George Walter Prothero

“ At Oxford his teaching rapidly made its mark. His scholarship, at once brilliant and solid, his enthusiasm for the classics, his interest in the matter as well as the language of his authors, made his lectures both attractive and profitable. Among his pupils were J. W. Mackail, (Sir) Cecil Spring-Rice, and other men who later won distinction in various lines, and to whom he was a friend as well as a teacher. A university commission was appointed in 1877, and Butcher gained an acquaintance with academical problems which was highly useful to him in later years. ”

“ In 1891 Butcher published a volume of essays and addresses, entitled 'Some Aspects of the Greek Genius,' mostly written or delivered during his residence in Edinburgh. These essays set forth, lucidly and attractively, the nature of the Greek mind, in some of its most striking and important aspects. From the point of view of scholarship, the most notable essay in the volume is that which analyses Aristotle's conception of fine art and poetry. ”

“ Although he had a distinct turn for politics, and his sincerity, ability, and wide knowledge always carried weight, he must be ranked among those whom training and character fitted better for other fields, and whom distinction won elsewhere carried too late into the rough-and-tumble of parliamentary life. ”

“ Delighting in country life and in every variety of sport, he seldom painted landscape pure and simple, but introduced it habitually as a background or a setting for his figures. Horses were his special study; and in his equestrian portraits the animal is, from the artistic point of view, as important as the man. ”

“ The limitations of the subject and the necessities of historical narrative help to correct that tendency to diffuseness, recurrence, and defective arrangement which are noticeable in the earlier works. Attention is mainly concentrated on political movements and ideas, but society, commerce, industry, art, and literature, and especially ecclesiastical affairs and religious thought, receive their share. ”

“ But social claims did not abate his ardour for work. In December 1871 he brought out a revised edition of his 'Leaders of Public Opinion in Ireland,' but was disappointed at its reception. Meanwhile he was collecting materials for his magnum opus, the 'History of England in the Eighteenth Century.' For this purpose he paid several visits to Ireland, and made extensive researches in Dublin. These visits resulted in many discoveries and rectifications, which give his chapters on Ireland a special value. The first two volumes of the book appeared in January 1878, and achieved immediate success. ”

“ He passed the winter of 1902-3 at Davos, spent the spring of 1903 in northern Italy and Spain, and took a studio, for the sake of his portrait-painting, in London. In the same year he was elected an associate of the Royal Academy. Never sparing himself, and still full of hope and enthusiasm, he gradually grew weaker, and died on 16 Oct. 1904. He was buried in Frimley churchyard. He left two sons, Peter and Paul, the second of whom was born three days before his death. In person Furse was tall and somewhat stout in later life, but muscular and vigorous. ”

“ After discussing the belief in magic and witchcraft and in miracles, the author examines the aesthetic, scientific, and moral developments of rationalism, pointing out the connection between artistic changes and the progress of physical science on the one hand, and the evolution of moral ideas on the other. ”

“ In 1896 he published his 'Democracy and Liberty' in two volumes. This book, though full, like all his works, of learning, and marked by profound thought, impartiality, and sobriety of judgment, hardly met with the success which, in many respects, it deserved. liike his 'Rationalism ' and his 'Morals,' it to some extent falls between the two stools of essay and narrative, of history and philosophical discussion. ”

“ With one stride Lecky had become famous; his society was sought in the highest literary and political circles; he was elected to the Athenæum in 1867, and became intimate with Lord Russell, Sir Charles Lyell, Dean Milman, Carlyle, Henry Reeve, and other distinguished men. He now established himself in London (6 Albemarle St.) , lectured at the Royal Institution on 'The Influence of the Imagination on History,' and paid much attention to politics. His letters show him a strong liberal, though not a radical (as he said himself) 'like Mr. Bright or Mr. ”

“ Butcher died after a brief illness. This event loosened the ties which bound him to Edinburgh; and, having held his professorship long enough to earn a pension, he resigned in the following year. At a farewell dinner in January 1904 Mr. Arthur Balfour presided, and many speeches, made by distinguished persons, testified to the esteem and affection which he had won. He removed to London, taking a house (No. 6) in Tavistock Square, where he passed the remainder of his life. In 1904 he accepted an invitation to lecture at Harvard University and elsewhere in the United States. ”

“ He received honorary degrees from the universities of Oxford, Dublin, St. Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow. Manchester, and Harvard. He was a corresponding member of the American Academy. He received from the King of Greece, in 1910, the Order of the Redeemer. He was an honorary fellow both of University College, Oxford, and of Trinity College, Cambridge.
The multifarious labours in which he was engaged told eventually upon his health. Although naturally somewhat delicate in constitution, he generally bore all the appearance of a healthy man. ”

“ Lord Acton, writing of vols. iii. and iv., said that they were 'fuller of political instruction than anything that had appeared for a long time.' American critics recognised the impartiality of the author in dealing with the American revolution, and the thoroughness of his investigations. By this great work Lecky's name will chiefly live. The style is sound, lucid, and elevated throughout, never rhetorical or declamatory, and never sinking below itself. The narrative moves steadily forward, with due regard to chronological sequence ”

“ BUTCHER, SAMUEL HENRY (1850–1910) , scholar and man of letters, was born in Dublin on 16 April 1850. His father, Samuel Butcher [q.v.] , was then professor of ecclesiastical history in Trinity College. His mother was Mary Leahy, a member of a Kerry family. His early years were spent in Dublin, or at Ballymoney, co. Cork, where his father held a college living, and after 1866, when his father became bishop of Meath, at Ardbraccan, near Navan. ”

“ Before leaving Edinburgh he had been nominated a member of the Royal Commission on University Education in Ireland (1901) , of which Lord Robertson was chairman. In its discussions Butcher took a prominent part. Believing in the justice of the catholic demands, he aimed at satisfying the catholic authorities, without infringing the independence of Trinity College. ”

“ Peter Wellington Furse of Halsdon, Devonshire, and he assumed the surname of Furse in 1864 on succeeding to the Halsdon property. William Johnson, afterwards Cory [q. v. Suppl. I] , was Archdeacon Furse's only brother. The artist's mother, Jane Diana, second daughter of John S. B. Monsell, vicar of Egham and grand-daughter of Thomas Bewley Monsell of Dunbar, archdeacon of Derry, was his father's first wife, and died in 1877, when he was nine years old. Of her ten children, the eldest, John Henry Monsell Furse (b. 1860) , became a well-known sculptor ”

“ He spent the summer vacation of 1910 at Danesfort, near Killarney, on a little property inherited from his father, where he loved to spend his holidays among his own people. His last public appearance was at the dinner in celebration of the completion of the eleventh edition of the 'Encyclopædia Britannica' on 21 Oct. ”

“ He exhibited also at the Portrait Painters and the New Gallery. A collection of his works, 53 in number, was shown at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1906. The 'Return from the Ride' was bought after his death under the Chantrey Bequest; 'Diana of the Uplands' was purchased by the trustees of the National Gallery. Both these pictures are now at the Tate Gallery. The larger 'Lord Roberts' (unfinished) has been lent by Mrs. Furse to the same mstitution. The best likeness of Furse extant is a photograph reproduced in the illustrated catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts Club exhibition (1908) . ”

“ This, and a head of his uncle, William Cory, shown at the Portrait Painters in 1891, secured his recognition as an artist of distinction. His father was now a canon of Westminster; and Furse lived at his house in Abbey Garden, renting a studio close by. Success appeared cei-tain, but in the pursuit of his art he was hindered by frequent attacks of illness. ”

“ In these respects it may profitably be compared with Sir James Stephen's 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,' and Sir Henry Maine's essay on 'Popular Government' — far shorter books, and, from this and their very onc-sidedncss, far more effective. 'Democracy and Liberty' is largely a treatise on contemporary politics. ”

“ Although really independent and original, he was during early life unconsciously attracted by the merits of other painters. Thus he passed through several phases, at one time being influenced by Frank Holl, at another by Whistler, again by the Japanese artists, and above all by Mx. ”