Category: Biographies
“The world has always been fond of personal details respecting men who have been celebrated.” These were the words of Lord Beaconsfield, and with them he prefixed his description of the personal appearance of Isaac D’Israeli; but we hardly need the dictum of our greatest state...
“Mr. Cobbett speaks almost as well as he writes. The only time I ever saw him he seemed to me a very pleasant man, easy of access, affable, clear-headed, simple and mild in his...
8. Part 8“Methinks I see him before me now, as he appeared then, and as he continued with scarcely any perceptible alteration to me, during the twenty years of intimacy which followed, a...
11. Part 11“In all the pictures we have of him, there is almost nothing to suggest the typical Englishman. Burly and robust. About six feet in height, he is rather thin than corpulent, and...
13. Part 13“Dean Stanley, like so many great men, possessed some strongly-marked personal characteristics. If he was superintendent in some qualities there were some of which he was almost...
5. Part 5“Mr. D’Israeli was announced.... An old gentleman, _strictly_ in his appearance; a countenance which at first glance (owing, perhaps, to the mouth, which hangs), I fancied sligh...
3. Part 3“He deserved ... worship better than most idols. Gentle, affectionate, unassuming towards the members of his own family, he was also dignified, polished, and courteous in his ma...
12. Part 12“It only remains to examine the cast from the face of Shakespeare. The documentary statements published by Mr. Friswell tend to establish a claim to attention. It was left in th...
6. Part 6“The truth is, that for depth, force, and variety of intellectual expression, a finer head and face than Hazlitt’s were never seen. I speak of them when his countenance was not...
2. Part 2“In the front seat on the Conservative side of the House, may be observed a man who, if his hat be off, which it generally is, is sure to arrest one’s attention, and we need sca...
9. Part 9“The Rev. Francis Mahony, or Father Prout, trudging along the Boulevards with his arms clasped behind him, his nose in the air, his hat worn as French caricaturists insist all E...
7. Part 7“I had not been long in the room, however, when I heard Mr. J---- announced, and as I had not seen him for some time, resolved to stay, and if possible, enjoy a little of his co...
10. Part 10“Her form was small and slight: her features wrinkled with age; but the burden of eighty years had not impaired her gracious smile, nor lessened the fire of her eyes, the cleare...
1. Part 1“The world has always been fond of personal details respecting men who have been celebrated.” These were the words of Lord Beaconsfield, and with them he prefixed his descriptio...
14. Part 14“William Wordsworth it was who ... did me the favour of making me known to John Wilson.... A man in a sailor’s dress, manifestly in robust health, _fervidus juventa_, and wearin...