, 1879-01-05
MIR. LEWES.
Personal Character and Appearance and
Mental Peculiarities of the Han.


Personal Character and Appearance and
Mental Pecu1iarities of the Nan.
London Truth.
Those who had the happiness to know Leves
intimately could say much more OF these per-
sonal characteristics OF delightful sincerity and
frankness Of nature which endeared him to his
friends His acute powers Of mind, and hla
profound knowledge Of all subjects he spoke Of,
riveted the attention, and made Instrumentation
Instructive and charming in its unaffected truth
fulness in the desire Of the speaker to be exact,
and in his tolerant indulgence Of the opinions
Of Others. He was always brave; he stood
the tire Of any severity, calmly awaiting every
fresh onslaught, never losing hts head, and
generally replying with some home thrust that,
if it did not settle the controversy, was pretty
sure to convince you that he saw further than
you did, and from higher point OF view. Many
passages Of arms Of this Kind did he have with
his great friend and almost pupil, Herbert
Spencer. Personally, Lewes was Thought to be
plain, because he was deeply marked With small
po1, and his features were thin, and OF late
much hollowed by the wear Of thought and the
constant gnawipg Of the kind Of atrophy which
at length broke the thread OF lie. But his
countenance was always radiant with fntelli-
gence, and his beautiful, large blue eye was
frank, aud pleasant to look into as deep,
clear water. In no man that I eyer saw
was the 1 eys more Ho 3 truly ' "ths 1.x windoT l
and with his mobile features and his always
hearty laugh he needed no Hyperion curls upon
his brow to make him more fascinating than
most handsome men. lie used to tell 4 good
story OF himself. Shortly after he had played
Othesio with s"clety OF amateurs at the old
Opera-House, in the Haymarket, he was at an
evening party, when q lady in conversation re-
marked to him how she had seen 0LheIo finely
acted By All amateur, to which Lewes replied
that he was the actor. But the lady was in
credu1ous, and, looking in bis face, exclaimed,
was not only very mastery esthetic critic in
art, whether OF the drama, the lyric stage,
music, or painting and sculpture, as many
will remember by those charming papers
ip the Leader signed ''Vivian,''. bur he
could sog stdr With all ,n The thgS ne net threw
1owed with the voice Of a Graziani, yet bis
perfect feeling for music, and his dramatic pow
er, made up for bis modest vocal gifts, aud to
hear him join in the famous trio in s. William
Tell" or sing one Of his faVorite songs OF Sal
vator Rosa, or Beethoyen's song Of 1.-The Flea,''
was thing never to be forgotten. He Was
devoted lover OF classical music, aud for years
mast, in company with bis dearest friend and
companion Of bis life, he enjoyed the music OF
the great masters at the st. James Hall con-
certs, where Two ianit1ar ngufes IN the 'front.'
row Of the sofas Will now be missed forever.
Lewes always regarded Goethe as his ideal, and
perhaps it was his Own wonderfully many-slded
nature that led him to feel and write with
such earnest sympathy for. his great model. 1t
was singular and interesting coincidence that
CARLYLE, to whom he dedicated his Life OF
Goethe, should have reached his SD birthday
on the very day that the friend Of bis earlier
years was laid in the tomb. 1t is known that be
sent most affectiQnate message but that for
his extreme weakness he should have certainly
ioiped the mouruers at the graye OF hts cead
,l fr;and Tht4 stnrv of EPOrre IeWess life is