CHAPTER X 

 MAECENAS AND HIS HAPPENINGS 



A Sir Joseph Banks approached middle life, it 

 was more and more obvious that he had 

 unwittingly acquired a great hold upon the 

 minds of his generation. The tradition 

 of his wonderful reputation among his cotemporaries 

 has been hitherto little understood. Clearly, he was a 

 man of public spirit in the truest sense ; i.e. in rational 

 work without palaver. Such a spirit was one of the needs 

 of his time. He was by no means a solitary example of its 

 exhibition. It was opportunely displayed in the persons 

 of many eminent men whose activity and intelligence 

 helped forward the progress of science and of philan- 

 thropic ideas. 



It was Banks's happy fortune that he was not tempted, 

 in his early years, to employ his ample fortune in a 

 wasteful manner. Mature life found him the ardent 

 devotee of science and the patron of every project of 

 public utility. As his character developed with years, 

 it was seen that a strong and sturdy man had arisen a 

 born leader. Beside this, he inspired much personal 

 affection. His sagacious mind, his generous disposition, 

 his independent habit, and his intimate knowledge of 

 the world, readily captured the hearts of men. It is 

 not surprising that the popular estimation of Sir Joseph 

 Banks was so high. 



Seeing the multiplicity and variety of his occupations, 

 and the customary impulse to appeal to his opinion on 



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