George Alexander

“ Sir George Alexander, as an imperial uncle, of no particular nationality, filled his familiar rôle of amicus curiæ; a man of sixty and much dalliance in the past, but with his heart—what was left of it—in the right place. ”

“ George Alexander is one of the few London actors who have not been to the United States within the last decade—in fact, he has never been, except as a member of Irving’s forces, many years ago—and the abstinence seems to agree with him. ”

“ I should be glad to see their farmers and mechanics come here, but I hope their nobles, priests, and merchants will be kept at home to be moralized by the discipline of the new [553] government. The young stripling whom you describe is, probably, as George Nicholas used to say, "in the plenitude of puppyism." Such coxcombs do not serve even as straws to show which way the wind blows. Alexander is unquestionably a man of an excellent heart, and of very respectable strength of mind; and he is the only sovereign who cordially loves us. ”

“ These mountains which give to the whole view the valley of Mexico in miniature, are not so far off but that the eye may discover, through the rectilinear streets, in every direction, the verdure of the trees with which the surrounding heights are clad, and which, with the sloping meadow lands of different hues, affords a refreshing object, forming, as it were, a screen to the little city which lies in the midst, glaring with its white walls and domes and steeples of Yessa-cement in the rays of a tropical sun. ”

“ In after years, when General Bernadotte became King of Sweden, he still retained his interest in the events of this period.
This Symphony was the best work which Beethoven had yet accomplished; a work the grandeur and sublimity of which must have been a surprise to himself. It was conceived in the spirit of altruism, to show his appreciation of the man whom he believed was destined more than any other to uplift humanity. ”

“ Even friendship had to give way in great measure to the passion for creating which had become a necessity of his existence.
That the life was a tranquil and contented one may be inferred by the character of the Fourth Symphony. Beethoven loved country life, and surrounded as he was by his friends, whose first thought was for him, he had everything to make him satisfied. The serenity which speaks to us through the Fourth Symphony is something for which the world should ever be grateful. Our highest happiness often comes to us through the frame of mind superinduced by external influences. ”

“ Law is law, law is law, and as in such and so forth, and hereby, and aforesaid, provided always, nevertheless, notwithstanding. Law is like a country dance, people are led up and down in it till they are tired. Law is like a book of surgery, there are a great many terrible cases in it. It is also like physic, they that take least of it are best off. Law is like a homely gentlewoman, very well to follow. Law is like a scolding wife, very bad when it follows us. Law is like a new fashion, people are bewitched to get into it ”

“ I did not find Acapulco by any means so miserable a place as it is so generally described to be: the freshness of the sea-breeze and the beautiful expanse of waters in the bay as fine as any in the world, formed an agreeable contrast to the inland monotonous life which a person leads in the valley of Mexico: the mountains, which surround this valley, give you the idea of prison walls, beyond which you can only escape with difficulty and patience: you seem to be living in a crow's nest, beyond the reach of and intercourse with the rest of the world. ”

“ The queen of beauty, out of gratitude to Paris, who had so well managed the election for her, made him a present of several slices of that golden pippin, and, in commemoration of that event, such slices have been made use of as presents at all other general elections; they have a sympathy like that which happens to electrical wires, let a hundred hold them in their hands, their sensations will be the same; but they differ from electricity in one essential point, which is, that though the touch be ever so great, it never shocks people. ”

“ John's Church, to fling his Sinful Ballast overboard and lighten ship. How he swore! I never heard a man take the entrails of Alexander the Great in vain before; but this was an ordinary expletive with Don Ercolo. He belonged to the Italian Language, though I suspected he had a dash of the Spanish in him; and many a Gay Bout over the choicest of Wines have I had with him at his Inn, as their College-halls are sometimes called. He could drink like a Fish, and fight like a Paladin. He was a good Practical Sailor and Master of Navigation; Rode with ease and dexterity ”

“ But, whether this horrible event arose from private or political causes, its fatal effects to the unfortunate individual and his agonized relatives render it alike incapable of mitigation or distinction: it makes no difference to the parties whether a man be gathered up to his ancestors by the assassin's dagger, the pestilence of climate, a musket-ball or twenty-four pounder; — but to die in the public service, in whatever mode death may be encountered, claims something more than the solitary tribute of domestic regret. ”

“ However, by six o'clock the next morning, they were all on their return to the capital. As the roads, from without ten miles of it, are, in most places, perfectly impassable for carriages, the whole party were on mules or on horseback, and, as they were accompanied with their retinues of servants of every description, with all their requisite utensils and articles of furniture, even to their beds, they formed, as winding up the wild passes of the mountain, or scattered over the verdant plains, a spectacle highly picturesque and amusing. ”

“ There were some great people formerly, that lov'd their country, that did every thing for the good of their country; there were your Alexander the Great—he lov'd his country, and Julius Caesar lov'd his country, and Charles of Sweedland lov'd his country, and Queen Semiramis, she lov'd her country more than any of 'em, for she invented solomon-gundy; that's the best eating in the whole world. ”

“ A man so entirely given over to one idea, as was Beethoven, could hardly take such a step as marriage at the age of forty, thereby changing his whole course of life. The passion for creating had grown to such an extent, that he became impatient of everything which interfered with it. ”

“ When the Mass in D and the last Quartets can be heard frequently, a new era in the art will have been inaugurated.
It would be a mistake to suppose that Beethoven was a pessimist, or a misanthrope. Placed here to live and suffer, not knowing why it should be so, he yet teaches that relentless fate cannot prevail against those who make a good fight. "I did not wish to find when I came to die that I had not lived," said Thoreau, paraphrasing from Voltaire, (most men die without having lived) . "I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear." ”

“ As we approached the village of Amatitañ, the country became more and more interesting. From the summit of a lofty eminence, which our animals had gained with laborious exertion, the prospects which opened before us were enchanting and terrific, like the charms of some beautiful female maniac. ”

“ The more solid German music was neglected in favor of Rossini, and Beethoven felt this change of front keenly, making it the subject of remark to Rochlitz and to others.
It can readily be supposed that works like the Mass in D are not easily produced. To get his materials for it Beethoven penetrated deeply the mystery surrounding life. The ideas which he voices seem always to have existed, like other great forces in the universe; he impresses one as being the discoverer, rather than the creator of them. ”

“ He was on the point of sending it to Paris when the news was brought him by his pupil Ries, that Napoleon was declared Emperor. In a rage Beethoven tore off the title-page containing the dedication, and threw it to the floor. "The man will become a tyrant and will trample all human rights under foot. He is no more than an ordinary man!" was Beethoven's exclamation. He finally gave it the name of Sinfonia Eroica, in memory of a great man. It is dedicated to Prince Lobkowitz, who had it performed before Prince Louis Ferdinand. ”

“ On the right, were shaded groves, and cultivated slopes, and knolled hills, rising upon each other in progressive grandeur, till their summits became, as it were, the base of the tender gray streak which marked the distant outline of the Andes;—whilst on the left, the country was a series of table lands and valleys, formed by wide and bold undulations, and terminating with the three mountains, clad with foliage to their summit, and looking like gigantic warriors upon the pigmy multitudes by which they were surrounded. ”

“ But choosing a blind horse, who, from his loss of sight and natural docility, may be easily supposed to be led into such a situation; the mind adopts the credibility, and enjoys the whimsical and mischievous consequence, while it condemns the folly and puerility of the Blood who occasioned it. It is this peculiar faculty of choice of subjects, situation, and assemblage, which constitutes the excellence of a humorist, which Stevens possessed in a most eminent degree; for he displays it in almost every line of his Lecture. ”

“ If we compare the best opera before Wagner's time with such works as Bach's Grand Mass in B minor, or Beethoven's Mass in D, we will readily see that the composers of those times put their best thought into their sacred compositions. Bach, Protestant that he was, but with the vein of religious mysticism strong in him, which is usually to be found in highly endowed artistic natures (Wagner is an instance, also Liszt) , was attracted by the beautiful text of the Mass, its stateliness and solemnity, and the world is enriched by an imperishable work of genius. ”

“ Alexander became one of the best Greek scholars of his time. He studied biblical criticism under Dr. George Benson in London. He became presbyterian minister of Longdon, twelve miles from Birmingham. He died suddenly on the night of Saturday, 28 Dec. 1765, just after finishing a sermon (afterwards published) on death. ”

“ In the Mass in C a new theory is developed in mass composition. It differs radically from the style of church composition made popular by Haydn and Mozart, beautiful as some of that is. Their music is a concord of sweet melodies, illustrating the peace and happiness which a contemplation of the religious life affords. Acting on the principle that beauty is its own excuse for being, they give many examples where the music does not even attempt to fit the sentiment of the words. The Kyrie of Haydn's Imperial Mass would do for a Te Deum, or a Song of Triumph rather than a cry for help. ”

“ May each married lady preserve her good man, And young ones get good ones as fast as they can.
It is very remarkable there should be such a plentiful harvest of courtship before marriage, and generally such a famine afterwards. Courtship is a fine bowling-green turf, all galloping round and sweet-hearting, a sunshine holiday in summer time: but when once through matrimony's turnpike, the weather becomes wintry, and some husbands are seized with a cold aguish fit, to which the faculty have given this name— [Shews the girdle of indifference.] ”

“ At last, owing to weakness and the inequality of the river's bed, which was strewed thickly with large stones and as rough as a quarry, the poor animal fell and plunged us both under water. Being disengaged from the saddle, I was determined, at all risks, not to lose the bridle, for fear my horse might swim over me, or, what I more dreaded, swim from me ”

“ Through Beethoven the resources of the orchestra were increased, an added range was given the keyboard of the piano, the human voice was given tasks that at the time seemed impossible of achievement. He established the precedent, which Wagner acted on later, of employing the human voice as a tool, an instrument, to be used in the exigencies of his art, as if it were a part of the orchestra. ”

“ In the Beethoven Mass a Preludium for orchestra is introduced, to fill in the interval while the celebrant is occupied with these silent prayers. It is an innovation, showing how thoroughly alive Beethoven was to the development of every phase of his subject. ”

“ But, before she had finished at her garret dressing-table, a ring at the door called her down stairs to receive a letter from the postboy; turning back to go into the house again, the postboy's horse, being hungry, laid hold of the head-dress by way of forage. Never may the fair sex meet with a worse misfortune; but may the ladies, always hereafter, preserve their heads in good order. ”

“ If the vice be of an atrocious nature, it certainly requires that the satire be severe. If it be of a nature that arises more from a weakness of mind than depravity of feeling, we think it should be chastised by the lively and pointed sarcasms of wit; and, if the failing be merely a folly, it should only be the subject of humorous ridicule. With respect to determining which species of satire is the most preferable, the narrative of Horace and Juvenal, the dramatic of Aristophanes and Foote, or the picturesque of Hogarth and Stevens ”

“ The only article which I really felt the loss of was an English saddle, the last I had remaining, but which I presented, on the evening of my departure from that capital, to my esteemed friend Don Domingo Saviñon, who, it will be remembered, accompanied me on my first journey from San Cosme. He had some months previously enforced my acceptance of a beautiful horse, merely because I happened to admire it, whilst riding with him, and I believe would have willingly given me the choice of another of his best animals for the trifling remembrance which I left him on that occasion. ”