Goldwin Smith

“ In his thought any limitation of the sympathies within the comparatively narrow bounds of one country was a vice rather than a virtue, and no nation was worthy to endure which did not stand for the good of the world at large; into love for all humanity narrower affections should emerge. He invited me to spend some days at the Grange at Toronto in his beautiful home, but circumstances made it impossible. I am glad to have seen Goldwin Smith at Niagara; that majestic environment befitted the subduing stateliness of his presence, his intellect, power, and elevation of view. ”

“ The absence of a definite didactic purpose is the only security for the good faith of a historian. This most rare virtue Mr. Goldwin Smith possesses in a high degree. He writes to tell the truths he finds, not to prove the truths which he believes. In character and design he is eminently truthful and fair, though not equally so in execution. His candour never fails him, and he is never betrayed by his temper; yet his defective knowledge of general history, and his crude notions of the Church, have made him write many things which are untrue, and some which are unjust. ”

“ Then, years after, all of Peel’s correspondence was published and the whole world knew what a gentleman Goldwin Smith had been. Our modern ideals of what constitutes high social and national standing and character say: “Fight fire with fire. Dishonour releases honour from itself. He struck you foul; strike him so in return.” But the man who had learned self-restraint in the school of God’s loyalty and truth, who understood that power is ours, not to use for self-seeking, but for the good of men and for God’s honour, would not stoop to any such disloyalty and shame. ”

“ Prejudice is in all men of such early growth, and so difficult to eradicate, that it becomes a misfortune rather than a reproach, especially if it is due to ignorance and not to passion, and if it has not its seat in the will. In the case of Mr. Goldwin Smith it is of the curable and harmless kind. The fairness of his intention is far beyond his knowledge. When he is unjust, it is not from hatred; where he is impartial, it is not always from the copiousness of his information. His prejudices are of a nature which his ability and honesty will in time inevitably overcome. ”

“ At the ceremonies of both 1904 and 1906 he gave addresses, and he placed in ’Goldwin Smith Hall' a copy of Bacon's bust of Alfred the Great, which adorned the common room of University College, Oxford.
Goldwin Smith's wife died at The Grange on 9 Sept. 1909. He continued writing letters to the press on current politics, but a mellowing tolerance for opponents seemed to be at length accompanied by some diminution of vigour. In March 1910 he accidentally broke his thigh, and after some three months of enforced inactivity he died at The Grange on 7 June 1910. ”

“ It is needless to say to those who know anything of Mr. Goldwin Smith that he defended himself against his critics with passionate brilliancy. The sentence he is represented as speaking in the cartoon occurred in one of his retorts upon the Globe, and was considered unusually cutting as an exposition of that journal’s strict religious orthodoxy in contrast with its merciless treatment of its opponents. ”

“ The countenance and manner are preëminently those of the critic, the investigator, the tester. As he concerns himself earnestly in all our most important public affairs, his general appearance, through the medium of the Toronto Grip, our Canadian Punch, has come to be by no means unfamiliar to the people of Canada.
In becoming a Canadian, Goldwin Smith has not ceased to be an Englishman; he has also desired to become an American, by the way. ”

“ Goldwin Smith's historic art, his lax criticism, his superficial acquaintance with foreign countries, his occasional proneness to sacrifice accuracy for the sake of rhetorical effect, his aversion for spiritual things, are all covered by one transcendent merit, which, in a man of so much ability, promises great results. ”

“ As I am writing for an American audience, it may not be irrelevant to say, before concluding, [Pg 272] that while Goldwin Smith is an ardent believer in, and friend of, the American people, he has at the same time but a tepid esteem for the chief part of American literature. He rather decries all but the great humorists, for whom, indeed, his admiration is unbounded. He has a full and generous appreciation for the genius of Poe. ”

“ At that period all patriotic Americans felt deep gratitude to Goldwin Smith for his courage and eloquence in standing by our country during the Civil War, and great admiration for his profound and brilliant historical lectures at Oxford. Naturally, on arriving in London, I sought to engage him for the new university, and was authorized by Mr. Cornell to make him large pecuniary offers. Professor Smith entered at once into our plans heartily; wrote to encourage us ”

“ Yet nothing can be poorer than Ruskin's—mean, ugly, insignificant—only redeemed by perfect legibility. Goldwin Smith's, though clear and shapely, is characterless and disappointing. Some great scholars, again, write disappointing hands. Jowett's is a spiteful-looking [258] angular, little scratch, perfectly easy to read; Westcott's comely but not clear; Lightfoot's an open, scrambling scrawl, something like the late Lord Derby's. These great men cannot excuse their deficiencies in penmanship by pleading that they have had to write a great deal in their lives. ”

“ The admiration of middle-class Englishmen for the aristocracy is only equalled by their dislike for that little band of educated men who lead the masses in the struggle against class rule. Mr. Goldwin Smith is a disturber of the public peace, a disorganizer, an enemy to the constitution. ”

“ In accordance with the theory he has formerly developed, he is constantly sitting in judgment; and he discusses the morality of men and actions far oftener than history—which has [Pg 235] very different problems to solve—either requires or tolerates. De Maistre says that in our time compassion is reserved for the guilty. Mr. Goldwin Smith is a merciful judge, whose compassion generally increases in proportion to the greatness of the culprit; and he has a sympathy for what is done in the grand style, which balances his hatred of what is wrongly done. ”

“ There have been many [223] thinking men who have given up the miracle-business quite cheerfully, but have stood appalled at the idea of letting the lower classes find out the truth. You note that idea continually in the writings of Professor Goldwin Smith, who was a free-thinker, but also a bourgeois publicist, with a deep sense of responsibility to the money-masters of the world. He was about as honest a man as the capitalist system can produce; he was the beau ideal of the New York "Evening Post", which indicates his point of view. ”

“ Everything we use, nay, our veriest toy represents lives spent for us in delving beneath the dark and perilous mine, in battling with the wintry sea, in panting before the glowing forge, in counting the weary hours over the monotonous and unresting loom, lives of little value, one could think, if there were no hereafter. ”

“ Sir Godwin, I shall come to bid you god-speed to-morrow, and you ride hence with Edith."
"Do so, lad, do so," boomed Sir Godwin. "St. Edmund willing, I ride with our maid to Hastings port, where the dromon awaits her."
Mocenigo gave Hugh a sinister look from the corner of his eye.
"Forget not my advice, young sir," he said. "Toward Outremer lies danger. Here in England is all that man may desire."
"I know my path," answered Hugh coldly. "I must journey it."
He held back the curtain over the door to the living quarters of the Keep, so that Edith might pass out, then followed her. ”

“ Sir Godwin laughed.
"True, lad, but it ill becomes your Norman blood to prate of our Saxon lineage."
It was Hugh's turn to flush.
"Good blood is good blood," he muttered. "No Norman denies it. How many lords of my race have wooed your womankind?"
"Nay, now, that issue is buried, Hugh." Sir Godwin banished the argument with a wave of the hand. "In the haste of our greetings I have forgotten to present you to my guest. Messer Mocenigo, I make known to you my neighbour, the Lord Hugh de Chesby. His lands march with mine." ”

“ The governor clapped his hand on the clerk's shoulder.
"Ay, my lad, y'are safe to leave your master with us," he said in his kindly fashion. "Y'are a good youth. We have room for your like in New York. Here what ye have been matters not. 'Tis what ye are that counts. But leave us now, for we have much to discuss."
I turned again to Tawannears, as Allen closed the door behind him.
"What brings you, brother? You are welcome—that I need not say. But you two are the last I should have looked to see walk in here out of Pearl Street. Tell me all! How are my brethren of the Long House? ”

“ To-morrow I start for England, and I will have the money with me.’
‘I tell you I cannot procure it by that time,’ said Gaudin. ‘A day can be of no consequence to you.’
‘No more than it may be a matter of life or death—a simple affair, I grant you, with either of us, but still worth caring for. Ha! what is this?’
He had purposely brushed his hand against Sainte-Croix’s cloak, and in the pocket of it he felt some weighty substance. The chink assured him it was gold.
‘You cannot have that,’ said Gaudin confusedly; ‘it is going with me to the gaming-table this evening. ”

“ An the King's Verderers saw you, Ralph, I should not keep you long."
"'Twill take more than the King to pry me away from you, Messer Hugh," replied Ralph simply. "Did that dog stab you?"
"'Tis of no consequence. Come, let us look at him. By his dress he was none of the Greenwood Men."
"Greenwood Men!" exclaimed Ralph. "Yon was no Greenwood Man. He ran like a lumbering bull in the very way I thought he would. We would not have caught one of the Merry Men in that fashion, Messer Hugh."
"He is some landless fellow, mayhap," said Hugh as they rode across the meadow. ”

“ He beckoned me forward.
"Sit here beside us, Master Ormerod—for so I see you are rightly named, although you traveled under Master Juggins' name. Master Juggins vouches for you. That is sufficient for me. What say you, Colden?"
"Quite sufficient," agreed the surveyor-general. "Do you wish me to remain, sir?"
"Certainly. Glad to have you. This is no matter to be manhandled by the whole Council; but zooks, a man must have advice now and then, whether he takes it or not! Now, Master Ormerod, do you tell us as fully as you may what you know of Murray. ”

“ He turned to the Indian.
"The letter which you hold in your hand, Ta-wan-ne-ars, is from Master Robert Juggins, of London, who was some time in the province when you were a lad."
"I remember Master Juggins," interrupted Ta-wan-ne-ars. "He sent me my first musket. Is this Englishman his friend?"
"Yes," said the governor. "He comes direct from Master Juggins, recommended to me for use in the plight I find myself in."
"I will help the Englishman," agreed Ta-wan-ne-ars eagerly.
He smiled at me.
"This Englishman is honest. He is kind. If he fights, I will aid him." ”

“ His imagination, darting hither and thither, and governed in its flight by laws too subtle and delicate to be analyzed, reposed itself for a moment amidst the gloom of the historical associations that cluster around the curfew, hovered over the lowing herd, and followed the ploughman as he homeward plods his weary way. Goldsmith, recalling the scenes where he had spent many happy hours, looks upon nature under a far different aspect. Every thing to him is gay and joyous. He hears not the hollow tones of the curfew, nor the drowsy tinklings that lull the distant folds. ”

“ I recounted the circumstances of my meeting with Juggins, the hearing before the Lords of Trade and the incidents of the voyage, not forgetting Tom's assault upon me and the strange bargain I had made with Murray.
"Then are you safe from denunciation," broke in the governor. "We think little of Hanoverian or Jacobite in New York. Here, Master Ormerod, you will find only Englishmen laboring to wrest a living from the wilderness and to extend their country's power and richness. What you were matters little. 'Tis what you are we judge you by. ”

“ Dressed in her uniform as Ga-go-sa Ho-nun-as-tase-ta, the kilt and moccasins, she fronted de Veulle with eyes blazing, breast heaving.
"Do you seek now to buy the white maiden with this man's life?" she stormed.
"You have no place here," he replied in the Cahnuaga dialect. "Go away. You will make——"
"You shall not!" she defied him. "You have had your pleasure with me. Now you would like to have a woman of your own color. You shall not! I have been bad. I have forgotten the ways of my fathers. I have betrayed a good man."
She threw a glance at Ta-wan-ne-ars, straining at his bonds. ”

“ She gurgled with laughter.
"You are own brother to the Awataba, Englishman! We do not have such chiefs. We look down on warriors. When we must fight, we all do; but we make no practice of war. The priests and the council govern the village."
"Who are the council?" I pressed.
"Oh, the priests—and the elders—the priests select them. But I am tired of talking with you, Englishman. I came here to learn Tawannears' speech. I told Wiki I should. He told me I must not, and I said if I could not I should marry Kokyan to-night. Wiki does not want me to marry Kokyan." ”