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Gilbert Murray, 'The Civilization of the Nineteenth Century: Its Greatness and the Flaw which led to its Collapse', The Ordeal of This Generation: The War, the League and the Future (1929), p. 43
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Now the Victorian Age, or the nineteenth century as a whole, was a great moral reformer... It proclaimed that men, even courtiers and noblemen, ought not to be drunken or dissolute or even corrupt, that politics were really concerned with the welfare of the people, that the rich had duties towards the poor. The transition from George IV and his unpleasing brothers to the young Queen and the Prince Consort was typical of a much wider change. When Lord Palmerston was caught chasing a maid of honour into her bedroom, the excuse made for him was: "Your Majesty should remember that he is a very old gentleman and accustomed to the manners of the late Court".

— Gilbert Murray on Victorian era

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Now the Victorian Age, or the nineteenth century as a whole, was a great moral reformer... It proclaimed that men, even courtiers and noblemen, ought not to be drunken or dissolute or even corrupt, that politics were really concerned with the welfare of the people, that the rich had duties towards the poor. The transition from George IV and his unpleasing brothers to the young Queen and the Prince Consort was typical of a much wider change. When Lord Palmerston was caught chasing a maid of honour into her bedroom, the excuse made for him was: "Your Majesty should remember that he is a very old gentleman and accustomed to the manners of the late Court"." in the context of "Gilbert Murray, 'The Civilization of the Nineteenth Century: Its Greatness and the Flaw which led to its Collapse', The Ordeal of This Generation: The War, the League and the Future (1929), p. 43" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Victorian era" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

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#Gilbert Murray#nineteenth#proclaimed#transition#unpleasing#palmerston#accustomed#victorian#courtiers#dissolute#concerned#gentleman
Gilbert Murray

About Gilbert Murray

George Gilbert Aimé Murray, OM, FBA (2 January 1866 – 20 May 1957) was an Australian-born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece, perhaps the leading authority in the first half of the twentieth century. He is the basis for the character of Adolphus Cusins in his friend George Bernard Shaw's play Major Barbara, and also appears as the chorus figure in Tony Harrison's play Fram.