It
is related of him, that in his last illness, when feeble and
exhausted, his mind wandered back to Plutarch's heroes; and he
descanted for hours to his son-in-law on the mighty deeds of
Alexander, Hannibal, and Caesar. Indeed, if it were possible to
poll the great body of readers in all ages whose minds have been
influenced and directed by books, it is probable that--excepting
always the Bible--the immense majority of votes would be cast in
favour of Plutarch.
And how is it that Plutarch has succeeded in exciting an interest
which continues to attract and rivet the attention of readers of
all ages and classes to this day? In the first place, because the
subject of his work is great men, who occupied a prominent place
in the world's history, and because he had an eye to see and a pen
to describe the more prominent events and circumstances in their
lives. And not only so, but he possessed the power of portraying
the individual character of his heroes; for it is the principle of
individuality which gives the charm and interest to all biography.
The most engaging side of great men is not so much what they do as
what they are, and does not depend upon their power of intellect
but on their personal attractiveness. Thus, there are men whose
lives are far more eloquent than their speeches, and whose
personal character is far greater than their deeds.
It is also to be observed, that while the best and most carefully-
drawn of Plutarch's portraits are of life-size, many of them are
little more than busts.
Pages:
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360