We present a second selection of extracts from Great Victorian Lives – An Era
in Obituaries, an anthology of the significant personalities who made their
mark on Britain and the wider world during the reign of Queen Victoria. The
original obituaries published in The Times and reprinted in full in the book
were conceived on a grand scale, sometimes running to tens of thousands of
words. We hope that these brief extracts will give some flavour of their
appeal. Great Victorian Lives is a companion volume to Great Lives, the
bestselling anthology of Times obituaries of 20th-century notables,
published in 2005 and now available in paperback.
FELIX MENDELSSOHN
From early childhood Felix Mendelssohn was already the wonder and the pride of
the musical schools of Berlin. At eight years old he was already one of the
most accomplished pianoforte players of the age; and his musical science
kept pace with his astonishing power of execution and of ear. In boyhood he
was profoundly versed in the works of Sebastian Bach, and the severer
masters; and throughout his life his mind was keenly alive to all that was
great in intellect or beautiful in poetry. Goethe had affectionately greeted
his early promise, and never was the promise of a marvellous precocity more
amply fulfilled. 1847
WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY
There was to the last in him the sensibility of a child’s generous heart that
time had not sheathed against light touches of pleasure and pain. His
sympathy was prompt and keen, but the same quick feeling made him also over
sensitive to the small annoyances that men usually learn to take for granted
as but one form of the friction that belongs to movements of all kinds. He
was sensitive to his sensitiveness, and did in his writings what thousands
of men do in their lives, shrouded an over tender heart in a transparent
veil of cynicism. 1863
DAVID LIVINGSTONE
It is impossible not to mourn the loss of a missionary so liberal in his
views, so large-hearted, so enlightened. By his labours it has come to pass
that throughout the protected tribes of Southern Africa Queen Victoria is
generally acknowledged as “the Queen of the people who love the black man”.
Livingstone had his failings; but the self-will and obstinacy he possibly at
times displayed were very near akin to the qualities which secured his
success, and much allowance must be made for a man for whom his early
education had done so little. 1873
THOMAS CARLYLE
The announcement of his death will bring home to every educated Englishman its
significance. A chasm opens between the present and past of our literature,
a whole world of associations disappears. No recent man of letters has held
in England a place comparable to that which for at least a quarter of a
century has been his without dispute, and authors of all kinds and schools
will feel that they have lost their venerable doyen. A great man of letters,
quite as heroic as any of those he depicted, has passed away among universal
regret. 1881
FRANZ LISZT
He advocated and practically illustrated the supreme merits of Beethoven’s
pianoforte music when other virtuosi scorned it as unpopular; he shares with
Schumann and Mendelssohn the merit of having rescued Schubert’s works from
undeserved oblivion; he was as enthusiastic in the cause of Bach as he was
successively in those of Berlioz, of Schumann, and of Wagner. It was,
indeed, by keeping pace with the changes and developments of his art that he
preserved his freshness of mind. 1886
JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
His disappearance from the stage of life is no sudden event. It is not as if
an army had lost its commander in mid-battle, or as if the tongue of the
orator had become suddenly mute, or the lyre had dropped from the poet’s
hand. It is not a future that has vanished with the past, or a cataract of
life that has been arrested in full flow. The truth is the great Cardinal
has occupied so exceptional a place in human affairs that, while he has
largely influenced them, he has had himself to discover and even to
recognise that they could go on without him. 1890
ALFRED LORD TENNYSON
The death of Lord Tennyson extinguishes the most brilliant light in English
literature – a light which has shone to the last with unwaning lustre. He
linked us with the golden age of the famous poets of the beginning of the
century, and his loss, following on that of his old friend Browning, leaves
a blank we can scarcely hope to fill. Though the late Laureate had kept his
powers and much of his natural energy almost to the last, he died in the
fulness of years as of fame. 1892
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
He had the charming and exquisitely graceful style which seems to have come
naturally to him, and within certain wide though well-defined limits his
versatility was as remarkable as his brilliancy. His tact and self-knowledge
assured him against attempting anything where he was likely to fail. Yet no
one could be less monotonous in the manner of his workmanship or the
selection of his subjects. Few would have predicted that the vivacious
author of the uneventful “Inland Voyage” and the “Travels with a Donkey,”
would have cast irresistible spells on the devourers of sensational fiction
as author of “Treasure Island” or “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” 1894
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE
Through his life he was a man of extraordinary activity, equally fond of
walking in the country and in town, and with sleep ever at his command; and
his favourite relaxation was the energetic pursuit of woodsmanship, which he
was able to keep up till a very advanced age. Those who knew him best in
private life could testify that the serious and even devout temperament
which was most conspicuous to ordinary observers was intersected by a vein
of geniality and playfulness all the more fascinating by the contrast. 1898
OTTO VON BISMARCK
The death of Prince Bismarck removes the greatest personality in Europe.
Though it would have been better for his fame had he immediately followed
his old master to the grave, yet the heavy clouds which have overhung the
sunset of his life cannot diminish the splendour of his zenith. He was one
of the rare men who leave indelible marks on the world’s history. He would,
perhaps, have resented the Pagan idea of being a “man of destiny”, for he
was pious in his fashion, and might have grown into a Puritan but for the
exuberance of his animal spirits. 1898
OSCAR WILDE
The melancholy end to a career which once promised so well is stated to have
come in an obscure hotel of the Latin Quarter. Here the once brilliant man
of letters was living, exiled from his country and from the society of his
countrymen.
The verdict that a jury passed upon his conduct at the Old Bailey in May,
1895, destroyed for ever his reputation, and condemned him to ignoble
obscurity for the remainder of his days. When he had served his sentence of
two years’ imprisonment, he was broken in health as well as bankrupt in fame
and fortune. 1900
COUNT LEO TOLSTOY
The death of Count Leo Tolstoy removes one who was both an artist and prophet,
and who, in both these capacities, must be ranked among the most influential
writers of his time. It has taken place in circumstances as characteristic
of the man and his genius as any previous episode in his wonderful career.
At the very end of his days his spirit rebelled once more against the
tyranny of accepted things, and he sallied forth upon the final pilgrimage
in search of a calm and solitude. 1910
W. G. GRACE
There was a masterful personality and a large direct simplicity and frankness
which, combined with his huge frame, swarthy features, bushy beard, and
somewhat lumbering carriage, made an impression which could never be
forgotten. In spite of his giant West-of-England build; there was something
of the gipsy in his colouring, his vitality, and his quick, dark eyes with
their wary expression. The bright yellow and red cap which he loved to wear
added to this Zingari effect. 1915
I seem unable to buy this book, can you help me, as I enjoyed the first volume immensely
Peter Harrison
Peter Harrison, London, England