" Scarlatti was another of Handel's ardent admirers,
following him all over Italy; afterwards, when speaking of the
great master, he would cross himself in token of admiration. True
artists never fail generously to recognise each other's greatness.
Thus Beethoven's admiration for Cherubini was regal: and he
ardently hailed the genius of Schubert: "Truly," said he, "in
Schubert dwells a divine fire." When Northcote was a mere youth he
had such an admiration for Reynolds that, when the great painter
was once attending a public meeting down in Devonshire, the boy
pushed through the crowd, and got so near Reynolds as to touch the
skirt of his coat, "which I did," says Northcote, "with great
satisfaction to my mind,"--a true touch of youthful enthusiasm in
its admiration of genius.
The example of the brave is an inspiration to the timid, their
presence thrilling through every fibre. Hence the miracles of
valour so often performed by ordinary men under the leadership of
the heroic. The very recollection of the deeds of the valiant
stirs men's blood like the sound of a trumpet. Ziska bequeathed
his skin to be used as a drum to inspire the valour of the
Bohemians. When Scanderbeg, prince of Epirus, was dead, the Turks
wished to possess his bones, that each might wear a piece next his
heart, hoping thus to secure some portion of the courage he had
displayed while living, and which they had so often experienced in
battle.
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