1568-1639
[Sidenote: _Reliquiæ Wottoninæ_]
“He returned out of _Italy_ in _England_ about the thirtieth year of
his age, being then noted by many, both for his person and comportment;
for indeed he was of a choice shape, tall of stature, and of a most
persuasive behaviour; which was so mixed with sweet Discourse and
Civilities, as gained him much love from all Persons with whom he
entered into an acquaintance. And whereas he was noted in his Youth
to have a sharp Wit, and apt to jest; that, by Time, Travel, and
Conversation, was so polished, and made so useful, that his company
seemed to be one of the delights of mankind.”--1598.
[Sidenote: M. E. W. *]
“An eminently lovable face, albeit there is something in the
gravely-set mouth which recalls the old Elizabethan expression ‘_My
Dearest Dread_.’ The love of those about him for this tender-worded
amourous poet, this gentle student, this courtly gentleman, must have
struggled hard for the mastery with that reverence which they must have
felt for the learned author, the friend of kings, the diplomatist.
Something of all this, I fancy, shows in the face and figure of the man
as Jansen has portrayed him in the picture now hanging in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. The high square brow from which the hair has been
brushed up and back in short silky waves, the strongly-marked eyebrows,
the long straight nose,--they all speak of good brains and an iron
will; while there is a suspicion of daintiness in the close-cropped
whiskers, trimly-pointed beard, and flowing moustache. The eyes are
his finest feature, large and oval, with the eyelid drooping somewhat
at the outer edge, which gives him a look of sadness. So far from
bending forward under the orthodox student’s-stoop, Sir Henry is tall,
straight, and broad-shouldered, for he comes of a fighting race, and
there is more of the soldier than of the scholar in his appearance.
The hands are strong, nervous, and well shaped; the dress that of
a sober-minded gentleman. That word indeed sums up his personal
appearance as fully as it does his character: the portrait of Sir Henry
Wotton is emphatically that of a gentleman.”