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  Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    ^g T~ r~~ ' " ; ^^gi?|PPSpp^^f^^ppf^f^¦?...

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    ITHE AGE OF BIOGRAPHY. I It will not be ...

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    HOLLAND HOUSE. By the death of Lady Holl...

• Transcript

  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    ^G T~ R~~ ' " ; ^^Gi?|Ppspp^^F^^Ppf^F^¦?...

    ^ g T ~ ~~ ' " ^^ gi ?| PPSpp ^^ f ^^ ppf ^ f ^¦? ' ^ ' ^^ .-.. -.. „ .. . . . _ , .. . . ..,,.,.

    H Oct . i , 1889 The \ Publishers' Circular ¦ : __— IIS . — 3

    Ithe Age Of Biography. I It Will Not Be ...

    ITHE AGE OF BIOGRAPHY . I It will not be strange if , the present time

    shall pass into literary history as the age of H I biograp have Bfe appeared hy . The within number the past of , biograp ten years hies is that not

    j ^^ P ^ p " ¦ ~^ — H H — - — — ~— ' —^ — ° " ^ " ~ — — — ~^ P" ^ T ^^ ^^ - ^ p p ~^^ ~^ " ~ ^^ p ~^ " ^ —^^^^^ p H ~^^ r ° " ^ " ~ ^ P ^^ B ^ »^» P ^^""""^^ PP ^^ PP ^^^ ~^^~ ^^ p I ^^^^^^^^^^^ H onl ^ y astonishing , but somewhat appalling as H well . Of all sorts and conditions of men

    HHHHIIIIb B a M B » aa bibb , H ¦ written ^ - with the ^* mos ' t consummate ability . ^ «_ or bbbbbH with none A at all , dealing sfc > at with ask individuals bb aa of ¦^^^^^ _ B b H ato ^ . . .

    I al l periods of historic ^ _ time , these _ books have ^^ H been poured forth until it almost seems as if I the age had nothing to do but to write of the

    H men who had come before it . In so much H biography there is of course a good deal that H is of value and of consequence ; but it is to be

    H doubted if it is by any means the larger por-H tion . In the first place so few biographies are

    true and so many are empty records of the I outward and unimportant facts of life they I serve only for the gratification of a perfectly

    I idle curiosity , and not for the development at H all of the intellectual or the moral life ; and H comparatively few readers study the lives of

    H great men for instruction . Of course there H are those who study the biographies of great H men with the desire to understand human

    H nature and the teachings of history better ; but it is to be feared that these are not in ^ ^ m the maj 1 > ority among the readers — of books of

    H this kind , and that students are not the class H for whose benefit are concocted the well nigh H innumerable volumes of biography which

    ^^ m ox */ I come from the press nowadays as thick as H leaves in Vallombrosa . It is a severe comment upon ail age that it

    H cares more for the story of the lives of famous H authors than for their books , of painters , H musicians 7 sculptors 7 or poets 7 than for their

    H ^^ m immortal , works . It , is prac x ticall , y a love of H gossip rather than of art , and the most flattering way in which it can be put is that it is . BIB

    H interest in personality above works of genius . H The lack of imagination has undoubtedly H much to do with the matter , and perhaps a

    H keen desire to learn the secret of success , to the end that one may thus become himself H ) successfulhas much to do with the present

    I interest in , biography . It is hardly taking too I pessimistic a view of our restless , hurrying

    H age to say that there is a strong tendency to desire to seem without so much care whether H the reality lies behind the appearance or not ;

    and these innumerable biographies are of B service in showing what one is to strive to bbbbbbbbbbb | seem -aapp aaaaa .- . Not aaaaa t iva to * aP be too ¦ ~ pessimistic h arajaaP W however ¦¦ fcPP it » aaP

    may ' ^ pp ^^ - *¦ be admitted * , — ^ 1 ^ . ' * ^ ap ^^^ ^ ap tha ^^^ ^ ap t ~^ a ^ there p * aa » p ~ a » ^^ p aaa aa » aa » ^^ is ^ ap aav ^ aa 1 , ^ also ^^™ a" ¦ ai ^ P ^ W ^^ a aa' V ™ deep ^ M , paa I desire to know how the great minds of the I world have looked at life . It is one of the

    inevitable consequences of the present un-H settled time that men should distrust their I H the own hel vision p of , the and views seek to that see their ai more predecessors clearl thfc y by

    ^^^^^^^ - — ^™ a ^ aaa' aa * J ™ ^* ^^^ ^^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ~ ^ ^ a » - w ¦ — ' ^^ a ^ a * m a ^ - aa ^ ^^™ ^ ap' aaa ¦ . aaap ji . pa . ~^^ ^^ r ^ ^^ ^^ ^*^ ^^ . ^ ^^^ ^^^ ^* u ^^^ I liave held . Whether the effort is a successful m one may be doubtedbut it is neither

    un-H natural nor unworthy . , It may even now and H then be helpful , although on the whole it

    I of must the be lack regarded of orig as inali a great ty with and which striking the proof age H is now afflicted , and which it shows few Rio-n «

    H of shaking off . — Boston Courier .

    Holland House. By The Death Of Lady Holl...

    HOLLAND HOUSE . By the death of Lady Hollandwidow of

    the fourth Baronan historic titl , e becomes extinct , and one , of the most famous of . the

    stately homes of England passes into the possession of the Earl of Ilchestera distant

    kinsman of the family . The Daily , Telegraphy and and the tne jra PaU ll Mail JMall u Gazette -azette at at its its heels heelstell fell into into

    a ridiculous blunder in regard to the , , deceased ladwhom they confounded with the

    beautiful , imperious , and sarcastic third Lady Holland , the mistress of Holland House

    during the brilliant years when it was a great centre of intellectual as well as aristocratic societ ¦ ¦— y . There was ¦¦ a time when ¦ all the r great

    ™ - — — m — — " — — ~ — — — ~ — ^^ ~™~ ~ ~ ¦ " ~^^ ' ^^~ ~~ ' ^ ^^^^^ " ^^ ^^^^» ^^ r ^ h ^ k *^^ ^^^^ ^^ r ^^ ^^ men of England , to quote Horace Walpole ' s expression ¦ m — — — —¦ - ~ — ^ — , - j * seemed ¦ " — — ¦ to be — in ' — — flower ~^ " w ^^» r —^ " ' at ^^^^ ^^ ^ Hoi ^^^^^^« p - ^^ p- ^^^

    -land House , and there is scarcely a mansion in the metropolis around which so many bright

    and stimulating AT memories cluster . a / ^ 7 Henry — — h - ^— g Rich — — — - ~~ - — ard — — - ^^— — - ^— Vassal — - . ^— — — — — — — Fox h ^^^^^^ , - ^ m third ^^ ^^ h ^^^ ^^^ p ^^^ v ^^ p . ^ ^ Lord ^ b ^^^^^ p ^^^ ^^ m - ^^ r ^^^

    Holland , ' nephew of Fox and friend of Grey ' —as with mingled . pride and playfulness to he

    sometimes styled himself—delighted ^ gather around him in his historic home the most dis-~ tinguished of his time . men Standing and the in most the old beautiful Court women suburb

    of the town , Holland House , with its charming nooks and cornersits lovely gardensits weird

    traditions , its famous , pictures , its , literary treasuresand Jitsjpoliticaj . memoriespresents

    to a cultivated , Englishman a galaxy , of attractions which , in their way , are unrivalled

    through the length and breadth of the kingdom . Here , in the stormy times which preceded the tragic close of Charles the First ' s

    reign , the first Lord Holland , whoni Clarendon describes as a ' very handsome man , of a lovely

    and winning presence and gentle conversation of the , ' ke king pt open . Here house ^ in for the the troubled reign of friends Queen

    Anne , Joseph Addison , having married the Dowager Countess of Warwickspent—not

    , very happily , it is to be feared—the closing years of his life . Here dwelt the * lass of

    Richmond Hill , ' the bewitching Lady Sarah Lennoxwhom George the Third seemed

    wishful at one , time to make his queen . Here , tooat a still later periodCharles James Fox

    slipped , through a somewhat , careless and rebellious youth , and duly emerged into the

    midst of those fierce political contentions which called forth all the latent powers of his strong but ill-disciplined manhood . The

    ' nephew of Fox and friend of Grey , ' who dispensed with high-born grace the hospitalities of Holland Housewas himself not

    unworthy , to some extent , at least , of association with those great servants of the State . He inherited that peculiar personal

    fascinationindescribable but most subtle—which led Edmund Burke to exclaim that his great rival was a man made to be lovedand he shared

    moreover , that generous hatre , d of oppression , in every shape which caused tyrants at home , : ¦¦

    and and slaveholders slaveholders abroad abroad , to to curse curse the the name narrm of of Fox . Nor was Lord Holland , unworthy of j that confidence of Earl Grey—^ the courageous

    and enlightened premier of England who took occasion by tjie hand , and consolidated the

    B

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Oct. 1, 1889, page 1153, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_01101889/page/21/