Essayist, historian, biographer, novelist, he is
always intent to smooth away the asperities of his subject, and, like
some stately grandame enthroned in high-backed chair, he remembers
that his simple auditors are to be not merely entertained by the
matter of his discourse, but impressed by the suave tones and
high-bred prolixity of the speaker. With a dignified courtesy unknown
in these latter times--when biographers and historians do not scruple
to take liberties with their heroes to the extent even of designating
them by nicknames--the subject of the present memoir is introduced to
us as _Mr_. Brassey, a form not only adopted on the title-page, but
preserved in the body of the work, where we read that "Mr. Brassey
was born November 7, 1805," that "Mr. Brassey, at twelve years of age,
went to a school at Chester," and that, being afterward articled to
a surveyor, "Mr. Brassey was permitted by his master" to assist in
making certain surveys. It is only from a side whisper to the American
public, which is honored with a preface all to itself, that we are
permitted to learn that the great contractor owned to the Christian
name of Thomas. Besides the two prefaces there is a dedication to
the queen, an introduction telling how Sir Arthur Helps made the
acquaintance of Mr. Brassey and what impressions he received from the
interview, and a preliminary chapter containing a brief outline of
Mr. Brassey's character as "a man of business;" so that we get at the
substance of the book by a process like that which in a well-conducted
household precedes the carving and distribution of a Christmas cake,
any eagerness we might feel to "put in a thumb and pull out a plum"
being kept in check by a proper amount of ceremony and tissue-paper.
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