He puts out
his chin sometimes till it looks like the beak of a bird, and his eyes
flash bright instinctive meanings like Jove's bird; yet he is not calm
and grand enough for the eagle: he is more like the falcon, and yet not
of gentle blood enough for that either. He is not exactly like anything
but himself, and therefore you cannot see him without the most hearty
refreshment and goodwill, for he is original, rich, and strong enough to
afford a thousand faults; one expects some wild land in a rich kingdom.
His talk, like his books, is full of pictures, his critical strokes
masterly; allow for his point of view, and his survey is admirable. He
is a large subject; I cannot speak more nor wiselier of him now, nor
needs it; his works are true, to blame and praise him, the Siegfried of
England, great and powerful, if not quite invulnerable, and of a might
rather to destroy evil than legislate for good. At all events, he seems
to be what Destiny intended, and represents fully a certain side; so we
make no remonstrance as to his being and proceeding for himself, though
we sometimes must for us.
* * * * *
=_Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809-._= (Manual, p. 520.)
From "The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table.
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