. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . , and ample reward come, as they came afterwards toThomas Lawrence, far too easily. HENRY PURCELL (died 1695) was probably born in Westminster, where his father had once beenattached to the musical staff of the Abbey, shortly before theRestoration. It is believed that he died at the age of thirty-seven,which would give 1658 as the date of his birth. His precocity wasgreat, for he had composed music for the stage while yet in histeens, and an opera at the age of twenty-two, before he becameorganist at the Abbey in 1680 and at the Chap
. Historical portraits ... the lives of Fletcher .. . , and ample reward come, as they came afterwards toThomas Lawrence, far too easily. HENRY PURCELL (died 1695) was probably born in Westminster, where his father had once beenattached to the musical staff of the Abbey, shortly before theRestoration. It is believed that he died at the age of thirty-seven,which would give 1658 as the date of his birth. His precocity wasgreat, for he had composed music for the stage while yet in histeens, and an opera at the age of twenty-two, before he becameorganist at the Abbey in 1680 and at the Chapel Royal two yearslater. Neither his favour at the Stuart Court, nor his lofty taste inItalian music, prevented him from composing the air of Lilliburlero,with which Tom Wharton whistled King James out of threeKingdoms. Musicians, even more than painters, can afford to bequite indifferent to politics, and for Whig and Tory alike it wasa musical age of which Purcell was the fine flower. It is by hisbeautiful anthems that he is now, perhaps, best HENRY tlie portrait by J. Clostcrrnan in tlic National Portrait Galk-ry Pace p 316 SIR CHRISTOPHER WRP:N (1632 17231 mathematician, meteorologist, experimentalist, and, above ail, archi-tect, was the son of Christopher Wren, afterwards Dean of Windsor,and Mary Cox. He was born at his fathers Rectory of East Knoylein Wilts, and educated at Westminster School under the great }. After an interval, during which he studied anatomj, he wentto Wadham College, Oxford, and at the age of twenty-one was electedFellow of All Souls. For this Society he always retained thewarmest affection, and bequeathed to it a large collection of his ownarchitectural drawings. He was one of the founders of the Royal Society, and, at oneand the same time, held the astronomical professorship at GreshamCollege in London and the Savilian professorship at Oxford. It wasonly slowly and under great pressure that he finally came to devotehi
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