Thomas Seccombe

“ A pure and flexible prose style lends a charm to all his writings, of which it is sad to reflect that so little will survive. The motto of his later life was 'An honest god's the noblest work of man,' and in his strenuous endeavours to construct an honest deity (with some aid from the Bible, the sacred books of the East and Hermes Trismegistus, and also from Emerson, Carlyle, Tucker's 'Light of Nature,' Elephas Levi, and Anna Kingsford, but mainly out of his own inner consciousness) , he gradually became to all appearance completely distraught. ”

“ He believed, with Disraeli, that the Garter and election at White's were the two culminating peaks of human ambition, while he had a veneration for the House of Commons as a school not only of debate but also of a kind of etiquette. ”

“ They occasionally embellish a blank space in biography with a great quantity of loose and fragmentary gossip, but the ‘Quarterly Review’ spoke of him with no great injustice as an obscure and unscrupulous scribbler. ”

“ He had not much in common with the ordinary turfite, having retained to the last ‘the view he had imbibed at Rugby as to the respect due to classical scholarship, to liberalism in politics, and above all to religion.’ Yet, as an exponent of sporting tradition, he has no rival, though all sporting journalists have lit their torches at the Druid's fire. His sympathies were nearly universal, and, inclining always to take a kindly view of human nature, he studiously avoided writing a word to cause pain. ”

“ Loyalty to the Prayer Book was his watchword, and he regretted the way in which 'some of the clergy were transforming the church of England into a congregational body.' His affinities were with the tractarian school of thought, though he combined a good deal of Cambridge practicality with it. A man of an austere exterior, Butler had a very kind heart, and felt sorry for people even when he wounded them by speaking the truth. ”

“ James's Theatre a fourth play in the light vein, 'The Importance of being Earnest : a trivial comedy for serious people' (1899, 4to) , an irresistible dramatic trifle, at once insolent in its levity and exquisite in its finish. The Victorian era, it may fairly be said, knew no light comedies which for brilliant wit, literary finish, or theatrical dexterity were comparable with Wilde's handiwork. ”

“ Drummond's adroitness in rehandling old arguments was truly remarkable, but his general thesis that the struggle for life gradually became altruistic in character, or 'struggle for the life of others,' and that 'the object of evolution is love,' was very severely criticised by men of science, while some of his attempts to qualify the apparent harshness of the scheme of natural selection, by such phrases as 'With exceptions, the fight is a fair fight. ”

“ In 1854, at Cambridge, Henry's younger brother, Daniel Jones, joined a knot of young men of considerable ability, who had at first 'taken up whist for amusement, but who found it offer such a field for intellectual study that they continued its practice more systematically with a view to its more complete investigation, and to the solution of difficult problems connected with it.' In London, a few years later, Henry was introduced to his brother's set, of which he soon became the most advanced member. ”

“ The influence of Dickens is very clearly traceable in Collins's work, yet there is reason to believe that Collins had nearly as much influence upon the latest works of the greater writer as Dickens had upon him. Dickens longed to shine as an elaborator of plots, while Collins, the past master of the plot, aspired to be a delineator of character and to produce didactic fiction and reformatory romance after the Dickensian model. ”

“ Ormsby is memorable chiefly for his work in the domain of Spanish literature. His acquaintance with Spain, with its political and literary history, was both deep and wide. He had thoroughly explored the country, and during one prolonged expedition through its mountainous districts he suffered privations which had the effect of entirely destroying his power of hearing. For the last ten or twelve years of his life excessive deafness cut him off almost entirely from social intercourse; but his pen was never idle, and he mainly devoted himself to translations from the Spanish. ”

“ In 1867 Laing was reappointed chairman of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (a post which he held down to 1894) , and his position as a railway magnate introduced him to the city. Laing's connections with the financial world were not unimportant. During his tenure of the chair at the board of the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway, that company gradually became highly prosperous, and he contributed to the result not only by his business capacity, but by his skill in choosing and supporting good subordinates. ”

“ On 11 Feb. 1859 Bates left Ega for England, having spent eleven of the best years of his life within four degrees of the equator, among many discouragements, and to the detriment of his health, but to the permanent enrichment of our knowledge of one of the most interesting regions of the globe. During his stay in the Amazons he had learned German and Portuguese, had discovered over eight thousand species new to science, and by the sale of specimens had made a profit of about 800l. He sailed from Pará on 2 June 1859, and upon his arrival set to work at once upon his collections. ”

“ A school of art was now grafted upon the original commercial undertaking, and by 1885 Doulton had in his employ as many as four hundred male and female artists, each one an independent designer, bound by the rules of the firm to copy no previous pattern and to keep no duplicate for imitation, in order as far as possible to avoid mechanical reproduction. A number of individual marks employed by the most talented of the Doulton artists (such as George Tinworth, Arthur and Hannah Barlow) are given in Chaffers's 'Marks on Pottery and Porcelain' (1900, p. 879) . ”

“ William Hillary was appointed equerry to the Duke of Sussex, with whom he spent two years in Italy, returning to England in 1800; and, having come into large property both by marriage and inheritance, he, upon the renewal of the war with France in 1803, raised at his own expense, and many years commanded, the First Essex Legion of infantry and cavalry, amounting to 1,400 men, the largest force then offered by any private individual for the defence of his country. ”

“ Every Saturday morning he might have been seen thus trudging up the narrow South Street, his shoes coated with mud or dust, according to the state of the roads between his rural home and Dorchester, and a little grey dog at his heels, till he reached the four cross-ways in the centre of the town. Halting there opposite the public clock, he would pull his old-fashioned watch from its deep fob and set it with great precision to London time.'
Until he was well over eighty he went on working with the same remarkable grasp of power and variety of interests. He died at Came rectory on 7 Oct. ”

“ The encouragement of Jacob Grimm led him to interest himself in Scandinavian literature and mythology, and from his four years' sojourn at Stockholm dated his devotion to the study of the sagas, by which his whole career was animated. In 1842 appeared the first fruits of his labour in this field, taking the form of a version of 'The Prose or younger Edda,' which he inscribed to Thomas Carlyle; and in the following year appeared his 'Grammar of the Icelandic or Old-Norse Tongue,' from the Swedish of Erasmus Rask. ”

“ The attention which he paid to the art of the Renaissance, especially bindings, enamels, furniture, and goldsmith's work, was repaid by a splendid collection of rare objects of the highest quality. His collection of French books, many in superb bindings, was catalogued partially in 1897 (London, 4to, private issue, with sixteen plates) . His own favourite reading was among the French memoir writers, and he published some of his gleanings in a volume entitled 'Personal Characteristics from French History' (London, 1896, seventeen portraits, no index) . ”

“ Born in Dublin in 1830, he was educated at London and Paris, and assumed the name of Grant. Though his career had features in common with that of George Hudson [q. v.] , the 'railway king,' he may be described as the pioneer of modern mammoth company promoting. The origin of his success as a promoter is said to have been his notion of obtaining lists of all the clergy, widows, and other small yet sanguine investors. The public which he discovered in this way was greedy to take up companies quicker than he could bring them out. ”

“ The building was styled the National Gallery of British Art, but familiarly known as 'The Tate Gallery.' Predictions made as to the dampness of the site have happily proved unfounded; the building is light, the internal arrangements admirable in every way, and all that remains to be done is for the situation to be made more accessible. Tate was made a trustee of the National Gallery at the end of 1897, and was created a baronet on 27 June 1898. ”

“ Thomas’s on the opening of the new buildings in 1871 as surgical registrar and assistant demonstrator of anatomy. He displayed a faculty of illustrating his teaching of anatomy by drawing, which was the admiration of successive generations of students. In 1873 he was appointed professor of anatomy and surgery at the newly founded Imperial Naval Medical College at Tōkio and sailed with his newly married wife for Japan. There he lectured not only on anatomy and surgery, but also on physiology and medicine. ”

“ WESTWOOD, THOMAS (1814–1888) , minor poet and bibliographer of angling, was the son of the Thomas Westwood of Enfield so vividly portrayed by Charles Lamb in several letters bearing date 1829–1830. ‘Father (‘Daddy’ or more familiarly ‘Gaffer’) Westwood,’ as Lamb calls him, was formerly a rider or traveller for a wholesale drapery house, then a thriving haberdasher within the sound of Bow Bells, who retired with something under a competence before the beginning of the French war at the close of the eighteenth century, and settled at Enfield, of which place he became a patriarch. ”

“ He was buried in Greyfriars churchyard, Stirling.
Drummond was great as a teacher, much less by his books, good though his writing was, than by his life and example. His influence upon young men was of the most vivid kind, and the impulse that he gave to the higher life among the students at Edinburgh University was perhaps his finest achievement. There are two portraits in the 'Life of Henry Drummond' by George Adam Smith. ”

“ Darwin strongly recommended Bates to publish a narrative of his travels, and with this object introduced him to the publisher, John Murray, who proved an invaluable friend. In January 1863 Murray issued Bates's 'Naturalist on the Amazons', which has been described as 'the best work of natural history travels published in England.' Apart from the personal charm of the narrative. Bates as a describer of the tropical forest is second only to Humboldt. ”

“ He next entered a cotton mill, where he laboured fourteen hours a day, and then maintained a regular attendance at the night school. When Isaac was fourteen his father managed to give him a little more schooling, the family having removed in the meantime to Kilbarchan and Johnstone, and then back to Paisley, where he learnt Latin under a capable teacher. In 1823, after a year's experience at shawl weaving, which proved too much for his strength, Isaac joined the school of James Kennedy at Paisley, where he soon became an assistant teacher. ”

“ In January 1891 he was elected professor of anatomy at the Royal Academy in the room of Professor Marshall, whose worthy successor he approved himself. His sudden death on 27 Oct. 1900 was due to a rupture of the cord of the mitral valve. He was twice married: first, in 1873, to Margaret Hall, by whom he left a son and a daughter; and, secondly, to Louisa, daughter of F. W. Tetley of Leeds, who survives him. Of high culture and distinguished appearance, Anderson’s retiring nature alone prevented him from becoming a more prominent personality. ”

“ After some experience as a teacher of special subjects in private families, he began a life of unceasing literary toil by editing a provincial newspaper in the Isle of Wight, and while still young established a connection with the London press through such journals as the 'Literary Gazette,' the 'London Journal,' and 'London Society.' He made some reputation in turn as a writer of popular science, a writer for boys, a translator, and a lexicographer. He supervised a new edition of Mackenzie's 'National Cyclopedia,' and did a large amount of reading and writing for Messrs. ”

“ Ballantine was for many years a well-known figure in metropolitan and especially in theatrical and journalistic society. His intimate knowledge of human nature made him a tower of strength for the defence in criminal trials. ”

“ The editorship of the whole was entrusted to Cook, who had the reputation of being a good Hebrew scholar and egyptologist, with an adequate knowledge of recent geographical discovery in Palestine. Cook was assisted by the archbishop of York and the regius professors of theology at Oxford and Cambridge. The first volume, containing Genesis and Exodus, was reached in 1871, and the fourth volume of the New Testament in 1881. ”

“ Cussans, who claimed descent from this Thomas de Cusance, was the fifth child of Thomas Cussans, who had been a lieutenant in the Madras horse artillery, by his wife Matilda Ann (Goodman) . After education at North Hill School, Plymouth, he entered a commercial house, in connection with which he visited America (1858) and Russia (1861) . After his marriage in 1863 he became a professed author and devoted the best part of his life to heraldic and genealogical studies. ”

“ He had already written some verses in emulation of Robert Blomfield, adopting the signature Fitzball, by which he was thenceforth generally known. He now began to try his hand at tragedies and 'melodrames.' About 1819 he forwarded a melodrama, 'Edda,' to Tom Dibdin at the Surrey, and received an encouraging answer. Mrs. Opie advised him to try his fortune as a dramatist in London, and on the strength of a success achieved at the Norwich Theatre with a piece called 'The Innkeeper of Abbeville,' he consented. ”

“ The suspicion that New South Wales would prove a rich goldfield had therefore been 'in the air' for some time, but nothing whatever had yet been achieved in the way of practical experiment, still less of realisation. ”

“ He reorganised a local charity school which had got into evil hands, enlarged the vicarage house, and planted a garden. Cambridge was within an easy ride, and he was thus able to maintam an intimacy there with such of his contemporaries as shared his love of natural history. These were not numerous, but included such names as Henslow, Whewell, Darwin, Adam Sedgwick, Julius Hare, and Bishop Thirlwall. ”