Page:Edinburgh Review Volume 59.djvu/13

 . I.—The Life of Lieutenant-General Sir John Moore, K. B. By his brother, author:James Carrick Moore. 2 vols. 8vo. London: 1834.

name was so intimately connected with all the glorious exploits of the last war,—was so blended with our recollections of the deeds which have illustrated the arms of England, that it was with no common satisfaction we first heard his life was to be written. We anticipated the pleasure of seeing recorded the sentiments, the aspirations, and actions of a man, who had always appeared to us to unite in himself those seemingly incompatible characters, the hero of history, and the hero of romance. Moore was not only a consummate general, a penetrating statesman, and a proud fearless soldier, he was also an accomplished chivalric gentleman, and we had long yearned to have him placed before the world in all the purity of his stainless career.

We had often considered the mode in which such a man's life could be best written, so as to bring into full relief its numerous excellences; and as the rules of good composition require that there should be a principal action of the piece, we had endeavoured to decide whether it would be more judicious, and more just, to give the preference to his brilliant talents, or to that stern, that inflexible virtue, which was inherent to his lofty mind. Turning to the great models of antiquity, we saw the fiery breath of Tacitus animating his idol Agricola, admirable in speech, in camps a hero, in retirement a philosopher; how he made him frowning and dreadful in the front of battle, sedate on the judgment seat, cautious within the snares of the court, calm and serene upon the bed of death; in all things exciting our sympathy. Yet we could not but feel, that here the genius of the Rh