Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters Volume I Part 26

"....Truth is, I am stunned. The pressure that demands [? money] impedes any fresh efforts on my part, and I sit down to work with a depressed and jaded spirit. Nothing less nourishes than the head that is wet with tears. 'Roland,' bad as it is, is therefore better than it might be.

"Do you deem all intercourse with M'Glashan inadvisable? It is the only magazine where I should like to contribute, and if I could make any terms for a series of papers I should soon be in a position to clear off some of my debts. I cannot address him myself: if you chanced to meet him you might feel the way.

"The Austrians have reconquered Lombardy and the whole of Italy, and, if the French do not intervene, will soon be at peace."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Casa Ximenes, Florence, _Aug_. 19, 1848.

"....Although politically all looks more tranquil here, yet for personal reasons I should draw somewhat nearer to England. I am hampered by the difficulty of postal communication, and to go to London even alone and back would cost me above 100. Otherwise I like the place better than any I have ever known,--a climate beyond praise, a beautiful country, excellent society, and perfectly sound liberty which lets you live in the world or out of it exactly as suits your inclination. The heat, to be sure, is great. 132 Fahrenheit yesterday on the terrace, and that at five o'clock in the afternoon!

"I hope you continue to like 'Roland Cashel.' Has any one detected Archbishop Whately as my Dean of Drumcondra? The whole _dramatis per-sonae_ are portraits.

"As to Ireland. All foreign sympathy is over, [? owing to] the late cowardice and poltroonery of the patriots.* Even Italians can fight.

* See John Mitchel's 'Jail Journal' for observations on this observation.--E. D.

"As to the result of the attempt of Italian unity, however, the movement here is a complete failure. Naples is at feud with Sardinia, Sardinia with Tuscany, Home with all these; and if there be one man in all Italy more hated than Carlo Alberto, it is the Pope. Pius IX. will in all likelihood be _cha.s.sed_ this winter, and we shall have a Tipperary season of a.s.sa.s.sination--as the natural subsidence of a defeated outbreak--all over Southern Italy.

"We are going in a few days to Lucca and Via-Reggio for the sea-bathing, which, at least for a week or so, is a matter of necessity in this very roasting climate. The children have got the pale faces of the south already, and it is buying the _Bocca Toscana_ somewhat dear to lose their roses at so early an age.

"I am hesitating about the sea for Cha. He is a boy of very remarkable capacity,--can learn anything, and at once,--and I really scruple at the thought of immolating good talent in such a grave as the Navy."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"Casa Ximenes, Florence, _Sept_. 18, 1848.

"I have made a proposal to Chapman, but have not received his reply.

"If I could make any remunerative terms for a monthly series in a magazine, I could easily manage to gather some suitable materials.

M'Glashan is, I suppose, a hopeless case. I have not been able to revisit London. I fancy I could easily make out such a cla.s.s of engagement as would suit me, but the expense of the journey would be very considerable.

"It is very hard, under such circ.u.mstances, to write anything imaginative,--the stern cry of reality drowning the small whisperings of fancy. _N'importe!_ I have pluck for almost anything when self-reliance will pull through, and I am resolved, if I can, not to be swamped."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bagni di Lucca, _Nov_. 1, 1848.

"Your letter of the 21st has this moment come to hand, and its last paragraph would inevitably decide me upon going at once to England if I had the means; but when I add the mercenary cost to the fatigue, sea-sickness,--for I should go at least to Genoa by steamer,--inconvenience of leaving wife and brats in a distant and not over-quiet land, and, lastly, calculate how little my presence might avail after, I grow faint-hearted at the 'odds' against me.

"My resolve is, therefore, to stay here, whither we have come for economy, taking up our abode in a little inn in a sweet pretty country--and, I confess it, with not a privation to make us feel that prudence pays tax."

[He then suggests the purchase of his books by Chapman, offering Chapman as "a collateral security," if he embarks in the "spec," an insurance policy. He does not desire to be tied to Chapman, but sees that nothing can be done unless he gets the books unfettered. He says he is in Chapman's debt in the first place, and secondly, that there is a loss in repute in changing publishers, "always argued to the detriment of the author."]

"Chapman's apathy is great on all subjects, nor is he likely to be more alert here: first, that he never reaped the large profit from me that he hoped; [secondly,] because I am his debtor--never a _couleur de rose_ portrait of any one...."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Bagni di Lucca, _Jan_. 20 [?1849].

"I write to announce to you that I have more need than ever of a little good-luck, as I have this morning had a little girl--a very fat frowning little damsel--added to my battalion. My wife--and that is the first consideration in these cases--is doing admirably.... Have you received 'Con Cregan'? Of course its paternity was plain to you. It is an effort to work out of a bad and profitless year, with what result G.o.d knows.

"I hear from London that 'Roland Cashel' is regarded as the best thing I have yet done, but also p.r.o.nounced to be above the level of shilling readers,--a species of flattery intended to convey that I am to take the praise _vice_ the pence.

"I have written a paper on Italy for the Feb. No. of 'The University,'

so that you see I am the author of other productions besides babies.

"Chapman has shown such a perfect indifference on the subject of the copyrights, that I have not any hope of his mediation. I now regret that I did not negotiate with Orr, who publishes 'Con Cregan' for me."

During his first year in Florence Lever made the acquaintance of Miss Mary Boyle, a daughter of Admiral Sir Courtenay Boyle. This clever lady had published some verses and tales. She was a friend of Tennyson, of d.i.c.kens, of the Brownings,* of G. P. R. James, and of other literary people of note.

* Mrs Browning describes Miss Boyle in one of her letters to Miss Mitford. "A kinder, more cordial little creature, fall of talent and accomplishment, never had the world's polish upon it. Very amusing, too, she is, and original, and a good deal of laughing she and Robert make between them."--E. D.

In announcing the birth of his youngest daughter to Miss Boyle, Lever styles the baby "another volume added to the domestic history in the duodecimo shape of a daughter.... The necessity of quiet," he adds, "the pleasing features of this little place, and the utter dulness of Florence, drove us here. What with horses and dogs and newspapers, books to write and a baby to wait for, our winter has gone over most pleasantly. We had no tramontane wind, no tea-parties, no morning concerts."

In a letter written in 1879, Miss Boyle gives an interesting description of the Irish humourist. She recalls him as "one of the most genial spirits" she had ever met. "His conversation was like summer lightning--brilliant, sparkling, harmless. In his wildest sallies I never heard him give utterance to an unkind thought. He essentially resembled his works, and whichever you preferred, that one was most like Charles Lever. He was the complete type and model of an Irishman--warm-hearted, witty, rollicking, never unrefined, imprudent, often blind to his own interests--adored by his friends, and the playfellow of his children and the gigantic boar-hound he had brought from the Tyrol."

Miss Boyle relates a characteristic anecdote of her highly-lauded friend. One afternoon at her house, where Lever was introduced to Lord and Lady Spencer, the hostess took up a volume of Bret Harte's works, and read aloud one of the parodies of popular authors, selecting the skit in which Lorrequer's early manner is most funnily burlesqued. Lever enjoyed the recitation, laughing heartily as his tormentor proceeded. He was asked if he could name the author whose work was parodied. "Upon my soul!" said he, "I must have written it myself--it's so like me."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"Bagni di Lucca, _Feb_. 14, 1849.

"Chapman and I, without any formal doc.u.ment, have already come to an understanding respecting the [? copyrights], should we be successful in obtaining the books. There will be many points to arrange finally between us,--some of them nice ones,--inasmuch that of 'O'Leary' I possess the sole copyright; but from his previous honourable dealings and his general character for fairness, I antic.i.p.ate no difficulty whatever in establishing a perfectly just and equitable transaction. For my future advantage I should rather that Chapman had these copyrights in his hands, even though I never were to benefit one shilling by their sale, because it secures to me--what in these eventful and changing times is of paramount importance--a permanent demand for my labour.

Hence my anxiety, hence all my eagerness, that he and not another should be the purchaser.

"My wife and baby are doing most favourably. The latter promises to be the prettiest of the lot, and the others are growing up handsome.

Julia is very nearly as tall as myself, and a fine and high-spirited happy-minded girl. Charley promises to be very clever, and p.u.s.s.y--No 3--a most gifted child, requiring all our care to keep her faculties from running wild.

"We are in full revolution here. The Grand Duke has fled. The usual farce of a provisional government elected: forced loans--bankruptcy--brigandage, are all at work, and we look for pillage and the barricades. But somehow, like eels getting used to be skinned, one begins nowadays to get indifferent to carnage and rapine, and to think that grape and canister are among the compliments of the season.

"I send off my bulletin to 'The Mail' from time to time, and I wrote a long paper on Italy in the last 'University Magazine.'

"I am heartily glad you like 'Roland,' which I hope is better than its predecessors.

"'Con Cregan' is a secret, and I hope will remain so. It is atrociously careless and ill-written, but its success depending on what I know to be its badness, my whole aim has been to write down to my public."