Biographical Sketches, 1852-1875
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: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 1852—1875. HARRIET MARTINEAU. NEW EDITION, WITH AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. bonbon: MACMILLAN & CO. 1885. PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. THE Four new sketches by which this edition has been enriched are those of SIR JOHN Herschel, Sir Edwin Landseer, Barry CORNWALL, and Mrs. Somervillk They ap- peared in the Daily News, and the publishers are indebted for them to the kindness of Mr. J. R. ROBINSON of that journal. The singular auto- biographical fragment with which the volume opens was placed by Miss Martineau in the hands of the proprietors of the Daily News in 1855 for publication immediately on her death. It appeared as it was originally written, twenty- one years later. August, 1876. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In issuing a Second Edition of these " Sketches," it is natural to express something of the gratification which their reception has afforded me. The inclination is all the stronger from the most cordial sympathy having been expressed in regard to the matter I have most at heart,—the true principle of Biographical delineation. Considering how natural, and therefore general, is the disposition to believe and say everything good of the recently dead, I could not have anticipated the extensive appreciation which has attended my endeavour to discharge my duty in the way which I have always believed to be right ; and this agreement with me on the principle of thorough sincerity in the portraiture of public men, affords me a deeper satis- faction than any literary success can yield. Between, confusion of thought on the one hand, and unchastened feelings on the other, it is no wonder if a large propor- tion of readers fail to apprehend the purpose and cha- racter of Biographical portraiture altogether. Some expect in it a solace to mourners,—such a solace as is afforded by those "filial biographies" which were the despair of Jeffrey in his connexion with the Edin- burgh Review. Some think that faults and foibles should be hidden, in charity, or as a matter of taste. Some believe that the love of goodness is best cherished by : viii PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION: presenting goodness unmixed and unshadowed. Some are blinded to moral considerations by the lustre of intellectual ability. To none of these can thoroughly honest portraiture be acceptable; and they had better resort to private memorials, and to fiction, for the solace of their affections, and the fulfilment of their ideal. As I do not recognise any of these points of view, I have worked from a different one. To me it appears that persons of social prominence enough to be subjects of published Biography, have given themselves to society for better for worse,—not their deeds only, but them- selves. The characters of distinguished men and women are a more important possession to the world than any- thing they can do, if it is true, —and I never heard it questioned, —that it matters more, to themselves and to others, what men are than what they do. As the greater must include the less, and the producer must transcend and comprehend the product, there can be no rational question of the fact; and the application to the case of Biography seems plain enough. To tell what a man did, and to conceal or falsify what he was, is to play false with society. A hundred instances may rise up in all memories of the actual, visible mischief caused by the practice of suppression in Biographies. The boundaries between right and wrong are confused success stands in the place of heroism : the philosophy of character is set aside ; and society's claims on the experience of its members are disappointed. The in- clination for Biographical reading is so general and so strong, that we all read almost every sort of Memoir that comes in our way. Is it not true that, at the close of each, we feel, whether in satisfaction or disgust, that there is no right way but to tell, in the spirit of justice, the whole truth about the characters of persons important enough to have their lives publicly treated at all ? PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. i x What say those who are looking back on Life from its further boundary? In old age, and on the borders of the grave, what do distinguished persons desire for themselves ? How do they like the prospect of sickly praises, of the magnifying of the trifles of their day, of any playing fast and loose with right and wrong for the sake of their repute, of any cheating of society of its rights in their experience of mistake and failure, as well as of gain and achievement? Do they not claim to be measured with the same measure with which they mete their fellows,—to leave the world, not under any sort of disguise, but delivering over their lives, if at' all, in their genuine aspect and condition,—to be known hereafter, if known at all, for what they are? The sympathy with which my work in this volume, slight as it is, has been received, on account of the principle on which it is done, goes far to assure me that the deliberate judgment of society pronounces for an ethical standard of character in the first place, and in the next, for fidelity to that standard. I have been gratified in another particular ;—in the almost universal acquiescence in my belief that these Sketches ought to be left unaltered. If it had not been a matter of necessity, from my state of health, I should have hoped for their acceptance as first written, feeling and hoping that others would perceive, that any demand for expansion, or alteration, or interference of any kind with the original impression, would be a demand for another sort of book. I again present it, therefore, unaltered, except in the correction of two or three trifling inaccuracies. H. M. The Knoll, Ambleside. Afril 1869. ; PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. It has been suggested to me that these Sketches should be reproduced in a convenient form for readers who may wish that they were more accessible than when hidden in the files of a newspaper. Such a proposal, made by a judgment which I respect, is gratifying to me; and I can have no hesitation in accepting it. I have therefore collected all the Memoirs I have written for the Daily News, from my first connexion with the paper in 1852. It is from one of the gentlemen con- nected with that Journal, Mr. J. R. Robinson, that the suggestion has proceeded ; and it was accompanied by a generous consideration which obviates all difficulty in complying with it. Aware that my state of health renders all literary exertion impossible, Mr. Robinson desired to charge himself with all the trouble and responsibility, while leaving me all the advantages, of the publication. I have therefore had nothing to do but to put the material into his hands, duly arranged and it has been carried through the press, and presented to the public, under his care and judgment. As for my own share in the business, it was evident to me at the first glance over my material that the Sketches must be presented unaltered. In the few which relate to persons then living, there may be sentences or expressions which would have been different if the PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. xi Memoirs were to be written now ; but to alter these now would be to tamper with the truth of the sketch, and to produce something more misleading than the forecasts of a time which has gone by. There is no such question in regard to the nine-tenths of the Memoirs which relate to the dead. Slight as they are, they convey the impression which the completed life left in each case upon my own mind, and, as I believe, on that of the society of its time. As the impression was final, the first record of it should remain untouched in order to remain faithful. I there- fore simply reproduce the Sketches, making no other change than in the headings announcing the death, in each case. For convenience of reference, and for the sake of something like order in the presentment of materials so various, the personages are classified. In each group, however, there is no other precedence than the date of departure. These few words of explanation being given, I have only to leave the Sketches to produce their own impres- sion, whether on the minds of those who from peculiar knowledge carry a corresponding picture in their own breasts, or of those to whom the personages were historical while they lived. The records are true to my own impressions; and, secure in this main particular, I have no misgiving in offering them to readers whose curiosity and interest about the distinguished dead of their time claim such satisfaction as any survivor may be able to give. H. M. The Knoll, Ambleside, December 1868. 1 CONTENTS. PACK AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF HARRIET MARTINEAU . XV I. ROYAL. I. THE LAST BIRTHDAY OF THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS, JULY 6TH, 1854 I II. METTERNICH AND AUSTRIA II III. THE DUCHESS OF GLOUCESTER 21 IV. KING FREDERICK WILLIAM IV, OF PRUSSIA .... 30 V. THE DUCHESS OF KENT ,43 II. POLITICIANS. I. THE MARQUIS OF ANGLESEY 57 II. JOSEPH HUME 64 III. LORD MURRAY 71 IV. LORD HERBERT OF LEA 78 V. THE MARQUIS OF LANSDOWNE 9 VI. LORD LYNDHURST IOO VII. THE EARL OF ELGIN AND KINCARDINE 108 VIII. THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE 123 IX. THE EARL OF CARLISLB 13! 1 av CONTENTS.