BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HiMtrg M, Sage 1891 .p.X37.r7.3- '^/^/^/. Cornell University Library ACS .S92 Critical studies and fragments by the i 3 1924 029 633 637 oiin Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029633637 CRITICAL STUDIES AND FRAGMENTS c. I /'//i///' /h'r'/ir/ CRITICAL STUDIES AND FRAGMENTS BY THE LATE S. ARTHUR STRONG, M.A. LIBRARIAN TO THE HOUSE OF LORDS AND AT CHATSWORTH PROFESSOR OF ARABIC AND LECTURER IN ASSYRIOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON WITH A MEMOIR LORD BALCARRES, M.P. FOUR PORTRAITS AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON: DUCKWORTH AND CO. 3, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN 1905 viii Table of Contents PAGE Fragmen TS—continued. V. Sketch by Correggio I49 VI. Drawing for the fresco of the Annunciation which Correggio painted about 1524 for the Church of the Fathers of the Annunciation in Parma (Plate XX) 149 VII. Drawing, by Federigo Baroccio, in black and red chalk, of a nymph reclining asleep on cushions under a tree. A dog couches at her feet . 1 50 VIII. Drawing of the Last Supper, by Federigo Ba- roccio ....... 150 IX. The Portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire by Sir Joshua Reynolds . .150 X. Royal Society of British Artists . -153 XI. Institute of Painters in Oil Colours . 154 XII. Mozart 155 HISTORY AND LITERATURE Erasmus 159 The Poetry of Theodore Watts-Dunton . 164 " The kindest-hearted of the Great." Inedited Letters of Dickens, Thackeray, and Leigh Hunt .... 169 Voltaire's " Candide " .182 The Privilege of Peers 184 Lady Sarah Lennox . 186 Westminster Abbey and the Coronation . 207 Letters and Historical Documents in the Library AT Welbeck 212 Warren Hastings's Own Account of his Impeachment 218 Patron versus Publisher 226 Table of Contents ix HISTORY OF RELIGION, PHILOSOPHY, AND ARCHAEOLOGY PAGE Max Mt5LLER's "Science OF Thought" . .231 A German Translation of the Vedanta . 244 The Hibbert Lectures and the Gaulish Pantheon . 247 The Second Volume of Kenan's " Histoire du Peuple d'Israel" 259 The Fables of Aesop 266 " The Seat of Authority in Religion " ... 272 Kenan's " L'Avenir de la Science " .... 280 " Essays of a Plain Man " 284 " Darmesteter's Chants Populaires des Afghans" . 291 " Encyclopaedia Americana " 295 The Third Volume of Kenan's '' Histoire du Peuple d'Israel" 297 Gladstone's " Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture" 303 The Tell-el-Amarna Tablets 305 Darmesteter's " Zend-Avesta " 309 " " Maspero's Dawn of Civilization . .317 Pliny's " History OF Artists " 321 Buddhist Art in India 327 APPENDICES I. One Hundred Notable Books selected from Arthur Strong's Purchases for the Library at Chatsworth 333 II. Arthur Strong's Original Contributions to Orientalism 34^ III. Articles by Arthur Strong not Reprinted in this Volume 35° INDEX 353 1 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE. TO FACE PAGE I. Arthur Strong at the age of 39. (From a photograph by L. Caswall Smith) Frontispiece II. Paolo Veronese: The Adoration of the Magi. (Devonshire House.) .... 29 III. Lorenzo Lotto: St. Anthony. (Wilton House) 65 'i. Titian: Portraitof aYoung Man. (Devon- shire House) ....... 82 IV. 2. Cariani: Portrait of a Venetian Noble- man (Chatsworth) 82 V. BOLTRAFFIO : THE POET CaSIO. (Chatsworth) . 84 VI. Memlinc: The Triptych of the Donne Family 86 'I. Gheerardt David: Departure of a Saint . (Chatsworth) 2. Francis Pourbus (?): Presentation of the I Virgin. (Chatsworth) .... fi. Hans Schaeufelin: The Wheel of For TUNE. (Chatsworth) .... 90 VIII. 2. John Van Eyck: Consecration of St, Thomas a Becket. (Chatsworth) . 90 'i. French School(?): Portraitof Henry VI 1 (Chatsworth) .... 92 IX. 2. North Italian School: An Ecclesiastic (Chatsworth) 92 X. Central Portion of the First Tapestry from Hardwick Hall .... 100 XI '\ The Diptych of Richard II. (Wilton House) 104 Xll List of Illustrations PLATE. TO FACE PAGE XIII. Portrait of a Man. (Drawing by Domenico Ghirlandajo) no XIV. Holy Family. (Drawing by Raphael) . .116 XV. Scene from the Life of San Lorenzo Gius- TINIANI. (Drawing by Carpaccio) . .120 XVI. Battle of Tritons. (Drawing by Andrea Man- tegna) 122 XVII. Study of a Goat. (Drawing by Pisanello) . 124 XVIII. Studies for Goldsmith's Work. (Drawings by Hans Holbein) 132 XIX. The Nativity. (Drawing by Correggio) . 148 XX. The Annunciation. (Drawing by Correggio) . 1 50 XXI. Arthur Strong at the age of thirty-four. (Drawing by Alphonse Legros) . -159 XXII. William, First Earl of Portland. (Sketch by Rigaud: Louvre) 212 XXIII. Arthur Strong. (Clay Model by the Countess Feodora Gleichen) 231 XXIV. Arthur Strong. (Drawing done after death by Sir Charles Holroyd) . .321 ... the distinguished gentleman, one of our most eminent scholars, the Librarian of the House of Lords. Sir William Harcourt in the House of Commons, April l8th, 1898. rarest order, . Strong's critical powers were of the highest and whether exercised in the domain of philology, literature or art. On every subject handled by him he threw a flood of light. Perhaps the most striking feature of his character was its sturdy independence. His individuality was so marked that he was uninfluenced by environ- ment and without any kind of self-assertion or evidence of his native scorn for Philistinism, his personality could not fail to receive its due recognition. He was perfectly simple and without affectation, his only object in life being the vindication of truth Leighton and Acton we have lost, and now the premature death of Strong inflicts an irrepar- able loss on English culture. Lord Reay before the Royal Asiatic Society, February 9th, 1904. The House has to deplore the death of Mr. S. Arthur Strong, its dis- tinguished Librarian. The greatness and variety of his intellectual gifts and accomplish- ments, as evidenced by his works and universally recognized, render his premature death a severe loss to literature and art. In the Library, where he placed his vast stores of knowledge at the disposal of the Peers, his work included the compilation of two Cata- logues, one of the General Library and one of the Law Books, to the latter of \s hich, under the direction of the Lord Chancellor, he made many important additions. Report from the Select Committee on the HOUSE OF Lords Offices, August, 1904. MEMOIR JT is fitting that this volume of essays should be preceded by a general sketch of Arthur Strong's personality—a sketch indicative of the lines upon which a remarkable bio- graphy may one day be written. The task is exceptionally difficult. One frequently has to record the uneven struggle between powerful intellect and delicate physique, or how ambition gains the mastery over environ- ment. In this case one must also account for the paradox of concurrent fame and obscurity. Strong was a man of many friends but of few intimates, though only those who knew him intimately knew also how influential he had been in the world of learning, and was fast becoming in that of politics. Yet even where he led, he remained to a great extent anonymous, from necessity at first and afterwards from choice. He liked inspiring books, composing political speeches, coining epigrams, directing the trend of criticism, and not unfrequently deciding the turn of affairs, while re- maining himself in the background. As yet nothing of this can be told in detail, though the material is not wanting. Letters, which as a rule form the biographer's main resource, can only be drawn on here to a very limited extent, for in the matter of correspondence, as in so much else. Strong knew no middle way, the brevity of his letters being pro- verbial among his friends. In the one case— it was perhaps B 2 Memoir isolated^—in which he chose to unbend towards his corre- spondent, he wrote on every conceivable topic, with a mingled vigour and freedom which confer on these letters an unsurpassed charm and interest, but which make their publication impossible for many years to come. There were, however, outstanding features in Strong's short but crowded life—how short it was many of his friends scarcely realized, for his profound learning and mature judgment were apt to conceal his youth: in fact, he was only forty years old when he died. His first years of boyhood were spent at St. Paul's School, where he was unhappy; then at the age of fifteen he went into Lloyd's, where he unconsciously laid the foundations of a rare commercial perspicacity and know- ledge of " business " conditions, which latterly bore unex- pected fruit when fiscal and industrial problems came to the forefront of British politics. Though not disliking his City life, he was haunted by dreams of an University career, and found time, though at the cost of already failing health, to keep up his studies and to attend classes at King's College. He left Lloyd's in 1880, after a period of mental high pressure, and in October, 1881, matriculated at St. John's College, Cambridge. A bad start led to an in- different degree. After taking the second part of the Tripos in June, 1885, he moved to Oxford in November of the same year, on being selected for a post in the Indian Institute, where he remained three years working under Sir Monier Williams, Max Miiller, and Professor Sayce. After a sojourn abroad, mainly in Berlin, where he con- tinued his Oriental studies under Schrader, and in Paris, where he enjoyed the uncommon privilege of Renan's friendship and hospitality, he returned to England. Ade- Memoir > quate academic recognition was still denied him.