القرن التاسع عشر ، رقم ١٨٢، أبريل ١٨٩٢ [و‎‎١‎٠‎٠] (٢٤٤/٢٠٤)

1892
NOTICEABLE
689
not to be desired tliat the country should regularly be subjected to
the sort of national fever, which has come upon us about once a
month in connection with the bye-elections since an early date in
1887. Nay, the demands made upon the speaking powers of
members of Parliament for speeches here, there and everywhere, have
increased to such a point that, if continued at the present rate, they
(threaten the enormous mischief of extinguishing their opportunities
of study and reflection. One supreme effort is still in prospect; but
nature is sure to cry out for remission and relief. We may reasonably
hope that Press, Petition, and Platform will hereafter be, as they
have been heretofore, combined as harmoniously as the figures of the
three Graces, and will contribute, each in its due measure according
to the calls of the time, towards the consolidation and progress of
free government.
W. E. G ladstone.
2.
THE KECOLLECTIONS OF A HAPPY LIFE. 1
I think it would be difficult—perhaps it would be impossible—to find
in English literature so beautiful an autobiography as this. To begin
with, it is the only autobiography I ever read of which it can be said
that it errs on the side of brevity, if it errs at all. Its title exactly
describes it. The Recollections are the recollections of a happy life
by a woman supremely endowed with the faculty of enjoyment; sur*
rounded from her infancy by an atmosphere of ennobling influences ;
of generous sentiment; of reverence for all that is good and righteous;
of enthusiasm for all that is pure and beautiful in nature or art.
In her youth Miss North must have been a lady of striking and
imperial beauty. The pose of that noble head, and the lustre of
those full-orbed eyes, suggested rather than adequately portrayed
in the little vignette which serves as a frontispiece to the first
volume, were still traceable in the glorious face I gazed at for the
first time some twelve or thirteen years ago. Then the years of
incessant work, and the hardships, and consequent breakdown in her
health, had told upon her ; but even then in person she appeared to me
the most majestic woman I had ever known. I learnt to regard
her as, in intellect and character, the most gifted and high-souled
human being I could ever hope to know.
1 The Recollections of a Happy Life: Autobiography
North. Edited by her sister, Mrs. John Addington Symonds. In 2 vols, London :
Macmillan & Co. 1892.