, how much is Plato’s?—how much is of Socrates? ”

“ 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. ”

“ One of the men who, by coming to their time, have made an epoch in the world’s history. Assuredly the abuses of Rome,—in her second supremacy, as the spiritual mistress of the world,—must have aroused their effectual remedy; for partial resistances, before Luther rose, showed how deeply the mind of mankind resented and resisted the oppression and the spiritual malversation, and how fast the time was ripening for general revolt. Europe, since the overthrow of the Roman Empire, had been gradually rising with the inward vigour of her renewed life. ”