Providence has decreed that those common acquisitions--money, gems, plate, noble mansions, and dominion--should be sometimes bestowed on the indolent and unworthy; but those things which constitute our true riches, and which are properly our own, must be procured by our own labour.
He must meet that truth with his own true stuff—with his own inborn strength. Principles? Principles won't do. Acquisitions, clothes, pretty rags—rags that would fly off at the first good shake. No; you want a deliberate belief.
Health to Achilles! hospitable cheer And well prepared, we want not at the board Of royal Agamemnon, or at thine, For both are nobly spread; but dainties now, Or plenteous boards, are little our concern. Oh godlike Chief! tremendous ills we sit Contemplating with fear, doubtful if life Or death, with the destruction of our fleet, Attend us, unless thou put on thy might. For lo! the haughty Trojans, with their friends Call'd from afar, at the fleet-side encamp, Fast by the wall, where they have kindled fires Numerous, and threaten that no force of ours Shall check their purposed inroad on the ships. Jove grants them favorable signs from heaven, Bright lightnings; Hector glares revenge, with rage Infuriate, and by Jove assisted, heeds Nor God nor man, but prays the morn to rise That he may hew away our vessel-heads, Burn all our fleet with fire, and at their sides Slay the Achaians struggling in the smoke. Horrible are my fears lest these his threats The Gods accomplish, and it be our doom To perish here, from Argos far remote. Up, therefore! if thou canst, and now at last The weary sons of all Achaia save From Trojan violence. Regret, but vain, Shall else be thine hereafter, when no cure Of such great ill, once suffer'd, can be found. Thou therefore, seasonably kind, devise Means to preserve from such disast'rous fate The Grecians. Ah, my friend! when Peleus thee From Phthia sent to Agamemnon's aid, On that same day he gave thee thus in charge. "Juno, my son, and Pallas, if they please, Can make thee valiant; but thy own big heart Thyself restrain. Sweet manners win respect. Cease from pernicious strife, and young and old Throughout the host shall honor thee the more." Such was thy father's charge, which thou, it seems, Remember'st not. Yet even now thy wrath Renounce; be reconciled; for princely gifts Atrides gives thee if thy wrath subside. Hear, if thou wilt, and I will tell thee all, How vast the gifts which Agamemnon made By promise thine, this night within his tent. Seven tripods never sullied yet with fire; Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright; Twelve steeds strong-limb'd, victorious in the race; No man possessing prizes such as those Which they have won for him, shall feel the want Of acquisitions splendid, or of gold. Seven virtuous female captives he will give, Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all, Whom when thou conquer'dst Lesbos, he received His chosen portion, passing woman-kind In perfect loveliness of face and form. These will he give, and will with these resign Her whom he took, Briseïs, with an oath Most solemn, that unconscious as she was Of his embraces, such he yields her back. All these he gives thee now! and if at length The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn Priam's great city, thou shalt heap thy ships With gold and brass, entering and choosing first, When we shall share the spoil; and shalt beside Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy, Helen except, loveliest of all their sex. And if once more the rich milk-flowing land We reach of Argos, thou shalt there become His son-in-law, and shalt enjoy like state With him, whom he in all abundance rears, His only son Orestes. In his house He hath three daughters; thou may'st home conduct To Phthia, her whom thou shalt most approve. Chrysothemis shall be thy bride; or else Laodice; or if she please thee more Iphianassa; and from thee he asks No dower; himself will such a dower bestow As never father on his child before. Seven fair well-peopled cities will he give; Cardamyle and Enope; and rich In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built, And for her depth of pasturage renown'd, Antheia; proud Æpeia's lofty towers, And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines. All these are maritime, and on the shore They stand of Pylus, by a race possess'd Most rich in flocks and herds, who tribute large And gifts presenting to thy sceptred hand, Shall hold thee high in honor as a God. These will he give thee, if thy wrath subside.
Then answer'd Agamemnon, King of men. Old Chief! there is no falsehood in thy charge; I have offended, and confess the wrong. The warrior is alone a host, whom Jove Loves as he loves Achilles, for whose sake He hath Achaia's thousands thus subdued. But if the impulse of a wayward mind Obeying, I have err'd, behold me, now, Prepared to soothe him with atonement large Of gifts inestimable, which by name I will propound in presence of you all. Seven tripods, never sullied yet with fire; Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright; Twelve coursers, strong, victorious in the race; No man possessing prizes such as mine Which they have won for me, shall feel the want Of acquisitions splendid or of gold. Seven virtuous female captives will I give Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all, Whom, when himself took Lesbos, I received My chosen portion, passing womankind In perfect loveliness of face and form. These will I give, and will with these resign Her whom I took, Briseïs, with an oath Most solemn, that unconscious as she was Of my embraces, such I yield her his. All these I give him now; and if at length The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn Priam's great city, let him heap his ships With gold and brass, entering and choosing first When we shall share the spoil. Let him beside Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy, Helen except, loveliest of all their sex. And if once more, the rich milk-flowing land We reach of Argos, he shall there become My son-in-law, and shall enjoy like state With him whom I in all abundance rear, My only son Orestes. At my home I have three daughters; let him thence conduct To Phthia, her whom he shall most approve. Chrysothemis shall be his bride, or else Laodice; or if she please him more, Iphianassa; and from him I ask No dower; myself will such a dower bestow As never father on his child before. Seven fair well-peopled cities I will give Cardamyle and Enope, and rich In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built, And for her depth of pasturage renown'd Antheia; proud Æpeia's lofty towers, And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines. All these are maritime, and on the shore They stand of Pylus, by a race possess'd Most rich in flocks and herds, who tributes large, And gifts presenting to his sceptred hand, Shall hold him high in honor as a God. These will I give him if from wrath he cease. Let him be overcome. Pluto alone Is found implacable and deaf to prayer, Whom therefore of all Gods men hate the most. My power is greater, and my years than his More numerous, therefore let him yield to me.
The decline in the fortunes of the family, however, was to be arrested by Frederick's son, Maximilian, afterwards the emperor Maximilian I., who was the second founder of the greatness of the house of Habsburg. Like his ancestor, Rudolph, he had to conquer the lands over which his descendants were destined to rule, and by arranging a treaty of succession to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, he pointed the way to power and empire in eastern Europe. Soon after his election as king of the Romans in 1486, Maximilian attacked the Hungarians, and in 1490 he had driven them from Austria, and recovered his hereditary lands. In the same year he made an arrangement with his kinsman, Sigismund of Tirol, by which he brought this county under his rule, and when the emperor Frederick died in 1493, Maximilian united the whole of the Austrian lands under his sway. Continuing his acquisitions of territory, he inherited the possessions of the counts of Görz in 1500, added some districts to Tirol by intervening in a succession war in Bavaria, and acquired Gradisca in 1512 as the result of a struggle with Venice. He did much for the better government of the Austrian duchies. Bodies were established for executive, financial and judicial purposes, the Austrian lands constituted one of the imperial circles which were established in 1512, and in 1518 representatives of the various diets (_Landtage_) met at Innsbruck, a proceeding which marks the beginning of an organic unity in the Austrian lands. In these ways Maximilian proved himself a capable and energetic ruler, although his plans for making Austria into a kingdom, or an electorate, were abortive. Entry: A
CRUIKSHANK, GEORGE (1792-1878), English artist, caricaturist and illustrator, was born in London on the 27th of September 1792. By natural disposition and collateral circumstances he may be accepted as the type of the born humoristic artist predestined for this special form of art. His grandfather had taken up the arts, and his father, Isaac Cruikshank, followed the painter's profession. Amidst these surroundings the children were born and brought up, their first playthings the materials of the arts their father practised. George followed the family traditions with amazing facility, easily surpassing his compeers as an etcher. When the father died, about 1811, George, still in his teens, was already a successful and popular artist. All his acquisitions were native gifts, and of home-growth; outside training, or the serious apprenticeship to art, were dispensed with, under the necessity of working for immediate profit. This lack of academic training the artist at times found cause to regret, and at some intervals he made exertions to cultivate the knowledge obtainable by studying from the antique and drawing from life at the schools. From boyhood he was accustomed to turn his artistic talents to ready account, disposing of designs and etchings to the printsellers, and helping his father in forwarding his plates. Before he was twenty his spirited style and talent had secured popular recognition; the contemporary of Gillray, Rowlandson, Alken, Heath, Dighton, and the established caricaturists of that generation, he developed great proficiency as an etcher. Gillray's matured and trained skill had some influence upon his executive powers, and when the older caricaturist passed away in 1815, George Cruikshank had already taken his place as a satirist. Prolific and dexterous beyond his competitors, for a generation he delineated Tories, Whigs and Radicals with fine impartiality. Satirical capital came to him from every public event,--wars abroad, the enemies of England (for he was always fervidly patriotic), the camp, the court, the senate, the Church; low life, high life; the humours of the people, the follies of the great. In this wonderful gallery the student may grasp the popular side of most questions which for the time being engaged public attention. George Cruikshank's technical and manipulative skill as an etcher was such that Ruskin and the best judges have placed his productions in the foremost rank; in this respect his works have been compared favourably with the masterpieces of etching. He died at 263 Hampstead Road on the 1st of February 1878. His remains rest in St Paul's cathedral. Entry: CRUIKSHANK
Russia's eastward movement through Asia has been strikingly illustrative of her strong craving for free access to southern seas and of the impediments she had experienced in gratifying that wish. An irresistible impulse had driven her oceanward. Checked again and again in her attempts to reach the Mediterranean, she set out on a five-thousand-miles march of conquest right across the vast Asiatic continent towards the Pacific. Eastward of Lake Baikal she found her line of least resistance along the Amur, and when, owing to the restless perseverance of Muravief, she reached the mouth of that great river, the acquisition of Nikolayevsk for a naval basis was her immediate reward. But Nikolayevsk could not possibly satisfy her. Situated in an inhospitable region far away from all the main routes of the world's commerce, it offered itself only as a stepping-stone to further acquisitions. To push southward from this new port became an immediate object to Russia. There lay an obstacle in the way, however; the long strip of sea-coast from the mouth of the Amur to the Korean frontier--an area then called the Usuri region because the Usuri forms its western boundary--belonged to China, and she, having conceded much to Russia in the matter of the Amur, showed no disposition to make further concessions in the matter of the Usuri. In the presence of menaces, however, she agreed that the region should be regarded as common property pending a convenient opportunity for clear delimitation. That opportunity came very soon. Seizing the moment (1860) when China had been beaten to her knees by England and France, Russia secured final cession of the Usuri region, which now became the maritime province of Siberia. Then Russia shifted her naval base on the Pacific from Nikolayevsk to Vladivostok. She gained ten degrees in a southerly direction. Entry: JAPAN
The removal of all immediate danger of a Franco-Russian alliance did not prevent Bismarck from strengthening in other ways the diplomatic position of Germany, and the result of his efforts soon became apparent in the alliance of Italy with the two central powers. Ever since the Franco-German War of 1870-71, and more especially since the congress of Berlin in 1878, the Italian government had shown itself restless and undecided in its foreign policy. As it was to France that Italy owed her emancipation from Austrian rule, it seemed natural that the two countries should remain allies, but anything like cordial co-operation was prevented by conflicting interests and hostile feeling. The French did not consider the acquisition of Savoy and Nice a sufficient compensation for the assistance they had given to the cause of Italian unity, and they did not know, or did not care to remember, that their own government was greatly to blame for the passive attitude of Italy in the hour of their great national misfortunes. On the other hand, a considerable amount of bitterness against France had been gradually accumulating in the hearts of the Italians. As far back as the end of the war of 1859, popular opinion had been freely expressed against Napoleon III., because he had failed to keep his promise of liberating Italy "from the Alps to the Adriatic." The feeling was revived and intensified when it became known that he was opposing the annexation of central and southern Italy, and that he obtained Savoy and Nice as the price of partly withdrawing his opposition. Subsequently, in the war of 1866, he was supposed to have insulted Italy by making her conclude peace with Austria, on the basis of the cession of Venetia, before she could wipe out the humiliation of her defeats at Custozza and Lissa. Then came the French protection of the pope's temporal power as a constant source of irritation, producing occasional explosions of violent hostility, as when the new Chassepot rifles were announced to have "worked wonders" among the Garibaldians at Mentana. When the Second Empire was replaced by the Republic, the relations did not improve. French statesmen of the Thiers school had always condemned the imperial policy of permitting and even encouraging the creation of large, powerful states on the French frontiers, and Thiers himself publicly attributed to this policy the misfortunes of his country. With regard to Italy, he said openly that he regretted what had been done, though he had no intention of undoing it. The first part of this statement was carefully noted in Italy, and the latter part was accepted with scepticism. In any case his hand might perhaps be forced, for in the first republican chamber the monarchical and clerical element was very strong, and it persistently attempted to get something done in favour of the temporal power. Even when the party of the Left undertook the direction of affairs in 1876, the government did not become anti-clerical in its foreign policy, and Italian statesmen resigned themselves to a position of political isolation. The position had its advantages. Events in the Balkan Peninsula foreshadowed a great European war, and it seemed that in the event of Europe's being divided into two hostile camps, Italy might have the honour and the advantage of regulating the balance of power. By maintaining good relations with all her neighbours and carefully avoiding all inconvenient entanglements, she might come forward at the critical moment and dictate her own terms to either of the contending parties, or offer her services to the highest bidder. This Machiavellian policy did not give the expected results. Being friends with everybody in a general way may be the best course for an old, conservative country which desires merely the maintenance of the _status quo_, but it does not secure the energetic diplomatic support required by a young enterprising state which wishes to increase its territory and influence. At the congress of Berlin, when several of the powers got territorial acquisitions, Italy got nothing. The Italians, who were in the habit of assuming, almost as a matter of principle, that from all European complications they had a right to obtain some tangible advantage, were naturally disappointed, and they attributed their misfortune to their political isolation. The policy of the free hand consequently fell into disrepute, and the desire for a close, efficient alliance revived. But with what power or powers should an alliance be made? The remnants of the old party of action, who still carried the _Italia Irredenta_ banner, had an answer ready. They recommended that alliances should be concluded with a view to wresting from Austria the Trentino and Trieste, with Dalmatia, perhaps, into the bargain. On the other hand, the Conservatives and the Moderates considered that the question of the Trentino and Trieste was much less important than that of political influence in the Mediterranean. A strong Austria was required, it was said, to bar the way of Russia to the Adriatic, and France must not be allowed to pursue unchecked her policy of transforming the Mediterranean into a French lake. Considerations of this kind led naturally to the conclusion that Italy should draw closer to the powers of central Europe. So the question appeared from the standpoint of "la haute politique." From the less elevated standpoint of immediate political interests, it presented conflicting considerations. A _rapprochement_ with the central powers might prevent the conclusion of a commercial treaty with France, and thereby increase the financial and economic difficulties with which the young kingdom was struggling, whereas a _rapprochement_ with France would certainly excite the hostility of Bismarck, who was retiring from the _Kulturkampf_ and journeying towards Canossa, and who might possibly conciliate the pope by helping him to recover his temporal sovereignty at the expense of Italy. Altogether the problem was a very complicated one. The conflicting currents so nearly balanced each other, that the question as to which way the ship would drift might be decided by a little squall of popular sentiment. A very big squall was brewing. Entry: 1740
The collections most worthy of attention are the state galleries representative of international schools. Among these the British National Gallery holds a high place. The collection was founded in 1824 by the acquisition of the Angerstein pictures. Its accessions are mainly governed by the parliamentary grant of £5000 to £10,000 a year, a sum which has occasionally been enlarged to permit special purchases. Thus, in 1871, the Peel collection of seventy-seven pictures was bought for £75,000, and in 1885 the Ansidei Madonna (Raphael) and Van Dyck's portrait of Charles I. were bought, the one for £70,000 and the other for £17,500. In 1890 the government gave £25,000 to meet a gift of £30,000 made by three gentlemen to acquire three portraits by Moroni, Velazquez and Holbein. The most important private gifts were the Vernon gift in 1847, the Turner bequest in 1856 and the Wynne-Ellis legacy in 1876. Since 1905 the Art Collections Fund, a society of private subscribers, has also been responsible for important additions to the gallery, notably the Venus of Velazquez (1907). The gallery contains very few poor works and all schools are well represented, with the sole exception of the French school. This, however, can be amply studied at Hertford House (Wallace Collection), which, besides Dutch, Spanish and British pictures of the highest value, contains twenty examples of Greuze, fifteen by Pater, nineteen by Boucher, eleven by Watteau and fifteen by Meissonier. The national gallery of pictures at Berlin (Kaiser Friedrich Museum), like the British National Gallery, is remarkable for its variety of schools and painters, and for the select type of pictures shown. During the last twenty-five years of the 19th century, the development of this collection was even more striking than that of the English gallery. Italian and Dutch examples are specially numerous, though every school but the British (here as elsewhere) is really well seen. The purchase grant is considerable, and is well applied. Two other German capitals have collections of international importance--Dresden and Münich. The former is famous for the Sistine Madonna by Raphael, a work of such supreme excellence that there is a tendency to overlook other Italian pictures of celebrity by Titian, Giorgione and Correggio. Münich (Old Pinakothek) has examples of all the best masters, the South German school being particularly noticeable. The arrangement is good, and the methods of exhibition make this one of the most pleasant galleries on the continent. Vienna has the Imperial Gallery, a collection which in point of number cannot be considered large, as there are not more than 1700 pictures. This, however, is in itself a safeguard, like the wise provision in a statute of 1856 for enabling the English authorities to dispose of pictures "unfit for the collection, or not required." It avoids the undue multiplication of canvases, and the overcrowding so noticeable in many Italian galleries where first-rate pictures hang too high to be examined. Thus the Viennese gallery, besides the intrinsic value of its pictures (Albert Durer's chief work is there), is admirably adapted for study. The best gallery in Russia (St Petersburg, Hermitage) was made entirely by royal efforts, having been founded by Peter the Great, and much enlarged by the empress Catherine. It contains the collections of Crozat, Brühl and Walpole. There are about 1800 works, the schools of Flanders and Italy being of signal merit; and there are at least thirty-five genuine examples by Rembrandt. The French collection (Louvre Palace, Paris) is one of the most important of all. In 1880 it was undoubtedly the first gallery in Europe, but its supremacy has since been menaced by other establishments where acquisitions are made more frequently and with greater care, and where the system of classification is such that the value of the pictures is enhanced rather than diminished by their display. In 1900 it was partly rearranged with great effect. The feature of the Louvre is the Salon Carré, a room in which the supposed finest canvases in the collection are kept together, pictures of world-wide fame, representing all schools. It is now generally accepted that this system of selection not only lowers the standard of individual schools elsewhere by withdrawing their best pictures, but does not add to the aesthetic or educational value of the masterpieces themselves. In Florence the Tribuna room of the Uffizi gallery is a similar case in point. Probably the two most widely known pictures in the Louvre are Watteau's second "Embarquement pour Cythère," and the "Monna Lisa," a portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, but each school has many unique examples. The original drawings should be noted, being of equal importance to the collection preserved at the British Museum. The last collection to be mentioned under this heading is that known as the Royal Galleries in Florence, housed in the Pitti and Uffizi palaces. In some ways this collection does not represent general painting sufficiently to justify its inclusion with the galleries of Berlin, Paris and London. On the other hand, the great number of Italian pictures of vital importance to the history of international art makes this one of the finest existing collections. The two great palaces, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries, are joined together and contain the Medici pictures. They form the largest gallery in the world, and though many of the rooms are small and badly lighted, and although many paintings have suffered from thoughtless restoration, they have a charm and attraction which certainly make them the most popular galleries in Europe. The Pitti has ten Raphaels and excellent examples of Andrea del Sarto, Giorgione and Perugino. The Uffizi is more representative of non-Italian schools, but is best known for its works by Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Sodoma, the schools of Tuscany and Umbria forming the bulk of both collections. Admission to the galleries is by payment, and the small income derived from this source is devoted to maintaining and enlarging the collections. Entry: ART