first gazed on Raphael's 'Saint Cecilia,' he felt within himself
an awakened power, and exclaimed, "And I too am a painter" So
Constable used to look back on his first sight of Claude's picture
of 'Hagar,' as forming an epoch in his career. Sir George
Beaumont's admiration of the same picture was such that he always
took it with him in his carriage when he travelled from home.

The examples set by the great and good do not die; they continue
to live and speak to all the generations that succeed them. It
was very impressively observed by Mr. Disraeli, in the House of
Commons, shortly after the death of Mr. Cobden:--"There is this
consolation remaining to us, when we remember our unequalled and
irreparable losses, that those great men are not altogether lost
to us--that their words will often be quoted in this House--that
their examples will often be referred to and appealed to, and that
even their expressions will form part of our discussions and
debates. There are now, I may say, some members of Parliament
who, though they may not be present, are still members of this
House--who are independent of dissolutions, of the caprices of
constituencies, and even of the course of time. I think that Mr.
Cobden was one of those men."

It is the great lesson of biography to teach what man can be and
can do at his best. It may thus give each man renewed strength
and confidence. The humblest, in sight of even the greatest, may
admire, and hope, and take courage. These great brothers of ours
in blood and lineage, who live a universal life, still speak to us
from their graves, and beckon us on in the paths which they have
trod. Their example is still with us, to guide, to influence,
and to direct us. For nobility of character is a perpetual