Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters Volume I Part 24

Four months ago he (M'G.) wrote to me asking, in eager terms, to see this MS., and promising a reply upon it without the least delay,--since which he has never once written, not even an acknowledgment of its arrival.

"I would beg of you to keep the MS. by you--that is, if it should not have already been forwarded to [catch] Maxwell in London. As to the printed story,--'Carl Stelling,'--will you scratch out the t.i.tle at top, and the words 'by the editor' carefully, and cross out the Introduction, letting the tale begin by the words of the narrator--"There are moments in life," &c.,--and send it to Mr Chapman with a line to say that this printed matter comes in after the MS. pages of chapter xi. of 'Horace Templeton'? I may here add that the aforesaid H. T. is already--so far at least as eleven chapters go--in the printer's hands. It is precious bad stuff, and, worse still, very lachrymose and depressing--I mean, so far as such very powerless trash can be--_Mais que vovlez-vous?_ And in the present case I have laid the child at another man's door, and will never own him--if he doesn't grow up more thrivingly than I hope for.

"You wouldn't believe what difficulties the authorities here make about the unhappy doc.u.ment. The Podesta is afraid of it! The Legation trembles at it--the Commessario says it is 'Peri-colosissimo!' and how I am to find an _employe_ courageous enough to look on while I sign it, I cannot tell. I fear that in the end I must go up to Milan, where the functionaries will possibly have more hardihood.

"I am greatly gratified that you have seen John Maxwell--whose visit I look for with much pleasure. We have not met for seventeen years,--up to that we had spent, nearly day-by-day, the previous ten or twelve years always together. It will be curious for each to see time's changes in the other, and how far the opinions and tastes of the man already steering round Cape Dangerous have diverged from (those of) the boy and the youth. For myself, there are many [? changes] that I can recognise; nor am I blind to the telling of coming years, which show me the diminished sense of enjoyment I possess to heretofore,--how little I value society, how tiresome I find what I hear are very pleasant people, and so on. And without being actually old, I am old enough to think that the world used to be pleasanter long ago, and that friends were more cordial and more frank, and that there was more _laisser-aller_ in the course of life than in these hardworking, money-seeking, railroading days we've got now.

"The most enduring tastes a man can cultivate (avarice apart) are, I believe, the love of scenery and music. There I feel stronger than ever: the former has, perhaps from living a good deal alone, become a pa.s.sion with me, and I am better pleased to have glens, glaciers, and cataracts than the fascinations of soirees and receptions.

"Keep 'Horace Templeton' quite _en cachet_, for though I suppose I shall be known easily, I will not confess, but die innocent.

"We have very grave events happening here at Milan, but they are kept quiet by the police, and even in society every one you ask on the subject says--_Non e niente_: and so they will keep on saying till the streets are barricaded, and the city in open revolt. Between ourselves, the reform party here are great blackguards, and the Pope [? without irreverence] an a.s.s to think that moderate concessions and reasonable privileges will content a mob, who only look for a new const.i.tution as an occasion for general pillage. It's all very fine for 'the gentlemen of England, who live at home at ease,' to say G.o.d-speed to the march of Liberal opinions in other lands; but let them remember that our own inst.i.tutions took centuries to grow and to consolidate, and were often shaken and menaced, and only at length firmly established by the force of public opinion, which finds its exponent in aristocratic inst.i.tutions,--a hereditary peerage and a popular a.s.sembly, nearly four-fifths of which is aristocratic. Try the same systems in other countries, and see what will come of it. Get people to make laws who never met for the voting of a parish cess or a penny poor rate; liberate a press that only asks freedom that it may revel in libel; set up an aristocracy that are uneducated and unreformed as objects of general respect! No, no! If the Pope had contented himself with his first [?

effort], and swept the Church and its monastic inst.i.tutions free from abuses; had he examined into the state of charities and hospitals and schools,--he would have done far more good, though far less obtrusively, than by quarrelling with Austria, and fraternising with Mazzini & Co.

"There are rumours of an outbreak at Bologna; probably, my dear friend, you have already sighed forth a wish that I was in the midst of it rather than [that I should] inflict upon you this tiresome piece of prolixity. But remember what the old woman said to the sentinel, who threatened to put the bayonet into her hinder part--'Divil thank you--sure it's yer thrade!'

"Fore G.o.d! I think a Bull from the Pope must be easy to obtain in comparison with the formality of this unlucky doc.u.ment. I now enclose it _en regle_."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Villa Lima, Lago de Como, _Oct_. 6, 1847.

"You say you are puzzled by what Chapman says as to my being charged with the production (at least one-half cost) of unsold copies. Yet the fact is precisely so. There were of 'Hinton' something above 16,000 sold and somewhere like 20,000 printed, and with the interval between the two amounts you will find that I am charged with a moiety of the cost of producing. It was this fact, coupled with the trickery of a depreciatory sale, that made Chapman p.r.o.nounce the whole [? transaction] a cheat.*

* What Edward Chapman had actually written (some time previously) was: "You have been in the hands of the Philistines. It is these things which bring discredit on our craft, and make authors look upon us as a set of ghouls ready to eat them, body and bones--with a tendency to get fat upon their brains. No doubt it was thought that you would make a nice dish _curried._"--E. D.

"It was Chapman's accountant who discovered M'Glashan's status, [which]

is indeed the greatest mystery of all. How he could leave the concern so deeply indebted I cannot conceive. Great sacrifices, I am sure, he made to retain the Magazine, but the sum of 3000 must be six times more than would purchase the D. U. M.

"Is it not possible that some day or other that same Magazine may be in the market? If it were mine--solely--I would make 1000 out of it per annum.

"I am sincerely gratified that you have read, and, better still, are pleased with, my Tyrolean story. Had I not too just grounds to fear how the very aspect of my hand-o'-write must weary you, I would have asked you to read the MS. Now that you have done so, I may say that I wrote it in the fulness of my heartfelt admiration for the land and the people,--one in which and with whom I would feel delighted to linger out whatever may remain to me of life.

"As for Como, I own I like it better every day I stay here; but if it be very pleasurable it is costly. Every one here is rich,--millionaire Russians and Lombards, Venetian Eccelenzas, Grandees d'Espagne, &c., are around us on every side; and the whole Lake is a gala of gay gondolas and dressy signoras, which figure not only reflected in the water, but once more and less pleasantly in one's bank account.

"Maxwell wrote to me from Paris, and I replied to him to Livonia, as he desired; but he had not abandoned all idea of coming here, and was making, as fast as the heavy mail and his bronchitis would permit, for Florence.

"There is nothing really alarming in the state of affairs here. The real fun is the stupid ignorance of the English press, who are hailing the Pope and his reform party as though they were members of the Cobden League.... The Pope is an ardent, simple-minded, well-intentioned man, who sincerely desires amelioration of government, but the real movers are the _peres_ Jesuits, who are trading, like certain speculators on the Bourse, and making false purchases, to intrigue for a fall in the Funds. They are speculating on the reaction that _must_ follow. Austria, who hates and never has tolerated the residence of this party in her states, is terrified--hence the occupation of Ferrara. Meanwhile the English press swallows the bait and cries G.o.d speed the movement! Peel at least is aware of the truth,--so much I know from my old friend Sir H. S[eymour]."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Como, _Oct_. 19, 1847.

"We are again _en route_--this time with a long road before us--to Florence....

"Chapman informs me that the [Curry] accounts are of such a nature as totally to preclude his being able to form anything like a correct estimate of the value of the property. He adds that there is a 'juggle somewhere,' and suggests, with my concurrence, that he sends his own accountant over to Dublin to investigate the concern,--of course the cost of this step to be borne conjointly. I have at once acceded to this request, for even if I did not coincide in the fitness, I yield to the consideration that it engages Chapman in the affair, and thus renders him more likely to become a whole or part proprietor of the books. His becoming a republisher of them is the best--the only--guarantee I can have for his continuing all dealings in the future. An honest man and a prompt paymaster included in a publisher are very rare gifts, and I am greatly indisposed to relinquish them. Besides, he has advanced me some hundreds since I concluded my agreement, and unless I can manage to work it out with him it would be a heavy enc.u.mbrance to pay if I had to treat with other parties. This is my whole case; and if it be in some respects a cloudy one, I have yet--thank G.o.d!--good health and good courage and good spirits to meet it: and once this affair of the copyrights [is]

over, [I] will make a bold effort to go to work once more.

"I have now half written, and part printed, the affair called 'Horace Templeton,' for which, being anonymous, I will only receive at first 250--being, I greatly fear, about 240 above its value. But I felt it easy on my conscience, as my name--such as it is--remains safe. There are, I hope, some things in H. T. you will like. You who know me well will see how much of the real man has oozed out, and how impossible it has been to make the confessions of a diary purely fict.i.tious.

This--which of course will have no interest for the public--will not be without its interest for you, and I shall be impatient to hear your opinion."

Towards the end of October Lever, dazzling himself with prospects of splendid economy, set out for Florence.

On this journey he sustained a grievous loss. The Austrian authorities on the frontier seized all his papers, deeming them (Lever suggests) to be "part of a treasonable correspondence--purposely allegorical in form." Amongst the lost doc.u.ments were his University degree, his commission in a Derry militia regiment, agreements with publishers, private letters, and a protocol embodying the bargain between the novelist and Commissary-General Mayne, which (for a small consideration) ent.i.tled the author of 'Charles O'Malley' to introduce Mayne (with all his faults and follies) to the public as "Major Monsoon."

A search was inst.i.tuted, after Lever's death, for the ravished papers, but the Austrian authorities could not, or would not, find them. An official--most likely Major Dwyer--who interested himself in the matter said, "I do not wonder at Lever having been suspected of _anything_, travelling, as he did, with piebald ponies, and wife and children with long flowing hair. The police could not make out what he was or might not be; and then he had that peculiar way of treating officials that seems to belong to many Irish persons whom I have known."

The Levers entrenched themselves in "Casa Standish." There was a private theatre attached to the palazzo. In common with his contemporary d.i.c.kens, Lever had a pa.s.sion for theatrical entertainments. Mr Pearce paid him a visit in November, and was pressed by his host to prolong the visit for the purpose of playing "Joseph Surface" to Lever's "Charles Surface."

The Irish novelist readily adapted himself to life in "the very commercial but very profligate city of Florence" (as Father Prout describes it). He even went so far as to continue some of those _outre_ displayings which had given offence to the inhabitants of another grand-duchy: he drove his piebald cattle along the crowded avenue of Le Cascine; and it was stated by unamiable people that he was at first taken to be a circus proprietor.

He was soon well known in fashionable circles. Florentine clubs and palaces extended their hospitality graciously; he was _persona grata_ at the British Emba.s.sy, where his old friend, Sir George Seymour, held sway; he attended receptions at the brilliant court of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Lever describes the Grand Duke Leopold as one of the most amiable of men and one of the weakest of sovereigns, able to keep possession of his throne only by avowing his willingness to abandon it.

Florence was the gayest of Italian cities when Lever established himself in the Palazzo Standish. The Cascine had special attractions for him.

Florence, he declares, was to the world of Society what the Bourse is to the world of Trade. "Scandal here," he goes on to say, "holds its festival, and the misdeeds of every capital of Europe are discussed. The higher themes of politics occupy but few; the interests of literature attract still less: it is essentially the world of talk." And as Lever enjoyed conversation more than any other art or pastime, he revelled in Florentine life.

Notwithstanding the negligent att.i.tude of Florence towards the interests of literature or its professors, many goodly British literary folk were denizens of the beautiful city of "magnificently stern and sombre streets." Amongst these were Robert Browning and his wife, the vivacious and prying Mrs Trollope, and the once famous scientist, Mrs Somerville.

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Florence, _Nov_. 24, 1847.

"....Except the most miserable piece of depressing twaddle, yclept 'Horace Templeton,' the fruit of gloomy reveries and dreary brain-wanderings, I have nothing _sur le tapis_, but I'll try to set to work once that our affair Curry is settled."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Palazzo Standish, Florence, _Feb_. 4, 1848.

"I have this day received yours of the 25th asking respecting the insertion of 'Hinton' in 'The Dublin University Magazine.' This was done with my permission though manifestly against my interest, as the sale was thus rendered by so much less than we might reasonably have looked for in the No. form. Of course, however, we cannot now complain that we made a bad bargain; and as for the Currys, they will never allude to a matter whose discussion would tell against themselves. The Magazine history is this: When I was living in Brussels I received a letter from M'Glashan saying that if I liked to come to Ireland to take the editorship of the Magazine (which I had already expressed a strong wish to do), they would guarantee me at least 2000 for the first year, and after such a rate of remuneration as increased sales, &c, might warrant.

I came, and then, to my great disappointment, discovered that they included the whole sum I had already contracted to receive for 'Jack Hinton' in that same 2000 (viz., 1300), leaving me not 2000 but 700 for the editorship and authorship of the papers I wrote for 'The Dublin University Magazine.' It was, however, too late to retract. I had given up my profession, my station as attache to the Emba.s.sy; my friends had ceased to regard me as a doctor, and so I was in for it. If I bore up tolerably well against this piece of trickery, it was really because I had resolved, come what would, not to lose courage,--and so I did continue for the very miserable three years I stayed in Ireland. I tell this now--I believe I never did tell it to you before,--not that it may in any way be of use or influence in the present conjuncture, but simply as a circ.u.mstance to show that I have never been _exigeant_ or exacting in my dealings with other folks. Nor when I had (as I still have) a written pledge in my hands did I think its enforcement a matter of legal redress.

"I hope, ardently, that in the end the books may find themselves in Chapman's hands; but I feel so a.s.sured that Curry is a trickster, and that when his own narrow intelligence fails him he is always ready to avail himself of any counselled iniquity, that I still fear the termination of the affair.

"Do you see anything of M'Glashan, or hear of his doings? You are aware that he never replied to me, and consequently all intercourse has ceased between us. Is he like to weather the storm, or do you think that he is outstaggering under the gale?

"The weather here is and has been delicious. I have never worn an upper coat, and never been one day without several hours on horseback. Such a climate I never believed to exist before."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.