of every nation. Why have the
mighty kingdoms of the East perished without either general reverence or
personal value, but from the absence of Character in their people; while
Greece in all its ancient periods, and Rome throughout the days of its
republic, are still the objects of classic interest, of general homage,
and of generous emulation, among all the nobler spirits of the world? We
pass over the records of Oriental empire as we pass over the ruins of
their capitals; we find nothing but masses of wreck, unwieldy heaps of
what once, perhaps, was symmetry and beauty; fragments of vast piles,
which once exhibited the lavish grandeur of the monarch, or the colossal
labour of the people; but all now mouldered and melted down. The mass
essentially wants the interest of individuality. A nation sleeps below,
and the last memorial of its being is a vast but shapeless mound of
clay.

Greece, Rome, and England give us that individuality in its full
interest. In their annals, we walk through a gallery of portraits; the
forms "as they lived," every feature distinct, every attitude preserved,
even the slight accidents of costume and circumstance placed before the
eye with almost living accuracy. Plutarch's _Lives_ is by far the most
important work of ancient literature; from this exhibition of the force,
dignity, and energy attainable by human character. No man of
intelligence can read its pages without forming a higher conception of
the capabilities of human nature; and thus, to a certain extent,
kindling in himself a spirit of enterprise.

It is in this sense that we attach a value to every work which gives us
the biography of a distinguished public character. Its most imperfect
performance at least shows us what is to be done by the vigorous
resolution of a vigorous mind; it marks the path by which that mind rose
to eminence; and by showing us the difficulties through which its
subject was compelled to struggle, and the success by which its gallant
perseverance was crowned, at once teaches the young aspirant to struggle
with the difficulties of his own career, and cheers him with the
prospect of ultimate triumph.

Of the general execution of these volumes, we do not desire to speak.
They have been professedly undertaken as a matter of authorship. We
cannot discover that the author has had any suggestion on the subject
from the family of the late Marquess, nor that he has had access to any
documents hitherto reserved from