Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/597

 two lectures on ‘Horace and his Friends,’ delivered at the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution in Oct. 1881. His ‘Catullus, with Life and Notes,’ followed ‘Horace's Odes’ in 1861, and books i.–vi. of the ‘Æneid’ as late as 1896. In 1862 he published his translation of Dante's ‘Vita Nuova,’ which he dedicated in a charming sonnet to his ‘own true wife.’

German poetry occupied Martin's energies with more marked success. In Nov. 1850 he had printed in the ‘Dublin University Magazine’ a translation of Goethe's ‘Prometheus,’ and in 1865 he published a version of the ‘First Part of Faust.’ The ‘Second Part’ followed in 1886. The ‘First Part’ was constantly reprinted, and reached a ninth edition in 1910. A second revised edition of the ‘Second Part’ came out in the same year. Of the beautifully illustrated edition of the ‘First Part’ (1876) Queen Victoria made a Christmas present to Lord Beaconsfield. Martin's English version—one of many—of Schiller's ‘Camp of Wallenstein’ (Blackwood's Mag. Feb. 1892), although full of spirit and gaiety, wants the dignified atmosphere of the original. In 1878 appeared a translation of ‘Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine,’ and in 1889 ‘The Song of the Bell, and other Translations from Schiller, Goethe, Uhland and Others,’ an anthology of modern German lyric poetry. No metrical or other difficulty is shirked by the translator, but there is a lack of precision and finish in the execution. A spirited translation of Friedrich Halm's (Baron von Münch-Bellighausen) ‘Gladiator of Ravenna’ (1854), an essentially theatrical type of German romantic drama, was printed for private circulation. It was reprinted in 1894 with ‘Madonna Pia’ (founded on the Marquis du Belloy's ‘La Malaria’ of 1853), ‘King René's Daughter,’ and ‘The Camp.’ Martin also translated the poems of Giacomo Leopardi in 1904.

Meanwhile, Martin engaged in literary labour of a different kind. In 1866, while he was occupied with his memoir of Aytoun, his friend (Sir) Arthur Helps [q. v.] recommended him to Queen Victoria to write the biography of the Prince Consort. The life had originally been entrusted to General Charles Grey, the Queen's private secretary, and Grey had published in 1868 ‘The Early Years of the Prince Consort,’ only bringing the memoir as far as the Prince's marriage. Grey's other occupations prevented him from carrying the work further, and Helps's health unfitted him for the task. Martin's knowledge of German and his literary facility were his main recommendations. He was not personally known to the Queen, nor had he been acquainted with the Prince. He frankly stated his doubts and difficulties in a letter for the Queen's eye, but in an interview with her on 14 Nov. he accepted the task on his own condition—viz. that he should have a free hand as to both the time and the manner in which the work was carried out (Queen Victoria as I knew her, p. 19). The Queen, who undertook that the sifting of the documents to be placed at his disposal should be the business of herself, Grey, and Helps, placed in Martin the fullest trust. When on 10 Jan. 1868 Martin, while staying at Osborne, was confined to his room through a serious accident on the ice, his wife was invited to the palace and remained there for three weeks. Thenceforth the Queen showed Martin's wife as well as himself unceasing kindness. With him the Queen maintained until her death a very confidential intercourse and correspondence.

The first volume of the Prince's biography was published in 1875, and carried the narrative to 1848. The second volume, which appeared in 1876, largely dealt with the attacks on the Prince in the press, and his vindication in both houses of parliament. The third volume, which covered the period of the Crimean war, came out in Dec. 1877, when English relations with Russia were again strained. Martin's description of the influence which the Prince had exerted against that power and Prussia provoked a controversy as to the authority of the Crown in the constitution; Henry Dunckley [q. v. Suppl. I], writing under the pseudonym of ‘Verax’ in the ‘Manchester Examiner and Times’ and the ‘Manchester Guardian,’ vigorously questioned the right of the Crown to intervene in matters of policy (cf. his ‘The Crown and the Cabinet,’ 1878). Of Martin's fourth volume (1879) the Indian Mutiny formed the political background; and vol. v. brought to a close in 1880 the biographer's devoted labour of thirteen years (see his letter in Queen Victoria as I knew her, p. 8). The biography abounds in letters and papers previously unpublished and is an especially valuable contribution to current diplomatic history. Though the view taken of the Prince is highly favourable, Martin's tone is essentially candid and free from courtly adulation. Martin's services were recognised by the Queen's bestowal on him of the honours of C.B. in 1878 and of K.C.B. in 1880. A cheap edition of the biography (six parts at 6d. each) came out in 1881–2.