Doe pluck it softly for that shepheard’s sake.”
May the injunction of the last lines never be forgotten by any one who knows that the Forget-me-not is associated with the friendship of two such noble-minded men!
It is hardly necessary to say that Sir Philip Sidney fell gallantly fighting at the battle of Zutphen, or to narrate the interesting anecdote of his refusing a drink of cold water till a wounded soldier had partaken of it, saying, “Thy necessity is yet greater than mine;” thus nobly displaying both firm endurance (I.) and sensitive humanity (II.)
The other instances, Alexander the Great, and Napoleon, may be best treated of by contrasting them with their opposites; and we shall thus be enabled to illustrate, at the same time, both the Roman and the Greek Noses more fully. Moreover, while the contrast will clearly demonstrate the distinctive characteristics of those Noses, it will also evince how important it is to attend to compound forms, and how materially the character is affected by the intermixture of classes.
Of all the conquerors whose wild ambition has stained with blood the page of History, Alexander and Napoleon alone fought from a high romantic motive—the desire of eternal fame. By virtue of a large share of the Roman Nose, they pursued their favourite and chosen career with determined energy and a reckless disregard for the lives of others; nevertheless, being strongly gifted with the Greek, they might in some other sphere have been high artists of some class; but having the sword in their hands, they pursued intellectual fame by its means.
It is difficult to say whether the Roman or the Greek form predominates in their Noses; for they are perhaps as much Greco-Roman as Romano-Greek; but as they were warriors, we place them here because it will be advantageous to draw an illustrative contrast between their characters and Noses, and the characters and Noses of too many other mere conquerors, whose Noses have been purely Roman.
Let us briefly contrast Julius Cæsar and Alexander. They were both, in the prime of life, placed at the head of a large empire, firmly seated, with a large army and all the world open to their grasp. Their Noses alone differed. Alexander, while pursuing everlasting fame by his arms, and earning what was then deemed the highest glory, steadily devoted himself to the extension of scientific knowledge. Under his revered master Aristotle, he acquired much learning, and, when he ascended his father’s throne, devoted his arms as much to the conquest of the then unknown realms of science as of the kingdoms of the earth. His army was always accompanied by learned men, whose sole duty it was to investigate the history, religion, and arts of the countries he passed through, to collect rare animals and plants, statues, coins, and objects of art or curiosity to be transmitted to Greece for the study of his master Aristotle. It has been well said, “If there had been no Alexander, there would have been no Aristotle.” We do not laud the man who sought glory by the destruction of others, but merely assert that, as these acts prove, his motive to arms was a high intellectual one, and consistent with the compound character of his Nose.
JULIUS CÆSAR.
