598 Mr. Edmund Gosse [April 30, 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, xlpril ?»0, 11)09. 



Sir James Crichton-Browne, M.D. LL.D. F.R.S., 



Treasurer and Vice-President, in the Chair. 



Edmund Gosse, Esq., M.A. LL.D., Librarian to the 

 House of Lords. 



The Fit/alls of Biography. 



[abstract.] 



The first consideration in the writing of biography, after that which 

 is involved in " the strict and scrupulous veracity " of which Boswell 

 boasted, is that of obtaining a characteristic portrait of the subject 

 within such proportions as are exactly suitable to its value and 

 size. The element of discretion enters largely into this matter, and 

 it is necessary to consider with unusual care what biographical dis- 

 cretion really is, and how far its dictates are to be obeyed. There 

 are, however, several definitions of " discretion " given by the best 

 lexicographers, and the man who does not dare to take the balance 

 of those meanings into his own hands, and to decide by the light of 

 his own sense of decorum, what should and what should not be printed, 

 is liable to prove himself an indiscreet biographer, in what he timidly 

 omits no less than what he ventures to say. The art or practice 

 of biography defined. In early times, this art was universally mis- 

 conceived, and it is even now necessary to insist upon what it is 

 not. A biography is not a philosophical treatise, nor a sermon 

 in religion or morals. The celebration of virtuous and dignified 

 qualities was in earlier ages the sole aim of a biographer, and not 

 the faithful portrait of the man, in his habit as he lived. There is a 

 curiosity which is now recognised as being legitimate, and this is 

 satisfied almost to excess in the best biography which exists in any 

 language, the " Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson." This satisfaction of 

 curiosity presupposes an observation of Hfe which is not often 

 possessed by those whose vision is clouded by moral passion or social 

 prejudice. Hence there is always proceeding, in the field of bio- 

 graphy, a struggle between those who wish to instruct and those who 

 wish to amuse. One of the crying faults of most modern " Lives " 

 is their unwieldy length, and this, strange to say, seems mainly due to 

 the haste of their authors and lack of leisurely care expended on 

 their preparation. The biographer is in too great a hurry to spare 

 time in winnowing his material, so, as a concession to breathless 

 haste, the documents are flung together in a rough heap, without 



