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biographical study of a. w. kinglake-第16章

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e tribute  to Korniloff's powers; and the description of his death; in  Chapters VI。 and XIII。 of Vol。 IV。 (Cabinet Edition)。

Many of his comments on current events are preserved in the notes  or in the memories of his friends。  Sometimes these were  characteristically cynical。  He ridiculed the newspaper parade of  national sympathy with the Prince of Wales's illness: 〃We are  represented as all members of the royal family; and all in family  hysterics。〃  Dizzy's orientalization of Queen Victoria into an  Empress angered him; as it angered many more。  The last Empress  Regnant; he said; was Catherine II。 and it seems to be thought that  by advising the Queen to take that great monarch's title; we shall  exercise a wholesome influence on the morals of our women。  He  would quote Byron's


〃Russia's mighty Empress Behaved no better than a common sempstress;〃


〃there was an old…fashioned sacredness; which; however foolish  intrinsically; was still useful; in our title of 'The Queen'; nor  do we see the policy of adding a SUPREME DE VOLAILLE to the bread  and wine of our Sacrament。〃

He chuckled over the indignation of the HAUTE VOLEE; when on the  visit to England of President Grant's daughter in 1872; Americans  in London sent out cards of invitation headed 〃To meet Miss Grant;〃  as at a profane imitation of a practice hitherto confined to  royalties; laughing not at the legitimate American mimicry of  European consequence; but at the silly formalists in Society who  fumed over the imagined presumption。  Consulted by an invalid as to  the charm of Ostend for a seaside residence; he limited it to  persons of gregarious habits; 〃the people are all driven down to  the beach like a flock of sheep in the morning; and in the evening  they are all driven back to their folds。〃  He reported a feeble  drama written by his ancient idol; Lord Stratford de Redcliffe; 〃it  is a painful thing to see a man of his quality and of his age  unduly detained in the world; when the Emperor Nicholas died; the  Eltchi lost his RAISON D'ETRE。〃  He disparaged the wild fit of  morality undergone by the 〃Pall Mall Gazette〃 during the scandalous  〃Maiden Tribute〃 revelation; pronouncing its protegees to be  〃clever little devils。〃  He was greatly startled by Gortschakoff's  famous circular; annulling the Black Sea clause in the Treaty of  Paris; and much relieved by Bismarck's dexterous interposition;  which saved the susceptibility of Europe; and especially of  England; by yielding as a favour to the demand of Russia what no  one was in a position to refuse; but he maintained; and Lord  Stratford agreed with him; that Gortschakoff's precipitate act was  governed by circumstances never revealed to mankind。  He learned;  too; that it caused the Chancellor to be DECONSIDERE in high  Russian circles; he was called 〃UN NARCISSE QUI SE MIRE DANS SON  ENCRIER。〃  Kinglake used to say that in conceding the right of the  Sultan to exclude any war…flag from the Bosphorus and the  Dardanelles; Russia was treating Turkey as a bag…fox; to be gently  hunted occasionally; but not mangled or killed; and he felt keenly  the ridicule resting on the allies; who were compelled to surrender  the neutralization purchased at the cost of so much blood and  treasure。  He watched with much amusement the restoration of  Turkish self…confidence。  〃Turkey believes that he is no longer a  sick man; and is turning all his doctors out of the house; to the  immense astonishment of the English doctor; so conscious of his own  rectitude that he cannot understand being sent off with the quacks。   You know in our beautiful Liturgy we have a prayer for the Turks;  it looks as if our supplications had become successful。〃  His  interest in Turkey never flagged。  〃I am in a great fright;〃 he  said in 1877; 〃about my dear Turks; because Russia gives virtual  command of the army before Plevna to Todleben; a really great HOMME  DE GUERRE。〃

Russophobia was at that time so strong in London that Madame  Novikoff hesitated to visit England; and he himself feared that she  might find it uncomfortable。  Her alarm; however; was ridiculed by  Hayward; 〃most faithful of the Russianisers; ready to do battle for  Russia at any moment; declaring her to be quite virtuous; with no  fault but that of being INCOMPRISE。〃  But he groaned over the  humiliation of England under Russia's bold stroke; noting  frequently a decay of English character which he ascribed to  chronic causes。  The Englishman taken separately; he said; seems  much the same as he used to be; but there is a softening of the  aggregate brain which affects Englishmen when acting together。  He  hailed the great Liberal victory of 1880; and watched with  interest; as one behind the scenes; the negotiations which led to  Lord Hartington's withdrawal and Mr。 Gladstone's resumption of  power; for in these his friend Hayward was an active go…between;  removing by his tact and frankness 〃hitches〃 which might otherwise  have been disastrous。  He thought W。 E。 Forster's attack on Mr。  Gladstone's Irish policy in 1882 ill…managed for his own position;  his famous speech not sufficiently 〃clenching。〃  Had he separated  from his chief on broader grounds; refusing complicity with a  Minister who consented to parley with the imprisoned Irishmen; he  would; Kinglake thought; have occupied a highly commanding  position。  At present his difference from his colleagues was one  only of degree。

He was once beguiled; amongst friends very intimate; into telling a  dream。  He dreamed that he was attending an anatomical lecture …  which; as a fact; he had never done … and that his own body; from  which he found himself entirely separated; was the dissected  subject on which the lecturer discoursed。  The body lay on a table  beside the lecturer; but he himself; his entity; was at the other  end of the room; on the furthest or highest of a set of benches  raised one above the other as at a theatre。  He imagined himself in  a vague way to be disagreeing with the lecturer; but the strongest  impression on his mind was annoyance at being so badly placed; so  far from the professor and from his own body that he could not see  or hear without an effort。  The dream; he pointed out; showed this  curious fact; that without any conscious design or effort of the  will a man may conceive himself to be in perfect possession of his  identity; whilst separated from his own body by a distance of  several feet。  〃The highest concept;〃 said Jowett; 〃which man forms  of himself is as detached from the body。〃  (〃Life;〃 ii。 241。)  The  lecture…room which he imagined was one of the lower school…rooms at  Eton; with which he had been familiar in early days。

After Hayward's death in 1884; his own habits began to change。  He  still dined at the Athenaeum 〃corner;〃 but increasing deafness  began to make society irksome; and; his solitary meal ended; he  spent his evenings reading in the Library。  By…and…by that too  became impossible。  His voice grew weak; throat and tongue were  threatened with disease。  In 1888 he went to Brighton with a nurse;  returned to rooms on Richmond Hill; then to Bayswater Terrace。  An  operation was performed and he seemed to recover; but relapsed。   Old friends tended him: Madame Novikoff; Mr。 Froude and Mr。 Lecky;  Madame de Quaire and Mrs。 Brookfield; Lord Mexborough his ancient  fellow…traveller; Mrs。 Craven; Sir William and Lady Gregory; with a  few more; cheered him by their visits so long as he was able to  bear them; and his brother and sister; Dr。 and Mrs。 Hamilton  Kinglake; were with him at the end。  Patient to the last; kind and  gentle to all about him; he passed away quietly on New Year's Day;  1891:


〃being merry…hearted; Shook hands with flesh and blood; and so departed。〃


His remains were cremated at Woking; after a special service at  Christchurch; Lancaster Gate; attended by Dr。 and Mrs。 Kinglake  with their son Captain Kinglake; the Duke of Bedford; Mr。 and Mrs。  Lecky; Mrs。 W。 H。 Brookfield and her son Charles。


No good portrait of him has been published。  That prefixed to  Blackwood's 〃Eothen〃 of 1896 was furnished by Dr。 Kinglake; who;  however; looked upon it as unsatisfactory。  The 〃Not an M。P。〃 of  〃Vanity Fair;〃 1872; is a grotesque caricature。  The photograph  here reproduced (p。 128); by far the best likeness extant; he gave  to Madame Novikoff in 1870; receiving hers in return; but  pronouncing the transaction 〃an exchange between the personified  months of May and November。〃  The face gives expression to the shy  aloofness which; amongst strangers; was characteristic of him  through life。  He had even a horror of hearing his name pealed out  by servants; and came early to parties that the proclamation might  be achieved before as few auditors as possible。  Visiting the newly  married husband of his friend Adelaide Kemble; and being the first  guest to arrive; he encountered in Mr。 Sartoris a host as  contentedly undemonstrative as himself。  Bows passed; a seat by the  fire was indicated; he sat down; and the pair contemplated one  another for ten minutes in absolute silence; till the lady of the  house came in; like the prince in 〃The Sleeping Beauty;〃 though not  by the same process; to break the charm。  He gave up call
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