Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters Volume I Part 7

"It will not ruin me, and it's only, as Dr Bailey said, going up so many more flights of stairs to feel pulses, though here in Brussels that is rather a laborious task.

"I have been thinking very much latterly of future provision for my family, and am divided between the idea of insurance and funding, and although the former has undoubted advantages to one like myself, _ne possede pas un grand talent de l'economie_, yet depending mainly, as I must do, on the fluctuating resources of a profession, I hesitate about commencing what I feel myself eventually unable to continue; and I think, under such circ.u.mstances, that laying by the accruing rents of the houses--and, if I can afford it now and then, an occasional 20 or 30 to make up a sum to lodge--affords, perhaps, the best means in my power to accomplish my object. In this way I might be able to put by close upon 100 per annum--at least, such is my present calculation....

"The writing for the Mag. is, as you hint, a very laborious finale to a day's work; but although I find myself somewhat f.a.gged, I feel I must do my best when the time offers, for although money comes in fast upon me, it equally rapidly takes wings to itself afterwards.

"Brussels is now beginning its gaiety, and is nearly as full as it can be. No kind of house in a good quarter, and tolerably well _garni_, can be had under 250 to 300 per annum, and many are as high as 500.

Otherwise--clothes excepted--everything is cheap. We have a large Irish colony who are, I regret to say, not the _elite_ of the land....

"We continue to have Sat.u.r.day soirees at the Emba.s.sy; and most of the best people receive company _uninvited_ during each evening of the week.

As to climate, the heat and cold are both greater than with you; but, thanks to foreign _liberte_, one may wear any species of clothing he deems most conducive to comfort: furs are in daily use. The ladies dress most splendidly here,--embroidered velvets with gold and embossed satins are the only thing worn in evening costume. The opera is very good. 'The Huguenots,' lately produced, is splendid, and brings great houses.

"I have three horses--my two Irish, and a small doctor's cob I got for a debt from Lord Wm. Paget.... My house is most comfortably--even handsomely--furnished, as Haire will tell you, and I have only to wish for, in haberdasher phrase, 'a continuance of public favours.'

"The children are both most healthy. My boy is a very stout fellow, and I think prettier than his sister. I sent a silhouette of them to the Bakers a few days since. I hope you may see Haire--he is a really kind fellow, and I know you will like him. He saw a good deal of what was going on here in his short stay, and can tell you _ma position actuelle_ better than anything I can write.

"Among _bien distingues_ here we have the son of Tippo Saib. He speaks English fluently, and in his oriental costume forms a grand lion for our soirees.

"You can form some idea of the extent of the English colony here, on hearing that we have two churches at which service is performed twice on Sundays to large congregations, and that two English newspapers are edited and published here,--they contain copious extracts of every political change going on in England.

"You have heard, I suppose, of the great gossip of the day--Lady Lincoln's affair with her doctors. The real case appears to be a most infamous one,--nothing less than this: these two Polish M.D.'s here have threatened, unless they receive 400,000 francs, to disclose certain secrets her ladyship unfortunately let slip in the ravings of her insanity during her illness. Lord Lincoln resents the iniquitous demand, and the affair is to come before Le Tribunal. Anything so thoroughly blackguard I never heard of before. But [it is] a salutary lesson to the English for their mad preference of foreign [? quacks] and humbugs to the highly-educated medical men of Ireland and England....

"I don't know if I told you that I have been appointed Medical Examiner to the United Kingdom London a.s.surance Co., and have daily proofs of its value....

"I received a very wicked and flattering letter from Spencer Knox, the son of the late Bishop of Derry, who had heard of me from Lord Westminster's missing patient....

"If, instead of starving upon dispensaries in Ireland, a few of the best young medicals would only learn French, there are some capital openings here. At Bruges, at the moment,--one of the cheapest places on the Continent,--from 400 to 500 per annum could be made by a properly qualified man,--and no one offers. I have been sent for thirty miles (to Ghent), and there is in that city a large English residency _sans medecin'_."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Rue Ducale, Brussels, _Dec_. 29, 1837.

"My practice here still continues to increase, though now I must not look to much extension to come. I can live, if this last, by my trade.

"I did not send any MS. to [D. U. M.] for January, for I was greatly overworked, but will despatch an article on Tuesday the 9th in time to appear next month (Feb.) Pray say so (to b.u.t.t). I shall endeavour to make it a sheet....

"The gaiety of this place has begun, and b.a.l.l.s and soirees are given every night. I am hoping to be presented at Court next week, but a difficulty lies in the way--my never having been at St James's. This may be, I trust, got over, for being presented would be of service to me....

"The standing army here, with a population of only 4,000,000, is nearly 100,000 men, fully equipped in every respect. What would Mr Hume say to this?

"The people themselves are universally well disposed--obeying the law, and most industrious in their habits. Crime is but little known, and capital offences almost never occur. Through the streets of the large capital at night any one may walk, not only safe from personal risk, but even from the least insult. An improper expression I never heard yet, though [abroad] at all hours, and yet there is neither a watchman nor night _gens d'arme_ in the whole city. And, strange as it may seem, though a bottle of Geneva costs but about 7d., drunkenness is rare except amongst the English servants, who are the greatest wretches unhanged. The theatres are three--the Opera, the [? Vaudeville], and a species of circus like Astley's. All are good of their kind, and always crowded. The weather here is beautiful--more like spring than winter, but I believe it is unusually mild for the climate. An American Minister and Swedish have both arrived since I have been here. All, so far as I can see, promises the stability of the present state of things. The country possesses enormous resources, and notwithstanding the late revolution--always an expensive luxury--the debt is but trifling.

Railroads are being constructed with great rapidity between the large towns which, from the flat surface of the country and its immense productiveness, must be in every instance profitable speculations. As to Society: it ranks higher than any other capital on the Continent except Paris, being crowded with persons of independent fortune, who are most hospitably disposed. The king himself does everything possible to make his Court agreeable.... A great many thanks for 'The Evening Mail.' The puffs always make me go on when the stimulus of money fails."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"Brussels, _Feb_. 1838.

"Although Brussels fulfils all my expectations, I might be ultimately tempted to try my luck in London or Paris [as a medical man]....

Attending to an outbreak of measles has prevented me from sending my usual contribution to the Mag.... I have definitely raised my fees from 5 francs to 10 francs--double that of any other English physician, and five times the fee of the Belgian pract.i.tioner.... The sister of the Amba.s.sador has recovered under my hands from what was universally believed to be a fatal case of spasmodic croup.... There is nothing but gaiety and going out here every night, and I am half wishing for summer to have a little rest and quietness."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"Brussels, Rue Ducale, _March_ 28, 1838.

"I may be in London in the summer to be presented. Which I must do as a preliminary to being introduced to the Court here....

"I am carrying ahead with a very strong hand, and have little dances weekly. I had three earls and two amba.s.sadors on Tuesday, and am keeping that set exclusively in my interest."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer._

"Brussels, _July_ 13, 1838.

"The excessive heat (102 in the shade) has been such that I have been obliged to send my children to the country about nine miles off--a pretty village between Waterloo and [ ]. Kate and I are going to-morrow on a little tour along the Meuse by Namur (shades of my Uncle Toby!), and shall be away for about a fortnight.... I drive my own horses, and merely bring Kate and a groom."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"Boulevards de l'Observation, Brussels, _Sept_. 13, 1838.

"I have been obliged to change my residence, very much in some respects to my disadvantage, inasmuch as my present one is _vis-a-vis_ to the Emba.s.sy, and consequently inviting a daily, almost hourly, intercourse there, besides giving me a kind of publicity. My new residence is No.

33 Boulevarde de l'Observation, a very good house--four rooms on each floor, with garden, coach-house, and five-stalled stable. It has been the residence of the Portuguese Amba.s.sador up to this time, and is in perfect repair.... Mr Dumont, the Irish Under Secretary, has been a patient of mine for some time past. We are great friends. He has dined here several times with me, and if anything medical official is in the new Poor-Law Bill, I think I should have an offer of it at least."

_To Mr Alexander Spencer_.

"33 Boulevard de l'Observation, _Nov_. 12, 1838.

"The fatal facility of the Emba.s.sy bag for troubling one's friends--as you have cause to feel--induces me to bore you with a commission, the performance of which I cannot spare you, for I have no other friend to whom I can commit myself _et mes affaires_ at this juncture.

"I have just received a letter from Mortimer O'Sullivan, to whose management I had entrusted an arrangement with M'Glashan concerning the sale of a republished edition of 'Harry Lorrequer,' and who from unavoidable absence is compelled to leave the negotiation on your shoulders....

"M'Glashan proposes (O'S. writes to me) to publish H. L. in monthly numbers, with ill.u.s.trations like the 'Pickwick,' in preference to a 2-vol. form; in which I thoroughly coincide. He also desires to have an answer from me as to my plan regarding the length of the work and my expectations as to payment. To which I reply that I am willing to give twelve monthly numbers of the size of 'Pickwick' (i.e., two sheets each), those already in the D. U. M. going as far as the Mag. (for 150), and thus concluding the work in these twelve numbers.

"I suppose, from a rough calculation, that one sheet and a half of magazine-matter will equal two sheets of octavo like Pickwick; but at all events I shall be prepared to fulfil my intended extent, no matter how far short they may come.

"O'Sullivan proposed to M'Glashan the common bargain of 'half-profits and security against loss,' to which M'G. replied that he would accede, but proposed a purchase. _So do I._ Therefore it is a mere question of money between us.

"It is right I should mention that the copyright is with me by express agreement, so that no question of the Magazine interest exists.