The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-02-05 00:00:00

DEATH OF JOHN FORSTER.
(From 2 h,e Times, Wednesday, Feb. 2.)

Another vet v,an of literature has passed away from
us. "John Feer6i,NOtt-friend of Bulwer, Macready,
and Dickens, died yesterday at his house in Palace-
gate, Kensington, after a short illness. Born in New-
castle in 1812, he had just attained his 64th year, and
had exceeded by four years the term of life which
Dickens at Jerrold's death, with a melancholy fore-
boding of his owh fate, had assigned as the last limit
of literary existence. /
Alan early age Forster devoted himself to the press 4
he As a constant-Contributor to the Examiner for I
several years, and rose to be for ten years the editor of
that paper, when it was renowned as the most poyr r-
/411 )ibexaflorgaa of thel,Valy ikermitt e*
wit this, he was
.inclaard, ,t hrough e shiti thp
Dic ens, to beco'me-tht etlitor of the Da• y ors, w tin
Dickens retired from that uncongenial post. His con-
nection with that joFnal,__however, lasteslaporeels_o_
yeasr, qtuttilieiYhe Rand a more congenial -
field for his literary labours irk invent contribudjee
to the Quarterly, the Edin4zey4, rand ottieirevioks._
These labours might have suffieed_frwr fan Areline7t
maii, lint—j-ohn Forster was not one orthat nature.
He knew well that if a writer is to be great, he
must not be excursive, but limit himself to one sub-
ject. This he found in the stormy times of Charles I.
andithe Commonwealth, and, accordingly, his "States-
-men of the Commonwealth of England," published as
earlyns-1831-4 this " Arrest of the Five Members by
Chaides I.,".together 'with
,hits "Debates on the Grand
Remoriatre, ' in 1860, and, though last, not least, his
"Sir John-Eliot," in 1864, prove how completely he had
thastered all the complications of a most intricate period
of history. After exhausting the evil days of high pre-
' tcksti.ile nder th [is
RA genius grew more discur-
B and le pitting his wings for Wider flights. He had
already, in 1848, published a 'Charming life of Oliver
GOldsmith, whidh wan tfull ofz-Vroatisti foi further dis-
tinction in the same line, and in 1864 appeared "Walter
Savage Landor ; a Biography," in which both friend-
sidp and admiration of a great genius produced a work
which is likely to het. These were but the preludes
to his efforts in this direction; his greatest labours in
thiA field were yet to come. In 1870 Dickens died,
worn out with toil in the pursuit of riches. Forster
had been his oldest friend, and to his advice and judg-
ment that great writer owed his escape from many
troubles. No one had known the great novelist so well;
to no one had all the hopes and disappointments of his
career been so fully known. With singular propriety,
therefore, the literary remains of Dickens were confided
to Forster, and to him was entrusted the care of writing
his life. That biography appeared in three volumes
in 1871 and 1874, and in it it cannot be doubted
that Forster has done the best for his friend without
unduly extenuating his weaknesses. With this literary
achievement, Forster might have been content to sit
down, as one whose labours had rendered him free of
further literary effort ; but it was no secret to his
friends that he had reserved to himself another
biography, and that of one of the most gifted and yet
most maligned spirits that ever wielded the pen. For
years he had resolved to write the life of Swift ; for
years he had stored up materials for this difficult under-
taking. At last his wishes seemed about to be accom-
plished. It is but a few weeks since that we noticed
the first volume of " Forster's Life of Swift." which
contained the Prolegomena of a biography perhaps the
most hazardous to write. The materials for the
whole work are in store, but we have yet to learn'
whether the first volume of " Forster's Life of Swift"
will not be the last.
In 1855 Forster was appointed Secretary to the
Lunacy Commission, and in 1861 a Commissioner in
Lunacy, an appointment which he resigned some
years since. In both these capacities he showed him-
self an able public servant, and was thus added to the
Ist of those who do good service to the State in -0
modest and unobtrusive way. These were his publib
merits. As to his private virtues, they were manifold,
Few Ergr,lishmen in this generation have combined such
ut.flinchieg• firmness and honesty of purpose with such
real tenderness and sympathy for all with whom they
were brought into contact. Many there were who, at
first sight, thought John Forster obstinate and over 4
bearing who, on further acquaintance, were ready to
confess that, in reality, he was one of the tenderest ancl
most generous of men.
1.. I


PROFESSOR BLACKIE ON THE CLERGY
• fAND THE THEATRES.
At the Oddfellows' Hall, Edinburgh, en Saturday,
night, Professor Blackie presided at a Burns' anniver-
sary entertainment, consisting of an exhibition of view
of the land of the poet, portraits of eminent person
ages with whom he came in contact, and illustration
of his greatest works. These were accompanied wi
descriptive sketches, and interspersed with a selectio
of the bard's choicest songs. Piofessor 131ackie
in responding to a vote of thanks for presiding
said his rev, friends the clergy, instead o
declaiming against amusements, should take
hint from the person who got up this entertain,
ment, and give them sacred exhibitions similar to what!
they had just seen. Why should they not have the
life of King David, with scenery from Palestine, and a
person to give tt em the life and character of King
David? And why s,iould they not have the Psalms of
David sung ? Would there be anything profane in
that? (A Voice—' No.") Would they have the
Psalms of David to be sung only on Sunday? He sang
them every day. He therefore said to his rev, friends
the clergy, th a instead of declaiming against public
amusemtntk —either the theatre or any other, dancing
or anything else—they should get up some
public amusement and put the seal of sacred-
ness upon it. The Psalms of David were all
patriotic Psalms—they might depend UpOil that—
thoroughly patriotic. Nothing could give them a better
idea of the Psalms of David than having them sung,
accompanied with scenery of Palestine, and explana-
tions by the best D.D. and most eloquent preacher of
the Scottish pulpit. (Cheers.) He should be proud
if he could see the day—he knew he never should see
it—it was far too good an idea to be realised—but he
hoped that some future Greek professor might see the
day when all the great Greek tragedies—(A Voice,
"Oh I") Certainly. Ho hoped that some future Greek
professor would see the great Greek tragedies repre-
sented with proper scenery, dresses, and decorations.
He should Eke to know how the noble creations of
Homer, Euripides, Sophocles, iEschylus could be better
imprinted on the mind than by such pictures as they
had seen that night, with music by the best men in
Germany. Scottish learning would have to climb
pretty high befcre it was able to achieve a noble reali-
sation of this kind. He saw that they did not under-
stand that. He knew that in the minds of the Scottish
people learning was something very grave. He wanted
to unite learning with what was beautiful; he wanted
poets to shake hands with the beautiful, and even
with the good; and therefore he said that he wished
both the Church and the University might have the
sense to put up tolerable exhibitions of this deserip-
tion.—Glasgow News.

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