Hurrell Froude: Memoranda and CommentsGuiney, Louise Imogen
History
Hurrell Froude: Memoranda and Comments
Guiney, Louise Imogen
Froude, Richard Hurrell, 1803-1836
‘“From his very birth his temper had been peculiar; pleasing,
intelligent, and attaching, when his mind was undisturbed, and he was
in the company of people who treated him reasonably and kindly; but
exceedingly impatient under vexatious circumstances; very much
disposed to find his own amusement in teasing and vexing others; and
almost entirely incorrigible when it was necessary to reprove him. I
never could find a successful mode of treating him. Harshness made him
obstinate and gloomy; calm and long displeasure made him stupid and
sullen; and kind patience had not sufficient power over his feelings
to force him to govern himself. After a statement of such great
faults, it may seem an inconsistency to say that he nevertheless still
bore about him strong marks of a promising character. In all points of
substantial principle his feelings were just and high. He had (for his
age) an unusually deep feeling of admiration for everything which was
good and noble; his relish was lively, and his taste good, for all the
pleasures of the imagination; and he was also quite conscious of his
own faults, and (_untempted_) had a just dislike to them.”’
‘Exercising a stern and absolute dominion over all the baser passions,
with a keen perception of the beautiful in nature and in art, and a
deep homage for the sublime in morals; imbued with the spirit of the
classical authors, and delighting in the exercise of talents which,
though they fell far short of excellence, rose as far above
mediocrity, Mr. Froude might have seemed to want no promise of an
honourable rank in literature, or of distinction in his sacred office.
His career was intercepted by a premature death; but enough is
recorded to show that his aspirations, however noble, must have been
defeated by the pride and moroseness which his mother’s wisdom
detected, and which her love disclosed to him; united as they were to
a constitutional distrust of his own powers, and a weak reliance on
other minds for guidance and support. A spirit at once haughty, and
unsustained by genuine self-confidence; subdued by the stronger will
or intellect of other men, and glorying in that subjection; regarding
the opponents of his masters with an intolerance exceeding their own;
and, in the midst of all his animosity towards others, turning with no
infrequent indignation on itself,――might form the basis of a good
dramatic sketch, of which Mr. Froude might not unworthily sustain the
burden. But a “dialogue of the dead,” in which George Whitfield and
Richard Froude should be the interlocutors, would be a more
appropriate channel for illustrating the practical uses of “the Second
Reformation,” and of the “Catholic Restoration,” which it is the
object of their respective biographies to illustrate. Rhadamanthus
having dismissed them from his tribunal, they would compare together
their juvenile admiration of the drama, their ascetic discipline at
Oxford, their early dependence on stronger or more resolute minds,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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