Victorian Worthies

Victorian Worthies, by George
Henry Blore

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Blore
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Title: Victorian Worthies Sixteen Biographies
Author: George Henry Blore

Release Date: December 26, 2006 [eBook #20196]
Language: English
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VICTORIAN WORTHIES
Sixteen Biographies
by
G. H. BLORE
Assistant Master at Winchester College

'We have undertaken to discourse here for a little on Great Men, their
manner of appearance in our world's business, how they shaped
themselves in the world's history, what ideas men formed of them, what
work they did;--on Heroes, namely, and on their reception and
performance.'--CARLYLE.

Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press London Edinburgh
Glasgow New York Toronto Melbourne Cape Town Bombay Calcutta
1920 Printed in England at the Oxford University Press

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: THE VICTORIAN ERA 1. THOMAS CARLYLE.
Prophet 2. SIR ROBERT PEEL. Statesman 3. SIR CHARLES
NAPIER. Soldier 4. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY. Philanthropist
5. LORD LAWRENCE. Administrator 6. JOHN BRIGHT. Tribune 7.
CHARLES DICKENS. Novelist and Social Reformer 8. LORD
TENNYSON. Poet 9. CHARLES KINGSLEY. Parish Priest 10.
GEORGE FREDERICK WATTS. Artist 11. BISHOP PATTESON.
Missionary 12. SIR ROBERT MORIER. Diplomatist 13. LORD
LISTER. Surgeon 14. WILLIAM MORRIS. Craftsman 15. JOHN
RICHARD GREEN. Historian 16. CECIL RHODES. Colonist INDEX

PREFACE
Some excuse seems to be needed for venturing at this time to publish
biographical sketches of the men of the Victorian era. Several have
been written by men, like Lord Morley and Lord Bryce, having
first-hand knowledge of their subjects, others by the best critics of the
next generation, such as Mr. Chesterton and Mr. Clutton-Brock. With
their critical ability I am not able to compete; but they often postulate a
knowledge of facts which the average reader has forgotten or has never
known. Having written these sketches primarily for boys at school I am
not ashamed to state well-known facts, nor have I wished to avoid the
obvious.
Nor do these sketches aim at obtaining a sensation by the shattering of
idols. I have been content to accept the verdicts passed by their
contemporaries on these great servants of the public, verdicts which, in
general, seem likely to stand the test of time. Boys will come soon
enough on books where criticism has fuller play, and revise the
judgements of the past. Such a revision is salutary, when it is not unfair
or bitter in tone.
At a time when the subject called 'civics' is being more widely
introduced into schools, it seems useful to present the facts of
individual lives, instances chosen from different professions, as a
supplement to the study of principles and institutions. There is a spirit

of public service which is best interpreted through concrete examples.
If teachers will, from their own knowledge, fill in these outlines and
give life to these portraits, the younger generation may find it not
uninteresting to 'praise famous men and our fathers that begat us'.
It seems hardly necessary in a book of this kind to give an imposing list
of authorities consulted. In some cases I should find it difficult to trace
the essay or memoir from which a statement is drawn; but in the main I
have depended on the standard Lives of the various men portrayed,
from Froude's Carlyle and Forster's Dickens to Mackail's Morris and
Michell's Rhodes. And, needless to say, I have found the Dictionary of
National Biography most valuable. If boys were not frightened from
the shelves by its bulk, it would render my work superfluous; but,
though I often recommend it to them, I find few signs that they consult
it as often as they should. It may seem that no due proportion has been
observed in the length of the different sketches; but it must be
remembered that, while short Lives of Napier and Lawrence have been
written by well-known authors, it is more difficult for a boy to satisfy
his curiosity about Lister, Patteson, or Green; and of Morier no
complete life has yet been published.
I am indebted to Mr. Emery Walker for assistance in the