The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes: First Lord Houghton. E-book. Formato PDF T. Wemyss Reid   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

No apology is needed for the appearance of a biography of such a man as Lord Houghton. For more than half a century Monckton Milnes was one of the conspicuous figures in European society, and during the whole of that long period he played a distinctive part in contemporary life. Recognised so far back as the beginning of the present reign as one of the ornaments of English society, a wit and a humorist who could bold his own among the best men and women of his time, he quickly secured recognition for other and more sterling qualities. His poetry gained the ear of the public, even though Tennyson was one of his contemporaries; his prose-writing - though lacking in that continuous effort which is now-a-days essential to permanent fame - charmed his own generation, and must long remain a delight to all lovers of good English. His political career, though it failed to satisfy both his own aspirations and the hopes of his friends, was brightened by one notable and unselfish triumph, his share in the establishment of reformatories for children who had been born or driven by force of circumstances into the criminal classes.

The Life, Letters, and Friendships of Richard Monckton Milnes: First Lord Houghton. E-book. Formato PDF T. Wemyss Reid   -  Forgotten Books, 2017  - 

I do not mind 's not having paid mel — that may be almost impossible for him to have done — but he might have sent me the interest, and asked me to let the principal stand over till better times, which I should have done at once. As one gets on in life, one of the most annoying reflections is the little good one has done by what people call benevolence; in fact, how little man can be benefited by others. On the other hand, it is just the best men who can be benefited, as one feels in the life of Goethe. How different his development would have been under adverse circumstances! And how much Carl August had to do with his genius in giving it the peaceful prosperous air in which it delighted to grow! I have had a domestic grievance which has given me much vexation. Lord Palmerston, for my sake, has offered my father a peerage, which the said father refused without consulting me, thereby affronting the Premier, and disappointing my fair claims. I care about the social position for the sake of my wife and children, and I should be glad of a quieter and less confused sphere of political action as I get older and then it distorts the relation between my father and myself in a very uncomfortable manner. As we do not live in Abrahamic times, Isaac may be permitted not fully to appreciate the merit of the paternal sacrifice. Peace is inevitable. Russia acts on a well-settled principle of interest, and cares little about honour. The Czar saw he must be a loser, and bravely submitted to necessity. Consoled with the notion that he had aggrandised France as against England, he will make no small difficulties.