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diff --git a/old/1085-h.zip b/old/1085-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b66501b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1085-h.zip diff --git a/old/1085-h/1085-h.htm b/old/1085-h/1085-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75062dd --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1085-h/1085-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9874 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Life of John Sterling, by Thomas Carlyle + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of John Sterling, by Thomas Carlyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of John Sterling + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Release Date: August 5, 2008 [EBook #1085] +Last Updated: November 30, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF JOHN STERLING *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Burkey, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + LIFE OF JOHN STERLING + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Thomas Carlyle + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + Transcriber's Note: Italics in the text are indicated by the use of an + underscore as delimiter, <i>thusly</i>. All footnotes have been + collected at the end of the text, and numbered sequentially in brackets, + [thusly]. One illustration has been omitted. The "pound" symbol has been + replaced by the word "pounds". Otherwise, all spelling, punctuation, + etc., have been left as in the printed text. Chapter IV. in Part II. is + not delineated in the original file. + </p> + <p> + Taken from volume 2 of Carlyle's Complete Works, which additionally + contains the Latter-Day Pamphlets, to be provided as a separate etext. + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART"> <b>PART I.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. SCHOOLS: LLANBLETHIAN; PARIS; + LONDON. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. UNIVERSITIES: GLASGOW; CAMBRIDGE. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. A PROFESSION. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE ATHENAEUM. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. REGENT STREET. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. COLERIDGE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. SPANISH EXILES. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. TORRIJOS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. MARRIAGE: ILL-HEALTH; WEST-INDIES. + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. A CATASTROPHE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. PAUSE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. BONN; HERSTMONCEUX. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> <b>PART II.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER I. CURATE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER II. NOT CURATE. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER III. BAYSWATER </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER V. TO MADEIRA. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE STERLING CLUB. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER VII. ITALY. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PART3"> <b>PART III.</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER I. CLIFTON. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER II. TWO WINTERS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER III. FALMOUTH: POEMS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER IV. NAPLES: POEMS. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0026"> CHAPTER V. DISASTER ON DISASTER. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER VI. VENTNOR: DEATH. </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_FOOT"> FOOTNOTES </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PART" id="link2H_PART"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + PART I. + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. + </h2> + <p> + Near seven years ago, a short while before his death in 1844, John + Sterling committed the care of his literary Character and printed Writings + to two friends, Archdeacon Hare and myself. His estimate of the bequest + was far from overweening; to few men could the small sum-total of his + activities in this world seem more inconsiderable than, in those last + solemn days, it did to him. He had burnt much; found much unworthy; + looking steadfastly into the silent continents of Death and Eternity, a + brave man's judgments about his own sorry work in the field of Time are + not apt to be too lenient. But, in fine, here was some portion of his work + which the world had already got hold of, and which he could not burn. This + too, since it was not to be abolished and annihilated, but must still for + some time live and act, he wished to be wisely settled, as the rest had + been. And so it was left in charge to us, the survivors, to do for it what + we judged fittest, if indeed doing nothing did not seem the fittest to us. + This message, communicated after his decease, was naturally a sacred one + to Mr. Hare and me. + </p> + <p> + After some consultation on it, and survey of the difficulties and delicate + considerations involved in it, Archdeacon Hare and I agreed that the whole + task, of selecting what Writings were to be reprinted, and of drawing up a + Biography to introduce them, should be left to him alone; and done without + interference of mine:—as accordingly it was, <a href="#linknote-1" + name="linknoteref-1" id="linknoteref-1"><small>1</small></a> in a manner + surely far superior to the common, in every good quality of editing; and + visibly everywhere bearing testimony to the friendliness, the piety, + perspicacity and other gifts and virtues of that eminent and amiable man. + </p> + <p> + In one respect, however, if in one only, the arrangement had been + unfortunate. Archdeacon Hare, both by natural tendency and by his position + as a Churchman, had been led, in editing a Work not free from + ecclesiastical heresies, and especially in writing a Life very full of + such, to dwell with preponderating emphasis on that part of his subject; + by no means extenuating the fact, nor yet passing lightly over it (which a + layman could have done) as needing no extenuation; but carefully searching + into it, with the view of excusing and explaining it; dwelling on it, + presenting all the documents of it, and as it were spreading it over the + whole field of his delineation; as if religious heterodoxy had been the + grand fact of Sterling's life, which even to the Archdeacon's mind it + could by no means seem to be. <i>Hinc illae lachrymae</i>. For the + Religious Newspapers, and Periodical Heresy-hunters, getting very lively + in those years, were prompt to seize the cue; and have prosecuted and + perhaps still prosecute it, in their sad way, to all lengths and breadths. + John Sterling's character and writings, which had little business to be + spoken of in any Church-court, have hereby been carried thither as if for + an exclusive trial; and the mournfulest set of pleadings, out of which + nothing but a misjudgment <i>can</i> be formed, prevail there ever since. + The noble Sterling, a radiant child of the empyrean, clad in bright + auroral hues in the memory of all that knew him,—what is he doing + here in inquisitorial <i>sanbenito</i>, with nothing but ghastly + spectralities prowling round him, and inarticulately screeching and + gibbering what they call their judgment on him! + </p> + <p> + "The sin of Hare's Book," says one of my Correspondents in those years, + "is easily defined, and not very condemnable, but it is nevertheless + ruinous to his task as Biographer. He takes up Sterling as a clergyman + merely. Sterling, I find, was a curate for exactly eight months; during + eight months and no more had he any special relation to the Church. But he + was a man, and had relation to the Universe, for eight-and-thirty years: + and it is in this latter character, to which all the others were but + features and transitory hues, that we wish to know him. His battle with + hereditary Church formulas was severe; but it was by no means his one + battle with things inherited, nor indeed his chief battle; neither, + according to my observation of what it was, is it successfully delineated + or summed up in this Book. The truth is, nobody that had known Sterling + would recognize a feature of him here; you would never dream that this + Book treated of <i>him</i> at all. A pale sickly shadow in torn surplice + is presented to us here; weltering bewildered amid heaps of what you call + 'Hebrew Old-clothes;' wrestling, with impotent impetuosity, to free itself + from the baleful imbroglio, as if that had been its one function in life: + who in this miserable figure would recognize the brilliant, beautiful and + cheerful John Sterling, with his ever-flowing wealth of ideas, fancies, + imaginations; with his frank affections, inexhaustible hopes, audacities, + activities, and general radiant vivacity of heart and intelligence, which + made the presence of him an illumination and inspiration wherever he went? + It is too bad. Let a man be honestly forgotten when his life ends; but let + him not be misremembered in this way. To be hung up as an ecclesiastical + scarecrow, as a target for heterodox and orthodox to practice archery + upon, is no fate that can be due to the memory of Sterling. It was not as + a ghastly phantasm, choked in Thirty-nine-article controversies, or + miserable Semitic, Anti-Semitic street-riots,—in scepticisms, + agonized self-seekings, that this man appeared in life; nor as such, if + the world still wishes to look at him should you suffer the world's memory + of him now to be. Once for all, it is unjust; emphatically untrue as an + image of John Sterling: perhaps to few men that lived along with him could + such an interpretation of their existence be more inapplicable." + </p> + <p> + Whatever truth there might be in these rather passionate representations, + and to myself there wanted not a painful feeling of their truth, it by no + means appeared what help or remedy any friend of Sterling's, and + especially one so related to the matter as myself, could attempt in the + interim. Perhaps endure in patience till the dust laid itself again, as + all dust does if you leave it well alone? Much obscuration would thus of + its own accord fall away; and, in Mr. Hare's narrative itself, apart from + his commentary, many features of Sterling's true character would become + decipherable to such as sought them. Censure, blame of this Work of Mr. + Hare's was naturally far from my thoughts. A work which distinguishes + itself by human piety and candid intelligence; which, in all details, is + careful, lucid, exact; and which offers, as we say, to the observant + reader that will interpret facts, many traits of Sterling besides his + heterodoxy. Censure of it, from me especially, is not the thing due; from + me a far other thing is due!— + </p> + <p> + On the whole, my private thought was: First, How happy it comparatively + is, for a man of any earnestness of life, to have no Biography written of + him; but to return silently, with his small, sorely foiled bit of work, to + the Supreme Silences, who alone can judge of it or him; and not to trouble + the reviewers, and greater or lesser public, with attempting to judge it! + The idea of "fame," as they call it, posthumous or other, does not inspire + one with much ecstasy in these points of view.—Secondly, That + Sterling's performance and real or seeming importance in this world was + actually not of a kind to demand an express Biography, even according to + the world's usages. His character was not supremely original; neither was + his fate in the world wonderful. What he did was inconsiderable enough; + and as to what it lay in him to have done, this was but a problem, now + beyond possibility of settlement. Why had a Biography been inflicted on + this man; why had not No-biography, and the privilege of all the weary, + been his lot?—Thirdly, That such lot, however, could now no longer + be my good Sterling's; a tumult having risen around his name, enough to + impress some pretended likeness of him (about as like as the Guy-Fauxes + are, on Gunpowder-Day) upon the minds of many men: so that he could not be + forgotten, and could only be misremembered, as matters now stood. + </p> + <p> + Whereupon, as practical conclusion to the whole, arose by degrees this + final thought, That, at some calmer season, when the theological dust had + well fallen, and both the matter itself, and my feelings on it, were in a + suitabler condition, I ought to give my testimony about this friend whom I + had known so well, and record clearly what my knowledge of him was. This + has ever since seemed a kind of duty I had to do in the world before + leaving it. + </p> + <p> + And so, having on my hands some leisure at this time, and being bound to + it by evident considerations, one of which ought to be especially sacred + to me, I decide to fling down on paper some outline of what my + recollections and reflections contain in reference to this most friendly, + bright and beautiful human soul; who walked with me for a season in this + world, and remains to me very memorable while I continue in it. Gradually, + if facts simple enough in themselves can be narrated as they came to pass, + it will be seen what kind of man this was; to what extent condemnable for + imaginary heresy and other crimes, to what extent laudable and lovable for + noble manful <i>orthodoxy</i> and other virtues;—and whether the + lesson his life had to teach us is not much the reverse of what the + Religious Newspapers hitherto educe from it. + </p> + <p> + Certainly it was not as a "sceptic" that you could define him, whatever + his definition might be. Belief, not doubt, attended him at all points of + his progress; rather a tendency to too hasty and headlong belief. Of all + men he was the least prone to what you could call scepticism: diseased + self-listenings, self-questionings, impotently painful dubitations, all + this fatal nosology of spiritual maladies, so rife in our day, was + eminently foreign to him. Quite on the other side lay Sterling's faults, + such as they were. In fact, you could observe, in spite of his sleepless + intellectual vivacity, he was not properly a thinker at all; his faculties + were of the active, not of the passive or contemplative sort. A brilliant + <i>improvisatore</i>; rapid in thought, in word and in act; everywhere the + promptest and least hesitating of men. I likened him often, in my + banterings, to sheet-lightning; and reproachfully prayed that he would + concentrate himself into a bolt, and rive the mountain-barriers for us, + instead of merely playing on them and irradiating them. + </p> + <p> + True, he had his "religion" to seek, and painfully shape together for + himself, out of the abysses of conflicting disbelief and sham-belief and + bedlam delusion, now filling the world, as all men of reflection have; and + in this respect too,—more especially as his lot in the battle + appointed for us all was, if you can understand it, victory and not + defeat,—he is an expressive emblem of his time, and an instruction + and possession to his contemporaries. For, I say, it is by no means as a + vanquished <i>doubter</i> that he figures in the memory of those who knew + him; but rather as a victorious <i>believer</i>, and under great + difficulties a victorious doer. An example to us all, not of lamed misery, + helpless spiritual bewilderment and sprawling despair, or any kind of <i>drownage</i> + in the foul welter of our so-called religious or other controversies and + confusions; but of a swift and valiant vanquisher of all these; a noble + asserter of himself, as worker and speaker, in spite of all these. + Continually, so far as he went, he was a teacher, by act and word, of + hope, clearness, activity, veracity, and human courage and nobleness: the + preacher of a good gospel to all men, not of a bad to any man. The man, + whether in priest's cassock or other costume of men, who is the enemy or + hater of John Sterling, may assure himself that he does not yet know him,—that + miserable differences of mere costume and dialect still divide him, + whatsoever is worthy, catholic and perennial in him, from a brother soul + who, more than most in his day, was his brother and not his adversary in + regard to all that. + </p> + <p> + Nor shall the irremediable drawback that Sterling was not current in the + Newspapers, that he achieved neither what the world calls greatness nor + what intrinsically is such, altogether discourage me. What his natural + size, and natural and accidental limits were, will gradually appear, if my + sketching be successful. And I have remarked that a true delineation of + the smallest man, and his scene of pilgrimage through life, is capable of + interesting the greatest man; that all men are to an unspeakable degree + brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every man's; and that Human + Portraits, faithfully drawn, are of all pictures the welcomest on human + walls. Monitions and moralities enough may lie in this small Work, if + honestly written and honestly read;—and, in particular, if any image + of John Sterling and his Pilgrimage through our poor Nineteenth Century be + one day wanted by the world, and they can find some shadow of a true image + here, my swift scribbling (which shall be very swift and immediate) may + prove useful by and by. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. + </h2> + <p> + John Sterling was born at Kaimes Castle, a kind of dilapidated baronial + residence to which a small farm was then attached, rented by his Father, + in the Isle of Bute,—on the 20th July, 1806. Both his parents were + Irish by birth, Scotch by extraction; and became, as he himself did, + essentially English by long residence and habit. Of John himself Scotland + has little or nothing to claim except the birth and genealogy, for he left + it almost before the years of memory; and in his mature days regarded it, + if with a little more recognition and intelligence, yet without more + participation in any of its accents outward or inward, than others natives + of Middlesex or Surrey, where the scene of his chief education lay. + </p> + <p> + The climate of Bute is rainy, soft of temperature; with skies of unusual + depth and brilliancy, while the weather is fair. In that soft rainy + climate, on that wild-wooded rocky coast, with its gnarled mountains and + green silent valleys, with its seething rain-storms and many-sounding + seas, was young Sterling ushered into his first schooling in this world. I + remember one little anecdote his Father told me of those first years: One + of the cows had calved; young John, still in petticoats, was permitted to + go, holding by his father's hand, and look at the newly arrived calf; a + mystery which he surveyed with open intent eyes, and the silent exercise + of all the scientific faculties he had;—very strange mystery indeed, + this new arrival, and fresh denizen of our Universe: "Wull't eat a-body?" + said John in his first practical Scotch, inquiring into the tendencies + this mystery might have to fall upon a little fellow and consume him as + provision: "Will it eat one, Father?"—Poor little open-eyed John: + the family long bantered him with this anecdote; and we, in far other + years, laughed heartily on hearing it.—Simple peasant laborers, + ploughers, house-servants, occasional fisher-people too; and the sight of + ships, and crops, and Nature's doings where Art has little meddled with + her: this was the kind of schooling our young friend had, first of all; on + this bench of the grand world-school did he sit, for the first four years + of his life. + </p> + <p> + Edward Sterling his Father, a man who subsequently came to considerable + notice in the world, was originally of Waterford in Munster; son of the + Episcopalian Clergyman there; and chief representative of a family of some + standing in those parts. Family founded, it appears, by a Colonel Robert + Sterling, called also Sir Robert Sterling; a Scottish Gustavus-Adolphus + soldier, whom the breaking out of the Civil War had recalled from his + German campaignings, and had before long, though not till after some + waverings on his part, attached firmly to the Duke of Ormond and to the + King's Party in that quarrel. A little bit of genealogy, since it lies + ready to my hand, gathered long ago out of wider studies, and pleasantly + connects things individual and present with the dim universal crowd of + things past,—may as well be inserted here as thrown away. + </p> + <p> + This Colonel Robert designates himself Sterling "of Glorat;" I believe, a + younger branch of the well-known Stirlings of Keir in Stirlingshire. It + appears he prospered in his soldiering and other business, in those bad + Ormond times; being a man of energy, ardor and intelligence,—probably + prompt enough both with his word and with his stroke. There survives yet, + in the Commons Journals, <a href="#linknote-2" name="linknoteref-2" + id="linknoteref-2"><small>2</small></a> dim notice of his controversies + and adventures; especially of one controversy he had got into with certain + victorious Parliamentary official parties, while his own party lay + vanquished, during what was called the Ormond Cessation, or Temporary + Peace made by Ormond with the Parliament in 1646:—in which + controversy Colonel Robert, after repeated applications, journeyings to + London, attendances upon committees, and such like, finds himself worsted, + declared to be in the wrong; and so vanishes from the Commons Journals. + </p> + <p> + What became of him when Cromwell got to Ireland, and to Munster, I have + not heard: his knighthood, dating from the very year of Cromwell's + Invasion (1649), indicates a man expected to do his best on the occasion:—as + in all probability he did; had not Tredah Storm proved ruinous, and the + neck of this Irish War been broken at once. Doubtless the Colonel Sir + Robert followed or attended his Duke of Ormond into foreign parts, and + gave up his management of Munster, while it was yet time: for after the + Restoration we find him again, safe, and as was natural, flourishing with + new splendor; gifted, recompensed with lands;—settled, in short, on + fair revenues in those Munster regions. He appears to have had no + children; but to have left his property to William, a younger brother who + had followed him into Ireland. From this William descends the family + which, in the years we treat of, had Edward Sterling, Father of our John, + for its representative. And now enough of genealogy. + </p> + <p> + Of Edward Sterling, Captain Edward Sterling as his title was, who in the + latter period of his life became well known in London political society, + whom indeed all England, with a curious mixture of mockery and respect and + even fear, knew well as "the Thunderer of the Times Newspaper," there were + much to be said, did the present task and its limits permit. As perhaps it + might, on certain terms? What is indispensable let us not omit to say. The + history of a man's childhood is the description of his parents and + environment: this is his inarticulate but highly important history, in + those first times, while of articulate he has yet none. + </p> + <p> + Edward Sterling had now just entered on his thirty-fourth year; and was + already a man experienced in fortunes and changes. A native of Waterford + in Munster, as already mentioned; born in the "Deanery House of Waterford, + 27th February, 1773," say the registers. For his Father, as we learn, + resided in the Deanery House, though he was not himself Dean, but only + "Curate of the Cathedral" (whatever that may mean); he was withal rector + of two other livings, and the Dean's friend,—friend indeed of the + Dean's kinsmen the Beresfords generally; whose grand house of Curraghmore, + near by Waterford, was a familiar haunt of his and his children's. This + reverend gentleman, along with his three livings and high + acquaintanceships, had inherited political connections;—inherited + especially a Government Pension, with survivorship for still one life + beyond his own; his father having been Clerk of the Irish House of Commons + at the time of the Union, of which office the lost salary was compensated + in this way. The Pension was of two hundred pounds; and only expired with + the life of Edward, John's Father, in 1847. There were, and still are, + daughters of the family; but Edward was the only son;—descended, + too, from the Scottish hero Wallace, as the old gentleman would sometimes + admonish him; his own wife, Edward's mother, being of that name, and + boasting herself, as most Scotch Wallaces do, to have that blood in her + veins. + </p> + <p> + This Edward had picked up, at Waterford, and among the young Beresfords of + Curraghmore and elsewhere, a thoroughly Irish form of character: fire and + fervor, vitality of all kinds, in genial abundance; but in a much more + loquacious, ostentatious, much <i>louder</i> style than is freely + patronized on this side of the Channel. Of Irish accent in speech he had + entirely divested himself, so as not to be traced by any vestige in that + respect; but his Irish accent of character, in all manner of other more + important respects, was very recognizable. An impetuous man, full of real + energy, and immensely conscious of the same; who transacted everything not + with the minimum of fuss and noise, but with the maximum: a very Captain + Whirlwind, as one was tempted to call him. + </p> + <p> + In youth, he had studied at Trinity College, Dublin; visited the Inns of + Court here, and trained himself for the Irish Bar. To the Bar he had been + duly called, and was waiting for the results,—when, in his + twenty-fifth year, the Irish Rebellion broke out; whereupon the Irish + Barristers decided to raise a corps of loyal Volunteers, and a complete + change introduced itself into Edward Sterling's way of life. For, + naturally, he had joined the array of Volunteers;—fought, I have + heard, "in three actions with the rebels" (Vinegar Hill, for one); and + doubtless fought well: but in the mess-rooms, among the young military and + civil officials, with all of whom he was a favorite, he had acquired a + taste for soldier life, and perhaps high hopes of succeeding in it: at all + events, having a commission in the Lancashire Militia offered him, he + accepted that; altogether quitted the Bar, and became Captain Sterling + thenceforth. From the Militia, it appears, he had volunteered with his + Company into the Line; and, under some disappointments, and official + delays of expected promotion, was continuing to serve as Captain there, + "Captain of the Eighth Battalion of Reserve," say the Military Almanacs of + 1803,—in which year the quarters happened to be Derry, where new + events awaited him. At a ball in Derry he met with Miss Hester Coningham, + the queen of the scene, and of the fair world in Derry at that time. The + acquaintance, in spite of some Opposition, grew with vigor, and rapidly + ripened: and "at Fehan Church, Diocese of Derry," where the Bride's father + had a country-house, "on Thursday 5th April, 1804, Hester Coningham, only + daughter of John Coningham, Esquire, Merchant in Derry, and of Elizabeth + Campbell his wife," was wedded to Captain Sterling; she happiest to him + happiest,—as by Nature's kind law it is arranged. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Sterling, even in her later days, had still traces of the old beauty: + then and always she was a woman of delicate, pious, affectionate + character; exemplary as a wife, a mother and a friend. A refined female + nature; something tremulous in it, timid, and with a certain rural + freshness still unweakened by long converse with the world. The tall slim + figure, always of a kind of quaker neatness; the innocent anxious face, + anxious bright hazel eyes; the timid, yet gracefully cordial ways, the + natural intelligence, instinctive sense and worth, were very + characteristic. Her voice too; with its something of soft querulousness, + easily adapting itself to a light thin-flowing style of mirth on occasion, + was characteristic: she had retained her Ulster intonations, and was + withal somewhat copious in speech. A fine tremulously sensitive nature, + strong chiefly on the side of the affections, and the graceful insights + and activities that depend on these:—truly a beautiful, + much-suffering, much-loving house-mother. From her chiefly, as one could + discern, John Sterling had derived the delicate <i>aroma</i> of his + nature, its piety, clearness, sincerity; as from his Father, the ready + practical gifts, the impetuosities and the audacities, were also (though + in strange new form) visibly inherited. A man was lucky to have such a + Mother; to have such Parents as both his were. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the new Wife appears to have had, for the present, no + marriage-portion; neither was Edward Sterling rich,—according to his + own ideas and aims, far from it. Of course he soon found that the + fluctuating barrack-life, especially with no outlooks of speedy promotion, + was little suited to his new circumstances: but how change it? His father + was now dead; from whom he had inherited the Speaker Pension of two + hundred pounds; but of available probably little or nothing more. The + rents of the small family estate, I suppose, and other property, had gone + to portion sisters. Two hundred pounds, and the pay of a marching captain: + within the limits of that revenue all plans of his had to restrict + themselves at present. + </p> + <p> + He continued for some time longer in the Army; his wife undivided from him + by the hardships, of that way of life. Their first son Anthony (Captain + Anthony Sterling, the only child who now survives) was born to them in + this position, while lying at Dundalk, in January, 1805. Two months later, + some eleven months after their marriage, the regiment was broken; and + Captain Sterling, declining to serve elsewhere on the terms offered, and + willingly accepting such decision of his doubts, was reduced to half-pay. + This was the end of his soldiering: some five or six years in all; from + which he had derived for life, among other things, a decided military + bearing, whereof he was rather proud; an incapacity for practicing law;—and + considerable uncertainty as to what his next course of life was now to be. + </p> + <p> + For the present, his views lay towards farming: to establish himself, if + not as country gentleman, which was an unattainable ambition, then at + least as some kind of gentleman-farmer which had a flattering resemblance + to that. Kaimes Castle with a reasonable extent of land, which, in his + inquiries after farms, had turned up, was his first place of settlement in + this new capacity; and here, for some few months, he had established + himself when John his second child was born. This was Captain Sterling's + first attempt towards a fixed course of life; not a very wise one, I have + understood:—yet on the whole, who, then and there, could have + pointed out to him a wiser? + </p> + <p> + A fixed course of life and activity he could never attain, or not till + very late; and this doubtless was among the important points of his + destiny, and acted both on his own character and that of those who had to + attend him on his wayfarings. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. SCHOOLS: LLANBLETHIAN; PARIS; LONDON. + </h2> + <p> + Edward Sterling never shone in farming; indeed I believe he never took + heartily to it, or tried it except in fits. His Bute farm was, at best, a + kind of apology for some far different ideal of a country establishment + which could not be realized; practically a temporary landing-place from + which he could make sallies and excursions in search of some more generous + field of enterprise. Stormy brief efforts at energetic husbandry, at + agricultural improvement and rapid field-labor, alternated with sudden + flights to Dublin, to London, whithersoever any flush of bright outlook + which he could denominate practical, or any gleam of hope which his + impatient ennui could represent as such, allured him. This latter was + often enough the case. In wet hay-times and harvest-times, the dripping + outdoor world, and lounging indoor one, in the absence of the master, + offered far from a satisfactory appearance! Here was, in fact, a man much + imprisoned; haunted, I doubt not, by demons enough; though ever brisk and + brave withal,—iracund, but cheerfully vigorous, opulent in wise or + unwise hope. A fiery energetic soul consciously and unconsciously storming + for deliverance into better arenas; and this in a restless, rapid, + impetuous, rather than in a strong, silent and deliberate way. + </p> + <p> + In rainy Bute and the dilapidated Kaimes Castle, it was evident, there lay + no Goshen for such a man. The lease, originally but for some three years + and a half, drawing now to a close, he resolved to quit Bute; had heard, I + know not where, of an eligible cottage without farm attached, in the + pleasant little village of Llanblethian close by Cowbridge in + Glamorganshire; of this he took a lease, and thither with his family he + moved in search of new fortunes. Glamorganshire was at least a better + climate than Bute; no groups of idle or of busy reapers could here stand + waiting on the guidance of a master, for there was no farm here;—and + among its other and probably its chief though secret advantages, + Llanblethian was much more convenient both for Dublin and London than + Kaimes Castle had been. + </p> + <p> + The removal thither took place in the autumn of 1809. Chief part of the + journey (perhaps from Greenock to Swansea or Bristol) was by sea: John, + just turned of three years, could in after-times remember nothing of this + voyage; Anthony, some eighteen months older, has still a vivid + recollection of the gray splashing tumult, and dim sorrow, uncertainty, + regret and distress he underwent: to him a "dissolving-view" which not + only left its effect on the <i>plate</i> (as all views and + dissolving-views doubtless do on that kind of "plate"), but remained + consciously present there. John, in the close of his twenty-first year, + professes not to remember anything whatever of Bute; his whole existence, + in that earliest scene of it, had faded away from him: Bute also, with its + shaggy mountains, moaning woods, and summer and winter seas, had been + wholly a dissolving-view for him, and had left no conscious impression, + but only, like this voyage, an effect. + </p> + <p> + Llanblethian hangs pleasantly, with its white cottages, and orchard and + other trees, on the western slope of a green hill looking far and wide + over green meadows and little or bigger hills, in the pleasant plain of + Glamorgan; a short mile to the south of Cowbridge, to which smart little + town it is properly a kind of suburb. Plain of Glamorgan, some ten miles + wide and thirty or forty long, which they call the Vale of Glamorgan;—though + properly it is not quite a Vale, there being only one range of mountains + to it, if even one: certainly the central Mountains of Wales do gradually + rise, in a miscellaneous manner, on the north side of it; but on the south + are no mountains, not even land, only the Bristol Channel, and far off, + the Hills of Devonshire, for boundary,—the "English Hills," as the + natives call them, visible from every eminence in those parts. On such + wide terms is it called Vale of Glamorgan. But called by whatever name, it + is a most pleasant fruitful region: kind to the native, interesting to the + visitor. A waving grassy region; cut with innumerable ragged lanes; dotted + with sleepy unswept human hamlets, old ruinous castles with their ivy and + their daws, gray sleepy churches with their ditto ditto: for ivy + everywhere abounds; and generally a rank fragrant vegetation clothes all + things; hanging, in rude many-colored festoons and fringed odoriferous + tapestries, on your right and on your left, in every lane. A country + kinder to the sluggard husbandman than any I have ever seen. For it lies + all on limestone, needs no draining; the soil, everywhere of handsome + depth and finest quality, will grow good crops for you with the most + imperfect tilling. At a safe distance of a day's riding lie the tartarean + copper-forges of Swansea, the tartarean iron-forges of Merthyr; their + sooty battle far away, and not, at such safe distance, a defilement to the + face of the earth and sky, but rather an encouragement to the earth at + least; encouraging the husbandman to plough better, if he only would. + </p> + <p> + The peasantry seem indolent and stagnant, but peaceable and well-provided; + much given to Methodism when they have any character;—for the rest, + an innocent good-humored people, who all drink home-brewed beer, and have + brown loaves of the most excellent home-baked bread. The native peasant + village is not generally beautiful, though it might be, were it swept and + trimmed; it gives one rather the idea of sluttish stagnancy,—an + interesting peep into the Welsh Paradise of Sleepy Hollow. Stones, old + kettles, naves of wheels, all kinds of broken litter, with live pigs and + etceteras, lie about the street: for, as a rule, no rubbish is removed, + but waits patiently the action of mere natural chemistry and accident; if + even a house is burnt or falls, you will find it there after half a + century, only cloaked by the ever-ready ivy. Sluggish man seems never to + have struck a pick into it; his new hut is built close by on ground not + encumbered, and the old stones are still left lying. + </p> + <p> + This is the ordinary Welsh village; but there are exceptions, where people + of more cultivated tastes have been led to settle, and Llanblethian is one + of the more signal of these. A decidedly cheerful group of human homes, + the greater part of them indeed belonging to persons of refined habits; + trimness, shady shelter, whitewash, neither conveniency nor decoration has + been neglected here. Its effect from the distance on the eastward is very + pretty: you see it like a little sleeping cataract of white houses, with + trees overshadowing and fringing it; and there the cataract hangs, and + does not rush away from you. + </p> + <p> + John Sterling spent his next five years in this locality. He did not again + see it for a quarter of a century; but retained, all his life, a lively + remembrance of it; and, just in the end of his twenty-first year, among + his earliest printed pieces, we find an elaborate and diffuse description + of it and its relations to him,—part of which piece, in spite of its + otherwise insignificant quality, may find place here:— + </p> + <p> + "The fields on which I first looked, and the sands which were marked by my + earliest footsteps, are completely lost to my memory; and of those ancient + walls among which I began to breathe, I retain no recollection more clear + than the outlines of a cloud in a moonless sky. But of L——, + the village where I afterwards lived, I persuade myself that every line + and hue is more deeply and accurately fixed than those of any spot I have + since beheld, even though borne in upon the heart by the association of + the strongest feelings. + </p> + <p> + "My home was built upon the slope of a hill, with a little orchard + stretching down before it, and a garden rising behind. At a considerable + distance beyond and beneath the orchard, a rivulet flowed through meadows + and turned a mill; while, above the garden, the summit of the hill was + crowned by a few gray rocks, from which a yew-tree grew, solitary and + bare. Extending at each side of the orchard, toward the brook, two + scattered patches of cottages lay nestled among their gardens; and beyond + this streamlet and the little mill and bridge, another slight eminence + arose, divided into green fields, tufted and bordered with copsewood, and + crested by a ruined castle, contemporary, as was said, with the Conquest. + I know not whether these things in truth made up a prospect of much + beauty. Since I was eight years old, I have never seen them; but I well + know that no landscape I have since beheld, no picture of Claude or + Salvator, gave me half the impression of living, heartfelt, perfect beauty + which fills my mind when I think of that green valley, that sparkling + rivulet, that broken fortress of dark antiquity, and that hill with its + aged yew and breezy summit, from which I have so often looked over the + broad stretch of verdure beneath it, and the country-town, and + church-tower, silent and white beyond. + </p> + <p> + "In that little town there was, and I believe is, a school where the + elements of human knowledge were communicated to me, for some hours of + every day, during a considerable time. The path to it lay across the + rivulet and past the mill; from which point we could either journey + through the fields below the old castle, and the wood which surrounded it, + or along a road at the other side of the ruin, close to the gateway of + which it passed. The former track led through two or three beautiful + fields, the sylvan domain of the keep on one hand, and the brook on the + other; while an oak or two, like giant warders advanced from the wood, + broke the sunshine of the green with a soft and graceful shadow. How + often, on my way to school, have I stopped beneath the tree to collect the + fallen acorns; how often run down to the stream to pluck a branch of the + hawthorn which hung over the water! The road which passed the castle + joined, beyond these fields, the path which traversed them. It took, I + well remember, a certain solemn and mysterious interest from the ruin. The + shadow of the archway, the discolorizations of time on all the walls, the + dimness of the little thicket which encircled it, the traditions of its + immeasurable age, made St. Quentin's Castle a wonderful and awful fabric + in the imagination of a child; and long after I last saw its mouldering + roughness, I never read of fortresses, or heights, or spectres, or + banditti, without connecting them with the one ruin of my childhood. + </p> + <p> + "It was close to this spot that one of the few adventures occurred which + marked, in my mind, my boyish days with importance. When loitering beyond + the castle, on the way to school, with a brother somewhat older than + myself, who was uniformly my champion and protector, we espied a round + sloe high up in the hedge-row. We determined to obtain it; and I do not + remember whether both of us, or only my brother, climbed the tree. + However, when the prize was all but reached,—and no alchemist ever + looked more eagerly for the moment of projection which was to give him + immortality and omnipotence,—a gruff voice startled us with an oath, + and an order to desist; and I well recollect looking back, for long after, + with terror to the vision of an old and ill-tempered farmer, armed with a + bill-hook, and vowing our decapitation; nor did I subsequently remember + without triumph the eloquence whereby alone, in my firm belief, my brother + and myself had been rescued from instant death. + </p> + <p> + "At the entrance of the little town stood an old gateway, with a pointed + arch and decaying battlements. It gave admittance to the street which + contained the church, and which terminated in another street, the + principal one in the town of C——. In this was situated the + school to which I daily wended. I cannot now recall to mind the face of + its good conductor, nor of any of his scholars; but I have before me a + strong general image of the interior of his establishment. I remember the + reverence with which I was wont to carry to his seat a well-thumbed + duodecimo, the <i>History of Greece</i> by Oliver Goldsmith. I remember + the mental agonies I endured in attempting to master the art and mystery + of penmanship; a craft in which, alas, I remained too short a time under + Mr. R—— to become as great a proficient as he made his other + scholars, and which my awkwardness has prevented me from attaining in any + considerable perfection under my various subsequent pedagogues. But that + which has left behind it a brilliant trait of light was the exhibition of + what are called 'Christmas pieces;' things unknown in aristocratic + seminaries, but constantly used at the comparatively humble academy which + supplied the best knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic to be + attained in that remote neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + "The long desks covered from end to end with those painted masterpieces, + the Life of Robinson Crusoe, the Hunting of Chevy-Chase, the History of + Jack the Giant-Killer, and all the little eager faces and trembling hands + bent over these, and filling them up with some choice quotation, sacred or + profane;—no, the galleries of art, the theatrical exhibitions, the + reviews and processions,—which are only not childish because they + are practiced and admired by men instead of children,—all the pomps + and vanities of great cities, have shown me no revelation of glory such as + did that crowded school-room the week before the Christmas holidays. But + these were the splendors of life. The truest and the strongest feelings do + not connect themselves with any scenes of gorgeous and gaudy magnificence; + they are bound up in the remembrances of home. + </p> + <p> + "The narrow orchard, with its grove of old apple-trees against one of + which I used to lean, and while I brandished a beanstalk, roar out with + Fitzjames,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Come one, come all; this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I!'— +</pre> + <p> + while I was ready to squall at the sight of a cur, and run valorously away + from a casually approaching cow; the field close beside it, where I rolled + about in summer among the hay; the brook in which, despite of maid and + mother, I waded by the hour; the garden where I sowed flower-seeds, and + then turned up the ground again and planted potatoes, and then rooted out + the potatoes to insert acorns and apple-pips, and at last, as may be + supposed, reaped neither roses, nor potatoes, nor oak-trees, nor apples; + the grass-plots on which I played among those with whom I never can play + nor work again: all these are places and employments,—and, alas, + playmates,—such as, if it were worth while to weep at all, it would + be worth weeping that I enjoy no longer. + </p> + <p> + "I remember the house where I first grew familiar with peacocks; and the + mill-stream into which I once fell; and the religious awe wherewith I + heard, in the warm twilight, the psalm-singing around the house of the + Methodist miller; and the door-post against which I discharged my brazen + artillery; I remember the window by which I sat while my mother taught me + French; and the patch of garden which I dug for— But her name is + best left blank; it was indeed writ in water. These recollections are to + me like the wealth of a departed friend, a mournful treasure. But the + public has heard enough of them; to it they are worthless: they are a coin + which only circulates at its true value between the different periods of + an individual's existence, and good for nothing but to keep up a commerce + between boyhood and manhood. I have for years looked forward to the + possibility of visiting L——; but I am told that it is a + changed village; and not only has man been at work, but the old yew on the + hill has fallen, and scarcely a low stump remains of the tree which I + delighted in childhood to think might have furnished bows for the Norman + archers." <a href="#linknote-3" name="linknoteref-3" id="linknoteref-3"><small>3</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In Cowbridge is some kind of free school, or grammar-school, of a certain + distinction; and this to Captain Sterling was probably a motive for + settling in the neighborhood of it with his children. Of this however, as + it turned out, there was no use made: the Sterling family, during its + continuance in those parts, did not need more than a primary school. The + worthy master who presided over these Christmas galas, and had the honor + to teach John Sterling his reading and writing, was an elderly Mr. Reece + of Cowbridge, who still (in 1851) survives, or lately did; and is still + remembered by his old pupils as a worthy, ingenious and kindly man, "who + wore drab breeches and white stockings." Beyond the Reece sphere of + tuition John Sterling did not go in this locality. + </p> + <p> + In fact the Sterling household was still fluctuating; the problem of a + task for Edward Sterling's powers, and of anchorage for his affairs in any + sense, was restlessly struggling to solve itself, but was still a good way + from being solved. Anthony, in revisiting these scenes with John in 1839, + mentions going to the spot "where we used to stand with our Father, + looking out for the arrival of the London mail:" a little chink through + which is disclosed to us a big restless section of a human life. The Hill + of Welsh Llanblethian, then, is like the mythic Caucasus in its degree (as + indeed all hills and habitations where men sojourn are); and here too, on + a small scale, is a Prometheus Chained! Edward Sterling, I can well + understand, was a man to tug at the chains that held him idle in those the + prime of his years; and to ask restlessly, yet not in anger and remorse, + so much as in hope, locomotive speculation, and ever-new adventure and + attempt, Is there no task nearer my own natural size, then? So he looks + out from the Hill-side "for the arrival of the London mail;" thence + hurries into Cowbridge to the Post-office; and has a wide web, of threads + and gossamers, upon his loom, and many shuttles flying, in this world. + </p> + <p> + By the Marquis of Bute's appointment he had, very shortly after his + arrival in that region, become Adjutant of the Glamorganshire Militia, + "Local Militia," I suppose; and was, in this way, turning his military + capabilities to some use. The office involved pretty frequent absences, in + Cardiff and elsewhere. This doubtless was a welcome outlet, though a small + one. He had also begun to try writing, especially on public subjects; a + much more copious outlet,—which indeed, gradually widening itself, + became the final solution for him. Of the year 1811 we have a Pamphlet of + his, entitled <i>Military Reform</i>; this is the second edition, + "dedicated to the Duke of Kent;" the first appears to have come out the + year before, and had thus attained a certain notice, which of course was + encouraging. He now furthermore opened a correspondence with the <i>Times</i> + Newspaper; wrote to it, in 1812, a series of Letters under the signature + <i>Vetus</i>: voluntary Letters I suppose, without payment or + pre-engagement, one successful Letter calling out another; till <i>Vetus</i> + and his doctrines came to be a distinguishable entity, and the business + amounted to something. Out of my own earliest Newspaper reading, I can + remember the name <i>Vetus</i>, as a kind of editorial hacklog on which + able-editors were wont to chop straw now and then. Nay the Letters were + collected and reprinted; both this first series, of 1812, and then a + second of next year: two very thin, very dim-colored cheap octavos; stray + copies of which still exist, and may one day become distillable into a + drop of History (should such be wanted of our poor "Scavenger Age" in time + coming), though the reading of them has long ceased in this generation.<a + href="#linknote-4" name="linknoteref-4" id="linknoteref-4"><small>4</small></a> + The first series, we perceive, had even gone to a second edition. The + tone, wherever one timidly glances into this extinct cockpit, is trenchant + and emphatic: the name of <i>Vetus</i>, strenuously fighting there, had + become considerable in the talking political world; and, no doubt, was + especially of mark, as that of a writer who might otherwise be important, + with the proprietors of the <i>Times</i>. The connection continued: + widened and deepened itself,—in a slow tentative manner; passing + naturally from voluntary into remunerated: and indeed proving more and + more to be the true ultimate arena, and battle-field and seed-field, for + the exuberant impetuosities and faculties of this man. + </p> + <p> + What the <i>Letters of Vetus</i> treated of I do not know; doubtless they + ran upon Napoleon, Catholic Emancipation, true methods of national + defence, of effective foreign Anti-gallicism, and of domestic ditto; which + formed the staple of editorial speculation at that time. I have heard in + general that Captain Sterling, then and afterwards, advocated "the Marquis + of Wellesley's policy;" but that also, what it was, I have forgotten, and + the world has been willing to forget. Enough, the heads of the <i>Times</i> + establishment, perhaps already the Marquis of Wellesley and other + important persons, had their eye on this writer; and it began to be + surmised by him that here at last was the career he had been seeking. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, in 1814, when victorious Peace unexpectedly arrived; and the + gates of the Continent after five-and-twenty years of fierce closure were + suddenly thrown open; and the hearts of all English and European men awoke + staggering as if from a nightmare suddenly removed, and ran hither and + thither,—Edward Sterling also determined on a new adventure, that of + crossing to Paris, and trying what might lie in store for him. For + curiosity, in its idler sense, there was evidently pabulum enough. But he + had hopes moreover of learning much that might perhaps avail him + afterwards;—hopes withal, I have understood, of getting to be + Foreign Correspondent of the <i>Times</i> Newspaper, and so adding to his + income in the mean while. He left Llanblethian in May; dates from Dieppe + the 27th of that month. He lived in occasional contact with Parisian + notabilities (all of them except Madame de Stael forgotten now), all + summer, diligently surveying his ground;—returned for his family, + who were still in Wales but ready to move, in the beginning of August; + took them immediately across with him; a house in the neighborhood of + Paris, in the pleasant village of Passy at once town and country, being + now ready; and so, under foreign skies, again set up his household there. + </p> + <p> + Here was a strange new "school" for our friend John now in his eighth + year! Out of which the little Anthony and he drank doubtless at all pores, + vigorously as they had done in no school before. A change total and + immediate. Somniferous green Llanblethian has suddenly been blotted out; + presto, here are wakeful Passy and the noises of paved Paris instead. + Innocent ingenious Mr. Reece in drab breeches and white stockings, he with + his mild Christmas galas and peaceable rules of Dilworth and Butterworth, + has given place to such a saturnalia of panoramic, symbolic and other + teachers and monitors, addressing all the five senses at once. Who John's + express tutors were, at Passy, I never heard; nor indeed, especially in + his case, was it much worth inquiring. To him and to all of us, the + expressly appointed schoolmasters and schoolings we get are as nothing, + compared with the unappointed incidental and continual ones, whose + school-hours are all the days and nights of our existence, and whose + lessons, noticed or unnoticed, stream in upon us with every breath we + draw. Anthony says they attended a French school, though only for about + three months; and he well remembers the last scene of it, "the boys + shouting <i>Vive l'Empereur</i> when Napoleon came back." + </p> + <p> + Of John Sterling's express schooling, perhaps the most important feature, + and by no means a favorable one to him, was the excessive fluctuation that + prevailed in it. Change of scene, change of teacher, <i>both</i> express + and implied, was incessant with him; and gave his young life a nomadic + character,—which surely, of all the adventitious tendencies that + could have been impressed upon him, so volatile, swift and airy a being as + him, was the one he needed least. His gentle pious-hearted Mother, ever + watching over him in all outward changes, and assiduously keeping human + pieties and good affections alive in him, was probably the best + counteracting element in his lot. And on the whole, have we not all to run + our chance in that respect; and take, the most victoriously we can, such + schooling as pleases to be attainable in our year and place? Not very + victoriously, the most of us! A wise well-calculated breeding of a young + genial soul in this world, or alas of any young soul in it, lies fatally + over the horizon in these epochs!—This French scene of things, a + grand school of its sort, and also a perpetual banquet for the young soul, + naturally captivated John Sterling; he said afterwards, "New things and + experiences here were poured upon his mind and sense, not in streams, but + in a Niagara cataract." This too, however, was but a scene; lasted only + some six or seven months; and in the spring of the next year terminated as + abruptly as any of the rest could do. + </p> + <p> + For in the spring of the next year, Napoleon abruptly emerged from Elba; + and set all the populations of the world in motion, in a strange manner;—set + the Sterling household afloat, in particular; the big European tide + rushing into all smallest creeks, at Passy and elsewhere. In brief, on the + 20th of March, 1815, the family had to shift, almost to fly, towards home + and the sea-coast; and for a day or two were under apprehension of being + detained and not reaching home. Mrs. Sterling, with her children and + effects, all in one big carriage with two horses, made the journey to + Dieppe; in perfect safety, though in continual tremor: here they were + joined by Captain Sterling, who had stayed behind at Paris to see the + actual advent of Napoleon, and to report what the aspect of affairs was, + "Downcast looks of citizens, with fierce saturnalian acclaim of soldiery:" + after which they proceeded together to London without farther + apprehension;—there to witness, in due time, the tar-barrels of + Waterloo, and other phenomena that followed. + </p> + <p> + Captain Sterling never quitted London as a residence any more; and indeed + was never absent from it, except on autumnal or other excursions of a few + weeks, till the end of his life. Nevertheless his course there was as yet + by no means clear; nor had his relations with the heads of the <i>Times</i>, + or with other high heads, assumed a form which could be called definite, + but were hanging as a cloudy maze of possibilities, firm substance not yet + divided from shadow. It continued so for some years. The Sterling + household shifted twice or thrice to new streets or localities,—Russell + Square or Queen Square, Blackfriars Road, and longest at the Grove, + Blackheath,—before the vapors of Wellesley promotions and such like + slowly sank as useless precipitate, and the firm rock, which was definite + employment, ending in lucrative co-proprietorship and more and more + important connection with the <i>Times</i> Newspaper, slowly disclosed + itself. + </p> + <p> + These changes of place naturally brought changes in John Sterling's + schoolmasters: nor were domestic tragedies wanting, still more important + to him. New brothers and sisters had been born; two little brothers more, + three little sisters he had in all; some of whom came to their eleventh + year beside him, some passed away in their second or fourth: but from his + ninth to his sixteenth year they all died; and in 1821 only Anthony and + John were left. <a href="#linknote-5" name="linknoteref-5" + id="linknoteref-5"><small>5</small></a> How many tears, and passionate + pangs, and soft infinite regrets; such as are appointed to all mortals! In + one year, I find, indeed in one half-year, he lost three little playmates, + two of them within one month. His own age was not yet quite twelve. For + one of these three, for little Edward, his next younger, who died now at + the age of nine, Mr. Hare records that John copied out, in large + school-hand, a <i>History of Valentine and Orson</i>, to beguile the poor + child's sickness, which ended in death soon, leaving a sad cloud on John. + </p> + <p> + Of his grammar and other schools, which, as I said, are hardly worth + enumerating in comparison, the most important seems to have been a Dr. + Burney's at Greenwich; a large day-school and boarding-school, where + Anthony and John gave their attendance for a year or two (1818-19) from + Blackheath. "John frequently did themes for the boys," says Anthony, "and + for myself when I was aground." His progress in all school learning was + certain to be rapid, if he even moderately took to it. A lean, tallish, + loose-made boy of twelve; strange alacrity, rapidity and joyous eagerness + looking out of his eyes, and of all his ways and movements. I have a + Picture of him at this stage; a little portrait, which carries its + verification with it. In manhood too, the chief expression of his eyes and + physiognomy was what I might call alacrity, cheerful rapidity. You could + see, here looked forth a soul which was winged; which dwelt in hope and + action, not in hesitation or fear. Anthony says, he was "an affectionate + and gallant kind of boy, adventurous and generous, daring to a singular + degree." Apt enough withal to be "petulant now and then;" on the whole, + "very self-willed;" doubtless not a little discursive in his thoughts and + ways, and "difficult to manage." + </p> + <p> + I rather think Anthony, as the steadier, more substantial boy, was the + Mother's favorite; and that John, though the quicker and cleverer, perhaps + cost her many anxieties. Among the Papers given me, is an old browned + half-sheet in stiff school hand, unpunctuated, occasionally ill spelt,—John + Sterling's earliest remaining Letter,—which gives record of a + crowning escapade of his, the first and the last of its kind; and so may + be inserted here. A very headlong adventure on the boy's part; so hasty + and so futile, at once audacious and impracticable; emblematic of much + that befell in the history of the man! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Mrs. Sterling, Blackheath</i>. + "21st September, 1818. +</pre> + <p> + "DEAR MAMMA,—I am now at Dover, where I arrived this morning about + seven o'clock. When you thought I was going to church, I went down the + Kent Road, and walked on till I came to Gravesend, which is upwards of + twenty miles from Blackheath; at about seven o'clock in the evening, + without having eat anything the whole time. I applied to an inkeeper (<i>sic</i>) + there, pretending that I had served a haberdasher in London, who left of (<i>sic</i>) + business, and turned me away. He believed me; and got me a passage in the + coach here, for I said that I had an Uncle here, and that my Father and + Mother were dead;—when I wandered about the quays for some time, + till I met Captain Keys, whom I asked to give me a passage to Boulogne; + which he promised to do, and took me home to breakfast with him: but Mrs. + Keys questioned me a good deal; when I not being able to make my story + good, I was obliged to confess to her that I had run away from you. + Captain Keys says that he will keep me at his house till you answer my + letter. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "J. STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Anthony remembers the business well; but can assign no origin to it,—some + penalty, indignity or cross put suddenly on John, which the hasty John + considered unbearable. His Mother's inconsolable weeping, and then his own + astonishment at such a culprit's being forgiven, are all that remain with + Anthony. The steady historical style of the young runaway of twelve, + narrating merely, not in the least apologizing, is also noticeable. + </p> + <p> + This was some six months after his little brother Edward's death; three + months after that of Hester, his little sister next in the family series + to him: troubled days for the poor Mother in that small household on + Blackheath, as there are for mothers in so many households in this world! + I have heard that Mrs. Sterling passed much of her time alone, at this + period. Her husband's pursuits, with his Wellesleys and the like, often + carrying him into Town and detaining him late there, she would sit among + her sleeping children, such of them as death had still spared, perhaps + thriftily plying her needle, full of mournful affectionate night-thoughts,—apprehensive + too, in her tremulous heart, that the head of the house might have fallen + among robbers in his way homeward. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. UNIVERSITIES: GLASGOW; CAMBRIDGE. + </h2> + <p> + At a later stage, John had some instruction from a Dr. Waite at + Blackheath; and lastly, the family having now removed into Town, to + Seymour Street in the fashionable region there, he "read for a while with + Dr. Trollope, Master of Christ's Hospital;" which ended his school + history. + </p> + <p> + In this his ever-changing course, from Reece at Cowbridge to Trollope in + Christ's, which was passed so nomadically, under ferulas of various color, + the boy had, on the whole, snatched successfully a fair share of what was + going. Competent skill in construing Latin, I think also an elementary + knowledge of Greek; add ciphering to a small extent, Euclid perhaps in a + rather imaginary condition; a swift but not very legible or handsome + penmanship, and the copious prompt habit of employing it in all manner of + unconscious English prose composition, or even occasionally in verse + itself: this, or something like this, he had gained from his + grammar-schools: this is the most of what they offer to the poor young + soul in general, in these indigent times. The express schoolmaster is not + equal to much at present,—while the <i>un</i>express, for good or + for evil, is so busy with a poor little fellow! Other departments of + schooling had been infinitely more productive, for our young friend, than + the gerund-grinding one. A voracious reader I believe he all along was,—had + "read the whole Edinburgh Review" in these boyish years, and out of the + circulating libraries one knows not what cartloads; wading like Ulysses + towards his palace "through infinite dung." A voracious observer and + participator in all things he likewise all along was; and had had his + sights, and reflections, and sorrows and adventures, from Kaimes Castle + onward,—and had gone at least to Dover on his own score. <i>Puer + bonae spei</i>, as the school-albums say; a boy of whom much may be hoped? + Surely, in many senses, yes. A frank veracity is in him, truth and + courage, as the basis of all; and of wild gifts and graces there is + abundance. I figure him a brilliant, swift, voluble, affectionate and + pleasant creature; out of whom, if it were not that symptoms of delicate + health already show themselves, great things might be made. Promotions at + least, especially in this country and epoch of parliaments and eloquent + palavers, are surely very possible for such a one! + </p> + <p> + Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly more + propitious and flourishing, he, as his brother had already been, was sent + to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had connections. His + brother and he were now all that remained of the young family; much + attached to one another in their College years as afterwards. Glasgow, + however, was not properly their College scene: here, except that they had + some tuition from Mr. Jacobson, then a senior fellow-student, now (1851) + the learned editor of St. Basil, and Regius Professor of Divinity in + Oxford, who continued ever afterwards a valued intimate of John's, I find + nothing special recorded of them. The Glasgow curriculum, for John + especially, lasted but one year; who, after some farther tutorage from Mr. + Jacobson or Dr. Trollope, was appointed for a more ambitious sphere of + education. + </p> + <p> + In the beginning of his nineteenth year, "in the autumn of 1824," he went + to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brother Anthony, who had already been + there a year, had just quitted this Establishment, and entered on a + military life under good omens; I think, at Dublin under the Lord + Lieutenant's patronage, to whose service he was, in some capacity, + attached. The two brothers, ever in company hitherto, parted roads at this + point; and, except on holiday visits and by frequent correspondence, did + not again live together; but they continued in a true fraternal attachment + while life lasted, and I believe never had any even temporary + estrangement, or on either side a cause for such. The family, as I said, + was now, for the last three years, reduced to these two; the rest of the + young ones, with their laughter and their sorrows, all gone. The parents + otherwise were prosperous in outward circumstances; the Father's position + more and more developing itself into affluent security, an agreeable + circle of acquaintance, and a certain real influence, though of a peculiar + sort, according to his gifts for work in this world. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's Tutor at Trinity College was Julius Hare, now the distinguished + Archdeacon of Lewes:—who soon conceived a great esteem for him, and + continued ever afterwards, in looser or closer connection, his loved and + loving friend. As the Biographical and Editorial work above alluded to + abundantly evinces. Mr. Hare celebrates the wonderful and beautiful gifts, + the sparkling ingenuity, ready logic, eloquent utterance, and noble + generosities and pieties of his pupil;—records in particular how + once, on a sudden alarm of fire in some neighboring College edifice while + his lecture was proceeding, all hands rushed out to help; how the + undergraduates instantly formed themselves in lines from the fire to the + river, and in swift continuance kept passing buckets as was needful, till + the enemy was visibly fast yielding,—when Mr. Hare, going along the + line, was astonished to find Sterling, at the river-end of it, standing up + to his waist in water, deftly dealing with the buckets as they came and + went. You in the river, Sterling; you with your coughs, and dangerous + tendencies of health!—"Somebody must be in it," answered Sterling; + "why not I, as well as another?" Sterling's friends may remember many + traits of that kind. The swiftest in all things, he was apt to be found at + the head of the column, whithersoever the march might be; if towards any + brunt of danger, there was he surest to be at the head; and of himself and + his peculiar risks or impediments he was negligent at all times, even to + an excessive and plainly unreasonable degree. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hare justly refuses him the character of an exact scholar, or + technical proficient at any time in either of the ancient literatures. But + he freely read in Greek and Latin, as in various modern languages; and in + all fields, in the classical as well, his lively faculty of recognition + and assimilation had given him large booty in proportion to his labor. One + cannot under any circumstances conceive of Sterling as a steady dictionary + philologue, historian, or archaeologist; nor did he here, nor could he + well, attempt that course. At the same time, Greek and the Greeks being + here before him, he could not fail to gather somewhat from it, to take + some hue and shape from it. Accordingly there is, to a singular extent, + especially in his early writings, a certain tinge of Grecism and Heathen + classicality traceable in him;—Classicality, indeed, which does not + satisfy one's sense as real or truly living, but which glitters with a + certain genial, if perhaps almost meretricious half-<i>japannish</i> + splendor,—greatly distinguishable from mere gerund-grinding, and + death in longs and shorts. If Classicality mean the practical conception, + or attempt to conceive, what human life was in the epoch called classical,—perhaps + few or none of Sterling's contemporaries in that Cambridge establishment + carried away more of available Classicality than even he. + </p> + <p> + But here, as in his former schools, his studies and inquiries, diligently + prosecuted I believe, were of the most discursive wide-flowing character; + not steadily advancing along beaten roads towards College honors, but + pulsing out with impetuous irregularity now on this tract, now on that, + towards whatever spiritual Delphi might promise to unfold the mystery of + this world, and announce to him what was, in our new day, the authentic + message of the gods. His speculations, readings, inferences, glances and + conclusions were doubtless sufficiently encyclopedic; his grand tutors the + multifarious set of Books he devoured. And perhaps,—as is the + singular case in most schools and educational establishments of this + unexampled epoch,—it was not the express set of arrangements in this + or any extant University that could essentially forward him, but only the + implied and silent ones; less in the prescribed "course of study," which + seems to tend no-whither, than—if you will consider it—in the + generous (not ungenerous) rebellion against said prescribed course, and + the voluntary spirit of endeavor and adventure excited thereby, does help + lie for a brave youth in such places. Curious to consider. The fagging, + the illicit boating, and the things <i>forbidden</i> by the schoolmaster,—these, + I often notice in my Eton acquaintances, are the things that have done + them good; these, and not their inconsiderable or considerable knowledge + of the Greek accidence almost at all! What is Greek accidence, compared to + Spartan discipline, if it can be had? That latter is a real and grand + attainment. Certainly, if rebellion is unfortunately needful, and you can + rebel in a generous manner, several things may be acquired in that + operation,—rigorous mutual fidelity, reticence, steadfastness, mild + stoicism, and other virtues far transcending your Greek accidence. Nor can + the unwisest "prescribed course of study" be considered quite useless, if + it have incited you to try nobly on all sides for a course of your own. A + singular condition of Schools and High-schools, which have come down, in + their strange old clothes and "courses of study," from the monkish ages + into this highly unmonkish one;—tragical condition, at which the + intelligent observer makes deep pause! + </p> + <p> + One benefit, not to be dissevered from the most obsolete University still + frequented by young ingenuous living souls, is that of manifold collision + and communication with the said young souls; which, to every one of these + coevals, is undoubtedly the most important branch of breeding for him. In + this point, as the learned Huber has insisted, <a href="#linknote-6" + name="linknoteref-6" id="linknoteref-6"><small>6</small></a> the two + English Universities,—their studies otherwise being granted to be + nearly useless, and even ill done of their kind,—far excel all other + Universities: so valuable are the rules of human behavior which from of + old have tacitly established themselves there; so manful, with all its sad + drawbacks, is the style of English character, "frank, simple, rugged and + yet courteous," which has tacitly but imperatively got itself sanctioned + and prescribed there. Such, in full sight of Continental and other + Universities, is Huber's opinion. Alas, the question of University Reform + goes deep at present; deep as the world;—and the real University of + these new epochs is yet a great way from us! Another judge in whom I have + confidence declares further, That of these two Universities, Cambridge is + decidedly the more catholic (not Roman catholic, but Human catholic) in + its tendencies and habitudes; and that in fact, of all the miserable + Schools and High-schools in the England of these years, he, if reduced to + choose from them, would choose Cambridge as a place of culture for the + young idea. So that, in these bad circumstances, Sterling had perhaps + rather made a hit than otherwise? + </p> + <p> + Sterling at Cambridge had undoubtedly a wide and rather genial circle of + comrades; and could not fail to be regarded and beloved by many of them. + Their life seems to have been an ardently speculating and talking one; by + no means excessively restrained within limits; and, in the more + adventurous heads like Sterling's, decidedly tending towards the + latitudinarian in most things. They had among them a Debating Society + called The Union; where on stated evenings was much logic, and other + spiritual fencing and ingenuous collision,—probably of a really + superior quality in that kind; for not a few of the then disputants have + since proved themselves men of parts, and attained distinction in the + intellectual walks of life. Frederic Maurice, Richard Trench, John Kemble, + Spedding, Venables, Charles Buller, Richard Milnes and others:—I + have heard that in speaking and arguing, Sterling was the acknowledged + chief in this Union Club; and that "none even came near him, except the + late Charles Buller," whose distinction in this and higher respects was + also already notable. + </p> + <p> + The questions agitated seem occasionally to have touched on the political + department, and even on the ecclesiastical. I have heard one trait of + Sterling's eloquence, which survived on the wings of grinning rumor, and + had evidently borne upon Church Conservatism in some form: "Have they + not,"—or perhaps it was, Has she (the Church) not,—"a black + dragoon in every parish, on good pay and rations, horse-meat and + man's-meat, to patrol and battle for these things?" The "black dragoon," + which naturally at the moment ruffled the general young imagination into + stormy laughter, points towards important conclusions in respect to + Sterling at this time. I conclude he had, with his usual alacrity and + impetuous daring, frankly adopted the anti-superstitious side of things; + and stood scornfully prepared to repel all aggressions or pretensions from + the opposite quarter. In short, that he was already, what afterwards there + is no doubt about his being, at all points a Radical, as the name or + nickname then went. In other words, a young ardent soul looking with hope + and joy into a world which was infinitely beautiful to him, though + overhung with falsities and foul cobwebs as world never was before; + overloaded, overclouded, to the zenith and the nadir of it, by incredible + uncredited traditions, solemnly sordid hypocrisies, and beggarly deliriums + old and new; which latter class of objects it was clearly the part of + every noble heart to expend all its lightnings and energies in burning up + without delay, and sweeping into their native Chaos out of such a Cosmos + as this. Which process, it did not then seem to him could be very + difficult; or attended with much other than heroic joy, and enthusiasm of + victory or of battle, to the gallant operator, in his part of it. This + was, with modifications such as might be, the humor and creed of College + Radicalism five-and-twenty years ago. Rather horrible at that time; seen + to be not so horrible now, at least to have grown very universal, and to + need no concealment now. The natural humor and attitude, we may well + regret to say,—and honorable not dishonorable, for a brave young + soul such as Sterling's, in those years in those localities! + </p> + <p> + I do not find that Sterling had, at that stage, adopted the then prevalent + Utilitarian theory of human things. But neither, apparently, had he + rejected it; still less did he yet at all denounce it with the damnatory + vehemence we were used to in him at a later period. Probably he, so much + occupied with the negative side of things, had not yet thought seriously + of any positive basis for his world; or asked himself, too earnestly, + What, then, is the noble rule of living for a man? In this world so + eclipsed and scandalously overhung with fable and hypocrisy, what is the + eternal fact, on which a man may front the Destinies and the Immensities? + The day for such questions, sure enough to come in his case, was still but + coming. Sufficient for this day be the work thereof; that of blasting into + merited annihilation the innumerable and immeasurable recognized + deliriums, and extirpating or coercing to the due pitch those legions of + "black dragoons," of all varieties and purposes, who patrol, with + horse-meat and man's-meat, this afflicted earth, so hugely to the + detriment of it. + </p> + <p> + Sterling, it appears, after above a year of Trinity College, followed his + friend Maurice into Trinity Hall, with the intention of taking a degree in + Law; which intention, like many others with him, came to nothing; and in + 1827 he left Trinity Hall and Cambridge altogether; here ending, after two + years, his brief University life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. A PROFESSION. + </h2> + <p> + Here, then, is a young soul, brought to the years of legal majority, + furnished from his training-schools with such and such shining + capabilities, and ushered on the scene of things to inquire practically, + What he will do there? Piety is in the man, noble human valor, bright + intelligence, ardent proud veracity; light and fire, in none of their many + senses, wanting for him, but abundantly bestowed: a kingly kind of man;—whose + "kingdom," however, in this bewildered place and epoch of the world will + probably be difficult to find and conquer! + </p> + <p> + For, alas, the world, as we said, already stands convicted to this young + soul of being an untrue, unblessed world; its high dignitaries many of + them phantasms and players'-masks; its worthships and worships + unworshipful: from Dan to Beersheba, a mad world, my masters. And surely + we may say, and none will now gainsay, this his idea of the world at that + epoch was nearer to the fact than at most other epochs it has been. Truly, + in all times and places, the young ardent soul that enters on this world + with heroic purpose, with veracious insight, and the yet unclouded + "inspiration of the Almighty" which has given us our intelligence, will + find this world a very mad one: why else is he, with his little outfit of + heroisms and inspirations, come hither into it, except to make it + diligently a little saner? Of him there would have been no need, had it + been quite sane. This is true; this will, in all centuries and countries, + be true. + </p> + <p> + And yet perhaps of no time or country, for the last two thousand years, + was it <i>so</i> true as here in this waste-weltering epoch of Sterling's + and ours. A world all rocking and plunging, like that old Roman one when + the measure of its iniquities was full; the abysses, and subterranean and + supernal deluges, plainly broken loose; in the wild dim-lighted chaos all + stars of Heaven gone out. No star of Heaven visible, hardly now to any + man; the pestiferous fogs, and foul exhalations grown continual, have, + except on the highest mountaintops, blotted out all stars: will-o'-wisps, + of various course and color, take the place of stars. Over the + wild-surging chaos, in the leaden air, are only sudden glares of + revolutionary lightning; then mere darkness, with philanthropistic + phosphorescences, empty meteoric lights; here and there an ecclesiastical + luminary still hovering, hanging on to its old quaking fixtures, + pretending still to be a Moon or Sun,—though visibly it is but a + Chinese lantern made of <i>paper</i> mainly, with candle-end foully dying + in the heart of it. Surely as mad a world as you could wish! + </p> + <p> + If you want to make sudden fortunes in it, and achieve the temporary + hallelujah of flunkies for yourself, renouncing the perennial esteem of + wise men; if you can believe that the chief end of man is to collect about + him a bigger heap of gold than ever before, in a shorter time than ever + before, you will find it a most handy and every way furthersome, blessed + and felicitous world. But for any other human aim, I think you will find + it not furthersome. If you in any way ask practically, How a noble life is + to be led in it? you will be luckier than Sterling or I if you get any + credible answer, or find any made road whatever. Alas, it is even so. Your + heart's question, if it be of that sort, most things and persons will + answer with a "Nonsense! Noble life is in Drury Lane, and wears yellow + boots. You fool, compose yourself to your pudding!"—Surely, in these + times, if ever in any, the young heroic soul entering on life, so opulent, + full of sunny hope, of noble valor and divine intention, is tragical as + well as beautiful to us. + </p> + <p> + Of the three learned Professions none offered any likelihood for Sterling. + From the Church his notions of the "black dragoon," had there been no + other obstacle, were sufficient to exclude him. Law he had just renounced, + his own Radical philosophies disheartening him, in face of the ponderous + impediments, continual up-hill struggles and formidable toils inherent in + such a pursuit: with Medicine he had never been in any contiguity, that he + should dream of it as a course for him. Clearly enough the professions + were unsuitable; they to him, he to them. Professions, built so largely on + speciosity instead of performance; clogged, in this bad epoch, and defaced + under such suspicions of fatal imposture, were hateful not lovable to the + young radical soul, scornful of gross profit, and intent on ideals and + human noblenesses. Again, the professions, were they never so perfect and + veracious, will require slow steady pulling, to which this individual + young radical, with his swift, far-darting brilliancies, and nomadic + desultory ways, is of all men the most averse and unfitted. No profession + could, in any case, have well gained the early love of Sterling. And + perhaps withal the most tragic element of his life is even this, That + there now was none to which he could fitly, by those wiser than himself, + have been bound and constrained, that he might learn to love it. So swift, + light-limbed and fiery an Arab courser ought, for all manner of reasons, + to have been trained to saddle and harness. Roaming at full gallop over + the heaths,—especially when your heath was London, and English and + European life, in the nineteenth century,—he suffered much, and did + comparatively little. I have known few creatures whom it was more wasteful + to send forth with the bridle thrown up, and to set to steeple-hunting + instead of running on highways! But it is the lot of many such, in this + dislocated time,—Heaven mend it! In a better time there will be + other "professions" than those three extremely cramp, confused and indeed + almost obsolete ones: professions, if possible, that are true, and do <i>not</i> + require you at the threshold to constitute yourself an impostor. Human + association,—which will mean discipline, vigorous wise subordination + and co-ordination,—is so unspeakably important. Professions, + "regimented human pursuits," how many of honorable and manful might be + possible for men; and which should <i>not</i>, in their results to + society, need to stumble along, in such an unwieldy futile manner, with + legs swollen into such enormous elephantiasis and no go at all in them! + Men will one day think of the force they squander in every generation, and + the fatal damage they encounter, by this neglect. + </p> + <p> + The career likeliest for Sterling, in his and the world's circumstances, + would have been what is called public life: some secretarial, diplomatic + or other official training, to issue if possible in Parliament as the true + field for him. And here, beyond question, had the gross material + conditions been allowed, his spiritual capabilities were first-rate. In + any arena where eloquence and argument was the point, this man was + calculated to have borne the bell from all competitors. In lucid ingenious + talk and logic, in all manner of brilliant utterance and tongue-fence, I + have hardly known his fellow. So ready lay his store of knowledge round + him, so perfect was his ready utterance of the same,—in coruscating + wit, in jocund drollery, in compact articulated clearness or high poignant + emphasis, as the case required,—he was a match for any man in + argument before a crowd of men. One of the most supple-wristed, dexterous, + graceful and successful fencers in that kind. A man, as Mr. Hare has said, + "able to argue with four or five at once;" could do the parrying all + round, in a succession swift as light, and plant his hits wherever a + chance offered. In Parliament, such a soul put into a body of the due + toughness might have carried it far. If ours is to be called, as I hear + some call it, the Talking Era, Sterling of all men had the talent to excel + in it. + </p> + <p> + Probably it was with some vague view towards chances in this direction + that Sterling's first engagement was entered upon; a brief connection as + Secretary to some Club or Association into which certain public men, of + the reforming sort, Mr. Crawford (the Oriental Diplomatist and Writer), + Mr. Kirkman Finlay (then Member for Glasgow), and other political + notabilities had now formed themselves,—with what specific objects I + do not know, nor with what result if any. I have heard vaguely, it was "to + open the trade to India." Of course they intended to stir up the public + mind into co-operation, whatever their goal or object was: Mr. Crawford, + an intimate in the Sterling household, recognized the fine literary gift + of John; and might think it a lucky hit that he had caught such a + Secretary for three hundred pounds a year. That was the salary agreed + upon; and for some months actually worked for and paid; Sterling becoming + for the time an intimate and almost an inmate in Mr. Crawford's circle, + doubtless not without results to himself beyond the secretarial work and + pounds sterling: so much is certain. But neither the Secretaryship nor the + Association itself had any continuance; nor can I now learn accurately + more of it than what is here stated;—in which vague state it must + vanish from Sterling's history again, as it in great measure did from his + life. From himself in after-years I never heard mention of it; nor were + his pursuits connected afterwards with those of Mr. Crawford, though the + mutual good-will continued unbroken. + </p> + <p> + In fact, however splendid and indubitable Sterling's qualifications for a + parliamentary life, there was that in him withal which flatly put a + negative on any such project. He had not the slow steady-pulling diligence + which is indispensable in that, as in all important pursuits and strenuous + human competitions whatsoever. In every sense, his momentum depended on + velocity of stroke, rather than on weight of metal; "beautifulest + sheet-lightning," as I often said, "not to be condensed into + thunder-bolts." Add to this,—what indeed is perhaps but the same + phenomenon in another form,—his bodily frame was thin, excitable, + already manifesting pulmonary symptoms; a body which the tear and wear of + Parliament would infallibly in few months have wrecked and ended. By this + path there was clearly no mounting. The far-darting, restlessly + coruscating soul, equips beyond all others to shine in the Talking Era, + and lead National Palavers with their <i>spolia opima</i> captive, is + imprisoned in a fragile hectic body which quite forbids the adventure. "<i>Es + ist dafur gesorgt</i>," says Goethe, "Provision has been made that the + trees do not grow into the sky;"—means are always there to stop them + short of the sky. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE ATHENAEUM. + </h2> + <p> + Of all forms of public life, in the Talking Era, it was clear that only + one completely suited Sterling,—the anarchic, nomadic, entirely + aerial and unconditional one, called Literature. To this all his + tendencies, and fine gifts positive and negative, were evidently pointing; + and here, after such brief attempting or thoughts to attempt at other + posts, he already in this same year arrives. As many do, and ever more + must do, in these our years and times. This is the chaotic haven of so + many frustrate activities; where all manner of good gifts go up in + far-seen smoke or conflagration; and whole fleets, that might have been + war-fleets to conquer kingdoms, are <i>consumed</i> (too truly, often), + amid "fame" enough, and the admiring shouts of the vulgar, which is always + fond to see fire going on. The true Canaan and Mount Zion of a Talking Era + must ever be Literature: the extraneous, miscellaneous, self-elected, + indescribable <i>Parliamentum</i>, or Talking Apparatus, which talks by + books and printed papers. + </p> + <p> + A literary Newspaper called <i>The Athenaeum</i>, the same which still + subsists, had been founded in those years by Mr. Buckingham; James Silk + Buckingham, who has since continued notable under various figures. Mr. + Buckingham's <i>Athenaeum</i> had not as yet got into a flourishing + condition; and he was willing to sell the copyright of it for a + consideration. Perhaps Sterling and old Cambridge friends of his had been + already writing for it. At all events, Sterling, who had already privately + begun writing a Novel, and was clearly looking towards Literature, + perceived that his gifted Cambridge friend, Frederic Maurice, was now also + at large in a somewhat similar situation; and that here was an opening for + both of them, and for other gifted friends. The copyright was purchased + for I know not what sum, nor with whose money, but guess it may have been + Sterling's, and no great sum;—and so, under free auspices, + themselves their own captains, Maurice and he spread sail for this new + voyage of adventure into all the world. It was about the end of 1828 that + readers of periodical literature, and quidnuncs in those departments, + began to report the appearance, in a Paper called the <i>Athenaeum, of</i> + writings showing a superior brilliancy, and height of aim; one or perhaps + two slight specimens of which came into my own hands, in my remote corner, + about that time, and were duly recognized by me, while the authors were + still far off and hidden behind deep veils. + </p> + <p> + Some of Sterling's best Papers from the <i>Athenaeum</i> have been + published by Archdeacon Hare: first-fruits by a young man of twenty-two; + crude, imperfect, yet singularly beautiful and attractive; which will + still testify what high literary promise lay in him. The ruddiest glow of + young enthusiasm, of noble incipient spiritual manhood reigns over them; + once more a divine Universe unveiling itself in gloom and splendor, in + auroral firelight and many-tinted shadow, full of hope and full of awe, to + a young melodious pious heart just arrived upon it. Often enough the + delineation has a certain flowing completeness, not to be expected from so + young an artist; here and there is a decided felicity of insight; + everywhere the point of view adopted is a high and noble one, and the + result worked out a result to be sympathized with, and accepted so far as + it will go. Good reading still, those Papers, for the less-furnished mind,—thrice-excellent + reading compared with what is usually going. For the rest, a grand + melancholy is the prevailing impression they leave;—partly as if, + while the surface was so blooming and opulent, the heart of them was still + vacant, sad and cold. Here is a beautiful mirage, in the dry wilderness; + but you cannot quench your thirst there! The writer's heart is indeed + still too vacant, except of beautiful shadows and reflexes and resonances; + and is far from joyful, though it wears commonly a smile. + </p> + <p> + In some of the Greek delineations (<i>The Lycian Painter</i>, for + example), we have already noticed a strange opulence of splendor, + characterizable as half-legitimate, half-meretricious,—a splendor + hovering between the raffaelesque and the japannish. What other things + Sterling wrote there, I never knew; nor would he in any mood, in those + later days, have told you, had you asked. This period of his life he + always rather accounted, as the Arabs do the idolatrous times before + Mahomet's advent, the "period of darkness." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. REGENT STREET. + </h2> + <p> + On the commercial side the <i>Athenaeum</i> still lacked success; nor was + like to find it under the highly uncommercial management it had now got + into. This, by and by, began to be a serious consideration. For money is + the sinews of Periodical Literature almost as much as of war itself; + without money, and under a constant drain of loss, Periodical Literature + is one of the things that cannot be carried on. In no long time Sterling + began to be practically sensible of this truth, and that an unpleasant + resolution in accordance with it would be necessary. By him also, after a + while, the <i>Athenaeum</i> was transferred to other hands, better fitted + in that respect; and under these it did take vigorous root, and still + bears fruit according to its kind. + </p> + <p> + For the present, it brought him into the thick of London Literature, + especially of young London Literature and speculation; in which turbid + exciting element he swam and revelled, nothing loath, for certain months + longer,—a period short of two years in all. He had lodgings in + Regent Street: his Father's house, now a flourishing and stirring + establishment, in South Place, Knightsbridge, where, under the warmth of + increasing revenue and success, miscellaneous cheerful socialities and + abundant speculations, chiefly political (and not John's kind, but that of + the <i>Times</i> Newspaper and the Clubs), were rife, he could visit + daily, and yet be master of his own studies and pursuits. Maurice, Trench, + John Mill, Charles Buller: these, and some few others, among a wide circle + of a transitory phantasmal character, whom he speedily forgot and cared + not to remember, were much about him; with these he in all ways employed + and disported himself: a first favorite with them all. + </p> + <p> + No pleasanter companion, I suppose, had any of them. So frank, open, + guileless, fearless, a brother to all worthy souls whatsoever. Come when + you might, here is he open-hearted, rich in cheerful fancies, in grave + logic, in all kinds of bright activity. If perceptibly or imperceptibly + there is a touch of ostentation in him, blame it not; it is so innocent, + so good and childlike. He is still fonder of jingling publicly, and + spreading on the table, your big purse of opulences than his own. Abrupt + too he is, cares little for big-wigs and garnitures; perhaps laughs more + than the real fun he has would order; but of arrogance there is no + vestige, of insincerity or of ill-nature none. These must have been + pleasant evenings in Regent Street, when the circle chanced to be well + adjusted there. At other times, Philistines would enter, what we call + bores, dullards, Children of Darkness; and then,—except in a hunt of + dullards, and a <i>bore-baiting</i>, which might be permissible,—the + evening was dark. Sterling, of course, had innumerable cares withal; and + was toiling like a slave; his very recreations almost a kind of work. An + enormous activity was in the man;—sufficient, in a body that could + have held it without breaking, to have gone far, even under the unstable + guidance it was like to have! + </p> + <p> + Thus, too, an extensive, very variegated circle of connections was forming + round him. Besides his <i>Athenaeum</i> work, and evenings in Regent + Street and elsewhere, he makes visits to country-houses, the Bullers' and + others; converses with established gentlemen, with honorable women not a + few; is gay and welcome with the young of his own age; knows also + religious, witty, and other distinguished ladies, and is admiringly known + by them. On the whole, he is already locomotive; visits hither and thither + in a very rapid flying manner. Thus I find he had made one flying visit to + the Cumberland Lake-region in 1828, and got sight of Wordsworth; and in + the same year another flying one to Paris, and seen with no undue + enthusiasm the Saint-Simonian Portent just beginning to preach for itself, + and France in general simmering under a scum of impieties, levities, + Saint-Simonisms, and frothy fantasticalities of all kinds, towards the + boiling-over which soon made the Three Days of July famous. But by far the + most important foreign home he visited was that of Coleridge on the Hill + of Highgate,—if it were not rather a foreign shrine and + Dodona-Oracle, as he then reckoned,—to which (onwards from 1828, as + would appear) he was already an assiduous pilgrim. Concerning whom, and + Sterling's all-important connection with him, there will be much to say + anon. + </p> + <p> + Here, from this period, is a Letter of Sterling's, which the glimpses it + affords of bright scenes and figures now sunk, so many of them, + sorrowfully to the realm of shadows, will render interesting to some of my + readers. To me on the mere Letter, not on its contents alone, there is + accidentally a kind of fateful stamp. A few months after Charles Buller's + death, while his loss was mourned by many hearts, and to his poor Mother + all light except what hung upon his memory had gone out in the world, a + certain delicate and friendly hand, hoping to give the poor bereaved lady + a good moment, sought out this Letter of Sterling's, one morning, and + called, with intent to read it to her:—alas, the poor lady had + herself fallen suddenly into the languors of death, help of another + grander sort now close at hand; and to her this Letter was never read! + </p> + <p> + On "Fanny Kemble," it appears, there is an Essay by Sterling in the <i>Athenaeum</i> + of this year: "16th December, 1829." Very laudatory, I conclude. He much + admired her genius, nay was thought at one time to be vaguely on the edge + of still more chivalrous feelings. As the Letter itself may perhaps + indicate. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Anthony Sterling, Esq., 24th Regiment, Dublin</i>. + "KNIGHTSBRIDGE, 10th Nov., 1829. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR ANTHONY,—Here in the Capital of England and of Europe, + there is less, so far as I hear, of movement and variety than in your + provincial Dublin, or among the Wicklow Mountains. We have the old + prospect of bricks and smoke, the old crowd of busy stupid faces, the old + occupations, the old sleepy amusements; and the latest news that reaches + us daily has an air of tiresome, doting antiquity. The world has nothing + for it but to exclaim with Faust, "Give me my youth again." And as for me, + my month of Cornish amusement is over; and I must tie myself to my old + employments. I have not much to tell you about these; but perhaps you may + like to hear of my expedition to the West. + </p> + <p> + "I wrote to Polvellan (Mr. Buller's) to announce the day on which I + intended to be there, so shortly before setting out, that there was no + time to receive an answer; and when I reached Devonport, which is fifteen + or sixteen miles from my place of destination, I found a letter from Mrs. + Buller, saying that she was coming in two days to a Ball at Plymouth, and + if I chose to stay in the mean while and look about me, she would take me + back with her. She added an introduction to a relation of her husband's, a + certain Captain Buller of the Rifles, who was with the Depot there,—a + pleasant person, who I believe had been acquainted with Charlotte, <a + href="#linknote-7" name="linknoteref-7" id="linknoteref-7"><small>7</small></a> + or at least had seen her. Under his superintendence—... + </p> + <p> + "On leaving Devonport with Mrs. Buller, I went some of the way by water, + up the harbor and river; and the prospects are certainly very beautiful; + to say nothing of the large ships, which I admire almost as much as you, + though without knowing so much about them. There is a great deal of fine + scenery all along the road to Looe; and the House itself, a very + unpretending Gothic cottage, stands beautifully among trees, hills and + water, with the sea at the distance of a quarter of a mile. + </p> + <p> + "And here, among pleasant, good-natured, well-informed and clever people, + I spent an idle month. I dined at one or two Corporation dinners; spent a + few days at the old Mansion of Mr. Buller of Morval, the patron of West + Looe; and during the rest of the time, read, wrote, played chess, lounged, + and ate red mullet (he who has not done this has not begun to live); + talked of cookery to the philosophers, and of metaphysics to Mrs. Buller; + and altogether cultivated indolence, and developed the faculty of nonsense + with considerable pleasure and unexampled success. Charles Buller you + know: he has just come to town, but I have not yet seen him. Arthur, his + younger brother, I take to be one of the handsomest men in England; and he + too has considerable talent. Mr. Buller the father is rather a clever man + of sense, and particularly good-natured and gentlemanly; and his wife, who + was a renowned beauty and queen of Calcutta, has still many striking and + delicate traces of what she was. Her conversation is more brilliant and + pleasant than that of any one I know; and, at all events, I am bound to + admire her for the kindness with which she patronizes me. I hope that, + some day or other, you may be acquainted with her. + </p> + <p> + "I believe I have seen no one in London about whom you would care to hear,—unless + the fame of Fanny Kemble has passed the Channel, and astonished the Irish + Barbarians in the midst of their bloody-minded politics. Young Kemble, + whom you have seen, is in Germany: but I have the happiness of being also + acquainted with his sister, the divine Fanny; and I have seen her twice on + the stage, and three or four times in private, since my return from + Cornwall. I had seen some beautiful verses of hers, long before she was an + actress; and her conversation is full of spirit and talent. She never was + taught to act at all; and though there are many faults in her performance + of Juliet, there is more power than in any female playing I ever saw, + except Pasta's Medea. She is not handsome, rather short, and by no means + delicately formed; but her face is marked, and the eyes are brilliant, + dark, and full of character. She has far more ability than she ever can + display on the stage; but I have no doubt that, by practice and + self-culture, she will be a far finer actress at least than any one since + Mrs. Siddons. I was at Charles Kemble's a few evenings ago, when a drawing + of Miss Kemble, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, was brought in; and I have no + doubt that you will shortly see, even in Dublin, an engraving of her from + it, very unlike the caricatures that have hitherto appeared. I hate the + stage; and but for her, should very likely never have gone to a theatre + again. Even as it is, the annoyance is much more than the pleasure; but I + suppose I must go to see her in every character in which she acts. If + Charlotte cares for plays, let me know, and I will write in more detail + about this new Melpomene. I fear there are very few subjects on which I + can say anything that will in the least interest her. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ever affectionately yours, + "J. STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Sterling and his circle, as their ardent speculation and activity + fermented along, were in all things clear for progress, liberalism; their + politics, and view of the Universe, decisively of the Radical sort. As + indeed that of England then was, more than ever; the crust of old + hide-bound Toryism being now openly cracking towards some incurable + disruption, which accordingly ensued as the Reform Bill before long. The + Reform Bill already hung in the wind. Old hide-bound Toryism, long + recognized by all the world, and now at last obliged to recognize its very + self, for an overgrown Imposture, supporting itself not by human reason, + but by flunky blustering and brazen lying, superadded to mere brute force, + could be no creed for young Sterling and his friends. In all things he and + they were liberals, and, as was natural at this stage, democrats; + contemplating root-and-branch innovation by aid of the hustings and + ballot-box. Hustings and ballot-box had speedily to vanish out of + Sterling's thoughts: but the character of root-and-branch innovator, + essentially of "Radical Reformer," was indelible with him, and under all + forms could be traced as his character through life. + </p> + <p> + For the present, his and those young people's aim was: By democracy, or + what means there are, be all impostures put down. Speedy end to + Superstition,—a gentle one if you can contrive it, but an end. What + can it profit any mortal to adopt locutions and imaginations which do not + correspond to fact; which no sane mortal can deliberately adopt in his + soul as true; which the most orthodox of mortals can only, and this after + infinite essentially <i>impious</i> effort to put out the eyes of his + mind, persuade himself to "believe that he believes"? Away with it; in the + name of God, come out of it, all true men! + </p> + <p> + Piety of heart, a certain reality of religious faith, was always + Sterling's, the gift of nature to him which he would not and could not + throw away; but I find at this time his religion is as good as altogether + Ethnic, Greekish, what Goethe calls the Heathen form of religion. The + Church, with her articles, is without relation to him. And along with + obsolete spiritualisms, he sees all manner of obsolete thrones and + big-wigged temporalities; and for them also can prophesy, and wish, only a + speedy doom. Doom inevitable, registered in Heaven's Chancery from the + beginning of days, doom unalterable as the pillars of the world; the gods + are angry, and all nature groans, till this doom of eternal justice be + fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + With gay audacity, with enthusiasm tempered by mockery, as is the manner + of young gifted men, this faith, grounded for the present on democracy and + hustings operations, and giving to all life the aspect of a chivalrous + battle-field, or almost of a gay though perilous tournament, and bout of + "A hundred knights against all comers,"—was maintained by Sterling + and his friends. And in fine, after whatever loud remonstrances, and + solemn considerations, and such shaking of our wigs as is undoubtedly + natural in the case, let us be just to it and him. We shall have to admit, + nay it will behoove us to see and practically know, for ourselves and him + and others, that the essence of this creed, in times like ours, was right + and not wrong. That, however the ground and form of it might change, + essentially it was the monition of his natal genius to this as it is to + every brave man; the behest of all his clear insight into this Universe, + the message of Heaven through him, which he could not suppress, but was + inspired and compelled to utter in this world by such methods as he had. + There for him lay the first commandment; <i>this</i> is what it would have + been the unforgivable sin to swerve from and desert: the treason of + treasons for him, it were there; compared with which all other sins are + venial! + </p> + <p> + The message did not cease at all, as we shall see; the message was + ardently, if fitfully, continued to the end: but the methods, the tone and + dialect and all outer conditions of uttering it, underwent most important + modifications! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. COLERIDGE. + </h2> + <p> + Coleridge sat on the brow of Highgate Hill, in those years, looking down + on London and its smoke-tumult, like a sage escaped from the inanity of + life's battle; attracting towards him the thoughts of innumerable brave + souls still engaged there. His express contributions to poetry, + philosophy, or any specific province of human literature or enlightenment, + had been small and sadly intermittent; but he had, especially among young + inquiring men, a higher than literary, a kind of prophetic or magician + character. He was thought to hold, he alone in England, the key of German + and other Transcendentalisms; knew the sublime secret of believing by "the + reason" what "the understanding" had been obliged to fling out as + incredible; and could still, after Hume and Voltaire had done their best + and worst with him, profess himself an orthodox Christian, and say and + print to the Church of England, with its singular old rubrics and + surplices at Allhallowtide, <i>Esto perpetua</i>. A sublime man; who, + alone in those dark days, had saved his crown of spiritual manhood; + escaping from the black materialisms, and revolutionary deluges, with + "God, Freedom, Immortality" still his: a king of men. The practical + intellects of the world did not much heed him, or carelessly reckoned him + a metaphysical dreamer: but to the rising spirits of the young generation + he had this dusky sublime character; and sat there as a kind of <i>Magus</i>, + girt in mystery and enigma; his Dodona oak-grove (Mr. Gilman's house at + Highgate) whispering strange things, uncertain whether oracles or jargon. + </p> + <p> + The Gilmans did not encourage much company, or excitation of any sort, + round their sage; nevertheless access to him, if a youth did reverently + wish it, was not difficult. He would stroll about the pleasant garden with + you, sit in the pleasant rooms of the place,—perhaps take you to his + own peculiar room, high up, with a rearward view, which was the chief view + of all. A really charming outlook, in fine weather. Close at hand, wide + sweep of flowery leafy gardens, their few houses mostly hidden, the very + chimney-pots veiled under blossomy umbrage, flowed gloriously down hill; + gloriously issuing in wide-tufted undulating plain-country, rich in all + charms of field and town. Waving blooming country of the brightest green; + dotted all over with handsome villas, handsome groves; crossed by roads + and human traffic, here inaudible or heard only as a musical hum: and + behind all swam, under olive-tinted haze, the illimitable limitary ocean + of London, with its domes and steeples definite in the sun, big Paul's and + the many memories attached to it hanging high over all. Nowhere, of its + kind, could you see a grander prospect on a bright summer day, with the + set of the air going southward,—southward, and so draping with the + city-smoke not you but the city. Here for hours would Coleridge talk, + concerning all conceivable or inconceivable things; and liked nothing + better than to have an intelligent, or failing that, even a silent and + patient human listener. He distinguished himself to all that ever heard + him as at least the most surprising talker extant in this world,—and + to some small minority, by no means to all, as the most excellent. + </p> + <p> + The good man, he was now getting old, towards sixty perhaps; and gave you + the idea of a life that had been full of sufferings; a life heavy-laden, + half-vanquished, still swimming painfully in seas of manifold physical and + other bewilderment. Brow and head were round, and of massive weight, but + the face was flabby and irresolute. The deep eyes, of a light hazel, were + as full of sorrow as of inspiration; confused pain looked mildly from + them, as in a kind of mild astonishment. The whole figure and air, good + and amiable otherwise, might be called flabby and irresolute; expressive + of weakness under possibility of strength. He hung loosely on his limbs, + with knees bent, and stooping attitude; in walking, he rather shuffled + than decisively steps; and a lady once remarked, he never could fix which + side of the garden walk would suit him best, but continually shifted, in + corkscrew fashion, and kept trying both. A heavy-laden, high-aspiring and + surely much-suffering man. His voice, naturally soft and good, had + contracted itself into a plaintive snuffle and singsong; he spoke as if + preaching,—you would have said, preaching earnestly and also + hopelessly the weightiest things. I still recollect his "object" and + "subject," terms of continual recurrence in the Kantean province; and how + he sang and snuffled them into "om-m-mject" and "sum-m-mject," with a kind + of solemn shake or quaver, as he rolled along. No talk, in his century or + in any other, could be more surprising. + </p> + <p> + Sterling, who assiduously attended him, with profound reverence, and was + often with him by himself, for a good many months, gives a record of their + first colloquy. <a href="#linknote-8" name="linknoteref-8" + id="linknoteref-8"><small>8</small></a> Their colloquies were numerous, + and he had taken note of many; but they are all gone to the fire, except + this first, which Mr. Hare has printed,—unluckily without date. It + contains a number of ingenious, true and half-true observations, and is of + course a faithful epitome of the things said; but it gives small idea of + Coleridge's way of talking;—this one feature is perhaps the most + recognizable, "Our interview lasted for three hours, during which he + talked two hours and three quarters." Nothing could be more copious than + his talk; and furthermore it was always, virtually or literally, of the + nature of a monologue; suffering no interruption, however reverent; + hastily putting aside all foreign additions, annotations, or most + ingenuous desires for elucidation, as well-meant superfluities which would + never do. Besides, it was talk not flowing any-whither like a river, but + spreading every-whither in inextricable currents and regurgitations like a + lake or sea; terribly deficient in definite goal or aim, nay often in + logical intelligibility; <i>what</i> you were to believe or do, on any + earthly or heavenly thing, obstinately refusing to appear from it. So + that, most times, you felt logically lost; swamped near to drowning in + this tide of ingenious vocables, spreading out boundless as if to submerge + the world. + </p> + <p> + To sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether you consent or not, + can in the long-run be exhilarating to no creature; how eloquent soever + the flood of utterance that is descending. But if it be withal a confused + unintelligible flood of utterance, threatening to submerge all known + landmarks of thought, and drown the world and you!—I have heard + Coleridge talk, with eager musical energy, two stricken hours, his face + radiant and moist, and communicate no meaning whatsoever to any individual + of his hearers,—certain of whom, I for one, still kept eagerly + listening in hope; the most had long before given up, and formed (if the + room were large enough) secondary humming groups of their own. He began + anywhere: you put some question to him, made some suggestive observation: + instead of answering this, or decidedly setting out towards answer of it, + he would accumulate formidable apparatus, logical swim-bladders, + transcendental life-preservers and other precautionary and vehiculatory + gear, for setting out; perhaps did at last get under way,—but was + swiftly solicited, turned aside by the glance of some radiant new game on + this hand or that, into new courses; and ever into new; and before long + into all the Universe, where it was uncertain what game you would catch, + or whether any. + </p> + <p> + His talk, alas, was distinguished, like himself, by irresolution: it + disliked to be troubled with conditions, abstinences, definite + fulfilments;—loved to wander at its own sweet will, and make its + auditor and his claims and humble wishes a mere passive bucket for itself! + He had knowledge about many things and topics, much curious reading; but + generally all topics led him, after a pass or two, into the high seas of + theosophic philosophy, the hazy infinitude of Kantean transcendentalism, + with its "sum-m-mjects" and "om-m-mjects." Sad enough; for with such + indolent impatience of the claims and ignorances of others, he had not the + least talent for explaining this or anything unknown to them; and you swam + and fluttered in the mistiest wide unintelligible deluge of things, for + most part in a rather profitless uncomfortable manner. + </p> + <p> + Glorious islets, too, I have seen rise out of the haze; but they were few, + and soon swallowed in the general element again. Balmy sunny islets, + islets of the blest and the intelligible:—on which occasions those + secondary humming groups would all cease humming, and hang breathless upon + the eloquent words; till once your islet got wrapt in the mist again, and + they could recommence humming. Eloquent artistically expressive words you + always had; piercing radiances of a most subtle insight came at intervals; + tones of noble pious sympathy, recognizable as pious though strangely + colored, were never wanting long: but in general you could not call this + aimless, cloud-capt, cloud-based, lawlessly meandering human discourse of + reason by the name of "excellent talk," but only of "surprising;" and were + reminded bitterly of Hazlitt's account of it: "Excellent talker, very,—if + you let him start from no premises and come to no conclusion." Coleridge + was not without what talkers call wit, and there were touches of prickly + sarcasm in him, contemptuous enough of the world and its idols and popular + dignitaries; he had traits even of poetic humor: but in general he seemed + deficient in laughter; or indeed in sympathy for concrete human things + either on the sunny or on the stormy side. One right peal of concrete + laughter at some convicted flesh-and-blood absurdity, one burst of noble + indignation at some injustice or depravity, rubbing elbows with us on this + solid Earth, how strange would it have been in that Kantean haze-world, + and how infinitely cheering amid its vacant air-castles and dim-melting + ghosts and shadows! None such ever came. His life had been an abstract + thinking and dreaming, idealistic, passed amid the ghosts of defunct + bodies and of unborn ones. The moaning singsong of that + theosophico-metaphysical monotony left on you, at last, a very dreary + feeling. + </p> + <p> + In close colloquy, flowing within narrower banks, I suppose he was more + definite and apprehensible; Sterling in after-times did not complain of + his unintelligibility, or imputed it only to the abtruse high nature of + the topics handled. Let us hope so, let us try to believe so! There is no + doubt but Coleridge could speak plain words on things plain: his + observations and responses on the trivial matters that occurred were as + simple as the commonest man's, or were even distinguished by superior + simplicity as well as pertinency. "Ah, your tea is too cold, Mr. + Coleridge!" mourned the good Mrs. Gilman once, in her kind, reverential + and yet protective manner, handing him a very tolerable though belated + cup.—"It's better than I deserve!" snuffled he, in a low hoarse + murmur, partly courteous, chiefly pious, the tone of which still abides + with me: "It's better than I deserve!" + </p> + <p> + But indeed, to the young ardent mind, instinct with pious nobleness, yet + driven to the grim deserts of Radicalism for a faith, his speculations had + a charm much more than literary, a charm almost religious and prophetic. + The constant gist of his discourse was lamentation over the sunk condition + of the world; which he recognized to be given up to Atheism and + Materialism, full of mere sordid misbeliefs, mispursuits and misresults. + All Science had become mechanical; the science not of men, but of a kind + of human beavers. Churches themselves had died away into a godless + mechanical condition; and stood there as mere Cases of Articles, mere + Forms of Churches; like the dried carcasses of once swift camels, which + you find left withering in the thirst of the universal desert,—ghastly + portents for the present, beneficent ships of the desert no more. Men's + souls were blinded, hebetated; and sunk under the influence of Atheism and + Materialism, and Hume and Voltaire: the world for the present was as an + extinct world, deserted of God, and incapable of well-doing till it + changed its heart and spirit. This, expressed I think with less of + indignation and with more of long-drawn querulousness, was always + recognizable as the ground-tone:—in which truly a pious young heart, + driven into Radicalism and the opposition party, could not but recognize a + too sorrowful truth; and ask of the Oracle, with all earnestness, What + remedy, then? + </p> + <p> + The remedy, though Coleridge himself professed to see it as in sunbeams, + could not, except by processes unspeakably difficult, be described to you + at all. On the whole, those dead Churches, this dead English Church + especially, must be brought to life again. Why not? It was not dead; the + soul of it, in this parched-up body, was tragically asleep only. Atheistic + Philosophy was true on its side, and Hume and Voltaire could on their own + ground speak irrefragably for themselves against any Church: but lift the + Church and them into a higher sphere. Of argument, <i>they</i> died into + inanition, the Church revivified itself into pristine florid vigor,—became + once more a living ship of the desert, and invincibly bore you over stock + and stone. But how, but how! By attending to the "reason" of man, said + Coleridge, and duly chaining up the "understanding" of man: the <i>Vernunft</i> + (Reason) and <i>Verstand</i> (Understanding) of the Germans, it all turned + upon these, if you could well understand them,—which you couldn't. + For the rest, Mr. Coleridge had on the anvil various Books, especially was + about to write one grand Book <i>On the Logos</i>, which would help to + bridge the chasm for us. So much appeared, however: Churches, though + proved false (as you had imagined), were still true (as you were to + imagine): here was an Artist who could burn you up an old Church, root and + branch; and then as the Alchemists professed to do with organic substances + in general, distil you an "Astral Spirit" from the ashes, which was the + very image of the old burnt article, its air-drawn counterpart,—this + you still had, or might get, and draw uses from, if you could. Wait till + the Book on the Logos were done;—alas, till your own terrene eyes, + blind with conceit and the dust of logic, were purged, subtilized and + spiritualized into the sharpness of vision requisite for discerning such + an "om-m-mject."—The ingenuous young English head, of those days, + stood strangely puzzled by such revelations; uncertain whether it were + getting inspired, or getting infatuated into flat imbecility; and strange + effulgence, of new day or else of deeper meteoric night, colored the + horizon of the future for it. + </p> + <p> + Let me not be unjust to this memorable man. Surely there was here, in his + pious, ever-laboring, subtle mind, a precious truth, or prefigurement of + truth; and yet a fatal delusion withal. Prefigurement that, in spite of + beaver sciences and temporary spiritual hebetude and cecity, man and his + Universe were eternally divine; and that no past nobleness, or revelation + of the divine, could or would ever be lost to him. Most true, surely, and + worthy of all acceptance. Good also to do what you can with old Churches + and practical Symbols of the Noble: nay quit not the burnt ruins of them + while you find there is still gold to be dug there. But, on the whole, do + not think you can, by logical alchemy, distil astral spirits from them; or + if you could, that said astral spirits, or defunct logical phantasms, + could serve you in anything. What the light of your mind, which is the + direct inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces incredible,—that, in + God's name, leave uncredited; at your peril do not try believing that. No + subtlest hocus-pocus of "reason" versus "understanding" will avail for + that feat;—and it is terribly perilous to try it in these provinces! + </p> + <p> + The truth is, I now see, Coleridge's talk and speculation was the emblem + of himself: in it as in him, a ray of heavenly inspiration struggled, in a + tragically ineffectual degree, with the weakness of flesh and blood. He + says once, he "had skirted the howling deserts of Infidelity;" this was + evident enough: but he had not had the courage, in defiance of pain and + terror, to press resolutely across said deserts to the new firm lands of + Faith beyond; he preferred to create logical fata-morganas for himself on + this hither side, and laboriously solace himself with these. + </p> + <p> + To the man himself Nature had given, in high measure, the seeds of a noble + endowment; and to unfold it had been forbidden him. A subtle lynx-eyed + intellect, tremulous pious sensibility to all good and all beautiful; + truly a ray of empyrean light;—but embedded in such weak laxity of + character, in such indolences and esuriences as had made strange work with + it. Once more, the tragic story of a high endowment with an insufficient + will. An eye to discern the divineness of the Heaven's spendors and + lightnings, the insatiable wish to revel in their godlike radiances and + brilliances; but no heart to front the scathing terrors of them, which is + the first condition of your conquering an abiding place there. The courage + necessary for him, above all things, had been denied this man. His life, + with such ray of the empyrean in it, was great and terrible to him; and he + had not valiantly grappled with it, he had fled from it; sought refuge in + vague daydreams, hollow compromises, in opium, in theosophic metaphysics. + Harsh pain, danger, necessity, slavish harnessed toil, were of all things + abhorrent to him. And so the empyrean element, lying smothered under the + terrene, and yet inextinguishable there, made sad writhings. For pain, + danger, difficulty, steady slaving toil, and other highly disagreeable + behests of destiny, shall in nowise be shirked by any brightest mortal + that will approve himself loyal to his mission in this world; nay + precisely the higher he is, the deeper will be the disagreeableness, and + the detestability to flesh and blood, of the tasks laid on him; and the + heavier too, and more tragic, his penalties if he neglect them. + </p> + <p> + For the old Eternal Powers do live forever; nor do their laws know any + change, however we in our poor wigs and church-tippets may attempt to read + their laws. To <i>steal</i> into Heaven,—by the modern method, of + sticking ostrich-like your head into fallacies on Earth, equally as by the + ancient and by all conceivable methods,—is forever forbidden. + High-treason is the name of that attempt; and it continues to be punished + as such. Strange enough: here once more was a kind of Heaven-scaling + Ixion; and to him, as to the old one, the just gods were very stern! The + ever-revolving, never-advancing Wheel (of a kind) was his, through life; + and from his Cloud-Juno did not he too procreate strange Centaurs, + spectral Puseyisms, monstrous illusory Hybrids, and ecclesiastical + Chimeras,—which now roam the earth in a very lamentable manner! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. SPANISH EXILES. + </h2> + <p> + This magical ingredient thrown into the wild caldron of such a mind, which + we have seen occupied hitherto with mere Ethnicism, Radicalism and + revolutionary tumult, but hungering all along for something higher and + better, was sure to be eagerly welcomed and imbibed, and could not fail to + produce important fermentations there. Fermentations; important new + directions, and withal important new perversions, in the spiritual life of + this man, as it has since done in the lives of so many. Here then is the + new celestial manna we were all in quest of? This thrice-refined pabulum + of transcendental moonshine? Whoso eateth thereof,—yes, what, on the + whole, will <i>he</i> probably grow to? + </p> + <p> + Sterling never spoke much to me of his intercourse with Coleridge; and + when we did compare notes about him, it was usually rather in the way of + controversial discussion than of narrative. So that, from my own + resources, I can give no details of the business, nor specify anything in + it, except the general fact of an ardent attendance at Highgate continued + for many months, which was impressively known to all Sterling's friends; + and am unable to assign even the limitary dates, Sterling's own papers on + the subject having all been destroyed by him. Inferences point to the end + of 1828 as the beginning of this intercourse; perhaps in 1829 it was at + the highest point; and already in 1830, when the intercourse itself was + about to terminate, we have proof of the influences it was producing,—in + the Novel of <i>Arthur Coningsby</i>, then on hand, the first and only + Book that Sterling ever wrote. His writings hitherto had been sketches, + criticisms, brief essays; he was now trying it on a wider scale; but not + yet with satisfactory results, and it proved to be his only trial in that + form. + </p> + <p> + He had already, as was intimated, given up his brief proprietorship of the + <i>Athenaeum</i>; the commercial indications, and state of sales and of + costs, peremptorily ordering him to do so; the copyright went by sale or + gift, I know not at what precise date, into other fitter hands; and with + the copyright all connection on the part of Sterling. To <i>Athenaeum</i> + Sketches had now (in 1829-30) succeeded <i>Arthur Coningsby</i>, a Novel + in three volumes; indicating (when it came to light, a year or two + afterwards) equally hasty and much more ambitious aims in Literature;—giving + strong evidence, too, of internal spiritual revulsions going painfully + forward, and in particular of the impression Coleridge was producing on + him. Without and within, it was a wild tide of things this ardent light + young soul was afloat upon, at present; and his outlooks into the future, + whether for his spiritual or economic fortunes, were confused enough. + </p> + <p> + Among his familiars in this period, I might have mentioned one Charles + Barton, formerly his fellow-student at Cambridge, now an amiable, + cheerful, rather idle young fellow about Town; who led the way into + certain new experiences, and lighter fields, for Sterling. His Father, + Lieutenant-General Barton of the Life-guards, an Irish landlord, I think + in Fermanagh County, and a man of connections about Court, lived in a + certain figure here in Town; had a wife of fashionable habits, with other + sons, and also daughters, bred in this sphere. These, all of them, were + amiable, elegant and pleasant people;—such was especially an eldest + daughter, Susannah Barton, a stately blooming black-eyed young woman, + attractive enough in form and character; full of gay softness, of indolent + sense and enthusiasm; about Sterling's own age, if not a little older. In + this house, which opened to him, more decisively than his Father's, a new + stratum of society, and where his reception for Charles's sake and his own + was of the kindest, he liked very well to be; and spent, I suppose, many + of his vacant half-hours, lightly chatting with the elders or the + youngsters,—doubtless with the young lady too, though as yet without + particular intentions on either side. + </p> + <p> + Nor, with all the Coleridge fermentation, was democratic Radicalism by any + means given up;—though how it was to live if the Coleridgean + moonshine took effect, might have been an abtruse question. Hitherto, + while said moonshine was but taking effect, and coloring the outer surface + of things without quite penetrating into the heart, democratic Liberalism, + revolt against superstition and oppression, and help to whosoever would + revolt, was still the grand element in Sterling's creed; and practically + he stood, not ready only, but full of alacrity to fulfil all its behests. + We heard long since of the "black dragoons,"—whom doubtless the new + moonshine had considerably silvered-over into new hues, by this time;—but + here now, while Radicalism is tottering for him and threatening to + crumble, comes suddenly the grand consummation and explosion of Radicalism + in his life; whereby, all at once, Radicalism exhausted and ended itself, + and appeared no more there. + </p> + <p> + In those years a visible section of the London population, and conspicuous + out of all proportion to its size or value, was a small knot of Spaniards, + who had sought shelter here as Political Refugees. "Political Refugees:" a + tragic succession of that class is one of the possessions of England in + our time. Six-and-twenty years ago, when I first saw London, I remember + those unfortunate Spaniards among the new phenomena. Daily in the cold + spring air, under skies so unlike their own, you could see a group of + fifty or a hundred stately tragic figures, in proud threadbare cloaks; + perambulating, mostly with closed lips, the broad pavements of Euston + Square and the regions about St. Pancras new Church. Their lodging was + chiefly in Somers Town, as I understood: and those open pavements about + St. Pancras Church were the general place of rendezvous. They spoke little + or no English; knew nobody, could employ themselves on nothing, in this + new scene. Old steel-gray heads, many of them; the shaggy, thick, + blue-black hair of others struck you; their brown complexion, dusky look + of suppressed fire, in general their tragic condition as of caged Numidian + lions. + </p> + <p> + That particular Flight of Unfortunates has long since fled again, and + vanished; and new have come and fled. In this convulsed revolutionary + epoch, which already lasts above sixty years, what tragic flights of such + have we not seen arrive on the one safe coast which is open to them, as + they get successively vanquished, and chased into exile to avoid worse! + Swarm after swarm, of ever-new complexion, from Spain as from other + countries, is thrown off, in those ever-recurring paroxysms; and will + continue to be thrown off. As there could be (suggests Linnaeus) a + "flower-clock," measuring the hours of the day, and the months of the + year, by the kinds of flowers that go to sleep and awaken, that blow into + beauty and fade into dust: so in the great Revolutionary Horologe, one + might mark the years and epochs by the successive kinds of exiles that + walk London streets, and, in grim silent manner, demand pity from us and + reflections from us.—This then extant group of Spanish Exiles was + the Trocadero swarm, thrown off in 1823, in the Riego and Quirogas + quarrel. These were they whom Charles Tenth had, by sheer force, driven + from their constitutionalisms and their Trocadero fortresses,—Charles + Tenth, who himself was soon driven out, manifoldly by sheer force; and had + to head his own swarm of fugitives; and has now himself quite vanished, + and given place to others. For there is no end of them; propelling and + propelled!— + </p> + <p> + Of these poor Spanish Exiles, now vegetating about Somers Town, and + painfully beating the pavement in Euston Square, the acknowledged chief + was General Torrijos, a man of high qualities and fortunes, still in the + vigor of his years, and in these desperate circumstances refusing to + despair; with whom Sterling had, at this time, become intimate. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. TORRIJOS. + </h2> + <p> + Torrijos, who had now in 1829 been here some four or five years, having + come over in 1824, had from the first enjoyed a superior reception in + England. Possessing not only a language to speak, which few of the others + did, but manifold experiences courtly, military, diplomatic, with fine + natural faculties, and high Spanish manners tempered into cosmopolitan, he + had been welcomed in various circles of society; and found, perhaps he + alone of those Spaniards, a certain human companionship among persons of + some standing in this country. With the elder Sterlings, among others, he + had made acquaintance; became familiar in the social circle at South + Place, and was much esteemed there. With Madam Torrijos, who also was a + person of amiable and distinguished qualities, an affectionate friendship + grew up on the part of Mrs. Sterling, which ended only with the death of + these two ladies. John Sterling, on arriving in London from his University + work, naturally inherited what he liked to take up of this relation: and + in the lodgings in Regent Street, and the democratico-literary element + there, Torrijos became a very prominent, and at length almost the central + object. + </p> + <p> + The man himself, it is well known, was a valiant, gallant man; of lively + intellect, of noble chivalrous character: fine talents, fine + accomplishments, all grounding themselves on a certain rugged veracity, + recommended him to the discerning. He had begun youth in the Court of + Ferdinand; had gone on in Wellington and other arduous, victorious and + unvictorious, soldierings; familiar in camps and council-rooms, in + presence-chambers and in prisons. He knew romantic Spain;—he was + himself, standing withal in the vanguard of Freedom's fight, a kind of + living romance. Infinitely interesting to John Sterling, for one. + </p> + <p> + It was to Torrijos that the poor Spaniards of Somers Town looked mainly, + in their helplessness, for every species of help. Torrijos, it was hoped, + would yet lead them into Spain and glorious victory there; meanwhile here + in England, under defeat, he was their captain and sovereign in another + painfully inverse sense. To whom, in extremity, everybody might apply. + When all present resources failed, and the exchequer was quite out, there + still remained Torrijos. Torrijos has to find new resources for his + destitute patriots, find loans, find Spanish lessons for them among his + English friends: in all which charitable operations, it need not be said, + John Sterling was his foremost man; zealous to empty his own purse for the + object; impetuous in rushing hither or thither to enlist the aid of + others, and find lessons or something that would do. His friends, of + course, had to assist; the Bartons, among others, were wont to assist;—and + I have heard that the fair Susan, stirring up her indolent enthusiasm into + practicality, was very successful in finding Spanish lessons, and the + like, for these distressed men. Sterling and his friends were yet new in + this business; but Torrijos and the others were getting old in it?—and + doubtless weary and almost desperate of it. They had now been seven years + in it, many of them; and were asking, When will the end be? + </p> + <p> + Torrijos is described as a man of excellent discernment: who knows how + long he had repressed the unreasonable schemes of his followers, and + turned a deaf ear to the temptings of fallacious hope? But there comes at + length a sum-total of oppressive burdens which is intolerable, which + tempts the wisest towards fallacies for relief. These weary groups, pacing + the Euston-Square pavements, had often said in their despair, "Were not + death in battle better? Here are we slowly mouldering into nothingness; + there we might reach it rapidly, in flaming splendor. Flame, either of + victory to Spain and us, or of a patriot death, the sure harbinger of + victory to Spain. Flame fit to kindle a fire which no Ferdinand, with all + his Inquisitions and Charles Tenths, could put out." Enough, in the end of + 1829, Torrijos himself had yielded to this pressure; and hoping against + hope, persuaded himself that if he could but land in the South of Spain + with a small patriot band well armed and well resolved, a band carrying + fire in its heart,—then Spain, all inflammable as touchwood, and + groaning indignantly under its brutal tyrant, might blaze wholly into + flame round him, and incalculable victory be won. Such was his conclusion; + not sudden, yet surely not deliberate either,—desperate rather, and + forced on by circumstances. He thought with himself that, considering + Somers Town and considering Spain, the terrible chance was worth trying; + that this big game of Fate, go how it might, was one which the omens + credibly declared he and these poor Spaniards ought to play. + </p> + <p> + His whole industries and energies were thereupon bent towards starting the + said game; and his thought and continual speech and song now was, That if + he had a few thousand pounds to buy arms, to freight a ship and make the + other preparations, he and these poor gentlemen, and Spain and the world, + were made men and a saved Spain and world. What talks and consultations in + the apartment in Regent Street, during those winter days of 1829-30; + setting into open conflagration the young democracy that was wont to + assemble there! Of which there is now left next to no remembrance. For + Sterling never spoke a word of this affair in after-days, nor was any of + the actors much tempted to speak. We can understand too well that here + were young fervid hearts in an explosive condition; young rash heads, + sanctioned by a man's experienced head. Here at last shall enthusiasm and + theory become practice and fact; fiery dreams are at last permitted to + realize themselves; and now is the time or never!—How the Coleridge + moonshine comported itself amid these hot telluric flames, or whether it + had not yet begun to play there (which I rather doubt), must be left to + conjecture. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hare speaks of Sterling "sailing over to St. Valery in an open boat + along with others," upon one occasion, in this enterprise;—in the <i>final</i> + English scene of it, I suppose. Which is very possible. Unquestionably + there was adventure enough of other kinds for it, and running to and fro + with all his speed on behalf of it, during these months of his history! + Money was subscribed, collected: the young Cambridge democrats were all + ablaze to assist Torrijos; nay certain of them decided to go with him,—and + went. Only, as yet, the funds were rather incomplete. And here, as I learn + from a good hand, is the secret history of their becoming complete. Which, + as we are upon the subject, I had better give. But for the following + circumstance, they had perhaps never been completed; nor had the rash + enterprise, or its catastrophe, so influential on the rest of Sterling's + life, taken place at all. + </p> + <p> + A certain Lieutenant Robert Boyd, of the Indian Army, an Ulster Irishman, + a cousin of Sterling's, had received some affront, or otherwise taken some + disgust in that service; had thrown up his commission in consequence; and + returned home, about this time, with intent to seek another course of + life. Having only, for outfit, these impatient ardors, some experience in + Indian drill exercise, and five thousand pounds of inheritance, he found + the enterprise attended with difficulties; and was somewhat at a loss how + to dispose of himself. Some young Ulster comrade, in a partly similar + situation, had pointed out to him that there lay in a certain neighboring + creek of the Irish coast, a worn-out royal gun-brig condemned to sale, to + be had dog-cheap: this he proposed that they two, or in fact Boyd with his + five thousand pounds, should buy; that they should refit and arm and man + it;—and sail a-privateering "to the Eastern Archipelago," Philippine + Isles, or I know not where; and <i>so</i> conquer the golden fleece. + </p> + <p> + Boyd naturally paused a little at this great proposal; did not quite + reject it; came across, with it and other fine projects and impatiences + fermenting in his head, to London, there to see and consider. It was in + the months when the Torrijos enterprise was in the birth-throes; crying + wildly for capital, of all things. Boyd naturally spoke of his projects to + Sterling,—of his gun-brig lying in the Irish creek, among others. + Sterling naturally said, "If you want an adventure of the Sea-king sort, + and propose to lay your money and your life into such a game, here is + Torrijos and Spain at his back; here is a golden fleece to conquer, worth + twenty Eastern Archipelagoes."—Boyd and Torrijos quickly met; + quickly bargained. Boyd's money was to go in purchasing, and storing with + a certain stock of arms and etceteras, a small ship in the Thames, which + should carry Boyd with Torrijos and the adventurers to the south coast of + Spain; and there, the game once played and won, Boyd was to have promotion + enough,—"the colonelcy of a Spanish cavalry regiment," for one + express thing. What exact share Sterling had in this negotiation, or + whether he did not even take the prudent side and caution Boyd to be wary + I know not; but it was he that brought the parties together; and all his + friends knew, in silence, that to the end of his life he painfully + remembered that fact. + </p> + <p> + And so a ship was hired, or purchased, in the Thames; due furnishings + began to be executed in it; arms and stores were gradually got on board; + Torrijos with his Fifty picked Spaniards, in the mean while, getting + ready. This was in the spring of 1830. Boyd's 5000 pounds was the grand + nucleus of finance; but vigorous subscription was carried on likewise in + Sterling's young democratic circle, or wherever a member of it could find + access; not without considerable result, and with a zeal that may be + imagined. Nay, as above hinted, certain of these young men decided, not to + give their money only, but themselves along with it, as democratic + volunteers and soldiers of progress; among whom, it need not be said, + Sterling intended to be foremost. Busy weeks with him, those spring ones + of the year 1830! Through this small Note, accidentally preserved to us, + addressed to his friend Barton, we obtain a curious glance into the + subterranean workshop:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Charles Barton, Esq., Dorset Sq., Regent's Park</i>. + [No date; apparently March or February, 1830.] +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CHARLES,—I have wanted to see you to talk to you about my + Foreign affairs. If you are going to be in London for a few days, I + believe you can be very useful to me, at a considerable expense and + trouble to yourself, in the way of buying accoutrements; <i>inter alia</i>, + a sword and a saddle,—not, you will understand, for my own use. + </p> + <p> + "Things are going on very well, but are very, even frightfully near; only + be quiet! Pray would you, in case of necessity, take a free passage to + Holland, next week or the week after; stay two or three days, and come + back, all expenses paid? If you write to B—— at Cambridge, + tell him above all things to hold his tongue. If you are near Palace Yard + to-morrow before two, pray come to see me. Do not come on purpose; + especially as I may perhaps be away, and at all events shall not be there + until eleven, nor perhaps till rather later. + </p> + <p> + "I fear I shall have alarmed your Mother by my irruption. Forgive me for + that and all my exactions from you. If the next month were over, I should + not have to trouble any one. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours affectionately, + "J. STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Busy weeks indeed; and a glowing smithy-light coming through the chinks!—The + romance of <i>Arthur Coningsby</i> lay written, or half-written, in his + desk; and here, in his heart and among his hands, was an acted romance and + unknown catastrophes keeping pace with that. + </p> + <p> + Doubts from the doctors, for his health was getting ominous, threw some + shade over the adventure. Reproachful reminiscences of Coleridge and + Theosophy were natural too; then fond regrets for Literature and its + glories: if you act your romance, how can you also write it? Regrets, and + reproachful reminiscences, from Art and Theosophy; perhaps some tenderer + regrets withal. A crisis in life had come; when, of innumerable + possibilities one possibility was to be elected king, and to swallow all + the rest, the rest of course made noise enough, and swelled themselves to + their biggest. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ship was fast getting ready: on a certain day, it was to + drop quietly down the Thames; then touch at Deal, and take on board + Torrijos and his adventurers, who were to be in waiting and on the outlook + for them there. Let every man lay in his accoutrements, then; let every + man make his packages, his arrangements and farewells. Sterling went to + take leave of Miss Barton. "You are going, then; to Spain? To rough it + amid the storms of war and perilous insurrection; and with that weak + health of yours; and—we shall never see you more, then!" Miss + Barton, all her gayety gone, the dimpling softness become liquid sorrow, + and the musical ringing voice one wail of woe, "burst into tears,"—so + I have it on authority:—here was one possibility about to be + strangled that made unexpected noise! Sterling's interview ended in the + offer of his hand, and the acceptance of it;—any sacrifice to get + rid of this horrid Spanish business, and save the health and life of a + gifted young man so precious to the world and to another! + </p> + <p> + "Ill-health," as often afterwards in Sterling's life, when the excuse was + real enough but not the chief excuse; "ill-health, and insuperable + obstacles and engagements," had to bear the chief brunt in apologizing: + and, as Sterling's actual presence, or that of any Englishman except Boyd + and his money, was not in the least vital to the adventure, his excuse was + at once accepted. The English connections and subscriptions are a given + fact, to be presided over by what English volunteers there are: and as for + Englishmen, the fewer Englishmen that go, the larger will be the share of + influence for each. The other adventurers, Torrijos among them in due + readiness, moved silently one by one down to Deal; Sterling, + superintending the naval hands, on board their ship in the Thames, was to + see the last finish given to everything in that department; then, on the + set evening, to drop down quietly to Deal, and there say <i>Andad con Dios</i>, + and return. + </p> + <p> + Behold! Just before the set evening came, the Spanish Envoy at this Court + has got notice of what is going on; the Spanish Envoy, and of course the + British Foreign Secretary, and of course also the Thames Police. Armed men + spring suddenly on board, one day, while Sterling is there; declare the + ship seized and embargoed in the King's name; nobody on board to stir till + he has given some account of himself in due time and place! Huge + consternation, naturally, from stem to stern. Sterling, whose presence of + mind seldom forsook him, casts his eye over the River and its craft; sees + a wherry, privately signals it, drops rapidly on board of it: "Stop!" + fiercely interjects the marine policeman from the ship's deck.—"Why + stop? What use have you for me, or I for you?" and the oars begin playing.—"Stop, + or I'll shoot you!" cries the marine policeman, drawing a pistol.—"No, + you won't."—"I will!"—"If you do you'll be hanged at the next + Maidstone assizes, then; that's all,"—and Sterling's wherry shot + rapidly ashore; and out of this perilous adventure. + </p> + <p> + That same night he posted down to Deal; disclosed to the Torrijos party + what catastrophe had come. No passage Spainward from the Thames; well if + arrestment do not suddenly come from the Thames! It was on this occasion, + I suppose, that the passage in the open boat to St. Valery occurred;—speedy + flight in what boat or boats, open or shut, could be got at Deal on the + sudden. Sterling himself, according to Hare's authority, actually went + with them so far. Enough, they got shipping, as private passengers in one + craft or the other; and, by degrees or at once, arrived all at Gibraltar,—Boyd, + one or two young democrats of Regent Street, the fifty picked Spaniards, + and Torrijos,—safe, though without arms; still in the early part of + the year. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. MARRIAGE: ILL-HEALTH; WEST-INDIES. + </h2> + <p> + Sterling's outlooks and occupations, now that his Spanish friends were + gone, must have been of a rather miscellaneous confused description. He + had the enterprise of a married life close before him; and as yet no + profession, no fixed pursuit whatever. His health was already very + threatening; often such as to disable him from present activity, and + occasion the gravest apprehensions; practically blocking up all important + courses whatsoever, and rendering the future, if even life were lengthened + and he had any future, an insolubility for him. Parliament was shut, + public life was shut: Literature,—if, alas, any solid fruit could + lie in literature! + </p> + <p> + Or perhaps one's health would mend, after all; and many things be better + than was hoped! Sterling was not of a despondent temper, or given in any + measure to lie down and indolently moan: I fancy he walked briskly enough + into this tempestuous-looking future; not heeding too much its thunderous + aspects; doing swiftly, for the day, what his hand found to do. <i>Arthur + Coningsby</i>, I suppose, lay on the anvil at present; visits to Coleridge + were now again more possible; grand news from Torrijos might be looked + for, though only small yet came:—nay here, in the hot July, is + France, at least, all thrown into volcano again! Here are the miraculous + Three Days; heralding, in thunder, great things to Torrijos and others; + filling with babblement and vaticination the mouths and hearts of all + democratic men. + </p> + <p> + So rolled along, in tumult of chaotic remembrance and uncertain hope, in + manifold emotion, and the confused struggle (for Sterling as for the + world) to extricate the New from the falling ruins of the Old, the summer + and autumn of 1830. From Gibraltar and Torrijos the tidings were vague, + unimportant and discouraging: attempt on Cadiz, attempt on the lines of + St. Roch, those attempts, or rather resolutions to attempt, had died in + the birth, or almost before it. Men blamed Torrijos, little knowing his + impediments. Boyd was still patient at his post: others of the young + English (on the strength of the subscribed moneys) were said to be + thinking of tours,—perhaps in the Sierra Morena and neighboring + Quixote regions. From that Torrijos enterprise it did not seem that + anything considerable would come. + </p> + <p> + On the edge of winter, here at home, Sterling was married: "at + Christchurch, Marylebone, 2d November, 1830," say the records. His + blooming, kindly and true-hearted Wife had not much money, nor had he as + yet any: but friends on both sides were bountiful and hopeful; had made + up, for the young couple, the foundations of a modestly effective + household; and in the future there lay more substantial prospects. On the + finance side Sterling never had anything to suffer. His Wife, though + somewhat languid, and of indolent humor, was a graceful, pious-minded, + honorable and affectionate woman; she could not much support him in the + ever-shifting struggles of his life, but she faithfully attended him in + them, and loyally marched by his side through the changes and nomadic + pilgrimings, of which many were appointed him in his short course. + </p> + <p> + Unhappily a few weeks after his marriage, and before any household was yet + set up, he fell dangerously ill; worse in health than he had ever yet + been: so many agitations crowded into the last few months had been too + much for him. He fell into dangerous pulmonary illness, sank ever deeper; + lay for many weeks in his Father's house utterly prostrate, his young Wife + and his Mother watching over him; friends, sparingly admitted, long + despairing of his life. All prospects in this world were now apparently + shut upon him. + </p> + <p> + After a while, came hope again, and kindlier symptoms: but the doctors + intimated that there lay consumption in the question, and that perfect + recovery was not to be looked for. For weeks he had been confined to bed; + it was several months before he could leave his sick-room, where the + visits of a few friends had much cheered him. And now when delivered, + readmitted to the air of day again,—weak as he was, and with such a + liability still lurking in him,—what his young partner and he were + to do, or whitherward to turn for a good course of life, was by no means + too apparent. + </p> + <p> + One of his Mother Mrs. Edward Sterling's Uncles, a Coningham from Derry, + had, in the course of his industrious and adventurous life, realized large + property in the West Indies,—a valuable Sugar-estate, with its + equipments, in the Island of St. Vincent;—from which Mrs. Sterling + and her family were now, and had been for some years before her Uncle's + decease, deriving important benefits. I have heard, it was then worth some + ten thousand pounds a year to the parties interested. Anthony Sterling, + John, and another a cousin of theirs were ultimately to be heirs, in equal + proportions. The old gentleman, always kind to his kindred, and a brave + and solid man though somewhat abrupt in his ways, had lately died; leaving + a settlement to this effect, not without some intricacies, and almost + caprices, in the conditions attached. + </p> + <p> + This property, which is still a valuable one, was Sterling's chief + pecuniary outlook for the distant future. Of course it well deserved + taking care of; and if the eye of the master were upon it, of course too + (according to the adage) the cattle would fatten better. As the warm + climate was favorable to pulmonary complaints, and Sterling's occupations + were so shattered to pieces and his outlooks here so waste and vague, why + should not he undertake this duty for himself and others? + </p> + <p> + It was fixed upon as the eligiblest course. A visit to St. Vincent, + perhaps a permanent residence there: he went into the project with his + customary impetuosity; his young Wife cheerfully consenting, and all + manner of new hopes clustering round it. There are the rich tropical + sceneries, the romance of the torrid zone with its new skies and seas and + lands; there are Blacks, and the Slavery question to be investigated: + there are the bronzed Whites and Yellows, and their strange new way of + life: by all means let us go and try!—Arrangements being completed, + so soon as his strength had sufficiently recovered, and the harsh spring + winds had sufficiently abated, Sterling with his small household set sail + for St. Vincent; and arrived without accident. His first child, a son + Edward, now living and grown to manhood, was born there, "at Brighton in + the Island of St. Vincent," in the fall of that year 1831. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT. + </h2> + <p> + Sterling found a pleasant residence, with all its adjuncts, ready for him, + at Colonarie, in this "volcanic Isle" under the hot sun. An interesting + Isle: a place of rugged chasms, precipitous gnarled heights, and the most + fruitful hollows; shaggy everywhere with luxuriant vegetation; set under + magnificent skies, in the mirror of the summer seas; offering everywhere + the grandest sudden outlooks and contrasts. His Letters represent a + placidly cheerful riding life: a pensive humor, but the thunder-clouds all + sleeping in the distance. Good relations with a few neighboring planters; + indifference to the noisy political and other agitations of the rest: + friendly, by no means romantic appreciation of the Blacks; quiet + prosperity economic and domestic: on the whole a healthy and recommendable + way of life, with Literature very much in abeyance in it. + </p> + <p> + He writes to Mr. Hare (date not given): "The landscapes around me here are + noble and lovely as any that can be conceived on Earth. How indeed could + it be otherwise, in a small Island of volcanic mountains, far within the + Tropics, and perpetually covered with the richest vegetation?" The moral + aspect of things is by no means so good; but neither is that without its + fair features. "So far as I see, the Slaves here are cunning, deceitful + and idle; without any great aptitude for ferocious crimes, and with very + little scruple at committing others. But I have seen them much only in + very favorable circumstances. They are, as a body, decidedly unfit for + freedom; and if left, as at present, completely in the hands of their + masters, will never become so, unless through the agency of the + Methodists." <a href="#linknote-9" name="linknoteref-9" id="linknoteref-9"><small>9</small></a> + </p> + <p> + In the Autumn came an immense hurricane; with new and indeed quite + perilous experiences of West-Indian life. This hasty Letter, addressed to + his Mother, is not intrinsically his remarkablest from St. Vincent: but + the body of fact delineated in it being so much the greatest, we will + quote it in preference. A West-Indian tornado, as John Sterling witnesses + it, and with vivid authenticity describes it, may be considered worth + looking at. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Mrs. Sterling, South Place, Knightsbridge, London</i>. + "BRIGHTON, ST. VINCENT, 28th August, 1831. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR MOTHER,—The packet came in yesterday; bringing me some + Newspapers, a Letter from my Father, and one from Anthony, with a few + lines from you. I wrote, some days ago, a hasty Note to my Father, on the + chance of its reaching you through Grenada sooner than any communication + by the packet; and in it I spoke of the great misfortune which had + befallen this Island and Barbadoes, but from which all those you take an + interest in have happily escaped unhurt. + </p> + <p> + "From the day of our arrival in the West Indies until Thursday the 11th + instant, which will long be a memorable day with us, I had been doing my + best to get ourselves established comfortably; and I had at last bought + the materials for making some additions to the house. But on the morning I + have mentioned, all that I had exerted myself to do, nearly all the + property both of Susan and myself, and the very house we lived in, were + suddenly destroyed by a visitation of Providence far more terrible than + any I have ever witnessed. + </p> + <p> + "When Susan came from her room, to breakfast, at eight o'clock, I pointed + out to her the extraordinary height and violence of the surf, and the + singular appearance of the clouds of heavy rain sweeping down the valleys + before us. At this time I had so little apprehension of what was coming, + that I talked of riding down to the shore when the storm should abate, as + I had never seen so fierce a sea. In about a quarter of an hour the + House-Negroes came in, to close the outside shutters of the windows. They + knew that the plantain-trees about the Negro houses had been blown down in + the night; and had told the maid-servant Tyrrell, but I had heard nothing + of it. A very few minutes after the closing of the windows, I found that + the shutters of Tyrrell's room, at the south and commonly the most + sheltered end of the House, were giving way. I tried to tie them; but the + silk handkerchief which I used soon gave way; and as I had neither hammer, + boards nor nails in the house, I could do nothing more to keep out the + tempest. I found, in pushing at the leaf of the shutter, that the wind + resisted, more as if it had been a stone wall or a mass of iron, than a + mere current of air. There were one or two people outside trying to fasten + the windows, and I went out to help; but we had no tools at hand: one man + was blown down the hill in front of the house, before my face; and the + other and myself had great difficulty in getting back again inside the + door. The rain on my face and hands felt like so much small shot from a + gun. There was great exertion necessary to shut the door of the house. + </p> + <p> + "The windows at the end of the large room were now giving way; and I + suppose it was about nine o'clock, when the hurricane burst them in, as if + it had been a discharge from a battery of heavy cannon. The shutters were + first forced open, and the wind fastened them back to the wall; and then + the panes of glass were smashed by the mere force of the gale, without + anything having touched them. Even now I was not at all sure the house + would go. My books, I saw, were lost; for the rain poured past the + bookcases, as if it had been the Colonarie River. But we carried a good + deal of furniture into the passage at the entrance; we set Susan there on + a sofa, and the Black Housekeeper was even attempting to get her some + breakfast. The house, however, began to shake so violently, and the rain + was so searching, that she could not stay there long. She went into her + own room and I stayed to see what could be done. + </p> + <p> + "Under the forepart of the house, there are cellars built of stone, but + not arched. To these, however, there was no access except on the outside; + and I knew from my own experience that Susan could not have gone a step + beyond the door, without being carried away by the storm, and probably + killed on the spot. The only chance seemed to be that of breaking through + the floor. But when the old Cook and myself resolved on this, we found + that we had no instrument with which it would be possible to do it. It was + now clear that we had only God to trust in. The front windows were giving + way with successive crashes, and the floor shook as you may have seen a + carpet on a gusty day in London. I went into our bedroom; where I found + Susan, Tyrrell, and a little Colored girl of seven or eight years old; and + told them that we should probably not be alive in half an hour. I could + have escaped, if I had chosen to go alone, by crawling on the ground + either into the kitchen, a separate stone building at no great distance, + or into the open fields away from trees or houses; but Susan could not + have gone a yard. She became quite calm when she knew the worst; and she + sat on my knee in what seemed the safest corner of the room, while every + blast was bringing nearer and nearer the moment of our seemingly certain + destruction.— + </p> + <p> + "The house was under two parallel roofs; and the one next the sea, which + sheltered the other, and us who were under the other, went off, I suppose + about ten o'clock. After my old plan, I will give you a sketch, from which + you may perceive how we were situated:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [In print, a figure representing a floor-plan appears here] +</pre> + <p> + The <i>a</i>, <i>a</i> are the windows that were first destroyed: <i>b</i> + went next; my books were between the windows <i>b</i>, and on the wall + opposite to them. The lines <i>c</i> and <i>d</i> mark the directions of + the two roofs; <i>e</i> is the room in which we were, and 2 is a plan of + it on a larger scale. Look now at 2: <i>a</i> is the bed; <i>c</i>, <i>c</i> + the two wardrobes; <i>b</i> the corner in which we were. I was sitting in + an arm-chair, holding my Wife; and Tyrrell and the little Black child were + close to us. We had given up all notion of surviving; and only waited for + the fall of the roof to perish together. + </p> + <p> + "Before long the roof went. Most of the materials, however, were carried + clear away: one of the large couples was caught on the bedpost marked <i>d</i>, + and held fast by the iron spike; while the end of it hung over our heads: + had the beam fallen an inch on either side of the bedpost, it must + necessarily have crushed us. The walls did not go with the roof; and we + remained for half an hour, alternately praying to God, and watching them + as they bent, creaked, and shivered before the storm. + </p> + <p> + "Tyrrell and the child, when the roof was off, made their way through the + remains of the partition, to the outer door; and with the help of the + people who were looking for us, got into the kitchen. A good while after + they were gone, and before we knew anything of their fate, a Negro + suddenly came upon us; and the sight of him gave us a hope of safety. When + the people learned that we were in danger, and while their own huts were + flying about their ears, they crowded to help us; and the old Cook urged + them on to our rescue. He made five attempts, after saving Tyrrell, to get + to us; and four times he was blown down. The fifth time he, and the Negro + we first saw, reached the house. The space they had to traverse was not + above twenty yards of level ground, if so much. In another minute or two, + the Overseers and a crowd of Negroes, most of whom had come on their hands + and knees, were surrounding us; and with their help Susan was carried + round to the end of the house; where they broke open the cellar window, + and placed her in comparative safety. The force of the hurricane was, by + this time, a good deal diminished, or it would have been impossible to + stand before it. + </p> + <p> + "But the wind was still terrific; and the rain poured into the cellars + through the floor above. Susan, Tyrrell, and a crowd of Negroes remained + under it, for more than two hours: and I was long afraid that the wet and + cold would kill her, if she did not perish more violently. Happily we had + wine and spirits at hand, and she was much nerved by a tumbler of claret. + As soon as I saw her in comparative security, I went off with one of the + Overseers down to the Works, where the greater number of the Negroes were + collected, that we might see what could be done for them. They were + wretched enough, but no one was hurt; and I ordered them a dram apiece, + which seemed to give them a good deal of consolation. + </p> + <p> + "Before I could make my way back, the hurricane became as bad as at first; + and I was obliged to take shelter for half an hour in a ruined Negro + house. This, however, was the last of its extreme violence. By one + o'clock, even the rain had in a great degree ceased; and as only one room + of the house, the one marked <i>f</i>; was standing, and that rickety,—I + had Susan carried in a chair down the hill, to the Hospital; where, in a + small paved unlighted room, she spent the next twenty-four hours. She was + far less injured than might have been expected from such a catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + "Next day, I had the passage at the entrance of the house repaired and + roofed; and we returned to the ruins of our habitation, still encumbered + as they were with the wreck of almost all we were possessed of. The walls + of the part of the house next the sea were carried away, in less I think + than half an hour after we reached the cellar: when I had leisure to + examine the remains of the house, I found the floor strewn with fragments + of the building, and with broken furniture; and our books all soaked as + completely as if they had been for several hours in the sea. + </p> + <p> + "In the course of a few days I had the other room, <i>g</i>, which is + under the same roof as the one saved, rebuilt; and Susan stayed in this + temporary abode for a week,—when we left Colonarie, and came to + Brighton. Mr. Munro's kindness exceeds all precedent. We shall certainly + remain here till my Wife is recovered from her confinement. In the mean + while we shall have a new house built, in which we hope to be well settled + before Christmas. + </p> + <p> + "The roof was half blown off the kitchen, but I have had it mended + already; the other offices were all swept away. The gig is much injured; + and my horse received a wound in the fall of the stable, from which he + will not be recovered for some weeks: in the mean time I have no choice + but to buy another, as I must go at least once or twice a week to + Colonarie, besides business in Town. As to our own comforts, we can + scarcely expect ever to recover from the blow that has now stricken us. No + money would repay me for the loss of my books, of which a large proportion + had been in my hands for so many years that they were like old and + faithful friends, and of which many had been given me at different times + by the persons in the world whom I most value. + </p> + <p> + "But against all this I have to set the preservation of our lives, in a + way the most awfully providential; and the safety of every one on the + Estate. And I have also the great satisfaction of reflecting that all the + Negroes from whom any assistance could reasonably be expected, behaved + like so many Heroes of Antiquity; risking their lives and limbs for us and + our property, while their own poor houses were flying like chaff before + the hurricane. There are few White people here who can say as much for + their Black dependents; and the force and value of the relation between + Master and Slave has been tried by the late calamity on a large scale. + </p> + <p> + "Great part of both sides of this Island has been laid completely waste. + The beautiful wide and fertile Plain called the Charib Country, extending + for many miles to the north of Colonarie, and formerly containing the + finest sets of works and best dwelling-houses in the Island, is, I am + told, completely desolate: on several estates not a roof even of a Negro + hut standing. In the embarrassed circumstances of many of the proprietors, + the ruin is, I fear, irreparable.—At Colonarie the damage is + serious, but by no means desperate. The crop is perhaps injured ten or + fifteen per cent. The roofs of several large buildings are destroyed, but + these we are already supplying; and the injuries done to the cottages of + the Negroes are, by this time, nearly if not quite remedied. + </p> + <p> + "Indeed, all that has been suffered in St. Vincent appears nothing when + compared with the appalling loss of property and of human lives at + Barbadoes. There the Town is little but a heap of ruins, and the corpses + are reckoned by thousands; while throughout the Island there are not, I + believe, ten estates on which the buildings are standing. The Elliotts, + from whom we have heard, are living with all their family in a tent; and + may think themselves wonderfully saved, when whole families round them + were crushed at once beneath their houses. Hugh Barton, the only officer + of the Garrison hurt, has broken his arm, and we know nothing of his + prospects of recovery. The more horrible misfortune of Barbadoes is partly + to be accounted for by the fact of the hurricane having begun there during + the night. The flatness of the surface in that Island presented no + obstacle to the wind, which must, however, I think have been in itself + more furious than with us. No other island has suffered considerably. + </p> + <p> + "I have told both my Uncle and Anthony that I have given you the details + of our recent history;—which are not so pleasant that I should wish + to write them again. Perhaps you will be good enough to let them see this, + as soon as you and my Father can spare it.... I am ever, dearest Mother, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your grateful and affectionate + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + This Letter, I observe, is dated 28th August, 1831; which is otherwise a + day of mark to the world and me,—the Poet Goethe's last birthday. + While Sterling sat in the Tropical solitudes, penning this history, little + European Weimar had its carriages and state-carriages busy on the streets, + and was astir with compliments and visiting-cards, doing its best, as + heretofore, on behalf of a remarkable day; and was not, for centuries or + tens of centuries, to see the like of it again!— + </p> + <p> + At Brighton, the hospitable home of those Munros, our friends continued + for above two months. Their first child, Edward, as above noticed, was + born here, "14th October, 1831;"—and now the poor lady, safe from + all her various perils, could return to Colonarie under good auspices. + </p> + <p> + It was in this year that I first heard definitely of Sterling as a + contemporary existence; and laid up some note and outline of him in my + memory, as of one whom I might yet hope to know. John Mill, Mrs. Austin + and perhaps other friends, spoke of him with great affection and much + pitying admiration; and hoped to see him home again, under better omens, + from over the seas. As a gifted amiable being, of a certain radiant + tenuity and velocity, too thin and rapid and diffusive, in danger of + dissipating himself into the vague, or alas into death itself: it was so + that, like a spot of bright colors, rather than a portrait with features, + he hung occasionally visible in my imagination. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. A CATASTROPHE. + </h2> + <p> + The ruin of his house had hardly been repaired, when there arrived out of + Europe tidings which smote as with a still more fatal hurricane on the + four corners of his inner world, and awoke all the old thunders that lay + asleep on his horizon there. Tidings, at last of a decisive nature, from + Gibraltar and the Spanish democrat adventure. This is what the Newspapers + had to report—the catastrophe at once, the details by degrees—from + Spain concerning that affair, in the beginning of the new year 1832. + </p> + <p> + Torrijos, as we have seen, had hitherto accomplished as good as nothing, + except disappointment to his impatient followers, and sorrow and regret to + himself. Poor Torrijos, on arriving at Gibraltar with his wild band, and + coming into contact with the rough fact, had found painfully how much his + imagination had deceived him. The fact lay round him haggard and + iron-bound; flatly refusing to be handled according to his scheme of it. + No Spanish soldiery nor citizenry showed the least disposition to join + him; on the contrary the official Spaniards of that coast seemed to have + the watchfulest eye on all his movements, nay it was conjectured they had + spies in Gibraltar who gathered his very intentions and betrayed them. + This small project of attack, and then that other, proved futile, or was + abandoned before the attempt. Torrijos had to lie painfully within the + lines of Gibraltar,—his poor followers reduced to extremity of + impatience and distress; the British Governor too, though not unfriendly + to him, obliged to frown. As for the young Cantabs, they, as was said, had + wandered a little over the South border of romantic Spain; had perhaps + seen Seville, Cadiz, with picturesque views, since not with belligerent + ones; and their money being done, had now returned home. So had it lasted + for eighteen months. + </p> + <p> + The French Three Days breaking out had armed the Guerrillero Mina, armed + all manner of democratic guerrieros and guerrilleros; and considerable + clouds of Invasion, from Spanish exiles, hung minatory over the North and + North-East of Spain, supported by the new-born French Democracy, so far as + privately possible. These Torrijos had to look upon with inexpressible + feelings, and take no hand in supporting from the South; these also he had + to see brushed away, successively abolished by official generalship; and + to sit within his lines, in the painfulest manner, unable to do anything. + The fated, gallant-minded, but too headlong man. At length the British + Governor himself was obliged, in official decency and as is thought on + repeated remonstrance from his Spanish official neighbors, to signify how + indecorous, improper and impossible it was to harbor within one's lines + such explosive preparations, once they were discovered, against allies in + full peace with us,—the necessity, in fact, there was for the matter + ending. It is said, he offered Torrijos and his people passports, and + British protection, to any country of the world except Spain: Torrijos did + not accept the passports; spoke of going peaceably to this place or to + that; promised at least, what he saw and felt to be clearly necessary, + that he would soon leave Gibraltar. And he did soon leave it; he and his, + Boyd alone of the Englishmen being now with him. + </p> + <p> + It was on the last night of November, 1831, that they all set forth; + Torrijos with Fifty-five companions; and in two small vessels committed + themselves to their nigh-desperate fortune. No sentry or official person + had noticed them; it was from the Spanish Consul, next morning, that the + British Governor first heard they were gone. The British Governor knew + nothing of them; but apparently the Spanish officials were much better + informed. Spanish guardships, instantly awake, gave chase to the two small + vessels, which were making all sail towards Malaga; and, on shore, all + manner of troops and detached parties were in motion, to render a retreat + to Gibraltar by land impossible. + </p> + <p> + Crowd all sail for Malaga, then; there perhaps a regiment will join us; + there,—or if not, we are but lost! Fancy need not paint a more + tragic situation than that of Torrijos, the unfortunate gallant man, in + the gray of this morning, first of December, 1831,—his last free + morning. Noble game is afoot, afoot at last; and all the hunters have him + in their toils.—The guardships gain upon Torrijos; he cannot even + reach Malaga; has to run ashore at a place called Fuengirola, not far from + that city;—the guardships seizing his vessels, so soon as he is + disembarked. The country is all up; troops scouring the coast everywhere: + no possibility of getting into Malaga with a party of Fifty-five. He takes + possession of a farmstead (Ingles, the place is called); barricades + himself there, but is speedily beleaguered with forces hopelessly + superior. He demands to treat; is refused all treaty; is granted six hours + to consider, shall then either surrender at discretion, or be forced to do + it. Of course he <i>does</i> it, having no alternative; and enters Malaga + a prisoner, all his followers prisoners. Here had the Torrijos Enterprise, + and all that was embarked upon it, finally arrived. + </p> + <p> + Express is sent to Madrid; express instantly returns; "Military execution + on the instant; give them shriving if they want it; that done, fusillade + them all." So poor Torrijos and his followers, the whole Fifty-six of + them, Robert Boyd included, meet swift death in Malaga. In such manner + rushes down the curtain on them and their affair; they vanish thus on a + sudden; rapt away as in black clouds of fate. Poor Boyd, Sterling's + cousin, pleaded his British citizenship; to no purpose: it availed only to + his dead body, this was delivered to the British Consul for interment, and + only this. Poor Madam Torrijos, hearing, at Paris where she now was, of + her husband's capture, hurries towards Madrid to solicit mercy; whither + also messengers from Lafayette and the French Government were hurrying, on + the like errand: at Bayonne, news met the poor lady that it was already + all over, that she was now a widow, and her husband hidden from her + forever.—Such was the handsel of the new year 1832 for Sterling in + his West-Indian solitudes. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's friends never heard of these affairs; indeed we were all + secretly warned not to mention the name of Torrijos in his hearing, which + accordingly remained strictly a forbidden subject. His misery over this + catastrophe was known, in his own family, to have been immense. He wrote + to his Brother Anthony: "I hear the sound of that musketry; it is as if + the bullets were tearing my own brain." To figure in one's sick and + excited imagination such a scene of fatal man-hunting, lost valor + hopelessly captured and massacred; and to add to it, that the victims are + not men merely, that they are noble and dear forms known lately as + individual friends: what a Dance of the Furies and wild-pealing Dead-march + is this, for the mind of a loving, generous and vivid man! Torrijos + getting ashore at Fuengirola; Robert Boyd and others ranked to die on the + esplanade at Malaga—Nay had not Sterling, too, been the innocent yet + heedless means of Boyd's embarking in this enterprise? By his own kinsman + poor Boyd had been witlessly guided into the pitfalls. "I hear the sound + of that musketry; it is as if the bullets were tearing my own brain!" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. PAUSE. + </h2> + <p> + These thoughts dwelt long with Sterling; and for a good while, I fancy, + kept possession of the proscenium of his mind; madly parading there, to + the exclusion of all else,—coloring all else with their own black + hues. He was young, rich in the power to be miserable or otherwise; and + this was his first grand sorrow which had now fallen upon him. + </p> + <p> + An important spiritual crisis, coming at any rate in some form, had hereby + suddenly in a very sad form come. No doubt, as youth was passing into + manhood in these Tropical seclusions, and higher wants were awakening in + his mind, and years and reflection were adding new insight and admonition, + much in his young way of thought and action lay already under ban with + him, and repentances enough over many things were not wanting. But here on + a sudden had all repentances, as it were, dashed themselves together into + one grand whirlwind of repentance; and his past life was fallen wholly as + into a state of reprobation. A great remorseful misery had come upon him. + Suddenly, as with a sudden lightning-stroke, it had kindled into + conflagration all the ruined structure of his past life; such ruin had to + blaze and flame round him, in the painfulest manner, till it went out in + black ashes. His democratic philosophies, and mutinous radicalisms, + already falling doomed in his thoughts, had reached their consummation and + final condemnation here. It was all so rash, imprudent, arrogant, all + that; false, or but half true; inapplicable wholly as a rule of noble + conduct;—and it has ended <i>thus</i>. Woe on it! Another guidance + must be found in life, or life is impossible!— + </p> + <p> + It is evident, Sterling's thoughts had already, since the old days of the + "black dragoon," much modified themselves. We perceive that, by mere + increase of experience and length of time, the opposite and much deeper + side of the question, which also has its adamantine basis of truth, was in + turn coming into play; and in fine that a Philosophy of Denial, and world + illuminated merely by the flames of Destruction, could never have + permanently been the resting-place of such a man. Those pilgrimings to + Coleridge, years ago, indicate deeper wants beginning to be felt, and + important ulterior resolutions becoming inevitable for him. If in your own + soul there is any tone of the "Eternal Melodies," you cannot live forever + in those poor outer, transitory grindings and discords; you will have to + struggle inwards and upwards, in search of some diviner home for yourself!—Coleridge's + prophetic moonshine, Torrijos's sad tragedy: those were important + occurrences in Sterling's life. But, on the whole, there was a big Ocean + for him, with impetuous Gulf-streams, and a doomed voyage in quest of the + Atlantis, <i>before</i> either of those arose as lights on the horizon. As + important beacon-lights let us count them nevertheless;—signal-dates + they form to us, at lowest. We may reckon this Torrijos tragedy the crisis + of Sterling's history; the turning-point, which modified, in the most + important and by no means wholly in the most favorable manner, all the + subsequent stages of it. + </p> + <p> + Old Radicalism and mutinous audacious Ethnicism having thus fallen to + wreck, and a mere black world of misery and remorse now disclosing itself, + whatsoever of natural piety to God and man, whatsoever of pity and + reverence, of awe and devout hope was in Sterling's heart now awoke into + new activity; and strove for some due utterance and predominance. His + Letters, in these months, speak of earnest religious studies and efforts;—of + attempts by prayer and longing endeavor of all kinds, to struggle his way + into the temple, if temple there were, and there find sanctuary. <a + href="#linknote-10" name="linknoteref-10" id="linknoteref-10"><small>10</small></a> + The realities were grown so haggard; life a field of black ashes, if there + rose no temple anywhere on it! Why, like a fated Orestes, is man so whipt + by the Furies, and driven madly hither and thither, if it is not even that + he may seek some shrine, and there make expiation and find deliverance? + </p> + <p> + In these circumstances, what a scope for Coleridge's philosophy, above + all! "If the bottled moonshine <i>be</i> actually substance? Ah, could one + but believe in a Church while finding it incredible! What is faith; what + is conviction, credibility, insight? Can a thing be at once known for + true, and known for false? 'Reason,' 'Understanding:' is there, then, such + an internecine war between these two? It was so Coleridge imagined it, the + wisest of existing men!"—No, it is not an easy matter (according to + Sir Kenelm Digby), this of getting up your "astral spirit" of a thing, and + setting it in action, when the thing itself is well burnt to ashes. Poor + Sterling; poor sons of Adam in general, in this sad age of cobwebs, + worn-out symbolisms, reminiscences and simulacra! Who can tell the + struggles of poor Sterling, and his pathless wanderings through these + things! Long afterwards, in speech with his Brother, he compared his case + in this time to that of "a young lady who has tragically lost her lover, + and is willing to be half-hoodwinked into a convent, or in any noble or + quasi-noble way to escape from a world which has become intolerable." + </p> + <p> + During the summer of 1832, I find traces of attempts towards Anti-Slavery + Philanthropy; shadows of extensive schemes in that direction. + Half-desperate outlooks, it is likely, towards the refuge of + Philanthropism, as a new chivalry of life. These took no serious hold of + so clear an intellect; but they hovered now and afterwards as day-dreams, + when life otherwise was shorn of aim;—mirages in the desert, which + are found not to be lakes when you put your bucket into them. One thing + was clear, the sojourn in St. Vincent was not to last much longer. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps one might get some scheme raised into life, in Downing Street, for + universal Education to the Blacks, preparatory to emancipating them? There + were a noble work for a man! Then again poor Mrs. Sterling's health, + contrary to his own, did not agree with warm moist climates. And again, + &c. &c. These were the outer surfaces of the measure; the + unconscious pretexts under which it showed itself to Sterling and was + shown by him: but the inner heart and determining cause of it (as + frequently in Sterling's life, and in all our lives) was not these. In + brief, he had had enough of St. Vincent. The strangling oppressions of his + soul were too heavy for him there. Solution lay in Europe, or might lie; + not in these remote solitudes of the sea,—where no shrine or saint's + well is to be looked for, no communing of pious pilgrims journeying + together towards a shrine. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. BONN; HERSTMONCEUX. + </h2> + <p> + After a residence of perhaps fifteen months Sterling quitted St. Vincent, + and never returned. He reappeared at his Father's house, to the joy of + English friends, in August, 1832; well improved in health, and eager for + English news; but, beyond vague schemes and possibilities, considerably + uncertain what was next to be done. + </p> + <p> + After no long stay in this scene,—finding Downing Street dead as + stone to the Slave-Education and to all other schemes,—he went + across, with his wife and child, to Germany; purposing to make not so much + a tour as some loose ramble, or desultory residence in that country, in + the Rhineland first of all. Here was to be hoped the picturesque in + scenery, which he much affected; here the new and true in speculation, + which he inwardly longed for and wanted greatly more; at all events, here + as readily as elsewhere might a temporary household be struck up, under + interesting circumstances.—I conclude he went across in the Spring + of 1833; perhaps directly after <i>Arthur Coningsby</i> had got through + the press. This Novel, which, as we have said, was begun two or three + years ago, probably on his cessation from the <i>Athenaeum</i>, and was + mainly finished, I think, before the removal to St. Vincent, had by this + time fallen as good as obsolete to his own mind; and its destination now, + whether to the press or to the fire, was in some sort a matter at once of + difficulty and of insignificance to him. At length deciding for the milder + alternative, he had thrown in some completing touches here and there,—especially, + as I conjecture, a proportion of Coleridgean moonshine at the end; and so + sent it forth. + </p> + <p> + It was in the sunny days, perhaps in May or June of this year, that <i>Arthur + Coningsby</i> reached my own hand, far off amid the heathy wildernesses; + sent by John Mill: and I can still recollect the pleasant little episode + it made in my solitude there. The general impression it left on me, which + has never since been renewed by a second reading in whole or in part, was + the certain prefigurement to myself, more or less distinct, of an opulent, + genial and sunny mind, but misdirected, disappointed, experienced in + misery;—nay crude and hasty; mistaking for a solid outcome from its + woes what was only to me a gilded vacuity. The hero an ardent youth, + representing Sterling himself, plunges into life such as we now have it in + these anarchic times, with the radical, utilitarian, or mutinous heathen + theory, which is the readiest for inquiring souls; finds, by various + courses of adventure, utter shipwreck in this; lies broken, very wretched: + that is the tragic nodus, or apogee of his life-course. In this mood of + mind, he clutches desperately towards some new method (recognizable as + Coleridge's) of laying hand again on the old Church, which has hitherto + been extraneous and as if non-extant to his way of thought; makes out, by + some Coleridgean legedermain, that there actually is still a Church for + him; that this extant Church, which he long took for an extinct shadow, is + not such, but a substance; upon which he can anchor himself amid the + storms of fate;—and he does so, even taking orders in it, I think. + Such could by no means seem to me the true or tenable solution. Here + clearly, struggling amid the tumults, was a lovable young fellow-soul; who + had by no means yet got to land; but of whom much might be hoped, if he + ever did. Some of the delineations are highly pictorial, flooded with a + deep ruddy effulgence; betokening much wealth, in the crude or the ripe + state. The hope of perhaps, one day, knowing Sterling, was welcome and + interesting to me. <i>Arthur Coningsby</i>, struggling imperfectly in a + sphere high above circulating-library novels, gained no notice whatever in + that quarter; gained, I suppose in a few scattered heads, some such + recognition as the above; and there rested. Sterling never mentioned the + name of it in my hearing, or would hear it mentioned. + </p> + <p> + In those very days while <i>Arthur Coningsby</i> was getting read amid the + Scottish moors, "in June, 1833," Sterling, at Bonn in the Rhine-country, + fell in with his old tutor and friend, the Reverend Julius Hare; one with + whom he always delighted to communicate, especially on such topics as then + altogether occupied him. A man of cheerful serious character, of much + approved accomplishment, of perfect courtesy; surely of much piety, in all + senses of that word. Mr. Hare had quitted his scholastic labors and + distinctions, some time ago; the call or opportunity for taking orders + having come; and as Rector of Herstmonceux in Sussex, a place + patrimonially and otherwise endeared to him, was about entering, under the + best omens, on a new course of life. He was now on his return from Rome, + and a visit of some length to Italy. Such a meeting could not but be + welcome and important to Sterling in such a mood. They had much earnest + conversation, freely communing on the highest matters; especially of + Sterling's purpose to undertake the clerical profession, in which course + his reverend friend could not but bid him good speed. + </p> + <p> + It appears, Sterling already intimated his intention to become a + clergyman: He would study theology, biblicalities, perfect himself in the + knowledge seemly or essential for his new course;—read diligently + "for a year or two in some good German University," then seek to obtain + orders: that was his plan. To which Mr. Hare gave his hearty <i>Euge</i>; + adding that if his own curacy happened then to be vacant, he should be + well pleased to have Sterling in that office. So they parted. + </p> + <p> + "A year or two" of serious reflection "in some good German University," or + anywhere in the world, might have thrown much elucidation upon these + confused strugglings and purposings of Sterling's, and probably have + spared him some confusion in his subsequent life. But the talent of + waiting was, of all others, the one he wanted most. Impetuous velocity, + all-hoping headlong alacrity, what we must call rashness and impatience, + characterized him in most of his important and unimportant procedures; + from the purpose to the execution there was usually but one big leap with + him. A few months after Mr. Hare was gone, Sterling wrote that his + purposes were a little changed by the late meeting at Bonn; that he now + longed to enter the Church straightway: that if the Herstmonceux Curacy + was still vacant, and the Rector's kind thought towards him still held, he + would instantly endeavor to qualify himself for that office. + </p> + <p> + Answer being in the affirmative on both heads, Sterling returned to + England; took orders,—"ordained deacon at Chichester on Trinity + Sunday in 1834" (he never became technically priest):—and so, having + fitted himself and family with a reasonable house, in one of those leafy + lanes in quiet Herstmonceux, on the edge of Pevensey Level, he commenced + the duties of his Curacy. + </p> + <p> + The bereaved young lady has <i>taken</i> the veil, then! Even so. "Life is + growing all so dark and brutal; must be redeemed into human, if it will + continue life. Some pious heroism, to give a human color to life again, on + any terms,"—even on impossible ones! + </p> + <p> + To such length can transcendental moonshine, cast by some morbidly + radiating Coleridge into the chaos of a fermenting life, act magically + there, and produce divulsions and convulsions and diseased developments. + So dark and abstruse, without lamp or authentic finger-post, is the course + of pious genius towards the Eternal Kingdoms grown. No fixed highway more; + the old spiritual highways and recognized paths to the Eternal, now all + torn up and flung in heaps, submerged in unutterable boiling mud-oceans of + Hypocrisy and Unbelievability, of brutal living Atheism and damnable dead + putrescent Cant: surely a tragic pilgrimage for all mortals; Darkness, and + the mere shadow of Death, enveloping all things from pole to pole; and in + the raging gulf-currents, offering us will-o'-wisps for loadstars,—intimating + that there are no stars, nor ever were, except certain Old-Jew ones which + have now gone out. Once more, a tragic pilgrimage for all mortals; and for + the young pious soul, winged with genius, and passionately seeking land, + and passionately abhorrent of floating carrion withal, more tragical than + for any!—A pilgrimage we must all undertake nevertheless, and make + the best of with our respective means. Some arrive; a glorious few: many + must be lost,—go down upon the floating wreck which they took for + land. Nay, courage! These also, so far as there was any heroism in them, + have bequeathed their life as a contribution to us, have valiantly laid + their bodies in the chasm for us: of these also there is no ray of heroism + <i>lost</i>,—and, on the whole, what else of them could or should be + "saved" at any time? Courage, and ever Forward! + </p> + <p> + Concerning this attempt of Sterling's to find sanctuary in the old Church, + and desperately grasp the hem of her garment in such manner, there will at + present be many opinions: and mine must be recorded here in flat reproval + of it, in mere pitying condemnation of it, as a rash, false, unwise and + unpermitted step. Nay, among the evil lessons of his Time to poor + Sterling, I cannot but account this the worst; properly indeed, as we may + say, the apotheosis, the solemn apology and consecration, of all the evil + lessons that were in it to him. Alas, if we did remember the divine and + awful nature of God's Truth, and had not so forgotten it as poor doomed + creatures never did before,—should we, durst we in our most + audacious moments, think of wedding <i>it</i> to the World's Untruth, + which is also, like all untruths, the Devil's? Only in the world's last + lethargy can such things be done, and accounted safe and pious! Fools! "Do + you think the Living God is a buzzard idol," sternly asks Milton, that you + dare address Him in this manner?—Such darkness, thick sluggish + clouds of cowardice and oblivious baseness, have accumulated on us: + thickening as if towards the eternal sleep! It is not now known, what + never needed proof or statement before, that Religion is not a doubt; that + it is a certainty,—or else a mockery and horror. That none or all of + the many things we are in doubt about, and need to have demonstrated and + rendered probable, can by any alchemy be made a "Religion" for us; but are + and must continue a baleful, quiet or unquiet, Hypocrisy for us; and bring—<i>salvation</i>, + do we fancy? I think, it is another thing they will bring, and are, on all + hands, visibly bringing this good while!— + </p> + <p> + The time, then, with its deliriums, has done its worst for poor Sterling. + Into deeper aberration it cannot lead him; this is the crowning error. + Happily, as beseems the superlative of errors, it was a very brief, almost + a momentary one. In June, 1834, Sterling dates as installed at + Herstmonceux; and is flinging, as usual, his whole soul into the business; + successfully so far as outward results could show: but already in + September, he begins to have misgivings; and in February following, quits + it altogether,—the rest of his life being, in great part, a + laborious effort of detail to pick the fragments of it off him, and be + free of it in soul as well as in title. + </p> + <p> + At this the extreme point of spiritual deflexion and depression, when the + world's madness, unusually impressive on such a man, has done its very + worst with him, and in all future errors whatsoever he will be a little + less mistaken, we may close the First Part of Sterling's Life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. CURATE. + </h2> + <p> + By Mr. Hare's account, no priest of any Church could more fervently + address himself to his functions than Sterling now did. He went about + among the poor, the ignorant, and those that had need of help; zealously + forwarded schools and beneficences; strove, with his whole might, to + instruct and aid whosoever suffered consciously in body, or still worse + unconsciously in mind. He had charged himself to make the Apostle Paul his + model; the perils and voyagings and ultimate martyrdom of Christian Paul, + in those old ages, on the great scale, were to be translated into detail, + and become the practical emblem of Christian Sterling on the coast of + Sussex in this new age. "It would be no longer from Jerusalem to + Damascus," writes Sterling, "to Arabia, to Derbe, Lystra, Ephesus, that he + would travel: but each house of his appointed Parish would be to him what + each of those great cities was,—a place where he would bend his + whole being, and spend his heart for the conversion, purification, + elevation of those under his influence. The whole man would be forever at + work for this purpose; head, heart, knowledge, time, body, possessions, + all would be directed to this end." A high enough model set before one:—how + to be realized!—Sterling hoped to realize it, to struggle towards + realizing it, in some small degree. This is Mr. Hare's report of him:— + </p> + <p> + "He was continually devising some fresh scheme for improving the condition + of the Parish. His aim was to awaken the minds of the people, to arouse + their conscience, to call forth their sense of moral responsibility, to + make them feel their own sinfulness, their need of redemption, and thus + lead them to a recognition of the Divine Love by which that redemption is + offered to us. In visiting them he was diligent in all weathers, to the + risk of his own health, which was greatly impaired thereby; and his + gentleness and considerate care for the sick won their affection; so that, + though his stay was very short, his name is still, after a dozen years, + cherished by many." + </p> + <p> + How beautiful would Sterling be in all this; rushing forward like a host + towards victory; playing and pulsing like sunshine or soft lightning; busy + at all hours to perform his part in abundant and superabundant measure! + "Of that which it was to me personally," continues Mr. Hare, "to have such + a fellow-laborer, to live constantly in the freest communion with such a + friend, I cannot speak. He came to me at a time of heavy affliction, just + after I had heard that the Brother, who had been the sharer of all my + thoughts and feelings from childhood, had bid farewell to his earthly life + at Rome; and thus he seemed given to me to make up in some sort for him + whom I had lost. Almost daily did I look out for his usual hour of coming + to me, and watch his tall slender form walking rapidly across the hill in + front of my window; with the assurance that he was coming to cheer and + brighten, to rouse and stir me, to call me up to some height of feeling, + or down to some depth of thought. His lively spirit, responding + instantaneously to every impulse of Nature and Art; his generous ardor in + behalf of whatever is noble and true; his scorn of all meanness, of all + false pretences and conventional beliefs, softened as it was by compassion + for the victims of those besetting sins of a cultivated age; his + never-flagging impetuosity in pushing onward to some unattained point of + duty or of knowledge: all this, along with his gentle, almost reverential + affectionateness towards his former tutor, rendered my intercourse with + him an unspeakable blessing; and time after time has it seemed to me that + his visit had been like a shower of rain, bringing down freshness and + brightness on a dusty roadside hedge. By him too the recollection of these + our daily meetings was cherished till the last." <a href="#linknote-11" + name="linknoteref-11" id="linknoteref-11"><small>11</small></a> + </p> + <p> + There are many poor people still at Herstmonceux who affectionately + remember him: Mr. Hare especially makes mention of one good man there, in + his young days "a poor cobbler," and now advanced to a much better + position, who gratefully ascribes this outward and the other improvements + in his life to Sterling's generous encouragement and charitable care for + him. Such was the curate life at Herstmonceux. So, in those actual leafy + lanes, on the edge of Pevensey Level, in this new age, did our poor New + Paul (on hest of certain oracles) diligently study to comport himself,—and + struggle with all his might <i>not</i> to be a moonshine shadow of the + First Paul. + </p> + <p> + It was in this summer of 1834,—month of May, shortly after arriving + in London,—that I first saw Sterling's Father. A stout broad + gentleman of sixty, perpendicular in attitude, rather showily dressed, and + of gracious, ingenious and slightly elaborate manners. It was at Mrs. + Austin's in Bayswater; he was just taking leave as I entered, so our + interview lasted only a moment: but the figure of the man, as Sterling's + father, had already an interest for me, and I remember the time well. + Captain Edward Sterling, as we formerly called him, had now quite dropt + the military title, nobody even of his friends now remembering it; and was + known, according to his wish, in political and other circles, as Mr. + Sterling, a private gentleman of some figure. Over whom hung, moreover, a + kind of mysterious nimbus as the principal or one of the principal writers + in the <i>Times</i>, which gave an interesting chiaroscuro to his + character in society. A potent, profitable, but somewhat questionable + position; of which, though he affected, and sometimes with anger, + altogether to disown it, and rigorously insisted on the rights of + anonymity, he was not unwilling to take the honors too: the private + pecuniary advantages were very undeniable; and his reception in the Clubs, + and occasionally in higher quarters, was a good deal modelled on the + universal belief in it. + </p> + <p> + John Sterling at Herstmonceux that afternoon, and his Father here in + London, would have offered strange contrasts to an eye that had seen them + both. Contrasts, and yet concordances. They were two very + different-looking men, and were following two very different modes of + activity that afternoon. And yet with a strange family likeness, too, both + in the men and their activities; the central impulse in each, the + faculties applied to fulfil said impulse, not at all dissimilar,—as + grew visible to me on farther knowledge. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. NOT CURATE. + </h2> + <p> + Thus it went on for some months at Herstmonceux; but thus it could not + last. We said there were already misgivings as to health, &c. in + September: <a href="#linknote-12" name="linknoteref-12" id="linknoteref-12"><small>12</small></a> + that was but the fourth month, for it had begun only in June. The like + clouds of misgiving, flights of dark vapor, chequering more and more the + bright sky of this promised land, rose heavier and rifer month after + month; till in February following, that is in the eighth month from + starting, the sky had grown quite overshaded; and poor Sterling had to + think practically of departure from his promised land again, finding that + the goal of his pilgrimage was <i>not</i> there. Not there, wherever it + may be! March again, therefore; the abiding city, and post at which we can + live and die, is still ahead of us, it would appear! + </p> + <p> + "Ill-health" was the external cause; and, to all parties concerned, to + Sterling himself I have no doubt as completely as to any, the one + determining cause. Nor was the ill-health wanting; it was there in too sad + reality. And yet properly it was not there as the burden; it was there as + the last ounce which broke the camel's back. I take it, in this as in + other cases known to me, ill-health was not the primary cause but rather + the ultimate one, the summing-up of innumerable far deeper conscious and + unconscious causes,—the cause which could boldly show itself on the + surface, and give the casting vote. Such was often Sterling's way, as one + could observe in such cases: though the most guileless, undeceptive and + transparent of men, he had a noticeable, almost childlike faculty of + self-deception, and usually substituted for the primary determining motive + and set of motives, some ultimate ostensible one, and gave that out to + himself and others as the ruling impulse for important changes in life. As + is the way with much more ponderous and deliberate men;—as is the + way, in a degree, with all men! + </p> + <p> + Enough, in February, 1835, Sterling came up to London, to consult with his + physicians,—and in fact in all ways to consider with himself and + friends,—what was to be done in regard to this Herstmonceux + business. The oracle of the physicians, like that of Delphi, was not + exceedingly determinate: but it did bear, what was a sufficiently + undeniable fact, that Sterling's constitution, with a tendency to + pulmonary ailments, was ill-suited for the office of a preacher; that + total abstinence from preaching for a year or two would clearly be the + safer course. To which effect he writes to Mr. Hare with a tone of + sorrowful agitation; gives up his clerical duties at Herstmonceux;—and + never resumed them there or elsewhere. He had been in the Church eight + months in all: a brief section of his life, but an important one, which + colored several of his subsequent years, and now strangely colors all his + years in the memory of some. + </p> + <p> + This we may account the second grand crisis of his History. Radicalism, + not long since, had come to its consummation, and vanished from him in a + tragic manner. "Not by Radicalism is the path to Human Nobleness for me!" + And here now had English Priesthood risen like a sun, over the waste ruins + and extinct volcanoes of his dead Radical world, with promise of new + blessedness and healing under its Wings; and this too has soon found + itself an illusion: "Not by Priesthood either lies the way, then. Once + more, where does the way lie!"—To follow illusions till they burst + and vanish is the lot of all new souls who, luckily or lucklessly, are + left to their own choice in starting on this Earth. The roads are many; + the authentic finger-posts are few,—never fewer than in this era, + when in so many senses the waters are out. Sterling of all men had the + quickest sense for nobleness, heroism and the human <i>summum bonum</i>; + the liveliest headlong spirit of adventure and audacity; few gifted living + men less stubbornness of perseverance. Illusions, in his chase of the <i>summum + bonum</i>, were not likely to be wanting; aberrations, and wasteful + changes of course, were likely to be many! It is in the history of such + vehement, trenchant, far-shining and yet intrinsically light and volatile + souls, missioned into this epoch to seek their way there, that we best see + what a confused epoch it is. + </p> + <p> + This clerical aberration,—for such it undoubtedly was in Sterling,—we + have ascribed to Coleridge; and do clearly think that had there been no + Coleridge, neither had this been,—nor had English Puseyism or some + other strange enough universal portents been. Nevertheless, let us say + farther that it lay partly in the general bearing of the world for such a + man. This battle, universal in our sad epoch of "all old things passing + away" against "all things becoming new," has its summary and animating + heart in that of Radicalism against Church; there, as in its flaming core, + and point of focal splendor, does the heroic worth that lies in each side + of the quarrel most clearly disclose itself; and Sterling was the man, + above many, to recognize such worth on both sides. Natural enough, in such + a one, that the light of Radicalism having gone out in darkness for him, + the opposite splendor should next rise as the chief, and invite his + loyalty till it also failed. In one form or the other, such an aberration + was not unlikely for him. But an aberration, especially in this form, we + may certainly call it. No man of Sterling's veracity, had he clearly + consulted his own heart, or had his own heart been capable of clearly + responding, and not been dazzled and bewildered by transient fantasies and + theosophic moonshine, could have undertaken this function. His heart would + have answered: "No, thou canst not. What is incredible to thee, thou shalt + not, at thy soul's peril, attempt to believe!—Elsewhither for a + refuge, or die here. Go to Perdition if thou must,—but not with a + lie in thy mouth; by the Eternal Maker, no!" + </p> + <p> + Alas, once more! How are poor mortals whirled hither and thither in the + tumultuous chaos of our era; and, under the thick smoke-canopy which has + eclipsed all stars, how do they fly now after this poor meteor, now after + that!—Sterling abandoned his clerical office in February, 1835; + having held it, and ardently followed it, so long as we say,—eight + calendar months in all. + </p> + <p> + It was on this his February expedition to London that I first saw + Sterling,—at the India House incidentally, one afternoon, where I + found him in company with John Mill, whom I happened like himself to be + visiting for a few minutes. The sight of one whose fine qualities I had + often heard of lately, was interesting enough; and, on the whole, proved + not disappointing, though it was the translation of dream into fact, that + is of poetry into prose, and showed its unrhymed side withal. A loose, + careless-looking, thin figure, in careless dim costume, sat, in a lounging + posture, carelessly and copiously talking. I was struck with the kindly + but restless swift-glancing eyes, which looked as if the spirits were all + out coursing like a pack of merry eager beagles, beating every bush. The + brow, rather sloping in form, was not of imposing character, though again + the head was longish, which is always the best sign of intellect; the + physiognomy in general indicated animation rather than strength. + </p> + <p> + We talked rapidly of various unmemorable things: I remember coming on the + Negroes, and noticing that Sterling's notion on the Slavery Question had + not advanced into the stage of mine. In reference to the question whether + an "engagement for life," on just terms, between parties who are fixed in + the character of master and servant, as the Whites and the Negroes are, is + not really better than one from day to day,—he said with a kindly + jeer, "I would have the Negroes themselves consulted as to that!"—and + would not in the least believe that the Negroes were by no means final or + perfect judges of it.—His address, I perceived, was abrupt, + unceremonious; probably not at all disinclined to logic, and capable of + dashing in upon you like a charge of Cossacks, on occasion: but it was + also eminently ingenious, social, guileless. We did all very well + together: and Sterling and I walked westward in company, choosing whatever + lanes or quietest streets there were, as far as Knightsbridge where our + roads parted; talking on moralities, theological philosophies; arguing + copiously, but <i>except</i> in opinion not disagreeing + </p> + <p> + In his notions on such subjects, the expected Coleridge cast of thought + was very visible; and he seemed to express it even with exaggeration, and + in a fearless dogmatic manner. Identity of sentiment, difference of + opinion: these are the known elements of a pleasant dialogue. We parted + with the mutual wish to meet again;—which accordingly, at his + Father's house and at mine, we soon repeatedly did; and already, in the + few days before his return to Herstmonceux, had laid the foundations of a + frank intercourse, pointing towards pleasant intimacies both with himself + and with his circle, which in the future were abundantly fulfilled. His + Mother, essentially and even professedly "Scotch," took to my Wife + gradually with a most kind maternal relation; his Father, a gallant showy + stirring gentleman, the Magus of the <i>Times</i>, had talk and argument + ever ready, was an interesting figure, and more and more took interest in + us. We had unconsciously made an acquisition, which grew richer and + wholesomer with every new year; and ranks now, seen in the pale moonlight + of memory, and must ever rank, among the precious possessions of life. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's bright ingenuity, and also his audacity, velocity and alacrity, + struck me more and more. It was, I think, on the occasion of a party given + one of these evenings at his Father's, where I remember John Mill, John + Crawford, Mrs. Crawford, and a number of young and elderly figures of + distinction,—that a group having formed on the younger side of the + room, and transcendentalisms and theologies forming the topic, a number of + deep things were said in abrupt conversational style, Sterling in the + thick of it. For example, one sceptical figure praised the Church of + England, in Hume's phrase, "as a Church tending to keep down fanaticism," + and recommendable for its very indifferency; whereupon a transcendental + figure urges him: "You are afraid of the horse's kicking: but will you + sacrifice all qualities to being safe from that? Then get a dead horse. + None comparable to that for not kicking in your stable!" Upon which, a + laugh; with new laughs on other the like occasions;—and at last, in + the fire of some discussion, Sterling, who was unusually eloquent and + animated, broke out with this wild phrase, "I could plunge into the bottom + of Hell, if I were sure of finding the Devil there and getting him + strangled!" Which produced the loudest laugh of all; and had to be + repeated, on Mrs. Crawford's inquiry, to the house at large; and, creating + among the elders a kind of silent shudder,—though we urged that the + feat would really be a good investment of human industry,—checked or + stopt these theologic thunders for the evening. I still remember Sterling + as in one of his most animated moods that evening. He probably returned to + Herstmonceux next day, where he proposed yet to reside for some indefinite + time. + </p> + <p> + Arrived at Herstmonceux, he had not forgotten us. One of his Letters + written there soon after was the following, which much entertained me, in + various ways. It turns on a poor Book of mine, called <i>Sartor Resartus</i>; + which was not then even a Book, but was still hanging desolately under + bibliopolic difficulties, now in its fourth or fifth year, on the wrong + side of the river, as a mere aggregate of Magazine Articles; having at + last been slit into that form, and lately completed <i>so</i>, and put + together into legibility. I suppose Sterling had borrowed it of me. The + adventurous hunter spirit which had started such a bemired <i>Auerochs</i>, + or Urus of the German woods, and decided on chasing that as game, struck + me not a little;—and the poor Wood-Ox, so bemired in the forests, + took it as a compliment rather:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "HERSTMONCEUX near BATTLE, 29th May, 1835. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CARLYLE,—I have now read twice, with care, the wondrous + account of Teufelsdrockh and his Opinions; and I need not say that it has + given me much to think of. It falls in with the feelings and tastes which + were, for years, the ruling ones of my life; but which you will not be + angry with me when I say that I am infinitely and hourly thankful for + having escaped from. Not that I think of this state of mind as one with + which I have no longer any concern. The sense of a oneness of life and + power in all existence; and of a boundless exuberance of beauty around us, + to which most men are well-nigh dead, is a possession which no one that + has ever enjoyed it would wish to lose. When to this we add the deep + feeling of the difference between the actual and the ideal in Nature, and + still more in Man; and bring in, to explain this, the principle of duty, + as that which connects us with a possible Higher State, and sets us in + progress towards it,—we have a cycle of thoughts which was the whole + spiritual empire of the wisest Pagans, and which might well supply food + for the wide speculations and richly creative fancy of Teufelsdrockh, or + his prototype Jean Paul. + </p> + <p> + "How then comes it, we cannot but ask, that these ideas, displayed + assuredly with no want of eloquence, vivacity or earnestness, have found, + unless I am much mistaken, so little acceptance among the best and most + energetic minds in this country? In a country where millions read the + Bible, and thousands Shakspeare; where Wordsworth circulates through + book-clubs and drawing-rooms; where there are innumerable admirers of your + favorite Burns; and where Coleridge, by sending from his solitude the + voice of earnest spiritual instruction, came to be beloved, studied and + mourned for, by no small or careless school of disciples?—To answer + this question would, of course, require more thought and knowledge than I + can pretend to bring to it. But there are some points on which I will + venture to say a few words. + </p> + <p> + "In the first place, as to the form of composition,—which may be + called, I think, the Rhapsodico-Reflective. In this the <i>Sartor Resartus</i> + resembles some of the master-works of human invention, which have been + acknowledged as such by many generations; and especially the works of + Rabelais, Montaigne, Sterne and Swift. There is nothing I know of in + Antiquity like it. That which comes nearest is perhaps the Platonic + Dialogue. But of this, although there is something of the playful and + fanciful on the surface, there is in reality neither in the language + (which is austerely determined to its end), nor in the method and + progression of the work, any of that headlong self-asserting + capriciousness, which, if not discernible in the plan of Teufelsdrockh's + Memoirs, is yet plainly to be seen in the structure of the sentences, the + lawless oddity, and strange heterogeneous combination and allusion. The + principle of this difference, observable often elsewhere in modern + literature (for the same thing is to be found, more or less, in many of + our most genial works of imagination,—<i>Don Quixote</i>, for + instance, and the writings of Jeremy Taylor), seems to be that well-known + one of the predominant objectivity of the Pagan mind; while among us the + subjective has risen into superiority, and brought with it in each + individual a multitude of peculiar associations and relations. These, as + not explicable from any one <i>external</i> principle assumed as a premise + by the ancient philosopher, were rejected from the sphere of his aesthetic + creation: but to us they all have a value and meaning; being connected by + the bond of our own personality and all alike existing in that infinity + which is its arena. + </p> + <p> + "But however this may be, and comparing the Teufelsdrockhean Epopee only + with those other modern works,—it is noticeable that Rabelais, + Montaigne and Sterne have trusted for the currency of their writings, in a + great degree, to the use of obscene and sensual stimulants. Rabelais, + besides, was full of contemporary and personal satire; and seems to have + been a champion in the great cause of his time,—as was Montaigne + also,—that of the right of thought in all competent minds, + unrestrained by any outward authority. Montaigne, moreover, contains more + pleasant and lively gossip, and more distinct good-humored painting of his + own character and daily habits, than any other writer I know. Sterne is + never obscure, and never moral; and the costume of his subjects is drawn + from the familiar experience of his own time and country: and Swift, + again, has the same merit of the clearest perspicuity, joined to that of + the most homely, unaffected, forcible English. These points of difference + seem to me the chief ones which bear against the success of the <i>Sartor</i>. + On the other hand, there is in Teufelsdrockh a depth and fervor of + feeling, and a power of serious eloquence, far beyond that of any of these + four writers; and to which indeed there is nothing at all comparable in + any of them, except perhaps now and then, and very imperfectly, in + Montaigne. + </p> + <p> + "Of the other points of comparison there are two which I would chiefly + dwell on: and first as to the language. A good deal of this is positively + barbarous. 'Environment,' 'vestural,' 'stertorous,' 'visualized,' + 'complected,' and others to be found I think in the first twenty pages,—are + words, so far as I know, without any authority; some of them contrary to + analogy: and none repaying by their value the disadvantage of novelty. To + these must be added new and erroneous locutions; 'whole other tissues' for + <i>all the other</i>, and similar uses of the word <i>whole</i>; 'orients' + for <i>pearls</i>; 'lucid' and 'lucent' employed as if they were different + in meaning; 'hulls' perpetually for <i>coverings</i>, it being a word + hardly used, and then only for the husk of a nut; 'to insure a man of + misapprehension;' 'talented,' a mere newspaper and hustings word, + invented, I believe, by O'Connell. + </p> + <p> + "I must also mention the constant recurrence of some words in a quaint and + queer connection, which gives a grotesque and somewhat repulsive mannerism + to many sentences. Of these the commonest offender is 'quite;' which + appears in almost every page, and gives at first a droll kind of emphasis; + but soon becomes wearisome. 'Nay,' 'manifold,' 'cunning enough + significance,' 'faculty' (meaning a man's rational or moral <i>power</i>), + 'special,' 'not without,' haunt the reader as if in some uneasy dream + which does not rise to the dignity of nightmare. Some of these strange + mannerisms fall under the general head of a singularity peculiar, so far + as I know, to Teufelsdrockh. For instance, that of the incessant use of a + sort of odd superfluous qualification of his assertions; which seems to + give the character of deliberateness and caution to the style, but in time + sounds like mere trick or involuntary habit. 'Almost' does more than + yeoman's, <i>almost</i> slave's service in this way. Something similar may + be remarked of the use of the double negative by way of affirmation. + </p> + <p> + "Under this head, of language, may be mentioned, though not with strict + grammatical accuracy, two standing characteristics of the Professor's + style,—at least as rendered into English: <i>First</i>, the + composition of words, such as 'snow-and-rosebloom maiden:' an attractive + damsel doubtless in Germany, but, with all her charms, somewhat uncouth + here. 'Life-vision' is another example; and many more might be found. To + say nothing of the innumerable cases in which the words are only + intelligible as a compound term, though not distinguished by hyphens. Of + course the composition of words is sometimes allowable even in English: + but the habit of dealing with German seems to have produced, in the pages + before us, a prodigious superabundance of this form of expression; which + gives harshness and strangeness, where the matter would at all events have + been surprising enough. <i>Secondly</i>, I object, with the same + qualification, to the frequent use of <i>inversion</i>; which generally + appears as a transposition of the two members of a clause, in a way which + would not have been practiced in conversation. It certainly gives emphasis + and force, and often serves to point the meaning. But a style may be + fatiguing and faulty precisely by being too emphatic, forcible and + pointed; and so straining the attention to find its meaning, or the + admiration to appreciate its beauty. + </p> + <p> + "Another class of considerations connects itself with the heightened and + plethoric fulness of the style: its accumulation and contrast of imagery; + its occasional jerking and almost spasmodic violence;—and above all, + the painful subjective excitement, which seems the element and groundwork + even of every description of Nature; often taking the shape of sarcasm or + broad jest, but never subsiding into calm. There is also a point which I + should think worth attending to, were I planning any similar book: I mean + the importance, in a work of imagination, of not too much disturbing in + the reader's mind the balance of the New and Old. The former addresses + itself to his active, the latter to his passive faculty; and these are + mutually dependent, and must coexist in certain proportion, if you wish to + combine his sympathy and progressive exertion with willingness and ease of + attention. This should be taken into account in forming a style; for of + course it cannot be consciously thought of in composing each sentence. + </p> + <p> + "But chiefly it seems important in determining the plan of a work. If the + tone of feeling, the line of speculation are out of the common way, and + sure to present some difficulty to the average reader, then it would + probably be desirable to select, for the circumstances, drapery and + accessories of all kinds, those most familiar, or at least most + attractive. A fable of the homeliest purport, and commonest every-day + application, derives an interest and charm from its turning on the + characters and acts of gods and genii, lions and foxes, Arabs and + Affghauns. On the contrary, for philosophic inquiry and truths of awful + preciousness, I would select as my personages and interlocutors beings + with whose language and 'whereabouts' my readers would be familiar. Thus + did Plato in his Dialogues, Christ in his Parables. Therefore it seems + doubtful whether it was judicious to make a German Professor the hero of + <i>Sartor</i>. Berkeley began his <i>Siris</i> with tar-water; but what + can English readers be expected to make of <i>Gukguk</i> by way of + prelibation to your nectar and tokay? The circumstances and details do not + flash with living reality on the minds of your readers, but, on the + contrary, themselves require some of that attention and minute + speculation, the whole original stock of which, in the minds of most of + them, would not be too much to enable them to follow your views of Man and + Nature. In short, there is not a sufficient basis of the common to justify + the amount of peculiarity in the work. In a book of science, these + considerations would of course be inapplicable; but then the whole shape + and coloring of the book must be altered to make it such; and a man who + wishes merely to get at the philosophical result, or summary of the whole, + will regard the details and illustrations as so much unprofitable + surplusage. + </p> + <p> + "The sense of strangeness is also awakened by the marvellous combinations, + in which the work abounds to a degree that the common reader must find + perfectly bewildering. This can hardly, however, be treated as a + consequence of the <i>style</i>; for the style in this respect coheres + with, and springs from, the whole turn and tendency of thought. The + noblest images are objects of a humorous smile, in a mind which sees + itself above all Nature and throned in the arms of an Almighty Necessity; + while the meanest have a dignity, inasmuch as they are trivial symbols of + the same one life to which the great whole belongs. And hence, as I + divine, the startling whirl of incongruous juxtaposition, which of a truth + must to many readers seem as amazing as if the Pythia on the tripod should + have struck up a drinking-song, or Thersites had caught the prophetic + strain of Cassandra. + </p> + <p> + "All this, of course, appears to me true and relevant; but I cannot help + feeling that it is, after all, but a poor piece of quackery to comment on + a multitude of phenomena without adverting to the principle which lies at + the root, and gives the true meaning to them all. Now this principle I + seem to myself to find in the state of mind which is attributed to + Teufelsdrockh; in his state of mind, I say, not in his opinions, though + these are, in him as in all men, most important,—being one of the + best indices to his state of mind. Now what distinguishes him, not merely + from the greatest and best men who have been on earth for eighteen hundred + years, but from the whole body of those who have been working forwards + towards the good, and have been the salt and light of the world, is this: + That he does not believe in a God. Do not be indignant, I am blaming no + one;—but if I write my thoughts, I must write them honestly. + </p> + <p> + "Teufelsdrockh does not belong to the herd of sensual and thoughtless men; + because he does perceive in all Existence a unity of power; because he + does believe that this is a real power external to him and dominant to a + certain extent over him, and does not think that he is himself a shadow in + a world of shadows. He had a deep feeling of the beautiful, the good and + the true; and a faith in their final victory. + </p> + <p> + "At the same time, how evident is the strong inward unrest, the Titanic + heaving of mountain on mountain; the storm-like rushing over land and sea + in search of peace. He writhes and roars under his consciousness of the + difference in himself between the possible and the actual, the hoped-for + and the existent. He feels that duty is the highest law of his own being; + and knowing how it bids the waves be stilled into an icy fixedness and + grandeur, he trusts (but with a boundless inward misgiving) that there is + a principle of order which will reduce all confusion to shape and + clearness. But wanting peace himself, his fierce dissatisfaction fixes on + all that is weak, corrupt and imperfect around him; and instead of a calm + and steady co-operation with all those who are endeavoring to apply the + highest ideas as remedies for the worst evils, he holds himself aloof in + savage isolation; and cherishes (though he dare not own) a stern joy at + the prospect of that Catastrophe which is to turn loose again the elements + of man's social life, and give for a time the victory to evil;—in + hopes that each new convulsion of the world must bring us nearer to the + ultimate restoration of all things; fancying that each may be the last. + Wanting the calm and cheerful reliance, which would be the spring of + active exertion, he flatters his own distemper by persuading himself that + his own age and generation are peculiarly feeble and decayed; and would + even perhaps be willing to exchange the restless immaturity of our + self-consciousness, and the promise of its long throe-pangs, for the + unawakened undoubting simplicity of the world's childhood; of the times in + which there was all the evil and horror of our day, only with the + difference that conscience had not arisen to try and condemn it. In these + longings, if they are Teufelsdrockh's, he seems to forget that, could we + go back five thousand years, we should only have the prospect of + travelling them again, and arriving at last at the same point at which we + stand now. + </p> + <p> + "Something of this state of mind I may say that I understand; for I have + myself experienced it. And the root of the matter appears to me: A want of + sympathy with the great body of those who are now endeavoring to guide and + help onward their fellow-men. And in what is this alienation grounded? It + is, as I believe, simply in the difference on that point: viz. the clear, + deep, habitual recognition of a one Living <i>Personal</i> God, + essentially good, wise, true and holy, the Author of all that exists; and + a reunion with whom is the only end of all rational beings. This belief... + [<i>There follow now several pages on "Personal God," and other abstruse + or indeed properly unspeakable matters; these, and a general Postscript of + qualifying purport, I will suppress; extracting only the following + fractions, as luminous or slightly significant to us:</i>] + </p> + <p> + "Now see the difference of Teufelsdrockh's feelings. At the end of book + iii. chap. 8, I find these words: 'But whence? O Heaven, whither? Sense + knows not; Faith knows not; only that it is through mystery to mystery, + from God to God. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'We <i>are such stuff</i> + As dreams are made of, and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep.' +</pre> + <p> + And this tallies with the whole strain of his character. What we find + everywhere, with an abundant use of the name of God, is the conception of + a formless Infinite whether in time or space; of a high inscrutable + Necessity, which it is the chief wisdom and virtue to submit to, which is + the mysterious impersonal base of all Existence,—shows itself in the + laws of every separate being's nature; and for man in the shape of duty. + On the other hand, I affirm, we do know whence we come and whither we go!— + </p> + <p> + ... "And in this state of mind, as there is no true sympathy with others, + just as little is there any true peace for ourselves. There is indeed + possible the unsympathizing factitious calm of Art, which we find in + Goethe. But at what expense is it bought? Simply, by abandoning altogether + the idea of duty, which is the great witness of our personality. And he + attains his inhuman ghastly calmness by reducing the Universe to a heap of + material for the idea of beauty to work on!— + </p> + <p> + ... "The sum of all I have been writing as to the connection of our faith + in God with our feeling towards men and our mode of action, may of course + be quite erroneous: but granting its truth, it would supply the one + principle which I have been seeking for, in order to explain the + peculiarities of style in your account of Teufelsdrockh and his + writings.... The life and works of Luther are the best comment I know of + on this doctrine of mine. + </p> + <p> + "Reading over what I have written, I find I have not nearly done justice + to my own sense of the genius and moral energy of the book; but this is + what you will best excuse.—Believe me most sincerely and faithfully + yours, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Here are sufficient points of "discrepancy with agreement," here is + material for talk and argument enough; and an expanse of free discussion + open, which requires rather to be speedily restricted for convenience' + sake, than allowed to widen itself into the boundless, as it tends to do!— + </p> + <p> + In all Sterling's Letters to myself and others, a large collection of + which now lies before me, duly copied and indexed, there is, to one that + knew his speech as well, a perhaps unusual likeness between the speech and + the Letters; and yet, for most part, with a great inferiority on the part + of these. These, thrown off, one and all of them, without premeditation, + and with most rapid-flowing pen, are naturally as like his speech as + writing can well be; this is their grand merit to us: but on the other + hand, the want of the living tones, swift looks and motions, and manifold + dramatic accompaniments, tells heavily, more heavily than common. What can + be done with champagne itself, much more with soda-water, when the gaseous + spirit is fled! The reader, in any specimens he may see, must bear this in + mind. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile these Letters do excel in honesty, in candor and transparency; + their very carelessness secures their excellence in this respect. And in + another much deeper and more essential respect I must likewise call them + excellent,—in their childlike goodness, in the purity of heart, the + noble affection and fidelity they everywhere manifest in the writer. This + often touchingly strikes a familiar friend in reading them; and will + awaken reminiscences (when you have the commentary in your own memory) + which are sad and beautiful, and not without reproach to you on occasion. + To all friends, and all good causes, this man is true; behind their back + as before their face, the same man!—Such traits of the + autobiographic sort, from these Letters, as can serve to paint him or his + life, and promise not to weary the reader, I must endeavor to select, in + the sequel. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. BAYSWATER + </h2> + <p> + Sterling continued to reside at Herstmonceux through the spring and + summer; holding by the peaceable retired house he still had there, till + the vague future might more definitely shape itself, and better point out + what place of abode would suit him in his new circumstances. He made + frequent brief visits to London; in which I, among other friends, + frequently saw him, our acquaintance at each visit improving in all ways. + Like a swift dashing meteor he came into our circle; coruscated among us, + for a day or two, with sudden pleasant illumination; then again suddenly + withdrew,—we hoped, not for long. + </p> + <p> + I suppose, he was full of uncertainties; but undoubtedly was gravitating + towards London. Yet, on the whole, on the surface of him, you saw no + uncertainties; far from that: it seemed always rather with peremptory + resolutions, and swift express businesses, that he was charged. Sickly in + body, the testimony said: but here always was a mind that gave you the + impression of peremptory alertness, cheery swift decision,—of a <i>health</i> + which you might have called exuberant. I remember dialogues with him, of + that year; one pleasant dialogue under the trees of the Park (where now, + in 1851, is the thing called "Crystal Palace"), with the June sunset + flinging long shadows for us; the last of the Quality just vanishing for + dinner, and the great night beginning to prophesy of itself. Our talk + (like that of the foregoing Letter) was of the faults of my style, of my + way of thinking, of my &c. &c.; all which admonitions and + remonstrances, so friendly and innocent, from this young junior-senior, I + was willing to listen to, though unable, as usual, to get almost any + practical hold of them. As usual, the garments do not fit you, you are + lost in the garments, or you cannot get into them at all; this is not your + suit of clothes, it must be another's:—alas, these are not your + dimensions, these are only the optical angles you subtend; on the whole, + you will never get measured in that way!— + </p> + <p> + Another time, of date probably very contiguous, I remember hearing + Sterling preach. It was in some new college-chapel in Somerset-house (I + suppose, what is now called King's College); a very quiet small place, the + audience student-looking youths, with a few elder people, perhaps mostly + friends of the preacher's. The discourse, delivered with a grave sonorous + composure, and far surpassing in talent the usual run of sermons, had + withal an air of human veracity as I still recollect, and bespoke dignity + and piety of mind: but gave me the impression rather of artistic + excellence than of unction or inspiration in that kind. Sterling returned + with us to Chelsea that day;—and in the afternoon we went on the + Thames Putney-ward together, we two with my Wife; under the sunny skies, + on the quiet water, and with copious cheery talk, the remembrance of which + is still present enough to me. + </p> + <p> + This was properly my only specimen of Sterling's preaching. Another time, + late in the same autumn, I did indeed attend him one evening to some + Church in the City,—a big Church behind Cheapside, "built by Wren" + as he carefully informed me;—but there, in my wearied mood, the + chief subject of reflection was the almost total vacancy of the place, and + how an eloquent soul was preaching to mere lamps and prayer-books; and of + the sermon I retain no image. It came up in the way of banter, if he ever + urged the duty of "Church extension," which already he very seldom did and + at length never, what a specimen we once had of bright lamps, gilt + prayer-books, baize-lined pews, Wren-built architecture; and how, in + almost all directions, you might have fired a musket through the church, + and hit no Christian life. A terrible outlook indeed for the Apostolic + laborer in the brick-and-mortar line!— + </p> + <p> + In the Autumn of this same 1835, he removed permanently to London, whither + all summer he had been evidently tending; took a house in Bayswater, an + airy suburb, half town, half country, near his Father's, and within fair + distance of his other friends and objects; and decided to await there what + the ultimate developments of his course might be. His house was in Orme + Square, close by the corner of that little place (which has only <i>three</i> + sides of houses); its windows looking to the east: the Number was, and I + believe still is, No. 5. A sufficiently commodious, by no means sumptuous, + small mansion; where, with the means sure to him, he could calculate on + finding adequate shelter for his family, his books and himself, and live + in a decent manner, in no terror of debt, for one thing. His income, I + suppose, was not large; but he lived generally a safe distance within it; + and showed himself always as a man bountiful in money matters, and taking + no thought that way. + </p> + <p> + His study-room in this house was perhaps mainly the drawing-room; looking + out safe, over the little dingy grassplot in front, and the quiet little + row of houses opposite, with the huge dust-whirl of Oxford Street and + London far enough ahead of you as background,—as back-curtain, + blotting out only <i>half</i> your blue hemisphere with dust and smoke. On + the right, you had the continuous growl of the Uxbridge Road and its + wheels, coming as lullaby not interruption. Leftward and rearward, after + some thin belt of houses, lay mere country; bright sweeping green + expanses, crowned by pleasant Hampstead, pleasant Harrow, with their + rustic steeples rising against the sky. Here on winter evenings, the + bustle of removal being all well ended, and family and books got planted + in their new places, friends could find Sterling, as they often did, who + was delighted to be found by them, and would give and take, vividly as few + others, an hour's good talk at any time. + </p> + <p> + His outlooks, it must be admitted, were sufficiently vague and + overshadowed; neither the past nor the future of a too joyful kind. Public + life, in any professional form, is quite forbidden; to work with his + fellows anywhere appears to be forbidden: nor can the humblest solitary + endeavor to work worthily as yet find an arena. How unfold one's little + bit of talent; and live, and not lie sleeping, while it is called To-day? + As Radical, as Reforming Politician in any public or private form,—not + only has this, in Sterling's case, received tragical sentence and + execution; but the opposite extreme, the Church whither he had fled, + likewise proves abortive: the Church also is not the haven for him at all. + What is to be done? Something must be done, and soon,—under + penalties. Whoever has received, on him there is an inexorable behest to + give. "<i>Fais ton fait</i>, Do thy little stroke of work:" this is + Nature's voice, and the sum of all the commandments, to each man! + </p> + <p> + A shepherd of the people, some small Agamemnon after his sort, doing what + little sovereignty and guidance he can in his day and generation: such + every gifted soul longs, and should long, to be. But how, in any measure, + is the small kingdom necessary for Sterling to be attained? Not through + newspapers and parliaments, not by rubrics and reading-desks: none of the + sceptres offered in the world's market-place, nor none of the crosiers + there, it seems, can be the shepherd's-crook for this man. A most + cheerful, hoping man; and full of swift faculty, though much lamed,—considerably + bewildered too; and tending rather towards the wastes and solitary places + for a home; the paved world not being friendly to him hitherto! The paved + world, in fact, both on its practical and spiritual side, slams to its + doors against him; indicates that he cannot enter, and even must not,—that + it will prove a choke-vault, deadly to soul and to body, if he enter. + Sceptre, crosier, sheep-crook is none there for him. + </p> + <p> + There remains one other implement, the resource of all Adam's posterity + that are otherwise foiled,—the Pen. It was evident from this point + that Sterling, however otherwise beaten about, and set fluctuating, would + gravitate steadily with all his real weight towards Literature. That he + would gradually try with consciousness to get into Literature; and, on the + whole, never quit Literature, which was now all the world for him. Such is + accordingly the sum of his history henceforth: such small sum, so terribly + obstructed and diminished by circumstances, is all we have realized from + him. + </p> + <p> + Sterling had by no means as yet consciously quitted the clerical + profession, far less the Church as a creed. We have seen, he occasionally + officiated still in these months, when a friend requested or an + opportunity invited. Nay it turned out afterwards, he had, unknown even to + his own family, during a good many weeks in the coldest period of next + spring, when it was really dangerous for his health and did prove hurtful + to it,—been constantly performing the morning service in some Chapel + in Bayswater for a young clerical neighbor, a slight acquaintance of his, + who was sickly at the time. So far as I know, this of the Bayswater Chapel + in the spring of 1836, a feat severely rebuked by his Doctor withal, was + his last actual service as a churchman. But the conscious life + ecclesiastical still hung visibly about his inner unconscious and real + life, for years to come; and not till by slow degrees he had unwinded from + him the wrappages of it, could he become clear about himself, and so much + as try heartily what his now sole course was. Alas, and he had to live all + the rest of his days, as in continual flight for his very existence; + "ducking under like a poor unfledged partridge-bird," as one described it, + "before the mower; darting continually from nook to nook, and there + crouching, to escape the scythe of Death." For Literature Proper there was + but little left in such a life. Only the smallest broken fractions of his + last and heaviest-laden years can poor Sterling be said to have completely + lived. His purpose had risen before him slowly in noble clearness; clear + at last,—and even then the inevitable hour was at hand. + </p> + <p> + In those first London months, as always afterwards while it remained + physically possible, I saw much of him; loved him, as was natural, more + and more; found in him, many ways, a beautiful acquisition to my existence + here. He was full of bright speech and argument; radiant with arrowy + vitalities, vivacities and ingenuities. Less than any man he gave you the + idea of ill-health. Hopeful, sanguine; nay he did not even seem to need + definite hope, or much to form any; projecting himself in aerial pulses + like an aurora borealis, like a summer dawn, and filling all the world + with present brightness for himself and others. Ill-health? Nay you found + at last, it was the very excess of <i>life</i> in him that brought on + disease. This restless play of being, fit to conquer the world, could it + have been held and guided, could not be held. It had worn <i>holes</i> in + the outer case of it, and there found vent for itself,—there, since + not otherwise. + </p> + <p> + In our many promenades and colloquies, which were of the freest, most + copious and pleasant nature, religion often formed a topic, and perhaps + towards the beginning of our intercourse was the prevailing topic. + Sterling seemed much engrossed in matters theological, and led the + conversation towards such; talked often about Church, Christianity + Anglican and other, how essential the belief in it to man; then, on the + other side, about Pantheism and such like;—all in the Coleridge + dialect, and with eloquence and volubility to all lengths. I remember his + insisting often and with emphasis on what he called a "personal God," and + other high topics, of which it was not always pleasant to give account in + the argumentative form, in a loud hurried voice, walking and arguing + through the fields or streets. Though of warm quick feelings, very + positive in his opinions, and vehemently eager to convince and conquer in + such discussions, I seldom or never saw the least anger in him against me + or any friend. When the blows of contradiction came too thick, he could + with consummate dexterity whisk aside out of their way; prick into his + adversary on some new quarter; or gracefully flourishing his weapon, end + the duel in some handsome manner. One angry glance I remember in him, and + it was but a glance, and gone in a moment. "Flat Pantheism!" urged he once + (which he would often enough do about this time), as if triumphantly, of + something or other, in the fire of a debate, in my hearing: "It is mere + Pantheism, that!"—"And suppose it were Pot-theism?" cried the other: + "If the thing is true!"—Sterling did look hurt at such flippant + heterodoxy, for a moment. The soul of his own creed, in those days, was + far other than this indifference to Pot or Pan in such departments of + inquiry. + </p> + <p> + To me his sentiments for most part were lovable and admirable, though in + the logical outcome there was everywhere room for opposition. I admired + the temper, the longing towards antique heroism, in this young man of the + nineteenth century; but saw not how, except in some German-English empire + of the air, he was ever to realize it on those terms. In fact, it became + clear to me more and more that here was nobleness of heart striving + towards all nobleness; here was ardent recognition of the worth of + Christianity, for one thing; but no belief in it at all, in my sense of + the word belief,—no belief but one definable as mere theoretic + moonshine, which would never stand the wind and weather of fact. Nay it + struck me farther that Sterling's was not intrinsically, nor had ever been + in the highest or chief degree, a devotional mind. Of course all + excellence in man, and worship as the supreme excellence, was part of the + inheritance of this gifted man: but if called to define him, I should say, + Artist not Saint was the real bent of his being. He had endless + admiration, but intrinsically rather a deficiency of reverence in + comparison. Fear, with its corollaries, on the religious side, he appeared + to have none, nor ever to have had any. + </p> + <p> + In short, it was a strange enough symptom to me of the bewildered + condition of the world, to behold a man of this temper, and of this + veracity and nobleness, self-consecrated here, by free volition and + deliberate selection, to be a Christian Priest; and zealously struggling + to fancy himself such in very truth. Undoubtedly a singular present fact;—from + which, as from their point of intersection, great perplexities and + aberrations in the past, and considerable confusions in the future might + be seen ominously radiating. Happily our friend, as I said, needed little + hope. To-day with its activities was always bright and rich to him. His + unmanageable, dislocated, devastated world, spiritual or economical, lay + all illuminated in living sunshine, making it almost beautiful to his + eyes, and gave him no hypochondria. A richer soul, in the way of natural + outfit for felicity, for joyful activity in this world, so far as his + strength would go, was nowhere to be met with. + </p> + <p> + The Letters which Mr. Hare has printed, Letters addressed, I imagine, + mostly to himself, in this and the following year or two, give record of + abundant changeful plannings and laborings, on the part of Sterling; still + chiefly in the theological department. Translation from Tholuck, from + Schleiermacher; treatise on this thing, then on that, are on the anvil: it + is a life of abstruse vague speculations, singularly cheerful and hopeful + withal, about Will, Morals, Jonathan Edwards, Jewhood, Manhood, and of + Books to be written on these topics. Part of which adventurous vague + plans, as the Translation from Tholuck, he actually performed; other + greater part, merging always into wider undertakings, remained plan + merely. I remember he talked often about Tholuck, Schleiermacher, and + others of that stamp; and looked disappointed, though full of good nature, + at my obstinate indifference to them and their affairs. + </p> + <p> + His knowledge of German Literature, very slight at this time, limited + itself altogether to writers on Church matters,—Evidences, + Counter-Evidences, Theologies and Rumors of Theologies; by the Tholucks, + Schleiermachers, Neanders, and I know not whom. Of the true sovereign + souls of that Literature, the Goethes, Richters, Schillers, Lessings, he + had as good as no knowledge; and of Goethe in particular an obstinate + misconception, with proper abhorrence appended,—which did not abate + for several years, nor quite abolish itself till a very late period. Till, + in a word, he got Goethe's works fairly read and studied for himself! This + was often enough the course with Sterling in such cases. He had a most + swift glance of recognition for the worthy and for the unworthy; and was + prone, in his ardent decisive way, to put much faith in it. "Such a one is + a worthless idol; not excellent, only sham-excellent:" here, on this + negative side especially, you often had to admire how right he was;—often, + but not quite always. And he would maintain, with endless ingenuity, + confidence and persistence, his fallacious spectrum to be a real image. + However, it was sure to come all right in the end. Whatever real + excellence he might misknow, you had but to let it stand before him, + soliciting new examination from him: none surer than he to recognize it at + last, and to pay it all his dues, with the arrears and interest on them. + Goethe, who figures as some absurd high-stalking hollow play-actor, or + empty ornamental clock-case of an "Artist" so-called, in the Tale of the + <i>Onyx Ring</i>, was in the throne of Sterling's intellectual world + before all was done; and the theory of "Goethe's want of feeling," want of + &c. &c. appeared to him also abundantly contemptible and + forgettable. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's days, during this time as always, were full of occupation, + cheerfully interesting to himself and others; though, the wrecks of + theology so encumbering him, little fruit on the positive side could come + of these labors. On the negative side they were productive; and there + also, so much of encumbrance requiring removal, before fruit could grow, + there was plenty of labor needed. He looked happy as well as busy; roamed + extensively among his friends, and loved to have them about him,—chiefly + old Cambridge comrades now settling into occupations in the world;—and + was felt by all friends, by myself as by few, to be a welcome illumination + in the dim whirl of things. A man of altogether social and human ways; his + address everywhere pleasant and enlivening. A certain smile of thin but + genuine laughter, we might say, hung gracefully over all he said and did;—expressing + gracefully, according to the model of this epoch, the stoical + pococurantism which is required of the cultivated Englishman. Such + laughter in him was not deep, but neither was it false (as lamentably + happens often); and the cheerfulness it went to symbolize was hearty and + beautiful,—visible in the silent unsymbolized state in a still + gracefuler fashion. + </p> + <p> + Of wit, so far as rapid lively intellect produces wit, he had plenty, and + did not abuse his endowment that way, being always fundamentally serious + in the purport of his speech: of what we call humor, he had some, though + little; nay of real sense for the ludicrous, in any form, he had not much + for a man of his vivacity; and you remarked that his laugh was limited in + compass, and of a clear but not rich quality. To the like effect shone + something, a kind of childlike half-embarrassed shimmer of expression, on + his fine vivid countenance; curiously mingling with its ardors and + audacities. A beautiful childlike soul! He was naturally a favorite in + conversation, especially with all who had any funds for conversing: frank + and direct, yet polite and delicate withal,—though at times too he + could crackle with his dexterous petulancies, making the air all like + needles round you; and there was no end to his logic when you excited it; + no end, unless in some form of silence on your part. Elderly men of + reputation I have sometimes known offended by him: for he took a frank way + in the matter of talk; spoke freely out of him, freely listening to what + others spoke, with a kind of "hail fellow well met" feeling; and + carelessly measured a men much less by his reputed account in the bank of + wit, or in any other bank, than by what the man had to show for himself in + the shape of real spiritual cash on the occasion. But withal there was + ever a fine element of natural courtesy in Sterling; his deliberate + demeanor to acknowledged superiors was fine and graceful; his apologies + and the like, when in a fit of repentance he felt commanded to apologize, + were full of naivete, and very pretty and ingenuous. + </p> + <p> + His circle of friends was wide enough; chiefly men of his own standing, + old College friends many of them; some of whom have now become universally + known. Among whom the most important to him was Frederic Maurice, who had + not long before removed to the Chaplaincy of Guy's Hospital here, and was + still, as he had long been, his intimate and counsellor. Their views and + articulate opinions, I suppose, were now fast beginning to diverge; and + these went on diverging far enough: but in their kindly union, in their + perfect trustful familiarity, precious to both parties, there never was + the least break, but a steady, equable and duly increasing current to the + end. One of Sterling's commonest expeditions, in this time, was a sally to + the other side of London Bridge: "Going to Guy's to-day." Maurice, in a + year or two, became Sterling's brother-in-law; wedded Mrs. Sterling's + younger sister,—a gentle excellent female soul; by whom the relation + was, in many ways, strengthened and beautified for Sterling and all + friends of the parties. With the Literary notabilities I think he had no + acquaintance; his thoughts indeed still tended rather towards a certain + class of the Clerical; but neither had he much to do with these; for he + was at no time the least of a tuft-hunter, but rather had a marked natural + indifference to <i>tufts</i>. + </p> + <p> + The Rev. Mr. Dunn, a venerable and amiable Irish gentleman, + "distinguished," we were told, "by having refused a bishopric:" and who + was now living, in an opulent enough retirement, amid his books and + philosophies and friends, in London,—is memorable to me among this + clerical class: one of the mildest, beautifulest old men I have ever seen,—"like + Fenelon," Sterling said: his very face, with its kind true smile, with its + look of suffering cheerfulness and pious wisdom, was a sort of + benediction. It is of him that Sterling writes, in the Extract which Mr. + Hare, modestly reducing the name to an initial "Mr. D.," has given us: <a + href="#linknote-13" name="linknoteref-13" id="linknoteref-13"><small>13</small></a> + "Mr. Dunn, for instance; the defect of whose Theology, compounded as it is + of the doctrine of the Greek Fathers, of the Mystics and of Ethical + Philosophers, consists,—if I may hint a fault in one whose holiness, + meekness and fervor would have made him the beloved disciple of him whom + Jesus loved,—in an insufficient apprehension of the reality and + depth of Sin." A characteristic "defect" of this fine gentle soul. On Mr. + Dunn's death, which occurred two or three years later, Stirling gave, in + some veiled yet transparent form, in <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i>, an + affectionate and eloquent notice of him; which, stript of the veil, was + excerpted into the Newspapers also. <a href="#linknote-14" + name="linknoteref-14" id="linknoteref-14"><small>14</small></a> + </p> + <p> + Of Coleridge there was little said. Coleridge was now dead, not long + since; nor was his name henceforth much heard in Sterling's circle; though + on occasion, for a year or two to come, he would still assert his + transcendent admiration, especially if Maurice were by to help. But he was + getting into German, into various inquiries and sources of knowledge new + to him, and his admirations and notions on many things were silently and + rapidly modifying themselves. + </p> + <p> + So, amid interesting human realities, and wide cloud-canopies of uncertain + speculation, which also had their interests and their rainbow-colors to + him, and could not fail in his life just now, did Sterling pass his year + and half at Bayswater. Such vaporous speculations were inevitable for him + at present; but it was to be hoped they would subside by and by, and leave + the sky clear. All this was but the preliminary to whatever work might lie + in him:—and, alas, much other interruption lay between him and that. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. TO MADEIRA. + </h2> + <p> + Sterling's dubieties as to continuing at Bordeaux were quickly decided. + The cholera in France, the cholera in Nice, the— In fact his + moorings were now loose; and having been fairly at sea, he never could + anchor himself here again. Very shortly after this Letter, he left Belsito + again (for good, as it proved); and returned to England with his + household, there to consider what should next be done. + </p> + <p> + On my return from Scotland, that year, perhaps late in September, I + remember finding him lodged straitly but cheerfully, and in happy humor, + in a little cottage on Blackheath; whither his Father one day persuaded me + to drive out with him for dinner. Our welcome, I can still recollect, was + conspicuously cordial; the place of dinner a kind of upper room, half + garret and full of books, which seemed to be John's place of study. From a + shelf, I remember also, the good soul took down a book modestly enough + bound in three volumes, lettered on the back Carlyle's <i>French + Revolution</i>, which had been published lately; this he with friendly + banter bade me look at as a first symptom, small but significant, that the + book was not to die all at once. "One copy of it at least might hope to + last the date of sheep-leather," I admitted,—and in my then mood the + little fact was welcome. Our dinner, frank and happy on the part of + Sterling, was peppered with abundant jolly satire from his Father: before + tea, I took myself away; towards Woolwich, I remember, where probably + there was another call to make, and passage homeward by steamer: Sterling + strode along with me a good bit of road in the bright sunny evening, full + of lively friendly talk, and altogether kind and amiable; and beautifully + sympathetic with the loads he thought he saw on <i>me</i>, forgetful of + his own. We shook hands on the road near the foot of Shooter's Hill:—at + which point dim oblivious clouds rush down; and of small or great I + remember nothing more in my history or his for some time. + </p> + <p> + Besides running much about among friends, and holding counsels for the + management of the coming winter, Sterling was now considerably occupied + with Literature again; and indeed may be said to have already definitely + taken it up as the one practical pursuit left for him. Some correspondence + with <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> was opening itself, under promising + omens: now, and more and more henceforth, he began to look on Literature + as his real employment, after all; and was prosecuting it with his + accustomed loyalty and ardor. And he continued ever afterwards, in spite + of such fitful circumstances and uncertain outward fluctuations as his + were sure of being, to prosecute it steadily with all the strength he had. + </p> + <p> + One evening about this time, he came down to us, to Chelsea, most likely + by appointment and with stipulation for privacy; and read, for our + opinion, his Poem of the <i>Sexton's Daughter</i>, which we now first + heard of. The judgment in this house was friendly, but not the most + encouraging. We found the piece monotonous, cast in the mould of + Wordsworth, deficient in real human fervor or depth of melody, dallying on + the borders of the infantile and "goody-good;"—in fact, involved + still in the shadows of the surplice, and inculcating (on hearsay mainly) + a weak morality, which he would one day find not to be moral at all, but + in good part maudlin-hypocritical and immoral. As indeed was to be said + still of most of his performances, especially the poetical; a sickly <i>shadow</i> + of the parish-church still hanging over them, which he could by no means + recognize for sickly. <i>Imprimatur</i> nevertheless was the concluding + word,—with these grave abatements, and rhadamanthine admonitions. To + all which Sterling listened seriously and in the mildest humor. His + reading, it might have been added, had much hurt the effect of the piece: + a dreary pulpit or even conventicle manner; that flattest moaning hoo-hoo + of predetermined pathos, with a kind of rocking canter introduced by way + of intonation, each stanza the exact fellow Of the other, and the dull + swing of the rocking-horse duly in each;—no reading could be more + unfavorable to Sterling's poetry than his own. Such a mode of reading, and + indeed generally in a man of such vivacity the total absence of all gifts + for play-acting or artistic mimicry in any kind, was a noticeable point. + </p> + <p> + After much consultation, it was settled at last that Sterling should go to + Madeira for the winter. One gray dull autumn afternoon, towards the middle + of October, I remember walking with him to the eastern Dock region, to see + his ship, and how the final preparations in his own little cabin were + proceeding there. A dingy little ship, the deck crowded with packages, and + bustling sailors within eight-and-forty hours of lifting anchor; a dingy + chill smoky day, as I have said withal, and a chaotic element and outlook, + enough to make a friend's heart sad. I admired the cheerful careless humor + and brisk activity of Sterling, who took the matter all on the sunny side, + as he was wont in such cases. We came home together in manifold talk: he + accepted with the due smile my last contribution to his sea-equipment, a + sixpenny box of German lucifers purchased on the sudden in St. James's + Street, fit to be offered with laughter or with tears or with both; he was + to leave for Portsmouth almost immediately, and there go on board. Our + next news was of his safe arrival in the temperate Isle. Mrs. Sterling and + the children were left at Knightsbridge; to pass this winter with his + Father and Mother. + </p> + <p> + At Madeira Sterling did well: improved in health; was busy with much + Literature; and fell in with society which he could reckon pleasant. He + was much delighted with the scenery of the place; found the climate + wholesome to him in a marked degree; and, with good news from home, and + kindly interests here abroad, passed no disagreeable winter in that exile. + There was talking, there was writing, there was hope of better health; he + rode almost daily, in cheerful busy humor, along those fringed + shore-roads:—beautiful leafy roads and horse-paths; with here and + there a wild cataract and bridge to look at; and always with the soft sky + overhead, the dead volcanic mountain on one hand, and broad illimitable + sea spread out on the other. Here are two Letters which give reasonably + good account of him:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 16th November, 1837. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CARLYLE,—I have been writing a good many letters all in a + batch, to go by the same opportunity; and I am thoroughly weary of writing + the same things over and over again to different people. My letter to you + therefore, I fear, must have much of the character of remainder-biscuit. + But you will receive it as a proof that I do not wish you to forget me, + though it may be useless for any other purpose. + </p> + <p> + "I reached this on the 2d, after a tolerably prosperous voyage, deformed + by some days of sea-sickness, but otherwise not to be complained of. I + liked my twenty fellow-passengers far better than I expected;—three + or four of them I like much, and continue to see frequently. The Island + too is better than I expected: so that my Barataria at least does not + disappoint me. The bold rough mountains, with mist about their summits, + verdure below, and a bright sun over all, please me much; and I ride daily + on the steep and narrow paved roads, which no wheels ever journeyed on. + The Town is clean, and there its merits end: but I am comfortably lodged; + with a large and pleasant sitting-room to myself. I have met with much + kindness; and see all the society I want,—though it is not quite + equal to that of London, even excluding Chelsea. + </p> + <p> + "I have got about me what Books I brought out; and have read a little, and + done some writing for <i>Blackwood</i>,—all, I have the pleasure to + inform you, prose, nay extremely prose. I shall now be more at leisure; + and hope to get more steadily to work; though I do not know what I shall + begin upon. As to reading, I have been looking at <i>Goethe</i>, + especially the <i>Life</i>,—much as a shying horse looks at a post. + In truth, I am afraid of him. I enjoy and admire him so much, and feel I + could so easily be tempted to go along with him. And yet I have a deeply + rooted and old persuasion that he was the most splendid of anachronisms. A + thoroughly, nay intensely Pagan Life, in an age when it is men's duty to + be Christian. I therefore never take him up without a kind of inward + check, as if I were trying some forbidden spell; while, on the other hand, + there is so infinitely much to be learnt from him, and it is so needful to + understand the world we live in, and our own age, and especially its + greatest minds, that I cannot bring myself to burn my books as the + converted Magicians did, or sink them as did Prospero. There must, as I + think, have been some prodigious defect in his mind, to let him hold such + views as his about women and some other things; and in another respect, I + find so much coldness and hollowness as to the highest truths, and feel so + strongly that the Heaven he looks up to is but a vault of ice,—that + these two indications, leading to the same conclusion, go far to convince + me he was a profoundly immoral and irreligious spirit, with as rare + faculties of intelligence as ever belonged to any one. All this may be + mere <i>goody</i> weakness and twaddle, on my part: but it is a persuasion + that I cannot escape from; though I should feel the doing so to be a + deliverance from a most painful load. If you could help me, I heartily + wish you would. I never take him up without high admiration, or lay him + down without real sorrow for what he chose to be. + </p> + <p> + "I have been reading nothing else that you would much care for. Southey's + <i>Amadis</i> has amused me; and Lyell's <i>Geology</i> interested me. The + latter gives one the same sort of bewildering view of the abysmal extent + of Time that Astronomy does of Space. I do not think I shall take your + advice as to learning Portuguese. It is said to be very ill spoken here; + and assuredly it is the most direful series of nasal twangs I ever heard. + One gets on quite well with English. + </p> + <p> + "The people here are, I believe, in a very low condition; but they do not + appear miserable. I am told that the influence of the priests makes the + peasantry all Miguelites; but it is said that nobody wants any more + revolutions. There is no appearance of riot or crime; and they are all + extremely civil. I was much interested by learning that Columbus once + lived here, before he found America and fame. I have been to see a + deserted <i>quinta</i> (country-house), where there is a great deal of + curious old sculpture, in relief, upon the masonry; many of the figures, + which are nearly as large as life, representing soldiers clad and armed + much as I should suppose those of Cortez were. There are no buildings + about the Town, of the smallest pretensions to beauty or charm of any + kind. On the whole, if Madeira were one's world, life would certainly + rather tend to stagnate; but as a temporary refuge, a niche in an old ruin + where one is sheltered from the shower, it has great merit. I am more + comfortable and contented than I expected to be, so far from home and from + everybody I am closely connected with: but, of course, it is at best a + tolerable exile. + </p> + <p> + "Tell Mrs. Carlyle that I have written, since I have been here, and am + going to send to <i>Blackwood</i>, a humble imitation of her <i>Watch and + Canary-Bird</i>, entitled <i>The Suit of Armor and the Skeleton</i>. <a + href="#linknote-15" name="linknoteref-15" id="linknoteref-15"><small>15</small></a> + I am conscious that I am far from having reached the depth and fulness of + despair and mockery which distinguish the original! But in truth there is + a lightness of tone about her style, which I hold to be invaluable: where + she makes hairstrokes, I make blotches. I have a vehement suspicion that + my Dialogue is an entire failure; but I cannot be plagued with it any + longer. Tell her I will not send her messages, but will write to her soon.—Meanwhile + I am affectionately hers and yours, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + The next is to his Brother-in-law; and in a still hopefuler tone:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Charles Barton, Esq.</i> <a href="#linknote-16" + name="linknoteref-16" id="linknoteref-16">16</a> + FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 3d March, 1838. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CHARLES,—I have often been thinking of you and your + whereabouts in Germany, and wishing I knew more about you; and at last it + occurred to me that you might perhaps have the same wish about me, and + that therefore I should do well to write to you. + </p> + <p> + "I have been here exactly four months, having arrived on the 2d of + November,—my wedding-day; and though you perhaps may not think it a + compliment to Susan, I have seldom passed four months more cheerfully and + agreeably. I have of course felt my absence from my family, and missed the + society of my friends; for there is not a person here whom I knew before I + left England. But, on the whole, I have been in good health, and actively + employed. I have a good many agreeable and valuable acquaintances, one or + two of whom I hope I may hereafter reckon as friends. The weather has + generally been fine, and never cold; and the scenery of the Island is of a + beauty which you unhappy Northern people can have little conception of. + </p> + <p> + "It consists of a great mass of volcanic mountains, covered in their lower + parts with cottages, vines and patches of vegetables. When you pass + through, or over the central ridge, and get towards the North, there are + woods of trees, of the laurel kind, covering the wild steep slopes, and + forming some of the strangest and most beautiful prospects I have ever + seen. Towards the interior, the forms of the hills become more abrupt, and + loftier; and give the notion of very recent volcanic disturbances, though + in fact there has been nothing of the kind since the discovery of the + Island by Europeans. Among these mountains, the dark deep precipices, and + narrow ravines with small streams at the bottom; the basaltic knobs and + ridges on the summits; and the perpetual play of mist and cloud around + them, under this bright sun and clear sky,—form landscapes which you + would thoroughly enjoy, and which I much wish I could give you a notion + of. The Town is on the south, and of course the sheltered side of the + Island; perfectly protected from the North and East; although we have seen + sometimes patches of bright snow on the dark peaks in the distance. It is + a neat cheerful place; all built of gray stone, but having many of the + houses colored white or red. There is not a really handsome building in + it, but there is a general aspect of comfort and solidity. The shops are + very poor. The English do not mix at all with the Portuguese. The Bay is a + very bad anchorage; but is wide, bright and cheerful; and there are some + picturesque points—one a small black island—scattered about + it. + </p> + <p> + "I lived till a fortnight ago in lodgings, having two rooms, one a very + good one; and paying for everything fifty-six dollars a month, the dollar + being four shillings and twopence. This you will see is dear; but I could + make no better arrangement, for there is an unusual affluence of strangers + this year. I have now come to live with a friend, a Dr. Calvert, in a + small house of our own, where I am much more comfortable, and live greatly + cheaper. He is a friend of Mrs. Percival's; about my age, an Oriel man, + and a very superior person. I think the chances are, we shall go home + together.... I cannot tell you of all the other people I have become + familiar with; and shall only mention in addition Bingham Baring, eldest + son of Lord Ashburton, who was here for some weeks on account of a dying + brother, and whom I saw a great deal of. He is a pleasant, very + good-natured and rather clever man; Conservative Member for North + Staffordshire. + </p> + <p> + "During the first two months I was here, I rode a great deal about the + Island, having a horse regularly; and was much in agreeable company, + seeing a great deal of beautiful scenery. Since then, the weather has been + much more unsettled, though not cold; and I have gone about less, as I + cannot risk the being wet. But I have spent my time pleasantly, reading + and writing. I have written a good many things for <i>Blackwood</i>; one + of which, the <i>Armor and the Skeleton</i>, I see is printed in the + February Number. I have just sent them a long Tale, called the <i>Onyx + Ring</i>, which cost me a good deal of trouble; and the extravagance of + which, I think, would amuse you; but its length may prevent its appearance + in <i>Blackwood</i>. If so, I think I should make a volume of it. I have + also written some poems, and shall probably publish the <i>Sexton's + Daughter</i> when I return. + </p> + <p> + "My health goes on most favorably. I have had no attack of the chest this + spring; which has not happened to me since the spring before we went to + Bonn; and I am told, if I take care, I may roll along for years. But I + have little hope of being allowed to spend the four first months of any + year in England; and the question will be, Whether to go at once to Italy, + by way of Germany and Switzerland, with my family, or to settle with them + in England, perhaps at Hastings, and go abroad myself when it may be + necessary. I cannot decide till I return; but I think the latter the most + probable. + </p> + <p> + "To my dear Charles I do not like to use the ordinary forms of ending a + letter, for they are very inadequate to express my sense of your long and + most unvarying kindness; but be assured no one living could say with more + sincerity that he is ever affectionately yours, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Other Letters give occasionally views of the shadier side of things: dark + broken weather, in the sky and in the mind; ugly clouds covering one's + poor fitful transitory prospect, for a time, as they might well do in + Sterling's case. Meanwhile we perceive his literary business is fast + developing itself; amid all his confusions, he is never idle long. Some of + his best Pieces—the Onyx <i>Ring</i>, for one, as we perceive—were + written here this winter. Out of the turbid whirlpool of the days he + strives assiduously to snatch what he can. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's communications with <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> had now issued + in some open sanction of him by Professor Wilson, the distinguished + presiding spirit of that Periodical; a fact naturally of high importance + to him under the literary point of view. For Wilson, with his clear + flashing eye and great genial heart, had at once recognized Sterling; and + lavished stormily, in his wild generous way, torrents of praise on him in + the editorial comments: which undoubtedly was one of the gratefulest + literary baptisms, by fire or by water, that could befall a soul like + Sterling's. He bore it very gently, being indeed past the age to have his + head turned by anybody's praises: nor do I think the exaggeration that was + in these eulogies did him any ill whatever; while surely their generous + encouragement did him much good, in his solitary struggle towards new + activity under such impediments as his. <i>Laudari a laudato</i>; to be + called noble by one whom you and the world recognize as noble: this great + satisfaction, never perhaps in such a degree before or after had now been + vouchsafed to Sterling; and was, as I compute, an important fact for him. + He proceeded on his pilgrimage with new energy, and felt more and more as + if authentically consecrated to the same. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Onyx Ring</i>, a curious Tale, with wild improbable basis, but with + a noble glow of coloring and with other high merits in it, a Tale still + worth reading, in which, among the imaginary characters, various friends + of Sterling's are shadowed forth, not always in the truest manner, came + out in <i>Blackwood</i> in the winter of this year. Surely a very high + talent for painting, both of scenery and persons, is visible in this + Fiction; the promise of a Novel such as we have few. But there wants + maturing, wants purifying of clear from unclear;—properly there want + patience and steady depth. The basis, as we said, is wild and loose; and + in the details, lucent often with fine color, and dipt in beautiful + sunshine, there are several things mis<i>seen</i>, untrue, which is the + worst species of mispainting. Witness, as Sterling himself would have by + and by admitted, the "empty clockcase" (so we called it) which he has + labelled Goethe,—which puts all other untruths in the Piece to + silence. + </p> + <p> + One of the great alleviations of his exile at Madeira he has already + celebrated to us: the pleasant circle of society he fell into there. Great + luck, thinks Sterling in this voyage; as indeed there was: but he himself, + moreover, was readier than most men to fall into pleasant circles + everywhere, being singularly prompt to make the most of any circle. Some + of his Madeira acquaintanceships were really good; and one of them, if not + more, ripened into comradeship and friendship for him. He says, as we saw, + "The chances are, Calvert and I will come home together." + </p> + <p> + Among the English in pursuit of health, or in flight from fatal disease, + that winter, was this Dr. Calvert; an excellent ingenious cheery + Cumberland gentleman, about Sterling's age, and in a deeper stage of + ailment, this not being his first visit to Madeira: he, warmly joining + himself to Sterling, as we have seen, was warmly received by him; so that + there soon grew a close and free intimacy between them; which for the next + three years, till poor Calvert ended his course, was a leading element in + the history of both. Companionship in incurable malady, a touching bond of + union, was by no means purely or chiefly a companionship in misery in + their case. The sunniest inextinguishable cheerfulness shone, through all + manner of clouds, in both. Calvert had been travelling physician in some + family of rank, who had rewarded him with a pension, shielding his own + ill-health from one sad evil. Being hopelessly gone in pulmonary disorder, + he now moved about among friendly climates and places, seeking what + alleviation there might be; often spending his summers in the house of a + sister in the environs of London; an insatiable rider on his little brown + pony; always, wherever you might meet him, one of the cheeriest of men. He + had plenty of speculation too, clear glances of all kinds into religious, + social, moral concerns; and pleasantly incited Sterling's outpourings on + such subjects. He could report of fashionable persons and manners, in a + fine human Cumberland manner; loved art, a great collector of drawings; he + had endless help and ingenuity; and was in short every way a very human, + lovable, good and nimble man,—the laughing blue eyes of him, the + clear cheery soul of him, still redolent of the fresh Northern breezes and + transparent Mountain streams. With this Calvert, Sterling formed a natural + intimacy; and they were to each other a great possession, mutually + enlivening many a dark day during the next three years. They did come home + together this spring; and subsequently made several of these + health-journeys in partnership. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE STERLING CLUB. + </h2> + <p> + In spite of these wanderings, Sterling's course in life, so far as his + poor life could have any course or aim beyond that of screening itself + from swift death, was getting more and more clear to him; and he pursued + it diligently, in the only way permitted him, by hasty snatches, in the + intervals of continual fluctuation, change of place and other + interruption. + </p> + <p> + Such, once for all, were the conditions appointed him. And it must be + owned he had, with a most kindly temper, adjusted himself to these; nay + you would have said, he loved them; it was almost as if he would have + chosen them as the suitablest. Such an adaptation was there in him of + volition to necessity:—for indeed they both, if well seen into, + proceeded from one source. Sterling's bodily disease was the expression, + under physical conditions, of the too vehement life which, under the + moral, the intellectual and other aspects, incessantly struggled within + him. Too vehement;—which would have required a frame of oak and iron + to contain it: in a thin though most wiry body of flesh and bone, it + incessantly "wore holes," and so found outlet for itself. He could take no + rest, he had never learned that art; he was, as we often reproached him, + fatally incapable of sitting still. Rapidity, as of pulsing auroras, as of + dancing lightnings: rapidity in all forms characterized him. This, which + was his bane, in many senses, being the real origin of his disorder, and + of such continual necessity to move and change,—was also his + antidote, so far as antidote there might be; enabling him to love change, + and to snatch, as few others could have done, from the waste chaotic + years, all tumbled into ruin by incessant change, what hours and minutes + of available turned up. He had an incredible facility of labor. He flashed + with most piercing glance into a subject; gathered it up into organic + utterability, with truly wonderful despatch, considering the success and + truth attained; and threw it on paper with a swift felicity, ingenuity, + brilliancy and general excellence, of which, under such conditions of + swiftness, I have never seen a parallel. Essentially an <i>improviser</i> + genius; as his Father too was, and of admirable completeness he too, + though under a very different form. + </p> + <p> + If Sterling has done little in Literature, we may ask, What other man than + he, in such circumstances, could have done anything? In virtue of these + rapid faculties, which otherwise cost him so dear, he has built together, + out of those wavering boiling quicksands of his few later years, a result + which may justly surprise us. There is actually some result in those poor + Two Volumes gathered from him, such as they are; he that reads there will + not wholly lose his time, nor rise with a malison instead of a blessing on + the writer. Here actually is a real seer-glance, of some compass, into the + world of our day; blessed glance, once more, of an eye that is human; + truer than one of a thousand, and beautifully capable of making others see + with it. I have known considerable temporary reputations gained, + considerable piles of temporary guineas, with loud reviewing and the like + to match, on a far less basis than lies in those two volumes. Those also, + I expect, will be held in memory by the world, one way or other, till the + world has extracted all its benefit from them. Graceful, ingenious and + illuminative reading, of their sort, for all manner of inquiring souls. A + little verdant flowery island of poetic intellect, of melodious human + verity; sunlit island founded on the rocks;—which the enormous + circumambient continents of mown reed-grass and floating lumber, with <i>their</i> + mountain-ranges of ejected stable-litter however alpine, cannot by any + means or chance submerge: nay, I expect, they will not even quite hide it, + this modest little island, from the well-discerning; but will float past + it towards the place appointed for them, and leave said island standing. + <i>Allah kereem</i>, say the Arabs! And of the English also some still + know that there is a, difference in the material of mountains!— + </p> + <p> + As it is this last little result, the amount of his poor and + ever-interrupted literary labor, that henceforth forms the essential + history of Sterling, we need not dwell at too much length on the foreign + journeys, disanchorings, and nomadic vicissitudes of household, which + occupy his few remaining years, and which are only the disastrous and + accidental arena of this. He had now, excluding his early and more + deliberate residence in the West Indies, made two flights abroad, once + with his family, once without, in search of health. He had two more, in + rapid succession, to make, and many more to meditate; and in the whole + from Bayswater to the end, his family made no fewer than five complete + changes of abode, for his sake. But these cannot be accepted as in any + sense epochs in his life: the one last epoch of his life was that of his + internal change towards Literature as his work in the world; and we need + not linger much on these, which are the mere outer accidents of that, and + had no distinguished influence in modifying that. + </p> + <p> + Friends still hoped the unrest of that brilliant too rapid soul would + abate with years. Nay the doctors sometimes promised, on the physical + side, a like result; prophesying that, at forty-five or some mature age, + the stress of disease might quit the lungs, and direct itself to other + quarters of the system. But no such result was appointed for us; neither + forty-five itself, nor the ameliorations promised then, were ever to be + reached. Four voyages abroad, three of them without his family, in flight + from death; and at home, for a like reason, five complete shiftings of + abode: in such wandering manner, and not otherwise, had Sterling to + continue his pilgrimage till it ended. + </p> + <p> + Once more I must say, his cheerfulness throughout was wonderful. A certain + grimmer shade, coming gradually over him, might perhaps be noticed in the + concluding years; not impatience properly, yet the consciousness how much + he needed patience; something more caustic in his tone of wit, more + trenchant and indignant occasionally in his tone of speech: but at no + moment was his activity bewildered or abated, nor did his composure ever + give way. No; both his activity and his composure he bore with him, + through all weathers, to the final close; and on the whole, right manfully + he walked his wild stern way towards the goal, and like a Roman wrapt his + mantle round him when he fell.—Let us glance, with brevity, at what + he saw and suffered in his remaining pilgrimings and chargings; and count + up what fractions of spiritual fruit he realized to us from them. + </p> + <p> + Calvert and he returned from Madeira in the spring of 1838. Mrs. Sterling + and the family had lived in Knightsbridge with his Father's people through + the winter: they now changed to Blackheath, or ultimately Hastings, and he + with them, coming up to London pretty often; uncertain what was to be done + for next winter. Literature went on briskly here: <i>Blackwood</i> had + from him, besides the <i>Onyx Ring</i> which soon came out with due honor, + assiduous almost monthly contributions in prose and verse. The series + called <i>Hymns of a Hermit</i> was now going on; eloquent melodies, + tainted to me with something of the same disease as the <i>Sexton's + Daughter</i>, though perhaps in a less degree, considering that the strain + was in a so much higher pitch. Still better, in clear eloquent prose, the + series of detached thoughts, entitled <i>Crystals from a Cavern</i>; of + which the set of fragments, generally a little larger in compass, called + <i>Thoughts and Images</i>, and again those called <i>Sayings and + Essayings</i>, <a href="#linknote-17" name="linknoteref-17" + id="linknoteref-17"><small>17</small></a> are properly continuations. Add + to which, his friend John Mill had now charge of a Review, <i>The London + and Westminster</i> its name; wherein Sterling's assistance, ardently + desired, was freely afforded, with satisfaction to both parties, in this + and the following years. An Essay on <i>Montaigne</i>, with the notes and + reminiscences already spoken of, was Sterling's first contribution here; + then one on <i>Simonides</i>: <a href="#linknote-18" name="linknoteref-18" + id="linknoteref-18"><small>18</small></a> both of the present season. + </p> + <p> + On these and other businesses, slight or important, he was often running + up to London; and gave us almost the feeling of his being resident among + us. In order to meet the most or a good many of his friends at once on + such occasions, he now furthermore contrived the scheme of a little Club, + where monthly over a frugal dinner some reunion might take place; that is, + where friends of his, and withal such friends of theirs as suited,—and + in fine, where a small select company definable as persons to whom it was + pleasant to talk together,—might have a little opportunity of + talking. The scheme was approved by the persons concerned: I have a copy + of the Original Regulations, probably drawn up by Sterling, a very solid + lucid piece of economics; and the List of the proposed Members, signed + "James Spedding, Secretary," and dated "8th August, 1838." <a + href="#linknote-19" name="linknoteref-19" id="linknoteref-19"><small>19</small></a> + The Club grew; was at first called the <i>Anonymous Club</i>; then, after + some months of success, in compliment to the founder who had now left us + again, the <i>Sterling Club</i>;—under which latter name, it once + lately, for a time, owing to the Religious Newspapers, became rather + famous in the world! In which strange circumstances the name was again + altered, to suit weak brethren; and the Club still subsists, in a + sufficiently flourishing though happily once more a private condition. + That is the origin and genesis of poor Sterling's Club; which, having + honestly paid the shot for itself at Will's Coffee-house or elsewhere, + rashly fancied its bits of affairs were quite settled; and once little + thought of getting into Books of History with them!— + </p> + <p> + But now, Autumn approaching, Sterling had to quit Clubs, for matters of + sadder consideration. A new removal, what we call "his third peregrinity," + had to be decided on; and it was resolved that Rome should be the goal of + it, the journey to be done in company with Calvert, whom also the Italian + climate might be made to serve instead of Madeira. One of the liveliest + recollections I have, connected with the <i>Anonymous Club</i>, is that of + once escorting Sterling, after a certain meeting there, which I had seen + only towards the end, and now remember nothing of,—except that, on + breaking up, he proved to be encumbered with a carpet-bag, and could not + at once find a cab for Knightsbridge. Some small bantering hereupon, + during the instants of embargo. But we carried his carpet-bag, slinging it + on my stick, two or three of us alternately, through dusty vacant streets, + under the gaslights and the stars, towards the surest cab-stand; still + jesting, or pretending to jest, he and we, not in the mirthfulest manner; + and had (I suppose) our own feelings about the poor Pilgrim, who was to go + on the morrow, and had hurried to meet us in this way, as the last thing + before leaving England. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. ITALY. + </h2> + <p> + The journey to Italy was undertaken by advice of Sir James Clark, reckoned + the chief authority in pulmonary therapeutics; who prophesied important + improvements from it, and perhaps even the possibility henceforth of + living all the year in some English home. Mrs. Sterling and the children + continued in a house avowedly temporary, a furnished house at Hastings, + through the winter. The two friends had set off for Belgium, while the due + warmth was still in the air. They traversed Belgium, looking well at + pictures and such objects; ascended the Rhine; rapidly traversed + Switzerland and the Alps; issuing upon Italy and Milan, with immense + appetite for pictures, and time still to gratify themselves in that + pursuit, and be deliberate in their approach to Rome. We will take this + free-flowing sketch of their passage over the Alps; written amid "the + rocks of Arona,"—Santo Borromeo's country, and poor little Mignon's! + The "elder Perdonnets" are opulent Lausanne people, to whose late son + Sterling had been very kind in Madeira the year before:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London</i>. + "ARONA on the LAGO MAGGIORE, 8th Oct., 1838. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR MOTHER,—I bring down the story of my proceedings to the + present time since the 29th of September. I think it must have been after + that day that I was at a great breakfast at the elder Perdonnets', with + whom I had declined to dine, not choosing to go out at night.... I was + taken by my hostess to see several pretty pleasure-grounds and points of + view in the neighborhood; and latterly Calvert was better, and able to go + with us. He was in force again, and our passports were all settled so as + to enable us to start on the morning of the 2d, after taking leave of our + kind entertainer with thanks for her infinite kindness. + </p> + <p> + "We reached St. Maurice early that evening; having had the Dent du Midi + close to us for several hours; glittering like the top of a silver teapot, + far up in the sky. Our course lay along the Valley of the Rhone; which is + considered one of the least beautiful parts of Switzerland, and perhaps + for this reason pleased us, as we had not been prepared to expect much. We + saw, before reaching the foot of the Alpine pass at Brieg, two rather + celebrated Waterfalls; the one the Pissevache, which has no more beauty + than any waterfall one hundred or two hundred feet high must necessarily + have: the other, near Tourtemagne, is much more pleasing, having foliage + round it, and being in a secluded dell. If you buy a Swiss Waterfall, + choose this one. + </p> + <p> + "Our second day took us through Martigny to Sion, celebrated for its + picturesque towers upon detached hills, for its strong Romanism and its + population of <i>cretins</i>,—that is, maimed idiots having the <i>goitre</i>. + It looked to us a more thriving place than we expected. They are building + a great deal; among other things, a new Bishop's Palace and a new Nunnery,—to + inhabit either of which <i>ex officio</i> I feel myself very unsuitable. + From Sion we came to Brieg; a little village in a nook, close under an + enormous mountain and glacier, where it lies like a molehill, or something + smaller, at the foot of a haystack. Here also we slept; and the next day + our voiturier, who had brought us from Lausanne, started with us up the + Simplon Pass; helped on by two extra horses. + </p> + <p> + "The beginning of the road was rather cheerful; having a good deal of + green pasturage, and some mountain villages; but it soon becomes dreary + and savage in aspect, and but for our bright sky and warm air, would have + been truly dismal. However, we gained gradually a distinct and near view + of several large glaciers; and reached at last the high and melancholy + valleys of the Upper Alps; where even the pines become scanty, and no + sound is heard but the wheels of one's carriage, except when there happens + to be a storm or an avalanche, neither of which entertained us. There is, + here and there, a small stream of water pouring from the snow; but this is + rather a monotonous accompaniment to the general desolation than an + interruption of it. The road itself is certainly very good, and impresses + one with a strong notion of human power. But the common descriptions are + much exaggerated; and many of what the Guide-Books call 'galleries' are + merely parts of the road supported by a wall built against the rock, and + have nothing like a roof above them. The 'stupendous bridges,' as they are + called, might be packed, a dozen together, into one arch of London Bridge; + and they are seldom even very striking from the depth below. The roadway + is excellent, and kept in the best order. On the whole, I am very glad to + have travelled the most famous road in Europe, and to have had delightful + weather for doing so, as indeed we have had ever since we left Lausanne. + The Italian descent is greatly more remarkable than the other side. + </p> + <p> + "We slept near the top, at the Village of Simplon, in a very fair and + well-warmed inn, close to a mountain stream, which is one of the great + ornaments of this side of the road. We have here passed into a region of + granite, from that of limestone, and what is called gneiss. The valleys + are sharper and closer,—like cracks in a hard and solid mass;—and + there is much more of the startling contrast of light and shade, as well + as more angular boldness of outline; to all which the more abundant waters + add a fresh and vivacious interest. Looking back through one of these + abysmal gorges, one sees two torrents dashing together, the precipice and + ridge on one side, pitch-black with shade; and that on the other all + flaming gold; while behind rises, in a huge cone, one of the glacier + summits of the chain. The stream at one's feet rushes at a leap some two + hundred feet down, and is bordered with pines and beeches, struggling + through a ruined world of clefts and boulders. I never saw anything so + much resembling some of the <i>Circles</i> described by Dante. From + Simplon we made for Duomo d'Ossola; having broken out, as through the + mouth of a mine, into green and fertile valleys full of vines and + chestnuts, and white villages,—in short, into sunshine and Italy. + </p> + <p> + "At this place we dismissed our Swiss voiturier, and took an Italian one; + who conveyed us to Omegna on the Lake of Orta; a place little visited by + English travellers, but which fully repaid us the trouble of going there. + We were lodged in a simple and even rude Italian inn; where they cannot + speak a word of French; where we occupied a barn-like room, with a huge + chimney fit to lodge a hundred ghosts, whom we expelled by dint of a hot + woodfire. There were two beds, and as it happened good ones, in this + strange old apartment; which was adorned by pictures of Architecture, and + by Heads of Saints, better than many at the Royal Academy Exhibition, and + which one paid nothing for looking at. The thorough Italian character of + the whole scene amused us, much more than Meurice's at Paris would have + done; for we had voluble, commonplace good-humor, with the aspect and + accessories of a den of banditti. + </p> + <p> + "To-day we have seen the Lake of Orta, have walked for some miles among + its vineyards and chestnuts; and thence have come, by Baveno, to this + place;—having seen by the way, I believe, the most beautiful part of + the Lago Maggiore, and certainly the most cheerful, complete and extended + example of fine scenery I have ever fallen in with. Here we are, much to + my wonder,—for it seems too good to be true,—fairly in Italy; + and as yet my journey has been a pleasanter and more instructive, and in + point of health a more successful one, than I at all imagined possible. + Calvert and I go on as well as can be. I let him have his way about + natural science, and he only laughs benignly when he thinks me absurd in + my moral speculations. My only regrets are caused by my separation from my + family and friends, and by the hurry I have been living in, which has + prevented me doing any work,—and compelled me to write to you at a + good deal faster rate than the <i>vapore</i> moves on the Lago Maggiore. + It will take me to-morrow to Sesto Calende, whence we go to Varese. We + shall not be at Milan for some days. Write thither, if you are kind enough + to write at all, till I give you another address. Love to my Father. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Omitting Milan, Florence nearly all, and much about "Art," Michael Angelo, + and other aerial matters, here are some select terrestrial glimpses, the + fittest I can find, of his progress towards Rome:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Lucca, Nov. 27th</i>, 1838.—I had dreams, like other people, + before I came here, of what the Lombard Lakes must be; and the week I + spent among them has left me an image, not only more distinct, but far + more warm, shining and various, and more deeply attractive in innumerable + respects, than all I had before conceived of them. And so also it has been + with Florence; where I spent three weeks: enough for the first hazy + radiant dawn of sympathy to pass away; yet constantly adding an increase + of knowledge and of love, while I examined, and tried to understand, the + wonderful minds that have left behind them there such abundant traces of + their presence.... On Sunday, the day before I left Florence, I went to + the highest part of the Grand Duke's Garden of Boboli, which commands a + view of most of the City, and of the vale of the Arno to the westward; + where, as we had been visited by several rainy days, and now at last had a + very fine one, the whole prospect was in its highest beauty. The mass of + buildings, chiefly on the other side of the River, is sufficient to fill + the eye, without perplexing the mind by vastness like that of London; and + its name and history, its outline and large and picturesque buildings, + give it grandeur of a higher order than that of mere multitudinous extent. + The Hills that border the Valley of the Arno are also very pleasing and + striking to look upon; and the view of the rich Plain, glimmering away + into blue distance, covered with an endless web of villages and + country-houses, is one of the most delightful images of human well-being I + have ever seen.... + </p> + <p> + "Very shortly before leaving Florence, I went through the house of Michael + Angelo; which is still possessed by persons of the same family, + descendants, I believe, of his Nephew. There is in it his 'first work in + marble,' as it is called; and a few drawings,—all with the stamp of + his enginery upon them, which was more powerful than all the steam in + London.... On the whole, though I have done no work in Florence that can + be of any use or pleasure to others, except my Letters to my Wife,—I + leave it with the certainty of much valuable knowledge gained there, and + with a most pleasant remembrance of the busy and thoughtful days I owe to + it. + </p> + <p> + "We left Florence before seven yesterday morning [26th November] for this + place; travelling on the northern side of the Arno, by Prato, Pistoia, + Pescia. We tried to see some old frescos in a Church at Prato; but found + the Priests all about, saying mass; and of course did not venture to put + our hands into a hive where the bees were buzzing and on the wing. Pistoia + we only coasted. A little on one side of it, there is a Hill, the first on + the road from Florence; which we walked up, and had a very lively and + brilliant prospect over the road we had just travelled, and the town of + Pistoia. Thence to this place the whole land is beautiful, and in the + highest degree prosperous,—in short, to speak metaphorically, all + dotted with Leghorn bonnets, and streaming with olive-oil. The girls here + are said to employ themselves chiefly in platting straw, which is a + profitable employment; and the slightness and quiet of the work are said + to be much more favorable to beauty than the coarser kinds of labor + performed by the country-women elsewhere. Certain it is that I saw more + pretty women in Pescia, in the hour I spent there, than I ever before met + with among the same numbers of the 'phare sect.' Wherefore, as a memorial + of them, I bought there several Legends of Female Saints and Martyrs, and + of other Ladies quite the reverse, and held up as warnings; all of which + are written in <i>ottava rima</i>, and sold for three halfpence apiece. + But unhappily I have not yet had time to read them. This Town has 30,000 + inhabitants, and is surrounded by Walls, laid out as walks, and evidently + not at present intended to be besieged,—for which reason, this + morning, I merely walked on them round the Town, and did not besiege + them.... + </p> + <p> + "The Cathedral [of Lucca] contains some Relics; which have undoubtedly + worked miracles on the imagination of the people hereabouts. The + Grandfather of all Relics (as the Arabs would say) in the place is the <i>Volto + Santo</i>, which is a Face of the Saviour appertaining to a wooden + Crucifix. Now you must know that, after the ascension of Christ, Nicodemus + was ordered by an Angel to carve an image of him; and went accordingly + with a hatchet, and cut down a cedar for that purpose. He then proceeded + to carve the figure; and being tired, fell asleep before he had done the + face; which however, on awaking, he found completed by celestial aid. This + image was brought to Lucca, from Leghorn, I think, where it had arrived in + a ship, 'more than a thousand years ago,' and has ever since been kept, in + purple and fine linen and gold and diamonds, quietly working miracles. I + saw the gilt Shrine of it; and also a Hatchet which refused to cut off the + head of an innocent man, who had been condemned to death, and who prayed + to the <i>Volto Santo</i>. I suppose it is by way of economy (they being a + frugal people) that the Italians have their Book of Common Prayer and + their Arabian Nights' Entertainments condensed into one." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To the Same</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Pisa, December 2d</i>, 1838.—Pisa is very unfairly treated in + all the Books I have read. It seems to me a quiet, but very agreeable + place; with wide clean streets, and a look of stability and comfort; and I + admire the Cathedral and its appendages more, the more I see them. The + leaning of the Tower is to my eye decidedly unpleasant; but it is a + beautiful building nevertheless, and the view from the top is, under a + bright sky, remarkably lively and satisfactory. The Lucchese Hills form a + fine mass, and the sea must in clear weather be very distinct. There was + some haze over it when I was up, though the land was all clear. I could + just see the Leghorn Light-house. Leghorn itself I shall not be able to + visit.... + </p> + <p> + "The quiet gracefulness of Italian life, and the mental maturity and vigor + of Germany, have a great charm when compared with the restless whirl of + England, and the chorus of mingled yells and groans sent up by our parties + and sects, and by the suffering and bewildered crowds of the laboring + people. Our politics make my heart ache, whenever I think of them. The + base selfish frenzies of factions seem to me, at this distance, half + diabolic; and I am out of the way of knowing anything that may be quietly + a-doing to elevate the standard of wise and temperate manhood in the + country, and to diffuse the means of physical and moral well-being among + all the people.... I will write to my Father as soon as I can after + reaching the capital of his friend the Pope,—who, if he had happened + to be born an English gentleman, would no doubt by this time be a + respectable old-gentlemanly gouty member of the Carlton. I have often + amused myself by thinking what a mere accident it is that Phillpotts is + not Archbishop of Tuam, and M'Hale Bishop of Exeter; and how slight a + change of dress, and of a few catchwords, would even now enable them to + fill those respective posts with all the propriety and discretion they + display in their present positions." + </p> + <p> + At Rome he found the Crawfords, known to him long since; and at different + dates other English friends old and new; and was altogether in the + liveliest humor, no end to his activities and speculations. Of all which, + during the next four months, the Letters now before me give abundant + record,—far too abundant for our objects here. His grand pursuit, as + natural at Rome, was Art; into which metaphysical domain we shall not + follow him; preferring to pick out, here and there, something of concrete + and human. Of his interests, researches, speculations and descriptions on + this subject of Art, there is always rather a superabundance, especially + in the Italian Tour. Unfortunately, in the hard weather, poor Calvert fell + ill; and Sterling, along with his Art-studies, distinguished himself as a + sick-nurse till his poor comrade got afoot again. His general impressions + of the scene and what it held for him may be read in the following + excerpts. The Letters are all dated <i>Rome</i>, and addressed to his + Father or Mother:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>December 21st</i>, 1838.—Of Rome itself, as a whole, there are + infinite things to be said, well worth saying; but I shall confine myself + to two remarks: first, that while the Monuments and works of Art gain in + wondrousness and significance by familiarity with them, the actual life of + Rome, the Papacy and its pride, lose; and though one gets accustomed to + Cardinals and Friars and Swiss Guards, and ragged beggars and the finery + of London and Paris, all rolling on together, and sees how it is that they + subsist in a sort of spurious unity, one loses all tendency to idealize + the Metropolis and System of the Hierarchy into anything higher than a + piece of showy stage-declamation, at bottom, in our day, thoroughly mean + and prosaic. My other remark is, that Rome, seen from the tower of the + Capitol, from the Pincian or the Janiculum, is at this day one of the most + beautiful spectacles which eyes ever beheld. The company of great domes + rising from a mass of large and solid buildings, with a few stone-pines + and scattered edifices on the outskirts; the broken bare Campagna all + around; the Alban Hills not far, and the purple range of Sabine Mountains + in the distance with a cope of snow;—this seen in the clear air, and + the whole spiritualized by endless recollections, and a sense of the grave + and lofty reality of human existence which has had this place for a main + theatre, fills at once the eyes and heart more forcibly, and to me + delightfully, than I can find words to say." + </p> + <p> + "<i>January 22d</i>, 1839.—The Modern Rome, Pope and all inclusive, + are a shabby attempt at something adequate to fill the place of the old + Commonwealth. It is easy enough to live among them, and there is much to + amuse and even interest a spectator; but the native existence of the place + is now thin and hollow, and there is a stamp of littleness, and childish + poverty of taste, upon all the great Christian buildings I have seen here,—not + excepting St. Peter's; which is crammed with bits of colored marble and + gilding, and Gog-and-Magog colossal statues of saints (looking + prodigiously small), and mosaics from the worst pictures in Rome; and has + altogether, with most imposing size and lavish splendor, a tang of + Guildhall finery about it that contrasts oddly with the melancholy + vastness and simplicity of the Ancient Monuments, though these have not + the Athenian elegance. I recur perpetually to the galleries of Sculpture + in the Vatican, and to the Frescos of Raffael and Michael Angelo, of + inexhaustible beauty and greatness, and to the general aspect of the City + and the Country round it, as the most impressive scene on earth. But the + Modern City, with its churches, palaces, priests and beggars, is far from + sublime." + </p> + <p> + Of about the same date, here is another paragraph worth inserting: + "Gladstone has three little agate crosses which he will give you for my + little girls. Calvert bought them, as a present, for 'the bodies,' at + Martigny in Switzerland, and I have had no earlier opportunity of sending + them. Will you despatch them to Hastings when you have an opportunity? I + have not yet seen Gladstone's <i>Church and State</i>; but as there is a + copy in Rome, I hope soon to lay hands on it. I saw yesterday in the <i>Times</i> + a furious, and I am sorry to say, most absurd attack on him and it, and + the new Oxonian school." + </p> + <p> + "<i>February 28th, 1839</i>.—There is among the people plenty of + squalid misery; though not nearly so much as, they say, exists in Ireland; + and here there is a certain freedom and freshness of manners, a dash of + Southern enjoyment in the condition of the meanest and most miserable. + There is, I suppose, as little as well can be of conscience or artificial + cultivation of any kind; but there is not the affectation of a virtue + which they do not possess, nor any feeling of being despised for the want + of it; and where life generally is so inert, except as to its passions and + material wants, there is not the bitter consciousness of having been + beaten by the more prosperous, in a race which the greater number have + never thought of running. Among the laboring poor of Rome, a bribe will + buy a crime; but if common work procures enough for a day's food or + idleness, ten times the sum will not induce them to toil on, as an English + workman would, for the sake of rising in the world. Sixpence any day will + put any of them at the top of the only tree they care for,—that on + which grows the fruit of idleness. It is striking to see the way in which, + in magnificent churches, the most ragged beggars kneel on the pavement + before some favorite altar in the midst of well-dressed women and of + gazing foreigners. Or sometimes you will see one with a child come in from + the street where she has been begging, put herself in a corner, say a + prayer (probably for the success of her petitions), and then return to beg + again. There is wonderfully little of any moral strength connected with + this devotion; but still it is better than nothing, and more than is often + found among the men of the upper classes in Rome. I believe the Clergy to + be generally profligate, and the state of domestic morals as bad as it has + ever been represented."— + </p> + <p> + Or, in sudden contrast, take this other glance homeward; a Letter to his + eldest child; in which kind of Letters, more than in any other, Sterling + seems to me to excel. Readers recollect the hurricane in St. Vincent; the + hasty removal to a neighbor's house, and the birth of a son there, soon + after. The boy has grown to some articulation, during these seven years; + and his Father, from the new foreign scene of Priests and Dilettanti, thus + addresses him:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Master Edward C. Sterling, Hastings</i>. + "ROME, 21st January, 1839. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR EDWARD,—I was very glad to receive your Letter, which + showed me that you have learned something since I left home. If you knew + how much pleasure it gave me to see your handwriting, I am sure you would + take pains to be able to write well, that you might often send me letters, + and tell me a great many things which I should like to know about Mamma + and your Sisters as well as yourself. + </p> + <p> + "If I go to Vesuvius, I will try to carry away a bit of the lava, which + you wish for. There has lately been a great eruption, as it is called, of + that Mountain; which means a great breaking-out of hot ashes and fire, and + of melted stones which is called lava. + </p> + <p> + "Miss Clark is very kind to take so much pains with you; and I trust you + will show that you are obliged to her, by paying attention to all she + tells you. When you see how much more grown people know than you, you + ought to be anxious to learn all you can from those who teach you; and as + there are so many wise and good things written in Books, you ought to try + to read early and carefully; that you may learn something of what God has + made you able to know. There are Libraries containing very many thousands + of Volumes; and all that is written in these is,—accounts of some + part or other of the World which God has made, or of the Thoughts which he + has enabled men to have in their minds. Some Books are descriptions of the + earth itself, with its rocks and ground and water, and of the air and + clouds, and the stars and moon and sun, which shine so beautifully in the + sky. Some tell you about the things that grow upon the ground; the many + millions of plants, from little mosses and threads of grass up to great + trees and forests. Some also contain accounts of living things: flies, + worms, fishes, birds and four-legged beasts. And some, which are the most, + are about men and their thoughts and doings. These are the most important + of all; for men are the best and most wonderful creatures of God in the + world; being the only ones able to know him and love him, and to try of + their own accord to do his will. + </p> + <p> + "These Books about men are also the most important to us, because we + ourselves are human beings, and may learn from such Books what we ought to + think and to do and to try to be. Some of them describe what sort of + people have lived in old times and in other countries. By reading them, we + know what is the difference between ourselves in England now, and the + famous nations which lived in former days. Such were the Egyptians who + built the Pyramids, which are the greatest heaps of stone upon the face of + the earth: and the Babylonians, who had a city with huge walls, built of + bricks, having writing on them that no one in our time has been able to + make out. There were also the Jews, who were the only ancient people that + knew how wonderful and how good God is: and the Greeks, who were the + wisest of all in thinking about men's lives and hearts, and who knew best + how to make fine statues and buildings, and to write wise books. By Books + also we may learn what sort of people the old Romans were, whose chief + city was Rome, where I am now; and how brave and skilful they were in war; + and how well they could govern and teach many nations which they had + conquered. It is from Books, too, that you must learn what kind of men + were our Ancestors in the Northern part of Europe, who belonged to the + tribes that did the most towards pulling down the power of the Romans: and + you will see in the same way how Christianity was sent among them by God, + to make them wiser and more peaceful, and more noble in their minds; and + how all the nations that now are in Europe, and especially the Italians + and the Germans, and the French and the English, came to be what they now + are.—It is well worth knowing (and it can be known only by reading) + how the Germans found out the Printing of Books, and what great changes + this has made in the world. And everybody in England ought to try to + understand how the English came to have their Parliaments and Laws; and to + have fleets that sail over all seas of the world. + </p> + <p> + "Besides learning all these things, and a great many more about different + times and countries, you may learn from Books, what is the truth of God's + will, and what are the best and wisest thoughts, and the most beautiful + words; and how men are able to lead very right lives, and to do a great + deal to better the world. I have spent a great part of my life in reading; + and I hope you will come to like it as much as I do, and to learn in this + way all that I know. + </p> + <p> + "But it is a still more serious matter that you should try to be obedient + and gentle; and to command your temper; and to think of other people's + pleasure rather than your own, and of what you <i>ought</i> to do rather + than what you <i>like</i>. If you try to be better for all you read, as + well as wiser, you will find Books a great help towards goodness as well + as knowledge, and above all other Books, the Bible; which tells us of the + will of God, and of the love of Jesus Christ towards God and men. + </p> + <p> + "I had a Letter from Mamma to-day, which left Hastings on the 10th of this + month. I was very glad to find in it that you were all well and happy; but + I know Mamma is not well, and is likely to be more uncomfortable every day + for some time. So I hope you will all take care to give her as little + trouble as possible. After sending you so much advice, I shall write a + little Story to divert you.—I am, my dear Boy, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate Father, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + The "Story" is lost, destroyed, as are many such which Sterling wrote, + with great felicity, I am told, and much to the satisfaction of the young + folk, when the humor took him. + </p> + <p> + Besides these plentiful communications still left, I remember long + Letters, not now extant, principally addressed to his Wife, of which we + and the circle at Knightsbridge had due perusal, treating with animated + copiousness about all manner of picture-galleries, pictures, statues and + objects of Art at Rome, and on the road to Rome and from it, wheresoever + his course led him into neighborhood of such objects. That was Sterling's + habit. It is expected in this Nineteenth Century that a man of culture + shall understand and worship Art: among the windy gospels addressed to our + poor Century there are few louder than this of Art;—and if the + Century expects that every man shall do his duty, surely Sterling was not + the man to balk it! Various extracts from these picture-surveys are given + in Hare; the others, I suppose, Sterling himself subsequently destroyed, + not valuing them much. + </p> + <p> + Certainly no stranger could address himself more eagerly to reap what + artistic harvest Rome offers, which is reckoned the peculiar produce of + Rome among cities under the sun; to all galleries, churches, sistine + chapels, ruins, coliseums, and artistic or dilettante shrines he zealously + pilgrimed; and had much to say then and afterwards, and with real + technical and historical knowledge I believe, about the objects of + devotion there. But it often struck me as a question, Whether all this + even to himself was not, more or less, a nebulous kind of element; + prescribed not by Nature and her verities, but by the Century expecting + every man to do his duty? Whether not perhaps, in good part, temporary + dilettante cloudland of our poor Century;—or can it be the real + diviner Pisgah height, and everlasting mount of vision, for man's soul in + any Century? And I think Sterling himself bent towards a negative + conclusion, in the course of years. Certainly, of all subjects this was + the one I cared least to hear even Sterling talk of: indeed it is a + subject on which earnest men, abhorrent of hypocrisy and speech that has + no meaning, are admonished to silence in this sad time, and had better, in + such a Babel as we have got into for the present, "perambulate their + picture-gallery with little or no speech." + </p> + <p> + Here is another and to me much more earnest kind of "Art," which renders + Rome unique among the cities of the world; of this we will, in preference; + take a glance through Sterling's eyes:— + </p> + <p> + "January 22d, 1839.—On Friday last there was a great Festival at St. + Peter's; the only one I have seen. The Church was decorated with crimson + hangings, and the choir fitted up with seats and galleries, and a throne + for the Pope. There were perhaps a couple of hundred guards of different + kinds; and three or four hundred English ladies, and not so many foreign + male spectators; so that the place looked empty. The Cardinals in scarlet, + and Monsignori in purple, were there; and a body of officiating Clergy. + The Pope was carried in in his chair on men's shoulders, wearing the + Triple Crown; which I have thus actually seen: it is something like a + gigantic Egg, and of the same color, with three little bands of gold,—very + large Egg-shell with three streaks of the yolk smeared round it. He was + dressed in white silk robes, with gold trimmings. + </p> + <p> + "It was a fine piece of state-show; though, as there are three or four + such Festivals yearly, of course there is none of the eager interest which + breaks out at coronations and similar rare events; no explosion of + unwonted velvets, jewels, carriages and footmen, such as London and Milan + have lately enjoyed. I guessed all the people in St. Peter's, including + performers and spectators, at 2,000; where 20,000 would hardly have been a + crushing crowd. Mass was performed, and a stupid but short Latin sermon + delivered by a lad, in honor of St. Peter, who would have been much + astonished if he could have heard it. The genuflections, and + train-bearings, and folding up the tails of silk petticoats while the + Pontiff knelt, and the train of Cardinals going up to kiss his Ring, and + so forth,—made on me the impression of something immeasurably old + and sepulchral, such as might suit the Grand Lama's court, or the inside + of an Egyptian Pyramid; or as if the Hieroglyphics on one of the Obelisks + here should begin to pace and gesticulate, and nod their bestial heads + upon the granite tablets. The careless bystanders, the London ladies with + their eye-glasses and look of an Opera-box, the yawning young gentlemen of + the <i>Guarda Nobile</i>, and the laugh of one of the file of vermilion + Priests round the steps of the altar at the whispered good thing of his + neighbor, brought one back to nothing indeed of a very lofty kind, but + still to the Nineteenth Century."— + </p> + <p> + "At the great Benediction of the City and the World on Easter Sunday by + the Pope," he writes afterwards, "there was a large crowd both native and + foreign, hundreds of carriages, and thousands of the lower orders of + people from the country; but even of the poor hardly one in twenty took + off his hat, and a still smaller number knelt down. A few years ago, not a + head was covered, nor was there a knee which did not bow."—A very + decadent "Holiness of our Lord the Pope," it would appear!— + </p> + <p> + Sterling's view of the Pope, as seen in these his gala days, doing his big + play-actorism under God's earnest sky, was much more substantial to me + than his studies in the picture-galleries. To Mr. Hare also he writes: "I + have seen the Pope in all his pomp at St. Peter's; and he looked to me a + mere lie in livery. The Romish Controversy is doubtless a much more + difficult one than the managers of the Religious-Tract Society fancy, + because it is a theoretical dispute; and in dealing with notions and + authorities, I can quite understand how a mere student in a library, with + no eye for facts, should take either one side or other. But how any man + with clear head and honest heart, and capable of seeing realities, and + distinguishing them from scenic falsehoods, should, after living in a + Romanist country, and especially at Rome, be inclined to side with Leo + against Luther, I cannot understand." <a href="#linknote-20" + name="linknoteref-20" id="linknoteref-20"><small>20</small></a> + </p> + <p> + It is fit surely to recognize with admiring joy any glimpse of the + Beautiful and the Eternal that is hung out for us, in color, in form or + tone, in canvas, stone, or atmospheric air, and made accessible by any + sense, in this world: but it is greatly fitter still (little as we are + used that way) to shudder in pity and abhorrence over the scandalous + tragedy, transcendent nadir of human ugliness and contemptibility, which + under the daring title of religious worship, and practical recognition of + the Highest God, daily and hourly everywhere transacts itself there. And, + alas, not there only, but elsewhere, everywhere more or less; whereby our + sense is so blunted to it;—whence, in all provinces of human life, + these tears!— + </p> + <p> + But let us take a glance at the Carnival, since we are here. The Letters, + as before, are addressed to Knightsbridge; the date <i>Rome</i>:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>February 5th</i>, 1839.—The Carnival began yesterday. It is a + curious example of the trifling things which will heartily amuse tens of + thousands of grown people, precisely because they are trifling, and + therefore a relief from serious business, cares and labors. The Corso is a + street about a mile long, and about as broad as Jermyn Street; but + bordered by much loftier houses, with many palaces and churches, and has + two or three small squares opening into it. Carriages, mostly open, drove + up and down it for two or three hours; and the contents were shot at with + handfuls of comfits from the windows,—in the hope of making them as + non-content as possible,—while they returned the fire to the best of + their inferior ability. The populace, among whom was I, walked about; + perhaps one in fifty were masked in character; but there was little in the + masquerade either of splendor of costume or liveliness of mimicry. + However, the whole scene was very gay; there were a good many troops + about, and some of them heavy dragoons, who flourished their swords with + the magnanimity of our Life-Guards, to repel the encroachments of too + ambitious little boys. Most of the windows and balconies were hung with + colored drapery; and there were flags, trumpets, nosegays and flirtations + of all shapes and sizes. The best of all was, that there was laughter + enough to have frightened Cassius out of his thin carcass, could the lean + old homicide have been present, otherwise than as a fleshless ghost;—in + which capacity I thought I had a glimpse of him looking over the shoulder + of a particolored clown, in a carriage full of London Cockneys driving + towards the Capitol. This good-humored foolery will go on for several days + to come, ending always with the celebrated Horse-race, of horses without + riders. The long street is cleared in the centre by troops, and half a + dozen quadrupeds, ornamented like Grimaldi in a London pantomime, scamper + away, with the mob closing and roaring at their heels." + </p> + <p> + "<i>February</i> 9th, 1839.—The usual state of Rome is quiet and + sober. One could almost fancy the actual generation held their breath, and + stole by on tiptoe, in presence of so memorable a past. But during the + Carnival all mankind, womankind and childkind think it unbecoming not to + play the fool. The modern donkey pokes its head out of the lion's skin of + old Rome, and brays out the absurdest of asinine roundelays. Conceive + twenty thousand grown people in a long street, at the windows, on the + footways, and in carriages, amused day after day for several hours in + pelting and being pelted with handfuls of mock or real sugar-plums; and + this no name or presence, but real downright showers of plaster comfits, + from which people guard their eyes with meshes of wire. As sure as a + carriage passes under a window or balcony where are acquaintances of + theirs, down comes a shower of hail, ineffectually returned from below. + The parties in two crossing carriages similarly assault each other; and + there are long balconies hung the whole way with a deep canvas pocket full + of this mortal shot. One Russian Grand Duke goes with a troop of + youngsters in a wagon, all dressed in brown linen frocks and masked, and + pelts among the most furious, also being pelted. The children are of + course preeminently vigorous, and there is a considerable circulation of + real sugar-plums, which supply consolation for all disappointments." + </p> + <p> + The whole to conclude, as is proper, with a display, with two displays, of + fireworks; in which art, as in some others, Rome is unrivalled:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>February 9th</i>, 1839.—It seems to be the ambition of all the + lower classes to wear a mask and showy grotesque disguise of some kind; + and I believe many of the upper ranks do the same. They even put St. + Peter's into masquerade; and make it a Cathedral of Lamplight instead of a + stone one. Two evenings ago this feat was performed; and I was able to see + it from the rooms of a friend near this, which command an excellent view + of it. I never saw so beautiful an effect of artificial light. The evening + was perfectly serene and clear; the principal lines of the building, the + columns, architrave and pediment of the front, the two inferior cupolas, + the curves of the dome from which the dome rises, the ribs of the dome + itself, the small oriel windows between them, and the lantern and ball and + cross,—all were delineated in the clear vault of air by lines of + pale yellow fire. The dome of another great Church, much nearer to the + eye, stood up as a great black mass,—a funereal contrast to the + luminous tabernacle. + </p> + <p> + "While I was looking at this latter, a red blaze burst from the summit, + and at the same moment seemed to flash over the whole building, filling up + the pale outline with a simultaneous burst of fire. This is a celebrated + display; and is done, I believe, by the employment of a very great number + of men to light, at the same instant, the torches which are fixed for the + purpose all over the building. After the first glare of fire, I did not + think the second aspect of the building so beautiful as the first; it + wanted both softness and distinctness. The two most animated days of the + Carnival are still to come." + </p> + <p> + "<i>April 4th</i>, 1839.—We have just come to the termination of all + the Easter spectacles here. On Sunday evening St. Peter's was a second + time illuminated; I was in the Piazza, and admired the sight from a nearer + point than when I had seen it before at the time of the Carnival. + </p> + <p> + "On Monday evening the celebrated fire-works were let off from the Castle + of St. Angelo; they were said to be, in some respects more brilliant than + usual. I certainly never saw any fireworks comparable to them for beauty. + The Girandola is a discharge of many thousands of rockets at once, which + of course fall back, like the leaves of a lily, and form for a minute a + very beautiful picture. There was also in silvery light a very long Facade + of a Palace, which looked a residence for Oberon and Titania, and beat + Aladdin's into darkness. Afterwards a series of cascades of red fire + poured down the faces of the Castle and of the scaffoldings round it, and + seemed a burning Niagara. Of course there were abundance of serpents, + wheels and cannon-shot; there was also a display of dazzling white light, + which made a strange appearance on the houses, the river, the bridge, and + the faces of the multitude. The whole ended with a second and a more + splendid Girandola." + </p> + <p> + Take finally, to people the scene a little for us, if our imagination be + at all lively, these three small entries, of different dates, and so wind + up:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>December 30th</i>, 1838.—I received on Christmas-day a packet + from Dr. Carlyle, containing Letters from the Maurices; which were a very + pleasant arrival. The Dr. wrote a few lines with them, mentioning that he + was only at Civita Vecchia while the steamer baited on its way to Naples. + I have written to thank him for his despatches." + </p> + <p> + "<i>March 16th</i>, 1839.—I have seen a good deal of John Mill, + whose society I like much. He enters heartily into the interest of the + things which I most care for here, and I have seldom had more pleasure + than in taking him to see Raffael's Loggie, where are the Frescos called + his Bible, and to the Sixtine Chapel, which I admire and love more and + more. He is in very weak health, but as fresh and clear in mind as + possible.... English politics seem in a queer state, the Conservatives + creeping on, the Whigs losing ground; like combatants on the top of a + breach, while there is a social mine below which will probably blow both + parties into the air." + </p> + <p> + "<i>April 4th</i>, 1839.—I walked out on Tuesday on the Ancona Road, + and about noon met a travelling carriage, which from a distance looked + very suspicious, and on nearer approach was found really to contain + Captain Sterling and an Albanian manservant on the front, and behind under + the hood Mrs. A. Sterling and the she portion of the tail. They seemed + very well; and, having turned the Albanian back to the rear of the whole + machine, I sat by Anthony, and entered Rome in triumph."—Here is + indeed a conquest! Captain A. Sterling, now on his return from service in + Corfu, meets his Brother in this manner; and the remaining Roman days are + of a brighter complexion. As these suddenly ended, I believe he turned + southward, and found at Naples the Dr. Carlyle above mentioned (an + extremely intimate acquaintance of mine), who was still there. For we are + a most travelling people, we of this Island in this time; and, as the + Prophet threatened, see ourselves, in so many senses, made "like unto a + wheel!"— + </p> + <p> + Sterling returned from Italy filled with much cheerful imagery and + reminiscence, and great store of artistic, serious, dilettante and other + speculation for the time; improved in health, too; but probably little + enriched in real culture or spiritual strength; and indeed not permanently + altered by his tour in any respect to a sensible extent, that one could + notice. He returned rather in haste, and before the expected time; + summoned, about the middle of April, by his Wife's domestic situation at + Hastings; who, poor lady, had been brought to bed before her calculation, + and had in few days lost her infant; and now saw a household round her + much needing the master's presence. He hurried off to Malta, dreading the + Alps at that season; and came home, by steamer, with all speed, early in + May, 1839. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART3" id="link2H_PART3"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART III. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. CLIFTON. + </h2> + <p> + Matters once readjusted at Hastings, it was thought Sterling's health had + so improved, and his activities towards Literature so developed themselves + into congruity, that a permanent English place of abode might now again be + selected,—on the Southwest coast somewhere,—and the family + once more have the blessing of a home, and see its <i>lares</i> and <i>penates</i> + and household furniture unlocked from the Pantechnicon repositories, where + they had so long been lying. + </p> + <p> + Clifton, by Bristol, with its soft Southern winds and high cheerful + situation, recommended too by the presence of one or more valuable + acquaintances there, was found to be the eligible place; and thither in + this summer of 1839, having found a tolerable lodging, with the prospect + by and by of an agreeable house, he and his removed. This was the end of + what I call his "third peregrinity;"—or reckoning the West Indies + one, his fourth. This also is, since Bayswater, the fourth time his family + has had to shift on his account. Bayswater; then to Bordeaux, to + Blackheath and Knightsbridge (during the Madeira time), to Hastings (Roman + time); and now to Clifton, not to stay there either: a sadly nomadic life + to be prescribed to a civilized man! + </p> + <p> + At Clifton his habitation was speedily enough set up; household + conveniences, methods of work, daily promenades on foot or horseback, and + before long even a circle of friends, or of kindly neighborhoods ripening + into intimacy, were established round him. In all this no man could be + more expert or expeditious, in such cases. It was with singular facility, + in a loving, hoping manner, that he threw himself open to the new + interests and capabilities of the new place; snatched out of it whatsoever + of human or material would suit him; and in brief, in all senses had + pitched his tent-habitation, and grew to look on it as a house. It was + beautiful too, as well as pathetic. This man saw himself reduced to be a + dweller in tents, his house is but a stone tent; and he can so kindly + accommodate himself to that arrangement;—healthy faculty and + diseased necessity, nature and habit, and all manner of things primary and + secondary, original and incidental, conspiring now to make it easy for + him. With the evils of nomadism, he participated to the full in whatever + benefits lie in it for a man. + </p> + <p> + He had friends enough, old and new, at Clifton, whose intercourse made the + place human for him. Perhaps among the most valued of the former sort may + be mentioned Mrs. Edward Strachey, Widow of the late Indian Judge, who now + resided here; a cultivated, graceful, most devout and high-minded lady; + whom he had known in old years, first probably as Charles Buller's Aunt, + and whose esteem was constant for him, and always precious to him. She was + some ten or twelve years older than he; she survived him some years, but + is now also gone from us. Of new friends acquired here, besides a skilful + and ingenious Dr. Symonds, physician as well as friend, the principal was + Francis Newman, then and still an ardently inquiring soul, of fine + University and other attainments, of sharp-cutting, restlessly advancing + intellect, and the mildest pious enthusiasm; whose worth, since better + known to all the world, Sterling highly estimated;—and indeed + practically testified the same; having by will appointed him, some years + hence, guardian to his eldest Son; which pious function Mr. Newman now + successfully discharges. + </p> + <p> + Sterling was not long in certainty as to his abode at Clifton: alas, where + could he long be so? Hardly six months were gone when his old enemy again + overtook him; again admonished him how frail his hopes of permanency were. + Each winter, it turned out, he had to fly; and after the second of these, + he quitted the place altogether. Here, meanwhile, in a Letter to myself, + and in Excerpts from others, are some glimpses of his advent and first + summer there:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Clifton, June 11th</i>, 1839.—As yet I am personally very + uncomfortable from the general confusion of this house, which deprives me + of my room to sit and read and write in; all being more or less lumbered + by boxes, and invaded by servile domesticities aproned, handled, bristled, + and of nondescript varieties. We have very fine warm weather, with + occasional showers; and the verdure of the woods and fields is very + beautiful. Bristol seems as busy as need be; and the shops and all kinds + of practical conveniences are excellent; but those of Clifton have the + usual sentimental, not to say meretricious fraudulence of commercial + establishments in Watering-places. + </p> + <p> + "The bag which Hannah forgot reached us safely at Bath on Friday morning; + but I cannot quite unriddle the mystery of the change of padlocks, for I + left the right one in care of the Head Steam-engine at Paddington, which + seemed a very decent person with a good black coat on, and a pen behind + its ear. I have been meditating much on the story of Palarea's 'box of + papers;' which does not appear to be in my possession, and I have a strong + impression that I gave it to young Florez Calderon. I will write to say so + to Madam Torrijos speedily." Palarea, Dr. Palarea, I understand, was "an + old guerilla leader whom they called <i>El Medico</i>." Of him and of the + vanished shadows, now gone to Paris, to Madrid, or out of the world, let + us say nothing! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Mr. Carlyle</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>June 15th</i>, 1839.—We have a room now occupied by Robert + Barton [a brother-in-law]; to which Anthony may perhaps succeed; but which + after him, or in lieu of him, would expand itself to receive you. Is there + no hope of your coming? I would undertake to ride with you at all possible + paces, and in all existing directions. + </p> + <p> + "As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of a + certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a <i>Canal</i>; but the other + apparatus of life is gathered about me, and performs its diurnal + functions. The place pleases me better than I expected: a far lookout on + all sides, over green country; a sufficient old City lying in the hollow + near; and civilization, in no tumultuous state, rather indeed stagnant, + visible in the Rows of Houses and Gardens which call themselves Clifton. I + hope soon to take a lease of a house, where I may arrange myself more + methodically; keep myself equably boiling in my own kitchen; and spread + myself over a series of book-shelves.... I have just been interrupted by a + visit from Mrs. Strachey; with whom I dined yesterday. She seems a very + good and thoroughly kind-hearted woman; and it is pleasant to have her for + a neighbor.... I have read Emerson's Pamphlets. I should find it more + difficult than ever to write to him." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Father</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>June 30th</i>, 1839.—Of Books I shall have no lack, though no + plethora; and the Reading-room supplies all one can want in the way of + Papers and Reviews. I go there three or four times a week, and inquire how + the human race goes on. I suppose this Turco-Egyptian War will throw + several diplomatists into a state of great excitement, and massacre a good + many thousands of Africans and Asiatics?—For the present, it + appears, the English Education Question is settled. I wish the Government + had said that, in their inspection and superintendence, they would look + only to secular matters, and leave religious ones to the persons who set + up the schools, whoever these might be. It seems to me monstrous that the + State should be prevented taking any efficient measures for teaching Roman + Catholic children to read, write and cipher, merely because they believe + in the Pope, and the Pope is an impostor,—which I candidly confess + he is! There is no question which I can so ill endure to see made a party + one as that of Education."—The following is of the same day:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "MANOR HOUSE, CLIFTON PLACE, CLIFTON, + "30th June, 1839. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CARLYLE,—I have heard, this morning, from my Father, that + you are to set out on Tuesday for Scotland: so I have determined to fillip + away some spurt of ink in your direction, which may reach you before you + move towards Thule. + </p> + <p> + "Writing to you, in fact, is considerably easier than writing about you; + which has been my employment of late, at leisure moments,—that is, + moments of leisure from idleness, not work. As you partly guessed, I took + in hand a Review of <i>Teufelsdrockh</i>—for want of a better + Heuschrecke to do the work; and when I have been well enough, and alert + enough, during the last fortnight, have tried to set down some notions + about Tobacco, Radicalism, Christianity, Assafoetida and so forth. But a + few abortive pages are all the result as yet. If my speculations should + ever see daylight, they may chance to get you into scrapes, but will + certainly get me into worse.... But one must work; <i>sic itur ad astra</i>,—and + the <i>astra</i> are always there to befriend one, at least as asterisks, + filling up the gaps which yawn in vain for words. + </p> + <p> + "Except my unsuccessful efforts to discuss you and your offences, I have + done nothing that leaves a trace behind;—unless the endeavor to + teach my little boy the Latin declensions shall be found, at some time + short of the Last Day, to have done so. I have—rather I think from + dyspepsia than dyspneumony—been often and for days disabled from + doing anything but read. In this way I have gone through a good deal of + Strauss's Book; which is exceedingly clever and clearheaded; with more of + insight, and less of destructive rage than I expected. It will work deep + and far, in such a time as ours. When so many minds are distracted about + the history, or rather genesis of the Gospel, it is a great thing for + partisans on the one side to have, what the other never have wanted, a + Book of which they can say, This is our Creed and Code,—or rather + Anti-creed and Anti-code. And Strauss seems perfectly secure against the + sort of answer to which Voltaire's critical and historical shallowness + perpetually exposed him. I mean to read the Book through. It seems + admitted that the orthodox theologians have failed to give any sufficient + answer.—I have also looked through Michelet's <i>Luther</i>, with + great delight; and have read the fourth volume of Coleridge's <i>Literary + Remains</i>, in which there are things that would interest you. He has a + great hankering after Cromwell, and explicitly defends the execution of + Charles. + </p> + <p> + "Of Mrs. Strachey we have seen a great deal; and might have seen more, had + I had time and spirits for it. She is a warm-hearted, enthusiastic + creature, whom one cannot but like. She seems always excited by the wish + for more excitement than her life affords. And such a person is always in + danger of doing something less wise than his best knowledge and + aspirations; because he must do something, and circumstances do not allow + him to do what he desires. Thence, after the first glow of novelty, + endless self-tormenting comes from the contrast between aims and acts. She + sets out, with her daughter and two boys, for a Tour in Wales to-morrow + morning. Her talk of you is always most affectionate; and few, I guess, + will read <i>Sartor</i> with more interest than she. + </p> + <p> + "I am still in a very extempore condition as to house, books, &c. One + which I have hired for three years will be given up to me in the middle of + August; and then I may hope to have something like a house,—so far + as that is possible for any one to whom Time itself is often but a worse + or a better kind of cave in the desert. We have had rainy and cheerless + weather almost since the day of our arrival. But the sun now shines more + lovingly, and the skies seem less disdainful of man and his perplexities. + The earth is green, abundant and beautiful. But human life, so far as I + can learn, is mean and meagre enough in its purposes, however striking to + the speculative or sentimental bystander. Pray be assured that whatever + you may say of the 'landlord at Clifton,' <a href="#linknote-21" + name="linknoteref-21" id="linknoteref-21"><small>21</small></a> the more I + know of him, the less I shall like him. Well with me if I can put up with + him for the present, and make use of him, till at last I can joyfully turn + him off forever! + </p> + <p> + "Love to you Wife and self. My little Charlotte desires me to tell you + that she has new shoes for her Doll, which she will show you when you + come. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + The visit to Clifton never took effect; nor to any of Sterling's + subsequent homes; which now is matter of regret to me. Concerning the + "Review of <i>Teufelsdrockh</i>" there will be more to say anon. As to + "little Charlotte and her Doll," I remember well enough and was more than + once reminded, this bright little creature, on one of my first visits to + Bayswater, had earnestly applied to me to put her Doll's shoes on for her; + which feat was performed.—The next fragment indicates a household + settled, fallen into wholesome routine again; and may close the series + here:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>July 22d</i>, 1839.—A few evenings ago we went to Mr. Griffin's, + and met there Dr. Prichard, the author of a well-known Book on the <i>Races + of Mankind</i>, to which it stands in the same relation among English + books as the Racing Calendar does to those of Horsekind. He is a very + intelligent, accomplished person. We had also there the Dean; a certain + Dr. —— of Corpus College, Cambridge (a booby); and a clever + fellow, a Mr. Fisher, one of the Tutors of Trinity in my days. We had a + very pleasant evening."— + </p> + <p> + At London we were in the habit of expecting Sterling pretty often; his + presence, in this house as in others, was looked for, once in the month or + two, and came always as sunshine in the gray weather to me and mine. My + daily walks with him had long since been cut short without renewal; that + walk to Eltham and Edgeworth's perhaps the last of the kind he and I had: + but our intimacy, deepening and widening year after year, knew no + interruption or abatement of increase; an honest, frank and truly human + mutual relation, valuable or even invaluable to both parties, and a + lasting loss, hardly to be replaced in this world, to the survivor of the + two. + </p> + <p> + His visits, which were usually of two or three days, were always full of + business, rapid in movement as all his life was. To me, if possible, he + would come in the evening; a whole cornucopia of talk and speculation was + to be discharged. If the evening would not do, and my affairs otherwise + permitted, I had to mount into cabs with him; fly far and wide, shuttling + athwart the big Babel, wherever his calls and pauses had to be. This was + his way to husband time! Our talk, in such straitened circumstances, was + loud or low as the circumambient groaning rage of wheels and sound + prescribed,—very loud it had to be in such thoroughfares as London + Bridge and Cheapside; but except while he was absent, off for minutes into + some banker's office, lawyer's, stationer's, haberdasher's or what office + there might be, it never paused. In this way extensive strange dialogues + were carried on: to me also very strange,—private friendly + colloquies, on all manner of rich subjects, held thus amid the chaotic + roar of things. Sterling was full of speculations, observations and bright + sallies; vividly awake to what was passing in the world; glanced + pertinently with victorious clearness, without spleen, though often enough + with a dash of mockery, into its Puseyisms, Liberalisms, literary + Lionisms, or what else the mad hour might be producing,—always + prompt to recognize what grain of sanity might be in the same. He was + opulent in talk, and the rapid movement and vicissitude on such occasions + seemed to give him new excitement. + </p> + <p> + Once, I still remember,—it was some years before, probably in May, + on his return from Madeira,—he undertook a day's riding with me; + once and never again. We coursed extensively, over the Hampstead and + Highgate regions, and the country beyond, sauntering or galloping through + many leafy lanes and pleasant places, in ever-flowing, ever-changing talk; + and returned down Regent Street at nightfall: one of the cheerfulest days + I ever had;—not to be repeated, said the Fates. Sterling was + charming on such occasions: at once a child and a gifted man. A serious + fund of thought he always had, a serious drift you never missed in him: + nor indeed had he much depth of real laughter or sense of the ludicrous, + as I have elsewhere said; but what he had was genuine, free and continual: + his sparkling sallies bubbled up as from aerated natural fountains; a mild + dash of gayety was native to the man, and had moulded his physiognomy in a + very graceful way. We got once into a cab, about Charing Cross; I know not + now whence or well whitherward, nor that our haste was at all special; + however, the cabman, sensible that his pace was slowish, took to whipping, + with a steady, passionless, businesslike assiduity which, though the horse + seemed lazy rather than weak, became afflictive; and I urged remonstrance + with the savage fellow: "Let him alone," answered Sterling; "he is + kindling the enthusiasm of his horse, you perceive; that is the first + thing, then we shall do very well!"—as accordingly we did. + </p> + <p> + At Clifton, though his thoughts began to turn more on poetic forms of + composition, he was diligent in prose elaborations too,—doing + Criticism, for one thing, as we incidentally observed. He wrote there, and + sent forth in this autumn of 1839, his most important contribution to John + Mill's Review, the article on <i>Carlyle</i>, which stands also in Mr. + Hare's collection. <a href="#linknote-22" name="linknoteref-22" + id="linknoteref-22"><small>22</small></a> What its effect on the public + was I knew not, and know not; but remember well, and may here be permitted + to acknowledge, the deep silent joy, not of a weak or ignoble nature, + which it gave to myself in my then mood and situation; as it well might. + The first generous human recognition, expressed with heroic emphasis, and + clear conviction visible amid its fiery exaggeration, that one's poor + battle in this world is not quite a mad and futile, that it is perhaps a + worthy and manful one, which will come to something yet: this fact is a + memorable one in every history; and for me Sterling, often enough the + stiff gainsayer in our private communings, was the doer of this. The + thought burnt in me like a lamp, for several days; lighting up into a kind + of heroic splendor the sad volcanic wrecks, abysses, and convulsions of + said poor battle, and secretly I was very grateful to my daring friend, + and am still, and ought to be. What the public might be thinking about him + and his audacities, and me in consequence, or whether it thought at all, I + never learned, or much heeded to learn. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's gainsaying had given way on many points; but on others it + continued stiff as ever, as may be seen in that article; indeed he fought + Parthian-like in such cases, holding out his last position as doggedly as + the first: and to some of my notions he seemed to grow in stubbornness of + opposition, with the growing inevitability, and never would surrender. + Especially that doctrine of the "greatness and fruitfulness of Silence," + remained afflictive and incomprehensible: "Silence?" he would say: "Yes, + truly; if they give you leave to proclaim silence by cannon-salvos! My + Harpocrates-Stentor!" In like manner, "Intellect and Virtue," how they are + proportional, or are indeed one gift in us, the same great summary of + gifts; and again, "Might and Right," the identity of these two, if a man + will understand this God's-Universe, and that only he who conforms to the + law of it can in the long-run have any "might:" all this, at the first + blush, often awakened Sterling's musketry upon me, and many volleys I have + had to stand,—the thing not being decidable by that kind of weapon + or strategy. + </p> + <p> + In such cases your one method was to leave our friend in peace. By + small-arms practice no mortal could dislodge him: but if you were in the + right, the silent hours would work continually for you; and Sterling, more + certainly than any man, would and must at length swear fealty to the + right, and passionately adopt it, burying all hostilities under foot. A + more candid soul, once let the stormful velocities of it expend + themselves, was nowhere to be met with. A son of light, if I have ever + seen one; recognizing the truth, if truth there were; hurling overboard + his vanities, petulances, big and small interests, in ready loyalty to + truth: very beautiful; at once a loyal child, as I said, and a gifted man!—Here + is a very pertinent passage from one of his Letters, which, though the + name continues blank, I will insert:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Father</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>October 15th</i>, 1839.—As to my 'over-estimate of ——,' + your expressions rather puzzle me. I suppose there may be, at the outside, + a hundred persons in England whose opinions on such a matter are worth as + much as mine. If by 'the public' you and my Mother mean the other + ninety-nine, I submit. I have no doubt that, on any matter not relating + peculiarly to myself, the judgment of the ninety-nine most philosophical + heads in the country, if unanimous, would be right, and mine, if opposed + to them, wrong. But then I am at a loss to make out, How the decision of + the very few really competent persons has been ascertained to be thus in + contradiction to me? And on the other hand, I conceive myself, from my + opportunities, knowledge and attention to the subject, to be alone quite + entitled to outvote tens of thousands of gentlemen, however much my + superiors as men of business, men of the world, or men of merely dry or + merely frivolous literature. + </p> + <p> + "I do not remember ever before to have heard the saying, whether of + Talleyrand or of any one else, That <i>all</i> the world is a wiser man + than any man in the world. Had it been said even by the Devil, it would + nevertheless be false. I have often indeed heard the saying, <i>On peut + etre plus FIN qu'un autre, mais pas plus FIN que tous les autres</i>. But + observe that '<i>fin</i>' means <i>cunning</i>, not <i>wise</i>. The + difference between this assertion and the one you refer to is curious and + worth examining. It is quite certain, there is always some one man in the + world wiser than all the rest; as Socrates was declared by the oracle to + be; and as, I suppose, Bacon was in his day, and perhaps Burke in his. + There is also some one, whose opinion would be probably true, if opposed + to that of all around him; and it is always indubitable that the wise men + are the scores, and the unwise the millions. The millions indeed come + round, in the course of a generation or two, to the opinions of the wise; + but by that time a new race of wise men have again shot ahead of their + contemporaries: so it has always been, and so, in the nature of things, it + always must be. But with cunning, the matter is quite different. Cunning + is not <i>dishonest wisdom</i>, which would be a contradiction in terms; + it is <i>dishonest prudence</i>, acuteness in practice, not in thought: + and though there must always be some one the most cunning in the world, as + well as some one the most wise, these two superlatives will fare very + differently in the world. In the case of cunning, the shrewdness of a + whole people, of a whole generation, may doubtless be combined against + that of the one, and so triumph over it; which was pretty much the case + with Napoleon. But although a man of the greatest cunning can hardly + conceal his designs and true character from millions of unfriendly eyes, + it is quite impossible thus to club the eyes of the mind, and to + constitute by the union of ten thousand follies an equivalent for a single + wisdom. A hundred school-boys can easily unite and thrash their one + master; but a hundred thousand school-boys would not be nearer than a + score to knowing as much Greek among them as Bentley or Scaliger. To all + which, I believe, you will assent as readily as I;—and I have + written it down only because I have nothing more important to say."— + </p> + <p> + Besides his prose labors, Sterling had by this time written, publishing + chiefly in <i>Blackwood</i>, a large assortment of verses, <i>Sexton's + Daughter</i>, <i>Hymns of a Hermit</i>, and I know not what other + extensive stock of pieces; concerning which he was now somewhat at a loss + as to his true course. He could write verses with astonishing facility, in + any given form of metre; and to various readers they seemed excellent, and + high judges had freely called them so, but he himself had grave misgivings + on that latter essential point. In fact here once more was a parting of + the ways, "Write in Poetry; write in Prose?" upon which, before all else, + it much concerned him to come to a settlement. + </p> + <p> + My own advice was, as it had always been, steady against Poetry; and we + had colloquies upon it, which must have tried his patience, for in him + there was a strong leaning the other way. But, as I remarked and urged: + Had he not already gained superior excellence in delivering, by way of <i>speech</i> + or prose, what thoughts were in him, which is the grand and only intrinsic + function of a writing man, call him by what title you will? Cultivate that + superior excellence till it become a perfect and superlative one. Why <i>sing</i> + your bits of thoughts, if you <i>can</i> contrive to speak them? By your + thought, not by your mode of delivering it, you must live or die.—Besides + I had to observe there was in Sterling intrinsically no depth of <i>tune</i>; + which surely is the real test of a Poet or Singer, as distinguished from a + Speaker? In music proper he had not the slightest ear; all music was mere + impertinent noise to him, nothing in it perceptible but the mere march or + time. Nor in his way of conception and utterance, in the verses he wrote, + was there any contradiction, but a constant confirmation to me, of that + fatal prognostic;—as indeed the whole man, in ear and heart and + tongue, is one; and he whose soul does not sing, need not try to do it + with his throat. Sterling's verses had a monotonous rub-a-dub, instead of + tune; no trace of music deeper than that of a well-beaten drum; to which + limited range of excellence the substance also corresponded; being + intrinsically always a rhymed and slightly rhythmical <i>speech</i>, not a + <i>song</i>. + </p> + <p> + In short, all seemed to me to say, in his case: "You can speak with + supreme excellence; sing with considerable excellence you never can. And + the Age itself, does it not, beyond most ages, demand and require clear + speech; an Age incapable of being sung to, in any but a trivial manner, + till these convulsive agonies and wild revolutionary overturnings readjust + themselves? Intelligible word of command, not musical psalmody and + fiddling, is possible in this fell storm of battle. Beyond all ages, our + Age admonishes whatsoever thinking or writing man it has: Oh, speak to me + some wise intelligible speech; your wise meaning in the shortest and + clearest way; behold I am dying for want of wise meaning, and insight into + the devouring fact: speak, if you have any wisdom! As to song so called, + and your fiddling talent,—even if you have one, much more if you + have none,—we will talk of that a couple of centuries hence, when + things are calmer again. Homer shall be thrice welcome; but only when Troy + is <i>taken</i>: alas, while the siege lasts, and battle's fury rages + everywhere, what can I do with the Homer? I want Achilleus and Odysseus, + and am enraged to see them trying to be Homers!"— + </p> + <p> + Sterling, who respected my sincerity, and always was amenable enough to + counsel, was doubtless much confused by such contradictory diagnosis of + his case. The question, Poetry or Prose? became more and more pressing, + more and more insoluble. He decided, at last, to appeal to the public upon + it;—got ready, in the late autumn, a small select Volume of his + verses; and was now busy pushing it through the press. Unfortunately, in + the mean while, a grave illness, of the old pulmonary sort, overtook him, + which at one time threatened to be dangerous. This is a glance again into + his interior household in these circumstances:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 21st</i>, 1839.—The Tin box came quite safe, with all + its miscellaneous contents. I suppose we are to thank you for the <i>Comic + Almanac</i>, which, as usual, is very amusing; and for the Book on <i>Watt</i>, + which disappointed me. The scientific part is no doubt very good, and + particularly clear and simple; but there is nothing remarkable in the + account of Watt's character; and it is an absurd piece of French + impertinence in Arago to say, that England has not yet learnt to + appreciate men like Watt, because he was not made a peer; which, were our + peerage an institution like that of France, would have been very proper. + </p> + <p> + "I have now finished correcting the proofs of my little Volume of Poems. + It has been a great plague to me, and one that I would not have incurred, + had I expected to be laid up as I have been; but the matter was begun + before I had any notion of being disabled by such an illness,—the + severest I have suffered since I went to the West Indies. The Book will, + after all, be a botched business in many respects; and I much doubt + whether it will pay its expenses: but I try to consider it as out of my + hands, and not to fret myself about it. I shall be very curious to see + Carlyle's Tractate on <i>Chartism</i>; which"—But we need not enter + upon that. + </p> + <p> + Sterling's little Book was printed at his own expense; <a + href="#linknote-23" name="linknoteref-23" id="linknoteref-23"><small>23</small></a> + published by Moxon in the very end of this year. It carries an appropriate + and pretty Epigraph:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Feeling, Thought, and Fancy be + Gentle sister Graces three: + If these prove averse to me, + They will punish,—pardon Ye!" +</pre> + <p> + He had dedicated the little Volume to Mr. Hare;—and he submitted + very patiently to the discouraging neglect with which it was received by + the world; for indeed the "Ye" said nothing audible, in the way of pardon + or other doom; so that whether the "sister Graces" were averse or not, + remained as doubtful as ever. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. TWO WINTERS. + </h2> + <p> + As we said above, it had been hoped by Sterling's friends, not very + confidently by himself, that in the gentler air of Clifton his health + might so far recover as to enable him to dispense with autumnal voyages, + and to spend the year all round in a house of his own. These hopes, + favorable while the warm season lasted, broke down when winter came. In + November of this same year, while his little Volume was passing through + the press, bad and worse symptoms, spitting of blood to crown the sad + list, reappeared; and Sterling had to equip himself again, at this late + season, for a new flight to Madeira; wherein the good Calvert, himself + suffering, and ready on all grounds for such an adventure, offered to + accompany him. Sterling went by land to Falmouth, meaning there to wait + for Calvert, who was to come by the Madeira Packet, and there take him on + board. + </p> + <p> + Calvert and the Packet did arrive, in stormy January weather; which + continued wildly blowing for weeks; forbidding all egress Westward, + especially for invalids. These elemental tumults, and blustering wars of + sea and sky, with nothing but the misty solitude of Madeira in the + distance, formed a very discouraging outlook. In the mean while Falmouth + itself had offered so many resources, and seemed so tolerable in climate + and otherwise, while this wintry ocean looked so inhospitable for + invalids, it was resolved our voyagers should stay where they were till + spring returned. Which accordingly was done; with good effect for that + season, and also with results for the coming seasons. Here again, from + Letters to Knightsbridge, are some glimpses of his winter-life:— + </p> + <p> + "<i>Falmouth, February 5th</i>, 1840.—I have been to-day to see a + new tin-mine, two or three miles off, which is expected to turn into a + copper-mine by and by, so they will have the two constituents of bronze + close together. This, by the way, was the 'brass' of Homer and the + Ancients generally, who do not seem to have known our brass made of copper + and zinc. Achilles in his armor must have looked like a bronze statue.—I + took Sheridan's advice, and did not go down the mine." + </p> + <p> + "<i>February 15th</i>.—To some iron-works the other day; where I saw + half the beam of a great steam-engine, a piece of iron forty feet long and + seven broad, cast in about five minutes. It was a very striking spectacle. + I hope to go to Penzance before I leave this country, and will not fail to + tell you about it." He did make trial of Penzance, among other places, + next year; but only of Falmouth this. + </p> + <p> + "<i>February 20th</i>.—I am going on <i>asy</i> here, in spite of a + great change of weather. The East-winds are come at last, bringing with + them snow, which has been driving about for the last twenty-four hours; + not falling heavily, nor lying long when fallen. Neither is it as yet very + cold, but I suppose there will be some six weeks of unpleasant + temperature. The marine climate of this part of England will, no doubt, + modify and mollify the air into a happier sort of substance than that you + breathe in London. + </p> + <p> + "The large vessels that had been lying here for weeks, waiting for a wind, + have now sailed; two of them for the East Indies, and having three hundred + soldiers on board. It is a curious thing that the long-continued westerly + winds had so prevented the coasters arriving, that the Town was almost on + the point of a famine as to bread. The change has brought in abundance of + flour.—The people in general seem extremely comfortable; their + houses are excellent, almost all of stone. Their habits are very little + agricultural, but mining and fishing seem to prosper with them. There are + hardly any gentry here; I have not seen more than two gentlemen's + carriages in the Town; indeed I think the nearest one comes from five + miles off.... + </p> + <p> + "I have been obliged to try to occupy myself with Natural Science, in + order to give some interest to my walks; and have begun to feel my way in + Geology. I have now learnt to recognize three or four of the common kinds + of stone about here, when I see them; but I find it stupid work compared + with Poetry and Philosophy. In the mornings, however, for an hour or so + before I get up, I generally light my candle, and try to write some + verses; and since I have been here, I have put together short poems, + almost enough for another small volume. In the evenings I have gone on + translating some of Goethe. But six or seven hours spent on my legs, in + the open air, do not leave my brain much energy for thinking. Thus my life + is a dull and unprofitable one, but still better than it would have been + in Madeira or on board ship. I hear from Susan every day, and write to her + by return of post." + </p> + <p> + At Falmouth Sterling had been warmly welcomed by the well-known Quaker + family of the Foxes, principal people in that place, persons of cultivated + opulent habits, and joining to the fine purities and pieties of their sect + a reverence for human intelligence in all kinds; to whom such a visitor as + Sterling was naturally a welcome windfall. The family had grave elders, + bright cheery younger branches, men and women; truly amiable all, after + their sort: they made a pleasant image of home for Sterling in his winter + exile. "Most worthy, respectable and highly cultivated people, with a + great deal of money among them," writes Sterling in the end of February; + "who make the place pleasant to me. They are connected with all the large + Quaker circle, the Gurneys, Frys, &c., and also with Buxton the + Abolitionist. It is droll to hear them talking of all the common topics of + science, literature, and life, and in the midst of it: 'Does thou know + Wordsworth?' or, 'Did thou see the Coronation?' or 'Will thou take some + refreshment?' They are very kind and pleasant people to know." + </p> + <p> + "Calvert," continues our Diarist, "is better than he lately was, though he + has not been at all laid up. He shoots little birds, and dissects and + stuffs them; while I carry a hammer, and break flints and slates, to look + for diamonds and rubies inside; and admire my success in the evening, when + I empty my great-coat pocket of its specimens. On the whole, I doubt + whether my physical proceedings will set the Thames on fire. Give my love + to Anthony's Charlotte; also remember me affectionately to the Carlyles."— + </p> + <p> + At this time, too, John Mill, probably encouraged by Sterling, arrived in + Falmouth, seeking refuge of climate for a sickly younger Brother, to whom + also, while he continued there, and to his poor patient, the doors and + hearts of this kind family were thrown wide open. Falmouth, during these + winter weeks, especially while Mill continued, was an unexpectedly + engaging place to Sterling; and he left it in spring, for Clifton, with a + very kindly image of it in his thoughts. So ended, better than it might + have done, his first year's flight from the Clifton winter. + </p> + <p> + In April, 1840, he was at his own hearth again; cheerily pursuing his old + labors,—struggling to redeem, as he did with a gallant constancy, + the available months and days, out of the wreck of so many that were + unavailable, for the business allotted him in this world. His swift, + decisive energy of character; the valiant rally he made again and ever + again, starting up fresh from amid the wounded, and cheerily storming in + anew, was admirable, and showed a noble fund of natural health amid such + an element of disease. Somehow one could never rightly fancy that he was + diseased; that those fatal ever-recurring downbreaks were not almost + rather the penalties paid for exuberance of health, and of faculty for + living and working; criminal forfeitures, incurred by excess of + self-exertion and such irrepressible over-rapidity of movement: and the + vague hope was habitual with us, that increase of years, as it deadened + this over-energy, would first make the man secure of life, and a sober + prosperous worker among his fellows. It was always as if with a kind of + blame that one heard of his being ill again! Poor Sterling;—no man + knows another's burden: these things were not, and were not to be, in the + way we had fancied them! + </p> + <p> + Summer went along in its usual quiet tenor at Clifton; health good, as + usual while the warm weather lasted, and activity abundant; the scene as + still as the busiest could wish. "You metropolitan signors," writes + Sterling to his Father, "cannot conceive the dulness and scantiness of our + provincial chronicle." Here is a little excursion to the seaside; the lady + of the family being again,—for good reasons,—in a weakly + state:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London</i>. + "PORTSHEAD, BRISTOL, 1st Sept., 1840. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR FATHER,—This place is a southern headland at the mouth of + the Avon. Susan, and the Children too, were all suffering from languor; + and as she is quite unfit to travel in a carriage, we were obliged to + move, if at all, to some place accessible by water; and this is the + nearest where we could get the fresher air of the Bristol Channel. We sent + to take a house, for a week; and came down here in a steamer yesterday + morning. It seems likely to do every one good. We have a comfortable + house, with eight rather small bedrooms, for which we pay four guineas and + a half for the week. We have brought three of our own maids, and leave one + to take care of the house at Clifton. + </p> + <p> + "A week ago my horse fell with me, but did not hurt seriously either + himself or me: it was, however, rather hard that, as there were six legs + to be damaged, the one that did scratch itself should belong to the part + of the machine possessing only two, instead of the quadrupedal portion. I + grazed about the size of a halfpenny on my left knee; and for a couple of + days walked about as if nothing had happened. I found, however, that the + skin was not returning correctly; and so sent for a doctor: he treated the + thing as quite insignificant, but said I must keep my leg quiet for a few + days. It is still not quite healed; and I lie all day on a sofa, much to + my discomposure; but the thing is now rapidly disappearing; and I hope, in + a day or two more, I shall be free again. I find I can do no work, while + thus crippled in my leg. The man in Horace who made verses <i>stans pede + in uno</i> had the advantage of me. + </p> + <p> + "The Great Western came in last night about eleven, and has just been + making a flourish past our windows; looking very grand, with four + streamers of bunting, and one of smoke. Of course I do not yet know + whether I have Letters by her, as if so they will have gone to Clifton + first. This place is quiet, green and pleasant; and will suit us very + well, if we have good weather, of which there seems every appearance. + </p> + <p> + "Milnes spent last Sunday with me at Clifton; and was very amusing and + cordial. It is impossible for those who know him well not to like him.—I + send this to Knightsbridge, not knowing where else to hit you. Love to my + Mother. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + The expected "Letters by the Great Western" are from Anthony, now in + Canada, doing military duties there. The "Milnes" is our excellent + Richard, whom all men know, and truly whom none can know well without even + doing as Sterling says.—In a week the family had returned to + Clifton; and Sterling was at his poetizings and equitations again. His + grand business was now Poetry; all effort, outlook and aim exclusively + directed thither, this good while. + </p> + <p> + Of the published Volume Moxon gave the worst tidings; no man had hailed it + with welcome; unsold it lay, under the leaden seal of general neglect; the + public when asked what it thought, had answered hitherto by a lazy stare. + It shall answer otherwise, thought Sterling; by no means taking that as + the final response. It was in this same September that he announced to me + and other friends, under seal of secrecy as usual, the completion, or + complete first-draught, of "a new Poem reaching to two thousand verses." + By working "three hours every morning" he had brought it so far. This + Piece, entitled <i>The Election</i>, of which in due time we obtained + perusal, and had to give some judgment, proved to be in a new vein,—what + might be called the mock-heroic, or sentimental Hudibrastic, reminding one + a little, too, of Wieland's <i>Oberon</i>;—it had touches of true + drollery combined not ill with grave clear insight; showed spirit + everywhere, and a plainly improved power of execution. Our stingy verdict + was to the effect, "Better, but still not good enough:—why follow + that sad 'metrical' course, climbing the loose sandhills, when you have a + firm path along the plain?" To Sterling himself it remained dubious + whether so slight a strain, new though it were, would suffice to awaken + the sleeping public; and the Piece was thrown away and taken up again, at + intervals; and the question, Publish or not publish? lay many months + undecided. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile his own feeling was now set more and more towards Poetry; and in + spite of symptoms and dissuasions, and perverse prognostics of outward + wind and weather, he was rallying all his force for a downright struggle + with it; resolute to see which <i>was</i> the stronger. It must be owned, + he takes his failures in the kindliest manner; and goes along, bating no + jot of heart or hope. Perhaps I should have more admired this than I did! + My dissuasions, in that case, might have been fainter. But then my + sincerity, which was all the use of my poor counsel in assent or dissent, + would have been less. He was now furthermore busy with a <i>Tragedy of + Strafford</i>, the theme of many failures in Tragedy; planning it + industriously in his head; eagerly reading in <i>Whitlocke, Rushworth</i> + and the Puritan Books, to attain a vesture and local habitation for it. + Faithful assiduous studies I do believe;—of which, knowing my + stubborn realism, and savage humor towards singing by the Thespian or + other methods, he told me little, during his visits that summer. + </p> + <p> + The advance of the dark weather sent him adrift again; to Torquay, for + this winter: there, in his old Falmouth climate, he hoped to do well;—and + did, so far as well-doing was readily possible, in that sad wandering way + of life. However, be where he may, he tries to work "two or three hours in + the morning," were it even "with a lamp," in bed, before the fires are + lit; and so makes something of it. From abundant Letters of his now before + me, I glean these two or three small glimpses; sufficient for our purpose + at present. The general date is "Tor, near Torquay:"— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Mrs. Charles Fox, Falmouth</i>. +</pre> + <p> + <i>Tor, November 30th</i>, 1840.—I reached this place on Thursday; + having, after much hesitation, resolved to come here, at least for the + next three weeks,—with some obscure purpose of embarking, at the New + Year, from Falmouth for Malta, and so reaching Naples, which I have not + seen. There was also a doubt whether I should not, after Christmas, bring + my family here for the first four months of the year. All this, however, + is still doubtful. But for certain inhabitants of Falmouth and its + neighborhood, this place would be far more attractive than it. But I have + here also friends, whose kindness, like much that I met with last winter, + perpetually makes me wonder at the stock of benignity in human nature. A + brother of my friend Julius Hare, Marcus by name, a Naval man, and though + not a man of letters, full of sense and knowledge, lives here in a + beautiful place, with a most agreeable and excellent wife, a daughter of + Lord Stanley of Alderley. I had hardly seen them before; but they are + fraternizing with me, in a much better than the Jacobin fashion; and one + only feels ashamed at the enormity of some people's good-nature. I am in a + little rural sort of lodging; and as comfortable as a solitary oyster can + expect to be."— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To C. Barton</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 5th</i>.—This place is extremely small, much more so + than Falmouth even; but pretty, cheerful, and very mild in climate. There + are a great many villas in and about the little Town, having three or four + reception-rooms, eight or ten bedrooms; and costing about fifteen hundred + or two thousand pounds each, and occupied by persons spending a thousand + or more pounds a year. If the Country would acknowledge my merits by the + gift of one of these, I could prevail on myself to come and live here; + which would be the best move for my health I could make in England; but, + in the absence of any such expression of public feeling, it would come + rather dear."— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Mrs. Fox again</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 22d</i>.—By the way, did you ever read a Novel? If you + ever mean to do so hereafter, let it be Miss Martineau's <i>Deerbrook</i>. + It is really very striking; and parts of it are very true and very + beautiful. It is not so true, or so thoroughly clear and harmonious, among + delineations of English middle-class gentility, as Miss Austen's books, + especially as <i>Pride and Prejudice</i>, which I think exquisite; but it + is worth reading. <i>The hour and the Man</i> is eloquent, but an absurd + exaggeration.—I hold out so valorously against this Scandinavian + weather, that I deserve to be ranked with Odin and Thor; and fancy I may + go to live at Clifton or Drontheim. Have you had the same icy desolation + as prevails here?" + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To W. Coningham, Esq</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 28th</i>.—Looking back to him [a deceased Uncle, father + of his correspondent], as I now very often do, I feel strongly, what the + loss of other friends has also impressed on me, how much Death deepens our + affection; and sharpens our regret for whatever has been even slightly + amiss in our conduct towards those who are gone. What trifles then swell + into painful importance; how we believe that, could the past be recalled, + life would present no worthier, happier task, than that of so bearing + ourselves towards those we love, that we might ever after find nothing but + melodious tranquillity breathing about their graves! Yet, too often, I + feel the difficulty of always practicing such mild wisdom towards those + who are still left me.—You will wonder less at my rambling off in + this way, when I tell you that my little lodging is close to a picturesque + old Church and Churchyard, where, every day, I brush past a tombstone, + recording that an Italian, of Manferrato, has buried there a girl of + sixteen, his only daughter: <i>'L' unica speranza di mia vita</i>.'—No + doubt, as you say, our Mechanical Age is necessary as a passage to + something better; but, at least, do not let us go back."— + </p> + <p> + At the New-year time, feeling unusually well, he returns to Clifton. His + plans, of course, were ever fluctuating; his movements were swift and + uncertain. Alas, his whole life, especially his winter-life, had to be + built as if on wavering drift-sand; nothing certain in it, except if + possible the "two or three hours of work" snatched from the general + whirlpool of the dubious four-and-twenty! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Dr. Carlyle</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Clifton, January 10th</i>, 1841.—I stood the sharp frost at + Torquay with such entire impunity, that at last I took courage, and + resolved to return home. I have been here a week, in extreme cold; and + have suffered not at all; so that I hope, with care I may prosper in spite + of medical prognostics,—if you permit such profane language. I am + even able to work a good deal; and write for some hours every morning, by + dint of getting up early, which an Arnott stove in my study enables me to + do."—But at Clifton he cannot continue. Again, before long, the rude + weather has driven him Southward; the spring finds him in his former + haunts; doubtful as ever what to decide upon for the future; but tending + evidently towards a new change of residence for household and self:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To W. Coningham, Esq</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Penzance, April 19th</i>, 1841.—My little Boy and I have been + wandering about between Torquay and this place; and latterly have had my + Father for a few days with us,—he left us yesterday. In all + probability I shall endeavor to settle either at Torquay, at Falmouth, or + here; as it is pretty clear that I cannot stand the sharp air of Clifton, + and still less the London east-winds. Penzance is, on the whole, a + pleasant-looking, cheerful place; with a delightful mildness of air, and a + great appearance of comfort among the people: the view of Mount's Bay is + certainly a very noble one. Torquay would suit the health of my Wife and + Children better; or else I should be glad to live here always, London and + its neighborhood being impracticable."—Such was his second wandering + winter; enough to render the prospect of a third at Clifton very + uninviting. + </p> + <p> + With the Falmouth friends, young and old, his intercourse had meanwhile + continued cordial and frequent. The omens were pointing towards that + region at his next place of abode. Accordingly, in few weeks hence, in the + June of this Summer, 1841, his dubitations and inquirings are again ended + for a time; he has fixed upon a house in Falmouth, and removed thither; + bidding Clifton, and the regretful Clifton friends, a kind farewell. This + was the <i>fifth</i> change of place for his family since Bayswater; the + fifth, and to one chief member of it the last. Mrs. Sterling had brought + him a new child in October last; and went hopefully to Falmouth, dreading + <i>other</i> than what befell there. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. FALMOUTH: POEMS. + </h2> + <p> + At Falmouth, as usual, he was soon at home in his new environment; resumed + his labors; had his new small circle of acquaintance, the ready and + constant centre of which was the Fox family, with whom he lived on an + altogether intimate, honored and beloved footing; realizing his best + anticipations in that respect, which doubtless were among his first + inducements to settle in this new place. Open cheery heights, rather bare + of wood: fresh southwestern breezes; a brisk laughing sea, swept by + industrious sails, and the nets of a most stalwart, wholesome, frank and + interesting population: the clean little fishing, trading and packet Town; + hanging on its slope towards the Eastern sun, close on the waters of its + basin and intricate bay,—with the miniature Pendennis Castle seaward + on the right, the miniature St. Mawes landward to left, and the mining + world and the farming world open boundlessly to the rear:—all this + made a pleasant outlook and environment. And in all this, as in the other + new elements of his position, Sterling, open beyond most men to the worth + of things about him, took his frank share. From the first, he had liked + the general aspect of the population, and their healthy, lively ways; not + to speak of the special friendships he had formed there, which shed a + charm over them all. "Men of strong character, clear heads and genuine + goodness," writes he, "are by no means wanting." And long after: "The + common people here dress better than in most parts of England; and on + Sundays, if the weather be at all fine, their appearance is very pleasant. + One sees them all round the Town, especially towards Pendennis Castle, + streaming in a succession of little groups, and seeming for the most part + really and quietly happy." On the whole he reckoned himself lucky; and, so + far as locality went, found this a handsome shelter for the next two years + of his life. Two years, and not without an interruption; that was all. + Here we have no continuing city; he less than any of us! One other flight + for shelter; and then it is ended, and he has found an inexpugnable + refuge. Let us trace his remote footsteps, as we have opportunity:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Dr. Symonds, Clifton</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Falmouth, June 28th</i>, 1841.—Newman writes to me that he is + gone to the Rhine. I wish I were! And yet the only 'wish' at the bottom of + my heart, is to be able to work vigorously in my own way anywhere, were it + in some Circle of Dante's Inferno. This, however, is the secret of my + soul, which I disclose only to a few." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Falmouth, July 6th</i>, 1841.—I have at last my own study made + comfortable; the carpet being now laid down, and most of my appurtenances + in tolerable order. By and by I shall, unless stopped by illness, get + myself together, and begin living an orderly life and doing my daily task. + I have swung a cot in my dressing-room; partly as a convenience for + myself, partly as a sort of memorial of my poor Uncle, in whose cot in his + dressing-room at Lisworney I remember to have slept when a child. I have + put a good large bookcase in my drawing-room, and all the rest of my books + fit very well into the study." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Mr. Carlyle</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>July 6th</i>.—No books have come in my way but Emerson's, which + I value full as much as you, though as yet I have read only some corners + of it. We have had an Election here, of the usual stamp; to me a droll + 'realized Ideal,' after my late metrical adventures in that line. But the + oddest sign of the Times I know, is a cheap Translation of Strauss's <i>Leben + Jesu</i>, now publishing in numbers, and said to be circulating far and + wide. What does—or rather, what does not—this portend?"— + </p> + <p> + With the Poem called <i>The Election</i>, here alluded to, which had been + more than once revised and reconsidered, he was still under some + hesitations; but at last had well-nigh resolved, as from the first it was + clear he would do, on publishing it. This occupied some occasional portion + of his thoughts. But his grand private affair, I believe, was now <i>Strafford</i>; + to which, or to its adjuncts, all working hours were devoted. Sterling's + notions of Tragedy are high enough. This is what he writes once, in + reference to his own task in these weeks: "Few, I fancy, know how much + harder it is to write a Tragedy than to realize or be one. Every man has + in his heart and lot, if he pleases, and too many whether they please or + no, all the woes of OEdipus and Antigone. But it takes the One, the + Sophocles of a thousand years, to utter these in the full depth and + harmony of creative song. Curious, by the way, how that Dramatic Form of + the old Greek, with only some superficial changes, remains a law not only + for the stage, but for the thoughts of all Poets; and what a charm it has + even for the reader who never saw a theatre. The Greek Plays and + Shakspeare have interested a hundred as books, for one who has seen their + writings acted. How lightly does the mere clown, the idle school-girl, + build a private theatre in the fancy, and laugh or weep with Falstaff and + Macbeth: with how entire an oblivion of the artificial nature of the whole + contrivance, which thus compels them to be their own architects, + machinists, scene-painters, and actors! In fact, the artifice succeeds,—becomes + grounded in the substance of the soul: and every one loves to feel how he + is thus brought face to face with the brave, the fair, the woful and the + great of all past ages; looks into their eyes, and feels the beatings of + their hearts; and reads, over the shoulder, the secret written tablets of + the busiest and the largest brains; while the Juggler, by whose cunning + the whole strange beautiful absurdity is set in motion, keeps himself + hidden; sings loud with a mouth unmoving as that of a statue, and makes + the human race cheat itself unanimously and delightfully by the illusion + that he preordains; while as an obscure Fate, he sits invisible, and + hardly lets his being be divined by those who cannot flee him. The Lyric + Art is childish, and the Epic barbarous, compared to this. But of the true + and perfect Drama it may be said, as of even higher mysteries, Who is + sufficient for these things?"—On this <i>Tragedy of Strafford</i>, + writing it and again writing it, studying for it, and bending himself with + his whole strength to do his best on it, he expended many strenuous + months,—"above a year of his life," he computes, in all. + </p> + <p> + For the rest, what Falmouth has to give him he is willing to take, and + mingles freely in it. In Hare's Collection there is given a <i>Lecture</i> + which he read in Autumn, 1841 (Mr. Hare says "1842," by mistake), to a + certain Public Institution in the place,—of which more anon;—a + piece interesting in this, if not much in any other respect. Doubtless his + friends the Foxes were at the heart of that lecturing enterprise, and had + urged and solicited him. Something like proficiency in certain branches of + science, as I have understood, characterized one or more of this estimable + family; love of knowledge, taste for art, wish to consort with wisdom and + wise men, were the tendencies of all; to opulent means superadd the Quaker + beneficence, Quaker purity and reverence, there is a circle in which wise + men also may love to be. Sterling made acquaintance here with whatever of + notable in worthy persons or things might be afoot in those parts; and was + led thereby, now and then, into pleasant reunions, in new circles of + activity, which might otherwise have continued foreign to him. The good + Calvert, too, was now here; and intended to remain;—which he mostly + did henceforth, lodging in Sterling's neighborhood, so long as lodging in + this world was permitted him. Still good and clear and cheerful; still a + lively comrade, within doors or without,—a diligent rider always,—though + now wearing visibly weaker, and less able to exert himself. + </p> + <p> + Among those accidental Falmouth reunions, perhaps the notablest for + Sterling occurred in this his first season. There is in Falmouth an + Association called the <i>Cornwall Polytechnic Society</i>, established + about twenty years ago, and supported by the wealthy people of the Town + and neighborhood, for the encouragement of the arts in that region; it has + its Library, its Museum, some kind of Annual Exhibition withal; gives + prizes, publishes reports: the main patrons, I believe, are Sir Charles + Lemon, a well-known country gentleman of those parts, and the Messrs. Fox. + To this, so far as he liked to go in it, Sterling was sure to be + introduced and solicited. The Polytechnic meeting of 1841 was unusually + distinguished; and Sterling's part in it formed one of the pleasant + occurrences for him in Falmouth. It was here that, among other profitable + as well as pleasant things, he made acquaintance with Professor Owen (an + event of which I too had my benefit in due time, and still have): the + bigger assemblage called <i>British Association</i>, which met at Plymouth + this year, having now just finished its affairs there, Owen and other + distinguished persons had taken Falmouth in their route from it. + Sterling's account of this Polytechnic gala still remains,—in three + Letters to his Father, which, omitting the extraneous portions, I will + give in one,—as a piece worth reading among those still-life + pictures:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London. + "FALMOUTH, 10th August, 1841. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR FATHER,—I was not well for a day or two after you went; and + since, I have been busy about an annual show of the Polytechnic Society + here, in which my friends take much interest, and for which I have been + acting as one of the judges in the department of the Fine Arts, and have + written a little Report for them. As I have not said that Falmouth is as + eminent as Athens or Florence, perhaps the Committee will not adopt my + statement. But if they do, it will be of some use; for I have hinted, as + delicately as possible, that people should not paint historical pictures + before they have the power of drawing a decent outline of a pig or a + cabbage. I saw Sir Charles Lemon yesterday, who was kind as well as civil + in his manner; and promises to be a pleasant neighbor. There are several + of the British Association heroes here; but not Whewell, or any one whom I + know." + </p> + <p> + "<i>August 17th</i>.—At the Polytechnic Meeting here we had several + very eminent men; among others, Professor Owen, said to be the first of + comparative anatomists, and Conybeare the geologist. Both of these gave + evening Lectures; and after Conybeare's, at which I happened to be + present, I said I would, if they chose, make some remarks on the Busts + which happened to be standing there, intended for prizes in the department + of the Fine Arts. They agreed gladly. The heads were Homer, Pericles, + Augustus, Dante and Michael Angelo. I got into the box-like platform, with + these on a shelf before me; and began a talk which must have lasted some + three quarters of an hour; describing partly the characters and + circumstances of the men, illustrated by anecdotes and compared with their + physiognomies, and partly the several styles of sculpture exhibited in the + Casts, referring these to what I considered the true principles of the + Art. The subject was one that interests me, and I got on in famous style; + and had both pit and galleries all applauding, in a way that had had no + precedent during any other part of the meeting. Conybeare paid me high + compliments; Owen looked much pleased,—an honor well purchased by a + year's hard work;—and everybody, in short, seemed delighted. Susan + was not there, and I had nothing to make me nervous; so that I worked away + freely, and got vigorously over the ground. After so many years' disuse of + rhetoric, it was a pleasant surprise to myself to find that I could still + handle the old weapons without awkwardness. More by good luck than good + guidance, it has done my health no harm. I have been at Sir Charles + Lemon's, though only to pay a morning visit, having declined to stay there + or dine, the hours not suiting me. They were very civil. The person I saw + most of was his sister, Lady Dunstanville; a pleasant, well-informed and + well-bred woman. He seems a most amiable, kindly man, of fair good sense + and cultivated tastes.—I had a letter to-day from my Mother [in + Scotland]; who says she sent you one which you were to forward me; which I + hope soon to have." + </p> + <p> + "<i>August 29th</i>.—I returned yesterday from Carclew, Sir C. + Lemon's fine place about five miles off; where I had been staying a couple + of days, with apparently the heartiest welcome. Susan was asked; but + wanting a Governess, could not leave home. + </p> + <p> + "Sir Charles is a widower (his Wife was sister to Lord Ilchester) without + children; but had a niece staying with him, and his sister Lady + Dunstanville, a pleasant and very civil woman. There were also Mr. + Bunbury, eldest son of Sir Henry Bunbury, a man of much cultivation and + strong talents; Mr. Fox Talbot, son, I think, of another Ilchester lady, + and brother of <i>the</i> Talbot of Wales, but himself a man of large + fortune, and known for photogenic and other scientific plans of extracting + sunbeams from cucumbers. He also is a man of known ability, but chiefly + employed in that peculiar department. <i>Item</i> Professors Lloyd and + Owen: the former, of Dublin, son of the late Provost, I had seen before + and knew; a great mathematician and optician, and a discoverer in those + matters; with a clever little Wife, who has a great deal of knowledge, + quite free from pretension. Owen is a first-rate comparative anatomist, + they say the greatest since Cuvier; lives in London, and lectures there. + On the whole, he interested me more than any of them,—by an apparent + force and downrightness of mind, combined with much simplicity and + frankness. + </p> + <p> + "Nothing could be pleasanter and easier than the habits of life, with what + to me was a very unusual degree of luxury, though probably nothing but + what is common among people of large fortune. The library and pictures are + nothing extraordinary. The general tone of good nature, good sense and + quiet freedom, was what struck me most; and I think besides this there was + a disposition to be cordially courteous towards me.... + </p> + <p> + "I took Edward a ride of two hours yesterday on Calvert's pony, and he is + improving fast in horsemanship. The school appears to answer very well. We + shall have the Governess in a day or two, which will be a great + satisfaction. Will you send my Mother this scribble with my love; and + believe me, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + One other little event dwells with me, out of those Falmouth times, exact + date now forgotten; a pleasant little matter, in which Sterling, and + principally the Misses Fox, bright cheery young creatures, were concerned; + which, for the sake of its human interest, is worth mention. In a certain + Cornish mine, said the Newspapers duly specifying it, two miners deep down + in the shaft were engaged putting in a shot for blasting: they had + completed their affair, and were about to give the signal for being + hoisted up,—one at a time was all their coadjutor at the top could + manage, and the second was to kindle the match, and then mount with all + speed. Now it chanced while they were both still below, one of them + thought the match too long; tried to break it shorter, took a couple of + stones, a flat and a sharp, to cut it shorter; did cut it of the due + length, but, horrible to relate, kindled it at the same time, and both + were still below! Both shouted vehemently to the coadjutor at the + windlass, both sprang at the basket; the windlass man could not move it + with them both. Here was a moment for poor miner Jack and miner Will! + Instant horrible death hangs over both,—when Will generously resigns + himself: "Go aloft, Jack," and sits down; "away; in one minute I shall be + in Heaven!" Jack bounds aloft, the explosion instantly follows, bruises + his face as he looks over; he is safe above ground: and poor Will? + Descending eagerly they find Will too, as if by miracle, buried under + rocks which had arched themselves over him, and little injured: he too is + brought up safe, and all ends joyfully, say the Newspapers. + </p> + <p> + Such a piece of manful promptitude, and salutary human heroism, was worth + investigating. It was investigated; found to be accurate to the letter,—with + this addition and explanation, that Will, an honest, ignorant good man, + entirely given up to Methodism, had been perfect in the "faith of + assurance," certain that <i>he</i> should get to Heaven if he died, + certain that Jack would not, which had been the ground of his decision in + that great moment;—for the rest, that he much wished to learn + reading and writing, and find some way of life above ground instead of + below. By aid of the Misses Fox and the rest of that family, a + subscription (modest <i>Anti</i>-Hudson testimonial) was raised to this + Methodist hero: he emerged into daylight with fifty pounds in his pocket; + did strenuously try, for certain months, to learn reading and writing; + found he could not learn those arts or either of them; took his money and + bought cows with it, wedding at the same time some religious likely + milkmaid; and is, last time I heard of him, a prosperous modest dairyman, + thankful for the upper light and safety from the wrath to come. Sterling + had some hand in this affair: but, as I said, it was the two young ladies + of the family that mainly did it. + </p> + <p> + In the end of 1841, after many hesitations and revisals, <i>The Election</i> + came out; a tiny Duodecimo without name attached; <a href="#linknote-24" + name="linknoteref-24" id="linknoteref-24"><small>24</small></a> again + inquiring of the public what its suffrage was; again to little purpose. My + vote had never been loud for this step, but neither was it quite adverse; + and now, in reading the poor little Poem over again, after ten years' + space, I find it, with a touching mixture of pleasure and repentance, + considerably better than it then seemed to me. My encouragement, if not to + print this poem, yet to proceed with Poetry, since there was such a + resolution for it, might have been a little more decided! + </p> + <p> + This is a small Piece, but aims at containing great things; a <i>multum in + parvo</i> after its sort; and is executed here and there with undeniable + success. The style is free and flowing, the rhyme dances along with a + certain joyful triumph; everything of due brevity withal. That mixture of + mockery on the surface, which finely relieves the real earnestness within, + and flavors even what is not very earnest and might even be insipid + otherwise, is not ill managed: an amalgam difficult to effect well in + writing; nay, impossible in writing,—unless it stand already done + and effected, as a general fact, in the writer's mind and character; which + will betoken a certain ripeness there. + </p> + <p> + As I said, great things are intended in this little Piece; the motto + itself foreshadowing them:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>Fluellen</i>. Ancient Pistol, I do partly understand your + meaning. + <i>Pistol</i>. Why, then, rejoice therefor." +</pre> + <p> + A stupid commonplace English Borough has lost its Member suddenly, by + apoplexy or otherwise; resolves, in the usual explosive temper of mind, to + replace him by one of two others; whereupon strange stirring-up of + rival-attorney and other human interests and catastrophes. "Frank Vane" + (Sterling himself), and "Peter Mogg," the pattern English blockhead of + elections: these are the candidates. There are, of course, fierce rival + attorneys; electors of all creeds and complexions to be canvassed: a poor + stupid Borough thrown all into red or white heat; into blazing paroxysms + of activity and enthusiasm, which render the inner life of it (and of + England and the world through it) luminously transparent, so to speak;—of + which opportunity our friend and his "Muse" take dexterous advantage, to + delineate the same. His pictures are uncommonly good; brief, joyous, + sometimes conclusively true: in rigorously compressed shape; all is merry + freshness and exuberance: we have leafy summer embowering red bricks and + small human interests, presented as in glowing miniature; a mock-heroic + action fitly interwoven;—and many a clear glance is carelessly given + into the deepest things by the way. Very happy also is the little + love-episode; and the absorption of all the interest into that, on the + part of Frank Vane and of us, when once this gallant Frank,—having + fairly from his barrel-head stated his own (and John Sterling's) views on + the aspects of the world, and of course having quite broken down with his + attorney and his public,—handsomely, by stratagem, gallops off with + the fair Anne; and leaves free field to Mogg, free field to the + Hippopotamus if it like. This portrait of Mogg may be considered to have + merit:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Though short of days, how large the mind of man; + A godlike force enclosed within a span! + To climb the skies we spurn our nature's clog, + And toil as Titans to elect a Mogg. + + "And who was Mogg? O Muse! the man declare, + How excellent his worth, his parts how rare. + A younger son, he learnt in Oxford's halls + The spheral harmonies of billiard-balls, + Drank, hunted, drove, and hid from Virtue's frown + His venial follies in Decorum's gown. + Too wise to doubt on insufficient cause, + He signed old Cranmer's lore without a pause; + And knew that logic's cunning rules are taught + To guard our creed, and not invigorate thought,— + As those bronze steeds at Venice, kept for pride, + Adorn a Town where not one man can ride. + + "From Isis sent with all her loud acclaims, + The Laws he studied on the banks of Thames. + Park, race and play, in his capacious plan, + Combined with Coke to form the finished man, + Until the wig's ambrosial influence shed + Its last full glories on the lawyer's head. + + "But vain are mortal schemes. The eldest son + At Harrier Hall had scarce his stud begun, + When Death's pale courser took the Squire away + To lands where never dawns a hunting day: + And so, while Thomas vanished 'mid the fog, + Bright rose the morning-star of Peter Mogg." <a href="#linknote-25" + name="linknoteref-25" id="linknoteref-25">25</a> +</pre> + <p> + And this little picture, in a quite opposite way:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Now, in her chamber all alone, the maid + Her polished limbs and shoulders disarrayed; + One little taper gave the only light, + One little mirror caught so dear a sight; + 'Mid hangings dusk and shadows wide she stood, + Like some pale Nymph in dark-leafed solitude + Of rocks and gloomy waters all alone, + Where sunshine scarcely breaks on stump or stone + To scare the dreamy vision. Thus did she, + A star in deepest night, intent but free, + Gleam through the eyeless darkness, heeding not + Her beauty's praise, but musing o'er her lot. + + "Her garments one by one she laid aside, + And then her knotted hair's long locks untied + With careless hand, and down her cheeks they fell, + And o'er her maiden bosom's blue-veined swell. + The right-hand fingers played amidst her hair, + And with her reverie wandered here and there: + The other hand sustained the only dress + That now but half concealed her loveliness; + And pausing, aimlessly she stood and thought, + In virgin beauty by no fear distraught." +</pre> + <p> + Manifold, and beautiful of their sort, are Anne's musings, in this + interesting attitude, in the summer midnight, in the crisis of her destiny + now near;—at last:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "But Anne, at last her mute devotions o'er, + Perceived the feet she had forgot before + Of her too shocking nudity; and shame + Flushed from her heart o'er all the snowy frame: + And, struck from top to toe with burning dread, + She blew the light out, and escaped to bed." <a href="#linknote-26" + name="linknoteref-26" id="linknoteref-26">26</a> +</pre> + <p> + —which also is a very pretty movement. + </p> + <p> + It must be owned withal, the Piece is crude in parts, and far enough from + perfect. Our good painter has yet several things to learn, and to unlearn. + His brush is not always of the finest; and dashes about, sometimes, in a + recognizably sprawling way: but it hits many a feature with decisive + accuracy and felicity; and on the palette, as usual, lie the richest + colors. A grand merit, too, is the brevity of everything; by no means a + spontaneous, or quite common merit with Sterling. + </p> + <p> + This new poetic Duodecimo, as the last had done and as the next also did, + met with little or no recognition from the world: which was not very + inexcusable on the world's part; though many a poem with far less proof of + merit than this offers, has run, when the accidents favored it, through + its tens of editions, and raised the writer to the demigods for a year or + two, if not longer. Such as it is, we may take it as marking, in its small + way, in a noticed or unnoticed manner, a new height arrived at by Sterling + in his Poetic course; and almost as vindicating the determination he had + formed to keep climbing by that method. Poor Poem, or rather Promise of a + Poem! In Sterling's brave struggle, this little <i>Election</i> is the + highest point he fairly lived to see attained, and openly demonstrated in + print. His next public adventure in this kind was of inferior worth; and a + third, which had perhaps intrinsically gone much higher than any of its + antecessors, was cut off as a fragment, and has not hitherto been + published. Steady courage is needed on the Poetic course, as on all + courses!— + </p> + <p> + Shortly after this Publication, in the beginning of 1842, poor Calvert, + long a hopeless sufferer, was delivered by death: Sterling's faithful + fellow-pilgrim could no more attend him in his wayfarings through this + world. The weary and heavy-laden man had borne his burden well. Sterling + says of him to Hare: "Since I wrote last, I have lost Calvert; the man + with whom, of all others, I have been during late years the most intimate. + Simplicity, benevolence, practical good sense and moral earnestness were + his great unfailing characteristics; and no man, I believe, ever possessed + them more entirely. His illness had latterly so prostrated him, both in + mind and body, that those who most loved him were most anxious for his + departure." There was something touching in this exit; in the quenching of + so kind and bright a little life under the dark billows of death. To me he + left a curious old Print of James Nayler the Quaker, which I still + affectionately preserve. + </p> + <p> + Sterling, from this greater distance, came perhaps rather seldomer to + London; but we saw him still at moderate intervals; and, through his + family here and other direct and indirect channels, were kept in lively + communication with him. Literature was still his constant pursuit; and, + with encouragement or without, Poetic composition his chosen department + therein. On the ill success of <i>The Election</i>, or any ill success + with the world, nobody ever heard him utter the least murmur; condolence + upon that or any such subject might have been a questionable operation, by + no means called for! Nay, my own approval, higher than this of the world, + had been languid, by no means enthusiastic. But our valiant friend took + all quietly; and was not to be repulsed from his Poetics either by the + world's coldness or by mine; he labored at his <i>Strafford</i>;—determined + to labor, in all ways, till he felt the end of his tether in this + direction. + </p> + <p> + He sometimes spoke, with a certain zeal, of my starting a Periodical: Why + not lift up some kind of war-flag against the obese platitudes, and sickly + superstitious aperies and impostures of the time? But I had to answer, + "Who will join it, my friend?" He seemed to say, "I, for one;" and there + was occasionally a transient temptation in the thought, but transient + only. No fighting regiment, with the smallest attempt towards drill, + co-operation, commissariat, or the like unspeakable advantages, could be + raised in Sterling's time or mine; which truly, to honest fighters, is a + rather grievous want. A grievous, but not quite a fatal one. For, failing + this, failing all things and all men, there remains the solitary battle + (and were it by the poorest weapon, the tongue only, or were it even by + wise abstinence and silence and without any weapon), such as each man for + himself can wage while he has life: an indubitable and infinitely + comfortable fact for every man! Said battle shaped itself for Sterling, as + we have long since seen, chiefly in the poetic form, in the singing or + hymning rather than the speaking form; and in that he was cheerfully + assiduous according to his light. The unfortunate <i>Strafford</i> is far + on towards completion; a <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>, of which we shall hear + farther, "<i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>, greatly the best of all his Poems," + unluckily not completed, and still unpublished, already hangs in the wind. + </p> + <p> + His Letters to friends continue copious; and he has, as always, a loyally + interested eye on whatsoever of notable is passing in the world. + Especially on whatsoever indicates to him the spiritual condition of the + world. Of "Strauss," in English or in German, we now hear nothing more; of + Church matters, and that only to special correspondents, less and less. + Strauss, whom he used to mention, had interested him only as a sign of the + times; in which sense alone do we find, for a year or two back, any notice + of the Church, or its affairs by Sterling; and at last even this as good + as ceases: "Adieu, O Church; thy road is that way, mine is this: in God's + name, adieu!" "What we are going <i>to</i>," says he once, "is abundantly + obscure; but what all men are going <i>from</i>, is very plain."—Sifted + out of many pages, not of sufficient interest, here are one or two + miscellaneous sentences, about the date we are now arrived at:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To Dr. Symonds</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>Falmouth, 3d November</i>, 1841.—Yesterday was my Wedding-day: + eleven years of marriage; and on the whole my verdict is clear for + matrimony. I solemnized the day by reading <i>John Gilpin</i> to the + children, who with their Mother are all pretty well.... There is a trick + of sham Elizabethan writing now prevalent, that looks plausible, but in + most cases means nothing at all. Darley has real (lyrical) genius; Taylor, + wonderful sense, clearness and weight of purpose; Tennyson, a rich and + exquisite fancy. All the other men of our tiny generation that I know of + are, in Poetry, either feeble or fraudulent. I know nothing of the + Reviewer you ask about." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Mother</i> +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 11th</i>.—I have seen no new books; but am reading your + last. I got hold of the two first Numbers of the <i>Hoggarty Diamond</i>; + and read them with extreme delight. What is there better in Fielding or + Goldsmith? The man is a true genius; and, with quiet and comfort, might + produce masterpieces that would last as long as any we have, and delight + millions of unborn readers. There is more truth and nature in one of these + papers than in all ——'s Novels together."—Thackeray, + always a close friend of the Sterling house, will observe that this is + dated 1841, not 1851, and have his own reflections on the matter! + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To the Same</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>December 17th</i>.—I am not much surprised at Lady ——'s + views of Coleridge's little Book on <i>Inspiration</i>.—Great part + of the obscurity of the Letters arises from his anxiety to avoid the + difficulties and absurdities of the common views, and his panic terror of + saying anything that bishops and good people would disapprove. He paid a + heavy price, viz. all his own candor and simplicity, in hope of gaining + the favor of persons like Lady ——; and you see what his reward + is! A good lesson for us all." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To the Same</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>February 1st</i>, 1842.—English Toryism has, even in my eyes, + about as much to say for itself as any other form of doctrine; but Irish + Toryism is the downright proclamation of brutal injustice, and all in the + name of God and the Bible! It is almost enough to make one turn Mahometan, + but for the fear of the four wives." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>To his Father</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "<i>March 12th</i>, 1842.—... Important to me as these matters are, + it almost seems as if there were something unfeeling in writing of them, + under the pressure of such news as ours from India. If the Cabool Troops + have perished, England has not received such a blow from an enemy, nor + anything approaching it, since Buckingham's Expedition to the Isle of Rhe. + Walcheren destroyed us by climate; and Corunna, with all its losses, had + much of glory. But here we are dismally injured by mere Barbarians, in a + War on our part shamefully unjust as well as foolish: a combination of + disgrace and calamity that would have shocked Augustus even more than the + defeat of Varus. One of the four officers with Macnaghten was George + Lawrence, a brother-in-law of Nat Barton; a distinguished man, and the + father of five totally unprovided children. He is a prisoner, if not since + murdered. Macnaghten I do not pity; he was the prime author of the whole + mad War. But Burnes; and the women; and our regiments! India, however, I + feel sure, is safe." + </p> + <p> + So roll the months at Falmouth; such is the ticking of the great + World-Horologe as heard there by a good ear. "I willingly add," so ends + he, once, "that I lately found somewhere this fragment of an Arab's + love-song: 'O Ghalia! If my father were a jackass, I would sell him to + purchase Ghalia!' A beautiful parallel to the French <i>'Avec cette sauce + on mangerait son pere</i>.'" + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. NAPLES: POEMS. + </h2> + <p> + In the bleak weather of this spring, 1842, he was again abroad for a + little while; partly from necessity, or at least utility; and partly, as I + guess, because these circumstances favored, and he could with a good + countenance indulge a little wish he had long had. In the Italian Tour, + which ended suddenly by Mrs. Sterling's illness recalling him, he had + missed Naples; a loss which he always thought to be considerable; and + which, from time to time, he had formed little projects, failures + hitherto, for supplying. The rigors of spring were always dangerous to him + in England, and it was always of advantage to get out of them: and then + the sight of Naples, too; this, always a thing to be done some day, was + now possible. Enough, with the real or imaginary hope of bettering himself + in health, and the certain one of seeing Naples, and catching a glance of + Italy again, he now made a run thither. It was not long after Calvert's + death. The Tragedy of <i>Strafford</i> lay finished in his desk. Several + things, sad and bright, were finished. A little intermezzo of ramble was + not unadvisable. + </p> + <p> + His tour by water and by land was brief and rapid enough; hardly above two + months in all. Of which the following Letters will, with some abridgment, + give us what details are needful:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Charles Barton, Esq., Leamington</i>. + "FALMOUTH, 25th March, 1842. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CHARLES,—My attempts to shoot you flying with my paper + pellets turned out very ill. I hope young ladies succeed better when they + happen to make appointments with you. Even now, I hardly know whether you + have received a Letter I wrote on Sunday last, and addressed to The + Cavendish. I sent it thither by Susan's advice. + </p> + <p> + "In this missive,—happily for us both, it did not contain a + hundred-pound note or any trifle of that kind,—I informed you that I + was compelled to plan an expedition towards the South Pole; stopping, + however, in the Mediterranean; and that I designed leaving this on Monday + next for Cadiz or Gibraltar, and then going on to Malta, whence Italy and + Sicily would be accessible. Of course your company would be a great + pleasure, if it were possible for you to join me. The delay in hearing + from you, through no fault of yours, has naturally put me out a little; + but, on the whole, my plan still holds, and I shall leave this on Monday + for Gibraltar, where the <i>Great Liverpool</i> will catch me, and carry + me to Malta. The <i>Great Liverpool</i> leaves Southampton on the 1st of + April, and Falmouth on the 2d; and will reach Gibraltar in from four to + five days. + </p> + <p> + "Now, if you <i>should</i> be able and disposed to join me, you have only + to embark in that sumptuous tea-kettle, and pick me up under the guns of + the Rock. We could then cruise on to Malta, Sicily, Naples, Rome, &c., + <i>a discretion</i>. It is just <i>possible</i>, though extremely + improbable, that my steamer of Monday (most likely the <i>Montrose</i>) + may not reach Gibraltar so soon as the <i>Liverpool</i>. If so, and if you + should actually be on board, you must stop at Gibraltar. But there are + ninety-nine chances to one against this. Write at all events to Susan, to + let her know what you propose. + </p> + <p> + "I do not wait till the <i>Great Liverpool</i> goes, because the object + for me is to get into a warm climate as soon as possible. I am decidedly + better. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate Brother, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Barton did not go with him, none went; but he arrives safe, and not <i>hurt</i> + in health, which is something. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London</i>. + "MALTA, 14th April, 1842. +</pre> + <p> + "DEAREST MOTHER,—I am writing to Susan through France, by + to-morrow's mail; and will also send you a line, instead of waiting for + the longer English conveyance. + </p> + <p> + "We reached this the day before yesterday, in the evening; having had a + strong breeze against us for a day or two before; which made me extremely + uncomfortable,—and indeed my headache is hardly gone yet. From about + the 4th to the 9th of the month, we had beautiful weather, and I was happy + enough. You will see by the map that the straightest line from Gibraltar + to this place goes close along the African coast; which accordingly we saw + with the utmost clearness; and found it generally a line of mountains, the + higher peaks and ridges covered with snow. We went close in to Algiers; + which looks strong, but entirely from art. The town lies on the slope of a + straight coast; and is not at all embayed, though there is some little + shelter for shipping within the mole. It is a square patch of white + buildings huddled together; fringed with batteries; and commanded by large + forts on the ridge above: a most uncomfortable-looking place; though, no + doubt, there are <i>cafes</i> and billiard-rooms and a theatre within,—for + the French like to have their Houris, &c., on <i>this</i> side of + Paradise, if possible. + </p> + <p> + "Our party of fifty people (we had taken some on board at Gibraltar) broke + up, on reaching this; never, of course, to meet again. The greater part do + not proceed to Alexandria. Considering that there was a bundle of + midshipmen, ensigns, &c., we had as much reason among us as could + perhaps be looked for; and from several I gained bits of information and + traits of character, though nothing very remarkable.... + </p> + <p> + "I have established myself in an inn, rather than go to Lady Louis's; <a + href="#linknote-27" name="linknoteref-27" id="linknoteref-27"><small>27</small></a> + I not feeling quite equal to company, except in moderate doses. I have, + however, seen her a good deal; and dine there to-day, very privately, for + Sir John is not quite well, and they will have no guests. The place, + however, is full of official banqueting, for various unimportant reasons. + When here before, I was in much distress and anxiety, on my way from Rome; + and I suppose this it was that prevented its making the same impression on + me as now, when it seems really the stateliest town I have ever seen. The + architecture is generally of a corrupt Roman kind; with something of the + varied and picturesque look, though much more massive, of our Elizabethan + buildings. We have the finest English summer and a pellucid sky.... Your + affectionate + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + At Naples next, for three weeks, was due admiration of the sceneries and + antiquities, Bay and Mountain, by no means forgetting Art and the Museum: + "to Pozzuoli, to Baiae, round the Promontory of Sorrento;"—above + all, "twice to Pompeii," where the elegance and classic simplicity of + Ancient Housekeeping strikes us much; and again to Paestum, where "the + Temple of Neptune is far the noblest building I have ever seen; and makes + both Greek and Revived Roman seem quite barbaric.... Lord Ponsonby lodges + in the same house with me;—but, of course, I do not countenance an + adherent of a beaten Party!" <a href="#linknote-28" name="linknoteref-28" + id="linknoteref-28"><small>28</small></a>—Or let us take this more + compendious account, which has much more of human in it, from an onward + stage, ten days later:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "ROME, 13th May, 1842, +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CARLYLE,—I hope I wrote to you before leaving England, to + tell you of the necessity for my doing so. Though coming to Italy, there + was little comfort in the prospect of being divided from my family, and + pursuits which grew on me every day. However, I tried to make the best of + it, and have gained both health and pleasure. + </p> + <p> + "In spite of scanty communications from England (owing to the uncertainty + of my position), a word or two concerning you and your dear Wife have + reached me. Lately it has often occurred to me, that the sight of the Bay + of Naples, of the beautiful coast from that to this place, and of Rome + itself, all bathed in summer sunshine, and green with spring foliage, + would be some consolation to her. <a href="#linknote-29" + name="linknoteref-29" id="linknoteref-29"><small>29</small></a> Pray give + her my love. + </p> + <p> + "I have been two days here; and almost the first thing I did was to visit + the Protestant burial-ground, and the graves of those I knew when here + before. But much as being now alone here, I feel the difference, there is + no scene where Death seems so little dreadful and miserable as in the + lonelier neighborhoods of this old place. All one's impressions, however, + as to that and everything else, appear to me, on reflection, more affected + than I had for a long time any notion of, by one's own isolation. All the + feelings and activities which family, friends and occupation commonly + engage, are turned, here in one's solitude, with strange force into the + channels of mere observation and contemplation; and the objects one is + conversant with seem to gain a tenfold significance from the abundance of + spare interest one now has to bestow on them. This explains to me a good + deal of the peculiar effect that Italy has always had on me: and something + of that artistic enthusiasm which I remember you used to think so singular + in Goethe's <i>Travels</i>. Darley, who is as much a brooding hermit in + England as here, felt nothing but disappointment from a country which + fills me with childish wonder and delight. + </p> + <p> + "Of you I have received some slight notice from Mrs. Strachey; who is on + her way hither; and will (she writes) be at Florence on the 15th, and here + before the end of the month. She notices having received a Letter of yours + which had pleased her much. She now proposes spending the summer at + Sorrento, or thereabouts; and if mere delight of landscape and climate + were enough, Adam and Eve, had their courier taken them to that region, + might have done well enough without Paradise,—and not been tempted, + either, by any Tree of Knowledge; a kind that does not flourish in the Two + Sicilies. + </p> + <p> + "The ignorance of the Neapolitans, from the highest to the lowest, is very + eminent; and excites the admiration of all the rest of Italy. In the great + building containing all the Works of Art, and a Library of 150,000 + volumes, I asked for the best existing Book (a German one published ten + years ago) on the Statues in that very Collection; and, after a rabble of + clerks and custodes, got up to a dirty priest, who bowing to the ground + regretted 'they did not possess it,' but at last remembered that 'they <i>had</i> + entered into negotiations on the subject, which as yet had been + unsuccessful.'—The favorite device on the walls at Naples is a + vermilion Picture of a Male and Female Soul respectively up to the waist + (the waist of a <i>soul</i>) in fire, and an Angel above each, watering + the sufferers from a watering-pot. This is intended to gain alms for + Masses. The same populace sit for hours on the Mole, listening to + rhapsodists who recite Ariosto. I have seen I think five of them all + within a hundred yards of each other, and some sets of fiddlers to boot. + Yet there are few parts of the world where I have seen less laughter than + there. The Miracle of Januarius's Blood is, on the whole, my most curious + experience. The furious entreaties, shrieks and sobs, of a set of old + women, yelling till the Miracle was successfully performed, are things + never to be forgotten. + </p> + <p> + "I spent three weeks in this most glittering of countries, and saw most of + the usual wonders,—the Paestan Temples being to me much the most + valuable. But Pompeii and all that it has yielded, especially the Fresco + Paintings, have also an infinite interest. When one considers that this + prodigious series of beautiful designs supplied the place of our common + room-papers,—the wealth of poetic imagery among the Ancients, and + the corresponding traditional variety and elegance of pictorial treatment, + seem equally remarkable. The Greek and Latin Books do not give one quite + so fully this sort of impression; because they afford no direct measure of + the extent of their own diffusion. But these are ornaments from the + smaller class of decent houses in a little Country Town; and the greater + number of them, by the slightness of the execution, show very clearly that + they were adapted to ordinary taste, and done by mere artisans. In general + clearness, symmetry and simplicity of feeling, I cannot say that, on the + whole, the works of Raffaelle equal them; though of course he has endless + beauties such as we could not find unless in the great original works from + which these sketches at Pompeii were taken. Yet with all my much increased + reverence for the Greeks, it seems more plain than ever that they had + hardly anything of the peculiar devotional feeling of Christianity. + </p> + <p> + "Rome, which I loved before above all the earth, now delights me more than + ever;—though at this moment there is rain falling that would not + discredit Oxford Street. The depth, sincerity and splendor that there once + was in the semi-paganism of the old Catholics comes out in St. Peter's and + its dependencies, almost as grandly as does Greek and Roman Art in the + Forum and the Vatican Galleries. I wish you were here: but, at all events, + hope to see you and your Wife once more during this summer. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + At Paris, where he stopped a day and night, and generally through his + whole journey from Marseilles to Havre, one thing attended him: the + prevailing epidemic of the place and year; now gone, and nigh forgotten, + as other influenzas are. He writes to his Father: "I have not yet met a + single Frenchman, who could give me any rational explanation <i>why</i> + they were all in such a confounded rage against us. Definite causes of + quarrel a statesman may know how to deal with, inasmuch as the removal of + them may help to settle the dispute. But it must be a puzzling task to + negotiate about instincts; to which class, as it seems to me, we must have + recourse for an understanding of the present abhorrence which everybody on + the other side of the Channel not only feels, but makes a point to boast + of, against the name of Britain. France is slowly arming, especially with + Steam, <i>en attendant</i> a more than possible contest, in which they + reckon confidently on the eager co-operation of the Yankees; as, <i>vice + versa</i>, an American told me that his countrymen do on that of France. + One person at Paris (M. —— whom you know) provoked me to tell + him that 'England did not want another battle of Trafalgar; but if France + did, she might compel England to gratify her.'"—After a couple of + pleasant and profitable months, he was safe home again in the first days + of June; and saw Falmouth not under gray iron skies, and whirls of March + dust, but bright with summer opulence and the roses coming out. + </p> + <p> + It was what I call his "<i>fifth</i> peregrinity;" his fifth and last. He + soon afterwards came up to London; spent a couple of weeks, with all his + old vivacity, among us here. The AEsculapian oracles, it would appear, + gave altogether cheerful prophecy; the highest medical authority + "expresses the most decided opinion that I have gradually mended for some + years; and in truth I have not, for six or seven, been so free from + serious symptoms of illness as at present." So uncertain are all oracles, + AEsculapian and other! + </p> + <p> + During this visit, he made one new acquaintance which he much valued; + drawn thither, as I guess, by the wish to take counsel about <i>Strafford</i>. + He writes to his Clifton friend, under date, 1st July 1842: "Lockhart, of + the <i>Quarterly Review</i>, I made my first oral acquaintance with; and + found him as neat, clear and cutting a brain as you would expect; but with + an amount of knowledge, good nature and liberal anti-bigotry, that would + much surprise many. The tone of his children towards him seemed to me + decisive of his real kindness. He quite agreed with me as to the + threatening seriousness of our present social perplexities, and the + necessity and difficulty of doing something effectual for so satisfying + the manual multitude as not to overthrow all legal security.... + </p> + <p> + "Of other persons whom I saw in London," continues he, "there are several + that would much interest you,—though I missed Tennyson, by a mere + chance.... John Mill has completely finished, and sent to the bookseller, + his great work on Logic; the labor of many years of a singularly subtle, + patient and comprehensive mind. It will be our chief speculative monument + of this age. Mill and I could not meet above two or three times; but it + was with the openness and freshness of school-boy friends, though our + friendship only dates from the manhood of both." + </p> + <p> + He himself was busier than ever; occupied continually with all manner of + Poetic interests. <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>, a new and more elaborate attempt + in the mock-heroic or comico-didactic vein, had been on hand for some + time, the scope of it greatly deepening and expanding itself since it + first took hold of him; and now, soon after the Naples journey, it rose + into shape on the wider plan; shaken up probably by this new excitement, + and indebted to Calabria, Palermo and the Mediterranean scenes for much of + the vesture it had. With this, which opened higher hopes for him than any + of his previous efforts, he was now employing all his time and strength;—and + continued to do so, this being the last effort granted him among us. + </p> + <p> + Already, for some months, <i>Strafford</i> lay complete: but how to get it + from the stocks; in what method to launch it? The step was questionable. + Before going to Italy he had sent me the Manuscript; still loyal and + friendly; and willing to hear the worst that could be said of his poetic + enterprise. I had to afflict him again, the good brave soul, with the + deliberate report that I could <i>not</i> accept this Drama as his Picture + of the Life of Strafford, or as any <i>Picture</i> of that strange Fact. + To which he answered, with an honest manfulness, in a tone which is now + pathetic enough to me, that he was much grieved yet much obliged, and + uncertain how to decide. On the other hand, Mr. Hare wrote, warmly + eulogizing. Lockhart too spoke kindly, though taking some exceptions. It + was a questionable case. On the whole, <i>Strafford</i> remained, for the + present, unlaunched; and <i>Coeur de-Lion</i> was getting its first + timbers diligently laid down. So passed, in peaceable seclusion, in + wholesome employment and endeavor, the autumn and winter of 1842-43. On + Christmas-day, he reports to his Mother:— + </p> + <p> + "I wished to write to you yesterday; but was prevented by the important + business of preparing a Tree, in the German fashion, for the children. + This project answered perfectly, as it did last year; and gave them the + greatest pleasure. I wish you and my Father could have been here to see + their merry faces. Johnny was in the thick of the fun, and much happier + than Lord Anson on capturing the galleon. We are all going on well and + quietly, but with nothing very new among us.... The last book I have + lighted on is Moffat's <i>Missionary Labors in South Africa</i>; which is + worth reading. There is the best collection of lion stories in it that I + have ever seen. But the man is, also, really a very good fellow; and fit + for something much better than most lions are. He is very ignorant, and + mistaken in some things; but has strong sense and heart; and his Narrative + adds another to the many proofs of the enormous power of Christianity on + rude minds. Nothing can be more chaotic, that is human at all, than the + notions of these poor Blacks, even after what is called their conversion; + but the effect is produced. They do adopt pantaloons, and abandon + polygamy; and I suppose will soon have newspapers and literary soirees." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. DISASTER ON DISASTER. + </h2> + <p> + DURING all these years of struggle and wayfaring, his Father's household + at Knightsbridge had stood healthful, happy, increasing in wealth, free + diligence, solidity and honest prosperity: a fixed sunny islet, towards + which, in all his voyagings and overclouded roamings, he could look with + satisfaction, as to an ever-open port of refuge. + </p> + <p> + The elder Sterling, after many battles, had reached his field of conquest + in these years; and was to be regarded as a victorious man. Wealth + sufficient, increasing not diminishing, had rewarded his labors in the <i>Times</i>, + which were now in their full flower; he had influence of a sort; went + busily among busy public men; and enjoyed, in the questionable form + attached to journalism and anonymity, a social consideration and position + which were abundantly gratifying to him. A singular figure of the epoch; + and when you came to know him, which it was easy to fail of doing if you + had not eyes and candid insight, a gallant, truly gifted, and manful + figure, of his kind. We saw much of him in this house; much of all his + family; and had grown to love them all right well,—him too, though + that was the difficult part of the feat. For in his Irish way he played + the conjurer very much,—"three hundred and sixty-five opinions in + the year upon every subject," as a wag once said. In fact his talk, ever + ingenious, emphatic and spirited in detail, was much defective in + earnestness, at least in clear earnestness, of purport and outcome; but + went tumbling as if in mere welters of explosive unreason; a volcano + heaving under vague deluges of scoriae, ashes and imponderous + pumice-stones, you could not say in what direction, nor well whether in + any. Not till after good study did you see the deep molten lava-flood, + which simmered steadily enough, and showed very well by and by whither it + was bound. For I must say of Edward Sterling, after all his daily + explosive sophistries, and fallacies of talk, he had a stubborn + instinctive sense of what was manful, strong and worthy; recognized, with + quick feeling, the charlatan under his solemnest wig; knew as clearly as + any man a pusillanimous tailor in buckram, an ass under the lion's skin, + and did with his whole heart despise the same. + </p> + <p> + The sudden changes of doctrine in the <i>Times</i>, which failed not to + excite loud censure and indignant amazement in those days, were first + intelligible to you when you came to interpret them as his changes. These + sudden whirls from east to west on his part, and total changes of party + and articulate opinion at a day's warning, lay in the nature of the man, + and could not be helped; products of his fiery impatience, of the combined + impetuosity and limitation of an intellect, which did nevertheless + continually gravitate towards what was loyal, true and right on all manner + of subjects. These, as I define them, were the mere scoriae and pumice + wreck of a steady central lava-flood, which truly was volcanic and + explosive to a strange degree, but did rest as few others on the grand + fire-depths of the world. Thus, if he stormed along, ten thousand strong, + in the time of the Reform Bill, indignantly denouncing Toryism and its + obsolete insane pretensions; and then if, after some experience of Whig + management, he discerned that Wellington and Peel, by whatever name + entitled, were the men to be depended on by England,—there lay in + all this, visible enough, a deeper consistency far more important than the + superficial one, so much clamored after by the vulgar. Which is the + lion's-skin; which is the real lion? Let a man, if he is prudent, + ascertain that before speaking;—but above and beyond all things, <i>let</i> + him ascertain it, and stand valiantly to it when ascertained! In the + latter essential part of the operation Edward Sterling was honorably + successful to a really marked degree; in the former, or prudential part, + very much the reverse, as his history in the Journalistic department at + least, was continually teaching him. + </p> + <p> + An amazingly impetuous, hasty, explosive man, this "Captain Whirlwind," as + I used to call him! Great sensibility lay in him, too; a real sympathy, + and affectionate pity and softness, which he had an over-tendency to + express even by tears,—a singular sight in so leonine a man. Enemies + called them maudlin and hypocritical, these tears; but that was nowise the + complete account of them. On the whole, there did conspicuously lie a dash + of ostentation, a self-consciousness apt to become loud and braggart, over + all he said and did and felt: this was the alloy of the man, and you had + to be thankful for the abundant gold along with it. + </p> + <p> + Quizzing enough he got among us for all this, and for the singular <i>chiaroscuro</i> + manner of procedure, like that of an Archimagus Cagliostro, or Kaiser + Joseph Incognito, which his anonymous known-unknown thunderings in the <i>Times</i> + necessitated in him; and much we laughed,—not without explosive + counter-banterings on his part;—but, in fine, one could not do + without him; one knew him at heart for a right brave man. "By Jove, sir!" + thus he would swear to you, with radiant face; sometimes, not often, by a + deeper oath. With persons of dignity, especially with women, to whom he + was always very gallant, he had courtly delicate manners, verging towards + the wire-drawn and elaborate; on common occasions, he bloomed out at once + into jolly familiarity of the gracefully boisterous kind, reminding you of + mess-rooms and old Dublin days. His off-hand mode of speech was always + precise, emphatic, ingenious: his laugh, which was frequent rather than + otherwise, had a sincerity of banter, but no real depth of sense for the + ludicrous; and soon ended, if it grew too loud, in a mere dissonant + scream. He was broad, well-built, stout of stature; had a long lowish + head, sharp gray eyes, with large strong aquiline face to match; and + walked, or sat, in an erect decisive manner. A remarkable man; and + playing, especially in those years 1830-40, a remarkable part in the + world. + </p> + <p> + For it may be said, the emphatic, big-voiced, always influential and often + strongly unreasonable <i>Times</i> Newspaper was the express emblem of + Edward Sterling; he, more than any other man or circumstance, <i>was</i> + the <i>Times</i> Newspaper, and thundered through it to the shaking of the + spheres. And let us assert withal that his and its influence, in those + days, was not ill grounded but rather well; that the loud manifold + unreason, often enough vituperated and groaned over, was of the surface + mostly; that his conclusions, unreasonable, partial, hasty as they might + at first be, gravitated irresistibly towards the right: in virtue of which + grand quality indeed, the root of all good insight in man, his <i>Times</i> + oratory found acceptance and influential audience, amid the loud whirl of + an England itself logically very stupid, and wise chiefly by instinct. + </p> + <p> + England listened to this voice, as all might observe; and to one who knew + England and it, the result was not quite a strange one, and was honorable + rather than otherwise to both parties. A good judge of men's talents has + been heard to say of Edward Sterling: "There is not a <i>faculty of + improvising</i> equal to this in all my circle. Sterling rushes out into + the clubs, into London society, rolls about all day, copiously talking + modish nonsense or sense, and listening to the like, with the multifarious + miscellany of men; comes home at night; redacts it into a <i>Times</i> + Leader,—and is found to have hit the essential purport of the + world's immeasurable babblement that day, with an accuracy beyond all + other men. This is what the multifarious Babel sound did mean to say in + clear words; this, more nearly than anything else. Let the most gifted + intellect, capable of writing epics, try to write such a Leader for the + Morning Newspapers! No intellect but Edward Sterling's can do it. An + improvising faculty without parallel in my experience."—In this + "improvising faculty," much more nobly developed, as well as in other + faculties and qualities with unexpectedly new and improved figure, John + Sterling, to the accurate observer, showed himself very much the son of + Edward. + </p> + <p> + Connected with this matter, a remarkable Note has come into my hands; + honorable to the man I am writing of, and in some sort to another higher + man; which, as it may now (unhappily for us all) be published without + scruple, I will not withhold here. The support, by Edward Sterling and the + <i>Times</i>, of Sir Robert Peel's first Ministry, and generally of Peel's + statesmanship, was a conspicuous fact in its day; but the return it met + with from the person chiefly interested may be considered well worth + recording. The following Letter, after meandering through I know not what + intricate conduits, and consultations of the Mysterious Entity whose + address it bore, came to Edward Sterling as the real flesh-and-blood + proprietor, and has been found among his papers. It is marked <i>Private</i>:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "(Private) <i>To the Editor of the Times</i>. + "WHITEHALL, 18th April, 1835. +</pre> + <p> + "SIR,—Having this day delivered into the hands of the King the Seals + of Office, I can, without any imputation of an interested motive, or any + impediment from scrupulous feelings of delicacy, express my deep sense of + the powerful support which that Government over which I had the honor to + preside received from the <i>Times</i> Newspaper. + </p> + <p> + "If I do not offer the expressions of personal gratitude, it is because I + feel that such expressions would do injustice to the character of a + support which was given exclusively on the highest and most independent + grounds of public principle. I can say this with perfect truth, as I am + addressing one whose person even is unknown to me, and who during my + tenure of power studiously avoided every species of intercourse which + could throw a suspicion upon the motives by which he was actuated. I + should, however, be doing injustice to my own feelings, if I were to + retire from Office without one word of acknowledgment; without at least + assuring you of the admiration with which I witnessed, during the arduous + contest in which I was engaged, the daily exhibition of that extraordinary + ability to which I was indebted for a support, the more valuable because + it was an impartial and discriminating support.—I have the honor to + be, Sir, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Ever your most obedient and faithful servant, + "ROBERT PEEL." +</pre> + <p> + To which, with due loftiness and diplomatic gravity and brevity, there is + Answer, Draught of Answer in Edward Sterling's hand, from the Mysterious + Entity so honored, in the following terms:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c. &c. &c</i>. +</pre> + <p> + "SIR,—It gives me sincere satisfaction to learn from the Letter with + which you have honored me, bearing yesterday's date, that you estimate so + highly the efforts which have been made during the last five months by the + <i>Times</i> Newspaper to support the cause of rational and wholesome + Government which his Majesty had intrusted to your guidance; and that you + appreciate fairly the disinterested motive, of regard to the public + welfare, and to that alone, through which this Journal has been prompted + to pursue a policy in accordance with that of your Administration. It is, + permit me to say, by such motives only, that the <i>Times</i>, ever since + I have known it, has been influenced, whether in defence of the Government + of the day, or in constitutional resistance to it: and indeed there exist + no other motives of action for a Journalist, compatible either with the + safety of the press, or with the political morality of the great bulk of + its readers.—With much respect, I have the honor to be, Sir, &c. + &c. &c. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "THE EDITOR OF THE 'TIMES.'" +</pre> + <p> + Of this Note I do not think there was the least whisper during Edward + Sterling's lifetime; which fact also one likes to remember of him, so + ostentatious and little-reticent a man. For the rest, his loyal admiration + of Sir Robert Peel,—sanctioned, and as it were almost consecrated to + his mind, by the great example of the Duke of Wellington, whom he + reverenced always with true hero-worship,—was not a journalistic + one, but a most intimate authentic feeling, sufficiently apparent in the + very heart of his mind. Among the many opinions "liable to three hundred + and sixty-five changes in the course of the year," this in reference to + Peel and Wellington was one which ever changed, but was the same all days + and hours. To which, equally genuine, and coming still oftener to light in + those times, there might one other be added, one and hardly more: fixed + contempt, not unmingled with detestation, for Daniel O'Connell. This + latter feeling, we used often laughingly to say, was his grand political + principle, the one firm centre where all else went revolving. But + internally the other also was deep and constant; and indeed these were + properly his <i>two</i> centres,—poles of the same axis, negative + and positive, the one presupposing the other. + </p> + <p> + O'Connell he had known in young Dublin days;—and surely no man could + well venerate another less! It was his deliberate, unalterable opinion of + the then Great O, that good would never come of him; that only mischief, + and this in huge measure, would come. That however showy, and adroit in + rhetoric and management, he was a man of incurably commonplace intellect, + and of no character but a hollow, blustery, pusillanimous and unsound one; + great only in maudlin patriotisms, in speciosities, astucities,—in + the miserable gifts for becoming Chief <i>Demagogos</i>, Leader of a + deep-sunk Populace towards <i>its</i> Lands of Promise; which trade, in + any age or country, and especially in the Ireland of this age, our + indignant friend regarded (and with reason) as an extremely ugly one for a + man. He had himself zealously advocated Catholic Emancipation, and was not + without his Irish patriotism, very different from the Orange sort; but the + "Liberator" was not admirable to him, and grew daily less so to an extreme + degree. Truly, his scorn of the said Liberator, now riding in supreme + dominion on the wings of <i>blarney</i>, devil-ward of a surety, with the + Liberated all following and huzzaing; his fierce gusts of wrath and + abhorrence over him,—rose occasionally almost to the sublime. We + laughed often at these vehemences:—and they were not wholly + laughable; there was something very serious, and very true, in them! This + creed of Edward Sterling's would not now, in either pole of its axis, look + so strange as it then did in many quarters. + </p> + <p> + During those ten years which might be defined as the culminating period of + Edward Sterling's life, his house at South Place, Knights bridge, had worn + a gay and solid aspect, as if built at last on the high table-land of + sunshine and success, the region of storms and dark weather now all + victoriously traversed and lying safe below. Health, work, wages, whatever + is needful to a man, he had, in rich measure; and a frank stout heart to + guide the same: he lived in such style as pleased him; drove his own + chariot up and down (himself often acting as Jehu, and reminding you a + little of <i>Times</i> thunder even in driving); consorted, after a + fashion, with the powerful of the world; saw in due vicissitude a + miscellany of social faces round him,—pleasant parties, which he + liked well enough to garnish by a lord; "Irish lord, if no better might + be," as the banter went. For the rest, he loved men of worth and + intellect, and recognized them well, whatever their title: this was his + own patent of worth which Nature had given him; a central light in the + man, which illuminated into a kind of beauty, serious or humorous, all the + artificialities he had accumulated on the surface of him. So rolled his + days, not quietly, yet prosperously, in manifold commerce with men. At one + in the morning, when all had vanished into sleep, his lamp was kindled in + his library; and there, twice or thrice a week, for a three-hours' space, + he launched his bolts, which next morning were to shake the high places of + the world. + </p> + <p> + John's relation to his Father, when one saw John here, was altogether + frank, joyful and amiable: he ignored the <i>Times</i> thunder for most + part, coldly taking the Anonymous for non-extant; spoke of it floutingly, + if he spoke at all: indeed a pleasant half-bantering dialect was the + common one between Father and Son; and they, especially with the gentle, + simple-hearted, just-minded Mother for treble-voice between them, made a + very pretty glee-harmony together. + </p> + <p> + So had it lasted, ever since poor John's voyagings began; his Father's + house standing always as a fixed sunny islet with safe harbor for him. So + it could not always last. This sunny islet was now also to break and go + down: so many firm islets, fixed pillars in his fluctuating world, pillar + after pillar, were to break and go down; till swiftly all, so to speak, + were sunk in the dark waters, and he with them! Our little History is now + hastening to a close. + </p> + <p> + In the beginning of 1843 news reached us that Sterling had, in his too + reckless way, encountered a dangerous accident: maids, in the room where + he was, were lifting a heavy table; he, seeing them in difficulty, had + snatched at the burden; heaved it away,—but had broken a + blood-vessel by the business; and was now, after extensive hemorrhage, + lying dangerously ill. The doctors hoped the worst was over; but the case + was evidently serious. In the same days, too, his Mother had been seized + here by some painful disease, which from its continuance grew alarming. + Sad omens for Edward Sterling, who by this time had as good as ceased + writing or working in the <i>Times</i>, having comfortably winded up his + affairs there; and was looking forward to a freer idle life befitting his + advanced years henceforth. Fatal eclipse had fallen over that household of + his; never to be lifted off again till all darkened into night. + </p> + <p> + By dint of watchful nursing, John Sterling got on foot once more: but his + Mother did not recover, quite the contrary. Her case too grew very + questionable. Disease of the heart, said the medical men at last; not + immediately, not perhaps for a length of years, dangerous to life, said + they; but without hope of cure. The poor lady suffered much; and, though + affecting hope always, grew weaker and weaker. John ran up to Town in + March; I saw him, on the morrow or next day after, in his own room at + Knightsbridge: he had caught fresh cold overnight, the servant having left + his window up, but I was charged to say nothing of it, not to flutter the + already troubled house: he was going home again that very day, and nothing + ill would come of it. We understood the family at Falmouth, his Wife being + now near her confinement again, could at any rate comport with no long + absence. He was cheerful, even rudely merry; himself pale and ill, his + poor Mother's cough audible occasionally through the wall. Very kind, too, + and gracefully affectionate; but I observed a certain grimness in his mood + of mind, and under his light laughter lay something unusual, something + stern, as if already dimmed in the coming shadows of Fate. "Yes, yes, you + are a good man: but I understand they mean to appoint you to + Rhadamanthus's post, which has been vacant for some time; and you will see + how you like that!" This was one of the things he said; a strange + effulgence of wild drollery flashing through the ice of earnest pain and + sorrow. He looked paler than usual: almost for the first time, I had + myself a twinge of misgiving as to his own health; for hitherto I had been + used to blame as much as pity his fits of dangerous illness, and would + often angrily remonstrate with him that he might have excellent health, + would he but take reasonable care of himself, and learn the art of sitting + still. Alas, as if he <i>could</i> learn it; as if Nature had not laid her + ban on him even there, and said in smiles and frowns manifoldly, "No, that + thou shalt not learn!" + </p> + <p> + He went that day; he never saw his good true Mother more. Very shortly + afterwards, in spite of doctors' prophecies, and affectionate illusions, + she grew alarmingly and soon hopelessly worse. Here are his last two + Letters to her:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London</i>. + "FALMOUTH 8th April, 1843. +</pre> + <p> + "DEAREST MOTHER,—I could do you no good, but it would be the + greatest comfort to me if I could be near you. Nothing would detain me but + Susan's condition. I feel that until her confinement is over, I ought to + remain here,—unless you wished me to go to you; in which case she + would be the first to send me off. Happily she is doing as well as + possible, and seems even to gain strength every day. She sends her love to + you. + </p> + <p> + "The children are all doing well. I rode with Edward to-day through some + of the pleasant lanes in the neighborhood; and was delighted, as I have + often been at the same season, to see the primroses under every hedge. It + is pleasant to think that the Maker of them can make other flowers for the + gardens of his other mansions. We have here a softness in the air, a + smoothness of the clouds, and a mild sunshine, that combine in lovely + peace with the first green of spring and the mellow whiteness of the sails + upon the quiet sea. The whole aspect of the world is full of a quiet + harmony, that influences even one's bodily frame, and seems to make one's + very limbs aware of something living, good and immortal in all around us. + Knowing how you suffer, and how weak you are, anything is a blessing to me + that helps me to rise out of confusion and grief into the sense of God and + joy. I could not indeed but feel how much happier I should have been, this + morning, had you been with me, and delighting as you would have done in + all the little as well as the large beauty of the world. But it was still + a satisfaction to feel how much I owe to you of the power of perceiving + meaning, reality and sweetness in all healthful life. And thus I could + fancy that you were still near me; and that I could see you, as I have so + often seen you, looking with earnest eyes at wayside flowers. + </p> + <p> + "I would rather not have written what must recall your thoughts to your + present sufferings: but, dear Mother, I wrote only what I felt; and + perhaps you would rather have it so, than that I should try to find other + topics. I still hope to be with you before long. Meanwhile and always, God + bless you, is the prayer of + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + + <i>To the same</i>. + "FALMOUTH, 12th April, 1843. +</pre> + <p> + "DEAREST MOTHER,—I have just received my Father's Letter; which + gives me at least the comfort of believing that you do not suffer very + much pain. That your mind has remained so clear and strong, is an infinite + blessing. + </p> + <p> + "I do not know anything in the world that would make up to me at all for + wanting the recollection of the days I spent with you lately, when I was + amazed at the freshness and life of all your thoughts. It brought back + far-distant years, in the strangest, most peaceful way. I felt myself + walking with you in Greenwich Park, and on the seashore at Sandgate; + almost even I seemed a baby, with you bending over me. Dear Mother, there + is surely something uniting us that cannot perish. I seem so sure of a + love which shall last and reunite us, that even the remembrance, painful + as that is, of all my own follies and ill tempers, cannot shake this + faith. When I think of you, and know how you feel towards me, and have + felt for every moment of almost forty years, it would be too dark to + believe that we shall never meet again. It was from you that I first + learnt to think, to feel, to imagine, to believe; and these powers, which + cannot be extinguished, will one day enter anew into communion with you. I + have bought it very dear by the prospect of losing you in this world,—but + since you have been so ill, everything has seemed to me holier, loftier + and more lasting, more full of hope and final joy. + </p> + <p> + "It would be a very great happiness to see you once more even here; but I + do not know if that will be granted to me. But for Susan's state, I should + not hesitate an instant; as it is, my duty seems to be to remain, and I + have no right to repine. There is no sacrifice that she would not make for + me, and it would be too cruel to endanger her by mere anxiety on my + account. Nothing can exceed her sympathy with my sorrow. But she cannot + know, no one can, the recollections of all you have been and done for me; + which now are the most sacred and deepest, as well as most beautiful, + thoughts that abide with me. May God bless you, dearest Mother. It is much + to believe that He feels for you all that you have ever felt for your + children. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + A day or two after this, "on Good Friday, 1843," his Wife got happily + through her confinement, bringing him, he writes, "a stout little girl, + who and the Mother are doing as well as possible." The little girl still + lives and does well; but for the Mother there was another lot. Till the + Monday following she too did altogether well, he affectionately watching + her; but in the course of that day, some change for the worse was noticed, + though nothing to alarm either the doctors or him; he watched by her + bedside all night, still without alarm; but sent again in the morning, + Tuesday morning, for the doctors,—Who did not seem able to make much + of the symptoms. She appeared weak and low, but made no particular + complaint. The London post meanwhile was announced; Sterling went into + another room to learn what tidings of his Mother it brought him. Returning + speedily with a face which in vain strove to be calm, his Wife asked, How + at Knightsbridge? "My Mother is dead," answered Sterling; "died on Sunday: + She is gone." "Poor old man!" murmured the other, thinking of old Edward + Sterling now left alone in the world; and these were her own last words: + in two hours more she too was dead. In two hours Mother and Wife were + suddenly both snatched away from him. + </p> + <p> + "It came with awful suddenness!" writes he to his Clifton friend. "Still + for a short time I had my Susan: but I soon saw that the medical men were + in terror; and almost within half an hour of that fatal Knightsbridge + news, I began to suspect our own pressing danger. I received her last + breath upon my lips. Her mind was much sunk, and her perceptions slow; but + a few minutes before the last, she must have caught the idea of + dissolution; and signed that I should kiss her. She faltered painfully, + 'Yes! yes!'—returned with fervency the pressure of my lips; and in a + few moments her eyes began to fix, her pulse to cease. She too is gone + from me!" It was Tuesday morning, April 18th, 1843. His Mother had died on + the Sunday before. + </p> + <p> + He had loved his excellent kind Mother, as he ought and well might: in + that good heart, in all the wanderings of his own, there had ever been a + shrine of warm pity, of mother's love and blessed soft affections for him; + and now it was closed in the Eternities forevermore. His poor Life-partner + too, his other self, who had faithfully attended him so long in all his + pilgrimings, cheerily footing the heavy tortuous ways along with him, can + follow him no farther; sinks now at his side: "The rest of your + pilgrimings alone, O Friend,—adieu, adieu!" She too is forever + hidden from his eyes; and he stands, on the sudden, very solitary amid the + tumult of fallen and falling things. "My little baby girl is doing well; + poor little wreck cast upon the sea-beach of life. My children require me + tenfold now. What I shall do, is all confusion and darkness." + </p> + <p> + The younger Mrs. Sterling was a true good woman; loyal-hearted, willing to + do well, and struggling wonderfully to do it amid her languors and + infirmities; rescuing, in many ways, with beautiful female heroism and + adroitness, what of fertility their uncertain, wandering, unfertile way of + life still left possible, and cheerily making the most of it. A genial, + pious and harmonious fund of character was in her; and withal an indolent, + half-unconscious force of intellect, and justness and delicacy of + perception, which the casual acquaintance scarcely gave her credit for. + Sterling much respected her decision in matters literary; often altering + and modifying where her feeling clearly went against him; and in verses + especially trusting to her ear, which was excellent, while he knew his own + to be worth little. I remember her melodious rich plaintive tone of voice; + and an exceedingly bright smile which she sometimes had, effulgent with + sunny gayety and true humor, among other fine qualities. + </p> + <p> + Sterling has lost much in these two hours; how much that has long been can + never again be for him! Twice in one morning, so to speak, has a mighty + wind smitten the corners of his house; and much lies in dismal ruins round + him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. VENTNOR: DEATH. + </h2> + <p> + In this sudden avalanche of sorrows Sterling, weak and worn as we have + seen, bore up manfully, and with pious valor fronted what had come upon + him. He was not a man to yield to vain wailings, or make repinings at the + unalterable: here was enough to be long mourned over; but here, for the + moment, was very much imperatively requiring to be done. That evening, he + called his children round him; spoke words of religious admonition and + affection to them; said, "He must now be a Mother as well as Father to + them." On the evening of the funeral, writes Mr. Hare, he bade them + good-night, adding these words, "If I am taken from you, God will take + care of you." He had six children left to his charge, two of them infants; + and a dark outlook ahead of them and him. The good Mrs. Maurice, the + children's young Aunt, present at this time and often afterwards till all + ended, was a great consolation. + </p> + <p> + Falmouth, it may be supposed, had grown a sorrowful place to him, peopled + with haggard memories in his weak state; and now again, as had been usual + with him, change of place suggested itself as a desirable alleviation;—and + indeed, in some sort, as a necessity. He has "friends here," he admits to + himself, "whose kindness is beyond all price, all description;" but his + little children, if anything befell him, have no relative within two + hundred miles. He is now sole watcher over them; and his very life is so + precarious; nay, at any rate, it would appear, he has to leave Falmouth + every spring, or run the hazard of worse. Once more, what is to be done? + Once more,—and now, as it turned out, for the last time. + </p> + <p> + A still gentler climate, greater proximity to London, where his Brother + Anthony now was and most of his friends and interests were: these + considerations recommended Ventnor, in the beautiful Southeastern corner + of the Isle of Wight; where on inquiry an eligible house was found for + sale. The house and its surrounding piece of ground, improvable both, were + purchased; he removed thither in June of this year 1843; and set about + improvements and adjustments on a frank scale. By the decease of his + Mother, he had become rich in money; his share of the West-India + properties having now fallen to him, which, added to his former incomings, + made a revenue he could consider ample and abundant. Falmouth friends + looked lovingly towards him, promising occasional visits; old + Herstmonceux, which he often spoke of revisiting but never did, was not + far off; and London, with all its resources and remembrances, was now + again accessible. He resumed his work; and had hopes of again achieving + something. + </p> + <p> + The Poem of <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i> has been already mentioned, and the wider + form and aim it had got since he first took it in hand. It was above a + year before the date of these tragedies and changes, that he had sent me a + Canto, or couple of Cantos, of <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>; loyally again + demanding my opinion, harsh as it had often been on that side. This time I + felt right glad to answer in another tone: "That here was real felicity + and ingenuity, on the prescribed conditions; a decisively rhythmic quality + in this composition; thought and phraseology actually <i>dancing</i>, + after a sort. What the plan and scope of the Work might be, he had not + said, and I could not judge; but here was a light opulence of airy fancy, + picturesque conception, vigorous delineation, all marching on as with + cheerful drum and fife, if without more rich and complicated forms of + melody: if a man <i>would</i> write in metre, this sure enough was the way + to try doing it." For such encouragement from that stinted quarter, + Sterling, I doubt not, was very thankful; and of course it might + co-operate with the inspirations from his Naples Tour to further him a + little in this his now chief task in the way of Poetry; a thought which, + among my many almost pathetic remembrances of contradictions to his Poetic + tendency, is pleasant for me. + </p> + <p> + But, on the whole, it was no matter. With or without encouragement, he was + resolute to persevere in Poetry, and did persevere. When I think now of + his modest, quiet steadfastness in this business of Poetry; how, in spite + of friend and foe, he silently persisted, without wavering, in the form of + utterance he had chosen for himself; and to what length he carried it, and + vindicated himself against us all;—his character comes out in a new + light to me, with more of a certain central inflexibility and noble silent + resolution than I had elsewhere noticed in it. This summer, moved by + natural feelings, which were sanctioned, too, and in a sort sanctified to + him, by the remembered counsel of his late Wife, he printed the <i>Tragedy + of Strafford</i>. But there was in the public no contradiction to the hard + vote I had given about it: the little Book fell dead-born; and Sterling + had again to take his disappointment;—which it must be owned he + cheerfully did; and, resolute to try it again and ever again, went along + with his <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>, as if the public had been all with him. An + honorable capacity to stand single against the whole world; such as all + men need, from time to time! After all, who knows whether, in his + overclouded, broken, flighty way of life, incapable of long hard drudgery, + and so shut out from the solid forms of Prose, this Poetic Form, which he + could well learn as he could all forms, was not the suitablest for him? + </p> + <p> + This work of <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i> he prosecuted steadfastly in his new + home; and indeed employed on it henceforth all the available days that + were left him in this world. As was already said, he did not live to + complete it; but some eight Cantos, three or four of which I know to + possess high worth, were finished, before Death intervened, and there he + had to leave it. Perhaps it will yet be given to the public; and in that + case be better received than the others were, by men of judgment; and + serve to put Sterling's Poetic pretensions on a much truer footing. I can + say, that to readers who do prefer a poetic diet, this ought to be + welcome: if you can contrive to love the thing which is still called + "poetry" in these days, here is a decidedly superior article in that kind,—richer + than one of a hundred that you smilingly consume. + </p> + <p> + In this same month of June, 1843, while the house at Ventnor was getting + ready, Sterling was again in London for a few days. Of course at + Knightsbridge, now fallen under such sad change, many private matters + needed to be settled by his Father and Brother and him. Captain Anthony, + now minded to remove with his family to London and quit the military way + of life, had agreed to purchase the big family house, which he still + occupies; the old man, now rid of that encumbrance, retired to a smaller + establishment of his own; came ultimately to be Anthony's guest, and spent + his last days so. He was much lamed and broken, the half of his old life + suddenly torn away;—and other losses, which he yet knew not of, lay + close ahead of him. In a year or two, the rugged old man, borne down by + these pressures, quite gave way; sank into paralytic and other + infirmities; and was released from life's sorrows, under his son Anthony's + roof, in the fall of 1847.—The house in Knightsbridge was, at the + time we now speak of, empty except of servants; Anthony having returned to + Dublin, I suppose to conclude his affairs there, prior to removal. John + lodged in a Hotel. + </p> + <p> + We had our fair share of his company in this visit, as in all the past + ones; but the intercourse, I recollect, was dim and broken, a disastrous + shadow hanging over it, not to be cleared away by effort. Two American + gentlemen, acquaintances also of mine, had been recommended to him, by + Emerson most likely: one morning Sterling appeared here with a strenuous + proposal that we should come to Knightsbridge, and dine with him and them. + Objections, general dissuasions were not wanting: The empty dark house, + such needless trouble, and the like;—but he answered in his quizzing + way, "Nature herself prompts you, when a stranger comes, to give him a + dinner. There are servants yonder; it is all easy; come; both of you are + bound to come." And accordingly we went. I remember it as one of the + saddest dinners; though Sterling talked copiously, and our friends, + Theodore Parker one of them, were pleasant and distinguished men. All was + so haggard in one's memory, and half consciously in one's anticipations; + sad, as if one had been dining in a will, in the crypt of a mausoleum. Our + conversation was waste and logical, I forget quite on what, not joyful and + harmoniously effusive: Sterling's silent sadness was painfully apparent + through the bright mask he had bound himself to wear. Withal one could + notice now, as on his last visit, a certain sternness of mood, unknown in + better days; as if strange gorgon-faces of earnest Destiny were more and + more rising round him, and the time for sport were past. He looked always + hurried, abrupt, even beyond wont; and indeed was, I suppose, overwhelmed + in details of business. + </p> + <p> + One evening, I remember, he came down hither, designing to have a freer + talk with us. We were all sad enough; and strove rather to avoid speaking + of what might make us sadder. Before any true talk had been got into, an + interruption occurred, some unwelcome arrival; Sterling abruptly rose; + gave me the signal to rise; and we unpolitely walked away, adjourning to + his Hotel, which I recollect was in the Strand, near Hungerford Market; + some ancient comfortable quaint-looking place, off the street; where, in a + good warm queer old room, the remainder of our colloquy was duly finished. + We spoke of Cromwell, among other things which I have now forgotten; on + which subject Sterling was trenchant, positive, and in some essential + points wrong,—as I said I would convince him some day. "Well, well!" + answered he, with a shake of the head.—We parted before long; + bedtime for invalids being come: he escorted me down certain carpeted + backstairs, and would not be forbidden: we took leave under the dim skies;—and + alas, little as I then dreamt of it, this, so far as I can calculate, must + have been the last time I ever saw him in the world. Softly as a common + evening, the last of the evenings had passed away, and no other would come + for me forevermore. + </p> + <p> + Through the summer he was occupied with fitting up his new residence, + selecting governesses, servants; earnestly endeavoring to set his house in + order, on the new footing it had now assumed. Extensive improvements in + his garden and grounds, in which he took due interest to the last, were + also going on. His Brother, and Mr. Maurice his brother-in-law,—especially + Mrs. Maurice the kind sister, faithfully endeavoring to be as a mother to + her poor little nieces,—were occasionally with him. All hours + available for labor on his literary tasks, he employed, almost exclusively + I believe, on <i>Coeur-de-Lion</i>; with what energy, the progress he had + made in that Work, and in the art of Poetic composition generally, amid so + many sore impediments, best testifies. I perceive, his life in general lay + heavier on him than it had done before; his mood of mind is grown more + sombre;—indeed the very solitude of this Ventnor as a place, not to + speak of other solitudes, must have been new and depressing. But he admits + no hypochondria, now or ever; occasionally, though rarely, even flashes of + a kind of wild gayety break through. He works steadily at his task, with + all the strength left him; endures the past as he may, and makes gallant + front against the world. "I am going on quietly here, rather than + happily," writes he to his friend Newman; "sometimes quite helpless, not + from distinct illness, but from sad thoughts and a ghastly dreaminess. The + heart is gone out of my life. My children, however, are doing well; and + the place is cheerful and mild." + </p> + <p> + From Letters of this period I might select some melancholy enough; but + will prefer to give the following one (nearly the last I can give), as + indicative of a less usual temper:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "VENTNOR, 7th December, 1843. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR CARLYLE,—My Irish Newspaper was <i>not</i> meant as a hint + that I wanted a Letter. It contained an absurd long Advertisement,—some + project for regenerating human knowledge, &c. &c.; to which I + prefixed my private mark (a blot), thinking that you might be pleased to + know of a fellow-laborer somewhere in Tipperary. + </p> + <p> + "Your Letter, like the Scriptural oil,—(they had no patent lamps + then, and used the best oil, 7s. per gallon),—has made my face to + shine. There is but one person in the world, I shall not tell you who, + from whom a Letter would give me so much pleasure. It would be nearly as + good at Pekin, in the centre of the most enlightened Mandarins; but here + at Ventnor, where there are few Mandarins and no enlightenment,—fountains + in the wilderness, even were they miraculous, are nothing compared with + your handwriting. Yet it is sad that you should be so melancholy. I often + think that though Mercury was the pleasanter fellow, and probably the + happier, Saturn was the greater god;—rather cannibal or so, but one + excuses it in him, as in some other heroes one knows of. + </p> + <p> + "It is, as you say, your destiny to write about Cromwell: and you will + make a book of him, at which the ears of our grandchildren will tingle;—and + as one may hope that the ears of human nature will be growing longer and + longer, the tingling will be proportionately greater than we are + accustomed to. Do what you can, I fear there will be little gain from the + Royalists. There is something very small about the biggest of them that I + have ever fallen in with, unless you count old Hobbes a Royalist. + </p> + <p> + "Curious to see that you have them exactly preserved in the Country + Gentlemen of our day; while of the Puritans not a trace remains except in + History. Squirism had already, in that day, become the <i>caput mortuum</i> + that it is now; and has therefore, like other mummies, been able to last. + What was opposed to it was the Life of Puritanism,—then on the point + of disappearing; and it too has left its mummy at Exeter Hall on the + platform and elsewhere. One must go back to the Middle Ages to see + Squirism as rampant and vivacious as Biblicism was in the Seventeenth + Century: and I suppose our modern Country Gentlemen are about as near to + what the old Knights and Barons were who fought the Crusades, as our + modern Evangelicals to the fellows who sought the Lord by the light of + their own pistol-shots. + </p> + <p> + "Those same Crusades are now pleasant matter for me. You remember, or + perhaps you do not, a thing I once sent you about Coeur-de-Lion. Long + since, I settled to make the Cantos you saw part of a larger Book; and + worked at it, last autumn and winter, till I had a bad illness. I am now + at work on it again; and go full sail, like <i>my</i> hero. There are six + Cantos done, roughly, besides what you saw. I have struck out most of the + absurdest couplets, and given the whole a higher though still sportive + tone. It is becoming a kind of <i>Odyssey</i>, with a laughing and + Christian Achilles for hero. One may manage to wrap, in that chivalrous + brocade, many things belonging to our Time, and capable of interesting it. + The thing is not bad; but will require great labor. Only it is labor that + I thoroughly like; and which keeps the maggots out of one's brain, until + their time. + </p> + <p> + "I have never spoken to you, never been able to speak to you, of the + change in my life,—almost as great, one fancies, as one's own death. + Even now, although it seems as if I had so much to say, I cannot. If one + could imagine—... But it is no use; I cannot write wisely on this + matter. I suppose no human being was ever devoted to another more entirely + than she; and that makes the change not less but more bearable. It seems + as if she could not be gone quite; and that indeed is my faith. + </p> + <p> + "Mr. James, your New-England friend, was here only for a few days; I saw + him several times, and liked him. They went, on the 24th of last month, + back to London,—or so purposed,—because there is no pavement + here for him to walk on. I want to know where he is, and thought I should + be able to learn from you. I gave him a Note for Mill, who perhaps may + have seen him. I think this is all at present from, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + Of his health, all this while, we had heard little definite; and + understood that he was very quiet and careful; in virtue of which grand + improvement we vaguely considered all others would follow. Once let him + learn well to be <i>slow</i> as the common run of men are, would not all + be safe and well? Nor through the winter, or the cold spring months, did + bad news reach us; perhaps less news of any kind than had been usual, + which seemed to indicate a still and wholesome way of life and work. Not + till "April 4th, 1844," did the new alarm occur: again on some slight + accident, the breaking of a blood-vessel; again prostration under + dangerous sickness, from which this time he never rose. + </p> + <p> + There had been so many sudden failings and happy risings again in our poor + Sterling's late course of health, we had grown so accustomed to mingle + blame of his impetuosity with pity for his sad overthrows, we did not for + many weeks quite realize to ourselves the stern fact that here at length + had the peculiar fall come upon us,—the last of all these falls! + This brittle life, which had so often held together and victoriously + rallied under pressures and collisions, could not rally always, and must + one time be shivered. It was not till the summer came and no improvement; + and not even then without lingering glimmers of hope against hope, that I + fairly had to own what had now come, what was now day by day sternly + advancing with the steadiness of Time. + </p> + <p> + From the first, the doctors spoke despondently; and Sterling himself felt + well that there was no longer any chance of life. He had often said so, in + his former illnesses, and thought so, yet always till now with some tacit + grain of counter-hope; he had never clearly felt so as now: Here <i>is</i> + the end; the great change is now here!—Seeing how it was, then, he + earnestly gathered all his strength to do this last act of his tragedy, as + he had striven to do the others, in a pious and manful manner. As I + believe we can say he did; few men in any time <i>more</i> piously or + manfully. For about six months he sat looking steadfastly, at all moments, + into the eyes of Death; he too who had eyes to <i>see</i> Death and the + Terrors and Eternities; and surely it was with perfect courage and piety, + and valiant simplicity of heart, that he bore himself, and did and thought + and suffered, in this trying predicament, more terrible than the usual + death of men. All strength left to him he still employed in working: day + by day the end came nearer, but day by day also some new portion of his + adjustments was completed, by some small stage his task was nearer done. + His domestic and other affairs, of all sorts, he settled to the last item. + Of his own Papers he saved a few, giving brief pertinent directions about + them; great quantities, among which a certain Autobiography begun some + years ago at Clifton, he ruthlessly burnt, judging that the best. To his + friends he left messages, memorials of books: I have a <i>Gough's Camden</i>, + and other relics, which came to me in that way, and are among my sacred + possessions. The very Letters of his friends he sorted and returned; had + each friend's Letters made into a packet, sealed with black, and duly + addressed for delivery when the time should come. + </p> + <p> + At an early period of his illness, all visitors had of course been + excluded, except his most intimate ones: before long, so soon as the end + became apparent, he took leave even of his Father, to avoid excitements + and intolerable emotions; and except his Brother and the Maurices, who + were generally about him coming and going, none were admitted. This latter + form of life, I think, continued for above three months. Men were still + working about his grounds, of whom he took some charge; needful works, + great and small, let them not pause on account of him. He still rose from + bed; had still some portion of his day which he could spend in his + Library. Besides business there, he read a good deal,—earnest books; + the Bible, most earnest of books, his chief favorite. He still even wrote + a good deal. To his eldest Boy, now Mr. Newman's ward, who had been + removed to the Maurices' since the beginning of this illness, he + addressed, every day or two, sometimes daily, for eight or nine weeks, a + Letter, of general paternal advice and exhortation; interspersing + sparingly, now and then, such notices of his own feelings and condition as + could be addressed to a boy. These Letters, I have lately read: they give, + beyond any he has written, a noble image of the intrinsic Sterling;—the + same face we had long known; but painted now as on the azure of Eternity, + serene, victorious, divinely sad; the dusts and extraneous disfigurements + imprinted on it by the world, now washed away. One little Excerpt, not the + best, but the fittest for its neighborhood here, will be welcome to the + reader:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Master Edward C. Sterling, London</i>. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 29th June, 1844. +</pre> + <p> + "MY DEAR BOY,—We have been going on here as quietly as possible, + with no event that I know of. There is nothing except books to occupy me. + But you may suppose that my thoughts often move towards you, and that I + fancy what you may be doing in the great City,—the greatest on the + Earth,—where I spent so many years of my life. I first saw London + when I was between eight and nine years old, and then lived in or near it + for the whole of the next ten, and more there than anywhere else for seven + years longer. Since then I have hardly ever been a year without seeing the + place, and have often lived in it for a considerable time. There I grew + from childhood to be a man. My little Brothers and Sisters, and since, my + Mother, died and are buried there. There I first saw your Mamma, and was + there married. It seems as if, in some strange way, London were a part of + Me or I of London. I think of it often, not as full of noise and dust and + confusion, but as something silent, grand and everlasting. + </p> + <p> + "When I fancy how you are walking in the same streets, and moving along + the same river, that I used to watch so intently, as if in a dream, when + younger than you are,—I could gladly burst into tears, not of grief, + but with a feeling that there is no name for. Everything is so wonderful, + great and holy, so sad and yet not bitter, so full of Death and so + bordering on Heaven. Can you understand anything of this? If you can, you + will begin to know what a serious matter our Life is; how unworthy and + stupid it is to trifle it away without heed; what a wretched, + insignificant, worthless creature any one comes to be, who does not as + soon as possible bend his whole strength, as in stringing a stiff bow, to + doing whatever task lies first before him.... + </p> + <p> + "We have a mist here to-day from the sea. It reminds me of that which I + used to see from my house in St, Vincent, rolling over the great volcano + and the mountains round it. I used to look at it from our windows with + your Mamma, and you a little baby in her arms. + </p> + <p> + "This Letter is not so well written as I could wish, but I hope you will + be able to read it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Your affectionate Papa, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + These Letters go from June 9th to August 2d, at which latter date + vacation-time arrived, and the Boy returned to him. The Letters are + preserved; and surely well worth preserving. + </p> + <p> + In this manner he wore the slow doomed months away. Day after day his + little period of Library went on waning, shrinking into less and less; but + I think it never altogether ended till the general end came.—For + courage, for active audacity we had all known Sterling; but such a fund of + mild stoicism, of devout patience and heroic composure, we did not + hitherto know in him. His sufferings, his sorrows, all his + unutterabilities in this slow agony, he held right manfully down; marched + loyally, as at the bidding of the Eternal, into the dread Kingdoms, and no + voice of weakness was heard from him. Poor noble Sterling, he had + struggled so high and gained so little here! But this also he did gain, to + be a brave man; and it was much. + </p> + <p> + Summer passed into Autumn: Sterling's earthly businesses, to the last + detail of them, were now all as good as done: his strength too was wearing + to its end, his daily turn in the Library shrunk now to a span. He had to + hold himself as if in readiness for the great voyage at any moment. One + other Letter I must give; not quite the last message I had from Sterling, + but the last that can be inserted here: a brief Letter, fit to be forever + memorable to the receiver of it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "<i>To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London</i>. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 10th August, 1844. +</pre> + <p> + MY DEAR CARLYLE,—For the first time for many months it seems + possible to send you a few words; merely, however, for Remembrance and + Farewell. On higher matters there is nothing to say. I tread the common + road into the great darkness, without any thought of fear, and with very + much of hope. Certainty indeed I have none. With regard to You and Me I + cannot begin to write; having nothing for it but to keep shut the lid of + those secrets with all the iron weights that are in my power. Towards me + it is still more true than towards England that no man has been and done + like you. Heaven bless you! If I can lend a hand when THERE, that will not + be wanting. It is all very strange, but not one hundredth part so sad as + it seems to the standers-by. + </p> + <p> + "Your Wife knows my mind towards her, and will believe it without + asseverations. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Yours to the last, + "JOHN STERLING." +</pre> + <p> + It was a bright Sunday morning when this letter came to me: if in the + great Cathedral of Immensity I did no worship that day, the fault surely + was my own. Sterling affectionately refused to see me; which also was kind + and wise. And four days before his death, there are some stanzas of verse + for me, written as if in star-fire and immortal tears; which are among my + sacred possessions, to be kept for myself alone. + </p> + <p> + His business with the world was done; the one business now to await + silently what may lie in other grander worlds. "God is great," he was wont + to say: "God is great." The Maurices were now constantly near him; Mrs. + Maurice assiduously watching over him. On the evening of Wednesday the + 18th of September, his Brother, as he did every two or three days, came + down; found him in the old temper, weak in strength but not very sensibly + weaker; they talked calmly together for an hour; then Anthony left his + bedside, and retired for the night, not expecting any change. But + suddenly, about eleven o'clock, there came a summons and alarm: hurrying + to his Brother's room, he found his Brother dying; and in a short while + more the faint last struggle was ended, and all those struggles and + strenuous often-foiled endeavors of eight-and-thirty years lay hushed in + death. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. + </h2> + <p> + Sterling was of rather slim but well-boned wiry figure, perhaps an inch or + two from six feet in height; of blonde complexion, without color, yet not + pale or sickly; dark-blonde hair, copious enough, which he usually wore + short. The general aspect of him indicated freedom, perfect spontaneity, + with a certain careless natural grace. In his apparel, you could notice, + he affected dim colors, easy shapes; cleanly always, yet even in this not + fastidious or conspicuous: he sat or stood, oftenest, in loose sloping + postures; walked with long strides, body carelessly bent, head flung + eagerly forward, right hand perhaps grasping a cane, and rather by the + middle to swing it, than by the end to use it otherwise. An attitude of + frank, cheerful impetuosity, of hopeful speed and alacrity; which indeed + his physiognomy, on all sides of it, offered as the chief expression. + Alacrity, velocity, joyous ardor, dwelt in the eyes too, which were of + brownish gray, full of bright kindly life, rapid and frank rather than + deep or strong. A smile, half of kindly impatience, half of real mirth, + often sat on his face. The head was long; high over the vertex; in the + brow, of fair breadth, but not high for such a man. + </p> + <p> + In the voice, which was of good tenor sort, rapid and strikingly distinct, + powerful too, and except in some of the higher notes harmonious, there was + a clear-ringing <i>metallic</i> tone,—which I often thought was + wonderfully physiognomic. A certain splendor, beautiful, but not the + deepest or the softest, which I could call a splendor as of burnished + metal,—fiery valor of heart, swift decisive insight and utterance, + then a turn for brilliant elegance, also for ostentation, rashness, &c. + &c.,—in short, a flash as of clear-glancing sharp-cutting steel, + lay in the whole nature of the man, in his heart and in his intellect, + marking alike the excellence and the limits of them both. His laugh, which + on light occasions was ready and frequent, had in it no great depth of + gayety, or sense for the ludicrous in men or things; you might call it + rather a good smile become vocal than a deep real laugh: with his whole + man I never saw him laugh. A clear sense of the humorous he had, as of + most other things; but in himself little or no true humor;—nor did + he attempt that side of things. To call him deficient in sympathy would + seem strange, him whose radiances and resonances went thrilling over all + the world, and kept him in brotherly contact with all: but I may say his + sympathies dwelt rather with the high and sublime than with the low or + ludicrous; and were, in any field, rather light, wide and lively, than + deep, abiding or great. + </p> + <p> + There is no Portrait of him which tolerably resembles. The miniature + Medallion, of which Mr. Hare has given an Engraving, offers us, with no + great truth in physical details, one, and not the best, superficial + expression of his face, as if that with vacuity had been what the face + contained; and even that Mr. Hare's engraver has disfigured into the + nearly or the utterly irrecognizable. Two Pencil-sketches, which no artist + could approve of, hasty sketches done in some social hour, one by his + friend Spedding, one by Banim the Novelist, whom he slightly knew and had + been kind to, tell a much truer story so far as they go: of these his + Brother has engravings; but these also I must suppress as inadequate for + strangers. + </p> + <p> + Nor in the way of Spiritual Portraiture does there, after so much writing + and excerpting, anything of importance remain for me to say. John Sterling + and his Life in this world were—such as has been already said. In + purity of character, in the so-called moralities, in all manner of + proprieties of conduct, so as tea-tables and other human tribunals rule + them, he might be defined as perfect, according to the world's pattern: in + these outward tangible respects the world's criticism of him must have + been praise and that only. An honorable man, and good citizen; + discharging, with unblamable correctness, all functions and duties laid on + him by the customs (<i>mores</i>) of the society he lived in,—with + correctness and something more. In all these particulars, a man perfectly + <i>moral</i>, or of approved virtue according to the rules. + </p> + <p> + Nay in the far more essential tacit virtues, which are not marked on stone + tables, or so apt to be insisted on by human creatures over tea or + elsewhere,—in clear and perfect fidelity to Truth wherever found, in + childlike and soldier-like, pious and valiant loyalty to the Highest, and + what of good and evil that might send him,—he excelled among good + men. The joys and the sorrows of his lot he took with true simplicity and + acquiescence. Like a true son, not like a miserable mutinous rebel, he + comported himself in this Universe. Extremity of distress—and surely + his fervid temper had enough of contradiction in this world—could + not tempt him into impatience at any time. By no chance did you ever hear + from him a whisper of those mean repinings, miserable arraignings and + questionings of the Eternal Power, such as weak souls even well disposed + will sometimes give way to in the pressure of their despair; to the like + of this he never yielded, or showed the least tendency to yield;—which + surely was well on his part. For the Eternal Power, I still remark, will + not answer the like of this, but silently and terribly accounts it + impious, blasphemous and damnable, and now as heretofore will visit it as + such. Not a rebel but a son, I said; willing to suffer when Heaven said, + Thou shalt;—and withal, what is perhaps rarer in such a combination, + willing to rejoice also, and right cheerily taking the good that was sent, + whensoever or in whatever form it came. + </p> + <p> + A pious soul we may justly call him; devoutly submissive to the will of + the Supreme in all things: the highest and sole essential form which + Religion can assume in man, and without which all forms of religion are a + mockery and a delusion in man. Doubtless, in so clear and filial a heart + there must have dwelt the perennial feeling of silent worship; which + silent feeling, as we have seen, he was eager enough to express by all + good ways of utterance; zealously adopting such appointed forms and creeds + as the dignitaries of the World had fixed upon and solemnly named + recommendable; prostrating his heart in such Church, by such accredited + rituals and seemingly fit or half-fit methods, as his poor time and + country had to offer him,—not rejecting the said methods till they + stood convicted of palpable unfitness and then doing it right gently + withal, rather letting them drop as pitiably dead for him, than angrily + hurling them out of doors as needing to be killed. By few Englishmen of + his epoch had the thing called Church of England been more loyally + appealed to as a spiritual mother. + </p> + <p> + And yet, as I said before, it may be questioned whether piety, what we + call devotion or worship, was the principle deepest in him. In spite of + his Coleridge discipleship, and his once headlong operations following + thereon, I used to judge that his piety was prompt and pure rather than + great or intense; that, on the whole, religious devotion was not the + deepest element of him. His reverence was ardent and just, ever ready for + the thing or man that deserved revering, or seemed to deserve it: but he + was of too joyful, light and hoping a nature to go to the depths of that + feeling, much more to dwell perennially in it. He had no fear in his + composition; terror and awe did not blend with his respect of anything. In + no scene or epoch could he have been a Church Saint, a fanatic enthusiast, + or have worn out his life in passive martyrdom, sitting patient in his + grim coal-mine, looking at the "three ells" of Heaven high overhead there. + In sorrow he would not dwell; all sorrow he swiftly subdued, and shook + away from him. How could you have made an Indian Fakir of the Greek + Apollo, "whose bright eye lends brightness, and never yet saw a shadow"?—I + should say, not religious reverence, rather artistic admiration was the + essential character of him: a fact connected with all other facts in the + physiognomy of his life and self, and giving a tragic enough character to + much of the history he had among us. + </p> + <p> + Poor Sterling, he was by nature appointed for a Poet, then,—a Poet + after his sort, or recognizer and delineator of the Beautiful; and not for + a Priest at all? Striving towards the sunny heights, out of such a level + and through such an element as ours in these days is, he had strange + aberrations appointed him, and painful wanderings amid the miserable + gaslights, bog-fires, dancing meteors and putrid phosphorescences which + form the guidance of a young human soul at present! Not till after trying + all manner of sublimely illuminated places, and finding that the basis of + them was putridity, artificial gas and quaking bog, did he, when his + strength was all done, discover his true sacred hill, and passionately + climb thither while life was fast ebbing!—A tragic history, as all + histories are; yet a gallant, brave and noble one, as not many are. It is + what, to a radiant son of the Muses, and bright messenger of the + harmonious Wisdoms, this poor world—if he himself have not strength + enough, and <i>inertia</i> enough, and amid his harmonious eloquences + silence enough—has provided at present. Many a high-striving, too + hasty soul, seeking guidance towards eternal excellence from the official + Black-artists, and successful Professors of political, ecclesiastical, + philosophical, commercial, general and particular Legerdemain, will + recognize his own history in this image of a fellow-pilgrim's. + </p> + <p> + Over-haste was Sterling's continual fault; over-haste, and want of the due + strength,—alas, mere want of the due <i>inertia</i> chiefly; which + is so common a gift for most part; and proves so inexorably needful + withal! But he was good and generous and true; joyful where there was joy, + patient and silent where endurance was required of him; shook innumerable + sorrows, and thick-crowding forms of pain, gallantly away from him; fared + frankly forward, and with scrupulous care to tread on no one's toes. True, + above all, one may call him; a man of perfect veracity in thought, word + and deed. Integrity towards all men,—nay integrity had ripened with + him into chivalrous generosity; there was no guile or baseness anywhere + found in him. Transparent as crystal; he could not hide anything sinister, + if such there had been to hide. A more perfectly transparent soul I have + never known. It was beautiful, to read all those interior movements; the + little shades of affectations, ostentations; transient spurts of anger, + which never grew to the length of settled spleen: all so naive, so + childlike, the very faults grew beautiful to you. + </p> + <p> + And so he played his part among us, and has now ended it: in this first + half of the Nineteenth Century, such was the shape of human destinies the + world and he made out between them. He sleeps now, in the little + burying-ground of Bonchurch; bright, ever-young in the memory of others + that must grow old; and was honorably released from his toils before the + hottest of the day. + </p> + <p> + All that remains, in palpable shape, of John Sterling's activities in this + world are those Two poor Volumes; scattered fragments gathered from the + general waste of forgotten ephemera by the piety of a friend: an + inconsiderable memorial; not pretending to have achieved greatness; only + disclosing, mournfully, to the more observant, that a promise of greatness + was there. Like other such lives, like all lives, this is a tragedy; high + hopes, noble efforts; under thickening difficulties and impediments, + ever-new nobleness of valiant effort;—and the result death, with + conquests by no means corresponding. A life which cannot challenge the + world's attention; yet which does modestly solicit it, and perhaps on + clear study will be found to reward it. + </p> + <p> + On good evidence let the world understand that here was a remarkable soul + born into it; who, more than others, sensible to its influences, took + intensely into him such tint and shape of feature as the world had to + offer there and then; fashioning himself eagerly by whatsoever of noble + presented itself; participating ardently in the world's battle, and + suffering deeply in its bewilderments;—whose Life-pilgrimage + accordingly is an emblem, unusually significant, of the world's own during + those years of his. A man of infinite susceptivity; who caught everywhere, + more than others, the color of the element he lived in, the infection of + all that was or appeared honorable, beautiful and manful in the tendencies + of his Time;—whose history therefore is, beyond others, emblematic + of that of his Time. + </p> + <p> + In Sterling's Writings and Actions, were they capable of being well read, + we consider that there is for all true hearts, and especially for young + noble seekers, and strivers towards what is highest, a mirror in which + some shadow of themselves and of their immeasurably complex arena will + profitably present itself. Here also is one encompassed and struggling + even as they now are. This man also had said to himself, not in mere + Catechism-words, but with all his instincts, and the question thrilled in + every nerve of him, and pulsed in every drop of his blood: "What is the + chief end of man? Behold, I too would live and work as beseems a denizen + of this Universe, a child of the Highest God. By what means is a noble + life still possible for me here? Ye Heavens and thou Earth, oh, how?"—The + history of this long-continued prayer and endeavor, lasting in various + figures for near forty years, may now and for some time coming have + something to say to men! + </p> + <p> + Nay, what of men or of the world? Here, visible to myself, for some while, + was a brilliant human presence, distinguishable, honorable and lovable + amid the dim common populations; among the million little beautiful, once + more a beautiful human soul: whom I, among others, recognized and lovingly + walked with, while the years and the hours were. Sitting now by his tomb + in thoughtful mood, the new times bring a new duty for me. "Why write the + Life of Sterling?" I imagine I had a commission higher than the world's, + the dictate of Nature herself, to do what is now done. <i>Sic prosit</i>. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_FOOT" id="link2H_FOOT"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + FOOTNOTES: + </h2> + <p> + <a name="linknote-1" id="linknote-1"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 1 (<a href="#linknoteref-1">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>John Sterling's Essays + and Tales, with Life</i> by Archdeacon Hare. Parker; London, 1848.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-2" id="linknote-2"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 2 (<a href="#linknoteref-2">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Commons Journals</i>, + iv. 15 (l0th January, 1644-5); and again v. 307 &c., 498 (18th + September, 1647-15th March, 1647-8).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-3" id="linknote-3"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 3 (<a href="#linknoteref-3">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Literary Chronicle</i>, + New Series; London, Saturday, 21 June, 1828, Art. II.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-4" id="linknote-4"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 4 (<a href="#linknoteref-4">return</a>)<br /> [ "The Letters of Vetus from + March 10th to May 10th, 1812" (second edition, London, 1812): Ditto, "Part + III., with a Preface and Notes" (ibid. 1814).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-5" id="linknote-5"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 5 (<a href="#linknoteref-5">return</a>)<br /> [ Here, in a Note, is the + tragic little Register, with what indications for us may lie in it:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + (l.) Robert Sterling died, 4th June, 1815, at Queen Square, in + his fourth year (John being now nine). + (2.) Elizabeth died, 12th March, 1818, at Blackfriars Road, in + her second year. + (3.) Edward, 30th March, 1818 (same place, same month and year), + in his ninth. + (4.) Hester, 21st July, 1818 (three months later), at Blackheath, + in her eleventh. + (5.) Catherine Hester Elizabeth, 16th January, 1821, in Seymour + Street.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-6" id="linknote-6"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 6 (<a href="#linknoteref-6">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>History of the English + Universities</i>. (Translated from the German.)] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-7" id="linknote-7"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 7 (<a href="#linknoteref-7">return</a>)<br /> [ Mrs. Anthony Sterling, very + lately Miss Charlotte Baird.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-8" id="linknote-8"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 8 (<a href="#linknoteref-8">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Biography</i>, by Hare, + pp. xvi-xxvi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-9" id="linknote-9"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 9 (<a href="#linknoteref-9">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Biography</i>, by Mr. + Hare, p. xli.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-10" id="linknote-10"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 10 (<a href="#linknoteref-10">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, pp. xliii-xlvi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-11" id="linknote-11"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 11 (<a href="#linknoteref-11">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, xlviii, liv, lv.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-12" id="linknote-12"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 12 (<a href="#linknoteref-12">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, p. lvi.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-13" id="linknote-13"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 13 (<a href="#linknoteref-13">return</a>)<br /> [ P. lxxviii.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-14" id="linknote-14"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 14 (<a href="#linknoteref-14">return</a>)<br /> [ Given in Hare (ii. + 188-193).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-15" id="linknote-15"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 15 (<a href="#linknoteref-15">return</a>)<br /> [ Came out, as will soon + appear, in <i>Blackwood</i> (February, 1838).] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-16" id="linknote-16"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 16 (<a href="#linknoteref-16">return</a>)<br /> [ "<i>Hotel de l'Europe, + Berlin</i>," added in Mrs. Sterling's hand.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-17" id="linknote-17"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 17 (<a href="#linknoteref-17">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, ii. 96-167.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-18" id="linknote-18"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 18 (<a href="#linknoteref-18">return</a>)<br /> [ Ib. i. 129, 188.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-19" id="linknote-19"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 19 (<a href="#linknoteref-19">return</a>)<br /> [ Here in a Note they are, + if they can be important to anybody. The marks of interrogation, attached + to some Names as not yet consulted or otherwise questionable, are in the + Secretary's hand:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + J. D. Acland, Esq. H. Malden, Esq. + Hon. W. B. Baring. J. S. Mill, Esq. + Rev. J. W. Blakesley. R. M. Milnes, Esq. + W. Boxall, Esq. R. Monteith, Esq. + T. Carlyle, Esq. S. A. O'Brien, Esq. + Hon. R. Cavendish (?) Sir F. Palgrave (?) + H. N. Coleridge, Esq. (?) W. F. Pollok, Esq. + J. W. Colville, Esq. Philip Pusey, Esq. + Allan Cunningham, Esq. (?) A. Rio, Esq. + Rev. H. Donn. C. Romilly, Esq. + F. H. Doyle, Esq. James Spedding, Esq. + C. L. Eastlake, Esq. Rev. John Sterling. + Alex. Ellice, Esq. Alfred Tennyson, Esq. + J. F. Elliott, Esq. Rev. Connop Thirlwall. + Copley Fielding, Esq. Rev. W. Hepworth Thompson. + Rev. J. C. Hare. Edward Twisleton, Esq. + Sir Edmund Head (?) G. S. Venables, Esq. + D. D. Heath, Esq. Samuel Wood, Esq. + G. C. Lewis, Esq. Rev. T. Worsley. + H. L. Lushington, Esq. + The Lord Lyttleton. James Spedding, <i>Secretary</i>. + C. Macarthy, Esq. 8th August, 1838.] +</pre> + <p> + <a name="linknote-20" id="linknote-20"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 20 (<a href="#linknoteref-20">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, p. cxviii.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-21" id="linknote-21"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 21 (<a href="#linknoteref-21">return</a>)<br /> [ Of Sterling himself, I + suppose.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-22" id="linknote-22"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 22 (<a href="#linknoteref-22">return</a>)<br /> [ Hare, ii. p. 252.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-23" id="linknote-23"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 23 (<a href="#linknoteref-23">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>Poems by John Sterling</i>. + London (Moxon), 1839.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-24" id="linknote-24"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 24 (<a href="#linknoteref-24">return</a>)<br /> [ <i>The Election: a Poem, + in Seven Books</i>. London, Murray, 1841.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-25" id="linknote-25"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 25 (<a href="#linknoteref-25">return</a>)<br /> [ Pp. 7, 8.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-26" id="linknote-26"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 26 (<a href="#linknoteref-26">return</a>)<br /> [ Pp. 89-93.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-27" id="linknote-27"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 27 (<a href="#linknoteref-27">return</a>)<br /> [ Sister of Mrs. Strachey + and Mrs. Buller: Sir John Louis was now in a high Naval post at Malta.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-28" id="linknote-28"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 28 (<a href="#linknoteref-28">return</a>)<br /> [ Long Letter to his + Father: Naples, 3d May, 1842.] + </p> + <p> + <a name="linknote-29" id="linknote-29"> + <!-- Note --></a> + </p> + <p class="foot"> + 29 (<a href="#linknoteref-29">return</a>)<br /> [ Death of her Mother, four + mouths before. (<i>Note of</i> 1870.)] + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of John Sterling, by Thomas Carlyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF JOHN STERLING *** + +***** This file should be named 1085-h.htm or 1085-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/1085/ + +Produced by Ron Burkey, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of John Sterling + +Author: Thomas Carlyle + +Posting Date: August 5, 2008 [EBook #1085] +Release Date: October, 1997 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF JOHN STERLING *** + + + + +Produced by Ron Burkey + + + + + +LIFE OF JOHN STERLING + +By Thomas Carlyle + + +Transcriber's Note: Italics in the text are indicated by the use of an +underscore as delimiter, _thusly_. All footnotes have been collected at +the end of the text, and numbered sequentially in brackets, [thusly]. +One illustration has been omitted. The "pound" symbol has been replaced +by the word "pounds". Otherwise, all spelling, punctuation, etc., have +been left as in the printed text. + +Taken from volume 2 of Carlyle's Complete Works, which additionally +contains the Latter-Day Pamphlets, to be provided as a separate etext. + + + + +PART I. + + + +CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. + +Near seven years ago, a short while before his death in 1844, John +Sterling committed the care of his literary Character and printed +Writings to two friends, Archdeacon Hare and myself. His estimate of the +bequest was far from overweening; to few men could the small sum-total +of his activities in this world seem more inconsiderable than, in those +last solemn days, it did to him. He had burnt much; found much unworthy; +looking steadfastly into the silent continents of Death and Eternity, a +brave man's judgments about his own sorry work in the field of Time are +not apt to be too lenient. But, in fine, here was some portion of his +work which the world had already got hold of, and which he could not +burn. This too, since it was not to be abolished and annihilated, but +must still for some time live and act, he wished to be wisely settled, +as the rest had been. And so it was left in charge to us, the survivors, +to do for it what we judged fittest, if indeed doing nothing did not +seem the fittest to us. This message, communicated after his decease, +was naturally a sacred one to Mr. Hare and me. + +After some consultation on it, and survey of the difficulties and +delicate considerations involved in it, Archdeacon Hare and I agreed +that the whole task, of selecting what Writings were to be reprinted, +and of drawing up a Biography to introduce them, should be left to him +alone; and done without interference of mine:--as accordingly it was, [1] +in a manner surely far superior to the common, in every good quality of +editing; and visibly everywhere bearing testimony to the friendliness, +the piety, perspicacity and other gifts and virtues of that eminent and +amiable man. + +In one respect, however, if in one only, the arrangement had been +unfortunate. Archdeacon Hare, both by natural tendency and by his +position as a Churchman, had been led, in editing a Work not free from +ecclesiastical heresies, and especially in writing a Life very full of +such, to dwell with preponderating emphasis on that part of his subject; +by no means extenuating the fact, nor yet passing lightly over it (which +a layman could have done) as needing no extenuation; but carefully +searching into it, with the view of excusing and explaining it; dwelling +on it, presenting all the documents of it, and as it were spreading it +over the whole field of his delineation; as if religious heterodoxy had +been the grand fact of Sterling's life, which even to the Archdeacon's +mind it could by no means seem to be. _Hinc illae lachrymae_. For the +Religious Newspapers, and Periodical Heresy-hunters, getting very lively +in those years, were prompt to seize the cue; and have prosecuted +and perhaps still prosecute it, in their sad way, to all lengths and +breadths. John Sterling's character and writings, which had little +business to be spoken of in any Church-court, have hereby been carried +thither as if for an exclusive trial; and the mournfulest set of +pleadings, out of which nothing but a misjudgment _can_ be formed, +prevail there ever since. The noble Sterling, a radiant child of the +empyrean, clad in bright auroral hues in the memory of all that knew +him,--what is he doing here in inquisitorial _sanbenito_, with nothing +but ghastly spectralities prowling round him, and inarticulately +screeching and gibbering what they call their judgment on him! + +"The sin of Hare's Book," says one of my Correspondents in those years, +"is easily defined, and not very condemnable, but it is nevertheless +ruinous to his task as Biographer. He takes up Sterling as a clergyman +merely. Sterling, I find, was a curate for exactly eight months; during +eight months and no more had he any special relation to the Church. But +he was a man, and had relation to the Universe, for eight-and-thirty +years: and it is in this latter character, to which all the others were +but features and transitory hues, that we wish to know him. His battle +with hereditary Church formulas was severe; but it was by no means his +one battle with things inherited, nor indeed his chief battle; +neither, according to my observation of what it was, is it successfully +delineated or summed up in this Book. The truth is, nobody that had +known Sterling would recognize a feature of him here; you would never +dream that this Book treated of _him_ at all. A pale sickly shadow in +torn surplice is presented to us here; weltering bewildered amid +heaps of what you call 'Hebrew Old-clothes;' wrestling, with impotent +impetuosity, to free itself from the baleful imbroglio, as if that +had been its one function in life: who in this miserable figure would +recognize the brilliant, beautiful and cheerful John Sterling, with +his ever-flowing wealth of ideas, fancies, imaginations; with his frank +affections, inexhaustible hopes, audacities, activities, and general +radiant vivacity of heart and intelligence, which made the presence of +him an illumination and inspiration wherever he went? It is too bad. +Let a man be honestly forgotten when his life ends; but let him not be +misremembered in this way. To be hung up as an ecclesiastical scarecrow, +as a target for heterodox and orthodox to practice archery upon, is no +fate that can be due to the memory of Sterling. It was not as a ghastly +phantasm, choked in Thirty-nine-article controversies, or miserable +Semitic, Anti-Semitic street-riots,--in scepticisms, agonized +self-seekings, that this man appeared in life; nor as such, if the world +still wishes to look at him should you suffer the world's memory of him +now to be. Once for all, it is unjust; emphatically untrue as an image +of John Sterling: perhaps to few men that lived along with him could +such an interpretation of their existence be more inapplicable." + + +Whatever truth there might be in these rather passionate +representations, and to myself there wanted not a painful feeling of +their truth, it by no means appeared what help or remedy any friend of +Sterling's, and especially one so related to the matter as myself, could +attempt in the interim. Perhaps endure in patience till the dust +laid itself again, as all dust does if you leave it well alone? Much +obscuration would thus of its own accord fall away; and, in Mr. Hare's +narrative itself, apart from his commentary, many features of Sterling's +true character would become decipherable to such as sought them. +Censure, blame of this Work of Mr. Hare's was naturally far from my +thoughts. A work which distinguishes itself by human piety and candid +intelligence; which, in all details, is careful, lucid, exact; and which +offers, as we say, to the observant reader that will interpret facts, +many traits of Sterling besides his heterodoxy. Censure of it, from me +especially, is not the thing due; from me a far other thing is due!-- + +On the whole, my private thought was: First, How happy it comparatively +is, for a man of any earnestness of life, to have no Biography written +of him; but to return silently, with his small, sorely foiled bit of +work, to the Supreme Silences, who alone can judge of it or him; and not +to trouble the reviewers, and greater or lesser public, with attempting +to judge it! The idea of "fame," as they call it, posthumous or +other, does not inspire one with much ecstasy in these points of +view.--Secondly, That Sterling's performance and real or seeming +importance in this world was actually not of a kind to demand an express +Biography, even according to the world's usages. His character was not +supremely original; neither was his fate in the world wonderful. What +he did was inconsiderable enough; and as to what it lay in him to have +done, this was but a problem, now beyond possibility of settlement. Why +had a Biography been inflicted on this man; why had not No-biography, +and the privilege of all the weary, been his lot?--Thirdly, That such +lot, however, could now no longer be my good Sterling's; a tumult having +risen around his name, enough to impress some pretended likeness of him +(about as like as the Guy-Fauxes are, on Gunpowder-Day) upon the minds +of many men: so that he could not be forgotten, and could only be +misremembered, as matters now stood. + +Whereupon, as practical conclusion to the whole, arose by degrees this +final thought, That, at some calmer season, when the theological dust +had well fallen, and both the matter itself, and my feelings on it, were +in a suitabler condition, I ought to give my testimony about this friend +whom I had known so well, and record clearly what my knowledge of him +was. This has ever since seemed a kind of duty I had to do in the world +before leaving it. + + +And so, having on my hands some leisure at this time, and being bound to +it by evident considerations, one of which ought to be especially +sacred to me, I decide to fling down on paper some outline of what +my recollections and reflections contain in reference to this most +friendly, bright and beautiful human soul; who walked with me for a +season in this world, and remains to me very memorable while I continue +in it. Gradually, if facts simple enough in themselves can be narrated +as they came to pass, it will be seen what kind of man this was; to what +extent condemnable for imaginary heresy and other crimes, to what +extent laudable and lovable for noble manful _orthodoxy_ and other +virtues;--and whether the lesson his life had to teach us is not much +the reverse of what the Religious Newspapers hitherto educe from it. + +Certainly it was not as a "sceptic" that you could define him, whatever +his definition might be. Belief, not doubt, attended him at all points +of his progress; rather a tendency to too hasty and headlong belief. +Of all men he was the least prone to what you could call scepticism: +diseased self-listenings, self-questionings, impotently painful +dubitations, all this fatal nosology of spiritual maladies, so rife +in our day, was eminently foreign to him. Quite on the other side lay +Sterling's faults, such as they were. In fact, you could observe, in +spite of his sleepless intellectual vivacity, he was not properly a +thinker at all; his faculties were of the active, not of the passive or +contemplative sort. A brilliant _improvisatore_; rapid in thought, in +word and in act; everywhere the promptest and least hesitating of men. +I likened him often, in my banterings, to sheet-lightning; and +reproachfully prayed that he would concentrate himself into a bolt, and +rive the mountain-barriers for us, instead of merely playing on them and +irradiating them. + +True, he had his "religion" to seek, and painfully shape together for +himself, out of the abysses of conflicting disbelief and sham-belief and +bedlam delusion, now filling the world, as all men of reflection have; +and in this respect too,--more especially as his lot in the battle +appointed for us all was, if you can understand it, victory and not +defeat,--he is an expressive emblem of his time, and an instruction and +possession to his contemporaries. For, I say, it is by no means as a +vanquished _doubter_ that he figures in the memory of those who knew +him; but rather as a victorious _believer_, and under great difficulties +a victorious doer. An example to us all, not of lamed misery, helpless +spiritual bewilderment and sprawling despair, or any kind of _drownage_ +in the foul welter of our so-called religious or other controversies and +confusions; but of a swift and valiant vanquisher of all these; a noble +asserter of himself, as worker and speaker, in spite of all these. +Continually, so far as he went, he was a teacher, by act and word, of +hope, clearness, activity, veracity, and human courage and nobleness: +the preacher of a good gospel to all men, not of a bad to any man. The +man, whether in priest's cassock or other costume of men, who is the +enemy or hater of John Sterling, may assure himself that he does not yet +know him,--that miserable differences of mere costume and dialect still +divide him, whatsoever is worthy, catholic and perennial in him, from a +brother soul who, more than most in his day, was his brother and not his +adversary in regard to all that. + +Nor shall the irremediable drawback that Sterling was not current in the +Newspapers, that he achieved neither what the world calls greatness nor +what intrinsically is such, altogether discourage me. What his natural +size, and natural and accidental limits were, will gradually appear, if +my sketching be successful. And I have remarked that a true delineation +of the smallest man, and his scene of pilgrimage through life, is +capable of interesting the greatest man; that all men are to an +unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every +man's; and that Human Portraits, faithfully drawn, are of all pictures +the welcomest on human walls. Monitions and moralities enough may lie +in this small Work, if honestly written and honestly read;--and, in +particular, if any image of John Sterling and his Pilgrimage through +our poor Nineteenth Century be one day wanted by the world, and they can +find some shadow of a true image here, my swift scribbling (which shall +be very swift and immediate) may prove useful by and by. + + + +CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. + +John Sterling was born at Kaimes Castle, a kind of dilapidated baronial +residence to which a small farm was then attached, rented by his Father, +in the Isle of Bute,--on the 20th July, 1806. Both his parents were +Irish by birth, Scotch by extraction; and became, as he himself did, +essentially English by long residence and habit. Of John himself +Scotland has little or nothing to claim except the birth and genealogy, +for he left it almost before the years of memory; and in his mature days +regarded it, if with a little more recognition and intelligence, yet +without more participation in any of its accents outward or inward, +than others natives of Middlesex or Surrey, where the scene of his chief +education lay. + +The climate of Bute is rainy, soft of temperature; with skies of unusual +depth and brilliancy, while the weather is fair. In that soft rainy +climate, on that wild-wooded rocky coast, with its gnarled mountains and +green silent valleys, with its seething rain-storms and many-sounding +seas, was young Sterling ushered into his first schooling in this world. +I remember one little anecdote his Father told me of those first +years: One of the cows had calved; young John, still in petticoats, was +permitted to go, holding by his father's hand, and look at the newly +arrived calf; a mystery which he surveyed with open intent eyes, and the +silent exercise of all the scientific faculties he had;--very strange +mystery indeed, this new arrival, and fresh denizen of our Universe: +"Wull't eat a-body?" said John in his first practical Scotch, inquiring +into the tendencies this mystery might have to fall upon a little fellow +and consume him as provision: "Will it eat one, Father?"--Poor little +open-eyed John: the family long bantered him with this anecdote; and +we, in far other years, laughed heartily on hearing it.--Simple peasant +laborers, ploughers, house-servants, occasional fisher-people too; and +the sight of ships, and crops, and Nature's doings where Art has little +meddled with her: this was the kind of schooling our young friend had, +first of all; on this bench of the grand world-school did he sit, for +the first four years of his life. + +Edward Sterling his Father, a man who subsequently came to considerable +notice in the world, was originally of Waterford in Munster; son of the +Episcopalian Clergyman there; and chief representative of a family of +some standing in those parts. Family founded, it appears, by a +Colonel Robert Sterling, called also Sir Robert Sterling; a Scottish +Gustavus-Adolphus soldier, whom the breaking out of the Civil War had +recalled from his German campaignings, and had before long, though not +till after some waverings on his part, attached firmly to the Duke +of Ormond and to the King's Party in that quarrel. A little bit of +genealogy, since it lies ready to my hand, gathered long ago out of +wider studies, and pleasantly connects things individual and present +with the dim universal crowd of things past,--may as well be inserted +here as thrown away. + +This Colonel Robert designates himself Sterling "of Glorat;" I believe, +a younger branch of the well-known Stirlings of Keir in Stirlingshire. +It appears he prospered in his soldiering and other business, in +those bad Ormond times; being a man of energy, ardor and +intelligence,--probably prompt enough both with his word and with his +stroke. There survives yet, in the Commons Journals, [2] dim notice of +his controversies and adventures; especially of one controversy he had +got into with certain victorious Parliamentary official parties, +while his own party lay vanquished, during what was called the Ormond +Cessation, or Temporary Peace made by Ormond with the Parliament in +1646:--in which controversy Colonel Robert, after repeated applications, +journeyings to London, attendances upon committees, and such like, finds +himself worsted, declared to be in the wrong; and so vanishes from the +Commons Journals. + +What became of him when Cromwell got to Ireland, and to Munster, I +have not heard: his knighthood, dating from the very year of Cromwell's +Invasion (1649), indicates a man expected to do his best on the +occasion:--as in all probability he did; had not Tredah Storm proved +ruinous, and the neck of this Irish War been broken at once. Doubtless +the Colonel Sir Robert followed or attended his Duke of Ormond into +foreign parts, and gave up his management of Munster, while it was yet +time: for after the Restoration we find him again, safe, and as was +natural, flourishing with new splendor; gifted, recompensed with +lands;--settled, in short, on fair revenues in those Munster regions. +He appears to have had no children; but to have left his property to +William, a younger brother who had followed him into Ireland. From this +William descends the family which, in the years we treat of, had Edward +Sterling, Father of our John, for its representative. And now enough of +genealogy. + + +Of Edward Sterling, Captain Edward Sterling as his title was, who in the +latter period of his life became well known in London political society, +whom indeed all England, with a curious mixture of mockery and respect +and even fear, knew well as "the Thunderer of the Times Newspaper," +there were much to be said, did the present task and its limits permit. +As perhaps it might, on certain terms? What is indispensable let us not +omit to say. The history of a man's childhood is the description of his +parents and environment: this is his inarticulate but highly important +history, in those first times, while of articulate he has yet none. + +Edward Sterling had now just entered on his thirty-fourth year; and was +already a man experienced in fortunes and changes. A native of Waterford +in Munster, as already mentioned; born in the "Deanery House of +Waterford, 27th February, 1773," say the registers. For his Father, as +we learn, resided in the Deanery House, though he was not himself Dean, +but only "Curate of the Cathedral" (whatever that may mean); he was +withal rector of two other livings, and the Dean's friend,--friend +indeed of the Dean's kinsmen the Beresfords generally; whose grand house +of Curraghmore, near by Waterford, was a familiar haunt of his and his +children's. This reverend gentleman, along with his three livings and +high acquaintanceships, had inherited political connections;--inherited +especially a Government Pension, with survivorship for still one life +beyond his own; his father having been Clerk of the Irish House of +Commons at the time of the Union, of which office the lost salary was +compensated in this way. The Pension was of two hundred pounds; and only +expired with the life of Edward, John's Father, in 1847. There were, +and still are, daughters of the family; but Edward was the only +son;--descended, too, from the Scottish hero Wallace, as the old +gentleman would sometimes admonish him; his own wife, Edward's mother, +being of that name, and boasting herself, as most Scotch Wallaces do, to +have that blood in her veins. + +This Edward had picked up, at Waterford, and among the young Beresfords +of Curraghmore and elsewhere, a thoroughly Irish form of character: fire +and fervor, vitality of all kinds, in genial abundance; but in a much +more loquacious, ostentatious, much _louder_ style than is freely +patronized on this side of the Channel. Of Irish accent in speech he had +entirely divested himself, so as not to be traced by any vestige in that +respect; but his Irish accent of character, in all manner of other more +important respects, was very recognizable. An impetuous man, full +of real energy, and immensely conscious of the same; who transacted +everything not with the minimum of fuss and noise, but with the maximum: +a very Captain Whirlwind, as one was tempted to call him. + +In youth, he had studied at Trinity College, Dublin; visited the Inns +of Court here, and trained himself for the Irish Bar. To the Bar he +had been duly called, and was waiting for the results,--when, in his +twenty-fifth year, the Irish Rebellion broke out; whereupon the Irish +Barristers decided to raise a corps of loyal Volunteers, and a complete +change introduced itself into Edward Sterling's way of life. For, +naturally, he had joined the array of Volunteers;--fought, I have +heard, "in three actions with the rebels" (Vinegar Hill, for one); and +doubtless fought well: but in the mess-rooms, among the young military +and civil officials, with all of whom he was a favorite, he had acquired +a taste for soldier life, and perhaps high hopes of succeeding in it: at +all events, having a commission in the Lancashire Militia offered +him, he accepted that; altogether quitted the Bar, and became Captain +Sterling thenceforth. From the Militia, it appears, he had volunteered +with his Company into the Line; and, under some disappointments, and +official delays of expected promotion, was continuing to serve as +Captain there, "Captain of the Eighth Battalion of Reserve," say the +Military Almanacs of 1803,--in which year the quarters happened to be +Derry, where new events awaited him. At a ball in Derry he met with Miss +Hester Coningham, the queen of the scene, and of the fair world in Derry +at that time. The acquaintance, in spite of some Opposition, grew with +vigor, and rapidly ripened: and "at Fehan Church, Diocese of Derry," +where the Bride's father had a country-house, "on Thursday 5th April, +1804, Hester Coningham, only daughter of John Coningham, Esquire, +Merchant in Derry, and of Elizabeth Campbell his wife," was wedded to +Captain Sterling; she happiest to him happiest,--as by Nature's kind law +it is arranged. + +Mrs. Sterling, even in her later days, had still traces of the old +beauty: then and always she was a woman of delicate, pious, affectionate +character; exemplary as a wife, a mother and a friend. A refined female +nature; something tremulous in it, timid, and with a certain rural +freshness still unweakened by long converse with the world. The tall +slim figure, always of a kind of quaker neatness; the innocent anxious +face, anxious bright hazel eyes; the timid, yet gracefully cordial +ways, the natural intelligence, instinctive sense and worth, were very +characteristic. Her voice too; with its something of soft querulousness, +easily adapting itself to a light thin-flowing style of mirth on +occasion, was characteristic: she had retained her Ulster intonations, +and was withal somewhat copious in speech. A fine tremulously sensitive +nature, strong chiefly on the side of the affections, and the graceful +insights and activities that depend on these:--truly a beautiful, +much-suffering, much-loving house-mother. From her chiefly, as one could +discern, John Sterling had derived the delicate _aroma_ of his nature, +its piety, clearness, sincerity; as from his Father, the ready practical +gifts, the impetuosities and the audacities, were also (though in +strange new form) visibly inherited. A man was lucky to have such a +Mother; to have such Parents as both his were. + +Meanwhile the new Wife appears to have had, for the present, no +marriage-portion; neither was Edward Sterling rich,--according to +his own ideas and aims, far from it. Of course he soon found that +the fluctuating barrack-life, especially with no outlooks of speedy +promotion, was little suited to his new circumstances: but how change +it? His father was now dead; from whom he had inherited the Speaker +Pension of two hundred pounds; but of available probably little or +nothing more. The rents of the small family estate, I suppose, and other +property, had gone to portion sisters. Two hundred pounds, and the pay +of a marching captain: within the limits of that revenue all plans of +his had to restrict themselves at present. + +He continued for some time longer in the Army; his wife undivided from +him by the hardships, of that way of life. Their first son Anthony +(Captain Anthony Sterling, the only child who now survives) was born +to them in this position, while lying at Dundalk, in January, 1805. Two +months later, some eleven months after their marriage, the regiment was +broken; and Captain Sterling, declining to serve elsewhere on the +terms offered, and willingly accepting such decision of his doubts, was +reduced to half-pay. This was the end of his soldiering: some five +or six years in all; from which he had derived for life, among other +things, a decided military bearing, whereof he was rather proud; an +incapacity for practicing law;--and considerable uncertainty as to what +his next course of life was now to be. + +For the present, his views lay towards farming: to establish himself, +if not as country gentleman, which was an unattainable ambition, then +at least as some kind of gentleman-farmer which had a flattering +resemblance to that. Kaimes Castle with a reasonable extent of land, +which, in his inquiries after farms, had turned up, was his first place +of settlement in this new capacity; and here, for some few months, he +had established himself when John his second child was born. This was +Captain Sterling's first attempt towards a fixed course of life; not +a very wise one, I have understood:--yet on the whole, who, then and +there, could have pointed out to him a wiser? + +A fixed course of life and activity he could never attain, or not till +very late; and this doubtless was among the important points of his +destiny, and acted both on his own character and that of those who had +to attend him on his wayfarings. + + + +CHAPTER III. SCHOOLS: LLANBLETHIAN; PARIS; LONDON. + +Edward Sterling never shone in farming; indeed I believe he never took +heartily to it, or tried it except in fits. His Bute farm was, at +best, a kind of apology for some far different ideal of a country +establishment which could not be realized; practically a temporary +landing-place from which he could make sallies and excursions in search +of some more generous field of enterprise. Stormy brief efforts at +energetic husbandry, at agricultural improvement and rapid field-labor, +alternated with sudden flights to Dublin, to London, whithersoever any +flush of bright outlook which he could denominate practical, or any +gleam of hope which his impatient ennui could represent as such, +allured him. This latter was often enough the case. In wet hay-times and +harvest-times, the dripping outdoor world, and lounging indoor one, in +the absence of the master, offered far from a satisfactory appearance! +Here was, in fact, a man much imprisoned; haunted, I doubt not, by +demons enough; though ever brisk and brave withal,--iracund, but +cheerfully vigorous, opulent in wise or unwise hope. A fiery energetic +soul consciously and unconsciously storming for deliverance into better +arenas; and this in a restless, rapid, impetuous, rather than in a +strong, silent and deliberate way. + +In rainy Bute and the dilapidated Kaimes Castle, it was evident, there +lay no Goshen for such a man. The lease, originally but for some three +years and a half, drawing now to a close, he resolved to quit Bute; had +heard, I know not where, of an eligible cottage without farm attached, +in the pleasant little village of Llanblethian close by Cowbridge in +Glamorganshire; of this he took a lease, and thither with his family he +moved in search of new fortunes. Glamorganshire was at least a better +climate than Bute; no groups of idle or of busy reapers could here stand +waiting on the guidance of a master, for there was no farm here;--and +among its other and probably its chief though secret advantages, +Llanblethian was much more convenient both for Dublin and London than +Kaimes Castle had been. + +The removal thither took place in the autumn of 1809. Chief part of the +journey (perhaps from Greenock to Swansea or Bristol) was by sea: John, +just turned of three years, could in after-times remember nothing of +this voyage; Anthony, some eighteen months older, has still a vivid +recollection of the gray splashing tumult, and dim sorrow, uncertainty, +regret and distress he underwent: to him a "dissolving-view" which not +only left its effect on the _plate_ (as all views and dissolving-views +doubtless do on that kind of "plate"), but remained consciously present +there. John, in the close of his twenty-first year, professes not +to remember anything whatever of Bute; his whole existence, in that +earliest scene of it, had faded away from him: Bute also, with its +shaggy mountains, moaning woods, and summer and winter seas, had been +wholly a dissolving-view for him, and had left no conscious impression, +but only, like this voyage, an effect. + +Llanblethian hangs pleasantly, with its white cottages, and orchard and +other trees, on the western slope of a green hill looking far and wide +over green meadows and little or bigger hills, in the pleasant plain of +Glamorgan; a short mile to the south of Cowbridge, to which smart little +town it is properly a kind of suburb. Plain of Glamorgan, some ten +miles wide and thirty or forty long, which they call the Vale of +Glamorgan;--though properly it is not quite a Vale, there being only one +range of mountains to it, if even one: certainly the central Mountains +of Wales do gradually rise, in a miscellaneous manner, on the north +side of it; but on the south are no mountains, not even land, only +the Bristol Channel, and far off, the Hills of Devonshire, for +boundary,--the "English Hills," as the natives call them, visible from +every eminence in those parts. On such wide terms is it called Vale of +Glamorgan. But called by whatever name, it is a most pleasant fruitful +region: kind to the native, interesting to the visitor. A waving grassy +region; cut with innumerable ragged lanes; dotted with sleepy unswept +human hamlets, old ruinous castles with their ivy and their daws, gray +sleepy churches with their ditto ditto: for ivy everywhere abounds; and +generally a rank fragrant vegetation clothes all things; hanging, in +rude many-colored festoons and fringed odoriferous tapestries, on your +right and on your left, in every lane. A country kinder to the sluggard +husbandman than any I have ever seen. For it lies all on limestone, +needs no draining; the soil, everywhere of handsome depth and finest +quality, will grow good crops for you with the most imperfect tilling. +At a safe distance of a day's riding lie the tartarean copper-forges of +Swansea, the tartarean iron-forges of Merthyr; their sooty battle far +away, and not, at such safe distance, a defilement to the face of +the earth and sky, but rather an encouragement to the earth at least; +encouraging the husbandman to plough better, if he only would. + +The peasantry seem indolent and stagnant, but peaceable and +well-provided; much given to Methodism when they have any +character;--for the rest, an innocent good-humored people, who all drink +home-brewed beer, and have brown loaves of the most excellent home-baked +bread. The native peasant village is not generally beautiful, though +it might be, were it swept and trimmed; it gives one rather the idea +of sluttish stagnancy,--an interesting peep into the Welsh Paradise of +Sleepy Hollow. Stones, old kettles, naves of wheels, all kinds of broken +litter, with live pigs and etceteras, lie about the street: for, as +a rule, no rubbish is removed, but waits patiently the action of mere +natural chemistry and accident; if even a house is burnt or falls, you +will find it there after half a century, only cloaked by the ever-ready +ivy. Sluggish man seems never to have struck a pick into it; his new hut +is built close by on ground not encumbered, and the old stones are still +left lying. + +This is the ordinary Welsh village; but there are exceptions, +where people of more cultivated tastes have been led to settle, and +Llanblethian is one of the more signal of these. A decidedly cheerful +group of human homes, the greater part of them indeed belonging to +persons of refined habits; trimness, shady shelter, whitewash, neither +conveniency nor decoration has been neglected here. Its effect from +the distance on the eastward is very pretty: you see it like a little +sleeping cataract of white houses, with trees overshadowing and fringing +it; and there the cataract hangs, and does not rush away from you. + +John Sterling spent his next five years in this locality. He did not +again see it for a quarter of a century; but retained, all his life, a +lively remembrance of it; and, just in the end of his twenty-first year, +among his earliest printed pieces, we find an elaborate and diffuse +description of it and its relations to him,--part of which piece, in +spite of its otherwise insignificant quality, may find place here:-- + +"The fields on which I first looked, and the sands which were marked by +my earliest footsteps, are completely lost to my memory; and of those +ancient walls among which I began to breathe, I retain no recollection +more clear than the outlines of a cloud in a moonless sky. But of L----, +the village where I afterwards lived, I persuade myself that every line +and hue is more deeply and accurately fixed than those of any spot +I have since beheld, even though borne in upon the heart by the +association of the strongest feelings. + +"My home was built upon the slope of a hill, with a little orchard +stretching down before it, and a garden rising behind. At a considerable +distance beyond and beneath the orchard, a rivulet flowed through +meadows and turned a mill; while, above the garden, the summit of +the hill was crowned by a few gray rocks, from which a yew-tree grew, +solitary and bare. Extending at each side of the orchard, toward +the brook, two scattered patches of cottages lay nestled among their +gardens; and beyond this streamlet and the little mill and bridge, +another slight eminence arose, divided into green fields, tufted and +bordered with copsewood, and crested by a ruined castle, contemporary, +as was said, with the Conquest. I know not whether these things in truth +made up a prospect of much beauty. Since I was eight years old, I have +never seen them; but I well know that no landscape I have since beheld, +no picture of Claude or Salvator, gave me half the impression of living, +heartfelt, perfect beauty which fills my mind when I think of that green +valley, that sparkling rivulet, that broken fortress of dark antiquity, +and that hill with its aged yew and breezy summit, from which I have +so often looked over the broad stretch of verdure beneath it, and the +country-town, and church-tower, silent and white beyond. + +"In that little town there was, and I believe is, a school where the +elements of human knowledge were communicated to me, for some hours of +every day, during a considerable time. The path to it lay across the +rivulet and past the mill; from which point we could either journey +through the fields below the old castle, and the wood which surrounded +it, or along a road at the other side of the ruin, close to the gateway +of which it passed. The former track led through two or three beautiful +fields, the sylvan domain of the keep on one hand, and the brook on the +other; while an oak or two, like giant warders advanced from the wood, +broke the sunshine of the green with a soft and graceful shadow. How +often, on my way to school, have I stopped beneath the tree to collect +the fallen acorns; how often run down to the stream to pluck a branch of +the hawthorn which hung over the water! The road which passed the castle +joined, beyond these fields, the path which traversed them. It took, I +well remember, a certain solemn and mysterious interest from the ruin. +The shadow of the archway, the discolorizations of time on all the +walls, the dimness of the little thicket which encircled it, the +traditions of its immeasurable age, made St. Quentin's Castle a +wonderful and awful fabric in the imagination of a child; and long after +I last saw its mouldering roughness, I never read of fortresses, or +heights, or spectres, or banditti, without connecting them with the one +ruin of my childhood. + +"It was close to this spot that one of the few adventures occurred +which marked, in my mind, my boyish days with importance. When loitering +beyond the castle, on the way to school, with a brother somewhat older +than myself, who was uniformly my champion and protector, we espied a +round sloe high up in the hedge-row. We determined to obtain it; and +I do not remember whether both of us, or only my brother, climbed the +tree. However, when the prize was all but reached,--and no alchemist +ever looked more eagerly for the moment of projection which was to give +him immortality and omnipotence,--a gruff voice startled us with an +oath, and an order to desist; and I well recollect looking back, for +long after, with terror to the vision of an old and ill-tempered +farmer, armed with a bill-hook, and vowing our decapitation; nor did I +subsequently remember without triumph the eloquence whereby alone, in my +firm belief, my brother and myself had been rescued from instant death. + +"At the entrance of the little town stood an old gateway, with a pointed +arch and decaying battlements. It gave admittance to the street which +contained the church, and which terminated in another street, the +principal one in the town of C----. In this was situated the school to +which I daily wended. I cannot now recall to mind the face of its good +conductor, nor of any of his scholars; but I have before me a strong +general image of the interior of his establishment. I remember the +reverence with which I was wont to carry to his seat a well-thumbed +duodecimo, the _History of Greece_ by Oliver Goldsmith. I remember the +mental agonies I endured in attempting to master the art and mystery of +penmanship; a craft in which, alas, I remained too short a time under +Mr. R---- to become as great a proficient as he made his other scholars, +and which my awkwardness has prevented me from attaining in any +considerable perfection under my various subsequent pedagogues. But that +which has left behind it a brilliant trait of light was the exhibition +of what are called 'Christmas pieces;' things unknown in aristocratic +seminaries, but constantly used at the comparatively humble academy +which supplied the best knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic to +be attained in that remote neighborhood. + +"The long desks covered from end to end with those painted masterpieces, +the Life of Robinson Crusoe, the Hunting of Chevy-Chase, the History +of Jack the Giant-Killer, and all the little eager faces and trembling +hands bent over these, and filling them up with some choice quotation, +sacred or profane;--no, the galleries of art, the theatrical +exhibitions, the reviews and processions,--which are only not childish +because they are practiced and admired by men instead of children,--all +the pomps and vanities of great cities, have shown me no revelation of +glory such as did that crowded school-room the week before the Christmas +holidays. But these were the splendors of life. The truest and the +strongest feelings do not connect themselves with any scenes of gorgeous +and gaudy magnificence; they are bound up in the remembrances of home. + +"The narrow orchard, with its grove of old apple-trees against one of +which I used to lean, and while I brandished a beanstalk, roar out with +Fitzjames,-- + + 'Come one, come all; this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I!'-- + +while I was ready to squall at the sight of a cur, and run valorously +away from a casually approaching cow; the field close beside it, where +I rolled about in summer among the hay; the brook in which, despite +of maid and mother, I waded by the hour; the garden where I sowed +flower-seeds, and then turned up the ground again and planted potatoes, +and then rooted out the potatoes to insert acorns and apple-pips, and +at last, as may be supposed, reaped neither roses, nor potatoes, nor +oak-trees, nor apples; the grass-plots on which I played among those +with whom I never can play nor work again: all these are places and +employments,--and, alas, playmates,--such as, if it were worth while to +weep at all, it would be worth weeping that I enjoy no longer. + +"I remember the house where I first grew familiar with peacocks; and the +mill-stream into which I once fell; and the religious awe wherewith I +heard, in the warm twilight, the psalm-singing around the house of the +Methodist miller; and the door-post against which I discharged my brazen +artillery; I remember the window by which I sat while my mother taught +me French; and the patch of garden which I dug for-- But her name is +best left blank; it was indeed writ in water. These recollections are +to me like the wealth of a departed friend, a mournful treasure. But the +public has heard enough of them; to it they are worthless: they are +a coin which only circulates at its true value between the different +periods of an individual's existence, and good for nothing but to keep +up a commerce between boyhood and manhood. I have for years looked +forward to the possibility of visiting L----; but I am told that it is +a changed village; and not only has man been at work, but the old yew on +the hill has fallen, and scarcely a low stump remains of the tree which +I delighted in childhood to think might have furnished bows for the +Norman archers." [3] + +In Cowbridge is some kind of free school, or grammar-school, of a +certain distinction; and this to Captain Sterling was probably a motive +for settling in the neighborhood of it with his children. Of this +however, as it turned out, there was no use made: the Sterling family, +during its continuance in those parts, did not need more than a primary +school. The worthy master who presided over these Christmas galas, and +had the honor to teach John Sterling his reading and writing, was an +elderly Mr. Reece of Cowbridge, who still (in 1851) survives, or lately +did; and is still remembered by his old pupils as a worthy, ingenious +and kindly man, "who wore drab breeches and white stockings." Beyond the +Reece sphere of tuition John Sterling did not go in this locality. + +In fact the Sterling household was still fluctuating; the problem of a +task for Edward Sterling's powers, and of anchorage for his affairs in +any sense, was restlessly struggling to solve itself, but was still a +good way from being solved. Anthony, in revisiting these scenes with +John in 1839, mentions going to the spot "where we used to stand with +our Father, looking out for the arrival of the London mail:" a little +chink through which is disclosed to us a big restless section of a human +life. The Hill of Welsh Llanblethian, then, is like the mythic Caucasus +in its degree (as indeed all hills and habitations where men sojourn +are); and here too, on a small scale, is a Prometheus Chained! Edward +Sterling, I can well understand, was a man to tug at the chains that +held him idle in those the prime of his years; and to ask restlessly, +yet not in anger and remorse, so much as in hope, locomotive +speculation, and ever-new adventure and attempt, Is there no task nearer +my own natural size, then? So he looks out from the Hill-side "for +the arrival of the London mail;" thence hurries into Cowbridge to the +Post-office; and has a wide web, of threads and gossamers, upon his +loom, and many shuttles flying, in this world. + +By the Marquis of Bute's appointment he had, very shortly after his +arrival in that region, become Adjutant of the Glamorganshire Militia, +"Local Militia," I suppose; and was, in this way, turning his military +capabilities to some use. The office involved pretty frequent absences, +in Cardiff and elsewhere. This doubtless was a welcome outlet, though +a small one. He had also begun to try writing, especially on public +subjects; a much more copious outlet,--which indeed, gradually widening +itself, became the final solution for him. Of the year 1811 we have a +Pamphlet of his, entitled _Military Reform_; this is the second edition, +"dedicated to the Duke of Kent;" the first appears to have come out the +year before, and had thus attained a certain notice, which of course was +encouraging. He now furthermore opened a correspondence with the _Times_ +Newspaper; wrote to it, in 1812, a series of Letters under the signature +_Vetus_: voluntary Letters I suppose, without payment or pre-engagement, +one successful Letter calling out another; till _Vetus_ and his +doctrines came to be a distinguishable entity, and the business amounted +to something. Out of my own earliest Newspaper reading, I can remember +the name _Vetus_, as a kind of editorial hacklog on which able-editors +were wont to chop straw now and then. Nay the Letters were collected and +reprinted; both this first series, of 1812, and then a second of next +year: two very thin, very dim-colored cheap octavos; stray copies of +which still exist, and may one day become distillable into a drop of +History (should such be wanted of our poor "Scavenger Age" in +time coming), though the reading of them has long ceased in this +generation.[4] The first series, we perceive, had even gone to a second +edition. The tone, wherever one timidly glances into this extinct +cockpit, is trenchant and emphatic: the name of _Vetus_, strenuously +fighting there, had become considerable in the talking political world; +and, no doubt, was especially of mark, as that of a writer who might +otherwise be important, with the proprietors of the _Times_. The +connection continued: widened and deepened itself,--in a slow tentative +manner; passing naturally from voluntary into remunerated: and indeed +proving more and more to be the true ultimate arena, and battle-field +and seed-field, for the exuberant impetuosities and faculties of this +man. + +What the _Letters of Vetus_ treated of I do not know; doubtless they ran +upon Napoleon, Catholic Emancipation, true methods of national defence, +of effective foreign Anti-gallicism, and of domestic ditto; which +formed the staple of editorial speculation at that time. I have heard +in general that Captain Sterling, then and afterwards, advocated "the +Marquis of Wellesley's policy;" but that also, what it was, I have +forgotten, and the world has been willing to forget. Enough, the heads +of the _Times_ establishment, perhaps already the Marquis of Wellesley +and other important persons, had their eye on this writer; and it began +to be surmised by him that here at last was the career he had been +seeking. + + +Accordingly, in 1814, when victorious Peace unexpectedly arrived; and +the gates of the Continent after five-and-twenty years of fierce closure +were suddenly thrown open; and the hearts of all English and European +men awoke staggering as if from a nightmare suddenly removed, and ran +hither and thither,--Edward Sterling also determined on a new adventure, +that of crossing to Paris, and trying what might lie in store for him. +For curiosity, in its idler sense, there was evidently pabulum enough. +But he had hopes moreover of learning much that might perhaps avail him +afterwards;--hopes withal, I have understood, of getting to be Foreign +Correspondent of the _Times_ Newspaper, and so adding to his income in +the mean while. He left Llanblethian in May; dates from Dieppe the 27th +of that month. He lived in occasional contact with Parisian notabilities +(all of them except Madame de Stael forgotten now), all summer, +diligently surveying his ground;--returned for his family, who were +still in Wales but ready to move, in the beginning of August; took them +immediately across with him; a house in the neighborhood of Paris, in +the pleasant village of Passy at once town and country, being now ready; +and so, under foreign skies, again set up his household there. + +Here was a strange new "school" for our friend John now in his eighth +year! Out of which the little Anthony and he drank doubtless at all +pores, vigorously as they had done in no school before. A change total +and immediate. Somniferous green Llanblethian has suddenly been blotted +out; presto, here are wakeful Passy and the noises of paved Paris +instead. Innocent ingenious Mr. Reece in drab breeches and white +stockings, he with his mild Christmas galas and peaceable rules of +Dilworth and Butterworth, has given place to such a saturnalia of +panoramic, symbolic and other teachers and monitors, addressing all the +five senses at once. Who John's express tutors were, at Passy, I never +heard; nor indeed, especially in his case, was it much worth inquiring. +To him and to all of us, the expressly appointed schoolmasters and +schoolings we get are as nothing, compared with the unappointed +incidental and continual ones, whose school-hours are all the days and +nights of our existence, and whose lessons, noticed or unnoticed, stream +in upon us with every breath we draw. Anthony says they attended a +French school, though only for about three months; and he well remembers +the last scene of it, "the boys shouting _Vive l'Empereur_ when Napoleon +came back." + +Of John Sterling's express schooling, perhaps the most important +feature, and by no means a favorable one to him, was the excessive +fluctuation that prevailed in it. Change of scene, change of teacher, +_both_ express and implied, was incessant with him; and gave his +young life a nomadic character,--which surely, of all the adventitious +tendencies that could have been impressed upon him, so volatile, +swift and airy a being as him, was the one he needed least. His gentle +pious-hearted Mother, ever watching over him in all outward changes, and +assiduously keeping human pieties and good affections alive in him, was +probably the best counteracting element in his lot. And on the whole, +have we not all to run our chance in that respect; and take, the most +victoriously we can, such schooling as pleases to be attainable in +our year and place? Not very victoriously, the most of us! A wise +well-calculated breeding of a young genial soul in this world, or +alas of any young soul in it, lies fatally over the horizon in these +epochs!--This French scene of things, a grand school of its sort, and +also a perpetual banquet for the young soul, naturally captivated John +Sterling; he said afterwards, "New things and experiences here were +poured upon his mind and sense, not in streams, but in a Niagara +cataract." This too, however, was but a scene; lasted only some six or +seven months; and in the spring of the next year terminated as abruptly +as any of the rest could do. + +For in the spring of the next year, Napoleon abruptly emerged from +Elba; and set all the populations of the world in motion, in a strange +manner;--set the Sterling household afloat, in particular; the big +European tide rushing into all smallest creeks, at Passy and elsewhere. +In brief, on the 20th of March, 1815, the family had to shift, almost +to fly, towards home and the sea-coast; and for a day or two were under +apprehension of being detained and not reaching home. Mrs. Sterling, +with her children and effects, all in one big carriage with two horses, +made the journey to Dieppe; in perfect safety, though in continual +tremor: here they were joined by Captain Sterling, who had stayed behind +at Paris to see the actual advent of Napoleon, and to report what +the aspect of affairs was, "Downcast looks of citizens, with fierce +saturnalian acclaim of soldiery:" after which they proceeded together to +London without farther apprehension;--there to witness, in due time, the +tar-barrels of Waterloo, and other phenomena that followed. + + +Captain Sterling never quitted London as a residence any more; and +indeed was never absent from it, except on autumnal or other excursions +of a few weeks, till the end of his life. Nevertheless his course there +was as yet by no means clear; nor had his relations with the heads of +the _Times_, or with other high heads, assumed a form which could be +called definite, but were hanging as a cloudy maze of possibilities, +firm substance not yet divided from shadow. It continued so for some +years. The Sterling household shifted twice or thrice to new streets +or localities,--Russell Square or Queen Square, Blackfriars Road, +and longest at the Grove, Blackheath,--before the vapors of Wellesley +promotions and such like slowly sank as useless precipitate, and +the firm rock, which was definite employment, ending in lucrative +co-proprietorship and more and more important connection with the +_Times_ Newspaper, slowly disclosed itself. + +These changes of place naturally brought changes in John Sterling's +schoolmasters: nor were domestic tragedies wanting, still more important +to him. New brothers and sisters had been born; two little brothers +more, three little sisters he had in all; some of whom came to their +eleventh year beside him, some passed away in their second or fourth: +but from his ninth to his sixteenth year they all died; and in 1821 only +Anthony and John were left. [5] How many tears, and passionate pangs, +and soft infinite regrets; such as are appointed to all mortals! In one +year, I find, indeed in one half-year, he lost three little playmates, +two of them within one month. His own age was not yet quite twelve. For +one of these three, for little Edward, his next younger, who died now +at the age of nine, Mr. Hare records that John copied out, in large +school-hand, a _History of Valentine and Orson_, to beguile the poor +child's sickness, which ended in death soon, leaving a sad cloud on +John. + + +Of his grammar and other schools, which, as I said, are hardly worth +enumerating in comparison, the most important seems to have been a Dr. +Burney's at Greenwich; a large day-school and boarding-school, where +Anthony and John gave their attendance for a year or two (1818-19) from +Blackheath. "John frequently did themes for the boys," says Anthony, +"and for myself when I was aground." His progress in all school learning +was certain to be rapid, if he even moderately took to it. A lean, +tallish, loose-made boy of twelve; strange alacrity, rapidity and joyous +eagerness looking out of his eyes, and of all his ways and movements. +I have a Picture of him at this stage; a little portrait, which carries +its verification with it. In manhood too, the chief expression of his +eyes and physiognomy was what I might call alacrity, cheerful rapidity. +You could see, here looked forth a soul which was winged; which dwelt +in hope and action, not in hesitation or fear. Anthony says, he was "an +affectionate and gallant kind of boy, adventurous and generous, daring +to a singular degree." Apt enough withal to be "petulant now and then;" +on the whole, "very self-willed;" doubtless not a little discursive in +his thoughts and ways, and "difficult to manage." + +I rather think Anthony, as the steadier, more substantial boy, was +the Mother's favorite; and that John, though the quicker and cleverer, +perhaps cost her many anxieties. Among the Papers given me, is an old +browned half-sheet in stiff school hand, unpunctuated, occasionally ill +spelt,--John Sterling's earliest remaining Letter,--which gives record +of a crowning escapade of his, the first and the last of its kind; and +so may be inserted here. A very headlong adventure on the boy's part; so +hasty and so futile, at once audacious and impracticable; emblematic of +much that befell in the history of the man! + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Blackheath_. + "21st September, 1818. + +"DEAR MAMMA,--I am now at Dover, where I arrived this morning about +seven o'clock. When you thought I was going to church, I went down the +Kent Road, and walked on till I came to Gravesend, which is upwards of +twenty miles from Blackheath; at about seven o'clock in the evening, +without having eat anything the whole time. I applied to an inkeeper +(_sic_) there, pretending that I had served a haberdasher in London, who +left of (_sic_) business, and turned me away. He believed me; and got +me a passage in the coach here, for I said that I had an Uncle here, and +that my Father and Mother were dead;--when I wandered about the quays +for some time, till I met Captain Keys, whom I asked to give me a +passage to Boulogne; which he promised to do, and took me home to +breakfast with him: but Mrs. Keys questioned me a good deal; when I not +being able to make my story good, I was obliged to confess to her that +I had run away from you. Captain Keys says that he will keep me at his +house till you answer my letter. + + "J. STERLING." + +Anthony remembers the business well; but can assign no origin to +it,--some penalty, indignity or cross put suddenly on John, which the +hasty John considered unbearable. His Mother's inconsolable weeping, and +then his own astonishment at such a culprit's being forgiven, are all +that remain with Anthony. The steady historical style of the young +runaway of twelve, narrating merely, not in the least apologizing, is +also noticeable. + +This was some six months after his little brother Edward's death; three +months after that of Hester, his little sister next in the family series +to him: troubled days for the poor Mother in that small household on +Blackheath, as there are for mothers in so many households in this +world! I have heard that Mrs. Sterling passed much of her time alone, at +this period. Her husband's pursuits, with his Wellesleys and the like, +often carrying him into Town and detaining him late there, she would +sit among her sleeping children, such of them as death had still spared, +perhaps thriftily plying her needle, full of mournful affectionate +night-thoughts,--apprehensive too, in her tremulous heart, that the head +of the house might have fallen among robbers in his way homeward. + + + +CHAPTER IV. UNIVERSITIES: GLASGOW; CAMBRIDGE. + +At a later stage, John had some instruction from a Dr. Waite at +Blackheath; and lastly, the family having now removed into Town, to +Seymour Street in the fashionable region there, he "read for a while +with Dr. Trollope, Master of Christ's Hospital;" which ended his school +history. + +In this his ever-changing course, from Reece at Cowbridge to Trollope +in Christ's, which was passed so nomadically, under ferulas of various +color, the boy had, on the whole, snatched successfully a fair share +of what was going. Competent skill in construing Latin, I think also an +elementary knowledge of Greek; add ciphering to a small extent, Euclid +perhaps in a rather imaginary condition; a swift but not very legible or +handsome penmanship, and the copious prompt habit of employing it in all +manner of unconscious English prose composition, or even occasionally +in verse itself: this, or something like this, he had gained from his +grammar-schools: this is the most of what they offer to the poor young +soul in general, in these indigent times. The express schoolmaster is +not equal to much at present,--while the _un_express, for good or +for evil, is so busy with a poor little fellow! Other departments of +schooling had been infinitely more productive, for our young friend, +than the gerund-grinding one. A voracious reader I believe he all along +was,--had "read the whole Edinburgh Review" in these boyish years, and +out of the circulating libraries one knows not what cartloads; wading +like Ulysses towards his palace "through infinite dung." A voracious +observer and participator in all things he likewise all along was; and +had had his sights, and reflections, and sorrows and adventures, from +Kaimes Castle onward,--and had gone at least to Dover on his own score. +_Puer bonae spei_, as the school-albums say; a boy of whom much may be +hoped? Surely, in many senses, yes. A frank veracity is in him, truth +and courage, as the basis of all; and of wild gifts and graces there is +abundance. I figure him a brilliant, swift, voluble, affectionate and +pleasant creature; out of whom, if it were not that symptoms of delicate +health already show themselves, great things might be made. Promotions +at least, especially in this country and epoch of parliaments and +eloquent palavers, are surely very possible for such a one! + + +Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly +more propitious and flourishing, he, as his brother had already +been, was sent to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had +connections. His brother and he were now all that remained of the +young family; much attached to one another in their College years as +afterwards. Glasgow, however, was not properly their College scene: +here, except that they had some tuition from Mr. Jacobson, then a senior +fellow-student, now (1851) the learned editor of St. Basil, and Regius +Professor of Divinity in Oxford, who continued ever afterwards a valued +intimate of John's, I find nothing special recorded of them. The Glasgow +curriculum, for John especially, lasted but one year; who, after some +farther tutorage from Mr. Jacobson or Dr. Trollope, was appointed for a +more ambitious sphere of education. + +In the beginning of his nineteenth year, "in the autumn of 1824," he +went to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brother Anthony, who had already +been there a year, had just quitted this Establishment, and entered on +a military life under good omens; I think, at Dublin under the Lord +Lieutenant's patronage, to whose service he was, in some capacity, +attached. The two brothers, ever in company hitherto, parted roads +at this point; and, except on holiday visits and by frequent +correspondence, did not again live together; but they continued in a +true fraternal attachment while life lasted, and I believe never had +any even temporary estrangement, or on either side a cause for such. The +family, as I said, was now, for the last three years, reduced to these +two; the rest of the young ones, with their laughter and their +sorrows, all gone. The parents otherwise were prosperous in outward +circumstances; the Father's position more and more developing itself +into affluent security, an agreeable circle of acquaintance, and a +certain real influence, though of a peculiar sort, according to his +gifts for work in this world. + + +Sterling's Tutor at Trinity College was Julius Hare, now the +distinguished Archdeacon of Lewes:--who soon conceived a great esteem +for him, and continued ever afterwards, in looser or closer connection, +his loved and loving friend. As the Biographical and Editorial work +above alluded to abundantly evinces. Mr. Hare celebrates the wonderful +and beautiful gifts, the sparkling ingenuity, ready logic, eloquent +utterance, and noble generosities and pieties of his pupil;--records +in particular how once, on a sudden alarm of fire in some neighboring +College edifice while his lecture was proceeding, all hands rushed out +to help; how the undergraduates instantly formed themselves in lines +from the fire to the river, and in swift continuance kept passing +buckets as was needful, till the enemy was visibly fast yielding,--when +Mr. Hare, going along the line, was astonished to find Sterling, at the +river-end of it, standing up to his waist in water, deftly dealing with +the buckets as they came and went. You in the river, Sterling; you with +your coughs, and dangerous tendencies of health!--"Somebody must be +in it," answered Sterling; "why not I, as well as another?" Sterling's +friends may remember many traits of that kind. The swiftest in all +things, he was apt to be found at the head of the column, whithersoever +the march might be; if towards any brunt of danger, there was he surest +to be at the head; and of himself and his peculiar risks or impediments +he was negligent at all times, even to an excessive and plainly +unreasonable degree. + +Mr. Hare justly refuses him the character of an exact scholar, or +technical proficient at any time in either of the ancient literatures. +But he freely read in Greek and Latin, as in various modern languages; +and in all fields, in the classical as well, his lively faculty of +recognition and assimilation had given him large booty in proportion to +his labor. One cannot under any circumstances conceive of Sterling as +a steady dictionary philologue, historian, or archaeologist; nor did he +here, nor could he well, attempt that course. At the same time, Greek +and the Greeks being here before him, he could not fail to gather +somewhat from it, to take some hue and shape from it. Accordingly there +is, to a singular extent, especially in his early writings, a +certain tinge of Grecism and Heathen classicality traceable in +him;--Classicality, indeed, which does not satisfy one's sense as real +or truly living, but which glitters with a certain genial, if perhaps +almost meretricious half-_japannish_ splendor,--greatly distinguishable +from mere gerund-grinding, and death in longs and shorts. If +Classicality mean the practical conception, or attempt to conceive, what +human life was in the epoch called classical,--perhaps few or none of +Sterling's contemporaries in that Cambridge establishment carried away +more of available Classicality than even he. + +But here, as in his former schools, his studies and inquiries, +diligently prosecuted I believe, were of the most discursive +wide-flowing character; not steadily advancing along beaten roads +towards College honors, but pulsing out with impetuous irregularity +now on this tract, now on that, towards whatever spiritual Delphi might +promise to unfold the mystery of this world, and announce to him +what was, in our new day, the authentic message of the gods. His +speculations, readings, inferences, glances and conclusions were +doubtless sufficiently encyclopedic; his grand tutors the multifarious +set of Books he devoured. And perhaps,--as is the singular case in most +schools and educational establishments of this unexampled epoch,--it +was not the express set of arrangements in this or any extant University +that could essentially forward him, but only the implied and silent +ones; less in the prescribed "course of study," which seems to tend +no-whither, than--if you will consider it--in the generous (not +ungenerous) rebellion against said prescribed course, and the voluntary +spirit of endeavor and adventure excited thereby, does help lie for +a brave youth in such places. Curious to consider. The fagging, the +illicit boating, and the things _forbidden_ by the schoolmaster,--these, +I often notice in my Eton acquaintances, are the things that have done +them good; these, and not their inconsiderable or considerable knowledge +of the Greek accidence almost at all! What is Greek accidence, compared +to Spartan discipline, if it can be had? That latter is a real and grand +attainment. Certainly, if rebellion is unfortunately needful, and you +can rebel in a generous manner, several things may be acquired in that +operation,--rigorous mutual fidelity, reticence, steadfastness, mild +stoicism, and other virtues far transcending your Greek accidence. +Nor can the unwisest "prescribed course of study" be considered quite +useless, if it have incited you to try nobly on all sides for a course +of your own. A singular condition of Schools and High-schools, which +have come down, in their strange old clothes and "courses of study," +from the monkish ages into this highly unmonkish one;--tragical +condition, at which the intelligent observer makes deep pause! + +One benefit, not to be dissevered from the most obsolete University +still frequented by young ingenuous living souls, is that of manifold +collision and communication with the said young souls; which, to every +one of these coevals, is undoubtedly the most important branch of +breeding for him. In this point, as the learned Huber has insisted, [6] +the two English Universities,--their studies otherwise being granted to +be nearly useless, and even ill done of their kind,--far excel all other +Universities: so valuable are the rules of human behavior which from of +old have tacitly established themselves there; so manful, with all its +sad drawbacks, is the style of English character, "frank, simple, +rugged and yet courteous," which has tacitly but imperatively got itself +sanctioned and prescribed there. Such, in full sight of Continental and +other Universities, is Huber's opinion. Alas, the question of University +Reform goes deep at present; deep as the world;--and the real University +of these new epochs is yet a great way from us! Another judge in whom +I have confidence declares further, That of these two Universities, +Cambridge is decidedly the more catholic (not Roman catholic, but Human +catholic) in its tendencies and habitudes; and that in fact, of all the +miserable Schools and High-schools in the England of these years, he, +if reduced to choose from them, would choose Cambridge as a place +of culture for the young idea. So that, in these bad circumstances, +Sterling had perhaps rather made a hit than otherwise? + + +Sterling at Cambridge had undoubtedly a wide and rather genial circle of +comrades; and could not fail to be regarded and beloved by many of them. +Their life seems to have been an ardently speculating and talking one; +by no means excessively restrained within limits; and, in the more +adventurous heads like Sterling's, decidedly tending towards the +latitudinarian in most things. They had among them a Debating Society +called The Union; where on stated evenings was much logic, and other +spiritual fencing and ingenuous collision,--probably of a really +superior quality in that kind; for not a few of the then disputants have +since proved themselves men of parts, and attained distinction in the +intellectual walks of life. Frederic Maurice, Richard Trench, John +Kemble, Spedding, Venables, Charles Buller, Richard Milnes and +others:--I have heard that in speaking and arguing, Sterling was the +acknowledged chief in this Union Club; and that "none even came near +him, except the late Charles Buller," whose distinction in this and +higher respects was also already notable. + +The questions agitated seem occasionally to have touched on the +political department, and even on the ecclesiastical. I have heard one +trait of Sterling's eloquence, which survived on the wings of grinning +rumor, and had evidently borne upon Church Conservatism in some form: +"Have they not,"--or perhaps it was, Has she (the Church) not,--"a +black dragoon in every parish, on good pay and rations, horse-meat and +man's-meat, to patrol and battle for these things?" The "black dragoon," +which naturally at the moment ruffled the general young imagination +into stormy laughter, points towards important conclusions in respect +to Sterling at this time. I conclude he had, with his usual alacrity and +impetuous daring, frankly adopted the anti-superstitious side of things; +and stood scornfully prepared to repel all aggressions or pretensions +from the opposite quarter. In short, that he was already, what +afterwards there is no doubt about his being, at all points a Radical, +as the name or nickname then went. In other words, a young ardent soul +looking with hope and joy into a world which was infinitely beautiful to +him, though overhung with falsities and foul cobwebs as world never was +before; overloaded, overclouded, to the zenith and the nadir of it, +by incredible uncredited traditions, solemnly sordid hypocrisies, and +beggarly deliriums old and new; which latter class of objects it was +clearly the part of every noble heart to expend all its lightnings and +energies in burning up without delay, and sweeping into their native +Chaos out of such a Cosmos as this. Which process, it did not then seem +to him could be very difficult; or attended with much other than heroic +joy, and enthusiasm of victory or of battle, to the gallant operator, in +his part of it. This was, with modifications such as might be, the +humor and creed of College Radicalism five-and-twenty years ago. Rather +horrible at that time; seen to be not so horrible now, at least to have +grown very universal, and to need no concealment now. The natural +humor and attitude, we may well regret to say,--and honorable not +dishonorable, for a brave young soul such as Sterling's, in those years +in those localities! + +I do not find that Sterling had, at that stage, adopted the then +prevalent Utilitarian theory of human things. But neither, apparently, +had he rejected it; still less did he yet at all denounce it with the +damnatory vehemence we were used to in him at a later period. Probably +he, so much occupied with the negative side of things, had not yet +thought seriously of any positive basis for his world; or asked himself, +too earnestly, What, then, is the noble rule of living for a man? +In this world so eclipsed and scandalously overhung with fable and +hypocrisy, what is the eternal fact, on which a man may front the +Destinies and the Immensities? The day for such questions, sure enough +to come in his case, was still but coming. Sufficient for this day +be the work thereof; that of blasting into merited annihilation the +innumerable and immeasurable recognized deliriums, and extirpating or +coercing to the due pitch those legions of "black dragoons," of all +varieties and purposes, who patrol, with horse-meat and man's-meat, this +afflicted earth, so hugely to the detriment of it. + + +Sterling, it appears, after above a year of Trinity College, followed +his friend Maurice into Trinity Hall, with the intention of taking +a degree in Law; which intention, like many others with him, came to +nothing; and in 1827 he left Trinity Hall and Cambridge altogether; here +ending, after two years, his brief University life. + + + +CHAPTER V. A PROFESSION. + +Here, then, is a young soul, brought to the years of legal majority, +furnished from his training-schools with such and such shining +capabilities, and ushered on the scene of things to inquire practically, +What he will do there? Piety is in the man, noble human valor, bright +intelligence, ardent proud veracity; light and fire, in none of their +many senses, wanting for him, but abundantly bestowed: a kingly kind of +man;--whose "kingdom," however, in this bewildered place and epoch of +the world will probably be difficult to find and conquer! + +For, alas, the world, as we said, already stands convicted to this young +soul of being an untrue, unblessed world; its high dignitaries many +of them phantasms and players'-masks; its worthships and worships +unworshipful: from Dan to Beersheba, a mad world, my masters. And surely +we may say, and none will now gainsay, this his idea of the world at +that epoch was nearer to the fact than at most other epochs it has been. +Truly, in all times and places, the young ardent soul that enters on +this world with heroic purpose, with veracious insight, and the +yet unclouded "inspiration of the Almighty" which has given us our +intelligence, will find this world a very mad one: why else is he, with +his little outfit of heroisms and inspirations, come hither into it, +except to make it diligently a little saner? Of him there would have +been no need, had it been quite sane. This is true; this will, in all +centuries and countries, be true. + +And yet perhaps of no time or country, for the last two thousand years, +was it _so_ true as here in this waste-weltering epoch of Sterling's and +ours. A world all rocking and plunging, like that old Roman one when the +measure of its iniquities was full; the abysses, and subterranean and +supernal deluges, plainly broken loose; in the wild dim-lighted chaos +all stars of Heaven gone out. No star of Heaven visible, hardly now to +any man; the pestiferous fogs, and foul exhalations grown continual, +have, except on the highest mountaintops, blotted out all stars: +will-o'-wisps, of various course and color, take the place of stars. +Over the wild-surging chaos, in the leaden air, are only sudden glares +of revolutionary lightning; then mere darkness, with philanthropistic +phosphorescences, empty meteoric lights; here and there an +ecclesiastical luminary still hovering, hanging on to its old quaking +fixtures, pretending still to be a Moon or Sun,--though visibly it is +but a Chinese lantern made of _paper_ mainly, with candle-end foully +dying in the heart of it. Surely as mad a world as you could wish! + +If you want to make sudden fortunes in it, and achieve the temporary +hallelujah of flunkies for yourself, renouncing the perennial esteem +of wise men; if you can believe that the chief end of man is to collect +about him a bigger heap of gold than ever before, in a shorter time than +ever before, you will find it a most handy and every way furthersome, +blessed and felicitous world. But for any other human aim, I think you +will find it not furthersome. If you in any way ask practically, How a +noble life is to be led in it? you will be luckier than Sterling or I if +you get any credible answer, or find any made road whatever. Alas, it is +even so. Your heart's question, if it be of that sort, most things and +persons will answer with a "Nonsense! Noble life is in Drury Lane, +and wears yellow boots. You fool, compose yourself to your +pudding!"--Surely, in these times, if ever in any, the young heroic soul +entering on life, so opulent, full of sunny hope, of noble valor and +divine intention, is tragical as well as beautiful to us. + +Of the three learned Professions none offered any likelihood for +Sterling. From the Church his notions of the "black dragoon," had there +been no other obstacle, were sufficient to exclude him. Law he had just +renounced, his own Radical philosophies disheartening him, in face of +the ponderous impediments, continual up-hill struggles and formidable +toils inherent in such a pursuit: with Medicine he had never been in +any contiguity, that he should dream of it as a course for him. Clearly +enough the professions were unsuitable; they to him, he to them. +Professions, built so largely on speciosity instead of performance; +clogged, in this bad epoch, and defaced under such suspicions of fatal +imposture, were hateful not lovable to the young radical soul, scornful +of gross profit, and intent on ideals and human noblenesses. Again, the +professions, were they never so perfect and veracious, will require slow +steady pulling, to which this individual young radical, with his swift, +far-darting brilliancies, and nomadic desultory ways, is of all men the +most averse and unfitted. No profession could, in any case, have well +gained the early love of Sterling. And perhaps withal the most tragic +element of his life is even this, That there now was none to which +he could fitly, by those wiser than himself, have been bound and +constrained, that he might learn to love it. So swift, light-limbed and +fiery an Arab courser ought, for all manner of reasons, to have +been trained to saddle and harness. Roaming at full gallop over the +heaths,--especially when your heath was London, and English and +European life, in the nineteenth century,--he suffered much, and did +comparatively little. I have known few creatures whom it was more +wasteful to send forth with the bridle thrown up, and to set to +steeple-hunting instead of running on highways! But it is the lot of +many such, in this dislocated time,--Heaven mend it! In a better time +there will be other "professions" than those three extremely cramp, +confused and indeed almost obsolete ones: professions, if possible, +that are true, and do _not_ require you at the threshold to constitute +yourself an impostor. Human association,--which will mean discipline, +vigorous wise subordination and co-ordination,--is so unspeakably +important. Professions, "regimented human pursuits," how many of +honorable and manful might be possible for men; and which should _not_, +in their results to society, need to stumble along, in such an unwieldy +futile manner, with legs swollen into such enormous elephantiasis and no +go at all in them! Men will one day think of the force they squander in +every generation, and the fatal damage they encounter, by this neglect. + + +The career likeliest for Sterling, in his and the world's circumstances, +would have been what is called public life: some secretarial, diplomatic +or other official training, to issue if possible in Parliament as the +true field for him. And here, beyond question, had the gross material +conditions been allowed, his spiritual capabilities were first-rate. +In any arena where eloquence and argument was the point, this man +was calculated to have borne the bell from all competitors. In lucid +ingenious talk and logic, in all manner of brilliant utterance and +tongue-fence, I have hardly known his fellow. So ready lay his store of +knowledge round him, so perfect was his ready utterance of the same,--in +coruscating wit, in jocund drollery, in compact articulated clearness +or high poignant emphasis, as the case required,--he was a match for any +man in argument before a crowd of men. One of the most supple-wristed, +dexterous, graceful and successful fencers in that kind. A man, as Mr. +Hare has said, "able to argue with four or five at once;" could do the +parrying all round, in a succession swift as light, and plant his hits +wherever a chance offered. In Parliament, such a soul put into a body of +the due toughness might have carried it far. If ours is to be called, as +I hear some call it, the Talking Era, Sterling of all men had the talent +to excel in it. + +Probably it was with some vague view towards chances in this direction +that Sterling's first engagement was entered upon; a brief connection as +Secretary to some Club or Association into which certain public men, of +the reforming sort, Mr. Crawford (the Oriental Diplomatist and Writer), +Mr. Kirkman Finlay (then Member for Glasgow), and other political +notabilities had now formed themselves,--with what specific objects I do +not know, nor with what result if any. I have heard vaguely, it was "to +open the trade to India." Of course they intended to stir up the public +mind into co-operation, whatever their goal or object was: Mr. Crawford, +an intimate in the Sterling household, recognized the fine literary +gift of John; and might think it a lucky hit that he had caught such a +Secretary for three hundred pounds a year. That was the salary agreed +upon; and for some months actually worked for and paid; Sterling +becoming for the time an intimate and almost an inmate in Mr. Crawford's +circle, doubtless not without results to himself beyond the secretarial +work and pounds sterling: so much is certain. But neither the +Secretaryship nor the Association itself had any continuance; nor can +I now learn accurately more of it than what is here stated;--in which +vague state it must vanish from Sterling's history again, as it in great +measure did from his life. From himself in after-years I never heard +mention of it; nor were his pursuits connected afterwards with those of +Mr. Crawford, though the mutual good-will continued unbroken. + +In fact, however splendid and indubitable Sterling's qualifications for +a parliamentary life, there was that in him withal which flatly put +a negative on any such project. He had not the slow steady-pulling +diligence which is indispensable in that, as in all important pursuits +and strenuous human competitions whatsoever. In every sense, his +momentum depended on velocity of stroke, rather than on weight of metal; +"beautifulest sheet-lightning," as I often said, "not to be condensed +into thunder-bolts." Add to this,--what indeed is perhaps but the same +phenomenon in another form,--his bodily frame was thin, excitable, +already manifesting pulmonary symptoms; a body which the tear and wear +of Parliament would infallibly in few months have wrecked and ended. +By this path there was clearly no mounting. The far-darting, restlessly +coruscating soul, equips beyond all others to shine in the Talking +Era, and lead National Palavers with their _spolia opima_ captive, is +imprisoned in a fragile hectic body which quite forbids the adventure. +"_Es ist dafur gesorgt_," says Goethe, "Provision has been made that the +trees do not grow into the sky;"--means are always there to stop them +short of the sky. + + + +CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE ATHENAEUM. + +Of all forms of public life, in the Talking Era, it was clear that only +one completely suited Sterling,--the anarchic, nomadic, entirely aerial +and unconditional one, called Literature. To this all his tendencies, +and fine gifts positive and negative, were evidently pointing; and here, +after such brief attempting or thoughts to attempt at other posts, he +already in this same year arrives. As many do, and ever more must do, +in these our years and times. This is the chaotic haven of so many +frustrate activities; where all manner of good gifts go up in far-seen +smoke or conflagration; and whole fleets, that might have been +war-fleets to conquer kingdoms, are _consumed_ (too truly, often), amid +"fame" enough, and the admiring shouts of the vulgar, which is always +fond to see fire going on. The true Canaan and Mount Zion of a +Talking Era must ever be Literature: the extraneous, miscellaneous, +self-elected, indescribable _Parliamentum_, or Talking Apparatus, which +talks by books and printed papers. + +A literary Newspaper called _The Athenaeum_, the same which still +subsists, had been founded in those years by Mr. Buckingham; James Silk +Buckingham, who has since continued notable under various figures. +Mr. Buckingham's _Athenaeum_ had not as yet got into a flourishing +condition; and he was willing to sell the copyright of it for a +consideration. Perhaps Sterling and old Cambridge friends of his had +been already writing for it. At all events, Sterling, who had already +privately begun writing a Novel, and was clearly looking towards +Literature, perceived that his gifted Cambridge friend, Frederic +Maurice, was now also at large in a somewhat similar situation; and that +here was an opening for both of them, and for other gifted friends. The +copyright was purchased for I know not what sum, nor with whose money, +but guess it may have been Sterling's, and no great sum;--and so, under +free auspices, themselves their own captains, Maurice and he spread sail +for this new voyage of adventure into all the world. It was about the +end of 1828 that readers of periodical literature, and quidnuncs in +those departments, began to report the appearance, in a Paper called the +_Athenaeum, of_ writings showing a superior brilliancy, and height +of aim; one or perhaps two slight specimens of which came into my own +hands, in my remote corner, about that time, and were duly recognized by +me, while the authors were still far off and hidden behind deep veils. + +Some of Sterling's best Papers from the _Athenaeum_ have been published +by Archdeacon Hare: first-fruits by a young man of twenty-two; crude, +imperfect, yet singularly beautiful and attractive; which will still +testify what high literary promise lay in him. The ruddiest glow of +young enthusiasm, of noble incipient spiritual manhood reigns over them; +once more a divine Universe unveiling itself in gloom and splendor, in +auroral firelight and many-tinted shadow, full of hope and full of awe, +to a young melodious pious heart just arrived upon it. Often enough the +delineation has a certain flowing completeness, not to be expected from +so young an artist; here and there is a decided felicity of insight; +everywhere the point of view adopted is a high and noble one, and the +result worked out a result to be sympathized with, and accepted so far +as it will go. Good reading still, those Papers, for the less-furnished +mind,--thrice-excellent reading compared with what is usually going. +For the rest, a grand melancholy is the prevailing impression they +leave;--partly as if, while the surface was so blooming and opulent, +the heart of them was still vacant, sad and cold. Here is a beautiful +mirage, in the dry wilderness; but you cannot quench your thirst there! +The writer's heart is indeed still too vacant, except of beautiful +shadows and reflexes and resonances; and is far from joyful, though it +wears commonly a smile. + +In some of the Greek delineations (_The Lycian Painter_, for example), +we have already noticed a strange opulence of splendor, characterizable +as half-legitimate, half-meretricious,--a splendor hovering between the +raffaelesque and the japannish. What other things Sterling wrote there, +I never knew; nor would he in any mood, in those later days, have told +you, had you asked. This period of his life he always rather accounted, +as the Arabs do the idolatrous times before Mahomet's advent, the +"period of darkness." + + + +CHAPTER VII. REGENT STREET. + +On the commercial side the _Athenaeum_ still lacked success; nor was +like to find it under the highly uncommercial management it had now got +into. This, by and by, began to be a serious consideration. For money +is the sinews of Periodical Literature almost as much as of war itself; +without money, and under a constant drain of loss, Periodical Literature +is one of the things that cannot be carried on. In no long time Sterling +began to be practically sensible of this truth, and that an unpleasant +resolution in accordance with it would be necessary. By him also, after +a while, the _Athenaeum_ was transferred to other hands, better fitted +in that respect; and under these it did take vigorous root, and still +bears fruit according to its kind. + +For the present, it brought him into the thick of London Literature, +especially of young London Literature and speculation; in which turbid +exciting element he swam and revelled, nothing loath, for certain months +longer,--a period short of two years in all. He had lodgings in +Regent Street: his Father's house, now a flourishing and stirring +establishment, in South Place, Knightsbridge, where, under the warmth of +increasing revenue and success, miscellaneous cheerful socialities and +abundant speculations, chiefly political (and not John's kind, but +that of the _Times_ Newspaper and the Clubs), were rife, he could visit +daily, and yet be master of his own studies and pursuits. Maurice, +Trench, John Mill, Charles Buller: these, and some few others, among +a wide circle of a transitory phantasmal character, whom he speedily +forgot and cared not to remember, were much about him; with these he in +all ways employed and disported himself: a first favorite with them all. + +No pleasanter companion, I suppose, had any of them. So frank, open, +guileless, fearless, a brother to all worthy souls whatsoever. Come when +you might, here is he open-hearted, rich in cheerful fancies, in grave +logic, in all kinds of bright activity. If perceptibly or imperceptibly +there is a touch of ostentation in him, blame it not; it is so innocent, +so good and childlike. He is still fonder of jingling publicly, and +spreading on the table, your big purse of opulences than his own. Abrupt +too he is, cares little for big-wigs and garnitures; perhaps laughs +more than the real fun he has would order; but of arrogance there is +no vestige, of insincerity or of ill-nature none. These must have been +pleasant evenings in Regent Street, when the circle chanced to be well +adjusted there. At other times, Philistines would enter, what we call +bores, dullards, Children of Darkness; and then,--except in a hunt of +dullards, and a _bore-baiting_, which might be permissible,--the evening +was dark. Sterling, of course, had innumerable cares withal; and was +toiling like a slave; his very recreations almost a kind of work. An +enormous activity was in the man;--sufficient, in a body that could +have held it without breaking, to have gone far, even under the unstable +guidance it was like to have! + +Thus, too, an extensive, very variegated circle of connections was +forming round him. Besides his _Athenaeum_ work, and evenings in Regent +Street and elsewhere, he makes visits to country-houses, the Bullers' +and others; converses with established gentlemen, with honorable women +not a few; is gay and welcome with the young of his own age; knows also +religious, witty, and other distinguished ladies, and is admiringly +known by them. On the whole, he is already locomotive; visits hither +and thither in a very rapid flying manner. Thus I find he had made one +flying visit to the Cumberland Lake-region in 1828, and got sight of +Wordsworth; and in the same year another flying one to Paris, and seen +with no undue enthusiasm the Saint-Simonian Portent just beginning +to preach for itself, and France in general simmering under a scum of +impieties, levities, Saint-Simonisms, and frothy fantasticalities of all +kinds, towards the boiling-over which soon made the Three Days of July +famous. But by far the most important foreign home he visited was that +of Coleridge on the Hill of Highgate,--if it were not rather a foreign +shrine and Dodona-Oracle, as he then reckoned,--to which (onwards from +1828, as would appear) he was already an assiduous pilgrim. Concerning +whom, and Sterling's all-important connection with him, there will be +much to say anon. + +Here, from this period, is a Letter of Sterling's, which the glimpses +it affords of bright scenes and figures now sunk, so many of them, +sorrowfully to the realm of shadows, will render interesting to some of +my readers. To me on the mere Letter, not on its contents alone, there +is accidentally a kind of fateful stamp. A few months after Charles +Buller's death, while his loss was mourned by many hearts, and to his +poor Mother all light except what hung upon his memory had gone out in +the world, a certain delicate and friendly hand, hoping to give the poor +bereaved lady a good moment, sought out this Letter of Sterling's, one +morning, and called, with intent to read it to her:--alas, the poor lady +had herself fallen suddenly into the languors of death, help of another +grander sort now close at hand; and to her this Letter was never read! + +On "Fanny Kemble," it appears, there is an Essay by Sterling in the +_Athenaeum_ of this year: "16th December, 1829." Very laudatory, I +conclude. He much admired her genius, nay was thought at one time to +be vaguely on the edge of still more chivalrous feelings. As the Letter +itself may perhaps indicate. + + "_To Anthony Sterling, Esq., 24th Regiment, Dublin_. + "KNIGHTSBRIDGE, 10th Nov., 1829. + +"MY DEAR ANTHONY,--Here in the Capital of England and of Europe, +there is less, so far as I hear, of movement and variety than in your +provincial Dublin, or among the Wicklow Mountains. We have the old +prospect of bricks and smoke, the old crowd of busy stupid faces, the +old occupations, the old sleepy amusements; and the latest news that +reaches us daily has an air of tiresome, doting antiquity. The world has +nothing for it but to exclaim with Faust, "Give me my youth again." And +as for me, my month of Cornish amusement is over; and I must tie myself +to my old employments. I have not much to tell you about these; but +perhaps you may like to hear of my expedition to the West. + +"I wrote to Polvellan (Mr. Buller's) to announce the day on which I +intended to be there, so shortly before setting out, that there was +no time to receive an answer; and when I reached Devonport, which is +fifteen or sixteen miles from my place of destination, I found a letter +from Mrs. Buller, saying that she was coming in two days to a Ball at +Plymouth, and if I chose to stay in the mean while and look about me, +she would take me back with her. She added an introduction to a relation +of her husband's, a certain Captain Buller of the Rifles, who was with +the Depot there,--a pleasant person, who I believe had been +acquainted with Charlotte, [7] or at least had seen her. Under his +superintendence--... + +"On leaving Devonport with Mrs. Buller, I went some of the way by water, +up the harbor and river; and the prospects are certainly very beautiful; +to say nothing of the large ships, which I admire almost as much as you, +though without knowing so much about them. There is a great deal of +fine scenery all along the road to Looe; and the House itself, a very +unpretending Gothic cottage, stands beautifully among trees, hills and +water, with the sea at the distance of a quarter of a mile. + +"And here, among pleasant, good-natured, well-informed and clever +people, I spent an idle month. I dined at one or two Corporation +dinners; spent a few days at the old Mansion of Mr. Buller of Morval, +the patron of West Looe; and during the rest of the time, read, wrote, +played chess, lounged, and ate red mullet (he who has not done this +has not begun to live); talked of cookery to the philosophers, and of +metaphysics to Mrs. Buller; and altogether cultivated indolence, +and developed the faculty of nonsense with considerable pleasure and +unexampled success. Charles Buller you know: he has just come to town, +but I have not yet seen him. Arthur, his younger brother, I take to +be one of the handsomest men in England; and he too has considerable +talent. Mr. Buller the father is rather a clever man of sense, and +particularly good-natured and gentlemanly; and his wife, who was a +renowned beauty and queen of Calcutta, has still many striking and +delicate traces of what she was. Her conversation is more brilliant and +pleasant than that of any one I know; and, at all events, I am bound to +admire her for the kindness with which she patronizes me. I hope that, +some day or other, you may be acquainted with her. + +"I believe I have seen no one in London about whom you would care to +hear,--unless the fame of Fanny Kemble has passed the Channel, and +astonished the Irish Barbarians in the midst of their bloody-minded +politics. Young Kemble, whom you have seen, is in Germany: but I have +the happiness of being also acquainted with his sister, the divine +Fanny; and I have seen her twice on the stage, and three or four times +in private, since my return from Cornwall. I had seen some beautiful +verses of hers, long before she was an actress; and her conversation +is full of spirit and talent. She never was taught to act at all; and +though there are many faults in her performance of Juliet, there is more +power than in any female playing I ever saw, except Pasta's Medea. She +is not handsome, rather short, and by no means delicately formed; +but her face is marked, and the eyes are brilliant, dark, and full of +character. She has far more ability than she ever can display on the +stage; but I have no doubt that, by practice and self-culture, she will +be a far finer actress at least than any one since Mrs. Siddons. I was +at Charles Kemble's a few evenings ago, when a drawing of Miss Kemble, +by Sir Thomas Lawrence, was brought in; and I have no doubt that you +will shortly see, even in Dublin, an engraving of her from it, very +unlike the caricatures that have hitherto appeared. I hate the stage; +and but for her, should very likely never have gone to a theatre again. +Even as it is, the annoyance is much more than the pleasure; but I +suppose I must go to see her in every character in which she acts. If +Charlotte cares for plays, let me know, and I will write in more detail +about this new Melpomene. I fear there are very few subjects on which I +can say anything that will in the least interest her. + + "Ever affectionately yours, + "J. STERLING." + +Sterling and his circle, as their ardent speculation and activity +fermented along, were in all things clear for progress, liberalism; +their politics, and view of the Universe, decisively of the Radical +sort. As indeed that of England then was, more than ever; the crust of +old hide-bound Toryism being now openly cracking towards some incurable +disruption, which accordingly ensued as the Reform Bill before long. +The Reform Bill already hung in the wind. Old hide-bound Toryism, long +recognized by all the world, and now at last obliged to recognize its +very self, for an overgrown Imposture, supporting itself not by human +reason, but by flunky blustering and brazen lying, superadded to mere +brute force, could be no creed for young Sterling and his friends. In +all things he and they were liberals, and, as was natural at this +stage, democrats; contemplating root-and-branch innovation by aid of the +hustings and ballot-box. Hustings and ballot-box had speedily to +vanish out of Sterling's thoughts: but the character of root-and-branch +innovator, essentially of "Radical Reformer," was indelible with him, +and under all forms could be traced as his character through life. + +For the present, his and those young people's aim was: By democracy, +or what means there are, be all impostures put down. Speedy end to +Superstition,--a gentle one if you can contrive it, but an end. What can +it profit any mortal to adopt locutions and imaginations which do not +correspond to fact; which no sane mortal can deliberately adopt in his +soul as true; which the most orthodox of mortals can only, and this +after infinite essentially _impious_ effort to put out the eyes of his +mind, persuade himself to "believe that he believes"? Away with it; in +the name of God, come out of it, all true men! + +Piety of heart, a certain reality of religious faith, was always +Sterling's, the gift of nature to him which he would not and could +not throw away; but I find at this time his religion is as good as +altogether Ethnic, Greekish, what Goethe calls the Heathen form of +religion. The Church, with her articles, is without relation to him. +And along with obsolete spiritualisms, he sees all manner of obsolete +thrones and big-wigged temporalities; and for them also can prophesy, +and wish, only a speedy doom. Doom inevitable, registered in Heaven's +Chancery from the beginning of days, doom unalterable as the pillars of +the world; the gods are angry, and all nature groans, till this doom of +eternal justice be fulfilled. + +With gay audacity, with enthusiasm tempered by mockery, as is the manner +of young gifted men, this faith, grounded for the present on democracy +and hustings operations, and giving to all life the aspect of a +chivalrous battle-field, or almost of a gay though perilous tournament, +and bout of "A hundred knights against all comers,"--was maintained +by Sterling and his friends. And in fine, after whatever loud +remonstrances, and solemn considerations, and such shaking of our wigs +as is undoubtedly natural in the case, let us be just to it and him. We +shall have to admit, nay it will behoove us to see and practically know, +for ourselves and him and others, that the essence of this creed, in +times like ours, was right and not wrong. That, however the ground and +form of it might change, essentially it was the monition of his natal +genius to this as it is to every brave man; the behest of all his clear +insight into this Universe, the message of Heaven through him, which +he could not suppress, but was inspired and compelled to utter in +this world by such methods as he had. There for him lay the first +commandment; _this_ is what it would have been the unforgivable sin to +swerve from and desert: the treason of treasons for him, it were there; +compared with which all other sins are venial! + +The message did not cease at all, as we shall see; the message was +ardently, if fitfully, continued to the end: but the methods, the tone +and dialect and all outer conditions of uttering it, underwent most +important modifications! + + + +CHAPTER VIII. COLERIDGE. + +Coleridge sat on the brow of Highgate Hill, in those years, looking down +on London and its smoke-tumult, like a sage escaped from the inanity of +life's battle; attracting towards him the thoughts of innumerable +brave souls still engaged there. His express contributions to +poetry, philosophy, or any specific province of human literature or +enlightenment, had been small and sadly intermittent; but he had, +especially among young inquiring men, a higher than literary, a kind +of prophetic or magician character. He was thought to hold, he alone +in England, the key of German and other Transcendentalisms; knew the +sublime secret of believing by "the reason" what "the understanding" had +been obliged to fling out as incredible; and could still, after Hume +and Voltaire had done their best and worst with him, profess himself an +orthodox Christian, and say and print to the Church of England, with its +singular old rubrics and surplices at Allhallowtide, _Esto perpetua_. +A sublime man; who, alone in those dark days, had saved his crown +of spiritual manhood; escaping from the black materialisms, and +revolutionary deluges, with "God, Freedom, Immortality" still his: a +king of men. The practical intellects of the world did not much heed +him, or carelessly reckoned him a metaphysical dreamer: but to the +rising spirits of the young generation he had this dusky sublime +character; and sat there as a kind of _Magus_, girt in mystery and +enigma; his Dodona oak-grove (Mr. Gilman's house at Highgate) whispering +strange things, uncertain whether oracles or jargon. + +The Gilmans did not encourage much company, or excitation of any sort, +round their sage; nevertheless access to him, if a youth did reverently +wish it, was not difficult. He would stroll about the pleasant garden +with you, sit in the pleasant rooms of the place,--perhaps take you +to his own peculiar room, high up, with a rearward view, which was the +chief view of all. A really charming outlook, in fine weather. Close +at hand, wide sweep of flowery leafy gardens, their few houses mostly +hidden, the very chimney-pots veiled under blossomy umbrage, flowed +gloriously down hill; gloriously issuing in wide-tufted undulating +plain-country, rich in all charms of field and town. Waving blooming +country of the brightest green; dotted all over with handsome villas, +handsome groves; crossed by roads and human traffic, here inaudible or +heard only as a musical hum: and behind all swam, under olive-tinted +haze, the illimitable limitary ocean of London, with its domes and +steeples definite in the sun, big Paul's and the many memories attached +to it hanging high over all. Nowhere, of its kind, could you see a +grander prospect on a bright summer day, with the set of the air going +southward,--southward, and so draping with the city-smoke not you +but the city. Here for hours would Coleridge talk, concerning all +conceivable or inconceivable things; and liked nothing better than to +have an intelligent, or failing that, even a silent and patient human +listener. He distinguished himself to all that ever heard him as at +least the most surprising talker extant in this world,--and to some +small minority, by no means to all, as the most excellent. + +The good man, he was now getting old, towards sixty perhaps; and +gave you the idea of a life that had been full of sufferings; a life +heavy-laden, half-vanquished, still swimming painfully in seas of +manifold physical and other bewilderment. Brow and head were round, +and of massive weight, but the face was flabby and irresolute. The +deep eyes, of a light hazel, were as full of sorrow as of inspiration; +confused pain looked mildly from them, as in a kind of mild +astonishment. The whole figure and air, good and amiable otherwise, +might be called flabby and irresolute; expressive of weakness under +possibility of strength. He hung loosely on his limbs, with knees bent, +and stooping attitude; in walking, he rather shuffled than decisively +steps; and a lady once remarked, he never could fix which side of the +garden walk would suit him best, but continually shifted, in corkscrew +fashion, and kept trying both. A heavy-laden, high-aspiring and surely +much-suffering man. His voice, naturally soft and good, had contracted +itself into a plaintive snuffle and singsong; he spoke as if +preaching,--you would have said, preaching earnestly and also hopelessly +the weightiest things. I still recollect his "object" and "subject," +terms of continual recurrence in the Kantean province; and how he sang +and snuffled them into "om-m-mject" and "sum-m-mject," with a kind of +solemn shake or quaver, as he rolled along. No talk, in his century or +in any other, could be more surprising. + +Sterling, who assiduously attended him, with profound reverence, and +was often with him by himself, for a good many months, gives a record +of their first colloquy. [8] Their colloquies were numerous, and he +had taken note of many; but they are all gone to the fire, except this +first, which Mr. Hare has printed,--unluckily without date. It contains +a number of ingenious, true and half-true observations, and is of +course a faithful epitome of the things said; but it gives small idea +of Coleridge's way of talking;--this one feature is perhaps the most +recognizable, "Our interview lasted for three hours, during which he +talked two hours and three quarters." Nothing could be more copious than +his talk; and furthermore it was always, virtually or literally, of +the nature of a monologue; suffering no interruption, however reverent; +hastily putting aside all foreign additions, annotations, or most +ingenuous desires for elucidation, as well-meant superfluities which +would never do. Besides, it was talk not flowing any-whither like +a river, but spreading every-whither in inextricable currents and +regurgitations like a lake or sea; terribly deficient in definite goal +or aim, nay often in logical intelligibility; _what_ you were to believe +or do, on any earthly or heavenly thing, obstinately refusing to appear +from it. So that, most times, you felt logically lost; swamped near to +drowning in this tide of ingenious vocables, spreading out boundless as +if to submerge the world. + +To sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether you consent or +not, can in the long-run be exhilarating to no creature; how eloquent +soever the flood of utterance that is descending. But if it be withal a +confused unintelligible flood of utterance, threatening to submerge all +known landmarks of thought, and drown the world and you!--I have heard +Coleridge talk, with eager musical energy, two stricken hours, his +face radiant and moist, and communicate no meaning whatsoever to any +individual of his hearers,--certain of whom, I for one, still kept +eagerly listening in hope; the most had long before given up, and formed +(if the room were large enough) secondary humming groups of their own. +He began anywhere: you put some question to him, made some suggestive +observation: instead of answering this, or decidedly setting out +towards answer of it, he would accumulate formidable apparatus, logical +swim-bladders, transcendental life-preservers and other precautionary +and vehiculatory gear, for setting out; perhaps did at last get under +way,--but was swiftly solicited, turned aside by the glance of some +radiant new game on this hand or that, into new courses; and ever into +new; and before long into all the Universe, where it was uncertain what +game you would catch, or whether any. + +His talk, alas, was distinguished, like himself, by irresolution: +it disliked to be troubled with conditions, abstinences, definite +fulfilments;--loved to wander at its own sweet will, and make its +auditor and his claims and humble wishes a mere passive bucket for +itself! He had knowledge about many things and topics, much curious +reading; but generally all topics led him, after a pass or two, into +the high seas of theosophic philosophy, the hazy infinitude of Kantean +transcendentalism, with its "sum-m-mjects" and "om-m-mjects." Sad +enough; for with such indolent impatience of the claims and ignorances +of others, he had not the least talent for explaining this or anything +unknown to them; and you swam and fluttered in the mistiest wide +unintelligible deluge of things, for most part in a rather profitless +uncomfortable manner. + +Glorious islets, too, I have seen rise out of the haze; but they were +few, and soon swallowed in the general element again. Balmy sunny +islets, islets of the blest and the intelligible:--on which occasions +those secondary humming groups would all cease humming, and hang +breathless upon the eloquent words; till once your islet got wrapt in +the mist again, and they could recommence humming. Eloquent artistically +expressive words you always had; piercing radiances of a most subtle +insight came at intervals; tones of noble pious sympathy, recognizable +as pious though strangely colored, were never wanting long: but in +general you could not call this aimless, cloud-capt, cloud-based, +lawlessly meandering human discourse of reason by the name of "excellent +talk," but only of "surprising;" and were reminded bitterly of Hazlitt's +account of it: "Excellent talker, very,--if you let him start from no +premises and come to no conclusion." Coleridge was not without what +talkers call wit, and there were touches of prickly sarcasm in him, +contemptuous enough of the world and its idols and popular dignitaries; +he had traits even of poetic humor: but in general he seemed deficient +in laughter; or indeed in sympathy for concrete human things either on +the sunny or on the stormy side. One right peal of concrete laughter at +some convicted flesh-and-blood absurdity, one burst of noble indignation +at some injustice or depravity, rubbing elbows with us on this solid +Earth, how strange would it have been in that Kantean haze-world, and +how infinitely cheering amid its vacant air-castles and dim-melting +ghosts and shadows! None such ever came. His life had been an abstract +thinking and dreaming, idealistic, passed amid the ghosts of +defunct bodies and of unborn ones. The moaning singsong of that +theosophico-metaphysical monotony left on you, at last, a very dreary +feeling. + +In close colloquy, flowing within narrower banks, I suppose he was more +definite and apprehensible; Sterling in after-times did not complain of +his unintelligibility, or imputed it only to the abtruse high nature of +the topics handled. Let us hope so, let us try to believe so! There +is no doubt but Coleridge could speak plain words on things plain: his +observations and responses on the trivial matters that occurred were as +simple as the commonest man's, or were even distinguished by superior +simplicity as well as pertinency. "Ah, your tea is too cold, Mr. +Coleridge!" mourned the good Mrs. Gilman once, in her kind, reverential +and yet protective manner, handing him a very tolerable though belated +cup.--"It's better than I deserve!" snuffled he, in a low hoarse murmur, +partly courteous, chiefly pious, the tone of which still abides with me: +"It's better than I deserve!" + +But indeed, to the young ardent mind, instinct with pious nobleness, yet +driven to the grim deserts of Radicalism for a faith, his speculations +had a charm much more than literary, a charm almost religious and +prophetic. The constant gist of his discourse was lamentation over +the sunk condition of the world; which he recognized to be given up to +Atheism and Materialism, full of mere sordid misbeliefs, mispursuits and +misresults. All Science had become mechanical; the science not of men, +but of a kind of human beavers. Churches themselves had died away into a +godless mechanical condition; and stood there as mere Cases of Articles, +mere Forms of Churches; like the dried carcasses of once swift +camels, which you find left withering in the thirst of the universal +desert,--ghastly portents for the present, beneficent ships of the +desert no more. Men's souls were blinded, hebetated; and sunk under the +influence of Atheism and Materialism, and Hume and Voltaire: the world +for the present was as an extinct world, deserted of God, and incapable +of well-doing till it changed its heart and spirit. This, expressed +I think with less of indignation and with more of long-drawn +querulousness, was always recognizable as the ground-tone:--in which +truly a pious young heart, driven into Radicalism and the opposition +party, could not but recognize a too sorrowful truth; and ask of the +Oracle, with all earnestness, What remedy, then? + +The remedy, though Coleridge himself professed to see it as in sunbeams, +could not, except by processes unspeakably difficult, be described to +you at all. On the whole, those dead Churches, this dead English Church +especially, must be brought to life again. Why not? It was not dead; +the soul of it, in this parched-up body, was tragically asleep only. +Atheistic Philosophy was true on its side, and Hume and Voltaire could +on their own ground speak irrefragably for themselves against any +Church: but lift the Church and them into a higher sphere. Of argument, +_they_ died into inanition, the Church revivified itself into pristine +florid vigor,--became once more a living ship of the desert, and +invincibly bore you over stock and stone. But how, but how! By attending +to the "reason" of man, said Coleridge, and duly chaining up the +"understanding" of man: the _Vernunft_ (Reason) and _Verstand_ +(Understanding) of the Germans, it all turned upon these, if you could +well understand them,--which you couldn't. For the rest, Mr. Coleridge +had on the anvil various Books, especially was about to write one grand +Book _On the Logos_, which would help to bridge the chasm for us. +So much appeared, however: Churches, though proved false (as you had +imagined), were still true (as you were to imagine): here was an Artist +who could burn you up an old Church, root and branch; and then as the +Alchemists professed to do with organic substances in general, distil +you an "Astral Spirit" from the ashes, which was the very image of the +old burnt article, its air-drawn counterpart,--this you still had, or +might get, and draw uses from, if you could. Wait till the Book on the +Logos were done;--alas, till your own terrene eyes, blind with conceit +and the dust of logic, were purged, subtilized and spiritualized +into the sharpness of vision requisite for discerning such an +"om-m-mject."--The ingenuous young English head, of those days, stood +strangely puzzled by such revelations; uncertain whether it were getting +inspired, or getting infatuated into flat imbecility; and strange +effulgence, of new day or else of deeper meteoric night, colored the +horizon of the future for it. + +Let me not be unjust to this memorable man. Surely there was here, +in his pious, ever-laboring, subtle mind, a precious truth, or +prefigurement of truth; and yet a fatal delusion withal. Prefigurement +that, in spite of beaver sciences and temporary spiritual hebetude and +cecity, man and his Universe were eternally divine; and that no past +nobleness, or revelation of the divine, could or would ever be lost to +him. Most true, surely, and worthy of all acceptance. Good also to do +what you can with old Churches and practical Symbols of the Noble: nay +quit not the burnt ruins of them while you find there is still gold +to be dug there. But, on the whole, do not think you can, by logical +alchemy, distil astral spirits from them; or if you could, that said +astral spirits, or defunct logical phantasms, could serve you in +anything. What the light of your mind, which is the direct inspiration +of the Almighty, pronounces incredible,--that, in God's name, leave +uncredited; at your peril do not try believing that. No subtlest +hocus-pocus of "reason" versus "understanding" will avail for that +feat;--and it is terribly perilous to try it in these provinces! + +The truth is, I now see, Coleridge's talk and speculation was the emblem +of himself: in it as in him, a ray of heavenly inspiration struggled, in +a tragically ineffectual degree, with the weakness of flesh and blood. +He says once, he "had skirted the howling deserts of Infidelity;" this +was evident enough: but he had not had the courage, in defiance of pain +and terror, to press resolutely across said deserts to the new firm +lands of Faith beyond; he preferred to create logical fata-morganas for +himself on this hither side, and laboriously solace himself with these. + +To the man himself Nature had given, in high measure, the seeds of +a noble endowment; and to unfold it had been forbidden him. A subtle +lynx-eyed intellect, tremulous pious sensibility to all good and all +beautiful; truly a ray of empyrean light;--but embedded in such weak +laxity of character, in such indolences and esuriences as had made +strange work with it. Once more, the tragic story of a high endowment +with an insufficient will. An eye to discern the divineness of the +Heaven's spendors and lightnings, the insatiable wish to revel in their +godlike radiances and brilliances; but no heart to front the scathing +terrors of them, which is the first condition of your conquering an +abiding place there. The courage necessary for him, above all things, +had been denied this man. His life, with such ray of the empyrean in it, +was great and terrible to him; and he had not valiantly grappled with +it, he had fled from it; sought refuge in vague daydreams, hollow +compromises, in opium, in theosophic metaphysics. Harsh pain, danger, +necessity, slavish harnessed toil, were of all things abhorrent to him. +And so the empyrean element, lying smothered under the terrene, and +yet inextinguishable there, made sad writhings. For pain, danger, +difficulty, steady slaving toil, and other highly disagreeable behests +of destiny, shall in nowise be shirked by any brightest mortal that will +approve himself loyal to his mission in this world; nay precisely +the higher he is, the deeper will be the disagreeableness, and the +detestability to flesh and blood, of the tasks laid on him; and the +heavier too, and more tragic, his penalties if he neglect them. + +For the old Eternal Powers do live forever; nor do their laws know any +change, however we in our poor wigs and church-tippets may attempt +to read their laws. To _steal_ into Heaven,--by the modern method, of +sticking ostrich-like your head into fallacies on Earth, equally as +by the ancient and by all conceivable methods,--is forever forbidden. +High-treason is the name of that attempt; and it continues to be +punished as such. Strange enough: here once more was a kind of +Heaven-scaling Ixion; and to him, as to the old one, the just gods were +very stern! The ever-revolving, never-advancing Wheel (of a kind) was +his, through life; and from his Cloud-Juno did not he too procreate +strange Centaurs, spectral Puseyisms, monstrous illusory Hybrids, and +ecclesiastical Chimeras,--which now roam the earth in a very lamentable +manner! + + + +CHAPTER IX. SPANISH EXILES. + +This magical ingredient thrown into the wild caldron of such a mind, +which we have seen occupied hitherto with mere Ethnicism, Radicalism and +revolutionary tumult, but hungering all along for something higher and +better, was sure to be eagerly welcomed and imbibed, and could not fail +to produce important fermentations there. Fermentations; important new +directions, and withal important new perversions, in the spiritual life +of this man, as it has since done in the lives of so many. Here then +is the new celestial manna we were all in quest of? This thrice-refined +pabulum of transcendental moonshine? Whoso eateth thereof,--yes, what, +on the whole, will _he_ probably grow to? + +Sterling never spoke much to me of his intercourse with Coleridge; and +when we did compare notes about him, it was usually rather in the way +of controversial discussion than of narrative. So that, from my own +resources, I can give no details of the business, nor specify anything +in it, except the general fact of an ardent attendance at Highgate +continued for many months, which was impressively known to all +Sterling's friends; and am unable to assign even the limitary dates, +Sterling's own papers on the subject having all been destroyed by +him. Inferences point to the end of 1828 as the beginning of this +intercourse; perhaps in 1829 it was at the highest point; and already in +1830, when the intercourse itself was about to terminate, we have proof +of the influences it was producing,--in the Novel of _Arthur Coningsby_, +then on hand, the first and only Book that Sterling ever wrote. His +writings hitherto had been sketches, criticisms, brief essays; he was +now trying it on a wider scale; but not yet with satisfactory results, +and it proved to be his only trial in that form. + +He had already, as was intimated, given up his brief proprietorship of +the _Athenaeum_; the commercial indications, and state of sales and of +costs, peremptorily ordering him to do so; the copyright went by sale or +gift, I know not at what precise date, into other fitter hands; and with +the copyright all connection on the part of Sterling. To _Athenaeum_ +Sketches had now (in 1829-30) succeeded _Arthur Coningsby_, a Novel +in three volumes; indicating (when it came to light, a year or +two afterwards) equally hasty and much more ambitious aims in +Literature;--giving strong evidence, too, of internal spiritual +revulsions going painfully forward, and in particular of the impression +Coleridge was producing on him. Without and within, it was a wild tide +of things this ardent light young soul was afloat upon, at present; +and his outlooks into the future, whether for his spiritual or economic +fortunes, were confused enough. + +Among his familiars in this period, I might have mentioned one Charles +Barton, formerly his fellow-student at Cambridge, now an amiable, +cheerful, rather idle young fellow about Town; who led the way into +certain new experiences, and lighter fields, for Sterling. His Father, +Lieutenant-General Barton of the Life-guards, an Irish landlord, I think +in Fermanagh County, and a man of connections about Court, lived in +a certain figure here in Town; had a wife of fashionable habits, with +other sons, and also daughters, bred in this sphere. These, all of +them, were amiable, elegant and pleasant people;--such was especially +an eldest daughter, Susannah Barton, a stately blooming black-eyed young +woman, attractive enough in form and character; full of gay softness, of +indolent sense and enthusiasm; about Sterling's own age, if not a little +older. In this house, which opened to him, more decisively than +his Father's, a new stratum of society, and where his reception for +Charles's sake and his own was of the kindest, he liked very well to be; +and spent, I suppose, many of his vacant half-hours, lightly chatting +with the elders or the youngsters,--doubtless with the young lady too, +though as yet without particular intentions on either side. + +Nor, with all the Coleridge fermentation, was democratic Radicalism +by any means given up;--though how it was to live if the Coleridgean +moonshine took effect, might have been an abtruse question. Hitherto, +while said moonshine was but taking effect, and coloring the outer +surface of things without quite penetrating into the heart, democratic +Liberalism, revolt against superstition and oppression, and help to +whosoever would revolt, was still the grand element in Sterling's creed; +and practically he stood, not ready only, but full of alacrity to fulfil +all its behests. We heard long since of the "black dragoons,"--whom +doubtless the new moonshine had considerably silvered-over into new +hues, by this time;--but here now, while Radicalism is tottering for him +and threatening to crumble, comes suddenly the grand consummation and +explosion of Radicalism in his life; whereby, all at once, Radicalism +exhausted and ended itself, and appeared no more there. + + +In those years a visible section of the London population, and +conspicuous out of all proportion to its size or value, was a small +knot of Spaniards, who had sought shelter here as Political Refugees. +"Political Refugees:" a tragic succession of that class is one of the +possessions of England in our time. Six-and-twenty years ago, when I +first saw London, I remember those unfortunate Spaniards among the new +phenomena. Daily in the cold spring air, under skies so unlike their +own, you could see a group of fifty or a hundred stately tragic figures, +in proud threadbare cloaks; perambulating, mostly with closed lips, the +broad pavements of Euston Square and the regions about St. Pancras new +Church. Their lodging was chiefly in Somers Town, as I understood: and +those open pavements about St. Pancras Church were the general place of +rendezvous. They spoke little or no English; knew nobody, could employ +themselves on nothing, in this new scene. Old steel-gray heads, many +of them; the shaggy, thick, blue-black hair of others struck you; their +brown complexion, dusky look of suppressed fire, in general their tragic +condition as of caged Numidian lions. + +That particular Flight of Unfortunates has long since fled again, and +vanished; and new have come and fled. In this convulsed revolutionary +epoch, which already lasts above sixty years, what tragic flights of +such have we not seen arrive on the one safe coast which is open to +them, as they get successively vanquished, and chased into exile to +avoid worse! Swarm after swarm, of ever-new complexion, from Spain as +from other countries, is thrown off, in those ever-recurring paroxysms; +and will continue to be thrown off. As there could be (suggests +Linnaeus) a "flower-clock," measuring the hours of the day, and the +months of the year, by the kinds of flowers that go to sleep and awaken, +that blow into beauty and fade into dust: so in the great Revolutionary +Horologe, one might mark the years and epochs by the successive kinds of +exiles that walk London streets, and, in grim silent manner, demand +pity from us and reflections from us.--This then extant group of Spanish +Exiles was the Trocadero swarm, thrown off in 1823, in the Riego and +Quirogas quarrel. These were they whom Charles Tenth had, by sheer +force, driven from their constitutionalisms and their Trocadero +fortresses,--Charles Tenth, who himself was soon driven out, manifoldly +by sheer force; and had to head his own swarm of fugitives; and has now +himself quite vanished, and given place to others. For there is no end +of them; propelling and propelled!-- + +Of these poor Spanish Exiles, now vegetating about Somers Town, and +painfully beating the pavement in Euston Square, the acknowledged chief +was General Torrijos, a man of high qualities and fortunes, still in +the vigor of his years, and in these desperate circumstances refusing to +despair; with whom Sterling had, at this time, become intimate. + + + +CHAPTER X. TORRIJOS. + +Torrijos, who had now in 1829 been here some four or five years, having +come over in 1824, had from the first enjoyed a superior reception +in England. Possessing not only a language to speak, which few of the +others did, but manifold experiences courtly, military, diplomatic, +with fine natural faculties, and high Spanish manners tempered into +cosmopolitan, he had been welcomed in various circles of society; +and found, perhaps he alone of those Spaniards, a certain human +companionship among persons of some standing in this country. With the +elder Sterlings, among others, he had made acquaintance; became familiar +in the social circle at South Place, and was much esteemed there. With +Madam Torrijos, who also was a person of amiable and distinguished +qualities, an affectionate friendship grew up on the part of Mrs. +Sterling, which ended only with the death of these two ladies. John +Sterling, on arriving in London from his University work, naturally +inherited what he liked to take up of this relation: and in the lodgings +in Regent Street, and the democratico-literary element there, Torrijos +became a very prominent, and at length almost the central object. + +The man himself, it is well known, was a valiant, gallant man; of +lively intellect, of noble chivalrous character: fine talents, fine +accomplishments, all grounding themselves on a certain rugged veracity, +recommended him to the discerning. He had begun youth in the Court of +Ferdinand; had gone on in Wellington and other arduous, victorious +and unvictorious, soldierings; familiar in camps and council-rooms, +in presence-chambers and in prisons. He knew romantic Spain;--he was +himself, standing withal in the vanguard of Freedom's fight, a kind of +living romance. Infinitely interesting to John Sterling, for one. + +It was to Torrijos that the poor Spaniards of Somers Town looked mainly, +in their helplessness, for every species of help. Torrijos, it was +hoped, would yet lead them into Spain and glorious victory there; +meanwhile here in England, under defeat, he was their captain and +sovereign in another painfully inverse sense. To whom, in extremity, +everybody might apply. When all present resources failed, and the +exchequer was quite out, there still remained Torrijos. Torrijos has to +find new resources for his destitute patriots, find loans, find Spanish +lessons for them among his English friends: in all which charitable +operations, it need not be said, John Sterling was his foremost man; +zealous to empty his own purse for the object; impetuous in rushing +hither or thither to enlist the aid of others, and find lessons or +something that would do. His friends, of course, had to assist; the +Bartons, among others, were wont to assist;--and I have heard that the +fair Susan, stirring up her indolent enthusiasm into practicality, was +very successful in finding Spanish lessons, and the like, for these +distressed men. Sterling and his friends were yet new in this business; +but Torrijos and the others were getting old in it?--and doubtless weary +and almost desperate of it. They had now been seven years in it, many of +them; and were asking, When will the end be? + +Torrijos is described as a man of excellent discernment: who knows how +long he had repressed the unreasonable schemes of his followers, and +turned a deaf ear to the temptings of fallacious hope? But there comes +at length a sum-total of oppressive burdens which is intolerable, which +tempts the wisest towards fallacies for relief. These weary groups, +pacing the Euston-Square pavements, had often said in their despair, +"Were not death in battle better? Here are we slowly mouldering into +nothingness; there we might reach it rapidly, in flaming splendor. +Flame, either of victory to Spain and us, or of a patriot death, the +sure harbinger of victory to Spain. Flame fit to kindle a fire which no +Ferdinand, with all his Inquisitions and Charles Tenths, could put +out." Enough, in the end of 1829, Torrijos himself had yielded to this +pressure; and hoping against hope, persuaded himself that if he could +but land in the South of Spain with a small patriot band well armed +and well resolved, a band carrying fire in its heart,--then Spain, all +inflammable as touchwood, and groaning indignantly under its brutal +tyrant, might blaze wholly into flame round him, and incalculable +victory be won. Such was his conclusion; not sudden, yet surely not +deliberate either,--desperate rather, and forced on by circumstances. +He thought with himself that, considering Somers Town and considering +Spain, the terrible chance was worth trying; that this big game of Fate, +go how it might, was one which the omens credibly declared he and these +poor Spaniards ought to play. + +His whole industries and energies were thereupon bent towards starting +the said game; and his thought and continual speech and song now was, +That if he had a few thousand pounds to buy arms, to freight a ship and +make the other preparations, he and these poor gentlemen, and Spain and +the world, were made men and a saved Spain and world. What talks and +consultations in the apartment in Regent Street, during those winter +days of 1829-30; setting into open conflagration the young democracy +that was wont to assemble there! Of which there is now left next to +no remembrance. For Sterling never spoke a word of this affair in +after-days, nor was any of the actors much tempted to speak. We can +understand too well that here were young fervid hearts in an explosive +condition; young rash heads, sanctioned by a man's experienced head. +Here at last shall enthusiasm and theory become practice and fact; fiery +dreams are at last permitted to realize themselves; and now is the time +or never!--How the Coleridge moonshine comported itself amid these hot +telluric flames, or whether it had not yet begun to play there (which I +rather doubt), must be left to conjecture. + +Mr. Hare speaks of Sterling "sailing over to St. Valery in an open +boat along with others," upon one occasion, in this enterprise;--in +the _final_ English scene of it, I suppose. Which is very possible. +Unquestionably there was adventure enough of other kinds for it, and +running to and fro with all his speed on behalf of it, during these +months of his history! Money was subscribed, collected: the young +Cambridge democrats were all ablaze to assist Torrijos; nay certain of +them decided to go with him,--and went. Only, as yet, the funds were +rather incomplete. And here, as I learn from a good hand, is the secret +history of their becoming complete. Which, as we are upon the subject, +I had better give. But for the following circumstance, they had perhaps +never been completed; nor had the rash enterprise, or its catastrophe, +so influential on the rest of Sterling's life, taken place at all. + +A certain Lieutenant Robert Boyd, of the Indian Army, an Ulster +Irishman, a cousin of Sterling's, had received some affront, or +otherwise taken some disgust in that service; had thrown up his +commission in consequence; and returned home, about this time, with +intent to seek another course of life. Having only, for outfit, these +impatient ardors, some experience in Indian drill exercise, and five +thousand pounds of inheritance, he found the enterprise attended with +difficulties; and was somewhat at a loss how to dispose of himself. Some +young Ulster comrade, in a partly similar situation, had pointed out to +him that there lay in a certain neighboring creek of the Irish coast, a +worn-out royal gun-brig condemned to sale, to be had dog-cheap: this he +proposed that they two, or in fact Boyd with his five thousand pounds, +should buy; that they should refit and arm and man it;--and sail +a-privateering "to the Eastern Archipelago," Philippine Isles, or I know +not where; and _so_ conquer the golden fleece. + +Boyd naturally paused a little at this great proposal; did not quite +reject it; came across, with it and other fine projects and impatiences +fermenting in his head, to London, there to see and consider. It was in +the months when the Torrijos enterprise was in the birth-throes; crying +wildly for capital, of all things. Boyd naturally spoke of his projects +to Sterling,--of his gun-brig lying in the Irish creek, among others. +Sterling naturally said, "If you want an adventure of the Sea-king sort, +and propose to lay your money and your life into such a game, here is +Torrijos and Spain at his back; here is a golden fleece to conquer, +worth twenty Eastern Archipelagoes."--Boyd and Torrijos quickly met; +quickly bargained. Boyd's money was to go in purchasing, and storing +with a certain stock of arms and etceteras, a small ship in the Thames, +which should carry Boyd with Torrijos and the adventurers to the south +coast of Spain; and there, the game once played and won, Boyd was to +have promotion enough,--"the colonelcy of a Spanish cavalry regiment," +for one express thing. What exact share Sterling had in this +negotiation, or whether he did not even take the prudent side and +caution Boyd to be wary I know not; but it was he that brought the +parties together; and all his friends knew, in silence, that to the end +of his life he painfully remembered that fact. + +And so a ship was hired, or purchased, in the Thames; due furnishings +began to be executed in it; arms and stores were gradually got on board; +Torrijos with his Fifty picked Spaniards, in the mean while, getting +ready. This was in the spring of 1830. Boyd's 5000 pounds was the grand +nucleus of finance; but vigorous subscription was carried on likewise +in Sterling's young democratic circle, or wherever a member of it could +find access; not without considerable result, and with a zeal that may +be imagined. Nay, as above hinted, certain of these young men decided, +not to give their money only, but themselves along with it, as +democratic volunteers and soldiers of progress; among whom, it need not +be said, Sterling intended to be foremost. Busy weeks with him, those +spring ones of the year 1830! Through this small Note, accidentally +preserved to us, addressed to his friend Barton, we obtain a curious +glance into the subterranean workshop:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq., Dorset Sq., Regent's Park_. + [No date; apparently March or February, 1830.] + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--I have wanted to see you to talk to you about my +Foreign affairs. If you are going to be in London for a few days, I +believe you can be very useful to me, at a considerable expense and +trouble to yourself, in the way of buying accoutrements; _inter alia_, a +sword and a saddle,--not, you will understand, for my own use. + +"Things are going on very well, but are very, even frightfully near; +only be quiet! Pray would you, in case of necessity, take a free passage +to Holland, next week or the week after; stay two or three days, and +come back, all expenses paid? If you write to B---- at Cambridge, tell +him above all things to hold his tongue. If you are near Palace Yard +to-morrow before two, pray come to see me. Do not come on purpose; +especially as I may perhaps be away, and at all events shall not be +there until eleven, nor perhaps till rather later. + +"I fear I shall have alarmed your Mother by my irruption. Forgive me +for that and all my exactions from you. If the next month were over, I +should not have to trouble any one. + + "Yours affectionately, + "J. STERLING." + +Busy weeks indeed; and a glowing smithy-light coming through the +chinks!--The romance of _Arthur Coningsby_ lay written, or half-written, +in his desk; and here, in his heart and among his hands, was an acted +romance and unknown catastrophes keeping pace with that. + +Doubts from the doctors, for his health was getting ominous, threw some +shade over the adventure. Reproachful reminiscences of Coleridge and +Theosophy were natural too; then fond regrets for Literature and its +glories: if you act your romance, how can you also write it? Regrets, +and reproachful reminiscences, from Art and Theosophy; perhaps some +tenderer regrets withal. A crisis in life had come; when, of innumerable +possibilities one possibility was to be elected king, and to swallow all +the rest, the rest of course made noise enough, and swelled themselves +to their biggest. + + +Meanwhile the ship was fast getting ready: on a certain day, it was +to drop quietly down the Thames; then touch at Deal, and take on board +Torrijos and his adventurers, who were to be in waiting and on the +outlook for them there. Let every man lay in his accoutrements, then; +let every man make his packages, his arrangements and farewells. +Sterling went to take leave of Miss Barton. "You are going, then; to +Spain? To rough it amid the storms of war and perilous insurrection; and +with that weak health of yours; and--we shall never see you more, then!" +Miss Barton, all her gayety gone, the dimpling softness become liquid +sorrow, and the musical ringing voice one wail of woe, "burst into +tears,"--so I have it on authority:--here was one possibility about to +be strangled that made unexpected noise! Sterling's interview ended in +the offer of his hand, and the acceptance of it;--any sacrifice to get +rid of this horrid Spanish business, and save the health and life of a +gifted young man so precious to the world and to another! + +"Ill-health," as often afterwards in Sterling's life, when the excuse +was real enough but not the chief excuse; "ill-health, and insuperable +obstacles and engagements," had to bear the chief brunt in apologizing: +and, as Sterling's actual presence, or that of any Englishman except +Boyd and his money, was not in the least vital to the adventure, his +excuse was at once accepted. The English connections and subscriptions +are a given fact, to be presided over by what English volunteers there +are: and as for Englishmen, the fewer Englishmen that go, the larger +will be the share of influence for each. The other adventurers, Torrijos +among them in due readiness, moved silently one by one down to Deal; +Sterling, superintending the naval hands, on board their ship in +the Thames, was to see the last finish given to everything in that +department; then, on the set evening, to drop down quietly to Deal, and +there say _Andad con Dios_, and return. + +Behold! Just before the set evening came, the Spanish Envoy at this +Court has got notice of what is going on; the Spanish Envoy, and of +course the British Foreign Secretary, and of course also the Thames +Police. Armed men spring suddenly on board, one day, while Sterling is +there; declare the ship seized and embargoed in the King's name; nobody +on board to stir till he has given some account of himself in due time +and place! Huge consternation, naturally, from stem to stern. Sterling, +whose presence of mind seldom forsook him, casts his eye over the River +and its craft; sees a wherry, privately signals it, drops rapidly on +board of it: "Stop!" fiercely interjects the marine policeman from the +ship's deck.--"Why stop? What use have you for me, or I for you?" and +the oars begin playing.--"Stop, or I'll shoot you!" cries the marine +policeman, drawing a pistol.--"No, you won't."--"I will!"--"If you do +you'll be hanged at the next Maidstone assizes, then; that's all,"--and +Sterling's wherry shot rapidly ashore; and out of this perilous +adventure. + +That same night he posted down to Deal; disclosed to the Torrijos party +what catastrophe had come. No passage Spainward from the Thames; well +if arrestment do not suddenly come from the Thames! It was on this +occasion, I suppose, that the passage in the open boat to St. Valery +occurred;--speedy flight in what boat or boats, open or shut, could +be got at Deal on the sudden. Sterling himself, according to Hare's +authority, actually went with them so far. Enough, they got shipping, +as private passengers in one craft or the other; and, by degrees or at +once, arrived all at Gibraltar,--Boyd, one or two young democrats of +Regent Street, the fifty picked Spaniards, and Torrijos,--safe, though +without arms; still in the early part of the year. + + + +CHAPTER XI. MARRIAGE: ILL-HEALTH; WEST-INDIES. + +Sterling's outlooks and occupations, now that his Spanish friends were +gone, must have been of a rather miscellaneous confused description. +He had the enterprise of a married life close before him; and as yet +no profession, no fixed pursuit whatever. His health was already very +threatening; often such as to disable him from present activity, +and occasion the gravest apprehensions; practically blocking up all +important courses whatsoever, and rendering the future, if even +life were lengthened and he had any future, an insolubility for him. +Parliament was shut, public life was shut: Literature,--if, alas, any +solid fruit could lie in literature! + +Or perhaps one's health would mend, after all; and many things be better +than was hoped! Sterling was not of a despondent temper, or given in +any measure to lie down and indolently moan: I fancy he walked briskly +enough into this tempestuous-looking future; not heeding too much its +thunderous aspects; doing swiftly, for the day, what his hand found to +do. _Arthur Coningsby_, I suppose, lay on the anvil at present; visits +to Coleridge were now again more possible; grand news from Torrijos +might be looked for, though only small yet came:--nay here, in the hot +July, is France, at least, all thrown into volcano again! Here are the +miraculous Three Days; heralding, in thunder, great things to Torrijos +and others; filling with babblement and vaticination the mouths and +hearts of all democratic men. + +So rolled along, in tumult of chaotic remembrance and uncertain hope, +in manifold emotion, and the confused struggle (for Sterling as for +the world) to extricate the New from the falling ruins of the Old, the +summer and autumn of 1830. From Gibraltar and Torrijos the tidings were +vague, unimportant and discouraging: attempt on Cadiz, attempt on the +lines of St. Roch, those attempts, or rather resolutions to attempt, +had died in the birth, or almost before it. Men blamed Torrijos, little +knowing his impediments. Boyd was still patient at his post: others of +the young English (on the strength of the subscribed moneys) were said +to be thinking of tours,--perhaps in the Sierra Morena and neighboring +Quixote regions. From that Torrijos enterprise it did not seem that +anything considerable would come. + + +On the edge of winter, here at home, Sterling was married: "at +Christchurch, Marylebone, 2d November, 1830," say the records. His +blooming, kindly and true-hearted Wife had not much money, nor had he as +yet any: but friends on both sides were bountiful and hopeful; had +made up, for the young couple, the foundations of a modestly effective +household; and in the future there lay more substantial prospects. On +the finance side Sterling never had anything to suffer. His Wife, though +somewhat languid, and of indolent humor, was a graceful, pious-minded, +honorable and affectionate woman; she could not much support him in the +ever-shifting struggles of his life, but she faithfully attended him in +them, and loyally marched by his side through the changes and nomadic +pilgrimings, of which many were appointed him in his short course. + +Unhappily a few weeks after his marriage, and before any household was +yet set up, he fell dangerously ill; worse in health than he had ever +yet been: so many agitations crowded into the last few months had been +too much for him. He fell into dangerous pulmonary illness, sank ever +deeper; lay for many weeks in his Father's house utterly prostrate, +his young Wife and his Mother watching over him; friends, sparingly +admitted, long despairing of his life. All prospects in this world were +now apparently shut upon him. + +After a while, came hope again, and kindlier symptoms: but the doctors +intimated that there lay consumption in the question, and that perfect +recovery was not to be looked for. For weeks he had been confined to +bed; it was several months before he could leave his sick-room, +where the visits of a few friends had much cheered him. And now when +delivered, readmitted to the air of day again,--weak as he was, and with +such a liability still lurking in him,--what his young partner and he +were to do, or whitherward to turn for a good course of life, was by no +means too apparent. + + +One of his Mother Mrs. Edward Sterling's Uncles, a Coningham from Derry, +had, in the course of his industrious and adventurous life, realized +large property in the West Indies,--a valuable Sugar-estate, with its +equipments, in the Island of St. Vincent;--from which Mrs. Sterling +and her family were now, and had been for some years before her Uncle's +decease, deriving important benefits. I have heard, it was then worth +some ten thousand pounds a year to the parties interested. Anthony +Sterling, John, and another a cousin of theirs were ultimately to be +heirs, in equal proportions. The old gentleman, always kind to his +kindred, and a brave and solid man though somewhat abrupt in his ways, +had lately died; leaving a settlement to this effect, not without some +intricacies, and almost caprices, in the conditions attached. + +This property, which is still a valuable one, was Sterling's chief +pecuniary outlook for the distant future. Of course it well deserved +taking care of; and if the eye of the master were upon it, of course +too (according to the adage) the cattle would fatten better. As the +warm climate was favorable to pulmonary complaints, and Sterling's +occupations were so shattered to pieces and his outlooks here so waste +and vague, why should not he undertake this duty for himself and others? + +It was fixed upon as the eligiblest course. A visit to St. Vincent, +perhaps a permanent residence there: he went into the project with his +customary impetuosity; his young Wife cheerfully consenting, and all +manner of new hopes clustering round it. There are the rich tropical +sceneries, the romance of the torrid zone with its new skies and +seas and lands; there are Blacks, and the Slavery question to be +investigated: there are the bronzed Whites and Yellows, and their +strange new way of life: by all means let us go and try!--Arrangements +being completed, so soon as his strength had sufficiently recovered, and +the harsh spring winds had sufficiently abated, Sterling with his small +household set sail for St. Vincent; and arrived without accident. His +first child, a son Edward, now living and grown to manhood, was born +there, "at Brighton in the Island of St. Vincent," in the fall of that +year 1831. + + + +CHAPTER XII. ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT. + +Sterling found a pleasant residence, with all its adjuncts, ready +for him, at Colonarie, in this "volcanic Isle" under the hot sun. An +interesting Isle: a place of rugged chasms, precipitous gnarled +heights, and the most fruitful hollows; shaggy everywhere with luxuriant +vegetation; set under magnificent skies, in the mirror of the summer +seas; offering everywhere the grandest sudden outlooks and contrasts. +His Letters represent a placidly cheerful riding life: a pensive humor, +but the thunder-clouds all sleeping in the distance. Good relations +with a few neighboring planters; indifference to the noisy political +and other agitations of the rest: friendly, by no means romantic +appreciation of the Blacks; quiet prosperity economic and domestic: on +the whole a healthy and recommendable way of life, with Literature very +much in abeyance in it. + +He writes to Mr. Hare (date not given): "The landscapes around me here +are noble and lovely as any that can be conceived on Earth. How indeed +could it be otherwise, in a small Island of volcanic mountains, +far within the Tropics, and perpetually covered with the richest +vegetation?" The moral aspect of things is by no means so good; but +neither is that without its fair features. "So far as I see, the Slaves +here are cunning, deceitful and idle; without any great aptitude for +ferocious crimes, and with very little scruple at committing others. But +I have seen them much only in very favorable circumstances. They are, +as a body, decidedly unfit for freedom; and if left, as at present, +completely in the hands of their masters, will never become so, unless +through the agency of the Methodists." [9] + +In the Autumn came an immense hurricane; with new and indeed quite +perilous experiences of West-Indian life. This hasty Letter, addressed +to his Mother, is not intrinsically his remarkablest from St. Vincent: +but the body of fact delineated in it being so much the greatest, we +will quote it in preference. A West-Indian tornado, as John Sterling +witnesses it, and with vivid authenticity describes it, may be +considered worth looking at. + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, South Place, Knightsbridge, London_. + "BRIGHTON, ST. VINCENT, 28th August, 1831. + +"MY DEAR MOTHER,--The packet came in yesterday; bringing me some +Newspapers, a Letter from my Father, and one from Anthony, with a few +lines from you. I wrote, some days ago, a hasty Note to my Father, +on the chance of its reaching you through Grenada sooner than any +communication by the packet; and in it I spoke of the great misfortune +which had befallen this Island and Barbadoes, but from which all those +you take an interest in have happily escaped unhurt. + +"From the day of our arrival in the West Indies until Thursday the 11th +instant, which will long be a memorable day with us, I had been doing my +best to get ourselves established comfortably; and I had at last bought +the materials for making some additions to the house. But on the morning +I have mentioned, all that I had exerted myself to do, nearly all the +property both of Susan and myself, and the very house we lived in, were +suddenly destroyed by a visitation of Providence far more terrible than +any I have ever witnessed. + +"When Susan came from her room, to breakfast, at eight o'clock, I +pointed out to her the extraordinary height and violence of the surf, +and the singular appearance of the clouds of heavy rain sweeping down +the valleys before us. At this time I had so little apprehension of what +was coming, that I talked of riding down to the shore when the storm +should abate, as I had never seen so fierce a sea. In about a quarter of +an hour the House-Negroes came in, to close the outside shutters of the +windows. They knew that the plantain-trees about the Negro houses had +been blown down in the night; and had told the maid-servant Tyrrell, but +I had heard nothing of it. A very few minutes after the closing of the +windows, I found that the shutters of Tyrrell's room, at the south and +commonly the most sheltered end of the House, were giving way. I tried +to tie them; but the silk handkerchief which I used soon gave way; +and as I had neither hammer, boards nor nails in the house, I could do +nothing more to keep out the tempest. I found, in pushing at the leaf of +the shutter, that the wind resisted, more as if it had been a stone wall +or a mass of iron, than a mere current of air. There were one or two +people outside trying to fasten the windows, and I went out to help; but +we had no tools at hand: one man was blown down the hill in front of the +house, before my face; and the other and myself had great difficulty in +getting back again inside the door. The rain on my face and hands felt +like so much small shot from a gun. There was great exertion necessary +to shut the door of the house. + +"The windows at the end of the large room were now giving way; and I +suppose it was about nine o'clock, when the hurricane burst them in, as +if it had been a discharge from a battery of heavy cannon. The shutters +were first forced open, and the wind fastened them back to the wall; +and then the panes of glass were smashed by the mere force of the gale, +without anything having touched them. Even now I was not at all sure the +house would go. My books, I saw, were lost; for the rain poured past the +bookcases, as if it had been the Colonarie River. But we carried a good +deal of furniture into the passage at the entrance; we set Susan there +on a sofa, and the Black Housekeeper was even attempting to get her some +breakfast. The house, however, began to shake so violently, and the rain +was so searching, that she could not stay there long. She went into her +own room and I stayed to see what could be done. + +"Under the forepart of the house, there are cellars built of stone, +but not arched. To these, however, there was no access except on the +outside; and I knew from my own experience that Susan could not have +gone a step beyond the door, without being carried away by the storm, +and probably killed on the spot. The only chance seemed to be that of +breaking through the floor. But when the old Cook and myself resolved on +this, we found that we had no instrument with which it would be possible +to do it. It was now clear that we had only God to trust in. The front +windows were giving way with successive crashes, and the floor shook +as you may have seen a carpet on a gusty day in London. I went into +our bedroom; where I found Susan, Tyrrell, and a little Colored girl of +seven or eight years old; and told them that we should probably not +be alive in half an hour. I could have escaped, if I had chosen to go +alone, by crawling on the ground either into the kitchen, a separate +stone building at no great distance, or into the open fields away from +trees or houses; but Susan could not have gone a yard. She became quite +calm when she knew the worst; and she sat on my knee in what seemed the +safest corner of the room, while every blast was bringing nearer and +nearer the moment of our seemingly certain destruction.-- + +"The house was under two parallel roofs; and the one next the sea, +which sheltered the other, and us who were under the other, went off, I +suppose about ten o'clock. After my old plan, I will give you a sketch, +from which you may perceive how we were situated:-- + + [In print, a figure representing a floor-plan appears here] + +The _a_, _a_ are the windows that were first destroyed: _b_ went next; +my books were between the windows _b_, and on the wall opposite to them. +The lines _c_ and _d_ mark the directions of the two roofs; _e_ is the +room in which we were, and 2 is a plan of it on a larger scale. Look +now at 2: _a_ is the bed; _c_, _c_ the two wardrobes; _b_ the corner +in which we were. I was sitting in an arm-chair, holding my Wife; and +Tyrrell and the little Black child were close to us. We had given up all +notion of surviving; and only waited for the fall of the roof to perish +together. + +"Before long the roof went. Most of the materials, however, were carried +clear away: one of the large couples was caught on the bedpost marked +_d_, and held fast by the iron spike; while the end of it hung over our +heads: had the beam fallen an inch on either side of the bedpost, it +must necessarily have crushed us. The walls did not go with the roof; +and we remained for half an hour, alternately praying to God, and +watching them as they bent, creaked, and shivered before the storm. + +"Tyrrell and the child, when the roof was off, made their way through +the remains of the partition, to the outer door; and with the help of +the people who were looking for us, got into the kitchen. A good while +after they were gone, and before we knew anything of their fate, a Negro +suddenly came upon us; and the sight of him gave us a hope of safety. +When the people learned that we were in danger, and while their own huts +were flying about their ears, they crowded to help us; and the old +Cook urged them on to our rescue. He made five attempts, after saving +Tyrrell, to get to us; and four times he was blown down. The fifth time +he, and the Negro we first saw, reached the house. The space they had +to traverse was not above twenty yards of level ground, if so much. In +another minute or two, the Overseers and a crowd of Negroes, most of +whom had come on their hands and knees, were surrounding us; and with +their help Susan was carried round to the end of the house; where they +broke open the cellar window, and placed her in comparative safety. The +force of the hurricane was, by this time, a good deal diminished, or it +would have been impossible to stand before it. + +"But the wind was still terrific; and the rain poured into the cellars +through the floor above. Susan, Tyrrell, and a crowd of Negroes remained +under it, for more than two hours: and I was long afraid that the wet +and cold would kill her, if she did not perish more violently. Happily +we had wine and spirits at hand, and she was much nerved by a tumbler +of claret. As soon as I saw her in comparative security, I went off with +one of the Overseers down to the Works, where the greater number of the +Negroes were collected, that we might see what could be done for them. +They were wretched enough, but no one was hurt; and I ordered them a +dram apiece, which seemed to give them a good deal of consolation. + +"Before I could make my way back, the hurricane became as bad as at +first; and I was obliged to take shelter for half an hour in a ruined +Negro house. This, however, was the last of its extreme violence. By +one o'clock, even the rain had in a great degree ceased; and as only +one room of the house, the one marked _f_; was standing, and that +rickety,--I had Susan carried in a chair down the hill, to the Hospital; +where, in a small paved unlighted room, she spent the next twenty-four +hours. She was far less injured than might have been expected from such +a catastrophe. + +"Next day, I had the passage at the entrance of the house repaired and +roofed; and we returned to the ruins of our habitation, still encumbered +as they were with the wreck of almost all we were possessed of. The +walls of the part of the house next the sea were carried away, in less I +think than half an hour after we reached the cellar: when I had leisure +to examine the remains of the house, I found the floor strewn with +fragments of the building, and with broken furniture; and our books all +soaked as completely as if they had been for several hours in the sea. + +"In the course of a few days I had the other room, _g_, which is under +the same roof as the one saved, rebuilt; and Susan stayed in this +temporary abode for a week,--when we left Colonarie, and came to +Brighton. Mr. Munro's kindness exceeds all precedent. We shall certainly +remain here till my Wife is recovered from her confinement. In the +mean while we shall have a new house built, in which we hope to be well +settled before Christmas. + +"The roof was half blown off the kitchen, but I have had it mended +already; the other offices were all swept away. The gig is much injured; +and my horse received a wound in the fall of the stable, from which he +will not be recovered for some weeks: in the mean time I have no choice +but to buy another, as I must go at least once or twice a week to +Colonarie, besides business in Town. As to our own comforts, we can +scarcely expect ever to recover from the blow that has now stricken +us. No money would repay me for the loss of my books, of which a large +proportion had been in my hands for so many years that they were +like old and faithful friends, and of which many had been given me at +different times by the persons in the world whom I most value. + +"But against all this I have to set the preservation of our lives, in +a way the most awfully providential; and the safety of every one on the +Estate. And I have also the great satisfaction of reflecting that all +the Negroes from whom any assistance could reasonably be expected, +behaved like so many Heroes of Antiquity; risking their lives and limbs +for us and our property, while their own poor houses were flying like +chaff before the hurricane. There are few White people here who can +say as much for their Black dependents; and the force and value of the +relation between Master and Slave has been tried by the late calamity on +a large scale. + +"Great part of both sides of this Island has been laid completely +waste. The beautiful wide and fertile Plain called the Charib Country, +extending for many miles to the north of Colonarie, and formerly +containing the finest sets of works and best dwelling-houses in the +Island, is, I am told, completely desolate: on several estates not a +roof even of a Negro hut standing. In the embarrassed circumstances of +many of the proprietors, the ruin is, I fear, irreparable.--At Colonarie +the damage is serious, but by no means desperate. The crop is perhaps +injured ten or fifteen per cent. The roofs of several large buildings +are destroyed, but these we are already supplying; and the injuries done +to the cottages of the Negroes are, by this time, nearly if not quite +remedied. + +"Indeed, all that has been suffered in St. Vincent appears nothing +when compared with the appalling loss of property and of human lives at +Barbadoes. There the Town is little but a heap of ruins, and the corpses +are reckoned by thousands; while throughout the Island there are not, I +believe, ten estates on which the buildings are standing. The Elliotts, +from whom we have heard, are living with all their family in a tent; and +may think themselves wonderfully saved, when whole families round them +were crushed at once beneath their houses. Hugh Barton, the only officer +of the Garrison hurt, has broken his arm, and we know nothing of his +prospects of recovery. The more horrible misfortune of Barbadoes is +partly to be accounted for by the fact of the hurricane having begun +there during the night. The flatness of the surface in that Island +presented no obstacle to the wind, which must, however, I think have +been in itself more furious than with us. No other island has suffered +considerably. + +"I have told both my Uncle and Anthony that I have given you the details +of our recent history;--which are not so pleasant that I should wish to +write them again. Perhaps you will be good enough to let them see this, +as soon as you and my Father can spare it.... I am ever, dearest Mother, + + "Your grateful and affectionate + "JOHN STERLING." + +This Letter, I observe, is dated 28th August, 1831; which is otherwise a +day of mark to the world and me,--the Poet Goethe's last birthday. While +Sterling sat in the Tropical solitudes, penning this history, little +European Weimar had its carriages and state-carriages busy on the +streets, and was astir with compliments and visiting-cards, doing its +best, as heretofore, on behalf of a remarkable day; and was not, for +centuries or tens of centuries, to see the like of it again!-- + + +At Brighton, the hospitable home of those Munros, our friends continued +for above two months. Their first child, Edward, as above noticed, was +born here, "14th October, 1831;"--and now the poor lady, safe from all +her various perils, could return to Colonarie under good auspices. + +It was in this year that I first heard definitely of Sterling as a +contemporary existence; and laid up some note and outline of him in my +memory, as of one whom I might yet hope to know. John Mill, Mrs. Austin +and perhaps other friends, spoke of him with great affection and much +pitying admiration; and hoped to see him home again, under better omens, +from over the seas. As a gifted amiable being, of a certain radiant +tenuity and velocity, too thin and rapid and diffusive, in danger of +dissipating himself into the vague, or alas into death itself: it was +so that, like a spot of bright colors, rather than a portrait with +features, he hung occasionally visible in my imagination. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. A CATASTROPHE. + +The ruin of his house had hardly been repaired, when there arrived out +of Europe tidings which smote as with a still more fatal hurricane on +the four corners of his inner world, and awoke all the old thunders that +lay asleep on his horizon there. Tidings, at last of a decisive nature, +from Gibraltar and the Spanish democrat adventure. This is what the +Newspapers had to report--the catastrophe at once, the details by +degrees--from Spain concerning that affair, in the beginning of the new +year 1832. + +Torrijos, as we have seen, had hitherto accomplished as good as nothing, +except disappointment to his impatient followers, and sorrow and regret +to himself. Poor Torrijos, on arriving at Gibraltar with his wild band, +and coming into contact with the rough fact, had found painfully how +much his imagination had deceived him. The fact lay round him haggard +and iron-bound; flatly refusing to be handled according to his scheme +of it. No Spanish soldiery nor citizenry showed the least disposition to +join him; on the contrary the official Spaniards of that coast seemed +to have the watchfulest eye on all his movements, nay it was conjectured +they had spies in Gibraltar who gathered his very intentions and +betrayed them. This small project of attack, and then that other, +proved futile, or was abandoned before the attempt. Torrijos had to lie +painfully within the lines of Gibraltar,--his poor followers reduced to +extremity of impatience and distress; the British Governor too, though +not unfriendly to him, obliged to frown. As for the young Cantabs, they, +as was said, had wandered a little over the South border of romantic +Spain; had perhaps seen Seville, Cadiz, with picturesque views, since +not with belligerent ones; and their money being done, had now returned +home. So had it lasted for eighteen months. + +The French Three Days breaking out had armed the Guerrillero Mina, armed +all manner of democratic guerrieros and guerrilleros; and considerable +clouds of Invasion, from Spanish exiles, hung minatory over the North +and North-East of Spain, supported by the new-born French Democracy, +so far as privately possible. These Torrijos had to look upon with +inexpressible feelings, and take no hand in supporting from the South; +these also he had to see brushed away, successively abolished by +official generalship; and to sit within his lines, in the painfulest +manner, unable to do anything. The fated, gallant-minded, but too +headlong man. At length the British Governor himself was obliged, in +official decency and as is thought on repeated remonstrance from his +Spanish official neighbors, to signify how indecorous, improper +and impossible it was to harbor within one's lines such explosive +preparations, once they were discovered, against allies in full peace +with us,--the necessity, in fact, there was for the matter ending. It +is said, he offered Torrijos and his people passports, and British +protection, to any country of the world except Spain: Torrijos did not +accept the passports; spoke of going peaceably to this place or to that; +promised at least, what he saw and felt to be clearly necessary, that he +would soon leave Gibraltar. And he did soon leave it; he and his, Boyd +alone of the Englishmen being now with him. + +It was on the last night of November, 1831, that they all set forth; +Torrijos with Fifty-five companions; and in two small vessels committed +themselves to their nigh-desperate fortune. No sentry or official person +had noticed them; it was from the Spanish Consul, next morning, that the +British Governor first heard they were gone. The British Governor knew +nothing of them; but apparently the Spanish officials were much better +informed. Spanish guardships, instantly awake, gave chase to the two +small vessels, which were making all sail towards Malaga; and, on shore, +all manner of troops and detached parties were in motion, to render a +retreat to Gibraltar by land impossible. + +Crowd all sail for Malaga, then; there perhaps a regiment will join us; +there,--or if not, we are but lost! Fancy need not paint a more tragic +situation than that of Torrijos, the unfortunate gallant man, in the +gray of this morning, first of December, 1831,--his last free morning. +Noble game is afoot, afoot at last; and all the hunters have him in +their toils.--The guardships gain upon Torrijos; he cannot even reach +Malaga; has to run ashore at a place called Fuengirola, not far from +that city;--the guardships seizing his vessels, so soon as he +is disembarked. The country is all up; troops scouring the coast +everywhere: no possibility of getting into Malaga with a party of +Fifty-five. He takes possession of a farmstead (Ingles, the place is +called); barricades himself there, but is speedily beleaguered with +forces hopelessly superior. He demands to treat; is refused all treaty; +is granted six hours to consider, shall then either surrender at +discretion, or be forced to do it. Of course he _does_ it, having no +alternative; and enters Malaga a prisoner, all his followers prisoners. +Here had the Torrijos Enterprise, and all that was embarked upon it, +finally arrived. + +Express is sent to Madrid; express instantly returns; "Military +execution on the instant; give them shriving if they want it; that +done, fusillade them all." So poor Torrijos and his followers, the whole +Fifty-six of them, Robert Boyd included, meet swift death in Malaga. +In such manner rushes down the curtain on them and their affair; they +vanish thus on a sudden; rapt away as in black clouds of fate. Poor +Boyd, Sterling's cousin, pleaded his British citizenship; to no purpose: +it availed only to his dead body, this was delivered to the British +Consul for interment, and only this. Poor Madam Torrijos, hearing, +at Paris where she now was, of her husband's capture, hurries towards +Madrid to solicit mercy; whither also messengers from Lafayette and the +French Government were hurrying, on the like errand: at Bayonne, news +met the poor lady that it was already all over, that she was now a +widow, and her husband hidden from her forever.--Such was the handsel of +the new year 1832 for Sterling in his West-Indian solitudes. + + +Sterling's friends never heard of these affairs; indeed we were all +secretly warned not to mention the name of Torrijos in his hearing, +which accordingly remained strictly a forbidden subject. His misery over +this catastrophe was known, in his own family, to have been immense. He +wrote to his Brother Anthony: "I hear the sound of that musketry; it is +as if the bullets were tearing my own brain." To figure in one's sick +and excited imagination such a scene of fatal man-hunting, lost valor +hopelessly captured and massacred; and to add to it, that the victims +are not men merely, that they are noble and dear forms known lately +as individual friends: what a Dance of the Furies and wild-pealing +Dead-march is this, for the mind of a loving, generous and vivid man! +Torrijos getting ashore at Fuengirola; Robert Boyd and others ranked +to die on the esplanade at Malaga--Nay had not Sterling, too, been the +innocent yet heedless means of Boyd's embarking in this enterprise? By +his own kinsman poor Boyd had been witlessly guided into the pitfalls. +"I hear the sound of that musketry; it is as if the bullets were tearing +my own brain!" + + + +CHAPTER XIV. PAUSE. + +These thoughts dwelt long with Sterling; and for a good while, I fancy, +kept possession of the proscenium of his mind; madly parading there, to +the exclusion of all else,--coloring all else with their own black hues. +He was young, rich in the power to be miserable or otherwise; and this +was his first grand sorrow which had now fallen upon him. + +An important spiritual crisis, coming at any rate in some form, had +hereby suddenly in a very sad form come. No doubt, as youth was passing +into manhood in these Tropical seclusions, and higher wants were +awakening in his mind, and years and reflection were adding new insight +and admonition, much in his young way of thought and action lay already +under ban with him, and repentances enough over many things were not +wanting. But here on a sudden had all repentances, as it were, dashed +themselves together into one grand whirlwind of repentance; and his +past life was fallen wholly as into a state of reprobation. A great +remorseful misery had come upon him. Suddenly, as with a sudden +lightning-stroke, it had kindled into conflagration all the ruined +structure of his past life; such ruin had to blaze and flame round +him, in the painfulest manner, till it went out in black ashes. His +democratic philosophies, and mutinous radicalisms, already falling +doomed in his thoughts, had reached their consummation and final +condemnation here. It was all so rash, imprudent, arrogant, all +that; false, or but half true; inapplicable wholly as a rule of noble +conduct;--and it has ended _thus_. Woe on it! Another guidance must be +found in life, or life is impossible!-- + +It is evident, Sterling's thoughts had already, since the old days of +the "black dragoon," much modified themselves. We perceive that, by mere +increase of experience and length of time, the opposite and much deeper +side of the question, which also has its adamantine basis of truth, was +in turn coming into play; and in fine that a Philosophy of Denial, and +world illuminated merely by the flames of Destruction, could never have +permanently been the resting-place of such a man. Those pilgrimings to +Coleridge, years ago, indicate deeper wants beginning to be felt, and +important ulterior resolutions becoming inevitable for him. If in your +own soul there is any tone of the "Eternal Melodies," you cannot live +forever in those poor outer, transitory grindings and discords; you will +have to struggle inwards and upwards, in search of some diviner home +for yourself!--Coleridge's prophetic moonshine, Torrijos's sad tragedy: +those were important occurrences in Sterling's life. But, on the whole, +there was a big Ocean for him, with impetuous Gulf-streams, and a doomed +voyage in quest of the Atlantis, _before_ either of those arose as +lights on the horizon. As important beacon-lights let us count them +nevertheless;--signal-dates they form to us, at lowest. We may +reckon this Torrijos tragedy the crisis of Sterling's history; the +turning-point, which modified, in the most important and by no means +wholly in the most favorable manner, all the subsequent stages of it. + + +Old Radicalism and mutinous audacious Ethnicism having thus fallen +to wreck, and a mere black world of misery and remorse now disclosing +itself, whatsoever of natural piety to God and man, whatsoever of pity +and reverence, of awe and devout hope was in Sterling's heart now awoke +into new activity; and strove for some due utterance and predominance. +His Letters, in these months, speak of earnest religious studies and +efforts;--of attempts by prayer and longing endeavor of all kinds, to +struggle his way into the temple, if temple there were, and there find +sanctuary. [10] The realities were grown so haggard; life a field of +black ashes, if there rose no temple anywhere on it! Why, like a fated +Orestes, is man so whipt by the Furies, and driven madly hither and +thither, if it is not even that he may seek some shrine, and there make +expiation and find deliverance? + +In these circumstances, what a scope for Coleridge's philosophy, above +all! "If the bottled moonshine _be_ actually substance? Ah, could one +but believe in a Church while finding it incredible! What is faith; what +is conviction, credibility, insight? Can a thing be at once known for +true, and known for false? 'Reason,' 'Understanding:' is there, then, +such an internecine war between these two? It was so Coleridge +imagined it, the wisest of existing men!"--No, it is not an easy matter +(according to Sir Kenelm Digby), this of getting up your "astral spirit" +of a thing, and setting it in action, when the thing itself is well +burnt to ashes. Poor Sterling; poor sons of Adam in general, in this sad +age of cobwebs, worn-out symbolisms, reminiscences and simulacra! Who +can tell the struggles of poor Sterling, and his pathless wanderings +through these things! Long afterwards, in speech with his Brother, +he compared his case in this time to that of "a young lady who has +tragically lost her lover, and is willing to be half-hoodwinked into a +convent, or in any noble or quasi-noble way to escape from a world which +has become intolerable." + + +During the summer of 1832, I find traces of attempts towards +Anti-Slavery Philanthropy; shadows of extensive schemes in that +direction. Half-desperate outlooks, it is likely, towards the refuge of +Philanthropism, as a new chivalry of life. These took no serious hold +of so clear an intellect; but they hovered now and afterwards as +day-dreams, when life otherwise was shorn of aim;--mirages in the +desert, which are found not to be lakes when you put your bucket into +them. One thing was clear, the sojourn in St. Vincent was not to last +much longer. + +Perhaps one might get some scheme raised into life, in Downing Street, +for universal Education to the Blacks, preparatory to emancipating +them? There were a noble work for a man! Then again poor Mrs. Sterling's +health, contrary to his own, did not agree with warm moist climates. +And again, &c. &c. These were the outer surfaces of the measure; the +unconscious pretexts under which it showed itself to Sterling and +was shown by him: but the inner heart and determining cause of it (as +frequently in Sterling's life, and in all our lives) was not these. In +brief, he had had enough of St. Vincent. The strangling oppressions of +his soul were too heavy for him there. Solution lay in Europe, or might +lie; not in these remote solitudes of the sea,--where no shrine or +saint's well is to be looked for, no communing of pious pilgrims +journeying together towards a shrine. + + + +CHAPTER XV. BONN; HERSTMONCEUX. + +After a residence of perhaps fifteen months Sterling quitted St. +Vincent, and never returned. He reappeared at his Father's house, to the +joy of English friends, in August, 1832; well improved in health, and +eager for English news; but, beyond vague schemes and possibilities, +considerably uncertain what was next to be done. + +After no long stay in this scene,--finding Downing Street dead as stone +to the Slave-Education and to all other schemes,--he went across, with +his wife and child, to Germany; purposing to make not so much a tour +as some loose ramble, or desultory residence in that country, in the +Rhineland first of all. Here was to be hoped the picturesque in scenery, +which he much affected; here the new and true in speculation, which +he inwardly longed for and wanted greatly more; at all events, here as +readily as elsewhere might a temporary household be struck up, under +interesting circumstances.--I conclude he went across in the Spring +of 1833; perhaps directly after _Arthur Coningsby_ had got through the +press. This Novel, which, as we have said, was begun two or three years +ago, probably on his cessation from the _Athenaeum_, and was mainly +finished, I think, before the removal to St. Vincent, had by this time +fallen as good as obsolete to his own mind; and its destination now, +whether to the press or to the fire, was in some sort a matter at once +of difficulty and of insignificance to him. At length deciding for the +milder alternative, he had thrown in some completing touches here +and there,--especially, as I conjecture, a proportion of Coleridgean +moonshine at the end; and so sent it forth. + +It was in the sunny days, perhaps in May or June of this year, that +_Arthur Coningsby_ reached my own hand, far off amid the heathy +wildernesses; sent by John Mill: and I can still recollect the pleasant +little episode it made in my solitude there. The general impression it +left on me, which has never since been renewed by a second reading in +whole or in part, was the certain prefigurement to myself, more or +less distinct, of an opulent, genial and sunny mind, but misdirected, +disappointed, experienced in misery;--nay crude and hasty; mistaking for +a solid outcome from its woes what was only to me a gilded vacuity. The +hero an ardent youth, representing Sterling himself, plunges into +life such as we now have it in these anarchic times, with the radical, +utilitarian, or mutinous heathen theory, which is the readiest for +inquiring souls; finds, by various courses of adventure, utter shipwreck +in this; lies broken, very wretched: that is the tragic nodus, or +apogee of his life-course. In this mood of mind, he clutches desperately +towards some new method (recognizable as Coleridge's) of laying hand +again on the old Church, which has hitherto been extraneous and as +if non-extant to his way of thought; makes out, by some Coleridgean +legedermain, that there actually is still a Church for him; that this +extant Church, which he long took for an extinct shadow, is not such, +but a substance; upon which he can anchor himself amid the storms of +fate;--and he does so, even taking orders in it, I think. Such could +by no means seem to me the true or tenable solution. Here clearly, +struggling amid the tumults, was a lovable young fellow-soul; who had +by no means yet got to land; but of whom much might be hoped, if he ever +did. Some of the delineations are highly pictorial, flooded with a +deep ruddy effulgence; betokening much wealth, in the crude or the ripe +state. The hope of perhaps, one day, knowing Sterling, was welcome +and interesting to me. _Arthur Coningsby_, struggling imperfectly in a +sphere high above circulating-library novels, gained no notice whatever +in that quarter; gained, I suppose in a few scattered heads, some such +recognition as the above; and there rested. Sterling never mentioned the +name of it in my hearing, or would hear it mentioned. + + +In those very days while _Arthur Coningsby_ was getting read amid the +Scottish moors, "in June, 1833," Sterling, at Bonn in the Rhine-country, +fell in with his old tutor and friend, the Reverend Julius Hare; one +with whom he always delighted to communicate, especially on such topics +as then altogether occupied him. A man of cheerful serious character, of +much approved accomplishment, of perfect courtesy; surely of much piety, +in all senses of that word. Mr. Hare had quitted his scholastic labors +and distinctions, some time ago; the call or opportunity for taking +orders having come; and as Rector of Herstmonceux in Sussex, a place +patrimonially and otherwise endeared to him, was about entering, under +the best omens, on a new course of life. He was now on his return from +Rome, and a visit of some length to Italy. Such a meeting could not +but be welcome and important to Sterling in such a mood. They had +much earnest conversation, freely communing on the highest matters; +especially of Sterling's purpose to undertake the clerical profession, +in which course his reverend friend could not but bid him good speed. + +It appears, Sterling already intimated his intention to become a +clergyman: He would study theology, biblicalities, perfect himself in +the knowledge seemly or essential for his new course;--read diligently +"for a year or two in some good German University," then seek to obtain +orders: that was his plan. To which Mr. Hare gave his hearty _Euge_; +adding that if his own curacy happened then to be vacant, he should be +well pleased to have Sterling in that office. So they parted. + +"A year or two" of serious reflection "in some good German University," +or anywhere in the world, might have thrown much elucidation upon these +confused strugglings and purposings of Sterling's, and probably have +spared him some confusion in his subsequent life. But the talent of +waiting was, of all others, the one he wanted most. Impetuous velocity, +all-hoping headlong alacrity, what we must call rashness and impatience, +characterized him in most of his important and unimportant procedures; +from the purpose to the execution there was usually but one big leap +with him. A few months after Mr. Hare was gone, Sterling wrote that his +purposes were a little changed by the late meeting at Bonn; that he now +longed to enter the Church straightway: that if the Herstmonceux Curacy +was still vacant, and the Rector's kind thought towards him still held, +he would instantly endeavor to qualify himself for that office. + +Answer being in the affirmative on both heads, Sterling returned to +England; took orders,--"ordained deacon at Chichester on Trinity Sunday +in 1834" (he never became technically priest):--and so, having fitted +himself and family with a reasonable house, in one of those leafy lanes +in quiet Herstmonceux, on the edge of Pevensey Level, he commenced the +duties of his Curacy. + + +The bereaved young lady has _taken_ the veil, then! Even so. "Life is +growing all so dark and brutal; must be redeemed into human, if it will +continue life. Some pious heroism, to give a human color to life again, +on any terms,"--even on impossible ones! + +To such length can transcendental moonshine, cast by some morbidly +radiating Coleridge into the chaos of a fermenting life, act magically +there, and produce divulsions and convulsions and diseased developments. +So dark and abstruse, without lamp or authentic finger-post, is the +course of pious genius towards the Eternal Kingdoms grown. No fixed +highway more; the old spiritual highways and recognized paths to the +Eternal, now all torn up and flung in heaps, submerged in unutterable +boiling mud-oceans of Hypocrisy and Unbelievability, of brutal living +Atheism and damnable dead putrescent Cant: surely a tragic pilgrimage +for all mortals; Darkness, and the mere shadow of Death, enveloping all +things from pole to pole; and in the raging gulf-currents, offering us +will-o'-wisps for loadstars,--intimating that there are no stars, nor +ever were, except certain Old-Jew ones which have now gone out. Once +more, a tragic pilgrimage for all mortals; and for the young pious soul, +winged with genius, and passionately seeking land, and passionately +abhorrent of floating carrion withal, more tragical than for any!--A +pilgrimage we must all undertake nevertheless, and make the best of +with our respective means. Some arrive; a glorious few: many must be +lost,--go down upon the floating wreck which they took for land. Nay, +courage! These also, so far as there was any heroism in them, have +bequeathed their life as a contribution to us, have valiantly laid their +bodies in the chasm for us: of these also there is no ray of heroism +_lost_,--and, on the whole, what else of them could or should be "saved" +at any time? Courage, and ever Forward! + +Concerning this attempt of Sterling's to find sanctuary in the old +Church, and desperately grasp the hem of her garment in such manner, +there will at present be many opinions: and mine must be recorded here +in flat reproval of it, in mere pitying condemnation of it, as a rash, +false, unwise and unpermitted step. Nay, among the evil lessons of his +Time to poor Sterling, I cannot but account this the worst; properly +indeed, as we may say, the apotheosis, the solemn apology and +consecration, of all the evil lessons that were in it to him. Alas, if +we did remember the divine and awful nature of God's Truth, and had not +so forgotten it as poor doomed creatures never did before,--should we, +durst we in our most audacious moments, think of wedding _it_ to the +World's Untruth, which is also, like all untruths, the Devil's? Only in +the world's last lethargy can such things be done, and accounted safe +and pious! Fools! "Do you think the Living God is a buzzard idol," +sternly asks Milton, that you dare address Him in this manner?--Such +darkness, thick sluggish clouds of cowardice and oblivious baseness, +have accumulated on us: thickening as if towards the eternal sleep! +It is not now known, what never needed proof or statement before, that +Religion is not a doubt; that it is a certainty,--or else a mockery and +horror. That none or all of the many things we are in doubt about, and +need to have demonstrated and rendered probable, can by any alchemy be +made a "Religion" for us; but are and must continue a baleful, quiet or +unquiet, Hypocrisy for us; and bring--_salvation_, do we fancy? I think, +it is another thing they will bring, and are, on all hands, visibly +bringing this good while!-- + + +The time, then, with its deliriums, has done its worst for poor +Sterling. Into deeper aberration it cannot lead him; this is the +crowning error. Happily, as beseems the superlative of errors, it was +a very brief, almost a momentary one. In June, 1834, Sterling dates as +installed at Herstmonceux; and is flinging, as usual, his whole soul +into the business; successfully so far as outward results could show: +but already in September, he begins to have misgivings; and in February +following, quits it altogether,--the rest of his life being, in great +part, a laborious effort of detail to pick the fragments of it off him, +and be free of it in soul as well as in title. + +At this the extreme point of spiritual deflexion and depression, when +the world's madness, unusually impressive on such a man, has done its +very worst with him, and in all future errors whatsoever he will be a +little less mistaken, we may close the First Part of Sterling's Life. + + + + +PART II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. CURATE. + +By Mr. Hare's account, no priest of any Church could more fervently +address himself to his functions than Sterling now did. He went about +among the poor, the ignorant, and those that had need of help; zealously +forwarded schools and beneficences; strove, with his whole might, to +instruct and aid whosoever suffered consciously in body, or still worse +unconsciously in mind. He had charged himself to make the Apostle Paul +his model; the perils and voyagings and ultimate martyrdom of Christian +Paul, in those old ages, on the great scale, were to be translated into +detail, and become the practical emblem of Christian Sterling on the +coast of Sussex in this new age. "It would be no longer from Jerusalem +to Damascus," writes Sterling, "to Arabia, to Derbe, Lystra, Ephesus, +that he would travel: but each house of his appointed Parish would be +to him what each of those great cities was,--a place where he would bend +his whole being, and spend his heart for the conversion, purification, +elevation of those under his influence. The whole man would be +forever at work for this purpose; head, heart, knowledge, time, body, +possessions, all would be directed to this end." A high enough model +set before one:--how to be realized!--Sterling hoped to realize it, to +struggle towards realizing it, in some small degree. This is Mr. Hare's +report of him:-- + +"He was continually devising some fresh scheme for improving the +condition of the Parish. His aim was to awaken the minds of the +people, to arouse their conscience, to call forth their sense of moral +responsibility, to make them feel their own sinfulness, their need of +redemption, and thus lead them to a recognition of the Divine Love by +which that redemption is offered to us. In visiting them he was diligent +in all weathers, to the risk of his own health, which was greatly +impaired thereby; and his gentleness and considerate care for the sick +won their affection; so that, though his stay was very short, his name +is still, after a dozen years, cherished by many." + +How beautiful would Sterling be in all this; rushing forward like a host +towards victory; playing and pulsing like sunshine or soft lightning; +busy at all hours to perform his part in abundant and superabundant +measure! "Of that which it was to me personally," continues Mr. Hare, +"to have such a fellow-laborer, to live constantly in the freest +communion with such a friend, I cannot speak. He came to me at a time of +heavy affliction, just after I had heard that the Brother, who had +been the sharer of all my thoughts and feelings from childhood, had bid +farewell to his earthly life at Rome; and thus he seemed given to me to +make up in some sort for him whom I had lost. Almost daily did I look +out for his usual hour of coming to me, and watch his tall slender +form walking rapidly across the hill in front of my window; with the +assurance that he was coming to cheer and brighten, to rouse and stir +me, to call me up to some height of feeling, or down to some depth of +thought. His lively spirit, responding instantaneously to every impulse +of Nature and Art; his generous ardor in behalf of whatever is noble and +true; his scorn of all meanness, of all false pretences and conventional +beliefs, softened as it was by compassion for the victims of those +besetting sins of a cultivated age; his never-flagging impetuosity in +pushing onward to some unattained point of duty or of knowledge: all +this, along with his gentle, almost reverential affectionateness towards +his former tutor, rendered my intercourse with him an unspeakable +blessing; and time after time has it seemed to me that his visit had +been like a shower of rain, bringing down freshness and brightness on +a dusty roadside hedge. By him too the recollection of these our daily +meetings was cherished till the last." [11] + +There are many poor people still at Herstmonceux who affectionately +remember him: Mr. Hare especially makes mention of one good man there, +in his young days "a poor cobbler," and now advanced to a much +better position, who gratefully ascribes this outward and the other +improvements in his life to Sterling's generous encouragement and +charitable care for him. Such was the curate life at Herstmonceux. So, +in those actual leafy lanes, on the edge of Pevensey Level, in this new +age, did our poor New Paul (on hest of certain oracles) diligently +study to comport himself,--and struggle with all his might _not_ to be a +moonshine shadow of the First Paul. + + +It was in this summer of 1834,--month of May, shortly after arriving in +London,--that I first saw Sterling's Father. A stout broad gentleman +of sixty, perpendicular in attitude, rather showily dressed, and of +gracious, ingenious and slightly elaborate manners. It was at Mrs. +Austin's in Bayswater; he was just taking leave as I entered, so our +interview lasted only a moment: but the figure of the man, as Sterling's +father, had already an interest for me, and I remember the time well. +Captain Edward Sterling, as we formerly called him, had now quite dropt +the military title, nobody even of his friends now remembering it; and +was known, according to his wish, in political and other circles, as Mr. +Sterling, a private gentleman of some figure. Over whom hung, moreover, +a kind of mysterious nimbus as the principal or one of the principal +writers in the _Times_, which gave an interesting chiaroscuro to his +character in society. A potent, profitable, but somewhat questionable +position; of which, though he affected, and sometimes with anger, +altogether to disown it, and rigorously insisted on the rights of +anonymity, he was not unwilling to take the honors too: the private +pecuniary advantages were very undeniable; and his reception in the +Clubs, and occasionally in higher quarters, was a good deal modelled on +the universal belief in it. + + +John Sterling at Herstmonceux that afternoon, and his Father here in +London, would have offered strange contrasts to an eye that had +seen them both. Contrasts, and yet concordances. They were two very +different-looking men, and were following two very different modes of +activity that afternoon. And yet with a strange family likeness, too, +both in the men and their activities; the central impulse in each, the +faculties applied to fulfil said impulse, not at all dissimilar,--as +grew visible to me on farther knowledge. + + + +CHAPTER II. NOT CURATE. + +Thus it went on for some months at Herstmonceux; but thus it could +not last. We said there were already misgivings as to health, &c. in +September: [12] that was but the fourth month, for it had begun only in +June. The like clouds of misgiving, flights of dark vapor, chequering +more and more the bright sky of this promised land, rose heavier and +rifer month after month; till in February following, that is in the +eighth month from starting, the sky had grown quite overshaded; and poor +Sterling had to think practically of departure from his promised land +again, finding that the goal of his pilgrimage was _not_ there. Not +there, wherever it may be! March again, therefore; the abiding city, +and post at which we can live and die, is still ahead of us, it would +appear! + +"Ill-health" was the external cause; and, to all parties concerned, +to Sterling himself I have no doubt as completely as to any, the one +determining cause. Nor was the ill-health wanting; it was there in too +sad reality. And yet properly it was not there as the burden; it was +there as the last ounce which broke the camel's back. I take it, in this +as in other cases known to me, ill-health was not the primary cause +but rather the ultimate one, the summing-up of innumerable far deeper +conscious and unconscious causes,--the cause which could boldly show +itself on the surface, and give the casting vote. Such was often +Sterling's way, as one could observe in such cases: though the most +guileless, undeceptive and transparent of men, he had a noticeable, +almost childlike faculty of self-deception, and usually substituted +for the primary determining motive and set of motives, some ultimate +ostensible one, and gave that out to himself and others as the ruling +impulse for important changes in life. As is the way with much more +ponderous and deliberate men;--as is the way, in a degree, with all men! + +Enough, in February, 1835, Sterling came up to London, to consult with +his physicians,--and in fact in all ways to consider with himself and +friends,--what was to be done in regard to this Herstmonceux business. +The oracle of the physicians, like that of Delphi, was not exceedingly +determinate: but it did bear, what was a sufficiently undeniable fact, +that Sterling's constitution, with a tendency to pulmonary ailments, +was ill-suited for the office of a preacher; that total abstinence from +preaching for a year or two would clearly be the safer course. To which +effect he writes to Mr. Hare with a tone of sorrowful agitation; gives +up his clerical duties at Herstmonceux;--and never resumed them there +or elsewhere. He had been in the Church eight months in all: a brief +section of his life, but an important one, which colored several of his +subsequent years, and now strangely colors all his years in the memory +of some. + +This we may account the second grand crisis of his History. Radicalism, +not long since, had come to its consummation, and vanished from him in +a tragic manner. "Not by Radicalism is the path to Human Nobleness for +me!" And here now had English Priesthood risen like a sun, over the +waste ruins and extinct volcanoes of his dead Radical world, with +promise of new blessedness and healing under its Wings; and this too has +soon found itself an illusion: "Not by Priesthood either lies the way, +then. Once more, where does the way lie!"--To follow illusions till they +burst and vanish is the lot of all new souls who, luckily or lucklessly, +are left to their own choice in starting on this Earth. The roads are +many; the authentic finger-posts are few,--never fewer than in this era, +when in so many senses the waters are out. Sterling of all men had the +quickest sense for nobleness, heroism and the human _summum bonum_; the +liveliest headlong spirit of adventure and audacity; few gifted living +men less stubbornness of perseverance. Illusions, in his chase of the +_summum bonum_, were not likely to be wanting; aberrations, and wasteful +changes of course, were likely to be many! It is in the history of +such vehement, trenchant, far-shining and yet intrinsically light and +volatile souls, missioned into this epoch to seek their way there, that +we best see what a confused epoch it is. + +This clerical aberration,--for such it undoubtedly was in Sterling,--we +have ascribed to Coleridge; and do clearly think that had there been +no Coleridge, neither had this been,--nor had English Puseyism or some +other strange enough universal portents been. Nevertheless, let us say +farther that it lay partly in the general bearing of the world for +such a man. This battle, universal in our sad epoch of "all old things +passing away" against "all things becoming new," has its summary and +animating heart in that of Radicalism against Church; there, as in its +flaming core, and point of focal splendor, does the heroic worth that +lies in each side of the quarrel most clearly disclose itself; and +Sterling was the man, above many, to recognize such worth on both sides. +Natural enough, in such a one, that the light of Radicalism having gone +out in darkness for him, the opposite splendor should next rise as the +chief, and invite his loyalty till it also failed. In one form or the +other, such an aberration was not unlikely for him. But an aberration, +especially in this form, we may certainly call it. No man of Sterling's +veracity, had he clearly consulted his own heart, or had his own heart +been capable of clearly responding, and not been dazzled and bewildered +by transient fantasies and theosophic moonshine, could have undertaken +this function. His heart would have answered: "No, thou canst not. What +is incredible to thee, thou shalt not, at thy soul's peril, attempt to +believe!--Elsewhither for a refuge, or die here. Go to Perdition if thou +must,--but not with a lie in thy mouth; by the Eternal Maker, no!" + +Alas, once more! How are poor mortals whirled hither and thither in the +tumultuous chaos of our era; and, under the thick smoke-canopy which +has eclipsed all stars, how do they fly now after this poor meteor, now +after that!--Sterling abandoned his clerical office in February, 1835; +having held it, and ardently followed it, so long as we say,--eight +calendar months in all. + + +It was on this his February expedition to London that I first saw +Sterling,--at the India House incidentally, one afternoon, where I +found him in company with John Mill, whom I happened like himself to be +visiting for a few minutes. The sight of one whose fine qualities I had +often heard of lately, was interesting enough; and, on the whole, proved +not disappointing, though it was the translation of dream into fact, +that is of poetry into prose, and showed its unrhymed side withal. A +loose, careless-looking, thin figure, in careless dim costume, sat, in +a lounging posture, carelessly and copiously talking. I was struck with +the kindly but restless swift-glancing eyes, which looked as if the +spirits were all out coursing like a pack of merry eager beagles, +beating every bush. The brow, rather sloping in form, was not of +imposing character, though again the head was longish, which is always +the best sign of intellect; the physiognomy in general indicated +animation rather than strength. + +We talked rapidly of various unmemorable things: I remember coming on +the Negroes, and noticing that Sterling's notion on the Slavery Question +had not advanced into the stage of mine. In reference to the question +whether an "engagement for life," on just terms, between parties who +are fixed in the character of master and servant, as the Whites and the +Negroes are, is not really better than one from day to day,--he said +with a kindly jeer, "I would have the Negroes themselves consulted as to +that!"--and would not in the least believe that the Negroes were by +no means final or perfect judges of it.--His address, I perceived, was +abrupt, unceremonious; probably not at all disinclined to logic, and +capable of dashing in upon you like a charge of Cossacks, on occasion: +but it was also eminently ingenious, social, guileless. We did all very +well together: and Sterling and I walked westward in company, choosing +whatever lanes or quietest streets there were, as far as Knightsbridge +where our roads parted; talking on moralities, theological philosophies; +arguing copiously, but _except_ in opinion not disagreeing + +In his notions on such subjects, the expected Coleridge cast of thought +was very visible; and he seemed to express it even with exaggeration, +and in a fearless dogmatic manner. Identity of sentiment, difference of +opinion: these are the known elements of a pleasant dialogue. We parted +with the mutual wish to meet again;--which accordingly, at his Father's +house and at mine, we soon repeatedly did; and already, in the few days +before his return to Herstmonceux, had laid the foundations of a frank +intercourse, pointing towards pleasant intimacies both with himself +and with his circle, which in the future were abundantly fulfilled. +His Mother, essentially and even professedly "Scotch," took to my Wife +gradually with a most kind maternal relation; his Father, a gallant +showy stirring gentleman, the Magus of the _Times_, had talk and +argument ever ready, was an interesting figure, and more and more took +interest in us. We had unconsciously made an acquisition, which grew +richer and wholesomer with every new year; and ranks now, seen in +the pale moonlight of memory, and must ever rank, among the precious +possessions of life. + +Sterling's bright ingenuity, and also his audacity, velocity and +alacrity, struck me more and more. It was, I think, on the occasion of a +party given one of these evenings at his Father's, where I remember John +Mill, John Crawford, Mrs. Crawford, and a number of young and elderly +figures of distinction,--that a group having formed on the younger side +of the room, and transcendentalisms and theologies forming the topic, a +number of deep things were said in abrupt conversational style, Sterling +in the thick of it. For example, one sceptical figure praised the +Church of England, in Hume's phrase, "as a Church tending to keep down +fanaticism," and recommendable for its very indifferency; whereupon a +transcendental figure urges him: "You are afraid of the horse's kicking: +but will you sacrifice all qualities to being safe from that? Then get +a dead horse. None comparable to that for not kicking in your stable!" +Upon which, a laugh; with new laughs on other the like occasions;--and +at last, in the fire of some discussion, Sterling, who was unusually +eloquent and animated, broke out with this wild phrase, "I could plunge +into the bottom of Hell, if I were sure of finding the Devil there and +getting him strangled!" Which produced the loudest laugh of all; and had +to be repeated, on Mrs. Crawford's inquiry, to the house at large; and, +creating among the elders a kind of silent shudder,--though we +urged that the feat would really be a good investment of human +industry,--checked or stopt these theologic thunders for the evening. +I still remember Sterling as in one of his most animated moods that +evening. He probably returned to Herstmonceux next day, where he +proposed yet to reside for some indefinite time. + +Arrived at Herstmonceux, he had not forgotten us. One of his Letters +written there soon after was the following, which much entertained +me, in various ways. It turns on a poor Book of mine, called _Sartor +Resartus_; which was not then even a Book, but was still hanging +desolately under bibliopolic difficulties, now in its fourth or fifth +year, on the wrong side of the river, as a mere aggregate of Magazine +Articles; having at last been slit into that form, and lately completed +_so_, and put together into legibility. I suppose Sterling had borrowed +it of me. The adventurous hunter spirit which had started such a bemired +_Auerochs_, or Urus of the German woods, and decided on chasing that as +game, struck me not a little;--and the poor Wood-Ox, so bemired in the +forests, took it as a compliment rather:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "HERSTMONCEUX near BATTLE, 29th May, 1835. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have now read twice, with care, the wondrous +account of Teufelsdrockh and his Opinions; and I need not say that it +has given me much to think of. It falls in with the feelings and tastes +which were, for years, the ruling ones of my life; but which you will +not be angry with me when I say that I am infinitely and hourly thankful +for having escaped from. Not that I think of this state of mind as one +with which I have no longer any concern. The sense of a oneness of life +and power in all existence; and of a boundless exuberance of beauty +around us, to which most men are well-nigh dead, is a possession which +no one that has ever enjoyed it would wish to lose. When to this we add +the deep feeling of the difference between the actual and the ideal +in Nature, and still more in Man; and bring in, to explain this, the +principle of duty, as that which connects us with a possible Higher +State, and sets us in progress towards it,--we have a cycle of thoughts +which was the whole spiritual empire of the wisest Pagans, and which +might well supply food for the wide speculations and richly creative +fancy of Teufelsdrockh, or his prototype Jean Paul. + +"How then comes it, we cannot but ask, that these ideas, displayed +assuredly with no want of eloquence, vivacity or earnestness, have +found, unless I am much mistaken, so little acceptance among the best +and most energetic minds in this country? In a country where millions +read the Bible, and thousands Shakspeare; where Wordsworth circulates +through book-clubs and drawing-rooms; where there are innumerable +admirers of your favorite Burns; and where Coleridge, by sending from +his solitude the voice of earnest spiritual instruction, came to be +beloved, studied and mourned for, by no small or careless school of +disciples?--To answer this question would, of course, require more +thought and knowledge than I can pretend to bring to it. But there are +some points on which I will venture to say a few words. + +"In the first place, as to the form of composition,--which may be +called, I think, the Rhapsodico-Reflective. In this the _Sartor +Resartus_ resembles some of the master-works of human invention, which +have been acknowledged as such by many generations; and especially the +works of Rabelais, Montaigne, Sterne and Swift. There is nothing I +know of in Antiquity like it. That which comes nearest is perhaps the +Platonic Dialogue. But of this, although there is something of the +playful and fanciful on the surface, there is in reality neither in the +language (which is austerely determined to its end), nor in the method +and progression of the work, any of that headlong self-asserting +capriciousness, which, if not discernible in the plan of Teufelsdrockh's +Memoirs, is yet plainly to be seen in the structure of the sentences, +the lawless oddity, and strange heterogeneous combination and allusion. +The principle of this difference, observable often elsewhere in modern +literature (for the same thing is to be found, more or less, in many of +our most genial works of imagination,--_Don Quixote_, for instance, and +the writings of Jeremy Taylor), seems to be that well-known one of the +predominant objectivity of the Pagan mind; while among us the subjective +has risen into superiority, and brought with it in each individual +a multitude of peculiar associations and relations. These, as not +explicable from any one _external_ principle assumed as a premise by +the ancient philosopher, were rejected from the sphere of his aesthetic +creation: but to us they all have a value and meaning; being connected +by the bond of our own personality and all alike existing in that +infinity which is its arena. + +"But however this may be, and comparing the Teufelsdrockhean Epopee +only with those other modern works,--it is noticeable that Rabelais, +Montaigne and Sterne have trusted for the currency of their writings, in +a great degree, to the use of obscene and sensual stimulants. Rabelais, +besides, was full of contemporary and personal satire; and seems to +have been a champion in the great cause of his time,--as was Montaigne +also,--that of the right of thought in all competent minds, unrestrained +by any outward authority. Montaigne, moreover, contains more pleasant +and lively gossip, and more distinct good-humored painting of his own +character and daily habits, than any other writer I know. Sterne is +never obscure, and never moral; and the costume of his subjects is drawn +from the familiar experience of his own time and country: and Swift, +again, has the same merit of the clearest perspicuity, joined to that +of the most homely, unaffected, forcible English. These points of +difference seem to me the chief ones which bear against the success of +the _Sartor_. On the other hand, there is in Teufelsdrockh a depth and +fervor of feeling, and a power of serious eloquence, far beyond that of +any of these four writers; and to which indeed there is nothing at +all comparable in any of them, except perhaps now and then, and very +imperfectly, in Montaigne. + +"Of the other points of comparison there are two which I would +chiefly dwell on: and first as to the language. A good deal of this +is positively barbarous. 'Environment,' 'vestural,' 'stertorous,' +'visualized,' 'complected,' and others to be found I think in the first +twenty pages,--are words, so far as I know, without any authority; +some of them contrary to analogy: and none repaying by their value +the disadvantage of novelty. To these must be added new and erroneous +locutions; 'whole other tissues' for _all the other_, and similar +uses of the word _whole_; 'orients' for _pearls_; 'lucid' and 'lucent' +employed as if they were different in meaning; 'hulls' perpetually for +_coverings_, it being a word hardly used, and then only for the husk +of a nut; 'to insure a man of misapprehension;' 'talented,' a mere +newspaper and hustings word, invented, I believe, by O'Connell. + +"I must also mention the constant recurrence of some words in a quaint +and queer connection, which gives a grotesque and somewhat repulsive +mannerism to many sentences. Of these the commonest offender is 'quite;' +which appears in almost every page, and gives at first a droll kind of +emphasis; but soon becomes wearisome. 'Nay,' 'manifold,' 'cunning enough +significance,' 'faculty' (meaning a man's rational or moral _power_), +'special,' 'not without,' haunt the reader as if in some uneasy dream +which does not rise to the dignity of nightmare. Some of these strange +mannerisms fall under the general head of a singularity peculiar, so far +as I know, to Teufelsdrockh. For instance, that of the incessant use of +a sort of odd superfluous qualification of his assertions; which seems +to give the character of deliberateness and caution to the style, but +in time sounds like mere trick or involuntary habit. 'Almost' does more +than yeoman's, _almost_ slave's service in this way. Something similar +may be remarked of the use of the double negative by way of affirmation. + +"Under this head, of language, may be mentioned, though not with strict +grammatical accuracy, two standing characteristics of the Professor's +style,--at least as rendered into English: _First_, the composition +of words, such as 'snow-and-rosebloom maiden:' an attractive damsel +doubtless in Germany, but, with all her charms, somewhat uncouth here. +'Life-vision' is another example; and many more might be found. To +say nothing of the innumerable cases in which the words are only +intelligible as a compound term, though not distinguished by hyphens. Of +course the composition of words is sometimes allowable even in English: +but the habit of dealing with German seems to have produced, in the +pages before us, a prodigious superabundance of this form of expression; +which gives harshness and strangeness, where the matter would at all +events have been surprising enough. _Secondly_, I object, with the +same qualification, to the frequent use of _inversion_; which generally +appears as a transposition of the two members of a clause, in a way +which would not have been practiced in conversation. It certainly gives +emphasis and force, and often serves to point the meaning. But a style +may be fatiguing and faulty precisely by being too emphatic, forcible +and pointed; and so straining the attention to find its meaning, or the +admiration to appreciate its beauty. + +"Another class of considerations connects itself with the heightened +and plethoric fulness of the style: its accumulation and contrast of +imagery; its occasional jerking and almost spasmodic violence;--and +above all, the painful subjective excitement, which seems the element +and groundwork even of every description of Nature; often taking the +shape of sarcasm or broad jest, but never subsiding into calm. There is +also a point which I should think worth attending to, were I planning +any similar book: I mean the importance, in a work of imagination, of +not too much disturbing in the reader's mind the balance of the New +and Old. The former addresses itself to his active, the latter to his +passive faculty; and these are mutually dependent, and must coexist in +certain proportion, if you wish to combine his sympathy and progressive +exertion with willingness and ease of attention. This should be taken +into account in forming a style; for of course it cannot be consciously +thought of in composing each sentence. + +"But chiefly it seems important in determining the plan of a work. If +the tone of feeling, the line of speculation are out of the common way, +and sure to present some difficulty to the average reader, then it would +probably be desirable to select, for the circumstances, drapery +and accessories of all kinds, those most familiar, or at least most +attractive. A fable of the homeliest purport, and commonest every-day +application, derives an interest and charm from its turning on the +characters and acts of gods and genii, lions and foxes, Arabs and +Affghauns. On the contrary, for philosophic inquiry and truths of awful +preciousness, I would select as my personages and interlocutors beings +with whose language and 'whereabouts' my readers would be familiar. Thus +did Plato in his Dialogues, Christ in his Parables. Therefore it seems +doubtful whether it was judicious to make a German Professor the hero +of _Sartor_. Berkeley began his _Siris_ with tar-water; but what can +English readers be expected to make of _Gukguk_ by way of prelibation to +your nectar and tokay? The circumstances and details do not flash with +living reality on the minds of your readers, but, on the contrary, +themselves require some of that attention and minute speculation, the +whole original stock of which, in the minds of most of them, would not +be too much to enable them to follow your views of Man and Nature. In +short, there is not a sufficient basis of the common to justify +the amount of peculiarity in the work. In a book of science, these +considerations would of course be inapplicable; but then the whole shape +and coloring of the book must be altered to make it such; and a man +who wishes merely to get at the philosophical result, or summary of the +whole, will regard the details and illustrations as so much unprofitable +surplusage. + +"The sense of strangeness is also awakened by the marvellous +combinations, in which the work abounds to a degree that the common +reader must find perfectly bewildering. This can hardly, however, be +treated as a consequence of the _style_; for the style in this respect +coheres with, and springs from, the whole turn and tendency of thought. +The noblest images are objects of a humorous smile, in a mind which +sees itself above all Nature and throned in the arms of an Almighty +Necessity; while the meanest have a dignity, inasmuch as they are +trivial symbols of the same one life to which the great whole +belongs. And hence, as I divine, the startling whirl of incongruous +juxtaposition, which of a truth must to many readers seem as amazing as +if the Pythia on the tripod should have struck up a drinking-song, or +Thersites had caught the prophetic strain of Cassandra. + +"All this, of course, appears to me true and relevant; but I cannot help +feeling that it is, after all, but a poor piece of quackery to comment +on a multitude of phenomena without adverting to the principle which +lies at the root, and gives the true meaning to them all. Now this +principle I seem to myself to find in the state of mind which is +attributed to Teufelsdrockh; in his state of mind, I say, not in his +opinions, though these are, in him as in all men, most important,--being +one of the best indices to his state of mind. Now what distinguishes +him, not merely from the greatest and best men who have been on earth +for eighteen hundred years, but from the whole body of those who have +been working forwards towards the good, and have been the salt and light +of the world, is this: That he does not believe in a God. Do not be +indignant, I am blaming no one;--but if I write my thoughts, I must +write them honestly. + +"Teufelsdrockh does not belong to the herd of sensual and thoughtless +men; because he does perceive in all Existence a unity of power; because +he does believe that this is a real power external to him and dominant +to a certain extent over him, and does not think that he is himself a +shadow in a world of shadows. He had a deep feeling of the beautiful, +the good and the true; and a faith in their final victory. + +"At the same time, how evident is the strong inward unrest, the Titanic +heaving of mountain on mountain; the storm-like rushing over land and +sea in search of peace. He writhes and roars under his consciousness +of the difference in himself between the possible and the actual, the +hoped-for and the existent. He feels that duty is the highest law of +his own being; and knowing how it bids the waves be stilled into an +icy fixedness and grandeur, he trusts (but with a boundless inward +misgiving) that there is a principle of order which will reduce all +confusion to shape and clearness. But wanting peace himself, his fierce +dissatisfaction fixes on all that is weak, corrupt and imperfect around +him; and instead of a calm and steady co-operation with all those who +are endeavoring to apply the highest ideas as remedies for the worst +evils, he holds himself aloof in savage isolation; and cherishes (though +he dare not own) a stern joy at the prospect of that Catastrophe which +is to turn loose again the elements of man's social life, and give for +a time the victory to evil;--in hopes that each new convulsion of the +world must bring us nearer to the ultimate restoration of all things; +fancying that each may be the last. Wanting the calm and cheerful +reliance, which would be the spring of active exertion, he flatters his +own distemper by persuading himself that his own age and generation +are peculiarly feeble and decayed; and would even perhaps be willing +to exchange the restless immaturity of our self-consciousness, and +the promise of its long throe-pangs, for the unawakened undoubting +simplicity of the world's childhood; of the times in which there was all +the evil and horror of our day, only with the difference that conscience +had not arisen to try and condemn it. In these longings, if they are +Teufelsdrockh's, he seems to forget that, could we go back five thousand +years, we should only have the prospect of travelling them again, and +arriving at last at the same point at which we stand now. + +"Something of this state of mind I may say that I understand; for I have +myself experienced it. And the root of the matter appears to me: A want +of sympathy with the great body of those who are now endeavoring to +guide and help onward their fellow-men. And in what is this alienation +grounded? It is, as I believe, simply in the difference on that point: +viz. the clear, deep, habitual recognition of a one Living _Personal_ +God, essentially good, wise, true and holy, the Author of all that +exists; and a reunion with whom is the only end of all rational beings. +This belief... [_There follow now several pages on "Personal God," and +other abstruse or indeed properly unspeakable matters; these, and a +general Postscript of qualifying purport, I will suppress; extracting +only the following fractions, as luminous or slightly significant to +us:_] + +"Now see the difference of Teufelsdrockh's feelings. At the end of book +iii. chap. 8, I find these words: 'But whence? O Heaven, whither? Sense +knows not; Faith knows not; only that it is through mystery to mystery, +from God to God. + + 'We _are such stuff_ + As dreams are made of, and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep.' + +And this tallies with the whole strain of his character. What we find +everywhere, with an abundant use of the name of God, is the conception +of a formless Infinite whether in time or space; of a high inscrutable +Necessity, which it is the chief wisdom and virtue to submit to, which +is the mysterious impersonal base of all Existence,--shows itself in the +laws of every separate being's nature; and for man in the shape of duty. +On the other hand, I affirm, we do know whence we come and whither we +go!-- + +... "And in this state of mind, as there is no true sympathy with +others, just as little is there any true peace for ourselves. There is +indeed possible the unsympathizing factitious calm of Art, which we +find in Goethe. But at what expense is it bought? Simply, by abandoning +altogether the idea of duty, which is the great witness of our +personality. And he attains his inhuman ghastly calmness by reducing the +Universe to a heap of material for the idea of beauty to work on!-- + +... "The sum of all I have been writing as to the connection of our +faith in God with our feeling towards men and our mode of action, may of +course be quite erroneous: but granting its truth, it would supply the +one principle which I have been seeking for, in order to explain +the peculiarities of style in your account of Teufelsdrockh and his +writings.... The life and works of Luther are the best comment I know of +on this doctrine of mine. + +"Reading over what I have written, I find I have not nearly done justice +to my own sense of the genius and moral energy of the book; but this +is what you will best excuse.--Believe me most sincerely and faithfully +yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +Here are sufficient points of "discrepancy with agreement," here is +material for talk and argument enough; and an expanse of free discussion +open, which requires rather to be speedily restricted for convenience' +sake, than allowed to widen itself into the boundless, as it tends to +do!-- + +In all Sterling's Letters to myself and others, a large collection of +which now lies before me, duly copied and indexed, there is, to one that +knew his speech as well, a perhaps unusual likeness between the speech +and the Letters; and yet, for most part, with a great inferiority on +the part of these. These, thrown off, one and all of them, without +premeditation, and with most rapid-flowing pen, are naturally as like +his speech as writing can well be; this is their grand merit to us: +but on the other hand, the want of the living tones, swift looks and +motions, and manifold dramatic accompaniments, tells heavily, more +heavily than common. What can be done with champagne itself, much more +with soda-water, when the gaseous spirit is fled! The reader, in any +specimens he may see, must bear this in mind. + +Meanwhile these Letters do excel in honesty, in candor and transparency; +their very carelessness secures their excellence in this respect. And in +another much deeper and more essential respect I must likewise call them +excellent,--in their childlike goodness, in the purity of heart, the +noble affection and fidelity they everywhere manifest in the writer. +This often touchingly strikes a familiar friend in reading them; and +will awaken reminiscences (when you have the commentary in your own +memory) which are sad and beautiful, and not without reproach to you on +occasion. To all friends, and all good causes, this man is true; behind +their back as before their face, the same man!--Such traits of the +autobiographic sort, from these Letters, as can serve to paint him +or his life, and promise not to weary the reader, I must endeavor to +select, in the sequel. + + + +CHAPTER III. BAYSWATER + +Sterling continued to reside at Herstmonceux through the spring and +summer; holding by the peaceable retired house he still had there, till +the vague future might more definitely shape itself, and better point +out what place of abode would suit him in his new circumstances. He +made frequent brief visits to London; in which I, among other friends, +frequently saw him, our acquaintance at each visit improving in all +ways. Like a swift dashing meteor he came into our circle; coruscated +among us, for a day or two, with sudden pleasant illumination; then +again suddenly withdrew,--we hoped, not for long. + +I suppose, he was full of uncertainties; but undoubtedly was gravitating +towards London. Yet, on the whole, on the surface of him, you saw no +uncertainties; far from that: it seemed always rather with peremptory +resolutions, and swift express businesses, that he was charged. Sickly +in body, the testimony said: but here always was a mind that gave you +the impression of peremptory alertness, cheery swift decision,--of a +_health_ which you might have called exuberant. I remember dialogues +with him, of that year; one pleasant dialogue under the trees of the +Park (where now, in 1851, is the thing called "Crystal Palace"), with +the June sunset flinging long shadows for us; the last of the Quality +just vanishing for dinner, and the great night beginning to prophesy of +itself. Our talk (like that of the foregoing Letter) was of the faults +of my style, of my way of thinking, of my &c. &c.; all which +admonitions and remonstrances, so friendly and innocent, from this young +junior-senior, I was willing to listen to, though unable, as usual, to +get almost any practical hold of them. As usual, the garments do not fit +you, you are lost in the garments, or you cannot get into them at all; +this is not your suit of clothes, it must be another's:--alas, these are +not your dimensions, these are only the optical angles you subtend; on +the whole, you will never get measured in that way!-- + +Another time, of date probably very contiguous, I remember hearing +Sterling preach. It was in some new college-chapel in Somerset-house (I +suppose, what is now called King's College); a very quiet small place, +the audience student-looking youths, with a few elder people, perhaps +mostly friends of the preacher's. The discourse, delivered with a +grave sonorous composure, and far surpassing in talent the usual run of +sermons, had withal an air of human veracity as I still recollect, and +bespoke dignity and piety of mind: but gave me the impression rather +of artistic excellence than of unction or inspiration in that kind. +Sterling returned with us to Chelsea that day;--and in the afternoon we +went on the Thames Putney-ward together, we two with my Wife; under +the sunny skies, on the quiet water, and with copious cheery talk, the +remembrance of which is still present enough to me. + +This was properly my only specimen of Sterling's preaching. Another +time, late in the same autumn, I did indeed attend him one evening to +some Church in the City,--a big Church behind Cheapside, "built by Wren" +as he carefully informed me;--but there, in my wearied mood, the chief +subject of reflection was the almost total vacancy of the place, and how +an eloquent soul was preaching to mere lamps and prayer-books; and of +the sermon I retain no image. It came up in the way of banter, if he +ever urged the duty of "Church extension," which already he very seldom +did and at length never, what a specimen we once had of bright lamps, +gilt prayer-books, baize-lined pews, Wren-built architecture; and how, +in almost all directions, you might have fired a musket through the +church, and hit no Christian life. A terrible outlook indeed for the +Apostolic laborer in the brick-and-mortar line!-- + + +In the Autumn of this same 1835, he removed permanently to London, +whither all summer he had been evidently tending; took a house in +Bayswater, an airy suburb, half town, half country, near his Father's, +and within fair distance of his other friends and objects; and decided +to await there what the ultimate developments of his course might be. +His house was in Orme Square, close by the corner of that little place +(which has only _three_ sides of houses); its windows looking to the +east: the Number was, and I believe still is, No. 5. A sufficiently +commodious, by no means sumptuous, small mansion; where, with the means +sure to him, he could calculate on finding adequate shelter for his +family, his books and himself, and live in a decent manner, in no terror +of debt, for one thing. His income, I suppose, was not large; but he +lived generally a safe distance within it; and showed himself always as +a man bountiful in money matters, and taking no thought that way. + +His study-room in this house was perhaps mainly the drawing-room; +looking out safe, over the little dingy grassplot in front, and the +quiet little row of houses opposite, with the huge dust-whirl of +Oxford Street and London far enough ahead of you as background,--as +back-curtain, blotting out only _half_ your blue hemisphere with dust +and smoke. On the right, you had the continuous growl of the Uxbridge +Road and its wheels, coming as lullaby not interruption. Leftward and +rearward, after some thin belt of houses, lay mere country; bright +sweeping green expanses, crowned by pleasant Hampstead, pleasant Harrow, +with their rustic steeples rising against the sky. Here on winter +evenings, the bustle of removal being all well ended, and family and +books got planted in their new places, friends could find Sterling, as +they often did, who was delighted to be found by them, and would give +and take, vividly as few others, an hour's good talk at any time. + +His outlooks, it must be admitted, were sufficiently vague and +overshadowed; neither the past nor the future of a too joyful kind. +Public life, in any professional form, is quite forbidden; to work +with his fellows anywhere appears to be forbidden: nor can the humblest +solitary endeavor to work worthily as yet find an arena. How unfold +one's little bit of talent; and live, and not lie sleeping, while it +is called To-day? As Radical, as Reforming Politician in any public or +private form,--not only has this, in Sterling's case, received tragical +sentence and execution; but the opposite extreme, the Church whither he +had fled, likewise proves abortive: the Church also is not the haven for +him at all. What is to be done? Something must be done, and soon,--under +penalties. Whoever has received, on him there is an inexorable behest to +give. "_Fais ton fait_, Do thy little stroke of work:" this is Nature's +voice, and the sum of all the commandments, to each man! + +A shepherd of the people, some small Agamemnon after his sort, doing +what little sovereignty and guidance he can in his day and generation: +such every gifted soul longs, and should long, to be. But how, in any +measure, is the small kingdom necessary for Sterling to be attained? Not +through newspapers and parliaments, not by rubrics and reading-desks: +none of the sceptres offered in the world's market-place, nor none of +the crosiers there, it seems, can be the shepherd's-crook for this man. +A most cheerful, hoping man; and full of swift faculty, though much +lamed,--considerably bewildered too; and tending rather towards the +wastes and solitary places for a home; the paved world not being +friendly to him hitherto! The paved world, in fact, both on its +practical and spiritual side, slams to its doors against him; indicates +that he cannot enter, and even must not,--that it will prove a +choke-vault, deadly to soul and to body, if he enter. Sceptre, crosier, +sheep-crook is none there for him. + +There remains one other implement, the resource of all Adam's posterity +that are otherwise foiled,--the Pen. It was evident from this point that +Sterling, however otherwise beaten about, and set fluctuating, would +gravitate steadily with all his real weight towards Literature. That he +would gradually try with consciousness to get into Literature; and, on +the whole, never quit Literature, which was now all the world for him. +Such is accordingly the sum of his history henceforth: such small sum, +so terribly obstructed and diminished by circumstances, is all we have +realized from him. + + +Sterling had by no means as yet consciously quitted the clerical +profession, far less the Church as a creed. We have seen, he +occasionally officiated still in these months, when a friend requested +or an opportunity invited. Nay it turned out afterwards, he had, unknown +even to his own family, during a good many weeks in the coldest period +of next spring, when it was really dangerous for his health and did +prove hurtful to it,--been constantly performing the morning service +in some Chapel in Bayswater for a young clerical neighbor, a slight +acquaintance of his, who was sickly at the time. So far as I know, this +of the Bayswater Chapel in the spring of 1836, a feat severely rebuked +by his Doctor withal, was his last actual service as a churchman. But +the conscious life ecclesiastical still hung visibly about his inner +unconscious and real life, for years to come; and not till by slow +degrees he had unwinded from him the wrappages of it, could he become +clear about himself, and so much as try heartily what his now sole +course was. Alas, and he had to live all the rest of his days, as in +continual flight for his very existence; "ducking under like a poor +unfledged partridge-bird," as one described it, "before the mower; +darting continually from nook to nook, and there crouching, to escape +the scythe of Death." For Literature Proper there was but little left +in such a life. Only the smallest broken fractions of his last and +heaviest-laden years can poor Sterling be said to have completely lived. +His purpose had risen before him slowly in noble clearness; clear at +last,--and even then the inevitable hour was at hand. + +In those first London months, as always afterwards while it remained +physically possible, I saw much of him; loved him, as was natural, +more and more; found in him, many ways, a beautiful acquisition to my +existence here. He was full of bright speech and argument; radiant with +arrowy vitalities, vivacities and ingenuities. Less than any man he gave +you the idea of ill-health. Hopeful, sanguine; nay he did not even seem +to need definite hope, or much to form any; projecting himself in aerial +pulses like an aurora borealis, like a summer dawn, and filling all the +world with present brightness for himself and others. Ill-health? Nay +you found at last, it was the very excess of _life_ in him that brought +on disease. This restless play of being, fit to conquer the world, could +it have been held and guided, could not be held. It had worn _holes_ in +the outer case of it, and there found vent for itself,--there, since not +otherwise. + +In our many promenades and colloquies, which were of the freest, most +copious and pleasant nature, religion often formed a topic, and perhaps +towards the beginning of our intercourse was the prevailing topic. +Sterling seemed much engrossed in matters theological, and led the +conversation towards such; talked often about Church, Christianity +Anglican and other, how essential the belief in it to man; then, on +the other side, about Pantheism and such like;--all in the Coleridge +dialect, and with eloquence and volubility to all lengths. I remember +his insisting often and with emphasis on what he called a "personal +God," and other high topics, of which it was not always pleasant to give +account in the argumentative form, in a loud hurried voice, walking and +arguing through the fields or streets. Though of warm quick feelings, +very positive in his opinions, and vehemently eager to convince and +conquer in such discussions, I seldom or never saw the least anger in +him against me or any friend. When the blows of contradiction came too +thick, he could with consummate dexterity whisk aside out of their way; +prick into his adversary on some new quarter; or gracefully flourishing +his weapon, end the duel in some handsome manner. One angry glance I +remember in him, and it was but a glance, and gone in a moment. "Flat +Pantheism!" urged he once (which he would often enough do about this +time), as if triumphantly, of something or other, in the fire of a +debate, in my hearing: "It is mere Pantheism, that!"--"And suppose it +were Pot-theism?" cried the other: "If the thing is true!"--Sterling did +look hurt at such flippant heterodoxy, for a moment. The soul of his own +creed, in those days, was far other than this indifference to Pot or Pan +in such departments of inquiry. + +To me his sentiments for most part were lovable and admirable, though in +the logical outcome there was everywhere room for opposition. I admired +the temper, the longing towards antique heroism, in this young man of +the nineteenth century; but saw not how, except in some German-English +empire of the air, he was ever to realize it on those terms. In fact, +it became clear to me more and more that here was nobleness of heart +striving towards all nobleness; here was ardent recognition of the worth +of Christianity, for one thing; but no belief in it at all, in my sense +of the word belief,--no belief but one definable as mere theoretic +moonshine, which would never stand the wind and weather of fact. Nay it +struck me farther that Sterling's was not intrinsically, nor had ever +been in the highest or chief degree, a devotional mind. Of course all +excellence in man, and worship as the supreme excellence, was part +of the inheritance of this gifted man: but if called to define him, +I should say, Artist not Saint was the real bent of his being. He had +endless admiration, but intrinsically rather a deficiency of reverence +in comparison. Fear, with its corollaries, on the religious side, he +appeared to have none, nor ever to have had any. + +In short, it was a strange enough symptom to me of the bewildered +condition of the world, to behold a man of this temper, and of this +veracity and nobleness, self-consecrated here, by free volition and +deliberate selection, to be a Christian Priest; and zealously struggling +to fancy himself such in very truth. Undoubtedly a singular present +fact;--from which, as from their point of intersection, great +perplexities and aberrations in the past, and considerable confusions in +the future might be seen ominously radiating. Happily our friend, as I +said, needed little hope. To-day with its activities was always bright +and rich to him. His unmanageable, dislocated, devastated world, +spiritual or economical, lay all illuminated in living sunshine, making +it almost beautiful to his eyes, and gave him no hypochondria. A richer +soul, in the way of natural outfit for felicity, for joyful activity in +this world, so far as his strength would go, was nowhere to be met with. + + +The Letters which Mr. Hare has printed, Letters addressed, I imagine, +mostly to himself, in this and the following year or two, give record +of abundant changeful plannings and laborings, on the part of Sterling; +still chiefly in the theological department. Translation from Tholuck, +from Schleiermacher; treatise on this thing, then on that, are on the +anvil: it is a life of abstruse vague speculations, singularly cheerful +and hopeful withal, about Will, Morals, Jonathan Edwards, Jewhood, +Manhood, and of Books to be written on these topics. Part of which +adventurous vague plans, as the Translation from Tholuck, he actually +performed; other greater part, merging always into wider undertakings, +remained plan merely. I remember he talked often about Tholuck, +Schleiermacher, and others of that stamp; and looked disappointed, +though full of good nature, at my obstinate indifference to them and +their affairs. + +His knowledge of German Literature, very slight at this time, +limited itself altogether to writers on Church matters,--Evidences, +Counter-Evidences, Theologies and Rumors of Theologies; by the Tholucks, +Schleiermachers, Neanders, and I know not whom. Of the true sovereign +souls of that Literature, the Goethes, Richters, Schillers, Lessings, +he had as good as no knowledge; and of Goethe in particular an obstinate +misconception, with proper abhorrence appended,--which did not abate for +several years, nor quite abolish itself till a very late period. Till, +in a word, he got Goethe's works fairly read and studied for himself! +This was often enough the course with Sterling in such cases. He had a +most swift glance of recognition for the worthy and for the unworthy; +and was prone, in his ardent decisive way, to put much faith in it. +"Such a one is a worthless idol; not excellent, only sham-excellent:" +here, on this negative side especially, you often had to admire how +right he was;--often, but not quite always. And he would maintain, with +endless ingenuity, confidence and persistence, his fallacious spectrum +to be a real image. However, it was sure to come all right in the end. +Whatever real excellence he might misknow, you had but to let it stand +before him, soliciting new examination from him: none surer than he to +recognize it at last, and to pay it all his dues, with the arrears +and interest on them. Goethe, who figures as some absurd high-stalking +hollow play-actor, or empty ornamental clock-case of an "Artist" +so-called, in the Tale of the _Onyx Ring_, was in the throne of +Sterling's intellectual world before all was done; and the theory +of "Goethe's want of feeling," want of &c. &c. appeared to him also +abundantly contemptible and forgettable. + +Sterling's days, during this time as always, were full of occupation, +cheerfully interesting to himself and others; though, the wrecks of +theology so encumbering him, little fruit on the positive side could +come of these labors. On the negative side they were productive; and +there also, so much of encumbrance requiring removal, before fruit could +grow, there was plenty of labor needed. He looked happy as well as +busy; roamed extensively among his friends, and loved to have them about +him,--chiefly old Cambridge comrades now settling into occupations in +the world;--and was felt by all friends, by myself as by few, to be a +welcome illumination in the dim whirl of things. A man of altogether +social and human ways; his address everywhere pleasant and enlivening. +A certain smile of thin but genuine laughter, we might say, hung +gracefully over all he said and did;--expressing gracefully, according +to the model of this epoch, the stoical pococurantism which is required +of the cultivated Englishman. Such laughter in him was not deep, but +neither was it false (as lamentably happens often); and the cheerfulness +it went to symbolize was hearty and beautiful,--visible in the silent +unsymbolized state in a still gracefuler fashion. + +Of wit, so far as rapid lively intellect produces wit, he had plenty, +and did not abuse his endowment that way, being always fundamentally +serious in the purport of his speech: of what we call humor, he had +some, though little; nay of real sense for the ludicrous, in any form, +he had not much for a man of his vivacity; and you remarked that his +laugh was limited in compass, and of a clear but not rich quality. To +the like effect shone something, a kind of childlike half-embarrassed +shimmer of expression, on his fine vivid countenance; curiously mingling +with its ardors and audacities. A beautiful childlike soul! He was +naturally a favorite in conversation, especially with all who had +any funds for conversing: frank and direct, yet polite and delicate +withal,--though at times too he could crackle with his dexterous +petulancies, making the air all like needles round you; and there was +no end to his logic when you excited it; no end, unless in some form of +silence on your part. Elderly men of reputation I have sometimes known +offended by him: for he took a frank way in the matter of talk; spoke +freely out of him, freely listening to what others spoke, with a kind of +"hail fellow well met" feeling; and carelessly measured a men much less +by his reputed account in the bank of wit, or in any other bank, than by +what the man had to show for himself in the shape of real spiritual cash +on the occasion. But withal there was ever a fine element of natural +courtesy in Sterling; his deliberate demeanor to acknowledged superiors +was fine and graceful; his apologies and the like, when in a fit of +repentance he felt commanded to apologize, were full of naivete, and +very pretty and ingenuous. + +His circle of friends was wide enough; chiefly men of his own standing, +old College friends many of them; some of whom have now become +universally known. Among whom the most important to him was Frederic +Maurice, who had not long before removed to the Chaplaincy of Guy's +Hospital here, and was still, as he had long been, his intimate and +counsellor. Their views and articulate opinions, I suppose, were now +fast beginning to diverge; and these went on diverging far enough: but +in their kindly union, in their perfect trustful familiarity, precious +to both parties, there never was the least break, but a steady, equable +and duly increasing current to the end. One of Sterling's commonest +expeditions, in this time, was a sally to the other side of London +Bridge: "Going to Guy's to-day." Maurice, in a year or two, became +Sterling's brother-in-law; wedded Mrs. Sterling's younger sister,--a +gentle excellent female soul; by whom the relation was, in many ways, +strengthened and beautified for Sterling and all friends of the parties. +With the Literary notabilities I think he had no acquaintance; his +thoughts indeed still tended rather towards a certain class of the +Clerical; but neither had he much to do with these; for he was at +no time the least of a tuft-hunter, but rather had a marked natural +indifference to _tufts_. + +The Rev. Mr. Dunn, a venerable and amiable Irish gentleman, +"distinguished," we were told, "by having refused a bishopric:" and +who was now living, in an opulent enough retirement, amid his books +and philosophies and friends, in London,--is memorable to me among this +clerical class: one of the mildest, beautifulest old men I have ever +seen,--"like Fenelon," Sterling said: his very face, with its kind true +smile, with its look of suffering cheerfulness and pious wisdom, was a +sort of benediction. It is of him that Sterling writes, in the Extract +which Mr. Hare, modestly reducing the name to an initial "Mr. D.," has +given us: [13] "Mr. Dunn, for instance; the defect of whose Theology, +compounded as it is of the doctrine of the Greek Fathers, of the Mystics +and of Ethical Philosophers, consists,--if I may hint a fault in one +whose holiness, meekness and fervor would have made him the beloved +disciple of him whom Jesus loved,--in an insufficient apprehension of +the reality and depth of Sin." A characteristic "defect" of this fine +gentle soul. On Mr. Dunn's death, which occurred two or three +years later, Stirling gave, in some veiled yet transparent form, in +_Blackwood's Magazine_, an affectionate and eloquent notice of him; +which, stript of the veil, was excerpted into the Newspapers also. [14] + +Of Coleridge there was little said. Coleridge was now dead, not long +since; nor was his name henceforth much heard in Sterling's circle; +though on occasion, for a year or two to come, he would still assert his +transcendent admiration, especially if Maurice were by to help. But he +was getting into German, into various inquiries and sources of knowledge +new to him, and his admirations and notions on many things were silently +and rapidly modifying themselves. + +So, amid interesting human realities, and wide cloud-canopies of +uncertain speculation, which also had their interests and their +rainbow-colors to him, and could not fail in his life just now, did +Sterling pass his year and half at Bayswater. Such vaporous speculations +were inevitable for him at present; but it was to be hoped they would +subside by and by, and leave the sky clear. All this was but the +preliminary to whatever work might lie in him:--and, alas, much other +interruption lay between him and that. + + +CHAPTER V. TO MADEIRA. + +Sterling's dubieties as to continuing at Bordeaux were quickly decided. +The cholera in France, the cholera in Nice, the-- In fact his moorings +were now loose; and having been fairly at sea, he never could anchor +himself here again. Very shortly after this Letter, he left Belsito +again (for good, as it proved); and returned to England with his +household, there to consider what should next be done. + +On my return from Scotland, that year, perhaps late in September, I +remember finding him lodged straitly but cheerfully, and in happy humor, +in a little cottage on Blackheath; whither his Father one day persuaded +me to drive out with him for dinner. Our welcome, I can still recollect, +was conspicuously cordial; the place of dinner a kind of upper room, +half garret and full of books, which seemed to be John's place of study. +From a shelf, I remember also, the good soul took down a book modestly +enough bound in three volumes, lettered on the back Carlyle's _French +Revolution_, which had been published lately; this he with friendly +banter bade me look at as a first symptom, small but significant, that +the book was not to die all at once. "One copy of it at least might hope +to last the date of sheep-leather," I admitted,--and in my then mood +the little fact was welcome. Our dinner, frank and happy on the part +of Sterling, was peppered with abundant jolly satire from his Father: +before tea, I took myself away; towards Woolwich, I remember, where +probably there was another call to make, and passage homeward by +steamer: Sterling strode along with me a good bit of road in the bright +sunny evening, full of lively friendly talk, and altogether kind and +amiable; and beautifully sympathetic with the loads he thought he saw on +_me_, forgetful of his own. We shook hands on the road near the foot of +Shooter's Hill:--at which point dim oblivious clouds rush down; and of +small or great I remember nothing more in my history or his for some +time. + +Besides running much about among friends, and holding counsels for the +management of the coming winter, Sterling was now considerably occupied +with Literature again; and indeed may be said to have already +definitely taken it up as the one practical pursuit left for him. Some +correspondence with _Blackwood's Magazine_ was opening itself, under +promising omens: now, and more and more henceforth, he began to look +on Literature as his real employment, after all; and was prosecuting it +with his accustomed loyalty and ardor. And he continued ever afterwards, +in spite of such fitful circumstances and uncertain outward fluctuations +as his were sure of being, to prosecute it steadily with all the +strength he had. + +One evening about this time, he came down to us, to Chelsea, most likely +by appointment and with stipulation for privacy; and read, for our +opinion, his Poem of the _Sexton's Daughter_, which we now first +heard of. The judgment in this house was friendly, but not the most +encouraging. We found the piece monotonous, cast in the mould of +Wordsworth, deficient in real human fervor or depth of melody, dallying +on the borders of the infantile and "goody-good;"--in fact, involved +still in the shadows of the surplice, and inculcating (on hearsay +mainly) a weak morality, which he would one day find not to be moral at +all, but in good part maudlin-hypocritical and immoral. As indeed was +to be said still of most of his performances, especially the poetical; +a sickly _shadow_ of the parish-church still hanging over them, which +he could by no means recognize for sickly. _Imprimatur_ nevertheless +was the concluding word,--with these grave abatements, and rhadamanthine +admonitions. To all which Sterling listened seriously and in the mildest +humor. His reading, it might have been added, had much hurt the effect +of the piece: a dreary pulpit or even conventicle manner; that flattest +moaning hoo-hoo of predetermined pathos, with a kind of rocking canter +introduced by way of intonation, each stanza the exact fellow Of the +other, and the dull swing of the rocking-horse duly in each;--no reading +could be more unfavorable to Sterling's poetry than his own. Such a mode +of reading, and indeed generally in a man of such vivacity the total +absence of all gifts for play-acting or artistic mimicry in any kind, +was a noticeable point. + + +After much consultation, it was settled at last that Sterling should go +to Madeira for the winter. One gray dull autumn afternoon, towards +the middle of October, I remember walking with him to the eastern Dock +region, to see his ship, and how the final preparations in his own +little cabin were proceeding there. A dingy little ship, the deck +crowded with packages, and bustling sailors within eight-and-forty hours +of lifting anchor; a dingy chill smoky day, as I have said withal, and +a chaotic element and outlook, enough to make a friend's heart sad. I +admired the cheerful careless humor and brisk activity of Sterling, who +took the matter all on the sunny side, as he was wont in such cases. We +came home together in manifold talk: he accepted with the due smile +my last contribution to his sea-equipment, a sixpenny box of German +lucifers purchased on the sudden in St. James's Street, fit to be +offered with laughter or with tears or with both; he was to leave for +Portsmouth almost immediately, and there go on board. Our next news +was of his safe arrival in the temperate Isle. Mrs. Sterling and the +children were left at Knightsbridge; to pass this winter with his Father +and Mother. + + +At Madeira Sterling did well: improved in health; was busy with much +Literature; and fell in with society which he could reckon pleasant. +He was much delighted with the scenery of the place; found the climate +wholesome to him in a marked degree; and, with good news from home, +and kindly interests here abroad, passed no disagreeable winter in that +exile. There was talking, there was writing, there was hope of better +health; he rode almost daily, in cheerful busy humor, along those +fringed shore-roads:--beautiful leafy roads and horse-paths; with here +and there a wild cataract and bridge to look at; and always with the +soft sky overhead, the dead volcanic mountain on one hand, and broad +illimitable sea spread out on the other. Here are two Letters which give +reasonably good account of him:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 16th November, 1837. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have been writing a good many letters all in a +batch, to go by the same opportunity; and I am thoroughly weary of +writing the same things over and over again to different people. My +letter to you therefore, I fear, must have much of the character of +remainder-biscuit. But you will receive it as a proof that I do not wish +you to forget me, though it may be useless for any other purpose. + +"I reached this on the 2d, after a tolerably prosperous voyage, deformed +by some days of sea-sickness, but otherwise not to be complained of. I +liked my twenty fellow-passengers far better than I expected;--three or +four of them I like much, and continue to see frequently. The Island +too is better than I expected: so that my Barataria at least does not +disappoint me. The bold rough mountains, with mist about their summits, +verdure below, and a bright sun over all, please me much; and I +ride daily on the steep and narrow paved roads, which no wheels ever +journeyed on. The Town is clean, and there its merits end: but I am +comfortably lodged; with a large and pleasant sitting-room to myself. I +have met with much kindness; and see all the society I want,--though it +is not quite equal to that of London, even excluding Chelsea. + +"I have got about me what Books I brought out; and have read a little, +and done some writing for _Blackwood_,--all, I have the pleasure to +inform you, prose, nay extremely prose. I shall now be more at leisure; +and hope to get more steadily to work; though I do not know what I shall +begin upon. As to reading, I have been looking at _Goethe_, especially +the _Life_,--much as a shying horse looks at a post. In truth, I am +afraid of him. I enjoy and admire him so much, and feel I could so +easily be tempted to go along with him. And yet I have a deeply rooted +and old persuasion that he was the most splendid of anachronisms. A +thoroughly, nay intensely Pagan Life, in an age when it is men's duty +to be Christian. I therefore never take him up without a kind of inward +check, as if I were trying some forbidden spell; while, on the other +hand, there is so infinitely much to be learnt from him, and it is +so needful to understand the world we live in, and our own age, and +especially its greatest minds, that I cannot bring myself to burn my +books as the converted Magicians did, or sink them as did Prospero. +There must, as I think, have been some prodigious defect in his mind, to +let him hold such views as his about women and some other things; and +in another respect, I find so much coldness and hollowness as to the +highest truths, and feel so strongly that the Heaven he looks up to is +but a vault of ice,--that these two indications, leading to the same +conclusion, go far to convince me he was a profoundly immoral and +irreligious spirit, with as rare faculties of intelligence as ever +belonged to any one. All this may be mere _goody_ weakness and twaddle, +on my part: but it is a persuasion that I cannot escape from; though I +should feel the doing so to be a deliverance from a most painful load. +If you could help me, I heartily wish you would. I never take him up +without high admiration, or lay him down without real sorrow for what he +chose to be. + +"I have been reading nothing else that you would much care for. +Southey's _Amadis_ has amused me; and Lyell's _Geology_ interested me. +The latter gives one the same sort of bewildering view of the abysmal +extent of Time that Astronomy does of Space. I do not think I shall take +your advice as to learning Portuguese. It is said to be very ill spoken +here; and assuredly it is the most direful series of nasal twangs I ever +heard. One gets on quite well with English. + +"The people here are, I believe, in a very low condition; but they do +not appear miserable. I am told that the influence of the priests makes +the peasantry all Miguelites; but it is said that nobody wants any more +revolutions. There is no appearance of riot or crime; and they are all +extremely civil. I was much interested by learning that Columbus once +lived here, before he found America and fame. I have been to see a +deserted _quinta_ (country-house), where there is a great deal of +curious old sculpture, in relief, upon the masonry; many of the figures, +which are nearly as large as life, representing soldiers clad and armed +much as I should suppose those of Cortez were. There are no buildings +about the Town, of the smallest pretensions to beauty or charm of any +kind. On the whole, if Madeira were one's world, life would certainly +rather tend to stagnate; but as a temporary refuge, a niche in an old +ruin where one is sheltered from the shower, it has great merit. I am +more comfortable and contented than I expected to be, so far from home +and from everybody I am closely connected with: but, of course, it is at +best a tolerable exile. + +"Tell Mrs. Carlyle that I have written, since I have been here, and +am going to send to _Blackwood_, a humble imitation of her _Watch and +Canary-Bird_, entitled _The Suit of Armor and the Skeleton_. [15] I am +conscious that I am far from having reached the depth and fulness of +despair and mockery which distinguish the original! But in truth there +is a lightness of tone about her style, which I hold to be invaluable: +where she makes hairstrokes, I make blotches. I have a vehement +suspicion that my Dialogue is an entire failure; but I cannot be plagued +with it any longer. Tell her I will not send her messages, but will +write to her soon.--Meanwhile I am affectionately hers and yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +The next is to his Brother-in-law; and in a still hopefuler tone:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq._ [16] + FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 3d March, 1838. + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--I have often been thinking of you and your +whereabouts in Germany, and wishing I knew more about you; and at last +it occurred to me that you might perhaps have the same wish about me, +and that therefore I should do well to write to you. + +"I have been here exactly four months, having arrived on the 2d of +November,--my wedding-day; and though you perhaps may not think it a +compliment to Susan, I have seldom passed four months more cheerfully +and agreeably. I have of course felt my absence from my family, and +missed the society of my friends; for there is not a person here whom +I knew before I left England. But, on the whole, I have been in good +health, and actively employed. I have a good many agreeable and valuable +acquaintances, one or two of whom I hope I may hereafter reckon as +friends. The weather has generally been fine, and never cold; and the +scenery of the Island is of a beauty which you unhappy Northern people +can have little conception of. + +"It consists of a great mass of volcanic mountains, covered in their +lower parts with cottages, vines and patches of vegetables. When you +pass through, or over the central ridge, and get towards the North, +there are woods of trees, of the laurel kind, covering the wild steep +slopes, and forming some of the strangest and most beautiful prospects I +have ever seen. Towards the interior, the forms of the hills become +more abrupt, and loftier; and give the notion of very recent volcanic +disturbances, though in fact there has been nothing of the kind since +the discovery of the Island by Europeans. Among these mountains, the +dark deep precipices, and narrow ravines with small streams at the +bottom; the basaltic knobs and ridges on the summits; and the perpetual +play of mist and cloud around them, under this bright sun and clear +sky,--form landscapes which you would thoroughly enjoy, and which I +much wish I could give you a notion of. The Town is on the south, and +of course the sheltered side of the Island; perfectly protected from the +North and East; although we have seen sometimes patches of bright snow +on the dark peaks in the distance. It is a neat cheerful place; all +built of gray stone, but having many of the houses colored white or red. +There is not a really handsome building in it, but there is a general +aspect of comfort and solidity. The shops are very poor. The English do +not mix at all with the Portuguese. The Bay is a very bad anchorage; but +is wide, bright and cheerful; and there are some picturesque points--one +a small black island--scattered about it. + +"I lived till a fortnight ago in lodgings, having two rooms, one a +very good one; and paying for everything fifty-six dollars a month, the +dollar being four shillings and twopence. This you will see is dear; but +I could make no better arrangement, for there is an unusual affluence +of strangers this year. I have now come to live with a friend, a Dr. +Calvert, in a small house of our own, where I am much more comfortable, +and live greatly cheaper. He is a friend of Mrs. Percival's; about my +age, an Oriel man, and a very superior person. I think the chances are, +we shall go home together.... I cannot tell you of all the other people +I have become familiar with; and shall only mention in addition Bingham +Baring, eldest son of Lord Ashburton, who was here for some weeks on +account of a dying brother, and whom I saw a great deal of. He is a +pleasant, very good-natured and rather clever man; Conservative Member +for North Staffordshire. + +"During the first two months I was here, I rode a great deal about the +Island, having a horse regularly; and was much in agreeable company, +seeing a great deal of beautiful scenery. Since then, the weather has +been much more unsettled, though not cold; and I have gone about less, +as I cannot risk the being wet. But I have spent my time pleasantly, +reading and writing. I have written a good many things for _Blackwood_; +one of which, the _Armor and the Skeleton_, I see is printed in the +February Number. I have just sent them a long Tale, called the _Onyx +Ring_, which cost me a good deal of trouble; and the extravagance +of which, I think, would amuse you; but its length may prevent its +appearance in _Blackwood_. If so, I think I should make a volume of it. +I have also written some poems, and shall probably publish the _Sexton's +Daughter_ when I return. + +"My health goes on most favorably. I have had no attack of the chest +this spring; which has not happened to me since the spring before we +went to Bonn; and I am told, if I take care, I may roll along for years. +But I have little hope of being allowed to spend the four first months +of any year in England; and the question will be, Whether to go at +once to Italy, by way of Germany and Switzerland, with my family, or to +settle with them in England, perhaps at Hastings, and go abroad myself +when it may be necessary. I cannot decide till I return; but I think the +latter the most probable. + +"To my dear Charles I do not like to use the ordinary forms of ending +a letter, for they are very inadequate to express my sense of your long +and most unvarying kindness; but be assured no one living could say with +more sincerity that he is ever affectionately yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +Other Letters give occasionally views of the shadier side of things: +dark broken weather, in the sky and in the mind; ugly clouds covering +one's poor fitful transitory prospect, for a time, as they might well do +in Sterling's case. Meanwhile we perceive his literary business is fast +developing itself; amid all his confusions, he is never idle long. +Some of his best Pieces--the Onyx _Ring_, for one, as we perceive--were +written here this winter. Out of the turbid whirlpool of the days he +strives assiduously to snatch what he can. + +Sterling's communications with _Blackwood's Magazine_ had now issued +in some open sanction of him by Professor Wilson, the distinguished +presiding spirit of that Periodical; a fact naturally of high importance +to him under the literary point of view. For Wilson, with his clear +flashing eye and great genial heart, had at once recognized Sterling; +and lavished stormily, in his wild generous way, torrents of praise +on him in the editorial comments: which undoubtedly was one of the +gratefulest literary baptisms, by fire or by water, that could befall a +soul like Sterling's. He bore it very gently, being indeed past the +age to have his head turned by anybody's praises: nor do I think the +exaggeration that was in these eulogies did him any ill whatever; while +surely their generous encouragement did him much good, in his solitary +struggle towards new activity under such impediments as his. _Laudari a +laudato_; to be called noble by one whom you and the world recognize as +noble: this great satisfaction, never perhaps in such a degree before +or after had now been vouchsafed to Sterling; and was, as I compute, an +important fact for him. He proceeded on his pilgrimage with new energy, +and felt more and more as if authentically consecrated to the same. + +The _Onyx Ring_, a curious Tale, with wild improbable basis, but with +a noble glow of coloring and with other high merits in it, a Tale still +worth reading, in which, among the imaginary characters, various friends +of Sterling's are shadowed forth, not always in the truest manner, came +out in _Blackwood_ in the winter of this year. Surely a very high talent +for painting, both of scenery and persons, is visible in this Fiction; +the promise of a Novel such as we have few. But there wants maturing, +wants purifying of clear from unclear;--properly there want patience +and steady depth. The basis, as we said, is wild and loose; and in the +details, lucent often with fine color, and dipt in beautiful sunshine, +there are several things mis_seen_, untrue, which is the worst species +of mispainting. Witness, as Sterling himself would have by and by +admitted, the "empty clockcase" (so we called it) which he has labelled +Goethe,--which puts all other untruths in the Piece to silence. + + +One of the great alleviations of his exile at Madeira he has already +celebrated to us: the pleasant circle of society he fell into there. +Great luck, thinks Sterling in this voyage; as indeed there was: but +he himself, moreover, was readier than most men to fall into pleasant +circles everywhere, being singularly prompt to make the most of any +circle. Some of his Madeira acquaintanceships were really good; and one +of them, if not more, ripened into comradeship and friendship for him. +He says, as we saw, "The chances are, Calvert and I will come home +together." + +Among the English in pursuit of health, or in flight from fatal disease, +that winter, was this Dr. Calvert; an excellent ingenious cheery +Cumberland gentleman, about Sterling's age, and in a deeper stage of +ailment, this not being his first visit to Madeira: he, warmly joining +himself to Sterling, as we have seen, was warmly received by him; so +that there soon grew a close and free intimacy between them; which for +the next three years, till poor Calvert ended his course, was a leading +element in the history of both. Companionship in incurable malady, +a touching bond of union, was by no means purely or chiefly a +companionship in misery in their case. The sunniest inextinguishable +cheerfulness shone, through all manner of clouds, in both. Calvert had +been travelling physician in some family of rank, who had rewarded him +with a pension, shielding his own ill-health from one sad evil. Being +hopelessly gone in pulmonary disorder, he now moved about among friendly +climates and places, seeking what alleviation there might be; often +spending his summers in the house of a sister in the environs of London; +an insatiable rider on his little brown pony; always, wherever you might +meet him, one of the cheeriest of men. He had plenty of speculation too, +clear glances of all kinds into religious, social, moral concerns; and +pleasantly incited Sterling's outpourings on such subjects. He could +report of fashionable persons and manners, in a fine human Cumberland +manner; loved art, a great collector of drawings; he had endless help +and ingenuity; and was in short every way a very human, lovable, good +and nimble man,--the laughing blue eyes of him, the clear cheery soul +of him, still redolent of the fresh Northern breezes and transparent +Mountain streams. With this Calvert, Sterling formed a natural intimacy; +and they were to each other a great possession, mutually enlivening many +a dark day during the next three years. They did come home together +this spring; and subsequently made several of these health-journeys in +partnership. + + + +CHAPTER VI. LITERATURE: THE STERLING CLUB. + +In spite of these wanderings, Sterling's course in life, so far as his +poor life could have any course or aim beyond that of screening itself +from swift death, was getting more and more clear to him; and he pursued +it diligently, in the only way permitted him, by hasty snatches, in +the intervals of continual fluctuation, change of place and other +interruption. + +Such, once for all, were the conditions appointed him. And it must be +owned he had, with a most kindly temper, adjusted himself to these; nay +you would have said, he loved them; it was almost as if he would have +chosen them as the suitablest. Such an adaptation was there in him +of volition to necessity:--for indeed they both, if well seen into, +proceeded from one source. Sterling's bodily disease was the expression, +under physical conditions, of the too vehement life which, under the +moral, the intellectual and other aspects, incessantly struggled within +him. Too vehement;--which would have required a frame of oak and iron +to contain it: in a thin though most wiry body of flesh and bone, it +incessantly "wore holes," and so found outlet for itself. He could take +no rest, he had never learned that art; he was, as we often reproached +him, fatally incapable of sitting still. Rapidity, as of pulsing +auroras, as of dancing lightnings: rapidity in all forms characterized +him. This, which was his bane, in many senses, being the real origin of +his disorder, and of such continual necessity to move and change,--was +also his antidote, so far as antidote there might be; enabling him to +love change, and to snatch, as few others could have done, from the +waste chaotic years, all tumbled into ruin by incessant change, what +hours and minutes of available turned up. He had an incredible facility +of labor. He flashed with most piercing glance into a subject; gathered +it up into organic utterability, with truly wonderful despatch, +considering the success and truth attained; and threw it on paper with a +swift felicity, ingenuity, brilliancy and general excellence, of which, +under such conditions of swiftness, I have never seen a parallel. +Essentially an _improviser_ genius; as his Father too was, and of +admirable completeness he too, though under a very different form. + +If Sterling has done little in Literature, we may ask, What other man +than he, in such circumstances, could have done anything? In virtue of +these rapid faculties, which otherwise cost him so dear, he has built +together, out of those wavering boiling quicksands of his few later +years, a result which may justly surprise us. There is actually some +result in those poor Two Volumes gathered from him, such as they are; he +that reads there will not wholly lose his time, nor rise with a +malison instead of a blessing on the writer. Here actually is a real +seer-glance, of some compass, into the world of our day; blessed glance, +once more, of an eye that is human; truer than one of a thousand, +and beautifully capable of making others see with it. I have known +considerable temporary reputations gained, considerable piles of +temporary guineas, with loud reviewing and the like to match, on a far +less basis than lies in those two volumes. Those also, I expect, will +be held in memory by the world, one way or other, till the world +has extracted all its benefit from them. Graceful, ingenious and +illuminative reading, of their sort, for all manner of inquiring souls. +A little verdant flowery island of poetic intellect, of melodious +human verity; sunlit island founded on the rocks;--which the enormous +circumambient continents of mown reed-grass and floating lumber, with +_their_ mountain-ranges of ejected stable-litter however alpine, cannot +by any means or chance submerge: nay, I expect, they will not even quite +hide it, this modest little island, from the well-discerning; but will +float past it towards the place appointed for them, and leave said +island standing. _Allah kereem_, say the Arabs! And of the English +also some still know that there is a, difference in the material of +mountains!-- + +As it is this last little result, the amount of his poor and +ever-interrupted literary labor, that henceforth forms the essential +history of Sterling, we need not dwell at too much length on the foreign +journeys, disanchorings, and nomadic vicissitudes of household, which +occupy his few remaining years, and which are only the disastrous and +accidental arena of this. He had now, excluding his early and more +deliberate residence in the West Indies, made two flights abroad, once +with his family, once without, in search of health. He had two more, in +rapid succession, to make, and many more to meditate; and in the whole +from Bayswater to the end, his family made no fewer than five complete +changes of abode, for his sake. But these cannot be accepted as in any +sense epochs in his life: the one last epoch of his life was that of his +internal change towards Literature as his work in the world; and we need +not linger much on these, which are the mere outer accidents of that, +and had no distinguished influence in modifying that. + +Friends still hoped the unrest of that brilliant too rapid soul would +abate with years. Nay the doctors sometimes promised, on the physical +side, a like result; prophesying that, at forty-five or some mature age, +the stress of disease might quit the lungs, and direct itself to other +quarters of the system. But no such result was appointed for us; neither +forty-five itself, nor the ameliorations promised then, were ever to +be reached. Four voyages abroad, three of them without his family, +in flight from death; and at home, for a like reason, five complete +shiftings of abode: in such wandering manner, and not otherwise, had +Sterling to continue his pilgrimage till it ended. + +Once more I must say, his cheerfulness throughout was wonderful. A +certain grimmer shade, coming gradually over him, might perhaps be +noticed in the concluding years; not impatience properly, yet the +consciousness how much he needed patience; something more caustic in his +tone of wit, more trenchant and indignant occasionally in his tone of +speech: but at no moment was his activity bewildered or abated, nor did +his composure ever give way. No; both his activity and his composure +he bore with him, through all weathers, to the final close; and on the +whole, right manfully he walked his wild stern way towards the goal, and +like a Roman wrapt his mantle round him when he fell.--Let us glance, +with brevity, at what he saw and suffered in his remaining pilgrimings +and chargings; and count up what fractions of spiritual fruit he +realized to us from them. + + +Calvert and he returned from Madeira in the spring of 1838. Mrs. +Sterling and the family had lived in Knightsbridge with his Father's +people through the winter: they now changed to Blackheath, or ultimately +Hastings, and he with them, coming up to London pretty often; uncertain +what was to be done for next winter. Literature went on briskly here: +_Blackwood_ had from him, besides the _Onyx Ring_ which soon came out +with due honor, assiduous almost monthly contributions in prose and +verse. The series called _Hymns of a Hermit_ was now going on; eloquent +melodies, tainted to me with something of the same disease as the +_Sexton's Daughter_, though perhaps in a less degree, considering +that the strain was in a so much higher pitch. Still better, in clear +eloquent prose, the series of detached thoughts, entitled _Crystals from +a Cavern_; of which the set of fragments, generally a little larger in +compass, called _Thoughts and Images_, and again those called _Sayings +and Essayings_, [17] are properly continuations. Add to which, his friend +John Mill had now charge of a Review, _The London and Westminster_ +its name; wherein Sterling's assistance, ardently desired, was freely +afforded, with satisfaction to both parties, in this and the following +years. An Essay on _Montaigne_, with the notes and reminiscences +already spoken of, was Sterling's first contribution here; then one on +_Simonides_: [18] both of the present season. + +On these and other businesses, slight or important, he was often running +up to London; and gave us almost the feeling of his being resident among +us. In order to meet the most or a good many of his friends at once +on such occasions, he now furthermore contrived the scheme of a little +Club, where monthly over a frugal dinner some reunion might take place; +that is, where friends of his, and withal such friends of theirs as +suited,--and in fine, where a small select company definable as +persons to whom it was pleasant to talk together,--might have a +little opportunity of talking. The scheme was approved by the persons +concerned: I have a copy of the Original Regulations, probably drawn up +by Sterling, a very solid lucid piece of economics; and the List of the +proposed Members, signed "James Spedding, Secretary," and dated "8th +August, 1838." [19] The Club grew; was at first called the _Anonymous +Club_; then, after some months of success, in compliment to the founder +who had now left us again, the _Sterling Club_;--under which latter +name, it once lately, for a time, owing to the Religious Newspapers, +became rather famous in the world! In which strange circumstances +the name was again altered, to suit weak brethren; and the Club still +subsists, in a sufficiently flourishing though happily once more a +private condition. That is the origin and genesis of poor Sterling's +Club; which, having honestly paid the shot for itself at Will's +Coffee-house or elsewhere, rashly fancied its bits of affairs were quite +settled; and once little thought of getting into Books of History with +them!-- + + +But now, Autumn approaching, Sterling had to quit Clubs, for matters +of sadder consideration. A new removal, what we call "his third +peregrinity," had to be decided on; and it was resolved that Rome should +be the goal of it, the journey to be done in company with Calvert, whom +also the Italian climate might be made to serve instead of Madeira. One +of the liveliest recollections I have, connected with the _Anonymous +Club_, is that of once escorting Sterling, after a certain meeting +there, which I had seen only towards the end, and now remember nothing +of,--except that, on breaking up, he proved to be encumbered with a +carpet-bag, and could not at once find a cab for Knightsbridge. Some +small bantering hereupon, during the instants of embargo. But we carried +his carpet-bag, slinging it on my stick, two or three of us alternately, +through dusty vacant streets, under the gaslights and the stars, towards +the surest cab-stand; still jesting, or pretending to jest, he and we, +not in the mirthfulest manner; and had (I suppose) our own feelings +about the poor Pilgrim, who was to go on the morrow, and had hurried to +meet us in this way, as the last thing before leaving England. + + + +CHAPTER VII. ITALY. + +The journey to Italy was undertaken by advice of Sir James Clark, +reckoned the chief authority in pulmonary therapeutics; who prophesied +important improvements from it, and perhaps even the possibility +henceforth of living all the year in some English home. Mrs. Sterling +and the children continued in a house avowedly temporary, a furnished +house at Hastings, through the winter. The two friends had set off +for Belgium, while the due warmth was still in the air. They traversed +Belgium, looking well at pictures and such objects; ascended the Rhine; +rapidly traversed Switzerland and the Alps; issuing upon Italy and +Milan, with immense appetite for pictures, and time still to gratify +themselves in that pursuit, and be deliberate in their approach to Rome. +We will take this free-flowing sketch of their passage over the Alps; +written amid "the rocks of Arona,"--Santo Borromeo's country, and poor +little Mignon's! The "elder Perdonnets" are opulent Lausanne people, to +whose late son Sterling had been very kind in Madeira the year before:-- + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "ARONA on the LAGO MAGGIORE, 8th Oct., 1838. + +"MY DEAR MOTHER,--I bring down the story of my proceedings to the +present time since the 29th of September. I think it must have been +after that day that I was at a great breakfast at the elder Perdonnets', +with whom I had declined to dine, not choosing to go out at night.... +I was taken by my hostess to see several pretty pleasure-grounds and +points of view in the neighborhood; and latterly Calvert was better, and +able to go with us. He was in force again, and our passports were all +settled so as to enable us to start on the morning of the 2d, after +taking leave of our kind entertainer with thanks for her infinite +kindness. + +"We reached St. Maurice early that evening; having had the Dent du +Midi close to us for several hours; glittering like the top of a silver +teapot, far up in the sky. Our course lay along the Valley of the Rhone; +which is considered one of the least beautiful parts of Switzerland, +and perhaps for this reason pleased us, as we had not been prepared +to expect much. We saw, before reaching the foot of the Alpine pass at +Brieg, two rather celebrated Waterfalls; the one the Pissevache, which +has no more beauty than any waterfall one hundred or two hundred feet +high must necessarily have: the other, near Tourtemagne, is much more +pleasing, having foliage round it, and being in a secluded dell. If you +buy a Swiss Waterfall, choose this one. + +"Our second day took us through Martigny to Sion, celebrated for its +picturesque towers upon detached hills, for its strong Romanism and its +population of _cretins_,--that is, maimed idiots having the _goitre_. It +looked to us a more thriving place than we expected. They are building +a great deal; among other things, a new Bishop's Palace and a new +Nunnery,--to inhabit either of which _ex officio_ I feel myself very +unsuitable. From Sion we came to Brieg; a little village in a nook, +close under an enormous mountain and glacier, where it lies like a +molehill, or something smaller, at the foot of a haystack. Here also we +slept; and the next day our voiturier, who had brought us from Lausanne, +started with us up the Simplon Pass; helped on by two extra horses. + +"The beginning of the road was rather cheerful; having a good deal of +green pasturage, and some mountain villages; but it soon becomes dreary +and savage in aspect, and but for our bright sky and warm air, would +have been truly dismal. However, we gained gradually a distinct and +near view of several large glaciers; and reached at last the high +and melancholy valleys of the Upper Alps; where even the pines become +scanty, and no sound is heard but the wheels of one's carriage, except +when there happens to be a storm or an avalanche, neither of which +entertained us. There is, here and there, a small stream of water +pouring from the snow; but this is rather a monotonous accompaniment to +the general desolation than an interruption of it. The road itself is +certainly very good, and impresses one with a strong notion of human +power. But the common descriptions are much exaggerated; and many of +what the Guide-Books call 'galleries' are merely parts of the road +supported by a wall built against the rock, and have nothing like a +roof above them. The 'stupendous bridges,' as they are called, might be +packed, a dozen together, into one arch of London Bridge; and they +are seldom even very striking from the depth below. The roadway is +excellent, and kept in the best order. On the whole, I am very glad +to have travelled the most famous road in Europe, and to have had +delightful weather for doing so, as indeed we have had ever since we +left Lausanne. The Italian descent is greatly more remarkable than the +other side. + +"We slept near the top, at the Village of Simplon, in a very fair and +well-warmed inn, close to a mountain stream, which is one of the great +ornaments of this side of the road. We have here passed into a region of +granite, from that of limestone, and what is called gneiss. The valleys +are sharper and closer,--like cracks in a hard and solid mass;--and +there is much more of the startling contrast of light and shade, as +well as more angular boldness of outline; to all which the more abundant +waters add a fresh and vivacious interest. Looking back through one +of these abysmal gorges, one sees two torrents dashing together, the +precipice and ridge on one side, pitch-black with shade; and that on the +other all flaming gold; while behind rises, in a huge cone, one of the +glacier summits of the chain. The stream at one's feet rushes at a leap +some two hundred feet down, and is bordered with pines and beeches, +struggling through a ruined world of clefts and boulders. I never saw +anything so much resembling some of the _Circles_ described by Dante. +From Simplon we made for Duomo d'Ossola; having broken out, as through +the mouth of a mine, into green and fertile valleys full of vines and +chestnuts, and white villages,--in short, into sunshine and Italy. + +"At this place we dismissed our Swiss voiturier, and took an Italian +one; who conveyed us to Omegna on the Lake of Orta; a place little +visited by English travellers, but which fully repaid us the trouble of +going there. We were lodged in a simple and even rude Italian inn; where +they cannot speak a word of French; where we occupied a barn-like room, +with a huge chimney fit to lodge a hundred ghosts, whom we expelled by +dint of a hot woodfire. There were two beds, and as it happened good +ones, in this strange old apartment; which was adorned by pictures of +Architecture, and by Heads of Saints, better than many at the Royal +Academy Exhibition, and which one paid nothing for looking at. The +thorough Italian character of the whole scene amused us, much more than +Meurice's at Paris would have done; for we had voluble, commonplace +good-humor, with the aspect and accessories of a den of banditti. + +"To-day we have seen the Lake of Orta, have walked for some miles among +its vineyards and chestnuts; and thence have come, by Baveno, to this +place;--having seen by the way, I believe, the most beautiful part +of the Lago Maggiore, and certainly the most cheerful, complete and +extended example of fine scenery I have ever fallen in with. Here we +are, much to my wonder,--for it seems too good to be true,--fairly in +Italy; and as yet my journey has been a pleasanter and more instructive, +and in point of health a more successful one, than I at all imagined +possible. Calvert and I go on as well as can be. I let him have his way +about natural science, and he only laughs benignly when he thinks +me absurd in my moral speculations. My only regrets are caused by my +separation from my family and friends, and by the hurry I have been +living in, which has prevented me doing any work,--and compelled me to +write to you at a good deal faster rate than the _vapore_ moves on the +Lago Maggiore. It will take me to-morrow to Sesto Calende, whence we go +to Varese. We shall not be at Milan for some days. Write thither, if you +are kind enough to write at all, till I give you another address. Love +to my Father. + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Omitting Milan, Florence nearly all, and much about "Art," Michael +Angelo, and other aerial matters, here are some select terrestrial +glimpses, the fittest I can find, of his progress towards Rome:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Lucca, Nov. 27th_, 1838.--I had dreams, like other people, before I +came here, of what the Lombard Lakes must be; and the week I spent among +them has left me an image, not only more distinct, but far more warm, +shining and various, and more deeply attractive in innumerable respects, +than all I had before conceived of them. And so also it has been with +Florence; where I spent three weeks: enough for the first hazy radiant +dawn of sympathy to pass away; yet constantly adding an increase of +knowledge and of love, while I examined, and tried to understand, the +wonderful minds that have left behind them there such abundant traces of +their presence.... On Sunday, the day before I left Florence, I went to +the highest part of the Grand Duke's Garden of Boboli, which commands a +view of most of the City, and of the vale of the Arno to the westward; +where, as we had been visited by several rainy days, and now at last had +a very fine one, the whole prospect was in its highest beauty. The mass +of buildings, chiefly on the other side of the River, is sufficient +to fill the eye, without perplexing the mind by vastness like that of +London; and its name and history, its outline and large and picturesque +buildings, give it grandeur of a higher order than that of mere +multitudinous extent. The Hills that border the Valley of the Arno are +also very pleasing and striking to look upon; and the view of the rich +Plain, glimmering away into blue distance, covered with an endless web +of villages and country-houses, is one of the most delightful images of +human well-being I have ever seen.... + +"Very shortly before leaving Florence, I went through the house of +Michael Angelo; which is still possessed by persons of the same family, +descendants, I believe, of his Nephew. There is in it his 'first work in +marble,' as it is called; and a few drawings,--all with the stamp of +his enginery upon them, which was more powerful than all the steam in +London.... On the whole, though I have done no work in Florence that can +be of any use or pleasure to others, except my Letters to my Wife,--I +leave it with the certainty of much valuable knowledge gained there, and +with a most pleasant remembrance of the busy and thoughtful days I owe +to it. + + +"We left Florence before seven yesterday morning [26th November] for +this place; travelling on the northern side of the Arno, by Prato, +Pistoia, Pescia. We tried to see some old frescos in a Church at Prato; +but found the Priests all about, saying mass; and of course did not +venture to put our hands into a hive where the bees were buzzing and on +the wing. Pistoia we only coasted. A little on one side of it, there is +a Hill, the first on the road from Florence; which we walked up, and +had a very lively and brilliant prospect over the road we had just +travelled, and the town of Pistoia. Thence to this place the whole land +is beautiful, and in the highest degree prosperous,--in short, to speak +metaphorically, all dotted with Leghorn bonnets, and streaming with +olive-oil. The girls here are said to employ themselves chiefly in +platting straw, which is a profitable employment; and the slightness and +quiet of the work are said to be much more favorable to beauty than the +coarser kinds of labor performed by the country-women elsewhere. Certain +it is that I saw more pretty women in Pescia, in the hour I spent there, +than I ever before met with among the same numbers of the 'phare sect.' +Wherefore, as a memorial of them, I bought there several Legends of +Female Saints and Martyrs, and of other Ladies quite the reverse, and +held up as warnings; all of which are written in _ottava rima_, and sold +for three halfpence apiece. But unhappily I have not yet had time to +read them. This Town has 30,000 inhabitants, and is surrounded by +Walls, laid out as walks, and evidently not at present intended to be +besieged,--for which reason, this morning, I merely walked on them round +the Town, and did not besiege them.... + +"The Cathedral [of Lucca] contains some Relics; which have undoubtedly +worked miracles on the imagination of the people hereabouts. The +Grandfather of all Relics (as the Arabs would say) in the place is the +_Volto Santo_, which is a Face of the Saviour appertaining to a wooden +Crucifix. Now you must know that, after the ascension of Christ, +Nicodemus was ordered by an Angel to carve an image of him; and went +accordingly with a hatchet, and cut down a cedar for that purpose. He +then proceeded to carve the figure; and being tired, fell asleep before +he had done the face; which however, on awaking, he found completed by +celestial aid. This image was brought to Lucca, from Leghorn, I think, +where it had arrived in a ship, 'more than a thousand years ago,' +and has ever since been kept, in purple and fine linen and gold and +diamonds, quietly working miracles. I saw the gilt Shrine of it; and +also a Hatchet which refused to cut off the head of an innocent man, +who had been condemned to death, and who prayed to the _Volto Santo_. +I suppose it is by way of economy (they being a frugal people) that +the Italians have their Book of Common Prayer and their Arabian Nights' +Entertainments condensed into one." + + _To the Same_. + +"_Pisa, December 2d_, 1838.--Pisa is very unfairly treated in all the +Books I have read. It seems to me a quiet, but very agreeable place; +with wide clean streets, and a look of stability and comfort; and I +admire the Cathedral and its appendages more, the more I see them. The +leaning of the Tower is to my eye decidedly unpleasant; but it is a +beautiful building nevertheless, and the view from the top is, under a +bright sky, remarkably lively and satisfactory. The Lucchese Hills form +a fine mass, and the sea must in clear weather be very distinct. There +was some haze over it when I was up, though the land was all clear. I +could just see the Leghorn Light-house. Leghorn itself I shall not be +able to visit.... + +"The quiet gracefulness of Italian life, and the mental maturity and +vigor of Germany, have a great charm when compared with the restless +whirl of England, and the chorus of mingled yells and groans sent up by +our parties and sects, and by the suffering and bewildered crowds of the +laboring people. Our politics make my heart ache, whenever I think +of them. The base selfish frenzies of factions seem to me, at this +distance, half diabolic; and I am out of the way of knowing anything +that may be quietly a-doing to elevate the standard of wise and +temperate manhood in the country, and to diffuse the means of physical +and moral well-being among all the people.... I will write to my +Father as soon as I can after reaching the capital of his friend the +Pope,--who, if he had happened to be born an English gentleman, would no +doubt by this time be a respectable old-gentlemanly gouty member of the +Carlton. I have often amused myself by thinking what a mere accident +it is that Phillpotts is not Archbishop of Tuam, and M'Hale Bishop of +Exeter; and how slight a change of dress, and of a few catchwords, +would even now enable them to fill those respective posts with all the +propriety and discretion they display in their present positions." + + +At Rome he found the Crawfords, known to him long since; and at +different dates other English friends old and new; and was altogether in +the liveliest humor, no end to his activities and speculations. Of +all which, during the next four months, the Letters now before me give +abundant record,--far too abundant for our objects here. His grand +pursuit, as natural at Rome, was Art; into which metaphysical domain we +shall not follow him; preferring to pick out, here and there, something +of concrete and human. Of his interests, researches, speculations +and descriptions on this subject of Art, there is always rather a +superabundance, especially in the Italian Tour. Unfortunately, in +the hard weather, poor Calvert fell ill; and Sterling, along with his +Art-studies, distinguished himself as a sick-nurse till his poor comrade +got afoot again. His general impressions of the scene and what it held +for him may be read in the following excerpts. The Letters are all dated +_Rome_, and addressed to his Father or Mother:-- + +"_December 21st_, 1838.--Of Rome itself, as a whole, there are infinite +things to be said, well worth saying; but I shall confine myself to +two remarks: first, that while the Monuments and works of Art gain in +wondrousness and significance by familiarity with them, the actual life +of Rome, the Papacy and its pride, lose; and though one gets accustomed +to Cardinals and Friars and Swiss Guards, and ragged beggars and the +finery of London and Paris, all rolling on together, and sees how it is +that they subsist in a sort of spurious unity, one loses all tendency to +idealize the Metropolis and System of the Hierarchy into anything +higher than a piece of showy stage-declamation, at bottom, in our day, +thoroughly mean and prosaic. My other remark is, that Rome, seen from +the tower of the Capitol, from the Pincian or the Janiculum, is at this +day one of the most beautiful spectacles which eyes ever beheld. The +company of great domes rising from a mass of large and solid buildings, +with a few stone-pines and scattered edifices on the outskirts; the +broken bare Campagna all around; the Alban Hills not far, and the purple +range of Sabine Mountains in the distance with a cope of snow;--this +seen in the clear air, and the whole spiritualized by endless +recollections, and a sense of the grave and lofty reality of human +existence which has had this place for a main theatre, fills at once the +eyes and heart more forcibly, and to me delightfully, than I can find +words to say." + +"_January 22d_, 1839.--The Modern Rome, Pope and all inclusive, are +a shabby attempt at something adequate to fill the place of the old +Commonwealth. It is easy enough to live among them, and there is much +to amuse and even interest a spectator; but the native existence of the +place is now thin and hollow, and there is a stamp of littleness, and +childish poverty of taste, upon all the great Christian buildings I have +seen here,--not excepting St. Peter's; which is crammed with bits of +colored marble and gilding, and Gog-and-Magog colossal statues of saints +(looking prodigiously small), and mosaics from the worst pictures in +Rome; and has altogether, with most imposing size and lavish splendor, +a tang of Guildhall finery about it that contrasts oddly with the +melancholy vastness and simplicity of the Ancient Monuments, though +these have not the Athenian elegance. I recur perpetually to the +galleries of Sculpture in the Vatican, and to the Frescos of Raffael +and Michael Angelo, of inexhaustible beauty and greatness, and to +the general aspect of the City and the Country round it, as the most +impressive scene on earth. But the Modern City, with its churches, +palaces, priests and beggars, is far from sublime." + +Of about the same date, here is another paragraph worth inserting: +"Gladstone has three little agate crosses which he will give you for my +little girls. Calvert bought them, as a present, for 'the bodies,' +at Martigny in Switzerland, and I have had no earlier opportunity +of sending them. Will you despatch them to Hastings when you have an +opportunity? I have not yet seen Gladstone's _Church and State_; but as +there is a copy in Rome, I hope soon to lay hands on it. I saw yesterday +in the _Times_ a furious, and I am sorry to say, most absurd attack on +him and it, and the new Oxonian school." + +"_February 28th, 1839_.--There is among the people plenty of squalid +misery; though not nearly so much as, they say, exists in Ireland; and +here there is a certain freedom and freshness of manners, a dash of +Southern enjoyment in the condition of the meanest and most miserable. +There is, I suppose, as little as well can be of conscience or +artificial cultivation of any kind; but there is not the affectation of +a virtue which they do not possess, nor any feeling of being despised +for the want of it; and where life generally is so inert, except as to +its passions and material wants, there is not the bitter consciousness +of having been beaten by the more prosperous, in a race which the +greater number have never thought of running. Among the laboring poor of +Rome, a bribe will buy a crime; but if common work procures enough for +a day's food or idleness, ten times the sum will not induce them to toil +on, as an English workman would, for the sake of rising in the world. +Sixpence any day will put any of them at the top of the only tree they +care for,--that on which grows the fruit of idleness. It is striking to +see the way in which, in magnificent churches, the most ragged beggars +kneel on the pavement before some favorite altar in the midst of +well-dressed women and of gazing foreigners. Or sometimes you will see +one with a child come in from the street where she has been begging, +put herself in a corner, say a prayer (probably for the success of her +petitions), and then return to beg again. There is wonderfully little of +any moral strength connected with this devotion; but still it is better +than nothing, and more than is often found among the men of the upper +classes in Rome. I believe the Clergy to be generally profligate, and +the state of domestic morals as bad as it has ever been represented."-- + +Or, in sudden contrast, take this other glance homeward; a Letter to his +eldest child; in which kind of Letters, more than in any other, Sterling +seems to me to excel. Readers recollect the hurricane in St. Vincent; +the hasty removal to a neighbor's house, and the birth of a son there, +soon after. The boy has grown to some articulation, during these +seven years; and his Father, from the new foreign scene of Priests and +Dilettanti, thus addresses him:-- + + "_To Master Edward C. Sterling, Hastings_. + "ROME, 21st January, 1839. + +"MY DEAR EDWARD,--I was very glad to receive your Letter, which showed +me that you have learned something since I left home. If you knew how +much pleasure it gave me to see your handwriting, I am sure you would +take pains to be able to write well, that you might often send me +letters, and tell me a great many things which I should like to know +about Mamma and your Sisters as well as yourself. + +"If I go to Vesuvius, I will try to carry away a bit of the lava, which +you wish for. There has lately been a great eruption, as it is called, +of that Mountain; which means a great breaking-out of hot ashes and +fire, and of melted stones which is called lava. + +"Miss Clark is very kind to take so much pains with you; and I trust you +will show that you are obliged to her, by paying attention to all she +tells you. When you see how much more grown people know than you, you +ought to be anxious to learn all you can from those who teach you; and +as there are so many wise and good things written in Books, you ought +to try to read early and carefully; that you may learn something of what +God has made you able to know. There are Libraries containing very many +thousands of Volumes; and all that is written in these is,--accounts of +some part or other of the World which God has made, or of the Thoughts +which he has enabled men to have in their minds. Some Books are +descriptions of the earth itself, with its rocks and ground and water, +and of the air and clouds, and the stars and moon and sun, which shine +so beautifully in the sky. Some tell you about the things that grow upon +the ground; the many millions of plants, from little mosses and threads +of grass up to great trees and forests. Some also contain accounts of +living things: flies, worms, fishes, birds and four-legged beasts. And +some, which are the most, are about men and their thoughts and doings. +These are the most important of all; for men are the best and most +wonderful creatures of God in the world; being the only ones able to +know him and love him, and to try of their own accord to do his will. + +"These Books about men are also the most important to us, because we +ourselves are human beings, and may learn from such Books what we ought +to think and to do and to try to be. Some of them describe what sort of +people have lived in old times and in other countries. By reading them, +we know what is the difference between ourselves in England now, and the +famous nations which lived in former days. Such were the Egyptians who +built the Pyramids, which are the greatest heaps of stone upon the face +of the earth: and the Babylonians, who had a city with huge walls, built +of bricks, having writing on them that no one in our time has been able +to make out. There were also the Jews, who were the only ancient people +that knew how wonderful and how good God is: and the Greeks, who were +the wisest of all in thinking about men's lives and hearts, and who knew +best how to make fine statues and buildings, and to write wise books. By +Books also we may learn what sort of people the old Romans were, whose +chief city was Rome, where I am now; and how brave and skilful they were +in war; and how well they could govern and teach many nations which they +had conquered. It is from Books, too, that you must learn what kind of +men were our Ancestors in the Northern part of Europe, who belonged +to the tribes that did the most towards pulling down the power of the +Romans: and you will see in the same way how Christianity was sent among +them by God, to make them wiser and more peaceful, and more noble +in their minds; and how all the nations that now are in Europe, and +especially the Italians and the Germans, and the French and the English, +came to be what they now are.--It is well worth knowing (and it can be +known only by reading) how the Germans found out the Printing of Books, +and what great changes this has made in the world. And everybody in +England ought to try to understand how the English came to have their +Parliaments and Laws; and to have fleets that sail over all seas of the +world. + +"Besides learning all these things, and a great many more about +different times and countries, you may learn from Books, what is the +truth of God's will, and what are the best and wisest thoughts, and the +most beautiful words; and how men are able to lead very right lives, and +to do a great deal to better the world. I have spent a great part of my +life in reading; and I hope you will come to like it as much as I do, +and to learn in this way all that I know. + +"But it is a still more serious matter that you should try to be +obedient and gentle; and to command your temper; and to think of other +people's pleasure rather than your own, and of what you _ought_ to do +rather than what you _like_. If you try to be better for all you read, +as well as wiser, you will find Books a great help towards goodness as +well as knowledge, and above all other Books, the Bible; which tells us +of the will of God, and of the love of Jesus Christ towards God and men. + +"I had a Letter from Mamma to-day, which left Hastings on the 10th of +this month. I was very glad to find in it that you were all well +and happy; but I know Mamma is not well, and is likely to be more +uncomfortable every day for some time. So I hope you will all take care +to give her as little trouble as possible. After sending you so much +advice, I shall write a little Story to divert you.--I am, my dear Boy, + + "Your affectionate Father, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The "Story" is lost, destroyed, as are many such which Sterling wrote, +with great felicity, I am told, and much to the satisfaction of the +young folk, when the humor took him. + +Besides these plentiful communications still left, I remember long +Letters, not now extant, principally addressed to his Wife, of which we +and the circle at Knightsbridge had due perusal, treating with animated +copiousness about all manner of picture-galleries, pictures, statues and +objects of Art at Rome, and on the road to Rome and from it, wheresoever +his course led him into neighborhood of such objects. That was +Sterling's habit. It is expected in this Nineteenth Century that a man +of culture shall understand and worship Art: among the windy gospels +addressed to our poor Century there are few louder than this of +Art;--and if the Century expects that every man shall do his duty, +surely Sterling was not the man to balk it! Various extracts from these +picture-surveys are given in Hare; the others, I suppose, Sterling +himself subsequently destroyed, not valuing them much. + +Certainly no stranger could address himself more eagerly to reap what +artistic harvest Rome offers, which is reckoned the peculiar produce +of Rome among cities under the sun; to all galleries, churches, sistine +chapels, ruins, coliseums, and artistic or dilettante shrines he +zealously pilgrimed; and had much to say then and afterwards, and with +real technical and historical knowledge I believe, about the objects of +devotion there. But it often struck me as a question, Whether all this +even to himself was not, more or less, a nebulous kind of element; +prescribed not by Nature and her verities, but by the Century expecting +every man to do his duty? Whether not perhaps, in good part, temporary +dilettante cloudland of our poor Century;--or can it be the real diviner +Pisgah height, and everlasting mount of vision, for man's soul in +any Century? And I think Sterling himself bent towards a negative +conclusion, in the course of years. Certainly, of all subjects this +was the one I cared least to hear even Sterling talk of: indeed it is a +subject on which earnest men, abhorrent of hypocrisy and speech that has +no meaning, are admonished to silence in this sad time, and had better, +in such a Babel as we have got into for the present, "perambulate their +picture-gallery with little or no speech." + +Here is another and to me much more earnest kind of "Art," which +renders Rome unique among the cities of the world; of this we will, in +preference; take a glance through Sterling's eyes:-- + +"January 22d, 1839.--On Friday last there was a great Festival at St. +Peter's; the only one I have seen. The Church was decorated with crimson +hangings, and the choir fitted up with seats and galleries, and a throne +for the Pope. There were perhaps a couple of hundred guards of different +kinds; and three or four hundred English ladies, and not so many foreign +male spectators; so that the place looked empty. The Cardinals in +scarlet, and Monsignori in purple, were there; and a body of officiating +Clergy. The Pope was carried in in his chair on men's shoulders, wearing +the Triple Crown; which I have thus actually seen: it is something +like a gigantic Egg, and of the same color, with three little bands of +gold,--very large Egg-shell with three streaks of the yolk smeared round +it. He was dressed in white silk robes, with gold trimmings. + +"It was a fine piece of state-show; though, as there are three or four +such Festivals yearly, of course there is none of the eager interest +which breaks out at coronations and similar rare events; no explosion +of unwonted velvets, jewels, carriages and footmen, such as London and +Milan have lately enjoyed. I guessed all the people in St. Peter's, +including performers and spectators, at 2,000; where 20,000 would hardly +have been a crushing crowd. Mass was performed, and a stupid but short +Latin sermon delivered by a lad, in honor of St. Peter, who would have +been much astonished if he could have heard it. The genuflections, and +train-bearings, and folding up the tails of silk petticoats while the +Pontiff knelt, and the train of Cardinals going up to kiss his Ring, and +so forth,--made on me the impression of something immeasurably old and +sepulchral, such as might suit the Grand Lama's court, or the inside of +an Egyptian Pyramid; or as if the Hieroglyphics on one of the Obelisks +here should begin to pace and gesticulate, and nod their bestial heads +upon the granite tablets. The careless bystanders, the London ladies +with their eye-glasses and look of an Opera-box, the yawning young +gentlemen of the _Guarda Nobile_, and the laugh of one of the file of +vermilion Priests round the steps of the altar at the whispered good +thing of his neighbor, brought one back to nothing indeed of a very +lofty kind, but still to the Nineteenth Century."-- + +"At the great Benediction of the City and the World on Easter Sunday by +the Pope," he writes afterwards, "there was a large crowd both native +and foreign, hundreds of carriages, and thousands of the lower orders of +people from the country; but even of the poor hardly one in twenty took +off his hat, and a still smaller number knelt down. A few years ago, +not a head was covered, nor was there a knee which did not bow."--A very +decadent "Holiness of our Lord the Pope," it would appear!-- + +Sterling's view of the Pope, as seen in these his gala days, doing his +big play-actorism under God's earnest sky, was much more substantial +to me than his studies in the picture-galleries. To Mr. Hare also he +writes: "I have seen the Pope in all his pomp at St. Peter's; and he +looked to me a mere lie in livery. The Romish Controversy is doubtless a +much more difficult one than the managers of the Religious-Tract Society +fancy, because it is a theoretical dispute; and in dealing with notions +and authorities, I can quite understand how a mere student in a library, +with no eye for facts, should take either one side or other. But how any +man with clear head and honest heart, and capable of seeing realities, +and distinguishing them from scenic falsehoods, should, after living in +a Romanist country, and especially at Rome, be inclined to side with Leo +against Luther, I cannot understand." [20] + +It is fit surely to recognize with admiring joy any glimpse of the +Beautiful and the Eternal that is hung out for us, in color, in form or +tone, in canvas, stone, or atmospheric air, and made accessible by any +sense, in this world: but it is greatly fitter still (little as we are +used that way) to shudder in pity and abhorrence over the scandalous +tragedy, transcendent nadir of human ugliness and contemptibility, which +under the daring title of religious worship, and practical recognition +of the Highest God, daily and hourly everywhere transacts itself there. +And, alas, not there only, but elsewhere, everywhere more or less; +whereby our sense is so blunted to it;--whence, in all provinces of +human life, these tears!-- + +But let us take a glance at the Carnival, since we are here. The +Letters, as before, are addressed to Knightsbridge; the date _Rome_:-- + +"_February 5th_, 1839.--The Carnival began yesterday. It is a curious +example of the trifling things which will heartily amuse tens of +thousands of grown people, precisely because they are trifling, and +therefore a relief from serious business, cares and labors. The Corso +is a street about a mile long, and about as broad as Jermyn Street; but +bordered by much loftier houses, with many palaces and churches, and +has two or three small squares opening into it. Carriages, mostly open, +drove up and down it for two or three hours; and the contents were shot +at with handfuls of comfits from the windows,--in the hope of making +them as non-content as possible,--while they returned the fire to the +best of their inferior ability. The populace, among whom was I, walked +about; perhaps one in fifty were masked in character; but there was +little in the masquerade either of splendor of costume or liveliness of +mimicry. However, the whole scene was very gay; there were a good many +troops about, and some of them heavy dragoons, who flourished +their swords with the magnanimity of our Life-Guards, to repel the +encroachments of too ambitious little boys. Most of the windows +and balconies were hung with colored drapery; and there were flags, +trumpets, nosegays and flirtations of all shapes and sizes. The best of +all was, that there was laughter enough to have frightened Cassius out +of his thin carcass, could the lean old homicide have been present, +otherwise than as a fleshless ghost;--in which capacity I thought I had +a glimpse of him looking over the shoulder of a particolored clown, in +a carriage full of London Cockneys driving towards the Capitol. This +good-humored foolery will go on for several days to come, ending always +with the celebrated Horse-race, of horses without riders. The long +street is cleared in the centre by troops, and half a dozen quadrupeds, +ornamented like Grimaldi in a London pantomime, scamper away, with the +mob closing and roaring at their heels." + +"_February_ 9th, 1839.--The usual state of Rome is quiet and sober. One +could almost fancy the actual generation held their breath, and stole by +on tiptoe, in presence of so memorable a past. But during the Carnival +all mankind, womankind and childkind think it unbecoming not to play +the fool. The modern donkey pokes its head out of the lion's skin of old +Rome, and brays out the absurdest of asinine roundelays. Conceive twenty +thousand grown people in a long street, at the windows, on the footways, +and in carriages, amused day after day for several hours in pelting and +being pelted with handfuls of mock or real sugar-plums; and this no name +or presence, but real downright showers of plaster comfits, from which +people guard their eyes with meshes of wire. As sure as a carriage +passes under a window or balcony where are acquaintances of theirs, down +comes a shower of hail, ineffectually returned from below. The parties +in two crossing carriages similarly assault each other; and there are +long balconies hung the whole way with a deep canvas pocket full of this +mortal shot. One Russian Grand Duke goes with a troop of youngsters in a +wagon, all dressed in brown linen frocks and masked, and pelts among the +most furious, also being pelted. The children are of course preeminently +vigorous, and there is a considerable circulation of real sugar-plums, +which supply consolation for all disappointments." + +The whole to conclude, as is proper, with a display, with two displays, +of fireworks; in which art, as in some others, Rome is unrivalled:-- + +"_February 9th_, 1839.--It seems to be the ambition of all the lower +classes to wear a mask and showy grotesque disguise of some kind; and I +believe many of the upper ranks do the same. They even put St. Peter's +into masquerade; and make it a Cathedral of Lamplight instead of a stone +one. Two evenings ago this feat was performed; and I was able to see it +from the rooms of a friend near this, which command an excellent view of +it. I never saw so beautiful an effect of artificial light. The evening +was perfectly serene and clear; the principal lines of the building, the +columns, architrave and pediment of the front, the two inferior cupolas, +the curves of the dome from which the dome rises, the ribs of the dome +itself, the small oriel windows between them, and the lantern and ball +and cross,--all were delineated in the clear vault of air by lines of +pale yellow fire. The dome of another great Church, much nearer to +the eye, stood up as a great black mass,--a funereal contrast to the +luminous tabernacle. + +"While I was looking at this latter, a red blaze burst from the summit, +and at the same moment seemed to flash over the whole building, filling +up the pale outline with a simultaneous burst of fire. This is a +celebrated display; and is done, I believe, by the employment of a very +great number of men to light, at the same instant, the torches which are +fixed for the purpose all over the building. After the first glare of +fire, I did not think the second aspect of the building so beautiful +as the first; it wanted both softness and distinctness. The two most +animated days of the Carnival are still to come." + +"_April 4th_, 1839.--We have just come to the termination of all the +Easter spectacles here. On Sunday evening St. Peter's was a second time +illuminated; I was in the Piazza, and admired the sight from a nearer +point than when I had seen it before at the time of the Carnival. + +"On Monday evening the celebrated fire-works were let off from the +Castle of St. Angelo; they were said to be, in some respects more +brilliant than usual. I certainly never saw any fireworks comparable +to them for beauty. The Girandola is a discharge of many thousands of +rockets at once, which of course fall back, like the leaves of a lily, +and form for a minute a very beautiful picture. There was also in +silvery light a very long Facade of a Palace, which looked a residence +for Oberon and Titania, and beat Aladdin's into darkness. Afterwards a +series of cascades of red fire poured down the faces of the Castle and +of the scaffoldings round it, and seemed a burning Niagara. Of course +there were abundance of serpents, wheels and cannon-shot; there was also +a display of dazzling white light, which made a strange appearance on +the houses, the river, the bridge, and the faces of the multitude. The +whole ended with a second and a more splendid Girandola." + +Take finally, to people the scene a little for us, if our imagination +be at all lively, these three small entries, of different dates, and so +wind up:-- + +"_December 30th_, 1838.--I received on Christmas-day a packet from +Dr. Carlyle, containing Letters from the Maurices; which were a very +pleasant arrival. The Dr. wrote a few lines with them, mentioning that +he was only at Civita Vecchia while the steamer baited on its way to +Naples. I have written to thank him for his despatches." + +"_March 16th_, 1839.--I have seen a good deal of John Mill, whose +society I like much. He enters heartily into the interest of the things +which I most care for here, and I have seldom had more pleasure than +in taking him to see Raffael's Loggie, where are the Frescos called his +Bible, and to the Sixtine Chapel, which I admire and love more and +more. He is in very weak health, but as fresh and clear in mind as +possible.... English politics seem in a queer state, the Conservatives +creeping on, the Whigs losing ground; like combatants on the top of a +breach, while there is a social mine below which will probably blow both +parties into the air." + +"_April 4th_, 1839.--I walked out on Tuesday on the Ancona Road, and +about noon met a travelling carriage, which from a distance looked very +suspicious, and on nearer approach was found really to contain Captain +Sterling and an Albanian manservant on the front, and behind under the +hood Mrs. A. Sterling and the she portion of the tail. They seemed very +well; and, having turned the Albanian back to the rear of the whole +machine, I sat by Anthony, and entered Rome in triumph."--Here is indeed +a conquest! Captain A. Sterling, now on his return from service in +Corfu, meets his Brother in this manner; and the remaining Roman days +are of a brighter complexion. As these suddenly ended, I believe he +turned southward, and found at Naples the Dr. Carlyle above mentioned +(an extremely intimate acquaintance of mine), who was still there. For +we are a most travelling people, we of this Island in this time; and, +as the Prophet threatened, see ourselves, in so many senses, made "like +unto a wheel!"-- + +Sterling returned from Italy filled with much cheerful imagery and +reminiscence, and great store of artistic, serious, dilettante and other +speculation for the time; improved in health, too; but probably +little enriched in real culture or spiritual strength; and indeed not +permanently altered by his tour in any respect to a sensible extent, +that one could notice. He returned rather in haste, and before the +expected time; summoned, about the middle of April, by his Wife's +domestic situation at Hastings; who, poor lady, had been brought to bed +before her calculation, and had in few days lost her infant; and now saw +a household round her much needing the master's presence. He hurried off +to Malta, dreading the Alps at that season; and came home, by steamer, +with all speed, early in May, 1839. + + + + +PART III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. CLIFTON. + +Matters once readjusted at Hastings, it was thought Sterling's health +had so improved, and his activities towards Literature so developed +themselves into congruity, that a permanent English place of abode +might now again be selected,--on the Southwest coast somewhere,--and the +family once more have the blessing of a home, and see its _lares_ +and _penates_ and household furniture unlocked from the Pantechnicon +repositories, where they had so long been lying. + +Clifton, by Bristol, with its soft Southern winds and high cheerful +situation, recommended too by the presence of one or more valuable +acquaintances there, was found to be the eligible place; and thither in +this summer of 1839, having found a tolerable lodging, with the prospect +by and by of an agreeable house, he and his removed. This was the end of +what I call his "third peregrinity;"--or reckoning the West Indies one, +his fourth. This also is, since Bayswater, the fourth time his family +has had to shift on his account. Bayswater; then to Bordeaux, to +Blackheath and Knightsbridge (during the Madeira time), to Hastings +(Roman time); and now to Clifton, not to stay there either: a sadly +nomadic life to be prescribed to a civilized man! + + +At Clifton his habitation was speedily enough set up; household +conveniences, methods of work, daily promenades on foot or horseback, +and before long even a circle of friends, or of kindly neighborhoods +ripening into intimacy, were established round him. In all this no man +could be more expert or expeditious, in such cases. It was with singular +facility, in a loving, hoping manner, that he threw himself open to +the new interests and capabilities of the new place; snatched out of +it whatsoever of human or material would suit him; and in brief, in +all senses had pitched his tent-habitation, and grew to look on it as a +house. It was beautiful too, as well as pathetic. This man saw himself +reduced to be a dweller in tents, his house is but a stone tent; and he +can so kindly accommodate himself to that arrangement;--healthy faculty +and diseased necessity, nature and habit, and all manner of things +primary and secondary, original and incidental, conspiring now to make +it easy for him. With the evils of nomadism, he participated to the full +in whatever benefits lie in it for a man. + +He had friends enough, old and new, at Clifton, whose intercourse made +the place human for him. Perhaps among the most valued of the former +sort may be mentioned Mrs. Edward Strachey, Widow of the late Indian +Judge, who now resided here; a cultivated, graceful, most devout and +high-minded lady; whom he had known in old years, first probably as +Charles Buller's Aunt, and whose esteem was constant for him, and always +precious to him. She was some ten or twelve years older than he; she +survived him some years, but is now also gone from us. Of new friends +acquired here, besides a skilful and ingenious Dr. Symonds, physician +as well as friend, the principal was Francis Newman, then and still an +ardently inquiring soul, of fine University and other attainments, of +sharp-cutting, restlessly advancing intellect, and the mildest pious +enthusiasm; whose worth, since better known to all the world, Sterling +highly estimated;--and indeed practically testified the same; having by +will appointed him, some years hence, guardian to his eldest Son; which +pious function Mr. Newman now successfully discharges. + + +Sterling was not long in certainty as to his abode at Clifton: alas, +where could he long be so? Hardly six months were gone when his old +enemy again overtook him; again admonished him how frail his hopes of +permanency were. Each winter, it turned out, he had to fly; and after +the second of these, he quitted the place altogether. Here, meanwhile, +in a Letter to myself, and in Excerpts from others, are some glimpses of +his advent and first summer there:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Clifton, June 11th_, 1839.--As yet I am personally very uncomfortable +from the general confusion of this house, which deprives me of my room +to sit and read and write in; all being more or less lumbered by boxes, +and invaded by servile domesticities aproned, handled, bristled, and of +nondescript varieties. We have very fine warm weather, with occasional +showers; and the verdure of the woods and fields is very beautiful. +Bristol seems as busy as need be; and the shops and all kinds of +practical conveniences are excellent; but those of Clifton have the +usual sentimental, not to say meretricious fraudulence of commercial +establishments in Watering-places. + +"The bag which Hannah forgot reached us safely at Bath on Friday +morning; but I cannot quite unriddle the mystery of the change of +padlocks, for I left the right one in care of the Head Steam-engine at +Paddington, which seemed a very decent person with a good black coat on, +and a pen behind its ear. I have been meditating much on the story of +Palarea's 'box of papers;' which does not appear to be in my possession, +and I have a strong impression that I gave it to young Florez Calderon. +I will write to say so to Madam Torrijos speedily." Palarea, Dr. +Palarea, I understand, was "an old guerilla leader whom they called +_El Medico_." Of him and of the vanished shadows, now gone to Paris, to +Madrid, or out of the world, let us say nothing! + + _To Mr. Carlyle_. + +"_June 15th_, 1839.--We have a room now occupied by Robert Barton [a +brother-in-law]; to which Anthony may perhaps succeed; but which after +him, or in lieu of him, would expand itself to receive you. Is there no +hope of your coming? I would undertake to ride with you at all possible +paces, and in all existing directions. + +"As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of +a certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a _Canal_; but the other +apparatus of life is gathered about me, and performs its diurnal +functions. The place pleases me better than I expected: a far lookout on +all sides, over green country; a sufficient old City lying in the hollow +near; and civilization, in no tumultuous state, rather indeed stagnant, +visible in the Rows of Houses and Gardens which call themselves Clifton. +I hope soon to take a lease of a house, where I may arrange myself more +methodically; keep myself equably boiling in my own kitchen; and spread +myself over a series of book-shelves.... I have just been interrupted +by a visit from Mrs. Strachey; with whom I dined yesterday. She seems a +very good and thoroughly kind-hearted woman; and it is pleasant to have +her for a neighbor.... I have read Emerson's Pamphlets. I should find it +more difficult than ever to write to him." + + _To his Father_. + +"_June 30th_, 1839.--Of Books I shall have no lack, though no plethora; +and the Reading-room supplies all one can want in the way of Papers +and Reviews. I go there three or four times a week, and inquire how the +human race goes on. I suppose this Turco-Egyptian War will throw several +diplomatists into a state of great excitement, and massacre a good many +thousands of Africans and Asiatics?--For the present, it appears, the +English Education Question is settled. I wish the Government had said +that, in their inspection and superintendence, they would look only to +secular matters, and leave religious ones to the persons who set up the +schools, whoever these might be. It seems to me monstrous that the State +should be prevented taking any efficient measures for teaching Roman +Catholic children to read, write and cipher, merely because they believe +in the Pope, and the Pope is an impostor,--which I candidly confess he +is! There is no question which I can so ill endure to see made a party +one as that of Education."--The following is of the same day:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "MANOR HOUSE, CLIFTON PLACE, CLIFTON, + "30th June, 1839. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have heard, this morning, from my Father, that you +are to set out on Tuesday for Scotland: so I have determined to fillip +away some spurt of ink in your direction, which may reach you before you +move towards Thule. + +"Writing to you, in fact, is considerably easier than writing about +you; which has been my employment of late, at leisure moments,--that +is, moments of leisure from idleness, not work. As you partly guessed, +I took in hand a Review of _Teufelsdrockh_--for want of a better +Heuschrecke to do the work; and when I have been well enough, and alert +enough, during the last fortnight, have tried to set down some notions +about Tobacco, Radicalism, Christianity, Assafoetida and so forth. But a +few abortive pages are all the result as yet. If my speculations should +ever see daylight, they may chance to get you into scrapes, but +will certainly get me into worse.... But one must work; _sic itur ad +astra_,--and the _astra_ are always there to befriend one, at least as +asterisks, filling up the gaps which yawn in vain for words. + +"Except my unsuccessful efforts to discuss you and your offences, I have +done nothing that leaves a trace behind;--unless the endeavor to teach +my little boy the Latin declensions shall be found, at some time short +of the Last Day, to have done so. I have--rather I think from dyspepsia +than dyspneumony--been often and for days disabled from doing anything +but read. In this way I have gone through a good deal of Strauss's Book; +which is exceedingly clever and clearheaded; with more of insight, and +less of destructive rage than I expected. It will work deep and far, +in such a time as ours. When so many minds are distracted about the +history, or rather genesis of the Gospel, it is a great thing for +partisans on the one side to have, what the other never have wanted, +a Book of which they can say, This is our Creed and Code,--or rather +Anti-creed and Anti-code. And Strauss seems perfectly secure against the +sort of answer to which Voltaire's critical and historical shallowness +perpetually exposed him. I mean to read the Book through. It seems +admitted that the orthodox theologians have failed to give any +sufficient answer.--I have also looked through Michelet's _Luther_, with +great delight; and have read the fourth volume of Coleridge's _Literary +Remains_, in which there are things that would interest you. He has a +great hankering after Cromwell, and explicitly defends the execution of +Charles. + +"Of Mrs. Strachey we have seen a great deal; and might have seen more, +had I had time and spirits for it. She is a warm-hearted, enthusiastic +creature, whom one cannot but like. She seems always excited by the wish +for more excitement than her life affords. And such a person is always +in danger of doing something less wise than his best knowledge and +aspirations; because he must do something, and circumstances do not +allow him to do what he desires. Thence, after the first glow of +novelty, endless self-tormenting comes from the contrast between aims +and acts. She sets out, with her daughter and two boys, for a Tour in +Wales to-morrow morning. Her talk of you is always most affectionate; +and few, I guess, will read _Sartor_ with more interest than she. + +"I am still in a very extempore condition as to house, books, &c. One +which I have hired for three years will be given up to me in the middle +of August; and then I may hope to have something like a house,--so far +as that is possible for any one to whom Time itself is often but a worse +or a better kind of cave in the desert. We have had rainy and cheerless +weather almost since the day of our arrival. But the sun now shines +more lovingly, and the skies seem less disdainful of man and his +perplexities. The earth is green, abundant and beautiful. But human +life, so far as I can learn, is mean and meagre enough in its purposes, +however striking to the speculative or sentimental bystander. Pray be +assured that whatever you may say of the 'landlord at Clifton,' [21] the +more I know of him, the less I shall like him. Well with me if I can +put up with him for the present, and make use of him, till at last I can +joyfully turn him off forever! + +"Love to you Wife and self. My little Charlotte desires me to tell you +that she has new shoes for her Doll, which she will show you when you +come. + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The visit to Clifton never took effect; nor to any of Sterling's +subsequent homes; which now is matter of regret to me. Concerning +the "Review of _Teufelsdrockh_" there will be more to say anon. As to +"little Charlotte and her Doll," I remember well enough and was more +than once reminded, this bright little creature, on one of my first +visits to Bayswater, had earnestly applied to me to put her Doll's shoes +on for her; which feat was performed.--The next fragment indicates a +household settled, fallen into wholesome routine again; and may close +the series here:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_July 22d_, 1839.--A few evenings ago we went to Mr. Griffin's, and +met there Dr. Prichard, the author of a well-known Book on the _Races of +Mankind_, to which it stands in the same relation among English books +as the Racing Calendar does to those of Horsekind. He is a very +intelligent, accomplished person. We had also there the Dean; a certain +Dr. ---- of Corpus College, Cambridge (a booby); and a clever fellow, +a Mr. Fisher, one of the Tutors of Trinity in my days. We had a very +pleasant evening."-- + +At London we were in the habit of expecting Sterling pretty often; his +presence, in this house as in others, was looked for, once in the month +or two, and came always as sunshine in the gray weather to me and mine. +My daily walks with him had long since been cut short without renewal; +that walk to Eltham and Edgeworth's perhaps the last of the kind he and +I had: but our intimacy, deepening and widening year after year, knew no +interruption or abatement of increase; an honest, frank and truly human +mutual relation, valuable or even invaluable to both parties, and a +lasting loss, hardly to be replaced in this world, to the survivor of +the two. + +His visits, which were usually of two or three days, were always full of +business, rapid in movement as all his life was. To me, if possible, he +would come in the evening; a whole cornucopia of talk and speculation +was to be discharged. If the evening would not do, and my affairs +otherwise permitted, I had to mount into cabs with him; fly far and +wide, shuttling athwart the big Babel, wherever his calls and pauses had +to be. This was his way to husband time! Our talk, in such straitened +circumstances, was loud or low as the circumambient groaning rage +of wheels and sound prescribed,--very loud it had to be in such +thoroughfares as London Bridge and Cheapside; but except while he +was absent, off for minutes into some banker's office, lawyer's, +stationer's, haberdasher's or what office there might be, it never +paused. In this way extensive strange dialogues were carried on: to me +also very strange,--private friendly colloquies, on all manner of rich +subjects, held thus amid the chaotic roar of things. Sterling was full +of speculations, observations and bright sallies; vividly awake to what +was passing in the world; glanced pertinently with victorious clearness, +without spleen, though often enough with a dash of mockery, into its +Puseyisms, Liberalisms, literary Lionisms, or what else the mad hour +might be producing,--always prompt to recognize what grain of sanity +might be in the same. He was opulent in talk, and the rapid movement and +vicissitude on such occasions seemed to give him new excitement. + +Once, I still remember,--it was some years before, probably in May, on +his return from Madeira,--he undertook a day's riding with me; once and +never again. We coursed extensively, over the Hampstead and Highgate +regions, and the country beyond, sauntering or galloping through many +leafy lanes and pleasant places, in ever-flowing, ever-changing talk; +and returned down Regent Street at nightfall: one of the cheerfulest +days I ever had;--not to be repeated, said the Fates. Sterling was +charming on such occasions: at once a child and a gifted man. A serious +fund of thought he always had, a serious drift you never missed in him: +nor indeed had he much depth of real laughter or sense of the ludicrous, +as I have elsewhere said; but what he had was genuine, free and +continual: his sparkling sallies bubbled up as from aerated natural +fountains; a mild dash of gayety was native to the man, and had moulded +his physiognomy in a very graceful way. We got once into a cab, about +Charing Cross; I know not now whence or well whitherward, nor that our +haste was at all special; however, the cabman, sensible that his pace +was slowish, took to whipping, with a steady, passionless, businesslike +assiduity which, though the horse seemed lazy rather than weak, became +afflictive; and I urged remonstrance with the savage fellow: "Let him +alone," answered Sterling; "he is kindling the enthusiasm of his horse, +you perceive; that is the first thing, then we shall do very well!"--as +accordingly we did. + + +At Clifton, though his thoughts began to turn more on poetic forms +of composition, he was diligent in prose elaborations too,--doing +Criticism, for one thing, as we incidentally observed. He wrote there, +and sent forth in this autumn of 1839, his most important contribution +to John Mill's Review, the article on _Carlyle_, which stands also in +Mr. Hare's collection. [22] What its effect on the public was I knew +not, and know not; but remember well, and may here be permitted to +acknowledge, the deep silent joy, not of a weak or ignoble nature, which +it gave to myself in my then mood and situation; as it well might. The +first generous human recognition, expressed with heroic emphasis, and +clear conviction visible amid its fiery exaggeration, that one's poor +battle in this world is not quite a mad and futile, that it is perhaps a +worthy and manful one, which will come to something yet: this fact is +a memorable one in every history; and for me Sterling, often enough the +stiff gainsayer in our private communings, was the doer of this. The +thought burnt in me like a lamp, for several days; lighting up into +a kind of heroic splendor the sad volcanic wrecks, abysses, and +convulsions of said poor battle, and secretly I was very grateful to my +daring friend, and am still, and ought to be. What the public might be +thinking about him and his audacities, and me in consequence, or whether +it thought at all, I never learned, or much heeded to learn. + +Sterling's gainsaying had given way on many points; but on others it +continued stiff as ever, as may be seen in that article; indeed he +fought Parthian-like in such cases, holding out his last position as +doggedly as the first: and to some of my notions he seemed to grow in +stubbornness of opposition, with the growing inevitability, and +never would surrender. Especially that doctrine of the "greatness and +fruitfulness of Silence," remained afflictive and incomprehensible: +"Silence?" he would say: "Yes, truly; if they give you leave to proclaim +silence by cannon-salvos! My Harpocrates-Stentor!" In like manner, +"Intellect and Virtue," how they are proportional, or are indeed one +gift in us, the same great summary of gifts; and again, "Might and +Right," the identity of these two, if a man will understand this +God's-Universe, and that only he who conforms to the law of it can +in the long-run have any "might:" all this, at the first blush, often +awakened Sterling's musketry upon me, and many volleys I have had +to stand,--the thing not being decidable by that kind of weapon or +strategy. + +In such cases your one method was to leave our friend in peace. By +small-arms practice no mortal could dislodge him: but if you were in the +right, the silent hours would work continually for you; and Sterling, +more certainly than any man, would and must at length swear fealty to +the right, and passionately adopt it, burying all hostilities under +foot. A more candid soul, once let the stormful velocities of it expend +themselves, was nowhere to be met with. A son of light, if I have ever +seen one; recognizing the truth, if truth there were; hurling overboard +his vanities, petulances, big and small interests, in ready loyalty to +truth: very beautiful; at once a loyal child, as I said, and a gifted +man!--Here is a very pertinent passage from one of his Letters, which, +though the name continues blank, I will insert:-- + + _To his Father_. + +"_October 15th_, 1839.--As to my 'over-estimate of ----,' your +expressions rather puzzle me. I suppose there may be, at the outside, a +hundred persons in England whose opinions on such a matter are worth +as much as mine. If by 'the public' you and my Mother mean the other +ninety-nine, I submit. I have no doubt that, on any matter not relating +peculiarly to myself, the judgment of the ninety-nine most philosophical +heads in the country, if unanimous, would be right, and mine, if opposed +to them, wrong. But then I am at a loss to make out, How the decision of +the very few really competent persons has been ascertained to be thus in +contradiction to me? And on the other hand, I conceive myself, from my +opportunities, knowledge and attention to the subject, to be alone quite +entitled to outvote tens of thousands of gentlemen, however much my +superiors as men of business, men of the world, or men of merely dry or +merely frivolous literature. + +"I do not remember ever before to have heard the saying, whether of +Talleyrand or of any one else, That _all_ the world is a wiser man +than any man in the world. Had it been said even by the Devil, it would +nevertheless be false. I have often indeed heard the saying, _On peut +etre plus FIN qu'un autre, mais pas plus FIN que tous les autres_. But +observe that '_fin_' means _cunning_, not _wise_. The difference between +this assertion and the one you refer to is curious and worth examining. +It is quite certain, there is always some one man in the world wiser +than all the rest; as Socrates was declared by the oracle to be; and as, +I suppose, Bacon was in his day, and perhaps Burke in his. There is also +some one, whose opinion would be probably true, if opposed to that of +all around him; and it is always indubitable that the wise men are the +scores, and the unwise the millions. The millions indeed come round, in +the course of a generation or two, to the opinions of the wise; but +by that time a new race of wise men have again shot ahead of their +contemporaries: so it has always been, and so, in the nature of things, +it always must be. But with cunning, the matter is quite different. +Cunning is not _dishonest wisdom_, which would be a contradiction +in terms; it is _dishonest prudence_, acuteness in practice, not in +thought: and though there must always be some one the most cunning in +the world, as well as some one the most wise, these two superlatives +will fare very differently in the world. In the case of cunning, the +shrewdness of a whole people, of a whole generation, may doubtless be +combined against that of the one, and so triumph over it; which was +pretty much the case with Napoleon. But although a man of the greatest +cunning can hardly conceal his designs and true character from millions +of unfriendly eyes, it is quite impossible thus to club the eyes of +the mind, and to constitute by the union of ten thousand follies an +equivalent for a single wisdom. A hundred school-boys can easily unite +and thrash their one master; but a hundred thousand school-boys would +not be nearer than a score to knowing as much Greek among them as +Bentley or Scaliger. To all which, I believe, you will assent as readily +as I;--and I have written it down only because I have nothing more +important to say."-- + + +Besides his prose labors, Sterling had by this time written, publishing +chiefly in _Blackwood_, a large assortment of verses, _Sexton's +Daughter_, _Hymns of a Hermit_, and I know not what other extensive +stock of pieces; concerning which he was now somewhat at a loss as to +his true course. He could write verses with astonishing facility, in any +given form of metre; and to various readers they seemed excellent, +and high judges had freely called them so, but he himself had grave +misgivings on that latter essential point. In fact here once more was +a parting of the ways, "Write in Poetry; write in Prose?" upon which, +before all else, it much concerned him to come to a settlement. + +My own advice was, as it had always been, steady against Poetry; and we +had colloquies upon it, which must have tried his patience, for in him +there was a strong leaning the other way. But, as I remarked and urged: +Had he not already gained superior excellence in delivering, by way of +_speech_ or prose, what thoughts were in him, which is the grand and +only intrinsic function of a writing man, call him by what title you +will? Cultivate that superior excellence till it become a perfect and +superlative one. Why _sing_ your bits of thoughts, if you _can_ contrive +to speak them? By your thought, not by your mode of delivering it, +you must live or die.--Besides I had to observe there was in Sterling +intrinsically no depth of _tune_; which surely is the real test of a +Poet or Singer, as distinguished from a Speaker? In music proper he +had not the slightest ear; all music was mere impertinent noise to him, +nothing in it perceptible but the mere march or time. Nor in his way +of conception and utterance, in the verses he wrote, was there any +contradiction, but a constant confirmation to me, of that fatal +prognostic;--as indeed the whole man, in ear and heart and tongue, is +one; and he whose soul does not sing, need not try to do it with his +throat. Sterling's verses had a monotonous rub-a-dub, instead of tune; +no trace of music deeper than that of a well-beaten drum; to which +limited range of excellence the substance also corresponded; being +intrinsically always a rhymed and slightly rhythmical _speech_, not a +_song_. + +In short, all seemed to me to say, in his case: "You can speak with +supreme excellence; sing with considerable excellence you never can. And +the Age itself, does it not, beyond most ages, demand and require clear +speech; an Age incapable of being sung to, in any but a trivial manner, +till these convulsive agonies and wild revolutionary overturnings +readjust themselves? Intelligible word of command, not musical psalmody +and fiddling, is possible in this fell storm of battle. Beyond all ages, +our Age admonishes whatsoever thinking or writing man it has: Oh, speak +to me some wise intelligible speech; your wise meaning in the shortest +and clearest way; behold I am dying for want of wise meaning, and +insight into the devouring fact: speak, if you have any wisdom! As to +song so called, and your fiddling talent,--even if you have one, much +more if you have none,--we will talk of that a couple of centuries +hence, when things are calmer again. Homer shall be thrice welcome; but +only when Troy is _taken_: alas, while the siege lasts, and battle's +fury rages everywhere, what can I do with the Homer? I want Achilleus +and Odysseus, and am enraged to see them trying to be Homers!"-- + +Sterling, who respected my sincerity, and always was amenable enough to +counsel, was doubtless much confused by such contradictory diagnosis of +his case. The question, Poetry or Prose? became more and more pressing, +more and more insoluble. He decided, at last, to appeal to the public +upon it;--got ready, in the late autumn, a small select Volume of his +verses; and was now busy pushing it through the press. Unfortunately, +in the mean while, a grave illness, of the old pulmonary sort, overtook +him, which at one time threatened to be dangerous. This is a glance +again into his interior household in these circumstances:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_December 21st_, 1839.--The Tin box came quite safe, with all its +miscellaneous contents. I suppose we are to thank you for the _Comic +Almanac_, which, as usual, is very amusing; and for the Book on _Watt_, +which disappointed me. The scientific part is no doubt very good, and +particularly clear and simple; but there is nothing remarkable in +the account of Watt's character; and it is an absurd piece of French +impertinence in Arago to say, that England has not yet learnt to +appreciate men like Watt, because he was not made a peer; which, were +our peerage an institution like that of France, would have been very +proper. + +"I have now finished correcting the proofs of my little Volume of +Poems. It has been a great plague to me, and one that I would not have +incurred, had I expected to be laid up as I have been; but the +matter was begun before I had any notion of being disabled by such an +illness,--the severest I have suffered since I went to the West Indies. +The Book will, after all, be a botched business in many respects; and I +much doubt whether it will pay its expenses: but I try to consider it +as out of my hands, and not to fret myself about it. I shall be very +curious to see Carlyle's Tractate on _Chartism_; which"--But we need not +enter upon that. + +Sterling's little Book was printed at his own expense; [23] published by +Moxon in the very end of this year. It carries an appropriate and pretty +Epigraph:-- + + "Feeling, Thought, and Fancy be + Gentle sister Graces three: + If these prove averse to me, + They will punish,--pardon Ye!" + +He had dedicated the little Volume to Mr. Hare;--and he submitted very +patiently to the discouraging neglect with which it was received by the +world; for indeed the "Ye" said nothing audible, in the way of pardon +or other doom; so that whether the "sister Graces" were averse or not, +remained as doubtful as ever. + + + +CHAPTER II. TWO WINTERS. + +As we said above, it had been hoped by Sterling's friends, not very +confidently by himself, that in the gentler air of Clifton his health +might so far recover as to enable him to dispense with autumnal voyages, +and to spend the year all round in a house of his own. These hopes, +favorable while the warm season lasted, broke down when winter came. In +November of this same year, while his little Volume was passing through +the press, bad and worse symptoms, spitting of blood to crown the sad +list, reappeared; and Sterling had to equip himself again, at this late +season, for a new flight to Madeira; wherein the good Calvert, himself +suffering, and ready on all grounds for such an adventure, offered to +accompany him. Sterling went by land to Falmouth, meaning there to wait +for Calvert, who was to come by the Madeira Packet, and there take him +on board. + +Calvert and the Packet did arrive, in stormy January weather; which +continued wildly blowing for weeks; forbidding all egress Westward, +especially for invalids. These elemental tumults, and blustering wars +of sea and sky, with nothing but the misty solitude of Madeira in the +distance, formed a very discouraging outlook. In the mean while Falmouth +itself had offered so many resources, and seemed so tolerable in climate +and otherwise, while this wintry ocean looked so inhospitable for +invalids, it was resolved our voyagers should stay where they were till +spring returned. Which accordingly was done; with good effect for that +season, and also with results for the coming seasons. Here again, from +Letters to Knightsbridge, are some glimpses of his winter-life:-- + +"_Falmouth, February 5th_, 1840.--I have been to-day to see a new +tin-mine, two or three miles off, which is expected to turn into a +copper-mine by and by, so they will have the two constituents of bronze +close together. This, by the way, was the 'brass' of Homer and the +Ancients generally, who do not seem to have known our brass made of +copper and zinc. Achilles in his armor must have looked like a bronze +statue.--I took Sheridan's advice, and did not go down the mine." + +"_February 15th_.--To some iron-works the other day; where I saw half +the beam of a great steam-engine, a piece of iron forty feet long +and seven broad, cast in about five minutes. It was a very striking +spectacle. I hope to go to Penzance before I leave this country, and +will not fail to tell you about it." He did make trial of Penzance, +among other places, next year; but only of Falmouth this. + +"_February 20th_.--I am going on _asy_ here, in spite of a great change +of weather. The East-winds are come at last, bringing with them snow, +which has been driving about for the last twenty-four hours; not falling +heavily, nor lying long when fallen. Neither is it as yet very cold, but +I suppose there will be some six weeks of unpleasant temperature. +The marine climate of this part of England will, no doubt, modify and +mollify the air into a happier sort of substance than that you breathe +in London. + +"The large vessels that had been lying here for weeks, waiting for a +wind, have now sailed; two of them for the East Indies, and having three +hundred soldiers on board. It is a curious thing that the long-continued +westerly winds had so prevented the coasters arriving, that the Town was +almost on the point of a famine as to bread. The change has brought in +abundance of flour.--The people in general seem extremely comfortable; +their houses are excellent, almost all of stone. Their habits are very +little agricultural, but mining and fishing seem to prosper with +them. There are hardly any gentry here; I have not seen more than two +gentlemen's carriages in the Town; indeed I think the nearest one comes +from five miles off.... + +"I have been obliged to try to occupy myself with Natural Science, in +order to give some interest to my walks; and have begun to feel my way +in Geology. I have now learnt to recognize three or four of the common +kinds of stone about here, when I see them; but I find it stupid work +compared with Poetry and Philosophy. In the mornings, however, for an +hour or so before I get up, I generally light my candle, and try to +write some verses; and since I have been here, I have put together short +poems, almost enough for another small volume. In the evenings I have +gone on translating some of Goethe. But six or seven hours spent on my +legs, in the open air, do not leave my brain much energy for thinking. +Thus my life is a dull and unprofitable one, but still better than it +would have been in Madeira or on board ship. I hear from Susan every +day, and write to her by return of post." + +At Falmouth Sterling had been warmly welcomed by the well-known +Quaker family of the Foxes, principal people in that place, persons of +cultivated opulent habits, and joining to the fine purities and pieties +of their sect a reverence for human intelligence in all kinds; to whom +such a visitor as Sterling was naturally a welcome windfall. The family +had grave elders, bright cheery younger branches, men and women; truly +amiable all, after their sort: they made a pleasant image of home for +Sterling in his winter exile. "Most worthy, respectable and highly +cultivated people, with a great deal of money among them," writes +Sterling in the end of February; "who make the place pleasant to me. +They are connected with all the large Quaker circle, the Gurneys, Frys, +&c., and also with Buxton the Abolitionist. It is droll to hear them +talking of all the common topics of science, literature, and life, and +in the midst of it: 'Does thou know Wordsworth?' or, 'Did thou see the +Coronation?' or 'Will thou take some refreshment?' They are very kind +and pleasant people to know." + +"Calvert," continues our Diarist, "is better than he lately was, though +he has not been at all laid up. He shoots little birds, and dissects +and stuffs them; while I carry a hammer, and break flints and slates, +to look for diamonds and rubies inside; and admire my success in the +evening, when I empty my great-coat pocket of its specimens. On the +whole, I doubt whether my physical proceedings will set the Thames +on fire. Give my love to Anthony's Charlotte; also remember me +affectionately to the Carlyles."-- + +At this time, too, John Mill, probably encouraged by Sterling, arrived +in Falmouth, seeking refuge of climate for a sickly younger Brother, to +whom also, while he continued there, and to his poor patient, the doors +and hearts of this kind family were thrown wide open. Falmouth, during +these winter weeks, especially while Mill continued, was an unexpectedly +engaging place to Sterling; and he left it in spring, for Clifton, with +a very kindly image of it in his thoughts. So ended, better than it +might have done, his first year's flight from the Clifton winter. + +In April, 1840, he was at his own hearth again; cheerily pursuing his +old labors,--struggling to redeem, as he did with a gallant constancy, +the available months and days, out of the wreck of so many that were +unavailable, for the business allotted him in this world. His swift, +decisive energy of character; the valiant rally he made again and ever +again, starting up fresh from amid the wounded, and cheerily storming in +anew, was admirable, and showed a noble fund of natural health amid such +an element of disease. Somehow one could never rightly fancy that he +was diseased; that those fatal ever-recurring downbreaks were not almost +rather the penalties paid for exuberance of health, and of faculty +for living and working; criminal forfeitures, incurred by excess of +self-exertion and such irrepressible over-rapidity of movement: and the +vague hope was habitual with us, that increase of years, as it deadened +this over-energy, would first make the man secure of life, and a sober +prosperous worker among his fellows. It was always as if with a kind +of blame that one heard of his being ill again! Poor Sterling;--no man +knows another's burden: these things were not, and were not to be, in +the way we had fancied them! + +Summer went along in its usual quiet tenor at Clifton; health good, as +usual while the warm weather lasted, and activity abundant; the scene +as still as the busiest could wish. "You metropolitan signors," writes +Sterling to his Father, "cannot conceive the dulness and scantiness of +our provincial chronicle." Here is a little excursion to the seaside; +the lady of the family being again,--for good reasons,--in a weakly +state:-- + + "_To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London_. + "PORTSHEAD, BRISTOL, 1st Sept., 1840. + +"MY DEAR FATHER,--This place is a southern headland at the mouth of the +Avon. Susan, and the Children too, were all suffering from languor; and +as she is quite unfit to travel in a carriage, we were obliged to move, +if at all, to some place accessible by water; and this is the nearest +where we could get the fresher air of the Bristol Channel. We sent to +take a house, for a week; and came down here in a steamer yesterday +morning. It seems likely to do every one good. We have a comfortable +house, with eight rather small bedrooms, for which we pay four guineas +and a half for the week. We have brought three of our own maids, and +leave one to take care of the house at Clifton. + +"A week ago my horse fell with me, but did not hurt seriously either +himself or me: it was, however, rather hard that, as there were six legs +to be damaged, the one that did scratch itself should belong to the part +of the machine possessing only two, instead of the quadrupedal portion. +I grazed about the size of a halfpenny on my left knee; and for a couple +of days walked about as if nothing had happened. I found, however, +that the skin was not returning correctly; and so sent for a doctor: he +treated the thing as quite insignificant, but said I must keep my leg +quiet for a few days. It is still not quite healed; and I lie all day +on a sofa, much to my discomposure; but the thing is now rapidly +disappearing; and I hope, in a day or two more, I shall be free again. I +find I can do no work, while thus crippled in my leg. The man in Horace +who made verses _stans pede in uno_ had the advantage of me. + +"The Great Western came in last night about eleven, and has just been +making a flourish past our windows; looking very grand, with four +streamers of bunting, and one of smoke. Of course I do not yet know +whether I have Letters by her, as if so they will have gone to Clifton +first. This place is quiet, green and pleasant; and will suit us very +well, if we have good weather, of which there seems every appearance. + +"Milnes spent last Sunday with me at Clifton; and was very amusing +and cordial. It is impossible for those who know him well not to like +him.--I send this to Knightsbridge, not knowing where else to hit you. +Love to my Mother. + + "Your affectionate, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The expected "Letters by the Great Western" are from Anthony, now in +Canada, doing military duties there. The "Milnes" is our excellent +Richard, whom all men know, and truly whom none can know well without +even doing as Sterling says.--In a week the family had returned to +Clifton; and Sterling was at his poetizings and equitations again. His +grand business was now Poetry; all effort, outlook and aim exclusively +directed thither, this good while. + +Of the published Volume Moxon gave the worst tidings; no man had +hailed it with welcome; unsold it lay, under the leaden seal of general +neglect; the public when asked what it thought, had answered hitherto by +a lazy stare. It shall answer otherwise, thought Sterling; by no means +taking that as the final response. It was in this same September that he +announced to me and other friends, under seal of secrecy as usual, the +completion, or complete first-draught, of "a new Poem reaching to two +thousand verses." By working "three hours every morning" he had brought +it so far. This Piece, entitled _The Election_, of which in due time we +obtained perusal, and had to give some judgment, proved to be in a new +vein,--what might be called the mock-heroic, or sentimental Hudibrastic, +reminding one a little, too, of Wieland's _Oberon_;--it had touches of +true drollery combined not ill with grave clear insight; showed spirit +everywhere, and a plainly improved power of execution. Our stingy +verdict was to the effect, "Better, but still not good enough:--why +follow that sad 'metrical' course, climbing the loose sandhills, when +you have a firm path along the plain?" To Sterling himself it remained +dubious whether so slight a strain, new though it were, would suffice to +awaken the sleeping public; and the Piece was thrown away and taken up +again, at intervals; and the question, Publish or not publish? lay many +months undecided. + +Meanwhile his own feeling was now set more and more towards Poetry; +and in spite of symptoms and dissuasions, and perverse prognostics of +outward wind and weather, he was rallying all his force for a downright +struggle with it; resolute to see which _was_ the stronger. It must be +owned, he takes his failures in the kindliest manner; and goes along, +bating no jot of heart or hope. Perhaps I should have more admired this +than I did! My dissuasions, in that case, might have been fainter. But +then my sincerity, which was all the use of my poor counsel in assent +or dissent, would have been less. He was now furthermore busy with a +_Tragedy of Strafford_, the theme of many failures in Tragedy; planning +it industriously in his head; eagerly reading in _Whitlocke, Rushworth_ +and the Puritan Books, to attain a vesture and local habitation for it. +Faithful assiduous studies I do believe;--of which, knowing my stubborn +realism, and savage humor towards singing by the Thespian or other +methods, he told me little, during his visits that summer. + + +The advance of the dark weather sent him adrift again; to Torquay, +for this winter: there, in his old Falmouth climate, he hoped to do +well;--and did, so far as well-doing was readily possible, in that sad +wandering way of life. However, be where he may, he tries to work "two +or three hours in the morning," were it even "with a lamp," in bed, +before the fires are lit; and so makes something of it. From abundant +Letters of his now before me, I glean these two or three small glimpses; +sufficient for our purpose at present. The general date is "Tor, near +Torquay:"-- + + _To Mrs. Charles Fox, Falmouth_. + +_Tor, November 30th_, 1840.--I reached this place on Thursday; having, +after much hesitation, resolved to come here, at least for the next +three weeks,--with some obscure purpose of embarking, at the New Year, +from Falmouth for Malta, and so reaching Naples, which I have not seen. +There was also a doubt whether I should not, after Christmas, bring my +family here for the first four months of the year. All this, however, +is still doubtful. But for certain inhabitants of Falmouth and its +neighborhood, this place would be far more attractive than it. But I +have here also friends, whose kindness, like much that I met with last +winter, perpetually makes me wonder at the stock of benignity in human +nature. A brother of my friend Julius Hare, Marcus by name, a Naval man, +and though not a man of letters, full of sense and knowledge, lives +here in a beautiful place, with a most agreeable and excellent wife, a +daughter of Lord Stanley of Alderley. I had hardly seen them before; +but they are fraternizing with me, in a much better than the Jacobin +fashion; and one only feels ashamed at the enormity of some people's +good-nature. I am in a little rural sort of lodging; and as comfortable +as a solitary oyster can expect to be."-- + + _To C. Barton_. + +"_December 5th_.--This place is extremely small, much more so than +Falmouth even; but pretty, cheerful, and very mild in climate. There are +a great many villas in and about the little Town, having three or +four reception-rooms, eight or ten bedrooms; and costing about fifteen +hundred or two thousand pounds each, and occupied by persons spending +a thousand or more pounds a year. If the Country would acknowledge my +merits by the gift of one of these, I could prevail on myself to come +and live here; which would be the best move for my health I could +make in England; but, in the absence of any such expression of public +feeling, it would come rather dear."-- + + _To Mrs. Fox again_. + +"_December 22d_.--By the way, did you ever read a Novel? If you ever +mean to do so hereafter, let it be Miss Martineau's _Deerbrook_. It is +really very striking; and parts of it are very true and very beautiful. +It is not so true, or so thoroughly clear and harmonious, among +delineations of English middle-class gentility, as Miss Austen's books, +especially as _Pride and Prejudice_, which I think exquisite; but it +is worth reading. _The hour and the Man_ is eloquent, but an absurd +exaggeration.--I hold out so valorously against this Scandinavian +weather, that I deserve to be ranked with Odin and Thor; and fancy I may +go to live at Clifton or Drontheim. Have you had the same icy desolation +as prevails here?" + + _To W. Coningham, Esq_. + +"_December 28th_.--Looking back to him [a deceased Uncle, father of his +correspondent], as I now very often do, I feel strongly, what the loss +of other friends has also impressed on me, how much Death deepens our +affection; and sharpens our regret for whatever has been even slightly +amiss in our conduct towards those who are gone. What trifles then +swell into painful importance; how we believe that, could the past be +recalled, life would present no worthier, happier task, than that of so +bearing ourselves towards those we love, that we might ever after find +nothing but melodious tranquillity breathing about their graves! Yet, +too often, I feel the difficulty of always practicing such mild wisdom +towards those who are still left me.--You will wonder less at my +rambling off in this way, when I tell you that my little lodging is +close to a picturesque old Church and Churchyard, where, every day, I +brush past a tombstone, recording that an Italian, of Manferrato, has +buried there a girl of sixteen, his only daughter: _'L' unica speranza +di mia vita_.'--No doubt, as you say, our Mechanical Age is necessary as +a passage to something better; but, at least, do not let us go back."-- + +At the New-year time, feeling unusually well, he returns to Clifton. His +plans, of course, were ever fluctuating; his movements were swift and +uncertain. Alas, his whole life, especially his winter-life, had to be +built as if on wavering drift-sand; nothing certain in it, except if +possible the "two or three hours of work" snatched from the general +whirlpool of the dubious four-and-twenty! + + _To Dr. Carlyle_. + +"_Clifton, January 10th_, 1841.--I stood the sharp frost at Torquay +with such entire impunity, that at last I took courage, and resolved to +return home. I have been here a week, in extreme cold; and have suffered +not at all; so that I hope, with care I may prosper in spite of medical +prognostics,--if you permit such profane language. I am even able to +work a good deal; and write for some hours every morning, by dint +of getting up early, which an Arnott stove in my study enables me to +do."--But at Clifton he cannot continue. Again, before long, the rude +weather has driven him Southward; the spring finds him in his former +haunts; doubtful as ever what to decide upon for the future; but tending +evidently towards a new change of residence for household and self:-- + + _To W. Coningham, Esq_. + +"_Penzance, April 19th_, 1841.--My little Boy and I have been wandering +about between Torquay and this place; and latterly have had my Father +for a few days with us,--he left us yesterday. In all probability I +shall endeavor to settle either at Torquay, at Falmouth, or here; as it +is pretty clear that I cannot stand the sharp air of Clifton, and +still less the London east-winds. Penzance is, on the whole, a +pleasant-looking, cheerful place; with a delightful mildness of air, and +a great appearance of comfort among the people: the view of Mount's Bay +is certainly a very noble one. Torquay would suit the health of my +Wife and Children better; or else I should be glad to live here always, +London and its neighborhood being impracticable."--Such was his second +wandering winter; enough to render the prospect of a third at Clifton +very uninviting. + + +With the Falmouth friends, young and old, his intercourse had meanwhile +continued cordial and frequent. The omens were pointing towards that +region at his next place of abode. Accordingly, in few weeks hence, in +the June of this Summer, 1841, his dubitations and inquirings are again +ended for a time; he has fixed upon a house in Falmouth, and removed +thither; bidding Clifton, and the regretful Clifton friends, a kind +farewell. This was the _fifth_ change of place for his family since +Bayswater; the fifth, and to one chief member of it the last. Mrs. +Sterling had brought him a new child in October last; and went hopefully +to Falmouth, dreading _other_ than what befell there. + + + +CHAPTER III. FALMOUTH: POEMS. + +At Falmouth, as usual, he was soon at home in his new environment; +resumed his labors; had his new small circle of acquaintance, the ready +and constant centre of which was the Fox family, with whom he lived on +an altogether intimate, honored and beloved footing; realizing his best +anticipations in that respect, which doubtless were among his first +inducements to settle in this new place. Open cheery heights, rather +bare of wood: fresh southwestern breezes; a brisk laughing sea, swept by +industrious sails, and the nets of a most stalwart, wholesome, frank +and interesting population: the clean little fishing, trading and packet +Town; hanging on its slope towards the Eastern sun, close on the waters +of its basin and intricate bay,--with the miniature Pendennis Castle +seaward on the right, the miniature St. Mawes landward to left, and the +mining world and the farming world open boundlessly to the rear:--all +this made a pleasant outlook and environment. And in all this, as in the +other new elements of his position, Sterling, open beyond most men to +the worth of things about him, took his frank share. From the first, +he had liked the general aspect of the population, and their healthy, +lively ways; not to speak of the special friendships he had formed +there, which shed a charm over them all. "Men of strong character, clear +heads and genuine goodness," writes he, "are by no means wanting." And +long after: "The common people here dress better than in most parts of +England; and on Sundays, if the weather be at all fine, their appearance +is very pleasant. One sees them all round the Town, especially towards +Pendennis Castle, streaming in a succession of little groups, and +seeming for the most part really and quietly happy." On the whole he +reckoned himself lucky; and, so far as locality went, found this a +handsome shelter for the next two years of his life. Two years, and not +without an interruption; that was all. Here we have no continuing city; +he less than any of us! One other flight for shelter; and then it is +ended, and he has found an inexpugnable refuge. Let us trace his remote +footsteps, as we have opportunity:-- + + _To Dr. Symonds, Clifton_. + +"_Falmouth, June 28th_, 1841.--Newman writes to me that he is gone to +the Rhine. I wish I were! And yet the only 'wish' at the bottom of my +heart, is to be able to work vigorously in my own way anywhere, were it +in some Circle of Dante's Inferno. This, however, is the secret of my +soul, which I disclose only to a few." + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Falmouth, July 6th_, 1841.--I have at last my own study made +comfortable; the carpet being now laid down, and most of my +appurtenances in tolerable order. By and by I shall, unless stopped by +illness, get myself together, and begin living an orderly life and +doing my daily task. I have swung a cot in my dressing-room; partly as +a convenience for myself, partly as a sort of memorial of my poor Uncle, +in whose cot in his dressing-room at Lisworney I remember to have slept +when a child. I have put a good large bookcase in my drawing-room, and +all the rest of my books fit very well into the study." + + _To Mr. Carlyle_. + +"_July 6th_.--No books have come in my way but Emerson's, which I value +full as much as you, though as yet I have read only some corners of +it. We have had an Election here, of the usual stamp; to me a droll +'realized Ideal,' after my late metrical adventures in that line. But +the oddest sign of the Times I know, is a cheap Translation of Strauss's +_Leben Jesu_, now publishing in numbers, and said to be circulating far +and wide. What does--or rather, what does not--this portend?"-- + + +With the Poem called _The Election_, here alluded to, which had been +more than once revised and reconsidered, he was still under some +hesitations; but at last had well-nigh resolved, as from the first it +was clear he would do, on publishing it. This occupied some occasional +portion of his thoughts. But his grand private affair, I believe, was +now _Strafford_; to which, or to its adjuncts, all working hours were +devoted. Sterling's notions of Tragedy are high enough. This is what he +writes once, in reference to his own task in these weeks: "Few, I fancy, +know how much harder it is to write a Tragedy than to realize or be one. +Every man has in his heart and lot, if he pleases, and too many whether +they please or no, all the woes of OEdipus and Antigone. But it takes +the One, the Sophocles of a thousand years, to utter these in the +full depth and harmony of creative song. Curious, by the way, how that +Dramatic Form of the old Greek, with only some superficial changes, +remains a law not only for the stage, but for the thoughts of all Poets; +and what a charm it has even for the reader who never saw a theatre. The +Greek Plays and Shakspeare have interested a hundred as books, for one +who has seen their writings acted. How lightly does the mere clown, the +idle school-girl, build a private theatre in the fancy, and laugh or +weep with Falstaff and Macbeth: with how entire an oblivion of the +artificial nature of the whole contrivance, which thus compels them +to be their own architects, machinists, scene-painters, and actors! In +fact, the artifice succeeds,--becomes grounded in the substance of the +soul: and every one loves to feel how he is thus brought face to face +with the brave, the fair, the woful and the great of all past ages; +looks into their eyes, and feels the beatings of their hearts; and +reads, over the shoulder, the secret written tablets of the busiest +and the largest brains; while the Juggler, by whose cunning the whole +strange beautiful absurdity is set in motion, keeps himself hidden; +sings loud with a mouth unmoving as that of a statue, and makes the +human race cheat itself unanimously and delightfully by the illusion +that he preordains; while as an obscure Fate, he sits invisible, and +hardly lets his being be divined by those who cannot flee him. The Lyric +Art is childish, and the Epic barbarous, compared to this. But of the +true and perfect Drama it may be said, as of even higher mysteries, +Who is sufficient for these things?"--On this _Tragedy of Strafford_, +writing it and again writing it, studying for it, and bending himself +with his whole strength to do his best on it, he expended many strenuous +months,--"above a year of his life," he computes, in all. + +For the rest, what Falmouth has to give him he is willing to take, and +mingles freely in it. In Hare's Collection there is given a _Lecture_ +which he read in Autumn, 1841 (Mr. Hare says "1842," by mistake), to a +certain Public Institution in the place,--of which more anon;--a piece +interesting in this, if not much in any other respect. Doubtless his +friends the Foxes were at the heart of that lecturing enterprise, and +had urged and solicited him. Something like proficiency in certain +branches of science, as I have understood, characterized one or more of +this estimable family; love of knowledge, taste for art, wish to consort +with wisdom and wise men, were the tendencies of all; to opulent means +superadd the Quaker beneficence, Quaker purity and reverence, there is a +circle in which wise men also may love to be. Sterling made acquaintance +here with whatever of notable in worthy persons or things might be +afoot in those parts; and was led thereby, now and then, into pleasant +reunions, in new circles of activity, which might otherwise have +continued foreign to him. The good Calvert, too, was now here; and +intended to remain;--which he mostly did henceforth, lodging in +Sterling's neighborhood, so long as lodging in this world was permitted +him. Still good and clear and cheerful; still a lively comrade, within +doors or without,--a diligent rider always,--though now wearing visibly +weaker, and less able to exert himself. + +Among those accidental Falmouth reunions, perhaps the notablest for +Sterling occurred in this his first season. There is in Falmouth an +Association called the _Cornwall Polytechnic Society_, established about +twenty years ago, and supported by the wealthy people of the Town and +neighborhood, for the encouragement of the arts in that region; it has +its Library, its Museum, some kind of Annual Exhibition withal; gives +prizes, publishes reports: the main patrons, I believe, are Sir Charles +Lemon, a well-known country gentleman of those parts, and the Messrs. +Fox. To this, so far as he liked to go in it, Sterling was sure to be +introduced and solicited. The Polytechnic meeting of 1841 was unusually +distinguished; and Sterling's part in it formed one of the pleasant +occurrences for him in Falmouth. It was here that, among other +profitable as well as pleasant things, he made acquaintance with +Professor Owen (an event of which I too had my benefit in due time, and +still have): the bigger assemblage called _British Association_, which +met at Plymouth this year, having now just finished its affairs there, +Owen and other distinguished persons had taken Falmouth in their route +from it. Sterling's account of this Polytechnic gala still remains,--in +three Letters to his Father, which, omitting the extraneous portions, +I will give in one,--as a piece worth reading among those still-life +pictures:-- + + "To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London. + "FALMOUTH, 10th August, 1841. + +"MY DEAR FATHER,--I was not well for a day or two after you went; and +since, I have been busy about an annual show of the Polytechnic Society +here, in which my friends take much interest, and for which I have been +acting as one of the judges in the department of the Fine Arts, and have +written a little Report for them. As I have not said that Falmouth is as +eminent as Athens or Florence, perhaps the Committee will not adopt my +statement. But if they do, it will be of some use; for I have hinted, as +delicately as possible, that people should not paint historical pictures +before they have the power of drawing a decent outline of a pig or a +cabbage. I saw Sir Charles Lemon yesterday, who was kind as well as +civil in his manner; and promises to be a pleasant neighbor. There are +several of the British Association heroes here; but not Whewell, or any +one whom I know." + +"_August 17th_.--At the Polytechnic Meeting here we had several very +eminent men; among others, Professor Owen, said to be the first of +comparative anatomists, and Conybeare the geologist. Both of these +gave evening Lectures; and after Conybeare's, at which I happened to be +present, I said I would, if they chose, make some remarks on the +Busts which happened to be standing there, intended for prizes in the +department of the Fine Arts. They agreed gladly. The heads were Homer, +Pericles, Augustus, Dante and Michael Angelo. I got into the box-like +platform, with these on a shelf before me; and began a talk which +must have lasted some three quarters of an hour; describing partly the +characters and circumstances of the men, illustrated by anecdotes and +compared with their physiognomies, and partly the several styles of +sculpture exhibited in the Casts, referring these to what I considered +the true principles of the Art. The subject was one that interests +me, and I got on in famous style; and had both pit and galleries all +applauding, in a way that had had no precedent during any other part +of the meeting. Conybeare paid me high compliments; Owen looked much +pleased,--an honor well purchased by a year's hard work;--and everybody, +in short, seemed delighted. Susan was not there, and I had nothing to +make me nervous; so that I worked away freely, and got vigorously over +the ground. After so many years' disuse of rhetoric, it was a pleasant +surprise to myself to find that I could still handle the old weapons +without awkwardness. More by good luck than good guidance, it has done +my health no harm. I have been at Sir Charles Lemon's, though only to +pay a morning visit, having declined to stay there or dine, the hours +not suiting me. They were very civil. The person I saw most of was +his sister, Lady Dunstanville; a pleasant, well-informed and well-bred +woman. He seems a most amiable, kindly man, of fair good sense and +cultivated tastes.--I had a letter to-day from my Mother [in Scotland]; +who says she sent you one which you were to forward me; which I hope +soon to have." + +"_August 29th_.--I returned yesterday from Carclew, Sir C. Lemon's fine +place about five miles off; where I had been staying a couple of days, +with apparently the heartiest welcome. Susan was asked; but wanting a +Governess, could not leave home. + +"Sir Charles is a widower (his Wife was sister to Lord Ilchester) +without children; but had a niece staying with him, and his sister +Lady Dunstanville, a pleasant and very civil woman. There were also Mr. +Bunbury, eldest son of Sir Henry Bunbury, a man of much cultivation and +strong talents; Mr. Fox Talbot, son, I think, of another Ilchester +lady, and brother of _the_ Talbot of Wales, but himself a man of +large fortune, and known for photogenic and other scientific plans of +extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. He also is a man of known ability, +but chiefly employed in that peculiar department. _Item_ Professors +Lloyd and Owen: the former, of Dublin, son of the late Provost, I +had seen before and knew; a great mathematician and optician, and a +discoverer in those matters; with a clever little Wife, who has a great +deal of knowledge, quite free from pretension. Owen is a first-rate +comparative anatomist, they say the greatest since Cuvier; lives in +London, and lectures there. On the whole, he interested me more than any +of them,--by an apparent force and downrightness of mind, combined with +much simplicity and frankness. + +"Nothing could be pleasanter and easier than the habits of life, with +what to me was a very unusual degree of luxury, though probably nothing +but what is common among people of large fortune. The library and +pictures are nothing extraordinary. The general tone of good nature, +good sense and quiet freedom, was what struck me most; and I think +besides this there was a disposition to be cordially courteous towards +me.... + +"I took Edward a ride of two hours yesterday on Calvert's pony, and he +is improving fast in horsemanship. The school appears to answer very +well. We shall have the Governess in a day or two, which will be a great +satisfaction. Will you send my Mother this scribble with my love; and +believe me, + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + +One other little event dwells with me, out of those Falmouth times, +exact date now forgotten; a pleasant little matter, in which Sterling, +and principally the Misses Fox, bright cheery young creatures, were +concerned; which, for the sake of its human interest, is worth mention. +In a certain Cornish mine, said the Newspapers duly specifying it, +two miners deep down in the shaft were engaged putting in a shot for +blasting: they had completed their affair, and were about to give the +signal for being hoisted up,--one at a time was all their coadjutor at +the top could manage, and the second was to kindle the match, and then +mount with all speed. Now it chanced while they were both still below, +one of them thought the match too long; tried to break it shorter, took +a couple of stones, a flat and a sharp, to cut it shorter; did cut it +of the due length, but, horrible to relate, kindled it at the same time, +and both were still below! Both shouted vehemently to the coadjutor at +the windlass, both sprang at the basket; the windlass man could not move +it with them both. Here was a moment for poor miner Jack and miner Will! +Instant horrible death hangs over both,--when Will generously resigns +himself: "Go aloft, Jack," and sits down; "away; in one minute I shall +be in Heaven!" Jack bounds aloft, the explosion instantly follows, +bruises his face as he looks over; he is safe above ground: and poor +Will? Descending eagerly they find Will too, as if by miracle, buried +under rocks which had arched themselves over him, and little injured: he +too is brought up safe, and all ends joyfully, say the Newspapers. + +Such a piece of manful promptitude, and salutary human heroism, was +worth investigating. It was investigated; found to be accurate to the +letter,--with this addition and explanation, that Will, an honest, +ignorant good man, entirely given up to Methodism, had been perfect in +the "faith of assurance," certain that _he_ should get to Heaven if +he died, certain that Jack would not, which had been the ground of his +decision in that great moment;--for the rest, that he much wished +to learn reading and writing, and find some way of life above ground +instead of below. By aid of the Misses Fox and the rest of that family, +a subscription (modest _Anti_-Hudson testimonial) was raised to this +Methodist hero: he emerged into daylight with fifty pounds in his +pocket; did strenuously try, for certain months, to learn reading and +writing; found he could not learn those arts or either of them; took his +money and bought cows with it, wedding at the same time some religious +likely milkmaid; and is, last time I heard of him, a prosperous modest +dairyman, thankful for the upper light and safety from the wrath to +come. Sterling had some hand in this affair: but, as I said, it was the +two young ladies of the family that mainly did it. + +In the end of 1841, after many hesitations and revisals, _The Election_ +came out; a tiny Duodecimo without name attached; [24] again inquiring of +the public what its suffrage was; again to little purpose. My vote had +never been loud for this step, but neither was it quite adverse; and +now, in reading the poor little Poem over again, after ten years' +space, I find it, with a touching mixture of pleasure and repentance, +considerably better than it then seemed to me. My encouragement, if not +to print this poem, yet to proceed with Poetry, since there was such a +resolution for it, might have been a little more decided! + +This is a small Piece, but aims at containing great things; a _multum +in parvo_ after its sort; and is executed here and there with undeniable +success. The style is free and flowing, the rhyme dances along with a +certain joyful triumph; everything of due brevity withal. That mixture +of mockery on the surface, which finely relieves the real earnestness +within, and flavors even what is not very earnest and might even be +insipid otherwise, is not ill managed: an amalgam difficult to effect +well in writing; nay, impossible in writing,--unless it stand already +done and effected, as a general fact, in the writer's mind and +character; which will betoken a certain ripeness there. + +As I said, great things are intended in this little Piece; the motto +itself foreshadowing them:-- + + "_Fluellen_. Ancient Pistol, I do partly understand your + meaning. + _Pistol_. Why, then, rejoice therefor." + +A stupid commonplace English Borough has lost its Member suddenly, by +apoplexy or otherwise; resolves, in the usual explosive temper of mind, +to replace him by one of two others; whereupon strange stirring-up of +rival-attorney and other human interests and catastrophes. "Frank Vane" +(Sterling himself), and "Peter Mogg," the pattern English blockhead of +elections: these are the candidates. There are, of course, fierce rival +attorneys; electors of all creeds and complexions to be canvassed: a +poor stupid Borough thrown all into red or white heat; into blazing +paroxysms of activity and enthusiasm, which render the inner life of it +(and of England and the world through it) luminously transparent, so to +speak;--of which opportunity our friend and his "Muse" take dexterous +advantage, to delineate the same. His pictures are uncommonly good; +brief, joyous, sometimes conclusively true: in rigorously compressed +shape; all is merry freshness and exuberance: we have leafy summer +embowering red bricks and small human interests, presented as in glowing +miniature; a mock-heroic action fitly interwoven;--and many a clear +glance is carelessly given into the deepest things by the way. Very +happy also is the little love-episode; and the absorption of all the +interest into that, on the part of Frank Vane and of us, when once this +gallant Frank,--having fairly from his barrel-head stated his own (and +John Sterling's) views on the aspects of the world, and of course having +quite broken down with his attorney and his public,--handsomely, by +stratagem, gallops off with the fair Anne; and leaves free field to +Mogg, free field to the Hippopotamus if it like. This portrait of Mogg +may be considered to have merit:-- + + "Though short of days, how large the mind of man; + A godlike force enclosed within a span! + To climb the skies we spurn our nature's clog, + And toil as Titans to elect a Mogg. + + "And who was Mogg? O Muse! the man declare, + How excellent his worth, his parts how rare. + A younger son, he learnt in Oxford's halls + The spheral harmonies of billiard-balls, + Drank, hunted, drove, and hid from Virtue's frown + His venial follies in Decorum's gown. + Too wise to doubt on insufficient cause, + He signed old Cranmer's lore without a pause; + And knew that logic's cunning rules are taught + To guard our creed, and not invigorate thought,-- + As those bronze steeds at Venice, kept for pride, + Adorn a Town where not one man can ride. + + "From Isis sent with all her loud acclaims, + The Laws he studied on the banks of Thames. + Park, race and play, in his capacious plan, + Combined with Coke to form the finished man, + Until the wig's ambrosial influence shed + Its last full glories on the lawyer's head. + + "But vain are mortal schemes. The eldest son + At Harrier Hall had scarce his stud begun, + When Death's pale courser took the Squire away + To lands where never dawns a hunting day: + And so, while Thomas vanished 'mid the fog, + Bright rose the morning-star of Peter Mogg." [25] + +And this little picture, in a quite opposite way:-- + + "Now, in her chamber all alone, the maid + Her polished limbs and shoulders disarrayed; + One little taper gave the only light, + One little mirror caught so dear a sight; + 'Mid hangings dusk and shadows wide she stood, + Like some pale Nymph in dark-leafed solitude + Of rocks and gloomy waters all alone, + Where sunshine scarcely breaks on stump or stone + To scare the dreamy vision. Thus did she, + A star in deepest night, intent but free, + Gleam through the eyeless darkness, heeding not + Her beauty's praise, but musing o'er her lot. + + "Her garments one by one she laid aside, + And then her knotted hair's long locks untied + With careless hand, and down her cheeks they fell, + And o'er her maiden bosom's blue-veined swell. + The right-hand fingers played amidst her hair, + And with her reverie wandered here and there: + The other hand sustained the only dress + That now but half concealed her loveliness; + And pausing, aimlessly she stood and thought, + In virgin beauty by no fear distraught." + +Manifold, and beautiful of their sort, are Anne's musings, in this +interesting attitude, in the summer midnight, in the crisis of her +destiny now near;--at last:-- + + "But Anne, at last her mute devotions o'er, + Perceived the feet she had forgot before + Of her too shocking nudity; and shame + Flushed from her heart o'er all the snowy frame: + And, struck from top to toe with burning dread, + She blew the light out, and escaped to bed." [26] + +--which also is a very pretty movement. + +It must be owned withal, the Piece is crude in parts, and far enough +from perfect. Our good painter has yet several things to learn, and +to unlearn. His brush is not always of the finest; and dashes about, +sometimes, in a recognizably sprawling way: but it hits many a feature +with decisive accuracy and felicity; and on the palette, as usual, lie +the richest colors. A grand merit, too, is the brevity of everything; by +no means a spontaneous, or quite common merit with Sterling. + +This new poetic Duodecimo, as the last had done and as the next also +did, met with little or no recognition from the world: which was not +very inexcusable on the world's part; though many a poem with far less +proof of merit than this offers, has run, when the accidents favored it, +through its tens of editions, and raised the writer to the demigods for +a year or two, if not longer. Such as it is, we may take it as marking, +in its small way, in a noticed or unnoticed manner, a new height arrived +at by Sterling in his Poetic course; and almost as vindicating the +determination he had formed to keep climbing by that method. Poor Poem, +or rather Promise of a Poem! In Sterling's brave struggle, this little +_Election_ is the highest point he fairly lived to see attained, and +openly demonstrated in print. His next public adventure in this kind +was of inferior worth; and a third, which had perhaps intrinsically gone +much higher than any of its antecessors, was cut off as a fragment, and +has not hitherto been published. Steady courage is needed on the Poetic +course, as on all courses!-- + +Shortly after this Publication, in the beginning of 1842, poor Calvert, +long a hopeless sufferer, was delivered by death: Sterling's faithful +fellow-pilgrim could no more attend him in his wayfarings through this +world. The weary and heavy-laden man had borne his burden well. Sterling +says of him to Hare: "Since I wrote last, I have lost Calvert; the +man with whom, of all others, I have been during late years the most +intimate. Simplicity, benevolence, practical good sense and moral +earnestness were his great unfailing characteristics; and no man, I +believe, ever possessed them more entirely. His illness had latterly +so prostrated him, both in mind and body, that those who most loved him +were most anxious for his departure." There was something touching in +this exit; in the quenching of so kind and bright a little life under +the dark billows of death. To me he left a curious old Print of James +Nayler the Quaker, which I still affectionately preserve. + + +Sterling, from this greater distance, came perhaps rather seldomer to +London; but we saw him still at moderate intervals; and, through his +family here and other direct and indirect channels, were kept in lively +communication with him. Literature was still his constant pursuit; and, +with encouragement or without, Poetic composition his chosen department +therein. On the ill success of _The Election_, or any ill success with +the world, nobody ever heard him utter the least murmur; condolence upon +that or any such subject might have been a questionable operation, by no +means called for! Nay, my own approval, higher than this of the world, +had been languid, by no means enthusiastic. But our valiant friend took +all quietly; and was not to be repulsed from his Poetics either by the +world's coldness or by mine; he labored at his _Strafford_;--determined +to labor, in all ways, till he felt the end of his tether in this +direction. + +He sometimes spoke, with a certain zeal, of my starting a Periodical: +Why not lift up some kind of war-flag against the obese platitudes, and +sickly superstitious aperies and impostures of the time? But I had to +answer, "Who will join it, my friend?" He seemed to say, "I, for one;" +and there was occasionally a transient temptation in the thought, but +transient only. No fighting regiment, with the smallest attempt towards +drill, co-operation, commissariat, or the like unspeakable advantages, +could be raised in Sterling's time or mine; which truly, to honest +fighters, is a rather grievous want. A grievous, but not quite a fatal +one. For, failing this, failing all things and all men, there remains +the solitary battle (and were it by the poorest weapon, the tongue only, +or were it even by wise abstinence and silence and without any weapon), +such as each man for himself can wage while he has life: an indubitable +and infinitely comfortable fact for every man! Said battle shaped itself +for Sterling, as we have long since seen, chiefly in the poetic form, in +the singing or hymning rather than the speaking form; and in that he was +cheerfully assiduous according to his light. The unfortunate _Strafford_ +is far on towards completion; a _Coeur-de-Lion_, of which we shall hear +farther, "_Coeur-de-Lion_, greatly the best of all his Poems," unluckily +not completed, and still unpublished, already hangs in the wind. + +His Letters to friends continue copious; and he has, as always, a +loyally interested eye on whatsoever of notable is passing in the world. +Especially on whatsoever indicates to him the spiritual condition of the +world. Of "Strauss," in English or in German, we now hear nothing more; +of Church matters, and that only to special correspondents, less and +less. Strauss, whom he used to mention, had interested him only as a +sign of the times; in which sense alone do we find, for a year or two +back, any notice of the Church, or its affairs by Sterling; and at last +even this as good as ceases: "Adieu, O Church; thy road is that way, +mine is this: in God's name, adieu!" "What we are going _to_," says he +once, "is abundantly obscure; but what all men are going _from_, is very +plain."--Sifted out of many pages, not of sufficient interest, here are +one or two miscellaneous sentences, about the date we are now arrived +at:-- + + _To Dr. Symonds_. + +"_Falmouth, 3d November_, 1841.--Yesterday was my Wedding-day: eleven +years of marriage; and on the whole my verdict is clear for matrimony. +I solemnized the day by reading _John Gilpin_ to the children, who +with their Mother are all pretty well.... There is a trick of sham +Elizabethan writing now prevalent, that looks plausible, but in most +cases means nothing at all. Darley has real (lyrical) genius; Taylor, +wonderful sense, clearness and weight of purpose; Tennyson, a rich and +exquisite fancy. All the other men of our tiny generation that I know +of are, in Poetry, either feeble or fraudulent. I know nothing of the +Reviewer you ask about." + + _To his Mother_ + +"_December 11th_.--I have seen no new books; but am reading your last. +I got hold of the two first Numbers of the _Hoggarty Diamond_; and +read them with extreme delight. What is there better in Fielding or +Goldsmith? The man is a true genius; and, with quiet and comfort, might +produce masterpieces that would last as long as any we have, and delight +millions of unborn readers. There is more truth and nature in one of +these papers than in all ----'s Novels together."--Thackeray, always +a close friend of the Sterling house, will observe that this is dated +1841, not 1851, and have his own reflections on the matter! + + _To the Same_. + +"_December 17th_.--I am not much surprised at Lady ----'s views of +Coleridge's little Book on _Inspiration_.--Great part of the obscurity +of the Letters arises from his anxiety to avoid the difficulties and +absurdities of the common views, and his panic terror of saying anything +that bishops and good people would disapprove. He paid a heavy price, +viz. all his own candor and simplicity, in hope of gaining the favor of +persons like Lady ----; and you see what his reward is! A good lesson +for us all." + + _To the Same_. + +"_February 1st_, 1842.--English Toryism has, even in my eyes, about as +much to say for itself as any other form of doctrine; but Irish Toryism +is the downright proclamation of brutal injustice, and all in the name +of God and the Bible! It is almost enough to make one turn Mahometan, +but for the fear of the four wives." + + _To his Father_. + +"_March 12th_, 1842.--... Important to me as these matters are, it +almost seems as if there were something unfeeling in writing of them, +under the pressure of such news as ours from India. If the Cabool Troops +have perished, England has not received such a blow from an enemy, nor +anything approaching it, since Buckingham's Expedition to the Isle +of Rhe. Walcheren destroyed us by climate; and Corunna, with all its +losses, had much of glory. But here we are dismally injured by mere +Barbarians, in a War on our part shamefully unjust as well as foolish: +a combination of disgrace and calamity that would have shocked Augustus +even more than the defeat of Varus. One of the four officers with +Macnaghten was George Lawrence, a brother-in-law of Nat Barton; a +distinguished man, and the father of five totally unprovided children. +He is a prisoner, if not since murdered. Macnaghten I do not pity; he +was the prime author of the whole mad War. But Burnes; and the women; +and our regiments! India, however, I feel sure, is safe." + + +So roll the months at Falmouth; such is the ticking of the great +World-Horologe as heard there by a good ear. "I willingly add," so ends +he, once, "that I lately found somewhere this fragment of an Arab's +love-song: 'O Ghalia! If my father were a jackass, I would sell him to +purchase Ghalia!' A beautiful parallel to the French _'Avec cette sauce +on mangerait son pere_.'" + + + +CHAPTER IV. NAPLES: POEMS. + +In the bleak weather of this spring, 1842, he was again abroad for a +little while; partly from necessity, or at least utility; and partly, as +I guess, because these circumstances favored, and he could with a good +countenance indulge a little wish he had long had. In the Italian Tour, +which ended suddenly by Mrs. Sterling's illness recalling him, he had +missed Naples; a loss which he always thought to be considerable; +and which, from time to time, he had formed little projects, failures +hitherto, for supplying. The rigors of spring were always dangerous to +him in England, and it was always of advantage to get out of them: and +then the sight of Naples, too; this, always a thing to be done some day, +was now possible. Enough, with the real or imaginary hope of bettering +himself in health, and the certain one of seeing Naples, and catching a +glance of Italy again, he now made a run thither. It was not long after +Calvert's death. The Tragedy of _Strafford_ lay finished in his desk. +Several things, sad and bright, were finished. A little intermezzo of +ramble was not unadvisable. + +His tour by water and by land was brief and rapid enough; hardly above +two months in all. Of which the following Letters will, with some +abridgment, give us what details are needful:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq., Leamington_. + "FALMOUTH, 25th March, 1842. + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--My attempts to shoot you flying with my paper pellets +turned out very ill. I hope young ladies succeed better when they happen +to make appointments with you. Even now, I hardly know whether you +have received a Letter I wrote on Sunday last, and addressed to The +Cavendish. I sent it thither by Susan's advice. + +"In this missive,--happily for us both, it did not contain a +hundred-pound note or any trifle of that kind,--I informed you that I +was compelled to plan an expedition towards the South Pole; stopping, +however, in the Mediterranean; and that I designed leaving this on +Monday next for Cadiz or Gibraltar, and then going on to Malta, whence +Italy and Sicily would be accessible. Of course your company would be +a great pleasure, if it were possible for you to join me. The delay in +hearing from you, through no fault of yours, has naturally put me out a +little; but, on the whole, my plan still holds, and I shall leave this +on Monday for Gibraltar, where the _Great Liverpool_ will catch me, and +carry me to Malta. The _Great Liverpool_ leaves Southampton on the 1st +of April, and Falmouth on the 2d; and will reach Gibraltar in from four +to five days. + +"Now, if you _should_ be able and disposed to join me, you have only to +embark in that sumptuous tea-kettle, and pick me up under the guns of +the Rock. We could then cruise on to Malta, Sicily, Naples, Rome, &c., +_a discretion_. It is just _possible_, though extremely improbable, +that my steamer of Monday (most likely the _Montrose_) may not reach +Gibraltar so soon as the _Liverpool_. If so, and if you should actually +be on board, you must stop at Gibraltar. But there are ninety-nine +chances to one against this. Write at all events to Susan, to let her +know what you propose. + +"I do not wait till the _Great Liverpool_ goes, because the object for +me is to get into a warm climate as soon as possible. I am decidedly +better. + + "Your affectionate Brother, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Barton did not go with him, none went; but he arrives safe, and not +_hurt_ in health, which is something. + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "MALTA, 14th April, 1842. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I am writing to Susan through France, by to-morrow's +mail; and will also send you a line, instead of waiting for the longer +English conveyance. + +"We reached this the day before yesterday, in the evening; having had +a strong breeze against us for a day or two before; which made me +extremely uncomfortable,--and indeed my headache is hardly gone yet. +From about the 4th to the 9th of the month, we had beautiful weather, +and I was happy enough. You will see by the map that the straightest +line from Gibraltar to this place goes close along the African coast; +which accordingly we saw with the utmost clearness; and found it +generally a line of mountains, the higher peaks and ridges covered with +snow. We went close in to Algiers; which looks strong, but entirely from +art. The town lies on the slope of a straight coast; and is not at all +embayed, though there is some little shelter for shipping within the +mole. It is a square patch of white buildings huddled together; fringed +with batteries; and commanded by large forts on the ridge above: a most +uncomfortable-looking place; though, no doubt, there are _cafes_ and +billiard-rooms and a theatre within,--for the French like to have their +Houris, &c., on _this_ side of Paradise, if possible. + +"Our party of fifty people (we had taken some on board at Gibraltar) +broke up, on reaching this; never, of course, to meet again. The greater +part do not proceed to Alexandria. Considering that there was a bundle +of midshipmen, ensigns, &c., we had as much reason among us as could +perhaps be looked for; and from several I gained bits of information and +traits of character, though nothing very remarkable.... + +"I have established myself in an inn, rather than go to Lady +Louis's; [27] I not feeling quite equal to company, except in moderate +doses. I have, however, seen her a good deal; and dine there to-day, +very privately, for Sir John is not quite well, and they will have no +guests. The place, however, is full of official banqueting, for various +unimportant reasons. When here before, I was in much distress and +anxiety, on my way from Rome; and I suppose this it was that prevented +its making the same impression on me as now, when it seems really the +stateliest town I have ever seen. The architecture is generally of a +corrupt Roman kind; with something of the varied and picturesque look, +though much more massive, of our Elizabethan buildings. We have the +finest English summer and a pellucid sky.... Your affectionate + + "JOHN STERLING." + +At Naples next, for three weeks, was due admiration of the sceneries +and antiquities, Bay and Mountain, by no means forgetting Art and +the Museum: "to Pozzuoli, to Baiae, round the Promontory of +Sorrento;"--above all, "twice to Pompeii," where the elegance and +classic simplicity of Ancient Housekeeping strikes us much; and again to +Paestum, where "the Temple of Neptune is far the noblest building I +have ever seen; and makes both Greek and Revived Roman seem quite +barbaric.... Lord Ponsonby lodges in the same house with me;--but, of +course, I do not countenance an adherent of a beaten Party!" [28]--Or let +us take this more compendious account, which has much more of human in +it, from an onward stage, ten days later:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "ROME, 13th May, 1842, + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I hope I wrote to you before leaving England, to tell +you of the necessity for my doing so. Though coming to Italy, there +was little comfort in the prospect of being divided from my family, and +pursuits which grew on me every day. However, I tried to make the best +of it, and have gained both health and pleasure. + +"In spite of scanty communications from England (owing to the +uncertainty of my position), a word or two concerning you and your dear +Wife have reached me. Lately it has often occurred to me, that the sight +of the Bay of Naples, of the beautiful coast from that to this place, +and of Rome itself, all bathed in summer sunshine, and green with spring +foliage, would be some consolation to her. [29] Pray give her my love. + +"I have been two days here; and almost the first thing I did was to +visit the Protestant burial-ground, and the graves of those I knew when +here before. But much as being now alone here, I feel the difference, +there is no scene where Death seems so little dreadful and miserable as +in the lonelier neighborhoods of this old place. All one's impressions, +however, as to that and everything else, appear to me, on reflection, +more affected than I had for a long time any notion of, by one's own +isolation. All the feelings and activities which family, friends and +occupation commonly engage, are turned, here in one's solitude, with +strange force into the channels of mere observation and contemplation; +and the objects one is conversant with seem to gain a tenfold +significance from the abundance of spare interest one now has to bestow +on them. This explains to me a good deal of the peculiar effect that +Italy has always had on me: and something of that artistic enthusiasm +which I remember you used to think so singular in Goethe's _Travels_. +Darley, who is as much a brooding hermit in England as here, felt +nothing but disappointment from a country which fills me with childish +wonder and delight. + +"Of you I have received some slight notice from Mrs. Strachey; who is +on her way hither; and will (she writes) be at Florence on the 15th, and +here before the end of the month. She notices having received a Letter +of yours which had pleased her much. She now proposes spending the +summer at Sorrento, or thereabouts; and if mere delight of landscape and +climate were enough, Adam and Eve, had their courier taken them to that +region, might have done well enough without Paradise,--and not been +tempted, either, by any Tree of Knowledge; a kind that does not flourish +in the Two Sicilies. + +"The ignorance of the Neapolitans, from the highest to the lowest, is +very eminent; and excites the admiration of all the rest of Italy. In +the great building containing all the Works of Art, and a Library +of 150,000 volumes, I asked for the best existing Book (a German one +published ten years ago) on the Statues in that very Collection; and, +after a rabble of clerks and custodes, got up to a dirty priest, who +bowing to the ground regretted 'they did not possess it,' but at last +remembered that 'they _had_ entered into negotiations on the subject, +which as yet had been unsuccessful.'--The favorite device on the walls +at Naples is a vermilion Picture of a Male and Female Soul respectively +up to the waist (the waist of a _soul_) in fire, and an Angel above +each, watering the sufferers from a watering-pot. This is intended +to gain alms for Masses. The same populace sit for hours on the Mole, +listening to rhapsodists who recite Ariosto. I have seen I think five of +them all within a hundred yards of each other, and some sets of fiddlers +to boot. Yet there are few parts of the world where I have seen less +laughter than there. The Miracle of Januarius's Blood is, on the whole, +my most curious experience. The furious entreaties, shrieks and sobs, of +a set of old women, yelling till the Miracle was successfully performed, +are things never to be forgotten. + +"I spent three weeks in this most glittering of countries, and saw most +of the usual wonders,--the Paestan Temples being to me much the most +valuable. But Pompeii and all that it has yielded, especially the Fresco +Paintings, have also an infinite interest. When one considers that this +prodigious series of beautiful designs supplied the place of our common +room-papers,--the wealth of poetic imagery among the Ancients, and the +corresponding traditional variety and elegance of pictorial treatment, +seem equally remarkable. The Greek and Latin Books do not give one quite +so fully this sort of impression; because they afford no direct measure +of the extent of their own diffusion. But these are ornaments from the +smaller class of decent houses in a little Country Town; and the greater +number of them, by the slightness of the execution, show very clearly +that they were adapted to ordinary taste, and done by mere artisans. +In general clearness, symmetry and simplicity of feeling, I cannot say +that, on the whole, the works of Raffaelle equal them; though of course +he has endless beauties such as we could not find unless in the great +original works from which these sketches at Pompeii were taken. Yet with +all my much increased reverence for the Greeks, it seems more plain than +ever that they had hardly anything of the peculiar devotional feeling of +Christianity. + +"Rome, which I loved before above all the earth, now delights me more +than ever;--though at this moment there is rain falling that would not +discredit Oxford Street. The depth, sincerity and splendor that there +once was in the semi-paganism of the old Catholics comes out in St. +Peter's and its dependencies, almost as grandly as does Greek and Roman +Art in the Forum and the Vatican Galleries. I wish you were here: but, +at all events, hope to see you and your Wife once more during this +summer. + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +At Paris, where he stopped a day and night, and generally through his +whole journey from Marseilles to Havre, one thing attended him: the +prevailing epidemic of the place and year; now gone, and nigh forgotten, +as other influenzas are. He writes to his Father: "I have not yet met a +single Frenchman, who could give me any rational explanation _why_ +they were all in such a confounded rage against us. Definite causes of +quarrel a statesman may know how to deal with, inasmuch as the removal +of them may help to settle the dispute. But it must be a puzzling task +to negotiate about instincts; to which class, as it seems to me, we +must have recourse for an understanding of the present abhorrence which +everybody on the other side of the Channel not only feels, but makes a +point to boast of, against the name of Britain. France is slowly arming, +especially with Steam, _en attendant_ a more than possible contest, in +which they reckon confidently on the eager co-operation of the Yankees; +as, _vice versa_, an American told me that his countrymen do on that of +France. One person at Paris (M. ---- whom you know) provoked me to +tell him that 'England did not want another battle of Trafalgar; but if +France did, she might compel England to gratify her.'"--After a couple +of pleasant and profitable months, he was safe home again in the first +days of June; and saw Falmouth not under gray iron skies, and whirls of +March dust, but bright with summer opulence and the roses coming out. + +It was what I call his "_fifth_ peregrinity;" his fifth and last. He +soon afterwards came up to London; spent a couple of weeks, with all his +old vivacity, among us here. The AEsculapian oracles, it would appear, +gave altogether cheerful prophecy; the highest medical authority +"expresses the most decided opinion that I have gradually mended for +some years; and in truth I have not, for six or seven, been so free +from serious symptoms of illness as at present." So uncertain are all +oracles, AEsculapian and other! + +During this visit, he made one new acquaintance which he much +valued; drawn thither, as I guess, by the wish to take counsel about +_Strafford_. He writes to his Clifton friend, under date, 1st July 1842: +"Lockhart, of the _Quarterly Review_, I made my first oral acquaintance +with; and found him as neat, clear and cutting a brain as you would +expect; but with an amount of knowledge, good nature and liberal +anti-bigotry, that would much surprise many. The tone of his children +towards him seemed to me decisive of his real kindness. He quite +agreed with me as to the threatening seriousness of our present social +perplexities, and the necessity and difficulty of doing something +effectual for so satisfying the manual multitude as not to overthrow all +legal security.... + +"Of other persons whom I saw in London," continues he, "there are +several that would much interest you,--though I missed Tennyson, by +a mere chance.... John Mill has completely finished, and sent to the +bookseller, his great work on Logic; the labor of many years of a +singularly subtle, patient and comprehensive mind. It will be our chief +speculative monument of this age. Mill and I could not meet above two +or three times; but it was with the openness and freshness of school-boy +friends, though our friendship only dates from the manhood of both." + +He himself was busier than ever; occupied continually with all manner of +Poetic interests. _Coeur-de-Lion_, a new and more elaborate attempt in +the mock-heroic or comico-didactic vein, had been on hand for some time, +the scope of it greatly deepening and expanding itself since it first +took hold of him; and now, soon after the Naples journey, it rose into +shape on the wider plan; shaken up probably by this new excitement, and +indebted to Calabria, Palermo and the Mediterranean scenes for much of +the vesture it had. With this, which opened higher hopes for him than +any of his previous efforts, he was now employing all his time and +strength;--and continued to do so, this being the last effort granted +him among us. + +Already, for some months, _Strafford_ lay complete: but how to get it +from the stocks; in what method to launch it? The step was questionable. +Before going to Italy he had sent me the Manuscript; still loyal and +friendly; and willing to hear the worst that could be said of his poetic +enterprise. I had to afflict him again, the good brave soul, with the +deliberate report that I could _not_ accept this Drama as his Picture +of the Life of Strafford, or as any _Picture_ of that strange Fact. To +which he answered, with an honest manfulness, in a tone which is now +pathetic enough to me, that he was much grieved yet much obliged, and +uncertain how to decide. On the other hand, Mr. Hare wrote, warmly +eulogizing. Lockhart too spoke kindly, though taking some exceptions. +It was a questionable case. On the whole, _Strafford_ remained, for the +present, unlaunched; and _Coeur de-Lion_ was getting its first timbers +diligently laid down. So passed, in peaceable seclusion, in wholesome +employment and endeavor, the autumn and winter of 1842-43. On +Christmas-day, he reports to his Mother:-- + +"I wished to write to you yesterday; but was prevented by the important +business of preparing a Tree, in the German fashion, for the children. +This project answered perfectly, as it did last year; and gave them the +greatest pleasure. I wish you and my Father could have been here to see +their merry faces. Johnny was in the thick of the fun, and much happier +than Lord Anson on capturing the galleon. We are all going on well and +quietly, but with nothing very new among us.... The last book I have +lighted on is Moffat's _Missionary Labors in South Africa_; which is +worth reading. There is the best collection of lion stories in it that I +have ever seen. But the man is, also, really a very good fellow; and fit +for something much better than most lions are. He is very ignorant, +and mistaken in some things; but has strong sense and heart; and his +Narrative adds another to the many proofs of the enormous power of +Christianity on rude minds. Nothing can be more chaotic, that is human +at all, than the notions of these poor Blacks, even after what is called +their conversion; but the effect is produced. They do adopt pantaloons, +and abandon polygamy; and I suppose will soon have newspapers and +literary soirees." + + + +CHAPTER V. DISASTER ON DISASTER. + +DURING all these years of struggle and wayfaring, his Father's household +at Knightsbridge had stood healthful, happy, increasing in wealth, free +diligence, solidity and honest prosperity: a fixed sunny islet, towards +which, in all his voyagings and overclouded roamings, he could look with +satisfaction, as to an ever-open port of refuge. + +The elder Sterling, after many battles, had reached his field of +conquest in these years; and was to be regarded as a victorious man. +Wealth sufficient, increasing not diminishing, had rewarded his labors +in the _Times_, which were now in their full flower; he had influence +of a sort; went busily among busy public men; and enjoyed, in the +questionable form attached to journalism and anonymity, a social +consideration and position which were abundantly gratifying to him. A +singular figure of the epoch; and when you came to know him, which it +was easy to fail of doing if you had not eyes and candid insight, a +gallant, truly gifted, and manful figure, of his kind. We saw much of +him in this house; much of all his family; and had grown to love them +all right well,--him too, though that was the difficult part of the +feat. For in his Irish way he played the conjurer very much,--"three +hundred and sixty-five opinions in the year upon every subject," as a +wag once said. In fact his talk, ever ingenious, emphatic and spirited +in detail, was much defective in earnestness, at least in clear +earnestness, of purport and outcome; but went tumbling as if in mere +welters of explosive unreason; a volcano heaving under vague deluges of +scoriae, ashes and imponderous pumice-stones, you could not say in what +direction, nor well whether in any. Not till after good study did you +see the deep molten lava-flood, which simmered steadily enough, and +showed very well by and by whither it was bound. For I must say +of Edward Sterling, after all his daily explosive sophistries, and +fallacies of talk, he had a stubborn instinctive sense of what was +manful, strong and worthy; recognized, with quick feeling, the charlatan +under his solemnest wig; knew as clearly as any man a pusillanimous +tailor in buckram, an ass under the lion's skin, and did with his whole +heart despise the same. + +The sudden changes of doctrine in the _Times_, which failed not to +excite loud censure and indignant amazement in those days, were first +intelligible to you when you came to interpret them as his changes. +These sudden whirls from east to west on his part, and total changes of +party and articulate opinion at a day's warning, lay in the nature of +the man, and could not be helped; products of his fiery impatience, +of the combined impetuosity and limitation of an intellect, which did +nevertheless continually gravitate towards what was loyal, true and +right on all manner of subjects. These, as I define them, were the mere +scoriae and pumice wreck of a steady central lava-flood, which truly was +volcanic and explosive to a strange degree, but did rest as few others +on the grand fire-depths of the world. Thus, if he stormed along, ten +thousand strong, in the time of the Reform Bill, indignantly denouncing +Toryism and its obsolete insane pretensions; and then if, after some +experience of Whig management, he discerned that Wellington and Peel, +by whatever name entitled, were the men to be depended on by +England,--there lay in all this, visible enough, a deeper consistency +far more important than the superficial one, so much clamored after by +the vulgar. Which is the lion's-skin; which is the real lion? Let a man, +if he is prudent, ascertain that before speaking;--but above and beyond +all things, _let_ him ascertain it, and stand valiantly to it when +ascertained! In the latter essential part of the operation Edward +Sterling was honorably successful to a really marked degree; in the +former, or prudential part, very much the reverse, as his history in the +Journalistic department at least, was continually teaching him. + +An amazingly impetuous, hasty, explosive man, this "Captain Whirlwind," +as I used to call him! Great sensibility lay in him, too; a real +sympathy, and affectionate pity and softness, which he had an +over-tendency to express even by tears,--a singular sight in so leonine +a man. Enemies called them maudlin and hypocritical, these tears; but +that was nowise the complete account of them. On the whole, there did +conspicuously lie a dash of ostentation, a self-consciousness apt to +become loud and braggart, over all he said and did and felt: this was +the alloy of the man, and you had to be thankful for the abundant gold +along with it. + +Quizzing enough he got among us for all this, and for the singular +_chiaroscuro_ manner of procedure, like that of an Archimagus +Cagliostro, or Kaiser Joseph Incognito, which his anonymous +known-unknown thunderings in the _Times_ necessitated in him; and much +we laughed,--not without explosive counter-banterings on his part;--but, +in fine, one could not do without him; one knew him at heart for a right +brave man. "By Jove, sir!" thus he would swear to you, with radiant +face; sometimes, not often, by a deeper oath. With persons of dignity, +especially with women, to whom he was always very gallant, he had +courtly delicate manners, verging towards the wire-drawn and elaborate; +on common occasions, he bloomed out at once into jolly familiarity of +the gracefully boisterous kind, reminding you of mess-rooms and old +Dublin days. His off-hand mode of speech was always precise, emphatic, +ingenious: his laugh, which was frequent rather than otherwise, had a +sincerity of banter, but no real depth of sense for the ludicrous; and +soon ended, if it grew too loud, in a mere dissonant scream. He was +broad, well-built, stout of stature; had a long lowish head, sharp gray +eyes, with large strong aquiline face to match; and walked, or sat, in +an erect decisive manner. A remarkable man; and playing, especially in +those years 1830-40, a remarkable part in the world. + +For it may be said, the emphatic, big-voiced, always influential and +often strongly unreasonable _Times_ Newspaper was the express emblem of +Edward Sterling; he, more than any other man or circumstance, _was_ +the _Times_ Newspaper, and thundered through it to the shaking of the +spheres. And let us assert withal that his and its influence, in those +days, was not ill grounded but rather well; that the loud manifold +unreason, often enough vituperated and groaned over, was of the surface +mostly; that his conclusions, unreasonable, partial, hasty as they might +at first be, gravitated irresistibly towards the right: in virtue of +which grand quality indeed, the root of all good insight in man, his +_Times_ oratory found acceptance and influential audience, amid the loud +whirl of an England itself logically very stupid, and wise chiefly by +instinct. + +England listened to this voice, as all might observe; and to one who +knew England and it, the result was not quite a strange one, and was +honorable rather than otherwise to both parties. A good judge of men's +talents has been heard to say of Edward Sterling: "There is not a +_faculty of improvising_ equal to this in all my circle. Sterling rushes +out into the clubs, into London society, rolls about all day, copiously +talking modish nonsense or sense, and listening to the like, with the +multifarious miscellany of men; comes home at night; redacts it into a +_Times_ Leader,--and is found to have hit the essential purport of the +world's immeasurable babblement that day, with an accuracy beyond all +other men. This is what the multifarious Babel sound did mean to say in +clear words; this, more nearly than anything else. Let the most gifted +intellect, capable of writing epics, try to write such a Leader for the +Morning Newspapers! No intellect but Edward Sterling's can do it. +An improvising faculty without parallel in my experience."--In this +"improvising faculty," much more nobly developed, as well as in other +faculties and qualities with unexpectedly new and improved figure, John +Sterling, to the accurate observer, showed himself very much the son of +Edward. + +Connected with this matter, a remarkable Note has come into my hands; +honorable to the man I am writing of, and in some sort to another higher +man; which, as it may now (unhappily for us all) be published without +scruple, I will not withhold here. The support, by Edward Sterling +and the _Times_, of Sir Robert Peel's first Ministry, and generally of +Peel's statesmanship, was a conspicuous fact in its day; but the return +it met with from the person chiefly interested may be considered well +worth recording. The following Letter, after meandering through I know +not what intricate conduits, and consultations of the Mysterious +Entity whose address it bore, came to Edward Sterling as the real +flesh-and-blood proprietor, and has been found among his papers. It is +marked _Private_:-- + + "(Private) _To the Editor of the Times_. + "WHITEHALL, 18th April, 1835. + +"SIR,--Having this day delivered into the hands of the King the Seals +of Office, I can, without any imputation of an interested motive, or any +impediment from scrupulous feelings of delicacy, express my deep sense +of the powerful support which that Government over which I had the honor +to preside received from the _Times_ Newspaper. + +"If I do not offer the expressions of personal gratitude, it is because +I feel that such expressions would do injustice to the character of a +support which was given exclusively on the highest and most independent +grounds of public principle. I can say this with perfect truth, as I +am addressing one whose person even is unknown to me, and who during my +tenure of power studiously avoided every species of intercourse which +could throw a suspicion upon the motives by which he was actuated. I +should, however, be doing injustice to my own feelings, if I were to +retire from Office without one word of acknowledgment; without at +least assuring you of the admiration with which I witnessed, during the +arduous contest in which I was engaged, the daily exhibition of that +extraordinary ability to which I was indebted for a support, the more +valuable because it was an impartial and discriminating support.--I have +the honor to be, Sir, + + "Ever your most obedient and faithful servant, + "ROBERT PEEL." + +To which, with due loftiness and diplomatic gravity and brevity, +there is Answer, Draught of Answer in Edward Sterling's hand, from the +Mysterious Entity so honored, in the following terms:-- + + "_To the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c. &c. &c_. + +"SIR,--It gives me sincere satisfaction to learn from the Letter with +which you have honored me, bearing yesterday's date, that you estimate +so highly the efforts which have been made during the last five months +by the _Times_ Newspaper to support the cause of rational and wholesome +Government which his Majesty had intrusted to your guidance; and that +you appreciate fairly the disinterested motive, of regard to the public +welfare, and to that alone, through which this Journal has been prompted +to pursue a policy in accordance with that of your Administration. It +is, permit me to say, by such motives only, that the _Times_, ever +since I have known it, has been influenced, whether in defence of the +Government of the day, or in constitutional resistance to it: and indeed +there exist no other motives of action for a Journalist, compatible +either with the safety of the press, or with the political morality of +the great bulk of its readers.--With much respect, I have the honor to +be, Sir, &c. &c. &c. + + "THE EDITOR OF THE 'TIMES.'" + +Of this Note I do not think there was the least whisper during Edward +Sterling's lifetime; which fact also one likes to remember of him, +so ostentatious and little-reticent a man. For the rest, his loyal +admiration of Sir Robert Peel,--sanctioned, and as it were almost +consecrated to his mind, by the great example of the Duke of +Wellington, whom he reverenced always with true hero-worship,--was not +a journalistic one, but a most intimate authentic feeling, sufficiently +apparent in the very heart of his mind. Among the many opinions "liable +to three hundred and sixty-five changes in the course of the year," this +in reference to Peel and Wellington was one which ever changed, but was +the same all days and hours. To which, equally genuine, and coming still +oftener to light in those times, there might one other be added, one and +hardly more: fixed contempt, not unmingled with detestation, for Daniel +O'Connell. This latter feeling, we used often laughingly to say, was +his grand political principle, the one firm centre where all else went +revolving. But internally the other also was deep and constant; and +indeed these were properly his _two_ centres,--poles of the same axis, +negative and positive, the one presupposing the other. + +O'Connell he had known in young Dublin days;--and surely no man could +well venerate another less! It was his deliberate, unalterable opinion +of the then Great O, that good would never come of him; that only +mischief, and this in huge measure, would come. That however showy, and +adroit in rhetoric and management, he was a man of incurably commonplace +intellect, and of no character but a hollow, blustery, pusillanimous +and unsound one; great only in maudlin patriotisms, in speciosities, +astucities,--in the miserable gifts for becoming Chief _Demagogos_, +Leader of a deep-sunk Populace towards _its_ Lands of Promise; which +trade, in any age or country, and especially in the Ireland of this age, +our indignant friend regarded (and with reason) as an extremely ugly one +for a man. He had himself zealously advocated Catholic Emancipation, +and was not without his Irish patriotism, very different from the Orange +sort; but the "Liberator" was not admirable to him, and grew daily less +so to an extreme degree. Truly, his scorn of the said Liberator, now +riding in supreme dominion on the wings of _blarney_, devil-ward of a +surety, with the Liberated all following and huzzaing; his fierce gusts +of wrath and abhorrence over him,--rose occasionally almost to the +sublime. We laughed often at these vehemences:--and they were not wholly +laughable; there was something very serious, and very true, in them! +This creed of Edward Sterling's would not now, in either pole of its +axis, look so strange as it then did in many quarters. + + +During those ten years which might be defined as the culminating period +of Edward Sterling's life, his house at South Place, Knights bridge, had +worn a gay and solid aspect, as if built at last on the high table-land +of sunshine and success, the region of storms and dark weather now +all victoriously traversed and lying safe below. Health, work, wages, +whatever is needful to a man, he had, in rich measure; and a frank stout +heart to guide the same: he lived in such style as pleased him; drove +his own chariot up and down (himself often acting as Jehu, and reminding +you a little of _Times_ thunder even in driving); consorted, after +a fashion, with the powerful of the world; saw in due vicissitude a +miscellany of social faces round him,--pleasant parties, which he liked +well enough to garnish by a lord; "Irish lord, if no better might be," +as the banter went. For the rest, he loved men of worth and intellect, +and recognized them well, whatever their title: this was his own patent +of worth which Nature had given him; a central light in the man, +which illuminated into a kind of beauty, serious or humorous, all the +artificialities he had accumulated on the surface of him. So rolled his +days, not quietly, yet prosperously, in manifold commerce with men. +At one in the morning, when all had vanished into sleep, his lamp +was kindled in his library; and there, twice or thrice a week, for a +three-hours' space, he launched his bolts, which next morning were to +shake the high places of the world. + +John's relation to his Father, when one saw John here, was altogether +frank, joyful and amiable: he ignored the _Times_ thunder for most part, +coldly taking the Anonymous for non-extant; spoke of it floutingly, if +he spoke at all: indeed a pleasant half-bantering dialect was the +common one between Father and Son; and they, especially with the gentle, +simple-hearted, just-minded Mother for treble-voice between them, made a +very pretty glee-harmony together. + +So had it lasted, ever since poor John's voyagings began; his Father's +house standing always as a fixed sunny islet with safe harbor for him. +So it could not always last. This sunny islet was now also to break and +go down: so many firm islets, fixed pillars in his fluctuating world, +pillar after pillar, were to break and go down; till swiftly all, so +to speak, were sunk in the dark waters, and he with them! Our little +History is now hastening to a close. + + +In the beginning of 1843 news reached us that Sterling had, in his too +reckless way, encountered a dangerous accident: maids, in the room where +he was, were lifting a heavy table; he, seeing them in difficulty, had +snatched at the burden; heaved it away,--but had broken a blood-vessel +by the business; and was now, after extensive hemorrhage, lying +dangerously ill. The doctors hoped the worst was over; but the case was +evidently serious. In the same days, too, his Mother had been seized +here by some painful disease, which from its continuance grew alarming. +Sad omens for Edward Sterling, who by this time had as good as ceased +writing or working in the _Times_, having comfortably winded up his +affairs there; and was looking forward to a freer idle life befitting +his advanced years henceforth. Fatal eclipse had fallen over that +household of his; never to be lifted off again till all darkened into +night. + +By dint of watchful nursing, John Sterling got on foot once more: but +his Mother did not recover, quite the contrary. Her case too grew very +questionable. Disease of the heart, said the medical men at last; not +immediately, not perhaps for a length of years, dangerous to life, said +they; but without hope of cure. The poor lady suffered much; and, though +affecting hope always, grew weaker and weaker. John ran up to Town in +March; I saw him, on the morrow or next day after, in his own room at +Knightsbridge: he had caught fresh cold overnight, the servant having +left his window up, but I was charged to say nothing of it, not to +flutter the already troubled house: he was going home again that very +day, and nothing ill would come of it. We understood the family at +Falmouth, his Wife being now near her confinement again, could at any +rate comport with no long absence. He was cheerful, even rudely merry; +himself pale and ill, his poor Mother's cough audible occasionally +through the wall. Very kind, too, and gracefully affectionate; but I +observed a certain grimness in his mood of mind, and under his light +laughter lay something unusual, something stern, as if already dimmed +in the coming shadows of Fate. "Yes, yes, you are a good man: but I +understand they mean to appoint you to Rhadamanthus's post, which has +been vacant for some time; and you will see how you like that!" This +was one of the things he said; a strange effulgence of wild drollery +flashing through the ice of earnest pain and sorrow. He looked paler +than usual: almost for the first time, I had myself a twinge of +misgiving as to his own health; for hitherto I had been used to blame +as much as pity his fits of dangerous illness, and would often angrily +remonstrate with him that he might have excellent health, would he but +take reasonable care of himself, and learn the art of sitting still. +Alas, as if he _could_ learn it; as if Nature had not laid her ban on +him even there, and said in smiles and frowns manifoldly, "No, that thou +shalt not learn!" + +He went that day; he never saw his good true Mother more. Very shortly +afterwards, in spite of doctors' prophecies, and affectionate illusions, +she grew alarmingly and soon hopelessly worse. Here are his last two +Letters to her:-- + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "FALMOUTH 8th April, 1843. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I could do you no good, but it would be the greatest +comfort to me if I could be near you. Nothing would detain me but +Susan's condition. I feel that until her confinement is over, I ought to +remain here,--unless you wished me to go to you; in which case she would +be the first to send me off. Happily she is doing as well as possible, +and seems even to gain strength every day. She sends her love to you. + +"The children are all doing well. I rode with Edward to-day through some +of the pleasant lanes in the neighborhood; and was delighted, as I have +often been at the same season, to see the primroses under every hedge. +It is pleasant to think that the Maker of them can make other flowers +for the gardens of his other mansions. We have here a softness in the +air, a smoothness of the clouds, and a mild sunshine, that combine in +lovely peace with the first green of spring and the mellow whiteness of +the sails upon the quiet sea. The whole aspect of the world is full of +a quiet harmony, that influences even one's bodily frame, and seems to +make one's very limbs aware of something living, good and immortal in +all around us. Knowing how you suffer, and how weak you are, anything is +a blessing to me that helps me to rise out of confusion and grief into +the sense of God and joy. I could not indeed but feel how much happier I +should have been, this morning, had you been with me, and delighting as +you would have done in all the little as well as the large beauty of the +world. But it was still a satisfaction to feel how much I owe to you of +the power of perceiving meaning, reality and sweetness in all healthful +life. And thus I could fancy that you were still near me; and that I +could see you, as I have so often seen you, looking with earnest eyes at +wayside flowers. + +"I would rather not have written what must recall your thoughts to your +present sufferings: but, dear Mother, I wrote only what I felt; and +perhaps you would rather have it so, than that I should try to find +other topics. I still hope to be with you before long. Meanwhile and +always, God bless you, is the prayer of + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + + _To the same_. + "FALMOUTH, 12th April, 1843. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I have just received my Father's Letter; which gives +me at least the comfort of believing that you do not suffer very much +pain. That your mind has remained so clear and strong, is an infinite +blessing. + +"I do not know anything in the world that would make up to me at all for +wanting the recollection of the days I spent with you lately, when I was +amazed at the freshness and life of all your thoughts. It brought back +far-distant years, in the strangest, most peaceful way. I felt myself +walking with you in Greenwich Park, and on the seashore at Sandgate; +almost even I seemed a baby, with you bending over me. Dear Mother, +there is surely something uniting us that cannot perish. I seem so sure +of a love which shall last and reunite us, that even the remembrance, +painful as that is, of all my own follies and ill tempers, cannot shake +this faith. When I think of you, and know how you feel towards me, and +have felt for every moment of almost forty years, it would be too dark +to believe that we shall never meet again. It was from you that I first +learnt to think, to feel, to imagine, to believe; and these powers, +which cannot be extinguished, will one day enter anew into communion +with you. I have bought it very dear by the prospect of losing you in +this world,--but since you have been so ill, everything has seemed to me +holier, loftier and more lasting, more full of hope and final joy. + +"It would be a very great happiness to see you once more even here; but +I do not know if that will be granted to me. But for Susan's state, I +should not hesitate an instant; as it is, my duty seems to be to remain, +and I have no right to repine. There is no sacrifice that she would not +make for me, and it would be too cruel to endanger her by mere anxiety +on my account. Nothing can exceed her sympathy with my sorrow. But she +cannot know, no one can, the recollections of all you have been and +done for me; which now are the most sacred and deepest, as well as +most beautiful, thoughts that abide with me. May God bless you, dearest +Mother. It is much to believe that He feels for you all that you have +ever felt for your children. + + "JOHN STERLING." + +A day or two after this, "on Good Friday, 1843," his Wife got happily +through her confinement, bringing him, he writes, "a stout little girl, +who and the Mother are doing as well as possible." The little girl still +lives and does well; but for the Mother there was another lot. Till the +Monday following she too did altogether well, he affectionately watching +her; but in the course of that day, some change for the worse was +noticed, though nothing to alarm either the doctors or him; he watched +by her bedside all night, still without alarm; but sent again in the +morning, Tuesday morning, for the doctors,--Who did not seem able +to make much of the symptoms. She appeared weak and low, but made no +particular complaint. The London post meanwhile was announced; Sterling +went into another room to learn what tidings of his Mother it brought +him. Returning speedily with a face which in vain strove to be calm, +his Wife asked, How at Knightsbridge? "My Mother is dead," answered +Sterling; "died on Sunday: She is gone." "Poor old man!" murmured the +other, thinking of old Edward Sterling now left alone in the world; and +these were her own last words: in two hours more she too was dead. In +two hours Mother and Wife were suddenly both snatched away from him. + +"It came with awful suddenness!" writes he to his Clifton friend. "Still +for a short time I had my Susan: but I soon saw that the medical +men were in terror; and almost within half an hour of that fatal +Knightsbridge news, I began to suspect our own pressing danger. I +received her last breath upon my lips. Her mind was much sunk, and +her perceptions slow; but a few minutes before the last, she must have +caught the idea of dissolution; and signed that I should kiss her. She +faltered painfully, 'Yes! yes!'--returned with fervency the pressure of +my lips; and in a few moments her eyes began to fix, her pulse to cease. +She too is gone from me!" It was Tuesday morning, April 18th, 1843. His +Mother had died on the Sunday before. + + +He had loved his excellent kind Mother, as he ought and well might: in +that good heart, in all the wanderings of his own, there had ever been +a shrine of warm pity, of mother's love and blessed soft affections +for him; and now it was closed in the Eternities forevermore. His poor +Life-partner too, his other self, who had faithfully attended him so +long in all his pilgrimings, cheerily footing the heavy tortuous ways +along with him, can follow him no farther; sinks now at his side: "The +rest of your pilgrimings alone, O Friend,--adieu, adieu!" She too +is forever hidden from his eyes; and he stands, on the sudden, very +solitary amid the tumult of fallen and falling things. "My little baby +girl is doing well; poor little wreck cast upon the sea-beach of life. +My children require me tenfold now. What I shall do, is all confusion +and darkness." + +The younger Mrs. Sterling was a true good woman; loyal-hearted, willing +to do well, and struggling wonderfully to do it amid her languors and +infirmities; rescuing, in many ways, with beautiful female heroism and +adroitness, what of fertility their uncertain, wandering, unfertile +way of life still left possible, and cheerily making the most of it. A +genial, pious and harmonious fund of character was in her; and withal an +indolent, half-unconscious force of intellect, and justness and delicacy +of perception, which the casual acquaintance scarcely gave her credit +for. Sterling much respected her decision in matters literary; often +altering and modifying where her feeling clearly went against him; and +in verses especially trusting to her ear, which was excellent, while he +knew his own to be worth little. I remember her melodious rich plaintive +tone of voice; and an exceedingly bright smile which she sometimes had, +effulgent with sunny gayety and true humor, among other fine qualities. + +Sterling has lost much in these two hours; how much that has long been +can never again be for him! Twice in one morning, so to speak, has a +mighty wind smitten the corners of his house; and much lies in dismal +ruins round him. + + + +CHAPTER VI. VENTNOR: DEATH. + +In this sudden avalanche of sorrows Sterling, weak and worn as we have +seen, bore up manfully, and with pious valor fronted what had come upon +him. He was not a man to yield to vain wailings, or make repinings at +the unalterable: here was enough to be long mourned over; but here, +for the moment, was very much imperatively requiring to be done. That +evening, he called his children round him; spoke words of religious +admonition and affection to them; said, "He must now be a Mother as well +as Father to them." On the evening of the funeral, writes Mr. Hare, he +bade them good-night, adding these words, "If I am taken from you, God +will take care of you." He had six children left to his charge, two of +them infants; and a dark outlook ahead of them and him. The good Mrs. +Maurice, the children's young Aunt, present at this time and often +afterwards till all ended, was a great consolation. + + +Falmouth, it may be supposed, had grown a sorrowful place to him, +peopled with haggard memories in his weak state; and now again, as had +been usual with him, change of place suggested itself as a desirable +alleviation;--and indeed, in some sort, as a necessity. He has "friends +here," he admits to himself, "whose kindness is beyond all price, all +description;" but his little children, if anything befell him, have no +relative within two hundred miles. He is now sole watcher over them; and +his very life is so precarious; nay, at any rate, it would appear, he +has to leave Falmouth every spring, or run the hazard of worse. Once +more, what is to be done? Once more,--and now, as it turned out, for the +last time. + +A still gentler climate, greater proximity to London, where his Brother +Anthony now was and most of his friends and interests were: these +considerations recommended Ventnor, in the beautiful Southeastern corner +of the Isle of Wight; where on inquiry an eligible house was found for +sale. The house and its surrounding piece of ground, improvable both, +were purchased; he removed thither in June of this year 1843; and set +about improvements and adjustments on a frank scale. By the decease of +his Mother, he had become rich in money; his share of the West-India +properties having now fallen to him, which, added to his former +incomings, made a revenue he could consider ample and abundant. Falmouth +friends looked lovingly towards him, promising occasional visits; old +Herstmonceux, which he often spoke of revisiting but never did, was not +far off; and London, with all its resources and remembrances, was now +again accessible. He resumed his work; and had hopes of again achieving +something. + +The Poem of _Coeur-de-Lion_ has been already mentioned, and the wider +form and aim it had got since he first took it in hand. It was above a +year before the date of these tragedies and changes, that he had sent +me a Canto, or couple of Cantos, of _Coeur-de-Lion_; loyally again +demanding my opinion, harsh as it had often been on that side. This +time I felt right glad to answer in another tone: "That here was real +felicity and ingenuity, on the prescribed conditions; a decisively +rhythmic quality in this composition; thought and phraseology actually +_dancing_, after a sort. What the plan and scope of the Work might be, +he had not said, and I could not judge; but here was a light opulence of +airy fancy, picturesque conception, vigorous delineation, all marching +on as with cheerful drum and fife, if without more rich and complicated +forms of melody: if a man _would_ write in metre, this sure enough +was the way to try doing it." For such encouragement from that stinted +quarter, Sterling, I doubt not, was very thankful; and of course it +might co-operate with the inspirations from his Naples Tour to further +him a little in this his now chief task in the way of Poetry; a thought +which, among my many almost pathetic remembrances of contradictions to +his Poetic tendency, is pleasant for me. + +But, on the whole, it was no matter. With or without encouragement, he +was resolute to persevere in Poetry, and did persevere. When I think now +of his modest, quiet steadfastness in this business of Poetry; how, in +spite of friend and foe, he silently persisted, without wavering, in +the form of utterance he had chosen for himself; and to what length he +carried it, and vindicated himself against us all;--his character comes +out in a new light to me, with more of a certain central inflexibility +and noble silent resolution than I had elsewhere noticed in it. This +summer, moved by natural feelings, which were sanctioned, too, and in a +sort sanctified to him, by the remembered counsel of his late Wife, +he printed the _Tragedy of Strafford_. But there was in the public no +contradiction to the hard vote I had given about it: the little +Book fell dead-born; and Sterling had again to take his +disappointment;--which it must be owned he cheerfully did; and, resolute +to try it again and ever again, went along with his _Coeur-de-Lion_, +as if the public had been all with him. An honorable capacity to stand +single against the whole world; such as all men need, from time to time! +After all, who knows whether, in his overclouded, broken, flighty way +of life, incapable of long hard drudgery, and so shut out from the solid +forms of Prose, this Poetic Form, which he could well learn as he could +all forms, was not the suitablest for him? + +This work of _Coeur-de-Lion_ he prosecuted steadfastly in his new home; +and indeed employed on it henceforth all the available days that were +left him in this world. As was already said, he did not live to complete +it; but some eight Cantos, three or four of which I know to possess high +worth, were finished, before Death intervened, and there he had to leave +it. Perhaps it will yet be given to the public; and in that case be +better received than the others were, by men of judgment; and serve to +put Sterling's Poetic pretensions on a much truer footing. I can say, +that to readers who do prefer a poetic diet, this ought to be welcome: +if you can contrive to love the thing which is still called "poetry" in +these days, here is a decidedly superior article in that kind,--richer +than one of a hundred that you smilingly consume. + +In this same month of June, 1843, while the house at Ventnor was +getting ready, Sterling was again in London for a few days. Of course +at Knightsbridge, now fallen under such sad change, many private matters +needed to be settled by his Father and Brother and him. Captain Anthony, +now minded to remove with his family to London and quit the military +way of life, had agreed to purchase the big family house, which he still +occupies; the old man, now rid of that encumbrance, retired to a smaller +establishment of his own; came ultimately to be Anthony's guest, and +spent his last days so. He was much lamed and broken, the half of his +old life suddenly torn away;--and other losses, which he yet knew not +of, lay close ahead of him. In a year or two, the rugged old man, borne +down by these pressures, quite gave way; sank into paralytic and +other infirmities; and was released from life's sorrows, under his son +Anthony's roof, in the fall of 1847.--The house in Knightsbridge was, +at the time we now speak of, empty except of servants; Anthony having +returned to Dublin, I suppose to conclude his affairs there, prior to +removal. John lodged in a Hotel. + +We had our fair share of his company in this visit, as in all the past +ones; but the intercourse, I recollect, was dim and broken, a disastrous +shadow hanging over it, not to be cleared away by effort. Two American +gentlemen, acquaintances also of mine, had been recommended to him, by +Emerson most likely: one morning Sterling appeared here with a strenuous +proposal that we should come to Knightsbridge, and dine with him and +them. Objections, general dissuasions were not wanting: The empty dark +house, such needless trouble, and the like;--but he answered in his +quizzing way, "Nature herself prompts you, when a stranger comes, to +give him a dinner. There are servants yonder; it is all easy; come; both +of you are bound to come." And accordingly we went. I remember it as +one of the saddest dinners; though Sterling talked copiously, and our +friends, Theodore Parker one of them, were pleasant and distinguished +men. All was so haggard in one's memory, and half consciously in one's +anticipations; sad, as if one had been dining in a will, in the crypt of +a mausoleum. Our conversation was waste and logical, I forget quite on +what, not joyful and harmoniously effusive: Sterling's silent sadness +was painfully apparent through the bright mask he had bound himself +to wear. Withal one could notice now, as on his last visit, a certain +sternness of mood, unknown in better days; as if strange gorgon-faces +of earnest Destiny were more and more rising round him, and the time for +sport were past. He looked always hurried, abrupt, even beyond wont; and +indeed was, I suppose, overwhelmed in details of business. + +One evening, I remember, he came down hither, designing to have a +freer talk with us. We were all sad enough; and strove rather to avoid +speaking of what might make us sadder. Before any true talk had been +got into, an interruption occurred, some unwelcome arrival; Sterling +abruptly rose; gave me the signal to rise; and we unpolitely walked +away, adjourning to his Hotel, which I recollect was in the Strand, near +Hungerford Market; some ancient comfortable quaint-looking place, off +the street; where, in a good warm queer old room, the remainder of our +colloquy was duly finished. We spoke of Cromwell, among other things +which I have now forgotten; on which subject Sterling was trenchant, +positive, and in some essential points wrong,--as I said I would +convince him some day. "Well, well!" answered he, with a shake of +the head.--We parted before long; bedtime for invalids being come: +he escorted me down certain carpeted backstairs, and would not be +forbidden: we took leave under the dim skies;--and alas, little as I +then dreamt of it, this, so far as I can calculate, must have been the +last time I ever saw him in the world. Softly as a common evening, the +last of the evenings had passed away, and no other would come for me +forevermore. + +Through the summer he was occupied with fitting up his new residence, +selecting governesses, servants; earnestly endeavoring to set his house +in order, on the new footing it had now assumed. Extensive improvements +in his garden and grounds, in which he took due interest to the +last, were also going on. His Brother, and Mr. Maurice his +brother-in-law,--especially Mrs. Maurice the kind sister, faithfully +endeavoring to be as a mother to her poor little nieces,--were +occasionally with him. All hours available for labor on his literary +tasks, he employed, almost exclusively I believe, on _Coeur-de-Lion_; +with what energy, the progress he had made in that Work, and in the art +of Poetic composition generally, amid so many sore impediments, best +testifies. I perceive, his life in general lay heavier on him than it +had done before; his mood of mind is grown more sombre;--indeed the very +solitude of this Ventnor as a place, not to speak of other solitudes, +must have been new and depressing. But he admits no hypochondria, now or +ever; occasionally, though rarely, even flashes of a kind of wild gayety +break through. He works steadily at his task, with all the strength left +him; endures the past as he may, and makes gallant front against the +world. "I am going on quietly here, rather than happily," writes he to +his friend Newman; "sometimes quite helpless, not from distinct illness, +but from sad thoughts and a ghastly dreaminess. The heart is gone out of +my life. My children, however, are doing well; and the place is cheerful +and mild." + +From Letters of this period I might select some melancholy enough; but +will prefer to give the following one (nearly the last I can give), as +indicative of a less usual temper:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "VENTNOR, 7th December, 1843. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--My Irish Newspaper was _not_ meant as a hint that +I wanted a Letter. It contained an absurd long Advertisement,--some +project for regenerating human knowledge, &c. &c.; to which I prefixed +my private mark (a blot), thinking that you might be pleased to know of +a fellow-laborer somewhere in Tipperary. + +"Your Letter, like the Scriptural oil,--(they had no patent lamps then, +and used the best oil, 7s. per gallon),--has made my face to shine. +There is but one person in the world, I shall not tell you who, from +whom a Letter would give me so much pleasure. It would be nearly as good +at Pekin, in the centre of the most enlightened Mandarins; but here at +Ventnor, where there are few Mandarins and no enlightenment,--fountains +in the wilderness, even were they miraculous, are nothing compared with +your handwriting. Yet it is sad that you should be so melancholy. I +often think that though Mercury was the pleasanter fellow, and probably +the happier, Saturn was the greater god;--rather cannibal or so, but one +excuses it in him, as in some other heroes one knows of. + +"It is, as you say, your destiny to write about Cromwell: and you +will make a book of him, at which the ears of our grandchildren will +tingle;--and as one may hope that the ears of human nature will be +growing longer and longer, the tingling will be proportionately greater +than we are accustomed to. Do what you can, I fear there will be little +gain from the Royalists. There is something very small about the biggest +of them that I have ever fallen in with, unless you count old Hobbes a +Royalist. + +"Curious to see that you have them exactly preserved in the Country +Gentlemen of our day; while of the Puritans not a trace remains except +in History. Squirism had already, in that day, become the _caput +mortuum_ that it is now; and has therefore, like other mummies, been +able to last. What was opposed to it was the Life of Puritanism,--then +on the point of disappearing; and it too has left its mummy at Exeter +Hall on the platform and elsewhere. One must go back to the Middle +Ages to see Squirism as rampant and vivacious as Biblicism was in the +Seventeenth Century: and I suppose our modern Country Gentlemen are +about as near to what the old Knights and Barons were who fought the +Crusades, as our modern Evangelicals to the fellows who sought the Lord +by the light of their own pistol-shots. + +"Those same Crusades are now pleasant matter for me. You remember, or +perhaps you do not, a thing I once sent you about Coeur-de-Lion. Long +since, I settled to make the Cantos you saw part of a larger Book; and +worked at it, last autumn and winter, till I had a bad illness. I am +now at work on it again; and go full sail, like _my_ hero. There are six +Cantos done, roughly, besides what you saw. I have struck out most +of the absurdest couplets, and given the whole a higher though still +sportive tone. It is becoming a kind of _Odyssey_, with a laughing and +Christian Achilles for hero. One may manage to wrap, in that chivalrous +brocade, many things belonging to our Time, and capable of interesting +it. The thing is not bad; but will require great labor. Only it is labor +that I thoroughly like; and which keeps the maggots out of one's brain, +until their time. + +"I have never spoken to you, never been able to speak to you, of the +change in my life,--almost as great, one fancies, as one's own death. +Even now, although it seems as if I had so much to say, I cannot. If +one could imagine--... But it is no use; I cannot write wisely on +this matter. I suppose no human being was ever devoted to another more +entirely than she; and that makes the change not less but more bearable. +It seems as if she could not be gone quite; and that indeed is my faith. + +"Mr. James, your New-England friend, was here only for a few days; I saw +him several times, and liked him. They went, on the 24th of last month, +back to London,--or so purposed,--because there is no pavement here for +him to walk on. I want to know where he is, and thought I should be able +to learn from you. I gave him a Note for Mill, who perhaps may have seen +him. I think this is all at present from, + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Of his health, all this while, we had heard little definite; and +understood that he was very quiet and careful; in virtue of which grand +improvement we vaguely considered all others would follow. Once let him +learn well to be _slow_ as the common run of men are, would not all be +safe and well? Nor through the winter, or the cold spring months, did +bad news reach us; perhaps less news of any kind than had been usual, +which seemed to indicate a still and wholesome way of life and work. Not +till "April 4th, 1844," did the new alarm occur: again on some slight +accident, the breaking of a blood-vessel; again prostration under +dangerous sickness, from which this time he never rose. + +There had been so many sudden failings and happy risings again in our +poor Sterling's late course of health, we had grown so accustomed to +mingle blame of his impetuosity with pity for his sad overthrows, we did +not for many weeks quite realize to ourselves the stern fact that here +at length had the peculiar fall come upon us,--the last of all +these falls! This brittle life, which had so often held together and +victoriously rallied under pressures and collisions, could not rally +always, and must one time be shivered. It was not till the summer came +and no improvement; and not even then without lingering glimmers of hope +against hope, that I fairly had to own what had now come, what was now +day by day sternly advancing with the steadiness of Time. + +From the first, the doctors spoke despondently; and Sterling himself +felt well that there was no longer any chance of life. He had often said +so, in his former illnesses, and thought so, yet always till now with +some tacit grain of counter-hope; he had never clearly felt so as now: +Here _is_ the end; the great change is now here!--Seeing how it was, +then, he earnestly gathered all his strength to do this last act of +his tragedy, as he had striven to do the others, in a pious and manful +manner. As I believe we can say he did; few men in any time _more_ +piously or manfully. For about six months he sat looking steadfastly, at +all moments, into the eyes of Death; he too who had eyes to _see_ Death +and the Terrors and Eternities; and surely it was with perfect courage +and piety, and valiant simplicity of heart, that he bore himself, and +did and thought and suffered, in this trying predicament, more terrible +than the usual death of men. All strength left to him he still employed +in working: day by day the end came nearer, but day by day also some new +portion of his adjustments was completed, by some small stage his +task was nearer done. His domestic and other affairs, of all sorts, he +settled to the last item. Of his own Papers he saved a few, giving brief +pertinent directions about them; great quantities, among which a certain +Autobiography begun some years ago at Clifton, he ruthlessly burnt, +judging that the best. To his friends he left messages, memorials of +books: I have a _Gough's Camden_, and other relics, which came to me in +that way, and are among my sacred possessions. The very Letters of his +friends he sorted and returned; had each friend's Letters made into a +packet, sealed with black, and duly addressed for delivery when the time +should come. + +At an early period of his illness, all visitors had of course been +excluded, except his most intimate ones: before long, so soon as the end +became apparent, he took leave even of his Father, to avoid excitements +and intolerable emotions; and except his Brother and the Maurices, who +were generally about him coming and going, none were admitted. This +latter form of life, I think, continued for above three months. Men were +still working about his grounds, of whom he took some charge; needful +works, great and small, let them not pause on account of him. He still +rose from bed; had still some portion of his day which he could spend +in his Library. Besides business there, he read a good deal,--earnest +books; the Bible, most earnest of books, his chief favorite. He still +even wrote a good deal. To his eldest Boy, now Mr. Newman's ward, who +had been removed to the Maurices' since the beginning of this illness, +he addressed, every day or two, sometimes daily, for eight or +nine weeks, a Letter, of general paternal advice and exhortation; +interspersing sparingly, now and then, such notices of his own feelings +and condition as could be addressed to a boy. These Letters, I have +lately read: they give, beyond any he has written, a noble image of the +intrinsic Sterling;--the same face we had long known; but painted now +as on the azure of Eternity, serene, victorious, divinely sad; the dusts +and extraneous disfigurements imprinted on it by the world, now +washed away. One little Excerpt, not the best, but the fittest for its +neighborhood here, will be welcome to the reader:-- + + "_To Master Edward C. Sterling, London_. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 29th June, 1844. + +"MY DEAR BOY,--We have been going on here as quietly as possible, with +no event that I know of. There is nothing except books to occupy me. +But you may suppose that my thoughts often move towards you, and that +I fancy what you may be doing in the great City,--the greatest on the +Earth,--where I spent so many years of my life. I first saw London when +I was between eight and nine years old, and then lived in or near it for +the whole of the next ten, and more there than anywhere else for seven +years longer. Since then I have hardly ever been a year without seeing +the place, and have often lived in it for a considerable time. There +I grew from childhood to be a man. My little Brothers and Sisters, and +since, my Mother, died and are buried there. There I first saw your +Mamma, and was there married. It seems as if, in some strange way, +London were a part of Me or I of London. I think of it often, not as +full of noise and dust and confusion, but as something silent, grand and +everlasting. + +"When I fancy how you are walking in the same streets, and moving along +the same river, that I used to watch so intently, as if in a dream, when +younger than you are,--I could gladly burst into tears, not of +grief, but with a feeling that there is no name for. Everything is so +wonderful, great and holy, so sad and yet not bitter, so full of Death +and so bordering on Heaven. Can you understand anything of this? If +you can, you will begin to know what a serious matter our Life is; +how unworthy and stupid it is to trifle it away without heed; what a +wretched, insignificant, worthless creature any one comes to be, who +does not as soon as possible bend his whole strength, as in stringing a +stiff bow, to doing whatever task lies first before him.... + +"We have a mist here to-day from the sea. It reminds me of that which I +used to see from my house in St, Vincent, rolling over the great volcano +and the mountains round it. I used to look at it from our windows with +your Mamma, and you a little baby in her arms. + +"This Letter is not so well written as I could wish, but I hope you will +be able to read it. + + "Your affectionate Papa, + "JOHN STERLING." + +These Letters go from June 9th to August 2d, at which latter date +vacation-time arrived, and the Boy returned to him. The Letters are +preserved; and surely well worth preserving. + +In this manner he wore the slow doomed months away. Day after day his +little period of Library went on waning, shrinking into less and less; +but I think it never altogether ended till the general end came.--For +courage, for active audacity we had all known Sterling; but such a fund +of mild stoicism, of devout patience and heroic composure, we did +not hitherto know in him. His sufferings, his sorrows, all his +unutterabilities in this slow agony, he held right manfully down; +marched loyally, as at the bidding of the Eternal, into the dread +Kingdoms, and no voice of weakness was heard from him. Poor noble +Sterling, he had struggled so high and gained so little here! But this +also he did gain, to be a brave man; and it was much. + +Summer passed into Autumn: Sterling's earthly businesses, to the last +detail of them, were now all as good as done: his strength too was +wearing to its end, his daily turn in the Library shrunk now to a span. +He had to hold himself as if in readiness for the great voyage at any +moment. One other Letter I must give; not quite the last message I had +from Sterling, but the last that can be inserted here: a brief Letter, +fit to be forever memorable to the receiver of it:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 10th August, 1844. + +MY DEAR CARLYLE,--For the first time for many months it seems possible +to send you a few words; merely, however, for Remembrance and Farewell. +On higher matters there is nothing to say. I tread the common road into +the great darkness, without any thought of fear, and with very much of +hope. Certainty indeed I have none. With regard to You and Me I cannot +begin to write; having nothing for it but to keep shut the lid of those +secrets with all the iron weights that are in my power. Towards me it is +still more true than towards England that no man has been and done like +you. Heaven bless you! If I can lend a hand when THERE, that will not be +wanting. It is all very strange, but not one hundredth part so sad as it +seems to the standers-by. + +"Your Wife knows my mind towards her, and will believe it without +asseverations. + + "Yours to the last, + "JOHN STERLING." + +It was a bright Sunday morning when this letter came to me: if in the +great Cathedral of Immensity I did no worship that day, the fault surely +was my own. Sterling affectionately refused to see me; which also was +kind and wise. And four days before his death, there are some stanzas of +verse for me, written as if in star-fire and immortal tears; which are +among my sacred possessions, to be kept for myself alone. + +His business with the world was done; the one business now to await +silently what may lie in other grander worlds. "God is great," he was +wont to say: "God is great." The Maurices were now constantly near him; +Mrs. Maurice assiduously watching over him. On the evening of Wednesday +the 18th of September, his Brother, as he did every two or three days, +came down; found him in the old temper, weak in strength but not very +sensibly weaker; they talked calmly together for an hour; then Anthony +left his bedside, and retired for the night, not expecting any change. +But suddenly, about eleven o'clock, there came a summons and alarm: +hurrying to his Brother's room, he found his Brother dying; and in +a short while more the faint last struggle was ended, and all those +struggles and strenuous often-foiled endeavors of eight-and-thirty years +lay hushed in death. + + + +CHAPTER VII. CONCLUSION. + +Sterling was of rather slim but well-boned wiry figure, perhaps an inch +or two from six feet in height; of blonde complexion, without color, yet +not pale or sickly; dark-blonde hair, copious enough, which he usually +wore short. The general aspect of him indicated freedom, perfect +spontaneity, with a certain careless natural grace. In his apparel, you +could notice, he affected dim colors, easy shapes; cleanly always, yet +even in this not fastidious or conspicuous: he sat or stood, oftenest, +in loose sloping postures; walked with long strides, body carelessly +bent, head flung eagerly forward, right hand perhaps grasping a +cane, and rather by the middle to swing it, than by the end to use it +otherwise. An attitude of frank, cheerful impetuosity, of hopeful speed +and alacrity; which indeed his physiognomy, on all sides of it, offered +as the chief expression. Alacrity, velocity, joyous ardor, dwelt in the +eyes too, which were of brownish gray, full of bright kindly life, +rapid and frank rather than deep or strong. A smile, half of kindly +impatience, half of real mirth, often sat on his face. The head was +long; high over the vertex; in the brow, of fair breadth, but not high +for such a man. + +In the voice, which was of good tenor sort, rapid and strikingly +distinct, powerful too, and except in some of the higher notes +harmonious, there was a clear-ringing _metallic_ tone,--which I often +thought was wonderfully physiognomic. A certain splendor, beautiful, +but not the deepest or the softest, which I could call a splendor as +of burnished metal,--fiery valor of heart, swift decisive insight and +utterance, then a turn for brilliant elegance, also for ostentation, +rashness, &c. &c.,--in short, a flash as of clear-glancing sharp-cutting +steel, lay in the whole nature of the man, in his heart and in his +intellect, marking alike the excellence and the limits of them both. +His laugh, which on light occasions was ready and frequent, had in it no +great depth of gayety, or sense for the ludicrous in men or things; you +might call it rather a good smile become vocal than a deep real laugh: +with his whole man I never saw him laugh. A clear sense of the humorous +he had, as of most other things; but in himself little or no true +humor;--nor did he attempt that side of things. To call him deficient +in sympathy would seem strange, him whose radiances and resonances went +thrilling over all the world, and kept him in brotherly contact with +all: but I may say his sympathies dwelt rather with the high and sublime +than with the low or ludicrous; and were, in any field, rather light, +wide and lively, than deep, abiding or great. + +There is no Portrait of him which tolerably resembles. The miniature +Medallion, of which Mr. Hare has given an Engraving, offers us, with +no great truth in physical details, one, and not the best, superficial +expression of his face, as if that with vacuity had been what the face +contained; and even that Mr. Hare's engraver has disfigured into the +nearly or the utterly irrecognizable. Two Pencil-sketches, which no +artist could approve of, hasty sketches done in some social hour, one +by his friend Spedding, one by Banim the Novelist, whom he slightly +knew and had been kind to, tell a much truer story so far as they go: +of these his Brother has engravings; but these also I must suppress as +inadequate for strangers. + + +Nor in the way of Spiritual Portraiture does there, after so much +writing and excerpting, anything of importance remain for me to say. +John Sterling and his Life in this world were--such as has been already +said. In purity of character, in the so-called moralities, in all manner +of proprieties of conduct, so as tea-tables and other human tribunals +rule them, he might be defined as perfect, according to the world's +pattern: in these outward tangible respects the world's criticism of him +must have been praise and that only. An honorable man, and good citizen; +discharging, with unblamable correctness, all functions and duties +laid on him by the customs (_mores_) of the society he lived in,--with +correctness and something more. In all these particulars, a man +perfectly _moral_, or of approved virtue according to the rules. + +Nay in the far more essential tacit virtues, which are not marked on +stone tables, or so apt to be insisted on by human creatures over tea +or elsewhere,--in clear and perfect fidelity to Truth wherever found, +in childlike and soldier-like, pious and valiant loyalty to the Highest, +and what of good and evil that might send him,--he excelled among good +men. The joys and the sorrows of his lot he took with true simplicity +and acquiescence. Like a true son, not like a miserable mutinous rebel, +he comported himself in this Universe. Extremity of distress--and surely +his fervid temper had enough of contradiction in this world--could not +tempt him into impatience at any time. By no chance did you ever hear +from him a whisper of those mean repinings, miserable arraignings and +questionings of the Eternal Power, such as weak souls even well disposed +will sometimes give way to in the pressure of their despair; to the like +of this he never yielded, or showed the least tendency to yield;--which +surely was well on his part. For the Eternal Power, I still remark, +will not answer the like of this, but silently and terribly accounts it +impious, blasphemous and damnable, and now as heretofore will visit it +as such. Not a rebel but a son, I said; willing to suffer when +Heaven said, Thou shalt;--and withal, what is perhaps rarer in such a +combination, willing to rejoice also, and right cheerily taking the good +that was sent, whensoever or in whatever form it came. + +A pious soul we may justly call him; devoutly submissive to the will +of the Supreme in all things: the highest and sole essential form which +Religion can assume in man, and without which all forms of religion are +a mockery and a delusion in man. Doubtless, in so clear and filial a +heart there must have dwelt the perennial feeling of silent worship; +which silent feeling, as we have seen, he was eager enough to express by +all good ways of utterance; zealously adopting such appointed forms and +creeds as the dignitaries of the World had fixed upon and solemnly named +recommendable; prostrating his heart in such Church, by such accredited +rituals and seemingly fit or half-fit methods, as his poor time and +country had to offer him,--not rejecting the said methods till they +stood convicted of palpable unfitness and then doing it right gently +withal, rather letting them drop as pitiably dead for him, than angrily +hurling them out of doors as needing to be killed. By few Englishmen +of his epoch had the thing called Church of England been more loyally +appealed to as a spiritual mother. + +And yet, as I said before, it may be questioned whether piety, what we +call devotion or worship, was the principle deepest in him. In spite of +his Coleridge discipleship, and his once headlong operations following +thereon, I used to judge that his piety was prompt and pure rather than +great or intense; that, on the whole, religious devotion was not the +deepest element of him. His reverence was ardent and just, ever ready +for the thing or man that deserved revering, or seemed to deserve it: +but he was of too joyful, light and hoping a nature to go to the depths +of that feeling, much more to dwell perennially in it. He had no fear +in his composition; terror and awe did not blend with his respect of +anything. In no scene or epoch could he have been a Church Saint, a +fanatic enthusiast, or have worn out his life in passive martyrdom, +sitting patient in his grim coal-mine, looking at the "three ells" of +Heaven high overhead there. In sorrow he would not dwell; all sorrow +he swiftly subdued, and shook away from him. How could you have made an +Indian Fakir of the Greek Apollo, "whose bright eye lends brightness, +and never yet saw a shadow"?--I should say, not religious reverence, +rather artistic admiration was the essential character of him: a fact +connected with all other facts in the physiognomy of his life and self, +and giving a tragic enough character to much of the history he had among +us. + +Poor Sterling, he was by nature appointed for a Poet, then,--a Poet +after his sort, or recognizer and delineator of the Beautiful; and not +for a Priest at all? Striving towards the sunny heights, out of such +a level and through such an element as ours in these days is, he had +strange aberrations appointed him, and painful wanderings amid +the miserable gaslights, bog-fires, dancing meteors and putrid +phosphorescences which form the guidance of a young human soul at +present! Not till after trying all manner of sublimely illuminated +places, and finding that the basis of them was putridity, artificial gas +and quaking bog, did he, when his strength was all done, discover his +true sacred hill, and passionately climb thither while life was fast +ebbing!--A tragic history, as all histories are; yet a gallant, brave +and noble one, as not many are. It is what, to a radiant son of the +Muses, and bright messenger of the harmonious Wisdoms, this poor +world--if he himself have not strength enough, and _inertia_ enough, and +amid his harmonious eloquences silence enough--has provided at present. +Many a high-striving, too hasty soul, seeking guidance towards eternal +excellence from the official Black-artists, and successful Professors +of political, ecclesiastical, philosophical, commercial, general and +particular Legerdemain, will recognize his own history in this image of +a fellow-pilgrim's. + +Over-haste was Sterling's continual fault; over-haste, and want of the +due strength,--alas, mere want of the due _inertia_ chiefly; which is +so common a gift for most part; and proves so inexorably needful withal! +But he was good and generous and true; joyful where there was +joy, patient and silent where endurance was required of him; shook +innumerable sorrows, and thick-crowding forms of pain, gallantly away +from him; fared frankly forward, and with scrupulous care to tread on no +one's toes. True, above all, one may call him; a man of perfect veracity +in thought, word and deed. Integrity towards all men,--nay integrity +had ripened with him into chivalrous generosity; there was no guile or +baseness anywhere found in him. Transparent as crystal; he could not +hide anything sinister, if such there had been to hide. A more perfectly +transparent soul I have never known. It was beautiful, to read all those +interior movements; the little shades of affectations, ostentations; +transient spurts of anger, which never grew to the length of settled +spleen: all so naive, so childlike, the very faults grew beautiful to +you. + +And so he played his part among us, and has now ended it: in this first +half of the Nineteenth Century, such was the shape of human destinies +the world and he made out between them. He sleeps now, in the little +burying-ground of Bonchurch; bright, ever-young in the memory of others +that must grow old; and was honorably released from his toils before the +hottest of the day. + + +All that remains, in palpable shape, of John Sterling's activities in +this world are those Two poor Volumes; scattered fragments gathered from +the general waste of forgotten ephemera by the piety of a friend: an +inconsiderable memorial; not pretending to have achieved greatness; +only disclosing, mournfully, to the more observant, that a promise of +greatness was there. Like other such lives, like all lives, this is a +tragedy; high hopes, noble efforts; under thickening difficulties and +impediments, ever-new nobleness of valiant effort;--and the result +death, with conquests by no means corresponding. A life which cannot +challenge the world's attention; yet which does modestly solicit it, and +perhaps on clear study will be found to reward it. + +On good evidence let the world understand that here was a remarkable +soul born into it; who, more than others, sensible to its influences, +took intensely into him such tint and shape of feature as the world had +to offer there and then; fashioning himself eagerly by whatsoever of +noble presented itself; participating ardently in the world's battle, +and suffering deeply in its bewilderments;--whose Life-pilgrimage +accordingly is an emblem, unusually significant, of the world's own +during those years of his. A man of infinite susceptivity; who caught +everywhere, more than others, the color of the element he lived in, the +infection of all that was or appeared honorable, beautiful and manful in +the tendencies of his Time;--whose history therefore is, beyond others, +emblematic of that of his Time. + +In Sterling's Writings and Actions, were they capable of being well +read, we consider that there is for all true hearts, and especially for +young noble seekers, and strivers towards what is highest, a mirror in +which some shadow of themselves and of their immeasurably complex +arena will profitably present itself. Here also is one encompassed and +struggling even as they now are. This man also had said to himself, not +in mere Catechism-words, but with all his instincts, and the question +thrilled in every nerve of him, and pulsed in every drop of his blood: +"What is the chief end of man? Behold, I too would live and work as +beseems a denizen of this Universe, a child of the Highest God. By what +means is a noble life still possible for me here? Ye Heavens and +thou Earth, oh, how?"--The history of this long-continued prayer and +endeavor, lasting in various figures for near forty years, may now and +for some time coming have something to say to men! + + +Nay, what of men or of the world? Here, visible to myself, for some +while, was a brilliant human presence, distinguishable, honorable +and lovable amid the dim common populations; among the million little +beautiful, once more a beautiful human soul: whom I, among others, +recognized and lovingly walked with, while the years and the hours were. +Sitting now by his tomb in thoughtful mood, the new times bring a +new duty for me. "Why write the Life of Sterling?" I imagine I had a +commission higher than the world's, the dictate of Nature herself, to do +what is now done. _Sic prosit_. + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[Footnote 1: _John Sterling's Essays and Tales, with Life_ by Archdeacon Hare. +Parker; London, 1848.] + +[Footnote 2: _Commons Journals_, iv. 15 (l0th January, 1644-5); and again v. 307 +&c., 498 (18th September, 1647-15th March, 1647-8).] + +[Footnote 3: _Literary Chronicle_, New Series; London, Saturday, 21 June, 1828, +Art. II.] + +[Footnote 4: "The Letters of Vetus from March 10th to May 10th, 1812" (second +edition, London, 1812): Ditto, "Part III., with a Preface and Notes" +(ibid. 1814).] + +[Footnote 5: Here, in a Note, is the tragic little Register, with what +indications for us may lie in it:-- + + (l.) Robert Sterling died, 4th June, 1815, at Queen Square, in + his fourth year (John being now nine). + (2.) Elizabeth died, 12th March, 1818, at Blackfriars Road, in + her second year. + (3.) Edward, 30th March, 1818 (same place, same month and year), + in his ninth. + (4.) Hester, 21st July, 1818 (three months later), at Blackheath, + in her eleventh. + (5.) Catherine Hester Elizabeth, 16th January, 1821, in Seymour + Street.] + +[Footnote 6: _History of the English Universities_. (Translated from the German.)] + +[Footnote 7: Mrs. Anthony Sterling, very lately Miss Charlotte Baird.] + +[Footnote 8: _Biography_, by Hare, pp. xvi-xxvi.] + +[Footnote 9: _Biography_, by Mr. Hare, p. xli.] + +[Footnote 10: Hare, pp. xliii-xlvi.] + +[Footnote 11: Hare, xlviii, liv, lv.] + +[Footnote 12: Hare, p. lvi.] + +[Footnote 13: P. lxxviii.] + +[Footnote 14: Given in Hare (ii. 188-193).] + +[Footnote 15: Came out, as will soon appear, in _Blackwood_ (February, 1838).] + +[Footnote 16: "_Hotel de l'Europe, Berlin_," added in Mrs. Sterling's hand.] + +[Footnote 17: Hare, ii. 96-167.] + +[Footnote 18: Ib. i. 129, 188.] + +[Footnote 19: Here in a Note they are, if they can be important to anybody. The +marks of interrogation, attached to some Names as not yet consulted or +otherwise questionable, are in the Secretary's hand:-- + + J. D. Acland, Esq. H. Malden, Esq. + Hon. W. B. Baring. J. S. Mill, Esq. + Rev. J. W. Blakesley. R. M. Milnes, Esq. + W. Boxall, Esq. R. Monteith, Esq. + T. Carlyle, Esq. S. A. O'Brien, Esq. + Hon. R. Cavendish (?) Sir F. Palgrave (?) + H. N. Coleridge, Esq. (?) W. F. Pollok, Esq. + J. W. Colville, Esq. Philip Pusey, Esq. + Allan Cunningham, Esq. (?) A. Rio, Esq. + Rev. H. Donn. C. Romilly, Esq. + F. H. Doyle, Esq. James Spedding, Esq. + C. L. Eastlake, Esq. Rev. John Sterling. + Alex. Ellice, Esq. Alfred Tennyson, Esq. + J. F. Elliott, Esq. Rev. Connop Thirlwall. + Copley Fielding, Esq. Rev. W. Hepworth Thompson. + Rev. J. C. Hare. Edward Twisleton, Esq. + Sir Edmund Head (?) G. S. Venables, Esq. + D. D. Heath, Esq. Samuel Wood, Esq. + G. C. Lewis, Esq. Rev. T. Worsley. + H. L. Lushington, Esq. + The Lord Lyttleton. James Spedding, _Secretary_. + C. Macarthy, Esq. 8th August, 1838.] + +[Footnote 20: Hare, p. cxviii.] + +[Footnote 21: Of Sterling himself, I suppose.] + +[Footnote 22: Hare, ii. p. 252.] + +[Footnote 23: _Poems by John Sterling_. London (Moxon), 1839.] + +[Footnote 24: _The Election: a Poem, in Seven Books_. London, Murray, 1841.] + +[Footnote 25: Pp. 7, 8.] + +[Footnote 26: Pp. 89-93.] + +[Footnote 27: Sister of Mrs. Strachey and Mrs. Buller: Sir John Louis was now in +a high Naval post at Malta.] + +[Footnote 28: Long Letter to his Father: Naples, 3d May, 1842.] + +[Footnote 29: Death of her Mother, four mouths before. (_Note of_ 1870.)] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of John Sterling, by Thomas Carlyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF JOHN STERLING *** + +***** This file should be named 1085.txt or 1085.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/8/1085/ + +Produced by Ron Burkey + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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One +illustration has been omitted. The "pound" symbol has been replaced +by the word "pounds". Otherwise, all spelling, punctuation, etc., +have been left as in the printed text. + +Taken from volume 2 of Carlyle's Complete Works, which additionally +contains the Latter-Day Pamphlets, to be provided as a separate etext. + + + + +LIFE OF JOHN STERLING. +By Thomas Carlyle. + + + +PART I. +CHAPTER I. +INTRODUCTORY. + +Near seven years ago, a short while before his death in 1844, John +Sterling committed the care of his literary Character and printed +Writings to two friends, Archdeacon Hare and myself. His estimate of +the bequest was far from overweening; to few men could the small +sum-total of his activities in this world seem more inconsiderable +than, in those last solemn days, it did to him. He had burnt much; +found much unworthy; looking steadfastly into the silent continents of +Death and Eternity, a brave man's judgments about his own sorry work +in the field of Time are not apt to be too lenient. But, in fine, +here was some portion of his work which the world had already got hold +of, and which he could not burn. This too, since it was not to be +abolished and annihilated, but must still for some time live and act, +he wished to be wisely settled, as the rest had been. And so it was +left in charge to us, the survivors, to do for it what we judged +fittest, if indeed doing nothing did not seem the fittest to us. This +message, communicated after his decease, was naturally a sacred one to +Mr. Hare and me. + +After some consultation on it, and survey of the difficulties and +delicate considerations involved in it, Archdeacon Hare and I agreed +that the whole task, of selecting what Writings were to be reprinted, +and of drawing up a Biography to introduce them, should be left to him +alone; and done without interference of mine:--as accordingly it +was,[1] in a manner surely far superior to the common, in every good quality +of editing; and visibly everywhere bearing testimony to the +friendliness, the piety, perspicacity and other gifts and virtues of +that eminent and amiable man. + +In one respect, however, if in one only, the arrangement had been +unfortunate. Archdeacon Hare, both by natural tendency and by his +position as a Churchman, had been led, in editing a Work not free from +ecclesiastical heresies, and especially in writing a Life very full of +such, to dwell with preponderating emphasis on that part of his +subject; by no means extenuating the fact, nor yet passing lightly +over it (which a layman could have done) as needing no extenuation; +but carefully searching into it, with the view of excusing and +explaining it; dwelling on it, presenting all the documents of it, and +as it were spreading it over the whole field of his delineation; as if +religious heterodoxy had been the grand fact of Sterling's life, which +even to the Archdeacon's mind it could by no means seem to be. _Hinc +illae lachrymae_. For the Religious Newspapers, and Periodical +Heresy-hunters, getting very lively in those years, were prompt to +seize the cue; and have prosecuted and perhaps still prosecute it, in +their sad way, to all lengths and breadths. John Sterling's character +and writings, which had little business to be spoken of in any +Church-court, have hereby been carried thither as if for an exclusive +trial; and the mournfulest set of pleadings, out of which nothing but +a misjudgment _can_ be formed, prevail there ever since. The noble +Sterling, a radiant child of the empyrean, clad in bright auroral hues +in the memory of all that knew him,--what is he doing here in +inquisitorial _sanbenito_, with nothing but ghastly spectralities +prowling round him, and inarticulately screeching and gibbering what +they call their judgment on him! + +"The sin of Hare's Book," says one of my Correspondents in those +years, "is easily defined, and not very condemnable, but it is +nevertheless ruinous to his task as Biographer. He takes up Sterling +as a clergyman merely. Sterling, I find, was a curate for exactly +eight months; during eight months and no more had he any special +relation to the Church. But he was a man, and had relation to the +Universe, for eight-and-thirty years: and it is in this latter +character, to which all the others were but features and transitory +hues, that we wish to know him. His battle with hereditary Church +formulas was severe; but it was by no means his one battle with things +inherited, nor indeed his chief battle; neither, according to my +observation of what it was, is it successfully delineated or summed up +in this Book. The truth is, nobody that had known Sterling would +recognize a feature of him here; you would never dream that this Book +treated of _him_ at all. A pale sickly shadow in torn surplice is +presented to us here; weltering bewildered amid heaps of what you call +'Hebrew Old-clothes;' wrestling, with impotent impetuosity, to free +itself from the baleful imbroglio, as if that had been its one +function in life: who in this miserable figure would recognize the +brilliant, beautiful and cheerful John Sterling, with his ever-flowing +wealth of ideas, fancies, imaginations; with his frank affections, +inexhaustible hopes, audacities, activities, and general radiant +vivacity of heart and intelligence, which made the presence of him an +illumination and inspiration wherever he went? It is too bad. Let a +man be honestly forgotten when his life ends; but let him not be +misremembered in this way. To be hung up as an ecclesiastical +scarecrow, as a target for heterodox and orthodox to practice archery +upon, is no fate that can be due to the memory of Sterling. It was +not as a ghastly phantasm, choked in Thirty-nine-article +controversies, or miserable Semitic, Anti-Semitic street-riots,--in +scepticisms, agonized self-seekings, that this man appeared in life; +nor as such, if the world still wishes to look at him should you +suffer the world's memory of him now to be. Once for all, it is +unjust; emphatically untrue as an image of John Sterling: perhaps to +few men that lived along with him could such an interpretation of +their existence be more inapplicable." + + +Whatever truth there might be in these rather passionate +representations, and to myself there wanted not a painful feeling of +their truth, it by no means appeared what help or remedy any friend of +Sterling's, and especially one so related to the matter as myself, +could attempt in the interim. Perhaps endure in patience till the +dust laid itself again, as all dust does if you leave it well alone? +Much obscuration would thus of its own accord fall away; and, in Mr. +Hare's narrative itself, apart from his commentary, many features of +Sterling's true character would become decipherable to such as sought +them. Censure, blame of this Work of Mr. Hare's was naturally far +from my thoughts. A work which distinguishes itself by human piety +and candid intelligence; which, in all details, is careful, lucid, +exact; and which offers, as we say, to the observant reader that will +interpret facts, many traits of Sterling besides his heterodoxy. +Censure of it, from me especially, is not the thing due; from me a far +other thing is due!-- + +On the whole, my private thought was: First, How happy it +comparatively is, for a man of any earnestness of life, to have no +Biography written of him; but to return silently, with his small, +sorely foiled bit of work, to the Supreme Silences, who alone can +judge of it or him; and not to trouble the reviewers, and greater or +lesser public, with attempting to judge it! The idea of "fame," as +they call it, posthumous or other, does not inspire one with much +ecstasy in these points of view.--Secondly, That Sterling's +performance and real or seeming importance in this world was actually +not of a kind to demand an express Biography, even according to the +world's usages. His character was not supremely original; neither was +his fate in the world wonderful. What he did was inconsiderable +enough; and as to what it lay in him to have done, this was but a +problem, now beyond possibility of settlement. Why had a Biography +been inflicted on this man; why had not No-biography, and the +privilege of all the weary, been his lot?--Thirdly, That such lot, +however, could now no longer be my good Sterling's; a tumult having +risen around his name, enough to impress some pretended likeness of +him (about as like as the Guy-Fauxes are, on Gunpowder-Day) upon the +minds of many men: so that he could not be forgotten, and could only +be misremembered, as matters now stood. + +Whereupon, as practical conclusion to the whole, arose by degrees this +final thought, That, at some calmer season, when the theological dust +had well fallen, and both the matter itself, and my feelings on it, +were in a suitabler condition, I ought to give my testimony about this +friend whom I had known so well, and record clearly what my knowledge +of him was. This has ever since seemed a kind of duty I had to do in +the world before leaving it. + + +And so, having on my hands some leisure at this time, and being bound +to it by evident considerations, one of which ought to be especially +sacred to me, I decide to fling down on paper some outline of what my +recollections and reflections contain in reference to this most +friendly, bright and beautiful human soul; who walked with me for a +season in this world, and remains to me very memorable while I +continue in it. Gradually, if facts simple enough in themselves can +be narrated as they came to pass, it will be seen what kind of man +this was; to what extent condemnable for imaginary heresy and other +crimes, to what extent laudable and lovable for noble manful +_orthodoxy_ and other virtues;--and whether the lesson his life had to +teach us is not much the reverse of what the Religious Newspapers +hitherto educe from it. + +Certainly it was not as a "sceptic" that you could define him, +whatever his definition might be. Belief, not doubt, attended him at +all points of his progress; rather a tendency to too hasty and +headlong belief. Of all men he was the least prone to what you could +call scepticism: diseased self-listenings, self-questionings, +impotently painful dubitations, all this fatal nosology of spiritual +maladies, so rife in our day, was eminently foreign to him. Quite on +the other side lay Sterling's faults, such as they were. In fact, you +could observe, in spite of his sleepless intellectual vivacity, he was +not properly a thinker at all; his faculties were of the active, not +of the passive or contemplative sort. A brilliant _improvisatore_; +rapid in thought, in word and in act; everywhere the promptest and +least hesitating of men. I likened him often, in my banterings, to +sheet-lightning; and reproachfully prayed that he would concentrate +himself into a bolt, and rive the mountain-barriers for us, instead of +merely playing on them and irradiating them. + +True, he had his "religion" to seek, and painfully shape together for +himself, out of the abysses of conflicting disbelief and sham-belief +and bedlam delusion, now filling the world, as all men of reflection +have; and in this respect too,--more especially as his lot in the +battle appointed for us all was, if you can understand it, victory and +not defeat,--he is an expressive emblem of his time, and an +instruction and possession to his contemporaries. For, I say, it is +by no means as a vanquished _doubter_ that he figures in the memory of +those who knew him; but rather as a victorious _believer_, and under +great difficulties a victorious doer. An example to us all, not of +lamed misery, helpless spiritual bewilderment and sprawling despair, +or any kind of _drownage_ in the foul welter of our so-called +religious or other controversies and confusions; but of a swift and +valiant vanquisher of all these; a noble asserter of himself, as +worker and speaker, in spite of all these. Continually, so far as he +went, he was a teacher, by act and word, of hope, clearness, activity, +veracity, and human courage and nobleness: the preacher of a good +gospel to all men, not of a bad to any man. The man, whether in +priest's cassock or other costume of men, who is the enemy or hater of +John Sterling, may assure himself that he does not yet know him,--that +miserable differences of mere costume and dialect still divide him, +whatsoever is worthy, catholic and perennial in him, from a brother +soul who, more than most in his day, was his brother and not his +adversary in regard to all that. + +Nor shall the irremediable drawback that Sterling was not current in +the Newspapers, that he achieved neither what the world calls +greatness nor what intrinsically is such, altogether discourage me. +What his natural size, and natural and accidental limits were, will +gradually appear, if my sketching be successful. And I have remarked +that a true delineation of the smallest man, and his scene of +pilgrimage through life, is capable of interesting the greatest man; +that all men are to an unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a +strange emblem of every man's; and that Human Portraits, faithfully +drawn, are of all pictures the welcomest on human walls. Monitions +and moralities enough may lie in this small Work, if honestly written +and honestly read;--and, in particular, if any image of John Sterling +and his Pilgrimage through our poor Nineteenth Century be one day +wanted by the world, and they can find some shadow of a true image +here, my swift scribbling (which shall be very swift and immediate) +may prove useful by and by. + + +CHAPTER II. +BIRTH AND PARENTAGE. + +John Sterling was born at Kaimes Castle, a kind of dilapidated +baronial residence to which a small farm was then attached, rented by +his Father, in the Isle of Bute,--on the 20th July, 1806. Both his +parents were Irish by birth, Scotch by extraction; and became, as he +himself did, essentially English by long residence and habit. Of John +himself Scotland has little or nothing to claim except the birth and +genealogy, for he left it almost before the years of memory; and in +his mature days regarded it, if with a little more recognition and +intelligence, yet without more participation in any of its accents +outward or inward, than others natives of Middlesex or Surrey, where +the scene of his chief education lay. + +The climate of Bute is rainy, soft of temperature; with skies of +unusual depth and brilliancy, while the weather is fair. In that soft +rainy climate, on that wild-wooded rocky coast, with its gnarled +mountains and green silent valleys, with its seething rain-storms and +many-sounding seas, was young Sterling ushered into his first +schooling in this world. I remember one little anecdote his Father +told me of those first years: One of the cows had calved; young John, +still in petticoats, was permitted to go, holding by his father's +hand, and look at the newly arrived calf; a mystery which he surveyed +with open intent eyes, and the silent exercise of all the scientific +faculties he had;--very strange mystery indeed, this new arrival, and +fresh denizen of our Universe: "Wull't eat a-body?" said John in his +first practical Scotch, inquiring into the tendencies this mystery +might have to fall upon a little fellow and consume him as provision: +"Will it eat one, Father?"--Poor little open-eyed John: the family +long bantered him with this anecdote; and we, in far other years, +laughed heartily on hearing it.--Simple peasant laborers, ploughers, +house-servants, occasional fisher-people too; and the sight of ships, +and crops, and Nature's doings where Art has little meddled with her: +this was the kind of schooling our young friend had, first of all; on +this bench of the grand world-school did he sit, for the first four +years of his life. + +Edward Sterling his Father, a man who subsequently came to +considerable notice in the world, was originally of Waterford in +Munster; son of the Episcopalian Clergyman there; and chief +representative of a family of some standing in those parts. Family +founded, it appears, by a Colonel Robert Sterling, called also Sir +Robert Sterling; a Scottish Gustavus-Adolphus soldier, whom the +breaking out of the Civil War had recalled from his German +campaignings, and had before long, though not till after some +waverings on his part, attached firmly to the Duke of Ormond and to +the King's Party in that quarrel. A little bit of genealogy, since it +lies ready to my hand, gathered long ago out of wider studies, and +pleasantly connects things individual and present with the dim +universal crowd of things past,--may as well be inserted here as +thrown away. + +This Colonel Robert designates himself Sterling "of Glorat;" I +believe, a younger branch of the well-known Stirlings of Keir in +Stirlingshire. It appears he prospered in his soldiering and other +business, in those bad Ormond times; being a man of energy, ardor and +intelligence,--probably prompt enough both with his word and with his +stroke. There survives yet, in the Commons Journals,[2] dim notice of +his controversies and adventures; especially of one controversy he had +got into with certain victorious Parliamentary official parties, while +his own party lay vanquished, during what was called the Ormond +Cessation, or Temporary Peace made by Ormond with the Parliament in +1646:--in which controversy Colonel Robert, after repeated +applications, journeyings to London, attendances upon committees, and +such like, finds himself worsted, declared to be in the wrong; and so +vanishes from the Commons Journals. + +What became of him when Cromwell got to Ireland, and to Munster, I +have not heard: his knighthood, dating from the very year of +Cromwell's Invasion (1649), indicates a man expected to do his best on +the occasion:--as in all probability he did; had not Tredah Storm +proved ruinous, and the neck of this Irish War been broken at once. +Doubtless the Colonel Sir Robert followed or attended his Duke of +Ormond into foreign parts, and gave up his management of Munster, +while it was yet time: for after the Restoration we find him again, +safe, and as was natural, flourishing with new splendor; gifted, +recompensed with lands;--settled, in short, on fair revenues in those +Munster regions. He appears to have had no children; but to have left +his property to William, a younger brother who had followed him into +Ireland. From this William descends the family which, in the years we +treat of, had Edward Sterling, Father of our John, for its +representative. And now enough of genealogy. + + +Of Edward Sterling, Captain Edward Sterling as his title was, who in +the latter period of his life became well known in London political +society, whom indeed all England, with a curious mixture of mockery +and respect and even fear, knew well as "the Thunderer of the Times +Newspaper," there were much to be said, did the present task and its +limits permit. As perhaps it might, on certain terms? What is +indispensable let us not omit to say. The history of a man's +childhood is the description of his parents and environment: this is +his inarticulate but highly important history, in those first times, +while of articulate he has yet none. + +Edward Sterling had now just entered on his thirty-fourth year; and +was already a man experienced in fortunes and changes. A native of +Waterford in Munster, as already mentioned; born in the "Deanery House +of Waterford, 27th February, 1773," say the registers. For his +Father, as we learn, resided in the Deanery House, though he was not +himself Dean, but only "Curate of the Cathedral" (whatever that may +mean); he was withal rector of two other livings, and the Dean's +friend,--friend indeed of the Dean's kinsmen the Beresfords generally; +whose grand house of Curraghmore, near by Waterford, was a familiar +haunt of his and his children's. This reverend gentleman, along with +his three livings and high acquaintanceships, had inherited political +connections;--inherited especially a Government Pension, with +survivorship for still one life beyond his own; his father having been +Clerk of the Irish House of Commons at the time of the Union, of which +office the lost salary was compensated in this way. The Pension was +of two hundred pounds; and only expired with the life of Edward, +John's Father, in 1847. There were, and still are, daughters of the +family; but Edward was the only son;--descended, too, from the +Scottish hero Wallace, as the old gentleman would sometimes admonish +him; his own wife, Edward's mother, being of that name, and boasting +herself, as most Scotch Wallaces do, to have that blood in her veins. + +This Edward had picked up, at Waterford, and among the young +Beresfords of Curraghmore and elsewhere, a thoroughly Irish form of +character: fire and fervor, vitality of all kinds, in genial +abundance; but in a much more loquacious, ostentatious, much _louder_ +style than is freely patronized on this side of the Channel. Of Irish +accent in speech he had entirely divested himself, so as not to be +traced by any vestige in that respect; but his Irish accent of +character, in all manner of other more important respects, was very +recognizable. An impetuous man, full of real energy, and immensely +conscious of the same; who transacted everything not with the minimum +of fuss and noise, but with the maximum: a very Captain Whirlwind, as +one was tempted to call him. + +In youth, he had studied at Trinity College, Dublin; visited the Inns +of Court here, and trained himself for the Irish Bar. To the Bar he +had been duly called, and was waiting for the results,--when, in his +twenty-fifth year, the Irish Rebellion broke out; whereupon the Irish +Barristers decided to raise a corps of loyal Volunteers, and a +complete change introduced itself into Edward Sterling's way of life. +For, naturally, he had joined the array of Volunteers;--fought, I have +heard, "in three actions with the rebels" (Vinegar Hill, for one); and +doubtless fought well: but in the mess-rooms, among the young +military and civil officials, with all of whom he was a favorite, he +had acquired a taste for soldier life, and perhaps high hopes of +succeeding in it: at all events, having a commission in the +Lancashire Militia offered him, he accepted that; altogether quitted +the Bar, and became Captain Sterling thenceforth. From the Militia, +it appears, he had volunteered with his Company into the Line; and, +under some disappointments, and official delays of expected promotion, +was continuing to serve as Captain there, "Captain of the Eighth +Battalion of Reserve," say the Military Almanacs of 1803,--in which +year the quarters happened to be Derry, where new events awaited him. +At a ball in Derry he met with Miss Hester Coningham, the queen of the +scene, and of the fair world in Derry at that time. The acquaintance, +in spite of some Opposition, grew with vigor, and rapidly ripened: +and "at Fehan Church, Diocese of Derry," where the Bride's father had +a country-house, "on Thursday 5th April, 1804, Hester Coningham, only +daughter of John Coningham, Esquire, Merchant in Derry, and of +Elizabeth Campbell his wife," was wedded to Captain Sterling; she +happiest to him happiest,--as by Nature's kind law it is arranged. + +Mrs. Sterling, even in her later days, had still traces of the old +beauty: then and always she was a woman of delicate, pious, +affectionate character; exemplary as a wife, a mother and a friend. A +refined female nature; something tremulous in it, timid, and with a +certain rural freshness still unweakened by long converse with the +world. The tall slim figure, always of a kind of quaker neatness; the +innocent anxious face, anxious bright hazel eyes; the timid, yet +gracefully cordial ways, the natural intelligence, instinctive sense +and worth, were very characteristic. Her voice too; with its +something of soft querulousness, easily adapting itself to a light +thin-flowing style of mirth on occasion, was characteristic: she had +retained her Ulster intonations, and was withal somewhat copious in +speech. A fine tremulously sensitive nature, strong chiefly on the +side of the affections, and the graceful insights and activities that +depend on these:--truly a beautiful, much-suffering, much-loving +house-mother. From her chiefly, as one could discern, John Sterling +had derived the delicate _aroma_ of his nature, its piety, clearness, +sincerity; as from his Father, the ready practical gifts, the +impetuosities and the audacities, were also (though in strange new +form) visibly inherited. A man was lucky to have such a Mother; to +have such Parents as both his were. + +Meanwhile the new Wife appears to have had, for the present, no +marriage-portion; neither was Edward Sterling rich,--according to his +own ideas and aims, far from it. Of course he soon found that the +fluctuating barrack-life, especially with no outlooks of speedy +promotion, was little suited to his new circumstances: but how change +it? His father was now dead; from whom he had inherited the Speaker +Pension of two hundred pounds; but of available probably little or +nothing more. The rents of the small family estate, I suppose, and +other property, had gone to portion sisters. Two hundred pounds, and +the pay of a marching captain: within the limits of that revenue all +plans of his had to restrict themselves at present. + +He continued for some time longer in the Army; his wife undivided from +him by the hardships, of that way of life. Their first son Anthony +(Captain Anthony Sterling, the only child who now survives) was born +to them in this position, while lying at Dundalk, in January, 1805. +Two months later, some eleven months after their marriage, the +regiment was broken; and Captain Sterling, declining to serve +elsewhere on the terms offered, and willingly accepting such decision +of his doubts, was reduced to half-pay. This was the end of his +soldiering: some five or six years in all; from which he had derived +for life, among other things, a decided military bearing, whereof he +was rather proud; an incapacity for practicing law;--and considerable +uncertainty as to what his next course of life was now to be. + +For the present, his views lay towards farming: to establish himself, +if not as country gentleman, which was an unattainable ambition, then +at least as some kind of gentleman-farmer which had a flattering +resemblance to that. Kaimes Castle with a reasonable extent of land, +which, in his inquiries after farms, had turned up, was his first +place of settlement in this new capacity; and here, for some few +months, he had established himself when John his second child was +born. This was Captain Sterling's first attempt towards a fixed +course of life; not a very wise one, I have understood:--yet on the +whole, who, then and there, could have pointed out to him a wiser? + +A fixed course of life and activity he could never attain, or not till +very late; and this doubtless was among the important points of his +destiny, and acted both on his own character and that of those who had +to attend him on his wayfarings. + + +CHAPTER III. +SCHOOLS: LLANBLETHIAN; PARIS; LONDON. + +Edward Sterling never shone in farming; indeed I believe he never took +heartily to it, or tried it except in fits. His Bute farm was, at +best, a kind of apology for some far different ideal of a country +establishment which could not be realized; practically a temporary +landing-place from which he could make sallies and excursions in +search of some more generous field of enterprise. Stormy brief +efforts at energetic husbandry, at agricultural improvement and rapid +field-labor, alternated with sudden flights to Dublin, to London, +whithersoever any flush of bright outlook which he could denominate +practical, or any gleam of hope which his impatient ennui could +represent as such, allured him. This latter was often enough the +case. In wet hay-times and harvest-times, the dripping outdoor world, +and lounging indoor one, in the absence of the master, offered far +from a satisfactory appearance! Here was, in fact, a man much +imprisoned; haunted, I doubt not, by demons enough; though ever brisk +and brave withal,--iracund, but cheerfully vigorous, opulent in wise +or unwise hope. A fiery energetic soul consciously and unconsciously +storming for deliverance into better arenas; and this in a restless, +rapid, impetuous, rather than in a strong, silent and deliberate way. + +In rainy Bute and the dilapidated Kaimes Castle, it was evident, there +lay no Goshen for such a man. The lease, originally but for some +three years and a half, drawing now to a close, he resolved to quit +Bute; had heard, I know not where, of an eligible cottage without farm +attached, in the pleasant little village of Llanblethian close by +Cowbridge in Glamorganshire; of this he took a lease, and thither with +his family he moved in search of new fortunes. Glamorganshire was at +least a better climate than Bute; no groups of idle or of busy reapers +could here stand waiting on the guidance of a master, for there was no +farm here;--and among its other and probably its chief though secret +advantages, Llanblethian was much more convenient both for Dublin and +London than Kaimes Castle had been. + +The removal thither took place in the autumn of 1809. Chief part of +the journey (perhaps from Greenock to Swansea or Bristol) was by sea: +John, just turned of three years, could in after-times remember +nothing of this voyage; Anthony, some eighteen months older, has still +a vivid recollection of the gray splashing tumult, and dim sorrow, +uncertainty, regret and distress he underwent: to him a +"dissolving-view" which not only left its effect on the _plate_ (as +all views and dissolving-views doubtless do on that kind of "plate"), +but remained consciously present there. John, in the close of his +twenty-first year, professes not to remember anything whatever of +Bute; his whole existence, in that earliest scene of it, had faded +away from him: Bute also, with its shaggy mountains, moaning woods, +and summer and winter seas, had been wholly a dissolving-view for him, +and had left no conscious impression, but only, like this voyage, an +effect. + +Llanblethian hangs pleasantly, with its white cottages, and orchard +and other trees, on the western slope of a green hill looking far and +wide over green meadows and little or bigger hills, in the pleasant +plain of Glamorgan; a short mile to the south of Cowbridge, to which +smart little town it is properly a kind of suburb. Plain of +Glamorgan, some ten miles wide and thirty or forty long, which they +call the Vale of Glamorgan;--though properly it is not quite a Vale, +there being only one range of mountains to it, if even one: certainly +the central Mountains of Wales do gradually rise, in a miscellaneous +manner, on the north side of it; but on the south are no mountains, +not even land, only the Bristol Channel, and far off, the Hills of +Devonshire, for boundary,--the "English Hills," as the natives call +them, visible from every eminence in those parts. On such wide terms +is it called Vale of Glamorgan. But called by whatever name, it is a +most pleasant fruitful region: kind to the native, interesting to the +visitor. A waving grassy region; cut with innumerable ragged lanes; +dotted with sleepy unswept human hamlets, old ruinous castles with +their ivy and their daws, gray sleepy churches with their ditto ditto: +for ivy everywhere abounds; and generally a rank fragrant vegetation +clothes all things; hanging, in rude many-colored festoons and fringed +odoriferous tapestries, on your right and on your left, in every lane. +A country kinder to the sluggard husbandman than any I have ever seen. +For it lies all on limestone, needs no draining; the soil, everywhere +of handsome depth and finest quality, will grow good crops for you +with the most imperfect tilling. At a safe distance of a day's riding +lie the tartarean copper-forges of Swansea, the tartarean iron-forges +of Merthyr; their sooty battle far away, and not, at such safe +distance, a defilement to the face of the earth and sky, but rather an +encouragement to the earth at least; encouraging the husbandman to +plough better, if he only would. + +The peasantry seem indolent and stagnant, but peaceable and +well-provided; much given to Methodism when they have any +character;--for the rest, an innocent good-humored people, who all +drink home-brewed beer, and have brown loaves of the most excellent +home-baked bread. The native peasant village is not generally +beautiful, though it might be, were it swept and trimmed; it gives one +rather the idea of sluttish stagnancy,--an interesting peep into the +Welsh Paradise of Sleepy Hollow. Stones, old kettles, naves of +wheels, all kinds of broken litter, with live pigs and etceteras, lie +about the street: for, as a rule, no rubbish is removed, but waits +patiently the action of mere natural chemistry and accident; if even a +house is burnt or falls, you will find it there after half a century, +only cloaked by the ever-ready ivy. Sluggish man seems never to have +struck a pick into it; his new hut is built close by on ground not +encumbered, and the old stones are still left lying. + +This is the ordinary Welsh village; but there are exceptions, where +people of more cultivated tastes have been led to settle, and +Llanblethian is one of the more signal of these. A decidedly cheerful +group of human homes, the greater part of them indeed belonging to +persons of refined habits; trimness, shady shelter, whitewash, neither +conveniency nor decoration has been neglected here. Its effect from +the distance on the eastward is very pretty: you see it like a little +sleeping cataract of white houses, with trees overshadowing and +fringing it; and there the cataract hangs, and does not rush away from +you. + +John Sterling spent his next five years in this locality. He did not +again see it for a quarter of a century; but retained, all his life, a +lively remembrance of it; and, just in the end of his twenty-first +year, among his earliest printed pieces, we find an elaborate and +diffuse description of it and its relations to him,--part of which +piece, in spite of its otherwise insignificant quality, may find place +here:-- + +"The fields on which I first looked, and the sands which were marked +by my earliest footsteps, are completely lost to my memory; and of +those ancient walls among which I began to breathe, I retain no +recollection more clear than the outlines of a cloud in a moonless +sky. But of L----, the village where I afterwards lived, I persuade +myself that every line and hue is more deeply and accurately fixed +than those of any spot I have since beheld, even though borne in upon +the heart by the association of the strongest feelings. + +"My home was built upon the slope of a hill, with a little orchard +stretching down before it, and a garden rising behind. At a +considerable distance beyond and beneath the orchard, a rivulet flowed +through meadows and turned a mill; while, above the garden, the summit +of the hill was crowned by a few gray rocks, from which a yew-tree +grew, solitary and bare. Extending at each side of the orchard, +toward the brook, two scattered patches of cottages lay nestled among +their gardens; and beyond this streamlet and the little mill and +bridge, another slight eminence arose, divided into green fields, +tufted and bordered with copsewood, and crested by a ruined castle, +contemporary, as was said, with the Conquest. I know not whether these +things in truth made up a prospect of much beauty. Since I was eight +years old, I have never seen them; but I well know that no landscape I +have since beheld, no picture of Claude or Salvator, gave me half the +impression of living, heartfelt, perfect beauty which fills my mind +when I think of that green valley, that sparkling rivulet, that broken +fortress of dark antiquity, and that hill with its aged yew and breezy +summit, from which I have so often looked over the broad stretch of +verdure beneath it, and the country-town, and church-tower, silent and +white beyond. + +"In that little town there was, and I believe is, a school where the +elements of human knowledge were communicated to me, for some hours of +every day, during a considerable time. The path to it lay across the +rivulet and past the mill; from which point we could either journey +through the fields below the old castle, and the wood which surrounded +it, or along a road at the other side of the ruin, close to the +gateway of which it passed. The former track led through two or three +beautiful fields, the sylvan domain of the keep on one hand, and the +brook on the other; while an oak or two, like giant warders advanced +from the wood, broke the sunshine of the green with a soft and +graceful shadow. How often, on my way to school, have I stopped +beneath the tree to collect the fallen acorns; how often run down to +the stream to pluck a branch of the hawthorn which hung over the +water! The road which passed the castle joined, beyond these fields, +the path which traversed them. It took, I well remember, a certain +solemn and mysterious interest from the ruin. The shadow of the +archway, the discolorizations of time on all the walls, the dimness of +the little thicket which encircled it, the traditions of its +immeasurable age, made St. Quentin's Castle a wonderful and awful +fabric in the imagination of a child; and long after I last saw its +mouldering roughness, I never read of fortresses, or heights, or +spectres, or banditti, without connecting them with the one ruin of my +childhood. + +"It was close to this spot that one of the few adventures occurred +which marked, in my mind, my boyish days with importance. When +loitering beyond the castle, on the way to school, with a brother +somewhat older than myself, who was uniformly my champion and +protector, we espied a round sloe high up in the hedge-row. We +determined to obtain it; and I do not remember whether both of us, or +only my brother, climbed the tree. However, when the prize was all +but reached,--and no alchemist ever looked more eagerly for the moment +of projection which was to give him immortality and omnipotence,--a +gruff voice startled us with an oath, and an order to desist; and I +well recollect looking back, for long after, with terror to the vision +of an old and ill-tempered farmer, armed with a bill-hook, and vowing +our decapitation; nor did I subsequently remember without triumph the +eloquence whereby alone, in my firm belief, my brother and myself had +been rescued from instant death. + +"At the entrance of the little town stood an old gateway, with a +pointed arch and decaying battlements. It gave admittance to the +street which contained the church, and which terminated in another +street, the principal one in the town of C----. In this was situated +the school to which I daily wended. I cannot now recall to mind the +face of its good conductor, nor of any of his scholars; but I have +before me a strong general image of the interior of his establishment. +I remember the reverence with which I was wont to carry to his seat a +well-thumbed duodecimo, the _History of Greece_ by Oliver Goldsmith. +I remember the mental agonies I endured in attempting to master the +art and mystery of penmanship; a craft in which, alas, I remained too +short a time under Mr. R---- to become as great a proficient as he +made his other scholars, and which my awkwardness has prevented me +from attaining in any considerable perfection under my various +subsequent pedagogues. But that which has left behind it a brilliant +trait of light was the exhibition of what are called 'Christmas +pieces;' things unknown in aristocratic seminaries, but constantly +used at the comparatively humble academy which supplied the best +knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic to be attained in that +remote neighborhood. + +"The long desks covered from end to end with those painted +masterpieces, the Life of Robinson Crusoe, the Hunting of Chevy-Chase, +the History of Jack the Giant-Killer, and all the little eager faces +and trembling hands bent over these, and filling them up with some +choice quotation, sacred or profane;--no, the galleries of art, the +theatrical exhibitions, the reviews and processions,--which are only +not childish because they are practiced and admired by men instead of +children,--all the pomps and vanities of great cities, have shown me +no revelation of glory such as did that crowded school-room the week +before the Christmas holidays. But these were the splendors of life. +The truest and the strongest feelings do not connect themselves with +any scenes of gorgeous and gaudy magnificence; they are bound up in +the remembrances of home. + +"The narrow orchard, with its grove of old apple-trees against one of +which I used to lean, and while I brandished a beanstalk, roar out +with Fitzjames,-- + + 'Come one, come all; this rock shall fly + From its firm base as soon as I!'-- + +while I was ready to squall at the sight of a cur, and run valorously +away from a casually approaching cow; the field close beside it, where +I rolled about in summer among the hay; the brook in which, despite of +maid and mother, I waded by the hour; the garden where I sowed +flower-seeds, and then turned up the ground again and planted +potatoes, and then rooted out the potatoes to insert acorns and +apple-pips, and at last, as may be supposed, reaped neither roses, nor +potatoes, nor oak-trees, nor apples; the grass-plots on which I played +among those with whom I never can play nor work again: all these are +places and employments,--and, alas, playmates,--such as, if it were +worth while to weep at all, it would be worth weeping that I enjoy no +longer. + +"I remember the house where I first grew familiar with peacocks; and +the mill-stream into which I once fell; and the religious awe +wherewith I heard, in the warm twilight, the psalm-singing around the +house of the Methodist miller; and the door-post against which I +discharged my brazen artillery; I remember the window by which I sat +while my mother taught me French; and the patch of garden which I dug +for-- But her name is best left blank; it was indeed writ in water. +These recollections are to me like the wealth of a departed friend, a +mournful treasure. But the public has heard enough of them; to it +they are worthless: they are a coin which only circulates at its true +value between the different periods of an individual's existence, and +good for nothing but to keep up a commerce between boyhood and +manhood. I have for years looked forward to the possibility of +visiting L----; but I am told that it is a changed village; and not +only has man been at work, but the old yew on the hill has fallen, and +scarcely a low stump remains of the tree which I delighted in +childhood to think might have furnished bows for the Norman +archers."[3] + +In Cowbridge is some kind of free school, or grammar-school, of a +certain distinction; and this to Captain Sterling was probably a +motive for settling in the neighborhood of it with his children. Of +this however, as it turned out, there was no use made: the Sterling +family, during its continuance in those parts, did not need more than +a primary school. The worthy master who presided over these Christmas +galas, and had the honor to teach John Sterling his reading and +writing, was an elderly Mr. Reece of Cowbridge, who still (in 1851) +survives, or lately did; and is still remembered by his old pupils as +a worthy, ingenious and kindly man, "who wore drab breeches and white +stockings." Beyond the Reece sphere of tuition John Sterling did not +go in this locality. + +In fact the Sterling household was still fluctuating; the problem of a +task for Edward Sterling's powers, and of anchorage for his affairs in +any sense, was restlessly struggling to solve itself, but was still a +good way from being solved. Anthony, in revisiting these scenes with +John in 1839, mentions going to the spot "where we used to stand with +our Father, looking out for the arrival of the London mail:" a little +chink through which is disclosed to us a big restless section of a +human life. The Hill of Welsh Llanblethian, then, is like the mythic +Caucasus in its degree (as indeed all hills and habitations where men +sojourn are); and here too, on a small scale, is a Prometheus Chained! +Edward Sterling, I can well understand, was a man to tug at the chains +that held him idle in those the prime of his years; and to ask +restlessly, yet not in anger and remorse, so much as in hope, +locomotive speculation, and ever-new adventure and attempt, Is there +no task nearer my own natural size, then? So he looks out from the +Hill-side "for the arrival of the London mail;" thence hurries into +Cowbridge to the Post-office; and has a wide web, of threads and +gossamers, upon his loom, and many shuttles flying, in this world. + +By the Marquis of Bute's appointment he had, very shortly after his +arrival in that region, become Adjutant of the Glamorganshire Militia, +"Local Militia," I suppose; and was, in this way, turning his military +capabilities to some use. The office involved pretty frequent +absences, in Cardiff and elsewhere. This doubtless was a welcome +outlet, though a small one. He had also begun to try writing, +especially on public subjects; a much more copious outlet,--which +indeed, gradually widening itself, became the final solution for him. +Of the year 1811 we have a Pamphlet of his, entitled _Military +Reform_; this is the second edition, "dedicated to the Duke of Kent;" +the first appears to have come out the year before, and had thus +attained a certain notice, which of course was encouraging. He now +furthermore opened a correspondence with the _Times_ Newspaper; wrote +to it, in 1812, a series of Letters under the signature _Vetus_: +voluntary Letters I suppose, without payment or pre-engagement, one +successful Letter calling out another; till _Vetus_ and his doctrines +came to be a distinguishable entity, and the business amounted to +something. Out of my own earliest Newspaper reading, I can remember +the name _Vetus_, as a kind of editorial hacklog on which able-editors +were wont to chop straw now and then. Nay the Letters were collected +and reprinted; both this first series, of 1812, and then a second of +next year: two very thin, very dim-colored cheap octavos; stray +copies of which still exist, and may one day become distillable into a +drop of History (should such be wanted of our poor "Scavenger Age" in +time coming), though the reading of them has long ceased in this +generation.[4] The first series, we perceive, had even gone to a +second edition. The tone, wherever one timidly glances into this +extinct cockpit, is trenchant and emphatic: the name of _Vetus_, +strenuously fighting there, had become considerable in the talking +political world; and, no doubt, was especially of mark, as that of a +writer who might otherwise be important, with the proprietors of the +_Times_. The connection continued: widened and deepened itself,--in +a slow tentative manner; passing naturally from voluntary into +remunerated: and indeed proving more and more to be the true ultimate +arena, and battle-field and seed-field, for the exuberant +impetuosities and faculties of this man. + +What the _Letters of Vetus_ treated of I do not know; doubtless they +ran upon Napoleon, Catholic Emancipation, true methods of national +defence, of effective foreign Anti-gallicism, and of domestic ditto; +which formed the staple of editorial speculation at that time. I have +heard in general that Captain Sterling, then and afterwards, advocated +"the Marquis of Wellesley's policy;" but that also, what it was, I +have forgotten, and the world has been willing to forget. Enough, the +heads of the _Times_ establishment, perhaps already the Marquis of +Wellesley and other important persons, had their eye on this writer; +and it began to be surmised by him that here at last was the career he +had been seeking. + + +Accordingly, in 1814, when victorious Peace unexpectedly arrived; and +the gates of the Continent after five-and-twenty years of fierce +closure were suddenly thrown open; and the hearts of all English and +European men awoke staggering as if from a nightmare suddenly removed, +and ran hither and thither,--Edward Sterling also determined on a new +adventure, that of crossing to Paris, and trying what might lie in +store for him. For curiosity, in its idler sense, there was evidently +pabulum enough. But he had hopes moreover of learning much that might +perhaps avail him afterwards;--hopes withal, I have understood, of +getting to be Foreign Correspondent of the _Times_ Newspaper, and so +adding to his income in the mean while. He left Llanblethian in May; +dates from Dieppe the 27th of that month. He lived in occasional +contact with Parisian notabilities (all of them except Madame de Stael +forgotten now), all summer, diligently surveying his ground;--returned +for his family, who were still in Wales but ready to move, in the +beginning of August; took them immediately across with him; a house in +the neighborhood of Paris, in the pleasant village of Passy at once +town and country, being now ready; and so, under foreign skies, again +set up his household there. + +Here was a strange new "school" for our friend John now in his eighth +year! Out of which the little Anthony and he drank doubtless at all +pores, vigorously as they had done in no school before. A change +total and immediate. Somniferous green Llanblethian has suddenly been +blotted out; presto, here are wakeful Passy and the noises of paved +Paris instead. Innocent ingenious Mr. Reece in drab breeches and +white stockings, he with his mild Christmas galas and peaceable rules +of Dilworth and Butterworth, has given place to such a saturnalia of +panoramic, symbolic and other teachers and monitors, addressing all +the five senses at once. Who John's express tutors were, at Passy, I +never heard; nor indeed, especially in his case, was it much worth +inquiring. To him and to all of us, the expressly appointed +schoolmasters and schoolings we get are as nothing, compared with the +unappointed incidental and continual ones, whose school-hours are all +the days and nights of our existence, and whose lessons, noticed or +unnoticed, stream in upon us with every breath we draw. Anthony says +they attended a French school, though only for about three months; and +he well remembers the last scene of it, "the boys shouting _Vive +l'Empereur_ when Napoleon came back." + +Of John Sterling's express schooling, perhaps the most important +feature, and by no means a favorable one to him, was the excessive +fluctuation that prevailed in it. Change of scene, change of teacher, +_both_ express and implied, was incessant with him; and gave his young +life a nomadic character,--which surely, of all the adventitious +tendencies that could have been impressed upon him, so volatile, swift +and airy a being as him, was the one he needed least. His gentle +pious-hearted Mother, ever watching over him in all outward changes, +and assiduously keeping human pieties and good affections alive in +him, was probably the best counteracting element in his lot. And on +the whole, have we not all to run our chance in that respect; and +take, the most victoriously we can, such schooling as pleases to be +attainable in our year and place? Not very victoriously, the most of +us! A wise well-calculated breeding of a young genial soul in this +world, or alas of any young soul in it, lies fatally over the horizon +in these epochs!--This French scene of things, a grand school of its +sort, and also a perpetual banquet for the young soul, naturally +captivated John Sterling; he said afterwards, "New things and +experiences here were poured upon his mind and sense, not in streams, +but in a Niagara cataract." This too, however, was but a scene; +lasted only some six or seven months; and in the spring of the next +year terminated as abruptly as any of the rest could do. + +For in the spring of the next year, Napoleon abruptly emerged from +Elba; and set all the populations of the world in motion, in a strange +manner;--set the Sterling household afloat, in particular; the big +European tide rushing into all smallest creeks, at Passy and +elsewhere. In brief, on the 20th of March, 1815, the family had to +shift, almost to fly, towards home and the sea-coast; and for a day or +two were under apprehension of being detained and not reaching home. +Mrs. Sterling, with her children and effects, all in one big carriage +with two horses, made the journey to Dieppe; in perfect safety, though +in continual tremor: here they were joined by Captain Sterling, who +had stayed behind at Paris to see the actual advent of Napoleon, and +to report what the aspect of affairs was, "Downcast looks of citizens, +with fierce saturnalian acclaim of soldiery:" after which they +proceeded together to London without farther apprehension;--there to +witness, in due time, the tar-barrels of Waterloo, and other phenomena +that followed. + + +Captain Sterling never quitted London as a residence any more; and +indeed was never absent from it, except on autumnal or other +excursions of a few weeks, till the end of his life. Nevertheless his +course there was as yet by no means clear; nor had his relations with +the heads of the _Times_, or with other high heads, assumed a form +which could be called definite, but were hanging as a cloudy maze of +possibilities, firm substance not yet divided from shadow. It +continued so for some years. The Sterling household shifted twice or +thrice to new streets or localities,--Russell Square or Queen Square, +Blackfriars Road, and longest at the Grove, Blackheath,-- before the +vapors of Wellesley promotions and such like slowly sank as useless +precipitate, and the firm rock, which was definite employment, ending +in lucrative co-proprietorship and more and more important connection +with the _Times_ Newspaper, slowly disclosed itself. + +These changes of place naturally brought changes in John Sterling's +schoolmasters: nor were domestic tragedies wanting, still more +important to him. New brothers and sisters had been born; two little +brothers more, three little sisters he had in all; some of whom came +to their eleventh year beside him, some passed away in their second or +fourth: but from his ninth to his sixteenth year they all died; and +in 1821 only Anthony and John were left.[5] How many tears, and +passionate pangs, and soft infinite regrets; such as are appointed to +all mortals! In one year, I find, indeed in one half-year, he lost +three little playmates, two of them within one month. His own age was +not yet quite twelve. For one of these three, for little Edward, his +next younger, who died now at the age of nine, Mr. Hare records that +John copied out, in large school-hand, a _History of Valentine and +Orson_, to beguile the poor child's sickness, which ended in death +soon, leaving a sad cloud on John. + + +Of his grammar and other schools, which, as I said, are hardly worth +enumerating in comparison, the most important seems to have been a Dr. +Burney's at Greenwich; a large day-schoo] and boarding-school, where +Anthony and John gave their attendance for a year or two (1818-19) +from Blackheath. "John frequently did themes for the boys," says +Anthony, "and for myself when I was aground." His progress in all +school learning was certain to be rapid, if he even moderately took to +it. A lean, tallish, loose-made boy of twelve; strange alacrity, +rapidity and joyous eagerness looking out of his eyes, and of all his +ways and movements. I have a Picture of him at this stage; a little +portrait, which carries its verification with it. In manhood too, the +chief expression of his eyes and physiognomy was what I might call +alacrity, cheerful rapidity. You could see, here looked forth a soul +which was winged; which dwelt in hope and action, not in hesitation or +fear. Anthony says, he was "an affectionate and gallant kind of boy, +adventurous and generous, daring to a singular degree." Apt enough +withal to be "petulant now and then;" on the whole, "very +self-willed;" doubtless not a little discursive in his thoughts and +ways, and "difficult to manage." + +I rather think Anthony, as the steadier, more substantial boy, was the +Mother's favorite; and that John, though the quicker and cleverer, +perhaps cost her many anxieties. Among the Papers given me, is an old +browned half-sheet in stiff school hand, unpunctuated, occasionally +ill spelt,--John Sterling's earliest remaining Letter,--which gives +record of a crowning escapade of his, the first and the last of its +kind; and so may be inserted here. A very headlong adventure on the +boy's part; so hasty and so futile, at once audacious and +impracticable; emblematic of much that befell in the history of the +man! + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Blackheath_. + "21st September, 1818. + +"DEAR MAMMA,--I am now at Dover, where I arrived this morning about +seven o'clock. When you thought I was going to church, I went down +the Kent Road, and walked on till I came to Gravesend, which is +upwards of twenty miles from Blackheath; at about seven o'clock in the +evening, without having eat anything the whole time. I applied to an +inkeeper (_sic_) there, pretending that I had served a haberdasher in +London, who left of (_sic_) business, and turned me away. He believed +me; and got me a passage in the coach here, for I said that I had an +Uncle here, and that my Father and Mother were dead;--when I wandered +about the quays for some time, till I met Captain Keys, whom I asked +to give me a passage to Boulogne; which he promised to do, and took me +home to breakfast with him: but Mrs. Keys questioned me a good deal; +when I not being able to make my story good, I was obliged to confess +to her that I had run away from you. Captain Keys says that he will +keep me at his house till you answer my letter. + + "J. STERLING." + +Anthony remembers the business well; but can assign no origin to +it,--some penalty, indignity or cross put suddenly on John, which the +hasty John considered unbearable. His Mother's inconsolable weeping, +and then his own astonishment at such a culprit's being forgiven, are +all that remain with Anthony. The steady historical style of the +young runaway of twelve, narrating merely, not in the least +apologizing, is also noticeable. + +This was some six months after his little brother Edward's death; +three months after that of Hester, his little sister next in the +family series to him: troubled days for the poor Mother in that small +household on Blackheath, as there are for mothers in so many +households in this world! I have heard that Mrs. Sterling passed much +of her time alone, at this period. Her husband's pursuits, with his +Wellesleys and the like, often carrying him into Town and detaining +him late there, she would sit among her sleeping children, such of +them as death had still spared, perhaps thriftily plying her needle, +full of mournful affectionate night-thoughts,--apprehensive too, in +her tremulous heart, that the head of the house might have fallen +among robbers in his way homeward. + + +CHAPTER IV. +UNIVERSITIES: GLASGOW; CAMBRIDGE. + +At a later stage, John had some instruction from a Dr. Waite at +Blackheath; and lastly, the family having now removed into Town, to +Seymour Street in the fashionable region there, he "read for a while +with Dr. Trollope, Master of Christ's Hospital;" which ended his +school history. + +In this his ever-changing course, from Reece at Cowbridge to Trollope +in Christ's, which was passed so nomadically, under ferulas of various +color, the boy had, on the whole, snatched successfully a fair share +of what was going. Competent skill in construing Latin, I think also +an elementary knowledge of Greek; add ciphering to a small extent, +Euclid perhaps in a rather imaginary condition; a swift but not very +legible or handsome penmanship, and the copious prompt habit of +employing it in all manner of unconscious English prose composition, +or even occasionally in verse itself: this, or something like this, +he had gained from his grammar-schools: this is the most of what they +offer to the poor young soul in general, in these indigent times. The +express schoolmaster is not equal to much at present,--while the +_un_express, for good or for evil, is so busy with a poor little +fellow! Other departments of schooling had been infinitely more +productive, for our young friend, than the gerund-grinding one. A +voracious reader I believe he all along was,--had "read the whole +Edinburgh Review" in these boyish years, and out of the circulating +libraries one knows not what cartloads; wading like Ulysses towards +his palace "through infinite dung." A voracious observer and +participator in all things he likewise all along was; and had had his +sights, and reflections, and sorrows and adventures, from Kaimes +Castle onward,--and had gone at least to Dover on his own score. +_Puer bonae spei_, as the school-albums say; a boy of whom much may be +hoped? Surely, in many senses, yes. A frank veracity is in him, +truth and courage, as the basis of all; and of wild gifts and graces +there is abundance. I figure him a brilliant, swift, voluble, +affectionate and pleasant creature; out of whom, if it were not that +symptoms of delicate health already show themselves, great things +might be made. Promotions at least, especially in this country and +epoch of parliaments and eloquent palavers, are surely very possible +for such a one! + + +Being now turned of sixteen, and the family economics getting yearly +more propitious and flourishing, he, as his brother had already been, +was sent to Glasgow University, in which city their Mother had +connections. His brother and he were now all that remained of the +young family; much attached to one another in their College years as +afterwards. Glasgow, however, was not properly their College scene: +here, except that they had some tuition from Mr. Jacobson, then a +senior fellow-student, now (1851) the learned editor of St. Basil, and +Regius Professor of Divinity in Oxford, who continued ever afterwards +a valued intimate of John's, I find nothing special recorded of them. +The Glasgow curriculum, for John especially, lasted but one year; who, +after some farther tutorage from Mr. Jacobson or Dr. Trollope, was +appointed for a more ambitious sphere of education. + +In the beginning of his nineteenth year, "in the autumn of 1824," he +went to Trinity College, Cambridge. His brother Anthony, who had +already been there a year, had just quitted this Establishment, and +entered on a military life under good omens; I think, at Dublin under +the Lord Lieutenant's patronage, to whose service he was, in some +capacity, attached. The two brothers, ever in company hitherto, +parted roads at this point; and, except on holiday visits and by +frequent correspondence, did not again live together; but they +continued in a true fraternal attachment while life lasted, and I +believe never had any even temporary estrangement, or on either side a +cause for such. The family, as I said, was now, for the last three +years, reduced to these two; the rest of the young ones, with their +laughter and their sorrows, all gone. The parents otherwise were +prosperous in outward circumstances; the Father's position more and +more developing itself into affluent security, an agreeable circle of +acquaintance, and a certain real influence, though of a peculiar sort, +according to his gifts for work in this world. + + +Sterling's Tutor at Trinity College was Julius Hare, now the +distinguished Archdeacon of Lewes:--who soon conceived a great esteem +for him, and continued ever afterwards, in looser or closer +connection, his loved and loving friend. As the Biographical and +Editorial work above alluded to abundantly evinces. Mr. Hare +celebrates the wonderful and beautiful gifts, the sparkling ingenuity, +ready logic, eloquent utterance, and noble generosities and pieties of +his pupil;--records in particular how once, on a sudden alarm of fire +in some neighboring College edifice while his lecture was proceeding, +all hands rushed out to help; how the undergraduates instantly formed +themselves in lines from the fire to the river, and in swift +continuance kept passing buckets as was needful, till the enemy was +visibly fast yielding,--when Mr. Hare, going along the line, was +astonished to find Sterling, at the river-end of it, standing up to +his waist in water, deftly dealing with the buckets as they came and +went. You in the river, Sterling; you with your coughs, and dangerous +tendencies of health!--"Somebody must be in it," answered Sterling; +"why not I, as well as another?" Sterling's friends may remember many +traits of that kind. The swiftest in all things, he was apt to be +found at the head of the column, whithersoever the march might be; if +towards any brunt of danger, there was he surest to be at the head; +and of himself and his peculiar risks or impediments he was negligent +at all times, even to an excessive and plainly unreasonable degree. + +Mr. Hare justly refuses him the character of an exact scholar, or +technical proficient at any time in either of the ancient literatures. +But he freely read in Greek and Latin, as in various modern languages; +and in all fields, in the classical as well, his lively faculty of +recognition and assimilation had given him large booty in proportion +to his labor. One cannot under any circumstances conceive of Sterling +as a steady dictionary philologue, historian, or archaeologist; nor +did he here, nor could he well, attempt that course. At the same +time, Greek and the Greeks being here before him, he could not fail to +gather somewhat from it, to take some hue and shape from it. +Accordingly there is, to a singular extent, especially in his early +writings, a certain tinge of Grecism and Heathen classicality +traceable in him;--Classicality, indeed, which does not satisfy one's +sense as real or truly living, but which glitters with a certain +genial, if perhaps almost meretricious half-_japannish_ +splendor,--greatly distinguishable from mere gerund-grinding, and +death in longs and shorts. If Classicality mean the practical +conception, or attempt to conceive, what human life was in the epoch +called classical,--perhaps few or none of Sterling's contemporaries in +that Cambridge establishment carried away more of available +Classicality than even he. + +But here, as in his former schools, his studies and inquiries, +diligently prosecuted I believe, were of the most discursive +wide-flowing character; not steadily advancing along beaten roads +towards College honors, but pulsing out with impetuous irregularity +now on this tract, now on that, towards whatever spiritual Delphi +might promise to unfold the mystery of this world, and announce to him +what was, in our new day, the authentic message of the gods. His +speculations, readings, inferences, glances and conclusions were +doubtless sufficiently encyclopedic; his grand tutors the multifarious +set of Books he devoured. And perhaps,--as is the singular case in +most schools and educational establishments of this unexampled +epoch,--it was not the express set of arrangements in this or any +extant University that could essentially forward him, but only the +implied and silent ones; less in the prescribed "course of study," +which seems to tend no-whither, than--if you will consider it--in the +generous (not ungenerous) rebellion against said prescribed course, +and the voluntary spirit of endeavor and adventure excited thereby, +does help lie for a brave youth in such places. Curious to consider. +The fagging, the illicit boating, and the things _forbidden_ by the +schoolmaster,--these, I often notice in my Eton acquaintances, are the +things that have done them good; these, and not their inconsiderable +or considerable knowledge of the Greek accidence almost at all! What +is Greek accidence, compared to Spartan discipline, if it can be had? +That latter is a real and grand attainment. Certainly, if rebellion +is unfortunately needful, and you can rebel in a generous manner, +several things may be acquired in that operation,--rigorous mutual +fidelity, reticence, steadfastness, mild stoicism, and other virtues +far transcending your Greek accidence. Nor can the unwisest +"prescribed course of study" be considered quite useless, if it have +incited you to try nobly on all sides for a course of your own. A +singular condition of Schools and High-schools, which have come down, +in their strange old clothes and "courses of study," from the monkish +ages into this highly unmonkish one;--tragical condition, at which the +intelligent observer makes deep pause! + +One benefit, not to be dissevered from the most obsolete University +still frequented by young ingenuous living souls, is that of manifold +collision and communication with the said young souls; which, to every +one of these coevals, is undoubtedly the most important branch of +breeding for him. In this point, as the learned Huber has +insisted,[6] the two English Universities,--their studies otherwise being +granted to be nearly useless, and even ill done of their kind,--far +excel all other Universities: so valuable are the rules of human +behavior which from of old have tacitly established themselves there; +so manful, with all its sad drawbacks, is the style of English +character, "frank, simple, rugged and yet courteous," which has +tacitly but imperatively got itself sanctioned and prescribed there. +Such, in full sight of Continental and other Universities, is Huber's +opinion. Alas, the question of University Reform goes deep at +present; deep as the world;--and the real University of these new +epochs is yet a great way from us! Another judge in whom I have +confidence declares further, That of these two Universities, Cambridge +is decidedly the more catholic (not Roman catholic, but Human +catholic) in its tendencies and habitudes; and that in fact, of all +the miserable Schools and High-schools in the England of these years, +he, if reduced to choose from them, would choose Cambridge as a place +of culture for the young idea. So that, in these bad circumstances, +Sterling had perhaps rather made a hit than otherwise? + + +Sterling at Cambridge had undoubtedly a wide and rather genial circle +of comrades; and could not fail to be regarded and beloved by many of +them. Their life seems to have been an ardently speculating and +talking one; by no means excessively restrained within limits; and, in +the more adventurous heads like Sterling's, decidedly tending towards +the latitudinarian in most things. They had among them a Debating +Society called The Union; where on stated evenings was much logic, and +other spiritual fencing and ingenuous collision,--probably of a really +superior quality in that kind; for not a few of the then disputants +have since proved themselves men of parts, and attained distinction in +the intellectual walks of life. Frederic Maurice, Richard Trench, +John Kemble, Spedding, Venables, Charles Buller, Richard Milnes and +others:--I have heard that in speaking and arguing, Sterling was the +acknowledged chief in this Union Club; and that "none even came near +him, except the late Charles Buller," whose distinction in this and +higher respects was also already notable. + +The questions agitated seem occasionally to have touched on the +political department, and even on the ecclesiastical. I have heard +one trait of Sterling's eloquence, which survived on the wings of +grinning rumor, and had evidently borne upon Church Conservatism in +some form: "Have they not,"--or perhaps it was, Has she (the Church) +not,--"a black dragoon in every parish, on good pay and rations, +horse-meat and man's-meat, to patrol and battle for these things?" +The "black dragoon," which naturally at the moment ruffled the general +young imagination into stormy laughter, points towards important +conclusions in respect to Sterling at this time. I conclude he had, +with his usual alacrity and impetuous daring, frankly adopted the +anti-superstitious side of things; and stood scornfully prepared to +repel all aggressions or pretensions from the opposite quarter. In +short, that he was already, what afterwards there is no doubt about +his being, at all points a Radical, as the name or nickname then went. +In other words, a young ardent soul looking with hope and joy into a +world which was infinitely beautiful to him, though overhung with +falsities and foul cobwebs as world never was before; overloaded, +overclouded, to the zenith and the nadir of it, by incredible +uncredited traditions, solemnly sordid hypocrisies, and beggarly +deliriums old and new; which latter class of objects it was clearly +the part of every noble heart to expend all its lightnings and +energies in burning up without delay, and sweeping into their native +Chaos out of such a Cosmos as this. Which process, it did not then +seem to him could be very difficult; or attended with much other than +heroic joy, and enthusiasm of victory or of battle, to the gallant +operator, in his part of it. This was, with modifications such as +might be, the humor and creed of College Radicalism five-and-twenty +years ago. Rather horrible at that time; seen to be not so horrible +now, at least to have grown very universal, and to need no concealment +now. The natural humor and attitude, we may well regret to say,--and +honorable not dishonorable, for a brave young soul such as Sterling's, +in those years in those localities! + +I do not find that Sterling had, at that stage, adopted the then +prevalent Utilitarian theory of human things. But neither, +apparently, had he rejected it; still less did he yet at all denounce +it with the damnatory vehemence we were used to in him at a later +period. Probably he, so much occupied with the negative side of +things, had not yet thought seriously of any positive basis for his +world; or asked himself, too earnestly, What, then, is the noble rule +of living for a man? In this world so eclipsed and scandalously +overhung with fable and hypocrisy, what is the eternal fact, on which +a man may front the Destinies and the Immensities? The day for such +questions, sure enough to come in his case, was still but coming. +Sufficient for this day be the work thereof; that of blasting into +merited annihilation the innumerable and immeasurable recognized +deliriums, and extirpating or coercing to the due pitch those legions +of "black dragoons," of all varieties and purposes, who patrol, with +horse-meat and man's-meat, this afflicted earth, so hugely to the +detriment of it. + + +Sterling, it appears, after above a year of Trinity College, followed +his friend Maurice into Trinity Hall, with the intention of taking a +degree in Law; which intention, like many others with him, came to +nothing; and in 1827 he left Trinity Hall and Cambridge altogether; +here ending, after two years, his brief University life. + + +CHAPTER V. +A PROFESSION. + +Here, then, is a young soul, brought to the years of legal majority, +furnished from his training-schools with such and such shining +capabilities, and ushered on the scene of things to inquire +practically, What he will do there? Piety is in the man, noble human +valor, bright intelligence, ardent proud veracity; light and fire, in +none of their many senses, wanting for him, but abundantly bestowed: +a kingly kind of man;--whose "kingdom," however, in this bewildered +place and epoch of the world will probably be difficult to find and +conquer! + +For, alas, the world, as we said, already stands convicted to this +young soul of being an untrue, unblessed world; its high dignitaries +many of them phantasms and players'-masks; its worthships and worships +unworshipful: from Dan to Beersheba, a mad world, my masters. And +surely we may say, and none will now gainsay, this his idea of the +world at that epoch was nearer to the fact than at most other epochs +it has been. Truly, in all times and places, the young ardent soul +that enters on this world with heroic purpose, with veracious insight, +and the yet unclouded "inspiration of the Almighty" which has given us +our intelligence, will find this world a very mad one: why else is +he, with his little outfit of heroisms and inspirations, come hither +into it, except to make it diligently a little saner? Of him there +would have been no need, had it been quite sane. This is true; this +will, in all centuries and countries, be true. + +And yet perhaps of no time or country, for the last two thousand +years, was it _so_ true as here in this waste-weltering epoch of +Sterling's and ours. A world all rocking and plunging, like that old +Roman one when the measure of its iniquities was full; the abysses, +and subterranean and supernal deluges, plainly broken loose; in the +wild dim-lighted chaos all stars of Heaven gone out. No star of +Heaven visible, hardly now to any man; the pestiferous fogs, and foul +exhalations grown continual, have, except on the highest mountaintops, +blotted out all stars: will-o'-wisps, of various course and color, +take the place of stars. Over the wild-surging chaos, in the leaden +air, are only sudden glares of revolutionary lightning; then mere +darkness, with philanthropistic phosphorescences, empty meteoric +lights; here and there an ecclesiastical luminary still hovering, +hanging on to its old quaking fixtures, pretending still to be a Moon +or Sun,--though visibly it is but a Chinese lantern made of _paper_ +mainly, with candle-end foully dying in the heart of it. Surely as +mad a world as you could wish! + +If you want to make sudden fortunes in it, and achieve the temporary +hallelujah of flunkies for yourself, renouncing the perennial esteem +of wise men; if you can believe that the chief end of man is to +collect about him a bigger heap of gold than ever before, in a shorter +time than ever before, you will find it a most handy and every way +furthersome, blessed and felicitous world. But for any other human +aim, I think you will find it not furthersome. If you in any way ask +practically, How a noble life is to be led in it? you will be luckier +than Sterling or I if you get any credible answer, or find any made +road whatever. Alas, it is even so. Your heart's question, if it be +of that sort, most things and persons will answer with a "Nonsense! +Noble life is in Drury Lane, and wears yellow boots. You fool, +compose yourself to your pudding!"--Surely, in these times, if ever in +any, the young heroic soul entering on life, so opulent, full of sunny +hope, of noble valor and divine intention, is tragical as well as +beautiful to us. + +Of the three learned Professions none offered any likelihood for +Sterling. From the Church his notions of the "black dragoon," had +there been no other obstacle, were sufficient to exclude him. Law he +had just renounced, his own Radical philosophies disheartening him, in +face of the ponderous impediments, continual up-hill struggles and +formidable toils inherent in such a pursuit: with Medicine he had +never been in any contiguity, that he should dream of it as a course +for him. Clearly enough the professions were unsuitable; they to him, +he to them. Professions, built so largely on speciosity instead of +performance; clogged, in this bad epoch, and defaced under such +suspicions of fatal imposture, were hateful not lovable to the young +radical soul, scornful of gross profit, and intent on ideals and human +noblenesses. Again, the professions, were they never so perfect and +veracious, will require slow steady pulling, to which this individual +young radical, with his swift, far-darting brilliancies, and nomadic +desultory ways, is of all men the most averse and unfitted. No +profession could, in any case, have well gained the early love of +Sterling. And perhaps withal the most tragic element of his life is +even this, That there now was none to which he could fitly, by those +wiser than himself, have been bound and constrained, that he might +learn to love it. So swift, light-limbed and fiery an Arab courser +ought, for all manner of reasons, to have been trained to saddle and +harness. Roaming at full gallop over the heaths,--especially when +your heath was London, and English and European life, in the +nineteenth century,--he suffered much, and did comparatively little. +I have known few creatures whom it was more wasteful to send forth +with the bridle thrown up, and to set to steeple-hunting instead of +running on highways! But it is the lot of many such, in this +dislocated time,--Heaven mend it! In a better time there will be +other "professions" than those three extremely cramp, confused and +indeed almost obsolete ones: professions, if possible, that are true, +and do _not_ require you at the threshold to constitute yourself an +impostor. Human association,--which will mean discipline, vigorous +wise subordination and co-ordination,--is so unspeakably important. +Professions, "regimented human pursuits," how many of honorable and +manful might be possible for men; and which should _not_, in their +results to society, need to stumble along, in such an unwieldy futile +manner, with legs swollen into such enormous elephantiasis and no go +at all in them! Men will one day think of the force they squander in +every generation, and the fatal damage they encounter, by this +neglect. + + +The career likeliest for Sterling, in his and the world's +circumstances, would have been what is called public life: some +secretarial, diplomatic or other official training, to issue if +possible in Parliament as the true field for him. And here, beyond +question, had the gross material conditions been allowed, his +spiritual capabilities were first-rate. In any arena where eloquence +and argument was the point, this man was calculated to have borne the +bell from all competitors. In lucid ingenious talk and logic, in all +manner of brilliant utterance and tongue-fence, I have hardly known +his fellow. So ready lay his store of knowledge round him, so perfect +was his ready utterance of the same,--in coruscating wit, in jocund +drollery, in compact articulated clearness or high poignant emphasis, +as the case required,--he was a match for any man in argument before a +crowd of men. One of the most supple-wristed, dexterous, graceful and +successful fencers in that kind. A man, as Mr. Hare has said, "able +to argue with four or five at once;" could do the parrying all round, +in a succession swift as light, and plant his hits wherever a chance +offered. In Parliament, such a soul put into a body of the due +toughness might have carried it far. If ours is to be called, as I +hear some call it, the Talking Era, Sterling of all men had the talent +to excel in it. + +Probably it was with some vague view towards chances in this direction +that Sterling's first engagement was entered upon; a brief connection +as Secretary to some Club or Association into which certain public +men, of the reforming sort, Mr. Crawford (the Oriental Diplomatist and +Writer), Mr. Kirkman Finlay (then Member for Glasgow), and other +political notabilities had now formed themselves,--with what specific +objects I do not know, nor with what result if any. I have heard +vaguely, it was "to open the trade to India." Of course they intended +to stir up the public mind into co-operation, whatever their goal or +object was: Mr. Crawford, an intimate in the Sterling household, +recognized the fine literary gift of John; and might think it a lucky +hit that he had caught such a Secretary for three hundred pounds a +year. That was the salary agreed upon; and for some months actually +worked for and paid; Sterling becoming for the time an intimate and +almost an inmate in Mr. Crawford's circle, doubtless not without +results to himself beyond the secretarial work and pounds sterling: +so much is certain. But neither the Secretaryship nor the Association +itself had any continuance; nor can I now learn accurately more of it +than what is here stated;--in which vague state it must vanish from +Sterling's history again, as it in great measure did from his life. +From himself in after-years I never heard mention of it; nor were his +pursuits connected afterwards with those of Mr. Crawford, though the +mutual good-will continued unbroken. + +In fact, however splendid and indubitable Sterling's qualifications +for a parliamentary life, there was that in him withal which flatly +put a negative on any such project. He had not the slow +steady-pulling diligence which is indispensable in that, as in all +important pursuits and strenuous human competitions whatsoever. In +every sense, his momentum depended on velocity of stroke, rather than +on weight of metal; "beautifulest sheet-lightning," as I often said, +"not to be condensed into thunder-bolts." Add to this,--what indeed +is perhaps but the same phenomenon in another form,--his bodily frame +was thin, excitable, already manifesting pulmonary symptoms; a body +which the tear and wear of Parliament would infallibly in few months +have wrecked and ended. By this path there was clearly no mounting. +The far-darting, restlessly coruscating soul, equips beyond all others +to shine in the Talking Era, and lead National Palavers with their +_spolia opima_ captive, is imprisoned in a fragile hectic body which +quite forbids the adventure. "_Es ist dafur gesorgt_," says Goethe, +"Provision has been made that the trees do not grow into the +sky;"--means are always there to stop them short of the sky. + + +CHAPTER VI. +LITERATURE: THE ATHENAEUM. + +Of all forms of public life, in the Talking Era, it was clear that +only one completely suited Sterling,--the anarchic, nomadic, entirely +aerial and unconditional one, called Literature. To this all his +tendencies, and fine gifts positive and negative, were evidently +pointing; and here, after such brief attempting or thoughts to attempt +at other posts, he already in this same year arrives. As many do, and +ever more must do, in these our years and times. This is the chaotic +haven of so many frustrate activities; where all manner of good gifts +go up in far-seen smoke or conflagration; and whole fleets, that might +have been war-fleets to conquer kingdoms, are _consumed_ (too truly, +often), amid "fame" enough, and the admiring shouts of the vulgar, +which is always fond to see fire going on. The true Canaan and Mount +Zion of a Talking Era must ever be Literature: the extraneous, +miscellaneous, self-elected, indescribable _Parliamentum_, or Talking +Apparatus, which talks by books and printed papers. + +A literary Newspaper called _The Athenaeum_, the same which still +subsists, had been founded in those years by Mr. Buckingham; James +Silk Buckingham, who has since continued notable under various +figures. Mr. Buckingham's _Athenaeum_ had not as yet got into a +flourishing condition; and he was willing to sell the copyright of it +for a consideration. Perhaps Sterling and old Cambridge friends of +his had been already writing for it. At all events, Sterling, who had +already privately begun writing a Novel, and was clearly looking +towards Literature, perceived that his gifted Cambridge friend, +Frederic Maurice, was now also at large in a somewhat similar +situation; and that here was an opening for both of them, and for +other gifted friends. The copyright was purchased for I know not what +sum, nor with whose money, but guess it may have been Sterling's, and +no great sum;--and so, under free auspices, themselves their own +captains, Maurice and he spread sail for this new voyage of adventure +into all the world. It was about the end of 1828 that readers of +periodical literature, and quidnuncs in those departments, began to +report the appearance, in a Paper called the _Athenaeum, of_ writings +showing a superior brilliancy, and height of aim; one or perhaps two +slight specimens of which came into my own hands, in my remote corner, +about that time, and were duly recognized by me, while the authors +were still far off and hidden behind deep veils. + +Some of Sterling's best Papers from the _Athenaeum_ have been +published by Archdeacon Hare: first-fruits by a young man of +twenty-two; crude, imperfect, yet singularly beautiful and attractive; +which will still testify what high literary promise lay in him. The +ruddiest glow of young enthusiasm, of noble incipient spiritual +manhood reigns over them; once more a divine Universe unveiling itself +in gloom and splendor, in auroral firelight and many-tinted shadow, +full of hope and full of awe, to a young melodious pious heart just +arrived upon it. Often enough the delineation has a certain flowing +completeness, not to be expected from so young an artist; here and +there is a decided felicity of insight; everywhere the point of view +adopted is a high and noble one, and the result worked out a result to +be sympathized with, and accepted so far as it will go. Good reading +still, those Papers, for the less-furnished mind,--thrice-excellent +reading compared with what is usually going. For the rest, a grand +melancholy is the prevailing impression they leave;--partly as if, +while the surface was so blooming and opulent, the heart of them was +still vacant, sad and cold. Here is a beautiful mirage, in the dry +wilderness; but you cannot quench your thirst there! The writer's +heart is indeed still too vacant, except of beautiful shadows and +reflexes and resonances; and is far from joyful, though it wears +commonly a smile. + +In some of the Greek delineations (_The Lycian Painter_, for example), +we have already noticed a strange opulence of splendor, +characterizable as half-legitimate, half-meretricious,--a splendor +hovering between the raffaelesque and the japannish. What other +things Sterling wrote there, I never knew; nor would he in any mood, +in those later days, have told you, had you asked. This period of his +life he always rather accounted, as the Arabs do the idolatrous times +before Mahomet's advent, the "period of darkness." + + +CHAPTER VII. +REGENT STREET. + +0n the commercial side the _Athenaeum_ still lacked success; nor was +like to find it under the highly uncommercial management it had now +got into. This, by and by, began to be a serious consideration. For +money is the sinews of Periodical Literature almost as much as of war +itself; without money, and under a constant drain of loss, Periodical +Literature is one of the things that cannot be carried on. In no long +time Sterling began to be practically sensible of this truth, and that +an unpleasant resolution in accordance with it would be necessary. By +him also, after a while, the _Athenaeum_ was transferred to other +hands, better fitted in that respect; and under these it did take +vigorous root, and still bears fruit according to its kind. + +For the present, it brought him into the thick of London Literature, +especially of young London Literature and speculation; in which turbid +exciting element he swam and revelled, nothing loath, for certain +months longer,--a period short of two years in all. He had lodgings +in Regent Street: his Father's house, now a flourishing and stirring +establishment, in South Place, Knightsbridge, where, under the warmth +of increasing revenue and success, miscellaneous cheerful socialities +and abundant speculations, chiefly political (and not John's kind, but +that of the _Times_ Newspaper and the Clubs), were rife, he could +visit daily, and yet be master of his own studies and pursuits. +Maurice, Trench, John Mill, Charles Buller: these, and some few +others, among a wide circle of a transitory phantasmal character, whom +he speedily forgot and cared not to remember, were much about him; +with these he in all ways employed and disported himself: a first +favorite with them all. + +No pleasanter companion, I suppose, had any of them. So frank, open, +guileless, fearless, a brother to all worthy souls whatsoever. Come +when you might, here is he open-hearted, rich in cheerful fancies, in +grave logic, in all kinds of bright activity. If perceptibly or +imperceptibly there is a touch of ostentation in him, blame it not; it +is so innocent, so good and childlike. He is still fonder of jingling +publicly, and spreading on the table, your big purse of opulences than +his own. Abrupt too he is, cares little for big-wigs and garnitures; +perhaps laughs more than the real fun he has would order; but of +arrogance there is no vestige, of insincerity or of ill-nature none. +These must have been pleasant evenings in Regent Street, when the +circle chanced to be well adjusted there. At other times, Philistines +would enter, what we call bores, dullards, Children of Darkness; and +then,--except in a hunt of dullards, and a _bore-baiting_, which might +be permissible,--the evening was dark. Sterling, of course, had +innumerable cares withal; and was toiling like a slave; his very +recreations almost a kind of work. An enormous activity was in the +man;--sufficient, in a body that could have held it without breaking, +to have gone far, even under the unstable guidance it was like to +have! + +Thus, too, an extensive, very variegated circle of connections was +forming round him. Besides his _Athenaeum_ work, and evenings in +Regent Street and elsewhere, he makes visits to country-houses, the +Bullers' and others; converses with established gentlemen, with +honorable women not a few; is gay and welcome with the young of his +own age; knows also religious, witty, and other distinguished ladies, +and is admiringly known by them. On the whole, he is already +locomotive; visits hither and thither in a very rapid flying manner. +Thus I find he had made one flying visit to the Cumberland Lake-region +in 1828, and got sight of Wordsworth; and in the same year another +flying one to Paris, and seen with no undue enthusiasm the +Saint-Simonian Portent just beginning to preach for itself, and France +in general simmering under a scum of impieties, levities, +Saint-Simonisms, and frothy fantasticalities of all kinds, towards the +boiling-over which soon made the Three Days of July famous. But by +far the most important foreign home he visited was that of Coleridge +on the Hill of Highgate,--if it were not rather a foreign shrine and +Dodona-Oracle, as he then reckoned,--to which (onwards from 1828, as +would appear) he was already an assiduous pilgrim. Concerning whom, +and Sterling's all-important connection with him, there will be much +to say anon. + +Here, from this period, is a Letter of Sterling's, which the glimpses +it affords of bright scenes and figures now sunk, so many of them, +sorrowfully to the realm of shadows, will render interesting to some +of my readers. To me on the mere Letter, not on its contents alone, +there is accidentally a kind of fateful stamp. A few months after +Charles Buller's death, while his loss was mourned by many hearts, and +to his poor Mother all light except what hung upon his memory had gone +out in the world, a certain delicate and friendly hand, hoping to give +the poor bereaved lady a good moment, sought out this Letter of +Sterling's, one morning, and called, with intent to read it to +her:--alas, the poor lady had herself fallen suddenly into the +languors of death, help of another grander sort now close at hand; and +to her this Letter was never read! + +On "Fanny Kemble," it appears, there is an Essay by Sterling in the +_Athenaeum_ of this year: "16th December, 1829." Very laudatory, I +conclude. He much admired her genius, nay was thought at one time to +be vaguely on the edge of still more chivalrous feelings. As the +Letter itself may perhaps indicate. + + "_To Anthony Sterling, Esq., 24th Regiment, Dublin_. + "KNIGHTSBRIDGE, 10th Nov., 1829. + +"MY DEAR ANTHONY,--Here in the Capital of England and of Europe, there +is less, so far as I hear, of movement and variety than in your +provincial Dublin, or among the Wicklow Mountains. We have the old +prospect of bricks and smoke, the old crowd of busy stupid faces, the +old occupations, the old sleepy amusements; and the latest news that +reaches us daily has an air of tiresome, doting antiquity. The world +has nothing for it but to exclaim with Faust, "Give me my youth +again." And as for me, my month of Cornish amusement is over; and I +must tie myself to my old employments. I have not much to tell you +about these; but perhaps you may like to hear of my expedition to the +West. + +"I wrote to Polvellan (Mr. Buller's) to announce the day on which I +intended to be there, so shortly before setting out, that there was no +time to receive an answer; and when I reached Devonport, which is +fifteen or sixteen miles from my place of destination, I found a +letter from Mrs. Buller, saying that she was coming in two days to a +Ball at Plymouth, and if I chose to stay in the mean while and look +about me, she would take me back with her. She added an introduction +to a relation of her husband's, a certain Captain Buller of the +Rifles, who was with the Depot there,--a pleasant person, who I +believe had been acquainted with Charlotte,[7] or at least had seen +her. Under his superintendence--... + +"On leaving Devonport with Mrs. Buller, I went some of the way by +water, up the harbor and river; and the prospects are certainly very +beautiful; to say nothing of the large ships, which I admire almost as +much as you, though without knowing so much about them. There is a +great deal of fine scenery all along the road to Looe; and the House +itself, a very unpretending Gothic cottage, stands beautifully among +trees, hills and water, with the sea at the distance of a quarter of a +mile. + +"And here, among pleasant, good-natured, well-informed and clever +people, I spent an idle month. I dined at one or two Corporation +dinners; spent a few days at the old Mansion of Mr. Buller of Morval, +the patron of West Looe; and during the rest of the time, read, wrote, +played chess, lounged, and ate red mullet (he who has not done this +has not begun to live); talked of cookery to the philosophers, and of +metaphysics to Mrs. Buller; and altogether cultivated indolence, and +developed the faculty of nonsense with considerable pleasure and +unexampled success. Charles Buller you know: he has just come to +town, but I have not yet seen him. Arthur, his younger brother, I +take to be one of the handsomest men in England; and he too has +considerable talent. Mr. Buller the father is rather a clever man of +sense, and particularly good-natured and gentlemanly; and his wife, +who was a renowned beauty and queen of Calcutta, has still many +striking and delicate traces of what she was. Her conversation is +more brilliant and pleasant than that of any one I know; and, at all +events, I am bound to admire her for the kindness with which she +patronizes me. I hope that, some day or other, you may be acquainted +with her. + +"I believe I have seen no one in London about whom you would care to +hear,--unless the fame of Fanny Kemble has passed the Channel, and +astonished the Irish Barbarians in the midst of their bloody-minded +politics. Young Kemble, whom you have seen, is in Germany: but I +have the happiness of being also acquainted with his sister, the +divine Fanny; and I have seen her twice on the stage, and three or +four times in private, since my return from Cornwall. I had seen some +beautiful verses of hers, long before she was an actress; and her +conversation is full of spirit and talent. She never was taught to +act at all; and though there are many faults in her performance of +Juliet, there is more power than in any female playing I ever saw, +except Pasta's Medea. She is not handsome, rather short, and by no +means delicately formed; but her face is marked, and the eyes are +brilliant, dark, and full of character. She has far more ability than +she ever can display on the stage; but I have no doubt that, by +practice and self-culture, she will be a far finer actress at least +than any one since Mrs. Siddons. I was at Charles Kemble's a few +evenings ago, when a drawing of Miss Kemble, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, +was brought in; and I have no doubt that you will shortly see, even in +Dublin, an engraving of her from it, very unlike the caricatures that +have hitherto appeared. I hate the stage; and but for her, should very +likely never have gone to a theatre again. Even as it is, the +annoyance is much more than the pleasure; but I suppose I must go to +see her in every character in which she acts. If Charlotte cares for +plays, let me know, and I will write in more detail about this new +Melpomene. I fear there are very few subjects on which I can say +anything that will in the least interest her. + + "Ever affectionately yours, + "J. STERLING." + +Sterling and his circle, as their ardent speculation and activity +fermented along, were in all things clear for progress, liberalism; +their politics, and view of the Universe, decisively of the Radical +sort. As indeed that of England then was, more than ever; the crust +of old hide-bound Toryism being now openly cracking towards some +incurable disruption, which accordingly ensued as the Reform Bill +before long. The Reform Bill already hung in the wind. Old +hide-bound Toryism, long recognized by all the world, and now at last +obliged to recognize its very self, for an overgrown Imposture, +supporting itself not by human reason, but by flunky blustering and +brazen lying, superadded to mere brute force, could be no creed for +young Sterling and his friends. In all things he and they were +liberals, and, as was natural at this stage, democrats; contemplating +root-and-branch innovation by aid of the hustings and ballot-box. +Hustings and ballot-box had speedily to vanish out of Sterling's +thoughts: but the character of root-and-branch innovator, essentially +of "Radical Reformer," was indelible with him, and under all forms +could be traced as his character through life. + +For the present, his and those young people's aim was: By democracy, +or what means there are, be all impostures put down. Speedy end to +Superstition,--a gentle one if you can contrive it, but an end. What +can it profit any mortal to adopt locutions and imaginations which do +not correspond to fact; which no sane mortal can deliberately adopt in +his soul as true; which the most orthodox of mortals can only, and +this after infinite essentially _impious_ effort to put out the eyes +of his mind, persuade himself to "believe that he believes"? Away +with it; in the name of God, come out of it, all true men! + +Piety of heart, a certain reality of religious faith, was always +Sterling's, the gift of nature to him which he would not and could not +throw away; but I find at this time his religion is as good as +altogether Ethnic, Greekish, what Goethe calls the Heathen form of +religion. The Church, with her articles, is without relation to him. +And along with obsolete spiritualisms, he sees all manner of obsolete +thrones and big-wigged temporalities; and for them also can prophesy, +and wish, only a speedy doom. Doom inevitable, registered in Heaven's +Chancery from the beginning of days, doom unalterable as the pillars +of the world; the gods are angry, and all nature groans, till this +doom of eternal justice be fulfilled. + +With gay audacity, with enthusiasm tempered by mockery, as is the +manner of young gifted men, this faith, grounded for the present on +democracy and hustings operations, and giving to all life the aspect +of a chivalrous battle-field, or almost of a gay though perilous +tournament, and bout of "A hundred knights against all comers,"--was +maintained by Sterling and his friends. And in fine, after whatever +loud remonstrances, and solemn considerations, and such shaking of our +wigs as is undoubtedly natural in the case, let us be just to it and +him. We shall have to admit, nay it will behoove us to see and +practically know, for ourselves and him and others, that the essence +of this creed, in times like ours, was right and not wrong. That, +however the ground and form of it might change, essentially it was the +monition of his natal genius to this as it is to every brave man; the +behest of all his clear insight into this Universe, the message of +Heaven through him, which he could not suppress, but was inspired and +compelled to utter in this world by such methods as he had. There for +him lay the first commandment; _this_ is what it would have been the +unforgivable sin to swerve from and desert: the treason of treasons +for him, it were there; compared with which all other sins are venial! + +The message did not cease at all, as we shall see; the message was +ardently, if fitfully, continued to the end: but the methods, the +tone and dialect and all outer conditions of uttering it, underwent +most important modifications! + + +CHAPTER VIII. +COLERIDGE. + +Coleridge sat on the brow of Highgate Hill, in those years, looking +down on London and its smoke-tumult, like a sage escaped from the +inanity of life's battle; attracting towards him the thoughts of +innumerable brave souls still engaged there. His express +contributions to poetry, philosophy, or any specific province of human +literature or enlightenment, had been small and sadly intermittent; +but he had, especially among young inquiring men, a higher than +literary, a kind of prophetic or magician character. He was thought +to hold, he alone in England, the key of German and other +Transcendentalisms; knew the sublime secret of believing by "the +reason" what "the understanding" had been obliged to fling out as +incredible; and could still, after Hume and Voltaire had done their +best and worst with him, profess himself an orthodox Christian, and +say and print to the Church of England, with its singular old rubrics +and surplices at Allhallowtide, _Esto perpetua_. A sublime man; who, +alone in those dark days, had saved his crown of spiritual manhood; +escaping from the black materialisms, and revolutionary deluges, with +"God, Freedom, Immortality" still his: a king of men. The practical +intellects of the world did not much heed him, or carelessly reckoned +him a metaphysical dreamer: but to the rising spirits of the young +generation he had this dusky sublime character; and sat there as a +kind of _Magus_, girt in mystery and enigma; his Dodona oak-grove (Mr. +Gilman's house at Highgate) whispering strange things, uncertain +whether oracles or jargon. + +The Gilmans did not encourage much company, or excitation of any sort, +round their sage; nevertheless access to him, if a youth did +reverently wish it, was not difficult. He would stroll about the +pleasant garden with you, sit in the pleasant rooms of the +place,--perhaps take you to his own peculiar room, high up, with a +rearward view, which was the chief view of all. A really charming +outlook, in fine weather. Close at hand, wide sweep of flowery leafy +gardens, their few houses mostly hidden, the very chimney-pots veiled +under blossomy umbrage, flowed gloriously down hill; gloriously +issuing in wide-tufted undulating plain-country, rich in all charms of +field and town. Waving blooming country of the brightest green; +dotted all over with handsome villas, handsome groves; crossed by +roads and human traffic, here inaudible or heard only as a musical +hum: and behind all swam, under olive-tinted haze, the illimitable +limitary ocean of London, with its domes and steeples definite in the +sun, big Paul's and the many memories attached to it hanging high over +all. Nowhere, of its kind, could you see a grander prospect on a +bright summer day, with the set of the air going +southward,--southward, and so draping with the city-smoke not you but +the city. Here for hours would Coleridge talk, concerning all +conceivable or inconceivable things; and liked nothing better than to +have an intelligent, or failing that, even a silent and patient human +listener. He distinguished himself to all that ever heard him as at +least the most surprising talker extant in this world,--and to some +small minority, by no means to all, as the most excellent. + +The good man, he was now getting old, towards sixty perhaps; and gave +you the idea of a life that had been full of sufferings; a life +heavy-laden, half-vanquished, still swimming painfully in seas of +manifold physical and other bewilderment. Brow and head were round, +and of massive weight, but the face was flabby and irresolute. The +deep eyes, of a light hazel, were as full of sorrow as of inspiration; +confused pain looked mildly from them, as in a kind of mild +astonishment. The whole figure and air, good and amiable otherwise, +might be called flabby and irresolute; expressive of weakness under +possibility of strength. He hung loosely on his limbs, with knees +bent, and stooping attitude; in walking, he rather shuffled than +decisively steps; and a lady once remarked, he never could fix which +side of the garden walk would suit him best, but continually shifted, +in corkscrew fashion, and kept trying both. A heavy-laden, +high-aspiring and surely much-suffering man. His voice, naturally +soft and good, had contracted itself into a plaintive snuffle and +singsong; he spoke as if preaching,--you would have said, preaching +earnestly and also hopelessly the weightiest things. I still +recollect his "object" and "subject," terms of continual recurrence in +the Kantean province; and how he sang and snuffled them into +"om-m-mject" and "sum-m-mject," with a kind of solemn shake or quaver, +as he rolled along. No talk, in his century or in any other, could be +more surprising. + +Sterling, who assiduously attended him, with profound reverence, and +was often with him by himself, for a good many months, gives a record +of their first colloquy.[8] Their colloquies were numerous, and he +had taken note of many; but they are all gone to the fire, except this +first, which Mr. Hare has printed,--unluckily without date. It +contains a number of ingenious, true and half-true observations, and +is of course a faithful epitome of the things said; but it gives small +idea of Coleridge's way of talking;--this one feature is perhaps the +most recognizable, "Our interview lasted for three hours, during which +he talked two hours and three quarters." Nothing could be more +copious than his talk; and furthermore it was always, virtually or +literally, of the nature of a monologue; suffering no interruption, +however reverent; hastily putting aside all foreign additions, +annotations, or most ingenuous desires for elucidation, as well-meant +superfluities which would never do. Besides, it was talk not flowing +any-whither like a river, but spreading every-whither in inextricable +currents and regurgitations like a lake or sea; terribly deficient in +definite goal or aim, nay often in logical intelligibility; _what_ you +were to believe or do, on any earthly or heavenly thing, obstinately +refusing to appear from it. So that, most times, you felt logically +lost; swamped near to drowning in this tide of ingenious vocables, +spreading out boundless as if to submerge the world. + +To sit as a passive bucket and be pumped into, whether you consent or +not, can in the long-run be exhilarating to no creature; how eloquent +soever the flood of utterance that is descending. But if it be withal +a confused unintelligible flood of utterance, threatening to submerge +all known landmarks of thought, and drown the world and you!--I have +heard Coleridge talk, with eager musical energy, two stricken hours, +his face radiant and moist, and communicate no meaning whatsoever to +any individual of his hearers,--certain of whom, I for one, still kept +eagerly listening in hope; the most had long before given up, and +formed (if the room were large enough) secondary humming groups of +their own. He began anywhere: you put some question to him, made +some suggestive observation: instead of answering this, or decidedly +setting out towards answer of it, he would accumulate formidable +apparatus, logical swim-bladders, transcendental life-preservers and +other precautionary and vehiculatory gear, for setting out; perhaps +did at last get under way,--but was swiftly solicited, turned aside by +the glance of some radiant new game on this hand or that, into new +courses; and ever into new; and before long into all the Universe, +where it was uncertain what game you would catch, or whether any. + +His talk, alas, was distinguished, like himself, by irresolution: it +disliked to he troubled with conditions, abstinences, definite +fulfilments;--loved to wander at its own sweet will, and make its +auditor and his claims and humble wishes a mere passive bucket for +itself! He had knowledge about many things and topics, much curious +reading; but generally all topics led him, after a pass or two, into +the high seas of theosophic philosophy, the hazy infinitude of Kantean +transcendentalism, with its "sum-m-mjects " and " om-m-mjects." Sad +enough; for with such indolent impatience of the claims and ignorances +of others, he had not the least talent for explaining this or anything +unknown to them; and you swam and fluttered in the mistiest wide +unintelligible deluge of things, for most part in a rather profitless +uncomfortable manner. + +Glorious islets, too, I have seen rise out of the haze; but they were +few, and soon swallowed in the general element again. Balmy sunny +islets, islets of the blest and the intelligible:--on which occasions +those secondary humming groups would all cease humming, and hang +breathless upon the eloquent words; till once your islet got wrapt in +the mist again, and they could recommence humming. Eloquent +artistically expressive words you always had; piercing radiances of a +most subtle insight came at intervals; tones of noble pious sympathy, +recognizable as pious though strangely colored, were never wanting +long: but in general you could not call this aimless, cloud-capt, +cloud-based, lawlessly meandering human discourse of reason by the +name of "excellent talk," but only of "surprising;" and were reminded +bitterly of Hazlitt's account of it: "Excellent talker, very,--if you +let him start from no premises and come to no conclusion." Coleridge +was not without what talkers call wit, and there were touches of +prickly sarcasm in him, contemptuous enough of the world and its idols +and popular dignitaries; he had traits even of poetic humor: but in +general he seemed deficient in laughter; or indeed in sympathy for +concrete human things either on the sunny or on the stormy side. One +right peal of concrete laughter at some convicted flesh-and-blood +absurdity, one burst of noble indignation at some injustice or +depravity, rubbing elbows with us on this solid Earth, how strange +would it have been in that Kantean haze-world, and how infinitely +cheering amid its vacant air-castles and dim-melting ghosts and +shadows! None such ever came. His life had been an abstract thinking +and dreaming, idealistic, passed amid the ghosts of defunct bodies and +of unborn ones. The moaning singsong of that theosophico-metaphysical +monotony left on you, at last, a very dreary feeling. + +In close colloquy, flowing within narrower banks, I suppose he was +more definite and apprehensible; Sterling in after-times did not +complain of his unintelligibility, or imputed it only to the abtruse +high nature of the topics handled. Let us hope so, let us try to +believe so! There is no doubt but Coleridge could speak plain words +on things plain: his observations and responses on the trivial +matters that occurred were as simple as the commonest man's, or were +even distinguished by superior simplicity as well as pertinency. "Ah, +your tea is too cold, Mr. Coleridge!" mourned the good Mrs. Gilman +once, in her kind, reverential and yet protective manner, handing him +a very tolerable though belated cup.--"It's better than I deserve!" +snuffled he, in a low hoarse murmur, partly courteous, chiefly pious, +the tone of which still abides with me: "It's better than I deserve!" + +But indeed, to the young ardent mind, instinct with pious nobleness, +yet driven to the grim deserts of Radicalism for a faith, his +speculations had a charm much more than literary, a charm almost +religious and prophetic. The constant gist of his discourse was +lamentation over the sunk condition of the world; which he recognized +to be given up to Atheism and Materialism, full of mere sordid +misbeliefs, mispursuits and misresults. All Science had become +mechanical; the science not of men, but of a kind of human beavers. +Churches themselves had died away into a godless mechanical condition; +and stood there as mere Cases of Articles, mere Forms of Churches; +like the dried carcasses of once swift camels, which you find left +withering in the thirst of the universal desert,--ghastly portents for +the present, beneficent ships of the desert no more. Men's souls were +blinded, hebetated; and sunk under the influence of Atheism and +Materialism, and Hume and Voltaire: the world for the present was as +an extinct world, deserted of God, and incapable of well-doing till it +changed its heart and spirit. This, expressed I think with less of +indignation and with more of long-drawn querulousness, was always +recognizable as the ground-tone:--in which truly a pious young heart, +driven into Radicalism and the opposition party, could not but +recognize a too sorrowful truth; and ask of the Oracle, with all +earnestness, What remedy, then? + +The remedy, though Coleridge himself professed to see it as in +sunbeams, could not, except by processes unspeakably difficult, be +described to you at all. On the whole, those dead Churches, this dead +English Church especially, must be brought to life again. Why not? +It was not dead; the soul of it, in this parched-up body, was +tragically asleep only. Atheistic Philosophy was true on its side, +and Hume and Voltaire could on their own ground speak irrefragably for +themselves against any Church: but lift the Church and them into a +higher sphere. Of argument, _they_ died into inanition, the Church +revivified itself into pristine florid vigor,--became once more a +living ship of the desert, and invincibly bore you over stock and +stone. But how, but how! By attending to the "reason" of man, said +Coleridge, and duly chaining up the "understanding" of man: the +_Vernunft_ (Reason) and _Verstand_ (Understanding) of the Germans, it +all turned upon these, if you could well understand them,--which you +couldn't. For the rest, Mr. Coleridge had on the anvil various Books, +especially was about to write one grand Book _On the Logos_, which +would help to bridge the chasm for us. So much appeared, however: +Churches, though proved false (as you had imagined), were still true +(as you were to imagine): here was an Artist who could burn you up an +old Church, root and branch; and then as the Alchemists professed to +do with organic substances in general, distil you an "Astral Spirit" +from the ashes, which was the very image of the old burnt article, its +air-drawn counterpart,--this you still had, or might get, and draw +uses from, if you could. Wait till the Book on the Logos were +done;--alas, till your own terrene eyes, blind with conceit and the +dust of logic, were purged, subtilized and spiritualized into the +sharpness of vision requisite for discerning such an +"om-m-mject."--The ingenuous young English head, of those days, stood +strangely puzzled by such revelations; uncertain whether it were +getting inspired, or getting infatuated into flat imbecility; and +strange effulgence, of new day or else of deeper meteoric night, +colored the horizon of the future for it. + +Let me not be unjust to this memorable man. Surely there was here, in +his pious, ever-laboring, subtle mind, a precious truth, or +prefigurement of truth; and yet a fatal delusion withal. +Prefigurement that, in spite of beaver sciences and temporary +spiritual hebetude and cecity, man and his Universe were eternally +divine; and that no past nobleness, or revelation of the divine, could +or would ever be lost to him. Most true, surely, and worthy of all +acceptance. Good also to do what you can with old Churches and +practical Symbols of the Noble: nay quit not the burnt ruins of them +while you find there is still gold to be dug there. But, on the +whole, do not think you can, by logical alchemy, distil astral spirits +from them; or if you could, that said astral spirits, or defunct +logical phantasms, could serve you in anything. What the light of +your mind, which is the direct inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces +incredible,--that, in God's name, leave uncredited; at your peril do +not try believing that. No subtlest hocus-pocus of "reason" versus +"understanding" will avail for that feat;--and it is terribly perilous +to try it in these provinces! + +The truth is, I now see, Coleridge's talk and speculation was the +emblem of himself: in it as in him, a ray of heavenly inspiration +struggled, in a tragically ineffectual degree, with the weakness of +flesh and blood. He says once, he "had skirted the howling deserts of +Infidelity;" this was evident enough: but he had not had the courage, +in defiance of pain and terror, to press resolutely across said +deserts to the new firm lands of Faith beyond; he preferred to create +logical fata-morganas for himself on this hither side, and laboriously +solace himself with these. + +To the man himself Nature had given, in high measure, the seeds of a +noble endowment; and to unfold it had been forbidden him. A subtle +lynx-eyed intellect, tremulous pious sensibility to all good and all +beautiful; truly a ray of empyrean light;--but embedded in such weak +laxity of character, in such indolences and esuriences as had made +strange work with it. Once more, the tragic story of a high endowment +with an insufficient will. An eye to discern the divineness of the +Heaven's spendors and lightnings, the insatiable wish to revel in +their godlike radiances and brilliances; but no heart to front the +scathing terrors of them, which is the first condition of your +conquering an abiding place there. The courage necessary for him, +above all things, had been denied this man. His life, with such ray +of the empyrean in it, was great and terrible to him; and he had not +valiantly grappled with it, he had fled from it; sought refuge in +vague daydreams, hollow compromises, in opium, in theosophic +metaphysics. Harsh pain, danger, necessity, slavish harnessed toil, +were of all things abhorrent to him. And so the empyrean element, +lying smothered under the terrene, and yet inextinguishable there, +made sad writhings. For pain, danger, difficulty, steady slaving +toil, and other highly disagreeable behests of destiny, shall in +nowise be shirked by any brightest mortal that will approve himself +loyal to his mission in this world; nay precisely the higher he is, +the deeper will be the disagreeableness, and the detestability to +flesh and blood, of the tasks laid on him; and the heavier too, and +more tragic, his penalties if he neglect them. + +For the old Eternal Powers do live forever; nor do their laws know any +change, however we in our poor wigs and church-tippets may attempt to +read their laws. To _steal_ into Heaven,--by the modern method, of +sticking ostrich-like your head into fallacies on Earth, equally as by +the ancient and by all conceivable methods,--is forever forbidden. +High-treason is the name of that attempt; and it continues to be +punished as such. Strange enough: here once more was a kind of +Heaven-scaling Ixion; and to him, as to the old one, the just gods +were very stern! The ever-revolving, never-advancing Wheel (of a +kind) was his, through life; and from his Cloud-Juno did not he too +procreate strange Centaurs, spectral Puseyisms, monstrous illusory +Hybrids, and ecclesiastical Chimeras,--which now roam the earth in a +very lamentable manner! + + +CHAPTER IX. +SPANISH EXILES. + +This magical ingredient thrown into the wild caldron of such a mind, +which we have seen occupied hitherto with mere Ethnicism, Radicalism +and revolutionary tumult, but hungering all along for something higher +and better, was sure to be eagerly welcomed and imbibed, and could not +fail to produce important fermentations there. Fermentations; +important new directions, and withal important new perversions, in the +spiritual life of this man, as it has since done in the lives of so +many. Here then is the new celestial manna we were all in quest of? +This thrice-refined pabulum of transcendental moonshine? Whoso eateth +thereof,--yes, what, on the whole, will _he_ probably grow to? + +Sterling never spoke much to me of his intercourse with Coleridge; and +when we did compare notes about him, it was usually rather in the way +of controversial discussion than of narrative. So that, from my own +resources, I can give no details of the business, nor specify anything +in it, except the general fact of an ardent attendance at Highgate +continued for many months, which was impressively known to all +Sterling's friends; and am unable to assign even the limitary dates, +Sterling's own papers on the subject having all been destroyed by him. +Inferences point to the end of 1828 as the beginning of this +intercourse; perhaps in 1829 it was at the highest point; and already +in 1830, when the intercourse itself was about to terminate, we have +proof of the influences it was producing,--in the Novel of _Arthur +Coningsby_, then on hand, the first and only Book that Sterling ever +wrote. His writings hitherto had been sketches, criticisms, brief +essays; he was now trying it on a wider scale; but not yet with +satisfactory results, and it proved to be his only trial in that form. + +He had already, as was intimated, given up his brief proprietorship of +the _Athenaeum_; the commercial indications, and state of sales and of +costs, peremptorily ordering him to do so; the copyright went by sale +or gift, I know not at what precise date, into other fitter hands; and +with the copyright all connection on the part of Sterling. To +_Athenaeum_ Sketches had now (in 1829-30) succeeded _Arthur +Coningsby_, a Novel in three volumes; indicating (when it came to +light, a year or two afterwards) equally hasty and much more ambitious +aims in Literature;--giving strong evidence, too, of internal +spiritual revulsions going painfully forward, and in particular of the +impression Coleridge was producing on him. Without and within, it was +a wild tide of things this ardent light young soul was afloat upon, at +present; and his outlooks into the future, whether for his spiritual +or economic fortunes, were confused enough. + +Among his familiars in this period, I might have mentioned one Charles +Barton, formerly his fellow-student at Cambridge, now an amiable, +cheerful, rather idle young fellow about Town; who led the way into +certain new experiences, and lighter fields, for Sterling. His +Father, Lieutenant-General Barton of the Life-guards, an Irish +landlord, I think in Fermanagh County, and a man of connections about +Court, lived in a certain figure here in Town; had a wife of +fashionable habits, with other sons, and also daughters, bred in this +sphere. These, all of them, were amiable, elegant and pleasant +people;--such was especially an eldest daughter, Susannah Barton, a +stately blooming black-eyed young woman, attractive enough in form and +character; full of gay softness, of indolent sense and enthusiasm; +about Sterling's own age, if not a little older. In this house, which +opened to him, more decisively than his Father's, a new stratum of +society, and where his reception for Charles's sake and his own was of +the kindest, he liked very well to be; and spent, I suppose, many of +his vacant half-hours, lightly chatting with the elders or the +youngsters,--doubtless with the young lady too, though as yet without +particular intentions on either side. + +Nor, with all the Coleridge fermentation, was democratic Radicalism by +any means given up;--though how it was to live if the Coleridgean +moonshine took effect, might have been an abtruse question. Hitherto, +while said moonshine was but taking effect, and coloring the outer +surface of things without quite penetrating into the heart, democratic +Liberalism, revolt against superstition and oppression, and help to +whosoever would revolt, was still the grand element in Sterling's +creed; and practically he stood, not ready only, but full of alacrity +to fulfil all its behests. We heard long since of the "black +dragoons,"--whom doubtless the new moonshine had considerably +silvered-over into new hues, by this time;--but here now, while +Radicalism is tottering for him and threatening to crumble, comes +suddenly the grand consummation and explosion of Radicalism in his +life; whereby, all at once, Radicalism exhausted and ended itself, and +appeared no more there. + + +In those years a visible section of the London population, and +conspicuous out of all proportion to its size or value, was a small +knot of Spaniards, who had sought shelter here as Political Refugees. +"Political Refugees:" a tragic succession of that class is one of the +possessions of England in our time. Six-and-twenty years ago, when I +first saw London, I remember those unfortunate Spaniards among the new +phenomena. Daily in the cold spring air, under skies so unlike their +own, you could see a group of fifty or a hundred stately tragic +figures, in proud threadbare cloaks; perambulating, mostly with closed +lips, the broad pavements of Euston Square and the regions about St. +Pancras new Church. Their lodging was chiefly in Somers Town, as I +understood: and those open pavements about St. Pancras Church were +the general place of rendezvous. They spoke little or no English; +knew nobody, could employ themselves on nothing, in this new scene. +Old steel-gray heads, many of them; the shaggy, thick, blue-black hair +of others struck you; their brown complexion, dusky look of suppressed +fire, in general their tragic condition as of caged Numidian lions. + +That particular Flight of Unfortunates has long since fled again, and +vanished; and new have come and fled. In this convulsed revolutionary +epoch, which already lasts above sixty years, what tragic flights of +such have we not seen arrive on the one safe coast which is open to +them, as they get successively vanquished, and chased into exile to +avoid worse! Swarm after swarm, of ever-new complexion, from Spain as +from other countries, is thrown off, in those ever-recurring +paroxysms; and will continue to be thrown off. As there could be +(suggests Linnaeus) a "flower-clock," measuring the hours of the day, +and the months of the year, by the kinds of flowers that go to sleep +and awaken, that blow into beauty and fade into dust: so in the great +Revolutionary Horologe, one might mark the years and epochs by the +successive kinds of exiles that walk London streets, and, in grim +silent manner, demand pity from us and reflections from us.--This then +extant group of Spanish Exiles was the Trocadero swarm, thrown off in +1823, in the Riego and Quirogas quarrel. These were they whom Charles +Tenth had, by sheer force, driven from their constitutionalisms and +their Trocadero fortresses,--Charles Tenth, who himself was soon +driven out, manifoldly by sheer force; and had to head his own swarm +of fugitives; and has now himself quite vanished, and given place to +others. For there is no end of them; propelling and propelled!-- + +Of these poor Spanish Exiles, now vegetating about Somers Town, and +painfully beating the pavement in Euston Square, the acknowledged +chief was General Torrijos, a man of high qualities and fortunes, +still in the vigor of his years, and in these desperate circumstances +refusing to despair; with whom Sterling had, at this time, become +intimate. + + +CHAPTER X. +TORRIJOS. + +Torrijos, who had now in 1829 been here some four or five years, +having come over in 1824, had from the first enjoyed a superior +reception in England. Possessing not only a language to speak, which +few of the others did, but manifold experiences courtly, military, +diplomatic, with fine natural faculties, and high Spanish manners +tempered into cosmopolitan, he had been welcomed in various circles of +society; and found, perhaps he alone of those Spaniards, a certain +human companionship among persons of some standing in this country. +With the elder Sterlings, among others, he had made acquaintance; +became familiar in the social circle at South Place, and was much +esteemed there. With Madam Torrijos, who also was a person of amiable +and distinguished qualities, an affectionate friendship grew up on the +part of Mrs. Sterling, which ended only with the death of these two +ladies. John Sterling, on arriving in London from his University +work, naturally inherited what he liked to take up of this relation: +and in the lodgings in Regent Street, and the democratico-literary +element there, Torrijos became a very prominent, and at length almost +the central object. + +The man himself, it is well known, was a valiant, gallant man; of +lively intellect, of noble chivalrous character: fine talents, fine +accomplishments, all grounding themselves on a certain rugged +veracity, recommended him to the discerning. He had begun youth in +the Court of Ferdinand; had gone on in Wellington and other arduous, +victorious and unvictorious, soldierings; familiar in camps and +council-rooms, in presence-chambers and in prisons. He knew romantic +Spain;--he was himself, standing withal in the vanguard of Freedom's +fight, a kind of living romance. Infinitely interesting to John +Sterling, for one. + +It was to Torrijos that the poor Spaniards of Somers Town looked +mainly, in their helplessness, for every species of help. Torrijos, +it was hoped, would yet lead them into Spain and glorious victory +there; meanwhile here in England, under defeat, he was their captain +and sovereign in another painfully inverse sense. To whom, in +extremity, everybody might apply. When all present resources failed, +and the exchequer was quite out, there still remained Torrijos. +Torrijos has to find new resources for his destitute patriots, find +loans, find Spanish lessons for them among his English friends: in +all which charitable operations, it need not be said, John Sterling +was his foremost man; zealous to empty his own purse for the object; +impetuous in rushing hither or thither to enlist the aid of others, +and find lessons or something that would do. His friends, of course, +had to assist; the Bartons, among others, were wont to assist;--and I +have heard that the fair Susan, stirring up her indolent enthusiasm +into practicality, was very successful in finding Spanish lessons, and +the like, for these distressed men. Sterling and his friends were yet +new in this business; but Torrijos and the others were getting old in +it?--and doubtless weary and almost desperate of it. They had now +been seven years in it, many of them; and were asking, When will the +end be? + +Torrijos is described as a man of excellent discernment: who knows +how long he had repressed the unreasonable schemes of his followers, +and turned a deaf ear to the temptings of fallacious hope? But there +comes at length a sum-total of oppressive burdens which is +intolerable, which tempts the wisest towards fallacies for relief. +These weary groups, pacing the Euston-Square pavements, had often said +in their despair, "Were not death in battle better? Here are we +slowly mouldering into nothingness; there we might reach it rapidly, +in flaming splendor. Flame, either of victory to Spain and us, or of +a patriot death, the sure harbinger of victory to Spain. Flame fit to +kindle a fire which no Ferdinand, with all his Inquisitions and +Charles Tenths, could put out." Enough, in the end of 1829, Torrijos +himself had yielded to this pressure; and hoping against hope, +persuaded himself that if he could but land in the South of Spain with +a small patriot band well armed and well resolved, a band carrying +fire in its heart,--then Spain, all inflammable as touchwood, and +groaning indignantly under its brutal tyrant, might blaze wholly into +flame round him, and incalculable victory be won. Such was his +conclusion; not sudden, yet surely not deliberate either,--desperate +rather, and forced on by circumstances. He thought with himself that, +considering Somers Town and considering Spain, the terrible chance was +worth trying; that this big game of Fate, go how it might, was one +which the omens credibly declared he and these poor Spaniards ought to +play. + +His whole industries and energies were thereupon bent towards starting +the said game; and his thought and continual speech and song now was, +That if he had a few thousand pounds to buy arms, to freight a ship +and make the other preparations, he and these poor gentlemen, and +Spain and the world, were made men and a saved Spain and world. What +talks and consultations in the apartment in Regent Street, during +those winter days of 1829-30; setting into open conflagration the +young democracy that was wont to assemble there! Of which there is +now left next to no remembrance. For Sterling never spoke a word of +this affair in after-days, nor was any of the actors much tempted to +speak. We can understand too well that here were young fervid hearts +in an explosive condition; young rash heads, sanctioned by a man's +experienced head. Here at last shall enthusiasm and theory become +practice and fact; fiery dreams are at last permitted to realize +themselves; and now is the time or never!--How the Coleridge moonshine +comported itself amid these hot telluric flames, or whether it had not +yet begun to play there (which I rather doubt), must be left to +conjecture. + +Mr. Hare speaks of Sterling "sailing over to St. Valery in an open +boat along with others," upon one occasion, in this enterprise;--in +the _final_ English scene of it, I suppose. Which is very possible. +Unquestionably there was adventure enough of other kinds for it, and +running to and fro with all his speed on behalf of it, during these +months of his history! Money was subscribed, collected: the young +Cambridge democrats were all ablaze to assist Torrijos; nay certain of +them decided to go with him,--and went. Only, as yet, the funds were +rather incomplete. And here, as I learn from a good hand, is the +secret history of their becoming complete. Which, as we are upon the +subject, I had better give. But for the following circumstance, they +had perhaps never been completed; nor had the rash enterprise, or its +catastrophe, so influential on the rest of Sterling's life, taken +place at all. + +A certain Lieutenant Robert Boyd, of the Indian Army, an Ulster +Irishman, a cousin of Sterling's, had received some affront, or +otherwise taken some disgust in that service; had thrown up his +commission in consequence; and returned home, about this time, with +intent to seek another course of life. Having only, for outfit, these +impatient ardors, some experience in Indian drill exercise, and five +thousand pounds of inheritance, he found the enterprise attended with +difficulties; and was somewhat at a loss how to dispose of himself. +Some young Ulster comrade, in a partly similar situation, had pointed +out to him that there lay in a certain neighboring creek of the Irish +coast, a worn-out royal gun-brig condemned to sale, to be had +dog-cheap: this he proposed that they two, or in fact Boyd with his +five thousand pounds, should buy; that they should refit and arm and +man it;--and sail a-privateering "to the Eastern Archipelago," +Philippine Isles, or I know not where; and _so_ conquer the golden +fleece. + +Boyd naturally paused a little at this great proposal; did not quite +reject it; came across, with it and other fine projects and +impatiences fermenting in his head, to London, there to see and +consider. It was in the months when the Torrijos enterprise was in +the birth-throes; crying wildly for capital, of all things. Boyd +naturally spoke of his projects to Sterling,--of his gun-brig lying in +the Irish creek, among others. Sterling naturally said, "If you want +an adventure of the Sea-king sort, and propose to lay your money and +your life into such a game, here is Torrijos and Spain at his back; +here is a golden fleece to conquer, worth twenty Eastern +Archipelagoes."--Boyd and Torrijos quickly met; quickly bargained. +Boyd's money was to go in purchasing, and storing with a certain stock +of arms and etceteras, a small ship in the Thames, which should carry +Boyd with Torrijos and the adventurers to the south coast of Spain; +and there, the game once played and won, Boyd was to have promotion +enough,--"the colonelcy of a Spanish cavalry regiment," for one +express thing. What exact share Sterling had in this negotiation, or +whether he did not even take the prudent side and caution Boyd to be +wary I know not; but it was he that brought the parties together; and +all his friends knew, in silence, that to the end of his life he +painfully remembered that fact. + +And so a ship was hired, or purchased, in the Thames; due furnishings +began to be executed in it; arms and stores were gradually got on +board; Torrijos with his Fifty picked Spaniards, in the mean while, +getting ready. This was in the spring of 1830. Boyd's 5000 pounds +was the grand nucleus of finance; but vigorous subscription was +carried on likewise in Sterling's young democratic circle, or wherever +a member of it could find access; not without considerable result, and +with a zeal that may be imagined. Nay, as above hinted, certain of +these young men decided, not to give their money only, but themselves +along with it, as democratic volunteers and soldiers of progress; +among whom, it need not be said, Sterling intended to be foremost. +Busy weeks with him, those spring ones of the year 1830! Through this +small Note, accidentally preserved to us, addressed to his friend +Barton, we obtain a curious glance into the subterranean workshop:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq., Dorset Sq., Regent's Park_. + [No date; apparently March or February, 1830.] + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--I have wanted to see you to talk to you about my +Foreign affairs. If you are going to be in London for a few days, I +believe you can be very useful to me, at a considerable expense and +trouble to yourself, in the way of buying accoutrements; _inter alia_, +a sword and a saddle,--not, you will understand, for my own use. + +"Things are going on very well, but are very, even frightfully near; +only be quiet! Pray would you, in case of necessity, take a free +passage to Holland, next week or the week after; stay two or three +days, and come back, all expenses paid? If you write to B---- at +Cambridge, tell him above all things to hold his tongue. If you are +near Palace Yard to-morrow before two, pray come to see me. Do not +come on purpose; especially as I may perhaps be away, and at all +events shall not be there until eleven, nor perhaps till rather later. + +"I fear I shall have alarmed your Mother by my irruption. Forgive me +for that and all my exactions from you. If the next month were over, +I should not have to trouble any one. + + "Yours affectionately, + "J. STERLING." + +Busy weeks indeed; and a glowing smithy-light coming through the +chinks!--The romance of _Arthur Coningsby_ lay written, or +half-written, in his desk; and here, in his heart and among his hands, +was an acted romance and unknown catastrophes keeping pace with that. + +Doubts from the doctors, for his health was getting ominous, threw +some shade over the adventure. Reproachful reminiscences of Coleridge +and Theosophy were natural too; then fond regrets for Literature and +its glories: if you act your romance, how can you also write it? +Regrets, and reproachful reminiscences, from Art and Theosophy; +perhaps some tenderer regrets withal. A crisis in life had come; +when, of innumerable possibilities one possibility was to be elected +king, and to swallow all the rest, the rest of course made noise +enough, and swelled themselves to their biggest. + + +Meanwhile the ship was fast getting ready: on a certain day, it was +to drop quietly down the Thames; then touch at Deal, and take on board +Torrijos and his adventurers, who were to be in waiting and on the +outlook for them there. Let every man lay in his accoutrements, then; +let every man make his packages, his arrangements and farewells. +Sterling went to take leave of Miss Barton. "You are going, then; to +Spain? To rough it amid the storms of war and perilous insurrection; +and with that weak health of yours; and--we shall never see you more, +then!" Miss Barton, all her gayety gone, the dimpling softness become +liquid sorrow, and the musical ringing voice one wail of woe, "burst +into tears,"--so I have it on authority:--here was one possibility +about to be strangled that made unexpected noise! Sterling's +interview ended in the offer of his hand, and the acceptance of +it;--any sacrifice to get rid of this horrid Spanish business, and +save the health and life of a gifted young man so precious to the +world and to another! + +"Ill-health," as often afterwards in Sterling's life, when the excuse +was real enough but not the chief excuse; "ill-health, and insuperable +obstacles and engagements," had to bear the chief brunt in +apologizing: and, as Sterling's actual presence, or that of any +Englishman except Boyd and his money, was not in the least vital to +the adventure, his excuse was at once accepted. The English +connections and subscriptions are a given fact, to be presided over by +what English volunteers there are: and as for Englishmen, the fewer +Englishmen that go, the larger will be the share of influence for +each. The other adventurers, Torrijos among them in due readiness, +moved silently one by one down to Deal; Sterling, superintending the +naval hands, on board their ship in the Thames, was to see the last +finish given to everything in that department; then, on the set +evening, to drop down quietly to Deal, and there say _Andad con Dios_, +and return. + +Behold! Just before the set evening came, the Spanish Envoy at this +Court has got notice of what is going on; the Spanish Envoy, and of +course the British Foreign Secretary, and of course also the Thames +Police. Armed men spring suddenly on board, one day, while Sterling +is there; declare the ship seized and embargoed in the King's name; +nobody on board to stir till he has given some account of himself in +due time and place! Huge consternation, naturally, from stem to +stern. Sterling, whose presence of mind seldom forsook him, casts his +eye over the River and its craft; sees a wherry, privately signals it, +drops rapidly on board of it: "Stop!" fiercely interjects the marine +policeman from the ship's deck.--"Why stop? What use have you for me, +or I for you?" and the oars begin playing.--"Stop, or I'll shoot you!" +cries the marine policeman, drawing a pistol.--"No, you won't."--"I +will!"--"If you do you'll be hanged at the next Maidstone assizes, +then; that's all,"--and Sterling's wherry shot rapidly ashore; and out +of this perilous adventure. + +That same night he posted down to Deal; disclosed to the Torrijos +party what catastrophe had come. No passage Spainward from the +Thames; well if arrestment do not suddenly come from the Thames! It +was on this occasion, I suppose, that the passage in the open boat to +St. Valery occurred;--speedy flight in what boat or boats, open or +shut, could be got at Deal on the sudden. Sterling himself, according +to Hare's authority, actually went with them so far. Enough, they got +shipping, as private passengers in one craft or the other; and, by +degrees or at once, arrived all at Gibraltar,--Boyd, one or two young +democrats of Regent Street, the fifty picked Spaniards, and +Torrijos,--safe, though without arms; still in the early part of the +year. + + +CHAPTER XI. +MARRIAGE: ILL-HEALTH; WEST-INDIES. + +Sterling's outlooks and occupations, now that his Spanish friends were +gone, must have been of a rather miscellaneous confused description. +He had the enterprise of a married life close before him; and as yet +no profession, no fixed pursuit whatever. His health was already very +threatening; often such as to disable him from present activity, and +occasion the gravest apprehensions; practically blocking up all +important courses whatsoever, and rendering the future, if even life +were lengthened and he had any future, an insolubility for him. +Parliament was shut, public life was shut: Literature,--if, alas, any +solid fruit could lie in literature! + +Or perhaps one's health would mend, after all; and many things be +better than was hoped! Sterling was not of a despondent temper, or +given in any measure to lie down and indolently moan: I fancy he +walked briskly enough into this tempestuous-looking future; not +heeding too much its thunderous aspects; doing swiftly, for the day, +what his hand found to do. _Arthur Coningsby_, I suppose, lay on the +anvil at present; visits to Coleridge were now again more possible; +grand news from Torrijos might be looked for, though only small yet +came:--nay here, in the hot July, is France, at least, all thrown into +volcano again! Here are the miraculous Three Days; heralding, in +thunder, great things to Torrijos and others; filling with babblement +and vaticination the mouths and hearts of all democratic men. + +So rolled along, in tumult of chaotic remembrance and uncertain hope, +in manifold emotion, and the confused struggle (for Sterling as for +the world) to extricate the New from the falling ruins of the Old, the +summer and autumn of 1830. From Gibraltar and Torrijos the tidings +were vague, unimportant and discouraging: attempt on Cadiz, attempt +on the lines of St. Roch, those attempts, or rather resolutions to +attempt, had died in the birth, or almost before it. Men blamed +Torrijos, little knowing his impediments. Boyd was still patient at +his post: others of the young English (on the strength of the +subscribed moneys) were said to be thinking of tours,--perhaps in the +Sierra Morena and neighboring Quixote regions. From that Torrijos +enterprise it did not seem that anything considerable would come. + + +On the edge of winter, here at home, Sterling was married: "at +Christchurch, Marylebone, 2d November, 1830," say the records. His +blooming, kindly and true-hearted Wife had not much money, nor had he +as yet any: but friends on both sides were bountiful and hopeful; had +made up, for the young couple, the foundations of a modestly effective +household; and in the future there lay more substantial prospects. On +the finance side Sterling never had anything to suffer. His Wife, +though somewhat languid, and of indolent humor, was a graceful, +pious-minded, honorable and affectionate woman; she could not much +support him in the ever-shifting struggles of his life, but she +faithfully attended him in them, and loyally marched by his side +through the changes and nomadic pilgrimings, of which many were +appointed him in his short course. + +Unhappily a few weeks after his marriage, and before any household was +yet set up, he fell dangerously ill; worse in health than he had ever +yet been: so many agitations crowded into the last few months had +been too much for him. He fell into dangerous pulmonary illness, sank +ever deeper; lay for many weeks in his Father's house utterly +prostrate, his young Wife and his Mother watching over him; friends, +sparingly admitted, long despairing of his life. All prospects in +this world were now apparently shut upon him. + +After a while, came hope again, and kindlier symptoms: but the +doctors intimated that there lay consumption in the question, and that +perfect recovery was not to be looked for. For weeks he had been +confined to bed; it was several months before he could leave his +sick-room, where the visits of a few friends had much cheered him. +And now when delivered, readmitted to the air of day again,--weak as +he was, and with such a liability still lurking in him,--what his +young partner and he were to do, or whitherward to turn for a good +course of life, was by no means too apparent. + + +One of his Mother Mrs. Edward Sterling's Uncles, a Coningham from +Derry, had, in the course of his industrious and adventurous life, +realized large property in the West Indies,--a valuable Sugar-estate, +with its equipments, in the Island of St. Vincent;--from which Mrs. +Sterling and her family were now, and had been for some years before +her Uncle's decease, deriving important benefits. I have heard, it +was then worth some ten thousand pounds a year to the parties +interested. Anthony Sterling, John, and another a cousin of theirs +were ultimately to be heirs, in equal proportions. The old gentleman, +always kind to his kindred, and a brave and solid man though somewhat +abrupt in his ways, had lately died; leaving a settlement to this +effect, not without some intricacies, and almost caprices, in the +conditions attached. + +This property, which is still a valuable one, was Sterling's chief +pecuniary outlook for the distant future. Of course it well deserved +taking care of; and if the eye of the master were upon it, of course +too (according to the adage) the cattle would fatten better. As the +warm climate was favorable to pulmonary complaints, and Sterling's +occupations were so shattered to pieces and his outlooks here so waste +and vague, why should not he undertake this duty for himself and +others? + +It was fixed upon as the eligiblest course. A visit to St. Vincent, +perhaps a permanent residence there: he went into the project with +his customary impetuosity; his young Wife cheerfully consenting, and +all manner of new hopes clustering round it. There are the rich +tropical sceneries, the romance of the torrid zone with its new skies +and seas and lands; there are Blacks, and the Slavery question to be +investigated: there are the bronzed Whites and Yellows, and their +strange new way of life: by all means let us go and +try!--Arrangements being completed, so soon as his strength had +sufficiently recovered, and the harsh spring winds had sufficiently +abated, Sterling with his small household set sail for St. Vincent; +and arrived without accident. His first child, a son Edward, now +living and grown to manhood, was born there, "at Brighton in the +Island of St. Vincent," in the fall of that year 1831. + + +CHAPTER XII. +ISLAND OF ST. VINCENT. + +Sterling found a pleasant residence, with all its adjuncts, ready for +him, at Colonarie, in this "volcanic Isle" under the hot sun. An +interesting Isle: a place of rugged chasms, precipitous gnarled +heights, and the most fruitful hollows; shaggy everywhere with +luxuriant vegetation; set under magnificent skies, in the mirror of +the summer seas; offering everywhere the grandest sudden outlooks and +contrasts. His Letters represent a placidly cheerful riding life: a +pensive humor, but the thunder-clouds all sleeping in the distance. +Good relations with a few neighboring planters; indifference to the +noisy political and other agitations of the rest: friendly, by no +means romantic appreciation of the Blacks; quiet prosperity economic +and domestic: on the whole a healthy and recommendable way of life, +with Literature very much in abeyance in it. + +He writes to Mr. Hare (date not given): "The landscapes around me +here are noble and lovely as any that can be conceived on Earth. How +indeed could it be otherwise, in a small Island of volcanic mountains, +far within the Tropics, and perpetually covered with the richest +vegetation?" The moral aspect of things is by no means so good; but +neither is that without its fair features. "So far as I see, the +Slaves here are cunning, deceitful and idle; without any great +aptitude for ferocious crimes, and with very little scruple at +committing others. But I have seen them much only in very favorable +circumstances. They are, as a body, decidedly unfit for freedom; and +if left, as at present, completely in the hands of their masters, will +never become so, unless through the agency of the Methodists."[9] + +In the Autumn came an immense hurricane; with new and indeed quite +perilous experiences of West-Indian life. This hasty Letter, +addressed to his Mother, is not intrinsically his remarkablest from +St. Vincent: but the body of fact delineated in it being so much the +greatest, we will quote it in preference. A West-Indian tornado, as +John Sterling witnesses it, and with vivid authenticity describes it, +may be considered worth looking at. + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, South Place, Knightsbridge, London_. + "BRIGHTON, ST. VINCENT, 28th August, 1831. + +"MY DEAR MOTHER,--The packet came in yesterday; bringing me some +Newspapers, a Letter from my Father, and one from Anthony, with a few +lines from you. I wrote, some days ago, a hasty Note to my Father, on +the chance of its reaching you through Grenada sooner than any +communication by the packet; and in it I spoke of the great misfortune +which had befallen this Island and Barbadoes, but from which all those +you take an interest in have happily escaped unhurt. + +"From the day of our arrival in the West Indies until Thursday the +11th instant, which will long be a memorable day with us, I had been +doing my best to get ourselves established comfortably; and I had at +last bought the materials for making some additions to the house. But +on the morning I have mentioned, all that I had exerted myself to do, +nearly all the property both of Susan and myself, and the very house +we lived in, were suddenly destroyed by a visitation of Providence far +more terrible than any I have ever witnessed. + +"When Susan came from her room, to breakfast, at eight o'clock, I +pointed out to her the extraordinary height and violence of the surf, +and the singular appearance of the clouds of heavy rain sweeping down +the valleys before us. At this time I had so little apprehension of +what was coming, that I talked of riding down to the shore when the +storm should abate, as I had never seen so fierce a sea. In about a +quarter of an hour the House-Negroes came in, to close the outside +shutters of the windows. They knew that the plantain-trees about the +Negro houses had been blown down in the night; and had told the +maid-servant Tyrrell, but I had heard nothing of it. A very few +minutes after the closing of the windows, I found that the shutters of +Tyrrell's room, at the south and commonly the most sheltered end of +the House, were giving way. I tried to tie them; but the silk +handkerchief which I used soon gave way; and as I had neither hammer, +boards nor nails in the house, I could do nothing more to keep out the +tempest. I found, in pushing at the leaf of the shutter, that the wind +resisted, more as if it had been a stone wall or a mass of iron, than +a mere current of air. There were one or two people outside trying to +fasten the windows, and I went out to help; but we had no tools at +hand: one man was blown down the hill in front of the house, before +my face; and the other and myself had great difficulty in getting back +again inside the door. The rain on my face and hands felt like so +much small shot from a gun. There was great exertion necessary to +shut the door of the house. + +"The windows at the end of the large room were now giving way; and I +suppose it was about nine o'clock, when the hurricane burst them in, +as if it had been a discharge from a battery of heavy cannon. The +shutters were first forced open, and the wind fastened them back to +the wall; and then the panes of glass were smashed by the mere force +of the gale, without anything having touched them. Even now I was not +at all sure the house would go. My books, I saw, were lost; for the +rain poured past the bookcases, as if it had been the Colonarie River. +But we carried a good deal of furniture into the passage at the +entrance; we set Susan there on a sofa, and the Black Housekeeper was +even attempting to get her some breakfast. The house, however, began +to shake so violently, and the rain was so searching, that she could +not stay there long. She went into her own room and I stayed to see +what could be done. + +"Under the forepart of the house, there are cellars built of stone, +but not arched. To these, however, there was no access except on the +outside; and I knew from my own experience that Susan could not have +gone a step beyond the door, without being carried away by the storm, +and probably killed on the spot. The only chance seemed to be that of +breaking through the floor. But when the old Cook and myself resolved +on this, we found that we had no instrument with which it would be +possible to do it. It was now clear that we had only God to trust in. +The front windows were giving way with successive crashes, and the +floor shook as you may have seen a carpet on a gusty day in London. I +went into our bedroom; where I found Susan, Tyrrell, and a little +Colored girl of seven or eight years old; and told them that we should +probably not be alive in half an hour. I could have escaped, if I had +chosen to go alone, by crawling on the ground either into the kitchen, +a separate stone building at no great distance, or into the open +fields away from trees or houses; but Susan could not have gone a +yard. She became quite calm when she knew the worst; and she sat on +my knee in what seemed the safest corner of the room, while every +blast was bringing nearer and nearer the moment of our seemingly +certain destruction.-- + +"The house was under two parallel roofs; and the one next the sea, +which sheltered the other, and us who were under the other, went off, +I suppose about ten o'clock. After my old plan, I will give you a +sketch, from which you may perceive how we were situated:-- + + [In print, a figure representing a floor-plan appears here] + +The _a_, _a_ are the windows that were first destroyed: _b_ went +next; my books were between the windows _b_, and on the wall opposite +to them. The lines _c_ and _d_ mark the directions of the two roofs; +_e_ is the room in which we were, and 2 is a plan of it on a larger +scale. Look now at 2: _a_ is the bed; _c_, _c_ the two wardrobes; +_b_ the corner in which we were. I was sitting in an arm-chair, +holding my Wife; and Tyrrell and the little Black child were close to +us. We had given up all notion of surviving; and only waited for the +fall of the roof to perish together. + +"Before long the roof went. Most of the materials, however, were +carried clear away: one of the large couples was caught on the +bedpost marked _d_, and held fast by the iron spike; while the end of +it hung over our heads: had the beam fallen an inch on either side of +the bedpost, it must necessarily have crushed us. The walls did not +go with the roof; and we remained for half an hour, alternately +praying to God, and watching them as they bent, creaked, and shivered +before the storm. + +"Tyrrell and the child, when the roof was off, made their way through +the remains of the partition, to the outer door; and with the help of +the people who were looking for us, got into the kitchen. A good +while after they were gone, and before we knew anything of their fate, +a Negro suddenly came upon us; and the sight of him gave us a hope of +safety. When the people learned that we were in danger, and while +their own huts were flying about their ears, they crowded to help us; +and the old Cook urged them on to our rescue. He made five attempts, +after saving Tyrrell, to get to us; and four times he was blown down. +The fifth time he, and the Negro we first saw, reached the house. The +space they had to traverse was not above twenty yards of level ground, +if so much. In another minute or two, the Overseers and a crowd of +Negroes, most of whom had come on their hands and knees, were +surrounding us; and with their help Susan was carried round to the end +of the house; where they broke open the cellar window, and placed her +in comparative safety. The force of the hurricane was, by this time, +a good deal diminished, or it would have been impossible to stand +before it. + +"But the wind was still terrific; and the rain poured into the cellars +through the floor above. Susan, Tyrrell, and a crowd of Negroes +remained under it, for more than two hours: and I was long afraid +that the wet and cold would kill her, if she did not perish more +violently. Happily we had wine and spirits at hand, and she was much +nerved by a tumbler of claret. As soon as I saw her in comparative +security, I went off with one of the Overseers down to the Works, +where the greater number of the Negroes were collected, that we might +see what could be done for them. They were wretched enough, but no +one was hurt; and I ordered them a dram apiece, which seemed to give +them a good deal of consolation. + +"Before I could make my way back, the hurricane became as bad as at +first; and I was obliged to take shelter for half an hour in a ruined +Negro house. This, however, was the last of its extreme violence. By +one o'clock, even the rain had in a great degree ceased; and as only +one room of the house, the one marked _f_; was standing, and that +rickety,--I had Susan carried in a chair down the hill, to the +Hospital; where, in a small paved unlighted room, she spent the next +twenty-four hours. She was far less injured than might have been +expected from such a catastrophe. + +"Next day, I had the passage at the entrance of the house repaired and +roofed; and we returned to the ruins of our habitation, still +encumbered as they were with the wreck of almost all we were possessed +of. The walls of the part of the house next the sea were carried +away, in less I think than half an hour after we reached the cellar: +when I had leisure to examine the remains of the house, I found the +floor strewn with fragments of the building, and with broken +furniture; and our books all soaked as completely as if they had been +for several hours in the sea. + +"In the course of a few days I had the other room, _g_, which is under +the same roof as the one saved, rebuilt; and Susan stayed in this +temporary abode for a week,--when we left Colonarie, and came to +Brighton. Mr. Munro's kindness exceeds all precedent. We shall +certainly remain here till my Wife is recovered from her confinement. +In the mean while we shall have a new house built, in which we hope to +be well settled before Christmas. + +"The roof was half blown off the kitchen, but I have had it mended +already; the other offices were all swept away. The gig is much +injured; and my horse received a wound in the fall of the stable, from +which he will not be recovered for some weeks: in the mean time I +have no choice but to buy another, as I must go at least once or twice +a week to Colonarie, besides business in Town. As to our own +comforts, we can scarcely expect ever to recover from the blow that +has now stricken us. No money would repay me for the loss of my +books, of which a large proportion had been in my hands for so many +years that they were like old and faithful friends, and of which many +had been given me at different times by the persons in the world whom +I most value. + +"But against all this I have to set the preservation of our lives, in +a way the most awfully providential; and the safety of every one on +the Estate. And I have also the great satisfaction of reflecting that +all the Negroes from whom any assistance could reasonably be expected, +behaved like so many Heroes of Antiquity; risking their lives and +limbs for us and our property, while their own poor houses were flying +like chaff before the hurricane. There are few White people here who +can say as much for their Black dependents; and the force and value of +the relation between Master and Slave has been tried by the late +calamity on a large scale. + +"Great part of both sides of this Island has been laid completely +waste. The beautiful wide and fertile Plain called the Charib +Country, extending for many miles to the north of Colonarie, and +formerly containing the finest sets of works and best dwelling-houses +in the Island, is, I am told, completely desolate: on several estates +not a roof even of a Negro hut standing. In the embarrassed +circumstances of many of the proprietors, the ruin is, I fear, +irreparable.--At Colonarie the damage is serious, but by no means +desperate. The crop is perhaps injured ten or fifteen per cent. The +roofs of several large buildings are destroyed, but these we are +already supplying; and the injuries done to the cottages of the +Negroes are, by this time, nearly if not quite remedied. + +"Indeed, all that has been suffered in St. Vincent appears nothing +when compared with the appalling loss of property and of human lives +at Barbadoes. There the Town is little but a heap of ruins, and the +corpses are reckoned by thousands; while throughout the Island there +are not, I believe, ten estates on which the buildings are standing. +The Elliotts, from whom we have heard, are living with all their +family in a tent; and may think themselves wonderfully saved, when +whole families round them were crushed at once beneath their houses. +Hugh Barton, the only officer of the Garrison hurt, has broken his +arm, and we know nothing of his prospects of recovery. The more +horrible misfortune of Barbadoes is partly to be accounted for by the +fact of the hurricane having begun there during the night. The +flatness of the surface in that Island presented no obstacle to the +wind, which must, however, I think have been in itself more furious +than with us. No other island has suffered considerably. + +"I have told both my Uncle and Anthony that I have given you the +details of our recent history;--which are not so pleasant that I +should wish to write them again. Perhaps you will be good enough to +let them see this, as soon as you and my Father can spare it.... I am +ever, dearest Mother, + + "Your grateful and affectionate + "JOHN STERLING." + +This Letter, I observe, is dated 28th August, 1831; which is otherwise +a day of mark to the world and me,--the Poet Goethe's last birthday. +While Sterling sat in the Tropical solitudes, penning this history, +little European Weimar had its carriages and state-carriages busy on +the streets, and was astir with compliments and visiting-cards, doing +its best, as heretofore, on behalf of a remarkable day; and was not, +for centuries or tens of centuries, to see the like of it again!-- + + +At Brighton, the hospitable home of those Munros, our friends +continued for above two months. Their first child, Edward, as above +noticed, was born here, "14th October, 1831;"--and now the poor lady, +safe from all her various perils, could return to Colonarie under good +auspices. + +It was in this year that I first heard definitely of Sterling as a +contemporary existence; and laid up some note and outline of him in my +memory, as of one whom I might yet hope to know. John Mill, Mrs. +Austin and perhaps other friends, spoke of him with great affection +and much pitying admiration; and hoped to see him home again, under +better omens, from over the seas. As a gifted amiable being, of a +certain radiant tenuity and velocity, too thin and rapid and +diffusive, in danger of dissipating himself into the vague, or alas +into death itself: it was so that, like a spot of bright colors, +rather than a portrait with features, he hung occasionally visible in +my imagination. + + +CHAPTER XIII. +A CATASTROPHE. + +The ruin of his house had hardly been repaired, when there arrived out +of Europe tidings which smote as with a still more fatal hurricane on +the four corners of his inner world, and awoke all the old thunders +that lay asleep on his horizon there. Tidings, at last of a decisive +nature, from Gibraltar and the Spanish democrat adventure. This is +what the Newspapers had to report--the catastrophe at once, the +details by degrees--from Spain concerning that affair, in the +beginning of the new year 1832. + +Torrijos, as we have seen, had hitherto accomplished as good as +nothing, except disappointment to his impatient followers, and sorrow +and regret to himself. Poor Torrijos, on arriving at Gibraltar with +his wild band, and coming into contact with the rough fact, had found +painfully how much his imagination had deceived him. The fact lay +round him haggard and iron-bound; flatly refusing to be handled +according to his scheme of it. No Spanish soldiery nor citizenry +showed the least disposition to join him; on the contrary the official +Spaniards of that coast seemed to have the watchfulest eye on all his +movements, nay it was conjectured they had spies in Gibraltar who +gathered his very intentions and betrayed them. This small project of +attack, and then that other, proved futile, or was abandoned before +the attempt. Torrijos had to lie painfully within the lines of +Gibraltar,--his poor followers reduced to extremity of impatience and +distress; the British Governor too, though not unfriendly to him, +obliged to frown. As for the young Cantabs, they, as was said, had +wandered a little over the South border of romantic Spain; had perhaps +seen Seville, Cadiz, with picturesque views, since not with +belligerent ones; and their money being done, had now returned home. +So had it lasted for eighteen months. + +The French Three Days breaking out had armed the Guerrillero Mina, +armed all manner of democratic guerrieros and guerrilleros; and +considerable clouds of Invasion, from Spanish exiles, hung minatory +over the North and North-East of Spain, supported by the new-born +French Democracy, so far as privately possible. These Torrijos had to +look upon with inexpressible feelings, and take no hand in supporting +from the South; these also he had to see brushed away, successively +abolished by official generalship; and to sit within his lines, in the +painfulest manner, unable to do anything. The fated, gallant-minded, +but too headlong man. At length the British Governor himself was +obliged, in official decency and as is thought on repeated +remonstrance from his Spanish official neighbors, to signify how +indecorous, improper and impossible it was to harbor within one's +lines such explosive preparations, once they were discovered, against +allies in full peace with us,--the necessity, in fact, there was for +the matter ending. It is said, he offered Torrijos and his people +passports, and British protection, to any country of the world except +Spain: Torrijos did not accept the passports; spoke of going +peaceably to this place or to that; promised at least, what he saw and +felt to be clearly necessary, that he would soon leave Gibraltar. And +he did soon leave it; he and his, Boyd alone of the Englishmen being +now with him. + +It was on the last night of November, 1831, that they all set forth; +Torrijos with Fifty-five companions; and in two small vessels +committed themselves to their nigh-desperate fortune. No sentry or +official person had noticed them; it was from the Spanish Consul, next +morning, that the British Governor first heard they were gone. The +British Governor knew nothing of them; but apparently the Spanish +officials were much better informed. Spanish guardships, instantly +awake, gave chase to the two small vessels, which were making all sail +towards Malaga; and, on shore, all manner of troops and detached +parties were in motion, to render a retreat to Gibraltar by land +impossible. + +Crowd all sail for Malaga, then; there perhaps a regiment will join +us; there,--or if not, we are but lost! Fancy need not paint a more +tragic situation than that of Torrijos, the unfortunate gallant man, +in the gray of this morning, first of December, 1831,--his last free +morning. Noble game is afoot, afoot at last; and all the hunters have +him in their toils.--The guardships gain upon Torrijos; he cannot even +reach Malaga; has to run ashore at a place called Fuengirola, not far +from that city;--the guardships seizing his vessels, so soon as he is +disembarked. The country is all up; troops scouring the coast +everywhere: no possibility of getting into Malaga with a party of +Fifty-five. He takes possession of a farmstead (Ingles, the place is +called); barricades himself there, but is speedily beleaguered with +forces hopelessly superior. He demands to treat; is refused all +treaty; is granted six hours to consider, shall then either surrender +at discretion, or be forced to do it. Of course he _does_ it, having +no alternative; and enters Malaga a prisoner, all his followers +prisoners. Here had the Torrijos Enterprise, and all that was +embarked upon it, finally arrived. + +Express is sent to Madrid; express instantly returns; "Military +execution on the instant; give them shriving if they want it; that +done, fusillade them all." So poor Torrijos and his followers, the +whole Fifty-six of them, Robert Boyd included, meet swift death in +Malaga. In such manner rushes down the curtain on them and their +affair; they vanish thus on a sudden; rapt away as in black clouds of +fate. Poor Boyd, Sterling's cousin, pleaded his British citizenship; +to no purpose: it availed only to his dead body, this was delivered +to the British Consul for interment, and only this. Poor Madam +Torrijos, hearing, at Paris where she now was, of her husband's +capture, hurries towards Madrid to solicit mercy; whither also +messengers from Lafayette and the French Government were hurrying, on +the like errand: at Bayonne, news met the poor lady that it was +already all over, that she was now a widow, and her husband hidden +from her forever.--Such was the handsel of the new year 1832 for +Sterling in his West-Indian solitudes. + + +Sterling's friends never heard of these affairs; indeed we were all +secretly warned not to mention the name of Torrijos in his hearing, +which accordingly remained strictly a forbidden subject. His misery +over this catastrophe was known, in his own family, to have been +immense. He wrote to his Brother Anthony: "I hear the sound of that +musketry; it is as if the bullets were tearing my own brain." To +figure in one's sick and excited imagination such a scene of fatal +man-hunting, lost valor hopelessly captured and massacred; and to add +to it, that the victims are not men merely, that they are noble and +dear forms known lately as individual friends: what a Dance of the +Furies and wild-pealing Dead-march is this, for the mind of a loving, +generous and vivid man! Torrijos getting ashore at Fuengirola; Robert +Boyd and others ranked to die on the esplanade at Malaga--Nay had not +Sterling, too, been the innocent yet heedless means of Boyd's +embarking in this enterprise? By his own kinsman poor Boyd had been +witlessly guided into the pitfalls. "I hear the sound of that +musketry; it is as if the bullets were tearing my own brain!" + + +CHAPTER XIV. +PAUSE. + +These thoughts dwelt long with Sterling; and for a good while, I +fancy, kept possession of the proscenium of his mind; madly parading +there, to the exclusion of all else,--coloring all else with their own +black hues. He was young, rich in the power to be miserable or +otherwise; and this was his first grand sorrow which had now fallen +upon him. + +An important spiritual crisis, coming at any rate in some form, had +hereby suddenly in a very sad form come. No doubt, as youth was +passing into manhood in these Tropical seclusions, and higher wants +were awakening in his mind, and years and reflection were adding new +insight and admonition, much in his young way of thought and action +lay already under ban with him, and repentances enough over many +things were not wanting. But here on a sudden had all repentances, as +it were, dashed themselves together into one grand whirlwind of +repentance; and his past life was fallen wholly as into a state of +reprobation. A great remorseful misery had come upon him. Suddenly, +as with a sudden lightning-stroke, it had kindled into conflagration +all the ruined structure of his past life; such ruin had to blaze and +flame round him, in the painfulest manner, till it went out in black +ashes. His democratic philosophies, and mutinous radicalisms, already +falling doomed in his thoughts, had reached their consummation and +final condemnation here. It was all so rash, imprudent, arrogant, all +that; false, or but half true; inapplicable wholly as a rule of noble +conduct;--and it has ended _thus_. Woe on it! Another guidance must +be found in life, or life is impossible!-- + +It is evident, Sterling's thoughts had already, since the old days of +the "black dragoon," much modified themselves. We perceive that, by +mere increase of experience and length of time, the opposite and much +deeper side of the question, which also has its adamantine basis of +truth, was in turn coming into play; and in fine that a Philosophy of +Denial, and world illuminated merely by the flames of Destruction, +could never have permanently been the resting-place of such a man. +Those pilgrimings to Coleridge, years ago, indicate deeper wants +beginning to be felt, and important ulterior resolutions becoming +inevitable for him. If in your own soul there is any tone of the +"Eternal Melodies," you cannot live forever in those poor outer, +transitory grindings and discords; you will have to struggle inwards +and upwards, in search of some diviner home for yourself!--Coleridge's +prophetic moonshine, Torrijos's sad tragedy: those were important +occurrences in Sterling's life. But, on the whole, there was a big +Ocean for him, with impetuous Gulf-streams, and a doomed voyage in +quest of the Atlantis, _before_ either of those arose as lights on the +horizon. As important beacon-lights let us count them +nevertheless;--signal-dates they form to us, at lowest. We may reckon +this Torrijos tragedy the crisis of Sterling's history; the +turning-point, which modified, in the most important and by no means +wholly in the most favorable manner, all the subsequent stages of it. + + +Old Radicalism and mutinous audacious Ethnicism having thus fallen to +wreck, and a mere black world of misery and remorse now disclosing +itself, whatsoever of natural piety to God and man, whatsoever of pity +and reverence, of awe and devout hope was in Sterling's heart now +awoke into new activity; and strove for some due utterance and +predominance. His Letters, in these months, speak of earnest religious +studies and efforts;--of attempts by prayer and longing endeavor of +all kinds, to struggle his way into the temple, if temple there were, +and there find sanctuary.[10] The realities were grown so haggard; +life a field of black ashes, if there rose no temple anywhere on it! +Why, like a fated Orestes, is man so whipt by the Furies, and driven +madly hither and thither, if it is not even that he may seek some +shrine, and there make expiation and find deliverance? + +In these circumstances, what a scope for Coleridge's philosophy, above +all! "If the bottled moonshine _be_ actually substance? Ah, could +one but believe in a Church while finding it incredible! What is +faith; what is conviction, credibility, insight? Can a thing be at +once known for true, and known for false? 'Reason,' 'Understanding:' +is there, then, such an internecine war between these two? It was so +Coleridge imagined it, the wisest of existing men!"--No, it is not an +easy matter (according to Sir Kenelm Digby), this of getting up your +"astral spirit" of a thing, and setting it in action, when the thing +itself is well burnt to ashes. Poor Sterling; poor sons of Adam in +general, in this sad age of cobwebs, worn-out symbolisms, +reminiscences and simulacra! Who can tell the struggles of poor +Sterling, and his pathless wanderings through these things! Long +afterwards, in speech with his Brother, he compared his case in this +time to that of "a young lady who has tragically lost her lover, and +is willing to be half-hoodwinked into a convent, or in any noble or +quasi-noble way to escape from a world which has become intolerable." + + +During the summer of 1832, I find traces of attempts towards +Anti-Slavery Philanthropy; shadows of extensive schemes in that +direction. Half-desperate outlooks, it is likely, towards the refuge +of Philanthropism, as a new chivalry of life. These took no serious +hold of so clear an intellect; but they hovered now and afterwards as +day-dreams, when life otherwise was shorn of aim;--mirages in the +desert, which are found not to be lakes when you put your bucket into +them. One thing was clear, the sojourn in St. Vincent was not to last +much longer. + +Perhaps one might get some scheme raised into life, in Downing Street, +for universal Education to the Blacks, preparatory to emancipating +them? There were a noble work for a man! Then again poor Mrs. +Sterling's health, contrary to his own, did not agree with warm moist +climates. And again, &c. &c. These were the outer surfaces of the +measure; the unconscious pretexts under which it showed itself to +Sterling and was shown by him: but the inner heart and determining +cause of it (as frequently in Sterling's life, and in all our lives) +was not these. In brief, he had had enough of St. Vincent. The +strangling oppressions of his soul were too heavy for him there. +Solution lay in Europe, or might lie; not in these remote solitudes of +the sea,--where no shrine or saint's well is to be looked for, no +communing of pious pilgrims journeying together towards a shrine. + + +CHAPTER XV. +BONN; HERSTMONCEUX. + +After a residence of perhaps fifteen months Sterling quitted St. +Vincent, and never returned. He reappeared at his Father's house, to +the joy of English friends, in August, 1832; well improved in health, +and eager for English news; but, beyond vague schemes and +possibilities, considerably uncertain what was next to be done. + +After no long stay in this scene,--finding Downing Street dead as +stone to the Slave-Education and to all other schemes,--he went +across, with his wife and child, to Germany; purposing to make not so +much a tour as some loose ramble, or desultory residence in that +country, in the Rhineland first of all. Here was to be hoped the +picturesque in scenery, which he much affected; here the new and true +in speculation, which he inwardly longed for and wanted greatly more; +at all events, here as readily as elsewhere might a temporary +household be struck up, under interesting circumstances.--I conclude +he went across in the Spring of 1833; perhaps directly after _Arthur +Coningsby_ had got through the press. This Novel, which, as we have +said, was begun two or three years ago, probably on his cessation from +the _Athenaeum_, and was mainly finished, I think, before the removal +to St. Vincent, had by this time fallen as good as obsolete to his own +mind; and its destination now, whether to the press or to the fire, +was in some sort a matter at once of difficulty and of insignificance +to him. At length deciding for the milder alternative, he had thrown +in some completing touches here and there,--especially, as I +conjecture, a proportion of Coleridgean moonshine at the end; and so +sent it forth. + +It was in the sunny days, perhaps in May or June of this year, that +_Arthur Coningsby_ reached my own hand, far off amid the heathy +wildernesses; sent by John Mill: and I can still recollect the +pleasant little episode it made in my solitude there. The general +impression it left on me, which has never since been renewed by a +second reading in whole or in part, was the certain prefigurement to +myself, more or less distinct, of an opulent, genial and sunny mind, +but misdirected, disappointed, experienced in misery;--nay crude and +hasty; mistaking for a solid outcome from its woes what was only to me +a gilded vacuity. The hero an ardent youth, representing Sterling +himself, plunges into life such as we now have it in these anarchic +times, with the radical, utilitarian, or mutinous heathen theory, +which is the readiest for inquiring souls; finds, by various courses +of adventure, utter shipwreck in this; lies broken, very wretched: +that is the tragic nodus, or apogee of his life-course. In this mood +of mind, he clutches desperately towards some new method (recognizable +as Coleridge's) of laying hand again on the old Church, which has +hitherto been extraneous and as if non-extant to his way of thought; +makes out, by some Coleridgean legedermain, that there actually is +still a Church for him; that this extant Church, which he long took +for an extinct shadow, is not such, but a substance; upon which he can +anchor himself amid the storms of fate;--and he does so, even taking +orders in it, I think. Such could by no means seem to me the true or +tenable solution. Here clearly, struggling amid the tumults, was a +lovable young fellow-soul; who had by no means yet got to land; but of +whom much might be hoped, if he ever did. Some of the delineations +are highly pictorial, flooded with a deep ruddy effulgence; betokening +much wealth, in the crude or the ripe state. The hope of perhaps, one +day, knowing Sterling, was welcome and interesting to me. _Arthur +Coningsby_, struggling imperfectly in a sphere high above +circulating-library novels, gained no notice whatever in that quarter; +gained, I suppose in a few scattered heads, some such recognition as +the above; and there rested. Sterling never mentioned the name of it +in my hearing, or would hear it mentioned. + + +In those very days while _Arthur Coningsby_ was getting read amid the +Scottish moors, "in June, 1833," Sterling, at Bonn in the +Rhine-country, fell in with his old tutor and friend, the Reverend +Julius Hare; one with whom he always delighted to communicate, +especially on such topics as then altogether occupied him. A man of +cheerful serious character, of much approved accomplishment, of +perfect courtesy; surely of much piety, in all senses of that word. +Mr. Hare had quitted his scholastic labors and distinctions, some time +ago; the call or opportunity for taking orders having come; and as +Rector of Herstmonceux in Sussex, a place patrimonially and otherwise +endeared to him, was about entering, under the best omens, on a new +course of life. He was now on his return from Rome, and a visit of +some length to Italy. Such a meeting could not but be welcome and +important to Sterling in such a mood. They had much earnest +conversation, freely communing on the highest matters; especially of +Sterling's purpose to undertake the clerical profession, in which +course his reverend friend could not but bid him good speed. + +It appears, Sterling already intimated his intention to become a +clergyman: He would study theology, biblicalities, perfect himself in +the knowledge seemly or essential for his new course;--read diligently +"for a year or two in some good German University," then seek to +obtain orders: that was his plan. To which Mr. Hare gave his hearty +_Euge_; adding that if his own curacy happened then to be vacant, he +should be well pleased to have Sterling in that office. So they +parted. + +"A year or two" of serious reflection "in some good German +University," or anywhere in the world, might have thrown much +elucidation upon these confused strugglings and purposings of +Sterling's, and probably have spared him some confusion in his +subsequent life. But the talent of waiting was, of all others, the +one he wanted most. Impetuous velocity, all-hoping headlong alacrity, +what we must call rashness and impatience, characterized him in most +of his important and unimportant procedures; from the purpose to the +execution there was usually but one big leap with him. A few months +after Mr. Hare was gone, Sterling wrote that his purposes were a +little changed by the late meeting at Bonn; that he now longed to +enter the Church straightway: that if the Herstmonceux Curacy was +still vacant, and the Rector's kind thought towards him still held, he +would instantly endeavor to qualify himself for that office. + +Answer being in the affirmative on both heads, Sterling returned to +England; took orders,--"ordained deacon at Chichester on Trinity +Sunday in 1834" (he never became technically priest):--and so, having +fitted himself and family with a reasonable house, in one of those +leafy lanes in quiet Herstmonceux, on the edge of Pevensey Level, he +commenced the duties of his Curacy. + + +The bereaved young lady has _taken_ the veil, then! Even so. "Life +is growing all so dark and brutal; must be redeemed into human, if it +will continue life. Some pious heroism, to give a human color to life +again, on any terms,"--even on impossible ones! + +To such length can transcendental moonshine, cast by some morbidly +radiating Coleridge into the chaos of a fermenting life, act magically +there, and produce divulsions and convulsions and diseased +developments. So dark and abstruse, without lamp or authentic +finger-post, is the course of pious genius towards the Eternal +Kingdoms grown. No fixed highway more; the old spiritual highways and +recognized paths to the Eternal, now all torn up and flung in heaps, +submerged in unutterable boiling mud-oceans of Hypocrisy and +Unbelievability, of brutal living Atheism and damnable dead putrescent +Cant: surely a tragic pilgrimage for all mortals; Darkness, and the +mere shadow of Death, enveloping all things from pole to pole; and in +the raging gulf-currents, offering us will-o'-wisps for +loadstars,--intimating that there are no stars, nor ever were, except +certain Old-Jew ones which have now gone out. Once more, a tragic +pilgrimage for all mortals; and for the young pious soul, winged with +genius, and passionately seeking land, and passionately abhorrent of +floating carrion withal, more tragical than for any!--A pilgrimage we +must all undertake nevertheless, and make the best of with our +respective means. Some arrive; a glorious few: many must be +lost,--go down upon the floating wreck which they took for land. Nay, +courage! These also, so far as there was any heroism in them, have +bequeathed their life as a contribution to us, have valiantly laid +their bodies in the chasm for us: of these also there is no ray of +heroism _lost_,--and, on the whole, what else of them could or should +be "saved" at any time? Courage, and ever Forward! + +Concerning this attempt of Sterling's to find sanctuary in the old +Church, and desperately grasp the hem of her garment in such manner, +there will at present be many opinions: and mine must be recorded +here in flat reproval of it, in mere pitying condemnation of it, as a +rash, false, unwise and unpermitted step. Nay, among the evil lessons +of his Time to poor Sterling, I cannot but account this the worst; +properly indeed, as we may say, the apotheosis, the solemn apology and +consecration, of all the evil lessons that were in it to him. Alas, +if we did remember the divine and awful nature of God's Truth, and had +not so forgotten it as poor doomed creatures never did before,--should +we, durst we in our most audacious moments, think of wedding _it_ to +the World's Untruth, which is also, like all untruths, the Devil's? +Only in the world's last lethargy can such things be done, and +accounted safe and pious! Fools! "Do you think the Living God is a +buzzard idol," sternly asks Milton, that you dare address Him in this +manner?--Such darkness, thick sluggish clouds of cowardice and +oblivious baseness, have accumulated on us: thickening as if towards +the eternal sleep! It is not now known, what never needed proof or +statement before, that Religion is not a doubt; that it is a +certainty,--or else a mockery and horror. That none or all of the +many things we are in doubt about, and need to have demonstrated and +rendered probable, can by any alchemy be made a "Religion" for us; but +are and must continue a baleful, quiet or unquiet, Hypocrisy for us; +and bring--_salvation_, do we fancy? I think, it is another thing +they will bring, and are, on all hands, visibly bringing this good +while!-- + + +The time, then, with its deliriums, has done its worst for poor +Sterling. Into deeper aberration it cannot lead him; this is the +crowning error. Happily, as beseems the superlative of errors, it was +a very brief, almost a momentary one. In June, 1834, Sterling dates +as installed at Herstmonceux; and is flinging, as usual, his whole +soul into the business; successfully so far as outward results could +show: but already in September, he begins to have misgivings; and in +February following, quits it altogether,--the rest of his life being, +in great part, a laborious effort of detail to pick the fragments of +it off him, and be free of it in soul as well as in title. + +At this the extreme point of spiritual deflexion and depression, when +the world's madness, unusually impressive on such a man, has done its +very worst with him, and in all future errors whatsoever he will be a +little less mistaken, we may close the First Part of Sterling's Life. + + +PART II. + +CHAPTER I. +CURATE. + +By Mr. Hare's account, no priest of any Church could more fervently +address himself to his functions than Sterling now did. He went about +among the poor, the ignorant, and those that had need of help; +zealously forwarded schools and beneficences; strove, with his whole +might, to instruct and aid whosoever suffered consciously in body, or +still worse unconsciously in mind. He had charged himself to make the +Apostle Paul his model; the perils and voyagings and ultimate +martyrdom of Christian Paul, in those old ages, on the great scale, +were to be translated into detail, and become the practical emblem of +Christian Sterling on the coast of Sussex in this new age. "It would +be no longer from Jerusalem to Damascus," writes Sterling, "to Arabia, +to Derbe, Lystra, Ephesus, that he would travel: but each house of +his appointed Parish would be to him what each of those great cities +was,--a place where he would bend his whole being, and spend his heart +for the conversion, purification, elevation of those under his +influence. The whole man would be forever at work for this purpose; +head, heart, knowledge, time, body, possessions, all would be directed +to this end." A high enough model set before one:--how to be +realized!--Sterling hoped to realize it, to struggle towards realizing +it, in some small degree. This is Mr. Hare's report of him:-- + +"He was continually devising some fresh scheme for improving the +condition of the Parish. His aim was to awaken the minds of the +people, to arouse their conscience, to call forth their sense of moral +responsibility, to make them feel their own sinfulness, their need of +redemption, and thus lead them to a recognition of the Divine Love by +which that redemption is offered to us. In visiting them he was +diligent in all weathers, to the risk of his own health, which was +greatly impaired thereby; and his gentleness and considerate care for +the sick won their affection; so that, though his stay was very short, +his name is still, after a dozen years, cherished by many." + +How beautiful would Sterling be in all this; rushing forward like a +host towards victory; playing and pulsing like sunshine or soft +lightning; busy at all hours to perform his part in abundant and +superabundant measure! "Of that which it was to me personally," +continues Mr. Hare, "to have such a fellow-laborer, to live constantly +in the freest communion with such a friend, I cannot speak. He came +to me at a time of heavy affliction, just after I had heard that the +Brother, who had been the sharer of all my thoughts and feelings from +childhood, had bid farewell to his earthly life at Rome; and thus he +seemed given to me to make up in some sort for him whom I had lost. +Almost daily did I look out for his usual hour of coming to me, and +watch his tall slender form walking rapidly across the hill in front +of my window; with the assurance that he was coming to cheer and +brighten, to rouse and stir me, to call me up to some height of +feeling, or down to some depth of thought. His lively spirit, +responding instantaneously to every impulse of Nature and Art; his +generous ardor in behalf of whatever is noble and true; his scorn of +all meanness, of all false pretences and conventional beliefs, +softened as it was by compassion for the victims of those besetting +sins of a cultivated age; his never-flagging impetuosity in pushing +onward to some unattained point of duty or of knowledge: all this, +along with his gentle, almost reverential affectionateness towards his +former tutor, rendered my intercourse with him an unspeakable +blessing; and time after time has it seemed to me that his visit had +been like a shower of rain, bringing down freshness and brightness on +a dusty roadside hedge. By him too the recollection of these our +daily meetings was cherished till the last."[11] + +There are many poor people still at Herstmonceux who affectionately +remember him: Mr. Hare especially makes mention of one good man +there, in his young days "a poor cobbler," and now advanced to a much +better position, who gratefully ascribes this outward and the other +improvements in his life to Sterling's generous encouragement and +charitable care for him. Such was the curate life at Herstmonceux. +So, in those actual leafy lanes, on the edge of Pevensey Level, in +this new age, did our poor New Paul (on hest of certain oracles) +diligently study to comport himself,--and struggle with all his might +_not_ to be a moonshine shadow of the First Paul. + + +It was in this summer of 1834,--month of May, shortly after arriving +in London,--that I first saw Sterling's Father. A stout broad +gentleman of sixty, perpendicular in attitude, rather showily dressed, +and of gracious, ingenious and slightly elaborate manners. It was at +Mrs. Austin's in Bayswater; he was just taking leave as I entered, so +our interview lasted only a moment: but the figure of the man, as +Sterling's father, had already an interest for me, and I remember the +time well. Captain Edward Sterling, as we formerly called him, had +now quite dropt the military title, nobody even of his friends now +remembering it; and was known, according to his wish, in political and +other circles, as Mr. Sterling, a private gentleman of some figure. +Over whom hung, moreover, a kind of mysterious nimbus as the principal +or one of the principal writers in the _Times_, which gave an +interesting chiaroscuro to his character in society. A potent, +profitable, but somewhat questionable position; of which, though he +affected, and sometimes with anger, altogether to disown it, and +rigorously insisted on the rights of anonymity, he was not unwilling +to take the honors too: the private pecuniary advantages were very +undeniable; and his reception in the Clubs, and occasionally in higher +quarters, was a good deal modelled on the universal belief in it. + + +John Sterling at Herstmonceux that afternoon, and his Father here in +London, would have offered strange contrasts to an eye that had seen +them both. Contrasts, and yet concordances. They were two very +different-looking men, and were following two very different modes of +activity that afternoon. And yet with a strange family likeness, too, +both in the men and their activities; the central impulse in each, the +faculties applied to fulfil said impulse, not at all dissimilar,--as +grew visible to me on farther knowledge. + + +CHAPTER II. +NOT CURATE. + +Thus it went on for some months at Herstmonceux; but thus it could not +last. We said there were already misgivings as to health, &c. in +September:[12] that was but the fourth month, for it had begun only in +June. The like clouds of misgiving, flights of dark vapor, chequering +more and more the bright sky of this promised land, rose heavier and +rifer month after month; till in February following, that is in the +eighth month from starting, the sky had grown quite overshaded; and +poor Sterling had to think practically of departure from his promised +land again, finding that the goal of his pilgrimage was _not_ there. +Not there, wherever it may be! March again, therefore; the abiding +city, and post at which we can live and die, is still ahead of us, it +would appear! + +"Ill-health" was the external cause; and, to all parties concerned, to +Sterling himself I have no doubt as completely as to any, the one +determining cause. Nor was the ill-health wanting; it was there in +too sad reality. And yet properly it was not there as the burden; it +was there as the last ounce which broke the camel's back. I take it, +in this as in other cases known to me, ill-health was not the primary +cause but rather the ultimate one, the summing-up of innumerable far +deeper conscious and unconscious causes,--the cause which could boldly +show itself on the surface, and give the casting vote. Such was often +Sterling's way, as one could observe in such cases: though the most +guileless, undeceptive and transparent of men, he had a noticeable, +almost childlike faculty of self-deception, and usually substituted +for the primary determining motive and set of motives, some ultimate +ostensible one, and gave that out to himself and others as the ruling +impulse for important changes in life. As is the way with much more +ponderous and deliberate men;--as is the way, in a degree, with all +men! + +Enough, in February, 1835, Sterling came up to London, to consult with +his physicians,--and in fact in all ways to consider with himself and +friends,--what was to be done in regard to this Herstmonceux business. +The oracle of the physicians, like that of Delphi, was not exceedingly +determinate: but it did bear, what was a sufficiently undeniable +fact, that Sterling's constitution, with a tendency to pulmonary +ailments, was ill-suited for the office of a preacher; that total +abstinence from preaching for a year or two would clearly be the safer +course. To which effect he writes to Mr. Hare with a tone of +sorrowful agitation; gives up his clerical duties at +Herstmonceux;--and never resumed them there or elsewhere. He had been +in the Church eight months in all: a brief section of his life, but +an important one, which colored several of his subsequent years, and +now strangely colors all his years in the memory of some. + +This we may account the second grand crisis of his History. +Radicalism, not long since, had come to its consummation, and vanished +from him in a tragic manner. "Not by Radicalism is the path to Human +Nobleness for me!" And here now had English Priesthood risen like a +sun, over the waste ruins and extinct volcanoes of his dead Radical +world, with promise of new blessedness and healing under its Wings; +and this too has soon found itself an illusion: "Not by Priesthood +either lies the way, then. Once more, where does the way lie!"--To +follow illusions till they burst and vanish is the lot of all new +souls who, luckily or lucklessly, are left to their own choice in +starting on this Earth. The roads are many; the authentic +finger-posts are few,--never fewer than in this era, when in so many +senses the waters are out. Sterling of all men had the quickest sense +for nobleness, heroism and the human _summum bonum_; the liveliest +headlong spirit of adventure and audacity; few gifted living men less +stubbornness of perseverance. Illusions, in his chase of the _summum +bonum_, were not likely to be wanting; aberrations, and wasteful +changes of course, were likely to be many! It is in the history of +such vehement, trenchant, far-shining and yet intrinsically light and +volatile souls, missioned into this epoch to seek their way there, +that we best see what a confused epoch it is. + +This clerical aberration,--for such it undoubtedly was in +Sterling,--we have ascribed to Coleridge; and do clearly think that +had there been no Coleridge, neither had this been,--nor had English +Puseyism or some other strange enough universal portents been. +Nevertheless, let us say farther that it lay partly in the general +bearing of the world for such a man. This battle, universal in our +sad epoch of "all old things passing away" against "all things +becoming new," has its summary and animating heart in that of +Radicalism against Church; there, as in its flaming core, and point of +focal splendor, does the heroic worth that lies in each side of the +quarrel most clearly disclose itself; and Sterling was the man, above +many, to recognize such worth on both sides. Natural enough, in such +a one, that the light of Radicalism having gone out in darkness for +him, the opposite splendor should next rise as the chief, and invite +his loyalty till it also failed. In one form or the other, such an +aberration was not unlikely for him. But an aberration, especially in +this form, we may certainly call it. No man of Sterling's veracity, +had he clearly consulted his own heart, or had his own heart been +capable of clearly responding, and not been dazzled and bewildered by +transient fantasies and theosophic moonshine, could have undertaken +this function. His heart would have answered: "No, thou canst not. +What is incredible to thee, thou shalt not, at thy soul's peril, +attempt to believe!--Elsewhither for a refuge, or die here. Go to +Perdition if thou must,--but not with a lie in thy mouth; by the +Eternal Maker, no!" + +Alas, once more! How are poor mortals whirled hither and thither in +the tumultuous chaos of our era; and, under the thick smoke-canopy +which has eclipsed all stars, how do they fly now after this poor +meteor, now after that!--Sterling abandoned his clerical office in +February, 1835; having held it, and ardently followed it, so long as +we say,--eight calendar months in all. + + +It was on this his February expedition to London that I first saw +Sterling,--at the India House incidentally, one afternoon, where I +found him in company with John Mill, whom I happened like himself to +be visiting for a few minutes. The sight of one whose fine qualities +I had often heard of lately, was interesting enough; and, on the +whole, proved not disappointing, though it was the translation of +dream into fact, that is of poetry into prose, and showed its unrhymed +side withal. A loose, careless-looking, thin figure, in careless dim +costume, sat, in a lounging posture, carelessly and copiously talking. +I was struck with the kindly but restless swift-glancing eyes, which +looked as if the spirits were all out coursing like a pack of merry +eager beagles, beating every bush. The brow, rather sloping in form, +was not of imposing character, though again the head was longish, +which is always the best sign of intellect; the physiognomy in general +indicated animation rather than strength. + +We talked rapidly of various unmemorable things: I remember coming on +the Negroes, and noticing that Sterling's notion on the Slavery +Question had not advanced into the stage of mine. In reference to the +question whether an "engagement for life," on just terms, between +parties who are fixed in the character of master and servant, as the +Whites and the Negroes are, is not really better than one from day to +day,--he said with a kindly jeer, "I would have the Negroes themselves +consulted as to that!"--and would not in the least believe that the +Negroes were by no means final or perfect judges of it.--His address, +I perceived, was abrupt, unceremonious; probably not at all +disinclined to logic, and capable of dashing in upon you like a charge +of Cossacks, on occasion: but it was also eminently ingenious, +social, guileless. We did all very well together: and Sterling and I +walked westward in company, choosing whatever lanes or quietest +streets there were, as far as Knightsbridge where our roads parted; +talking on moralities, theological philosophies; arguing copiously, +but _except_ in opinion not disagreeing + +In his notions on such subjects, the expected Coleridge cast of +thought was very visible; and he seemed to express it even with +exaggeration, and in a fearless dogmatic manner. Identity of +sentiment, difference of opinion: these are the known elements of a +pleasant dialogue. We parted with the mutual wish to meet +again;--which accordingly, at his Father's house and at mine, we soon +repeatedly did; and already, in the few days before his return to +Herstmonceux, had laid the foundations of a frank intercourse, +pointing towards pleasant intimacies both with himself and with his +circle, which in the future were abundantly fulfilled. His Mother, +essentially and even professedly "Scotch," took to my Wife gradually +with a most kind maternal relation; his Father, a gallant showy +stirring gentleman, the Magus of the _Times_, had talk and argument +ever ready, was an interesting figure, and more and more took interest +in us. We had unconsciously made an acquisition, which grew richer +and wholesomer with every new year; and ranks now, seen in the pale +moonlight of memory, and must ever rank, among the precious +possessions of life. + +Sterling's bright ingenuity, and also his audacity, velocity and +alacrity, struck me more and more. It was, I think, on the occasion +of a party given one of these evenings at his Father's, where I +remember John Mill, John Crawford, Mrs. Crawford, and a number of +young and elderly figures of distinction,--that a group having formed +on the younger side of the room, and transcendentalisms and theologies +forming the topic, a number of deep things were said in abrupt +conversational style, Sterling in the thick of it. For example, one +sceptical figure praised the Church of England, in Hume's phrase, "as +a Church tending to keep down fanaticism," and recommendable for its +very indifferency; whereupon a transcendental figure urges him: "You +are afraid of the horse's kicking: but will you sacrifice all +qualities to being safe from that? Then get a dead horse. None +comparable to that for not kicking in your stable!" Upon which, a +laugh; with new laughs on other the like occasions;--and at last, in +the fire of some discussion, Sterling, who was unusually eloquent and +animated, broke out with this wild phrase, "I could plunge into the +bottom of Hell, if I were sure of finding the Devil there and getting +him strangled!" Which produced the loudest laugh of all; and had to +be repeated, on Mrs. Crawford's inquiry, to the house at large; and, +creating among the elders a kind of silent shudder,--though we urged +that the feat would really be a good investment of human +industry,--checked or stopt these theologic thunders for the evening. +I still remember Sterling as in one of his most animated moods that +evening. He probably returned to Herstmonceux next day, where he +proposed yet to reside for some indefinite time. + +Arrived at Herstmonceux, he had not forgotten us. One of his Letters +written there soon after was the following, which much entertained me, +in various ways. It turns on a poor Book of mine, called _Sartor +Resartus_; which was not then even a Book, but was still hanging +desolately under bibliopolic difficulties, now in its fourth or fifth +year, on the wrong side of the river, as a mere aggregate of Magazine +Articles; having at last been slit into that form, and lately +completed _so_, and put together into legibility. I suppose Sterling +had borrowed it of me. The adventurous hunter spirit which had +started such a bemired _Auerochs_, or Urus of the German woods, and +decided on chasing that as game, struck me not a little;--and the poor +Wood-Ox, so bemired in the forests, took it as a compliment rather:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "HERSTMONCEUX near BATTLE, 29th May, 1835. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have now read twice, with care, the wondrous +account of Teufelsdrockh and his Opinions; and I need not say that it +has given me much to think of. It falls in with the feelings and +tastes which were, for years, the ruling ones of my life; but which +you will not be angry with me when I say that I am infinitely and +hourly thankful for having escaped from. Not that I think of this +state of mind as one with which I have no longer any concern. The +sense of a oneness of life and power in all existence; and of a +boundless exuberance of beauty around us, to which most men are +well-nigh dead, is a possession which no one that has ever enjoyed it +would wish to lose. When to this we add the deep feeling of the +difference between the actual and the ideal in Nature, and still more +in Man; and bring in, to explain this, the principle of duty, as that +which connects us with a possible Higher State, and sets us in +progress towards it,--we have a cycle of thoughts which was the whole +spiritual empire of the wisest Pagans, and which might well supply +food for the wide speculations and richly creative fancy of +Teufelsdrockh, or his prototype Jean Paul. + +"How then comes it, we cannot but ask, that these ideas, displayed +assuredly with no want of eloquence, vivacity or earnestness, have +found, unless I am much mistaken, so little acceptance among the best +and most energetic minds in this country? In a country where millions +read the Bible, and thousands Shakspeare; where Wordsworth circulates +through book-clubs and drawing-rooms; where there are innumerable +admirers of your favorite Burns; and where Coleridge, by sending from +his solitude the voice of earnest spiritual instruction, came to be +beloved, studied and mourned for, by no small or careless school of +disciples?--To answer this question would, of course, require more +thought and knowledge than I can pretend to bring to it. But there +are some points on which I will venture to say a few words. + +"In the first place, as to the form of composition,--which may be +called, I think, the Rhapsodico-Reflective. In this the _Sartor +Resartus_ resembles some of the master-works of human invention, which +have been acknowledged as such by many generations; and especially the +works of Rabelais, Montaigne, Sterne and Swift. There is nothing I +know of in Antiquity like it. That which comes nearest is perhaps the +Platonic Dialogue. But of this, although there is something of the +playful and fanciful on the surface, there is in reality neither in +the language (which is austerely determined to its end), nor in the +method and progression of the work, any of that headlong +self-asserting capriciousness, which, if not discernible in the plan +of Teufelsdrockh's Memoirs, is yet plainly to be seen in the structure +of the sentences, the lawless oddity, and strange heterogeneous +combination and allusion. The principle of this difference, +observable often elsewhere in modern literature (for the same thing is +to be found, more or less, in many of our most genial works of +imagination,--_Don Quixote_, for instance, and the writings of Jeremy +Taylor), seems to be that well-known one of the predominant +objectivity of the Pagan mind; while among us the subjective has risen +into superiority, and brought with it in each individual a multitude +of peculiar associations and relations. These, as not explicable from +any one _external_ principle assumed as a premise by the ancient +philosopher, were rejected from the sphere of his aesthetic creation: +but to us they all have a value and meaning; being connected by the +bond of our own personality and all alike existing in that infinity +which is its arena. + +"But however this may be, and comparing the Teufelsdrockhean Epopee +only with those other modern works,--it is noticeable that Rabelais, +Montaigne and Sterne have trusted for the currency of their writings, +in a great degree, to the use of obscene and sensual stimulants. +Rabelais, besides, was full of contemporary and personal satire; and +seems to have been a champion in the great cause of his time,--as was +Montaigne also,--that of the right of thought in all competent minds, +unrestrained by any outward authority. Montaigne, moreover, contains +more pleasant and lively gossip, and more distinct good-humored +painting of his own character and daily habits, than any other writer +I know. Sterne is never obscure, and never moral; and the costume of +his subjects is drawn from the familiar experience of his own time and +country: and Swift, again, has the same merit of the clearest +perspicuity, joined to that of the most homely, unaffected, forcible +English. These points of difference seem to me the chief ones which +bear against the success of the _Sartor_. On the other hand, there is +in Teufelsdrockh a depth and fervor of feeling, and a power of serious +eloquence, far beyond that of any of these four writers; and to which +indeed there is nothing at all comparable in any of them, except +perhaps now and then, and very imperfectly, in Montaigne. + +"Of the other points of comparison there are two which I would chiefly +dwell on: and first as to the language. A good deal of this is +positively barbarous. 'Environment,' ' vestural,' 'stertorous,' +'visualized,' 'complected,' and others to be found I think in the +first twenty pages,--are words, so far as I know, without any +authority; some of them contrary to analogy: and none repaying by +their value the disadvantage of novelty. To these must be added new +and erroneous locutions; 'whole other tissues' for _all the other_, +and similar uses of the word _whole_; 'orients' for _pearls_; 'lucid' +and 'lucent' employed as if they were different in meaning; 'hulls' +perpetually for _coverings_, it being a word hardly used, and then +only for the husk of a nut; 'to insure a man of misapprehension;' +'talented,' a mere newspaper and hustings word, invented, I believe, +by O'Connell. + +"I must also mention the constant recurrence of some words in a quaint +and queer connection, which gives a grotesque and somewhat repulsive +mannerism to many sentences. Of these the commonest offender is +'quite;' which appears in almost every page, and gives at first a +droll kind of emphasis; but soon becomes wearisome. 'Nay,' +'manifold,' 'cunning enough significance,' 'faculty' (meaning a man's +rational or moral _power_), 'special,' 'not without,' haunt the reader +as if in some uneasy dream which does not rise to the dignity of +nightmare. Some of these strange mannerisms fall under the general +head of a singularity peculiar, so far as I know, to Teufelsdrockh. +For instance, that of the incessant use of a sort of odd superfluous +qualification of his assertions; which seems to give the character of +deliberateness and caution to the style, but in time sounds like mere +trick or involuntary habit. 'Almost' does more than yeoman's, +_almost_ slave's service in this way. Something similar may be +remarked of the use of the double negative by way of affirmation. + +"Under this head, of language, may be mentioned, though not with +strict grammatical accuracy, two standing characteristics of the +Professor's style,--at least as rendered into English: _First_, the +composition of words, such as 'snow-and-rosebloom maiden:' an +attractive damsel doubtless in Germany, but, with all her charms, +somewhat uncouth here. 'Life-vision' is another example; and many +more might be found. To say nothing of the innumerable cases in which +the words are only intelligible as a compound term, though not +distinguished by hyphens. Of course the composition of words is +sometimes allowable even in English: but the habit of dealing with +German seems to have produced, in the pages before us, a prodigious +superabundance of this form of expression; which gives harshness and +strangeness, where the matter would at all events have been surprising +enough. _Secondly_, I object, with the same qualification, to the +frequent use of _inversion_; which generally appears as a +transposition of the two members of a clause, in a way which would not +have been practiced in conversation. It certainly gives emphasis and +force, and often serves to point the meaning. But a style may be +fatiguing and faulty precisely by being too emphatic, forcible and +pointed; and so straining the attention to find its meaning, or the +admiration to appreciate its beauty. + +"Another class of considerations connects itself with the heightened +and plethoric fulness of the style: its accumulation and contrast of +imagery; its occasional jerking and almost spasmodic violence;--and +above all, the painful subjective excitement, which seems the element +and groundwork even of every description of Nature; often taking the +shape of sarcasm or broad jest, but never subsiding into calm. There +is also a point which I should think worth attending to, were I +planning any similar book: I mean the importance, in a work of +imagination, of not too much disturbing in the reader's mind the +balance of the New and Old. The former addresses itself to his +active, the latter to his passive faculty; and these are mutually +dependent, and must coexist in certain proportion, if you wish to +combine his sympathy and progressive exertion with willingness and +ease of attention. This should be taken into account in forming a +style; for of course it cannot be consciously thought of in composing +each sentence. + +"But chiefly it seems important in determining the plan of a work. If +the tone of feeling, the line of speculation are out of the common +way, and sure to present some difficulty to the average reader, then +it would probably be desirable to select, for the circumstances, +drapery and accessories of all kinds, those most familiar, or at least +most attractive. A fable of the homeliest purport, and commonest +every-day application, derives an interest and charm from its turning +on the characters and acts of gods and genii, lions and foxes, Arabs +and Affghauns. On the contrary, for philosophic inquiry and truths of +awful preciousness, I would select as my personages and interlocutors +beings with whose language and 'whereabouts' my readers would be +familiar. Thus did Plato in his Dialogues, Christ in his Parables. +Therefore it seems doubtful whether it was judicious to make a German +Professor the hero of _Sartor_. Berkeley began his _Siris_ with +tar-water; but what can English readers be expected to make of +_Gukguk_ by way of prelibation to your nectar and tokay? The +circumstances and details do not flash with living reality on the +minds of your readers, but, on the contrary, themselves require some +of that attention and minute speculation, the whole original stock of +which, in the minds of most of them, would not be too much to enable +them to follow your views of Man and Nature. In short, there is not a +sufficient basis of the common to justify the amount of peculiarity in +the work. In a book of science, these considerations would of course +be inapplicable; but then the whole shape and coloring of the book +must be altered to make it such; and a man who wishes merely to get at +the philosophical result, or summary of the whole, will regard the +details and illustrations as so much unprofitable surplusage. + +"The sense of strangeness is also awakened by the marvellous +combinations, in which the work abounds to a degree that the common +reader must find perfectly bewildering. This can hardly, however, be +treated as a consequence of the _style_; for the style in this respect +coheres with, and springs from, the whole turn and tendency of +thought. The noblest images are objects of a humorous smile, in a +mind which sees itself above all Nature and throned in the arms of an +Almighty Necessity; while the meanest have a dignity, inasmuch as they +are trivial symbols of the same one life to which the great whole +belongs. And hence, as I divine, the startling whirl of incongruous +juxtaposition, which of a truth must to many readers seem as amazing +as if the Pythia on the tripod should have struck up a drinking-song, +or Thersites had caught the prophetic strain of Cassandra. + + +"All this, of course, appears to me true and relevant; but I cannot +help feeling that it is, after all, but a poor piece of quackery to +comment on a multitude of phenomena without adverting to the principle +which lies at the root, and gives the true meaning to them all. Now +this principle I seem to myself to find in the state of mind which is +attributed to Teufelsdrockh; in his state of mind, I say, not in his +opinions, though these are, in him as in all men, most +important,--being one of the best indices to his state of mind. Now +what distinguishes him, not merely from the greatest and best men who +have been on earth for eighteen hundred years, but from the whole body +of those who have been working forwards towards the good, and have +been the salt and light of the world, is this: That he does not +believe in a God. Do not be indignant, I am blaming no one;--but if I +write my thoughts, I must write them honestly. + +"Teufelsdrockh does not belong to the herd of sensual and thoughtless +men; because he does perceive in all Existence a unity of power; +because he does believe that this is a real power external to him and +dominant to a certain extent over him, and does not think that he is +himself a shadow in a world of shadows. He had a deep feeling of the +beautiful, the good and the true; and a faith in their final victory. + +"At the same time, how evident is the strong inward unrest, the +Titanic heaving of mountain on mountain; the storm-like rushing over +land and sea in search of peace. He writhes and roars under his +consciousness of the difference in himself between the possible and +the actual, the hoped-for and the existent. He feels that duty is the +highest law of his own being; and knowing how it bids the waves be +stilled into an icy fixedness and grandeur, he trusts (but with a +boundless inward misgiving) that there is a principle of order which +will reduce all confusion to shape and clearness. But wanting peace +himself, his fierce dissatisfaction fixes on all that is weak, corrupt +and imperfect around him; and instead of a calm and steady +co-operation with all those who are endeavoring to apply the highest +ideas as remedies for the worst evils, he holds himself aloof in +savage isolation; and cherishes (though he dare not own) a stern joy +at the prospect of that Catastrophe which is to turn loose again the +elements of man's social life, and give for a time the victory to +evil;--in hopes that each new convulsion of the world must bring us +nearer to the ultimate restoration of all things; fancying that each +may be the last. Wanting the calm and cheerful reliance, which would +be the spring of active exertion, he flatters his own distemper by +persuading himself that his own age and generation are peculiarly +feeble and decayed; and would even perhaps be willing to exchange the +restless immaturity of our self-consciousness, and the promise of its +long throe-pangs, for the unawakened undoubting simplicity of the +world's childhood; of the times in which there was all the evil and +horror of our day, only with the difference that conscience had not +arisen to try and condemn it. In these longings, if they are +Teufelsdrockh's, he seems to forget that, could we go back five +thousand years, we should only have the prospect of travelling them +again, and arriving at last at the same point at which we stand now. + +"Something of this state of mind I may say that I understand; for I +have myself experienced it. And the root of the matter appears to me: +A want of sympathy with the great body of those who are now +endeavoring to guide and help onward their fellow-men. And in what is +this alienation grounded? It is, as I believe, simply in the +difference on that point: viz. the clear, deep, habitual recognition +of a one Living _Personal_ God, essentially good, wise, true and holy, +the Author of all that exists; and a reunion with whom is the only end +of all rational beings. This belief... [_There follow now several +pages on "Personal God," and other abstruse or indeed properly +unspeakable matters; these, and a general Postscript of qualifying +purport, I will suppress; extracting only the following fractions, as +luminous or slightly significant to us:_] + +"Now see the difference of Teufelsdrockh's feelings. At the end of +book iii. chap. 8, I find these words: 'But whence? O Heaven, +whither? Sense knows not; Faith knows not; only that it is through +mystery to mystery, from God to God. + + 'We _are such stuff_ + As dreams are made of, and our little life + Is rounded with a sleep.' + +And this tallies with the whole strain of his character. What we find +everywhere, with an abundant use of the name of God, is the conception +of a formless Infinite whether in time or space; of a high inscrutable +Necessity, which it is the chief wisdom and virtue to submit to, which +is the mysterious impersonal base of all Existence,--shows itself in +the laws of every separate being's nature; and for man in the shape of +duty. On the other hand, I affirm, we do know whence we come and +whither we go!-- + +... "And in this state of mind, as there is no true sympathy with +others, just as little is there any true peace for ourselves. There +is indeed possible the unsympathizing factitious calm of Art, which we +find in Goethe. But at what expense is it bought? Simply, by +abandoning altogether the idea of duty, which is the great witness of +our personality. And he attains his inhuman ghastly calmness by +reducing the Universe to a heap of material for the idea of beauty to +work on!-- + +... "The sum of all I have been writing as to the connection of our +faith in God with our feeling towards men and our mode of action, may +of course be quite erroneous: but granting its truth, it would supply +the one principle which I have been seeking for, in order to explain +the peculiarities of style in your account of Teufelsdrockh and his +writings.... The life and works of Luther are the best comment I know +of on this doctrine of mine. + +"Reading over what I have written, I find I have not nearly done +justice to my own sense of the genius and moral energy of the book; +but this is what you will best excuse.--Believe me most sincerely and +faithfully yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +Here are sufficient points of "discrepancy with agreement," here is +material for talk and argument enough; and an expanse of free +discussion open, which requires rather to be speedily restricted for +convenience' sake, than allowed to widen itself into the boundless, as +it tends to do!-- + +In all Sterling's Letters to myself and others, a large collection of +which now lies before me, duly copied and indexed, there is, to one +that knew his speech as well, a perhaps unusual likeness between the +speech and the Letters; and yet, for most part, with a great +inferiority on the part of these. These, thrown off, one and all of +them, without premeditation, and with most rapid-flowing pen, are +naturally as like his speech as writing can well be; this is their +grand merit to us: but on the other hand, the want of the living +tones, swift looks and motions, and manifold dramatic accompaniments, +tells heavily, more heavily than common. What can be done with +champagne itself, much more with soda-water, when the gaseous spirit +is fled! The reader, in any specimens he may see, must bear this in +mind. + +Meanwhile these Letters do excel in honesty, in candor and +transparency; their very carelessness secures their excellence in this +respect. And in another much deeper and more essential respect I must +likewise call them excellent,--in their childlike goodness, in the +purity of heart, the noble affection and fidelity they everywhere +manifest in the writer. This often touchingly strikes a familiar +friend in reading them; and will awaken reminiscences (when you have +the commentary in your own memory) which are sad and beautiful, and +not without reproach to you on occasion. To all friends, and all good +causes, this man is true; behind their back as before their face, the +same man!--Such traits of the autobiographic sort, from these Letters, +as can serve to paint him or his life, and promise not to weary the +reader, I must endeavor to select, in the sequel. + + +CHAPTER III. +BAYSWATER + +Sterling continued to reside at Herstmonceux through the spring and +summer; holding by the peaceable retired house he still had there, +till the vague future might more definitely shape itself, and better +point out what place of abode would suit him in his new circumstances. +He made frequent brief visits to London; in which I, among other +friends, frequently saw him, our acquaintance at each visit improving +in all ways. Like a swift dashing meteor he came into our circle; +coruscated among us, for a day or two, with sudden pleasant +illumination; then again suddenly withdrew,--we hoped, not for long. + +I suppose, he was full of uncertainties; but undoubtedly was +gravitating towards London. Yet, on the whole, on the surface of him, +you saw no uncertainties; far from that: it seemed always rather with +peremptory resolutions, and swift express businesses, that he was +charged. Sickly in body, the testimony said: but here always was a +mind that gave you the impression of peremptory alertness, cheery +swift decision,--of a _health_ which you might have called exuberant. +I remember dialogues with him, of that year; one pleasant dialogue +under the trees of the Park (where now, in 1851, is the thing called +"Crystal Palace"), with the June sunset flinging long shadows for us; +the last of the Quality just vanishing for dinner, and the great night +beginning to prophesy of itself. Our talk (like that of the foregoing +Letter) was of the faults of my style, of my way of thinking, of my +&c. &c.; all which admonitions and remonstrances, so friendly and +innocent, from this young junior-senior, I was willing to listen to, +though unable, as usual, to get almost any practical hold of them. As +usual, the garments do not fit you, you are lost in the garments, or +you cannot get into them at all; this is not your suit of clothes, it +must be another's:--alas, these are not your dimensions, these are +only the optical angles you subtend; on the whole, you will never get +measured in that way!-- + +Another time, of date probably very contiguous, I remember hearing +Sterling preach. It was in some new college-chapel in Somerset-house +(I suppose, what is now called King's College); a very quiet small +place, the audience student-looking youths, with a few elder people, +perhaps mostly friends of the preacher's. The discourse, delivered +with a grave sonorous composure, and far surpassing in talent the +usual run of sermons, had withal an air of human veracity as I still +recollect, and bespoke dignity and piety of mind: but gave me the +impression rather of artistic excellence than of unction or +inspiration in that kind. Sterling returned with us to Chelsea that +day;--and in the afternoon we went on the Thames Putney-ward together, +we two with my Wife; under the sunny skies, on the quiet water, and +with copious cheery talk, the remembrance of which is still present +enough to me. + +This was properly my only specimen of Sterling's preaching. Another +time, late in the same autumn, I did indeed attend him one evening to +some Church in the City,--a big Church behind Cheapside, "built by +Wren" as he carefully informed me;--but there, in my wearied mood, the +chief subject of reflection was the almost total vacancy of the place, +and how an eloquent soul was preaching to mere lamps and prayer-books; +and of the sermon I retain no image. It came up in the way of banter, +if he ever urged the duty of "Church extension," which already he very +seldom did and at length never, what a specimen we once had of bright +lamps, gilt prayer-books, baize-lined pews, Wren-built architecture; +and how, in almost all directions, you might have fired a musket +through the church, and hit no Christian life. A terrible outlook +indeed for the Apostolic laborer in the brick-and-mortar line!-- + + +In the Autumn of this same 1835, he removed permanently to London, +whither all summer he had been evidently tending; took a house in +Bayswater, an airy suburb, half town, half country, near his Father's, +and within fair distance of his other friends and objects; and decided +to await there what the ultimate developments of his course might be. +His house was in Orme Square, close by the corner of that little place +(which has only _three_ sides of houses); its windows looking to the +east: the Number was, and I believe still is, No. 5. A sufficiently +commodious, by no means sumptuous, small mansion; where, with the +means sure to him, he could calculate on finding adequate shelter for +his family, his books and himself, and live in a decent manner, in no +terror of debt, for one thing. His income, I suppose, was not large; +but he lived generally a safe distance within it; and showed himself +always as a man bountiful in money matters, and taking no thought that +way. + +His study-room in this house was perhaps mainly the drawing-room; +looking out safe, over the little dingy grassplot in front, and the +quiet little row of houses opposite, with the huge dust-whirl of +Oxford Street and London far enough ahead of you as background,--as +back-curtain, blotting out only _half_ your blue hemisphere with dust +and smoke. On the right, you had the continuous growl of the Uxbridge +Road and its wheels, coming as lullaby not interruption. Leftward and +rearward, after some thin belt of houses, lay mere country; bright +sweeping green expanses, crowned by pleasant Hampstead, pleasant +Harrow, with their rustic steeples rising against the sky. Here on +winter evenings, the bustle of removal being all well ended, and +family and books got planted in their new places, friends could find +Sterling, as they often did, who was delighted to be found by them, +and would give and take, vividly as few others, an hour's good talk at +any time. + +His outlooks, it must be admitted, were sufficiently vague and +overshadowed; neither the past nor the future of a too joyful kind. +Public life, in any professional form, is quite forbidden; to work +with his fellows anywhere appears to be forbidden: nor can the +humblest solitary endeavor to work worthily as yet find an arena. How +unfold one's little bit of talent; and live, and not lie sleeping, +while it is called To-day? As Radical, as Reforming Politician in any +public or private form,--not only has this, in Sterling's case, +received tragical sentence and execution; but the opposite extreme, +the Church whither he had fled, likewise proves abortive: the Church +also is not the haven for him at all. What is to be done? Something +must be done, and soon,--under penalties. Whoever has received, on +him there is an inexorable behest to give. "_Fais ton fait_, Do thy +little stroke of work:" this is Nature's voice, and the sum of all +the commandments, to each man! + +A shepherd of the people, some small Agamemnon after his sort, doing +what little sovereignty and guidance he can in his day and generation: +such every gifted soul longs, and should long, to be. But how, in any +measure, is the small kingdom necessary for Sterling to be attained? +Not through newspapers and parliaments, not by rubrics and +reading-desks: none of the sceptres offered in the world's +market-place, nor none of the crosiers there, it seems, can be the +shepherd's-crook for this man. A most cheerful, hoping man; and full +of swift faculty, though much lamed,--considerably bewildered too; and +tending rather towards the wastes and solitary places for a home; the +paved world not being friendly to him hitherto! The paved world, in +fact, both on its practical and spiritual side, slams to its doors +against him; indicates that he cannot enter, and even must not,--that +it will prove a choke-vault, deadly to soul and to body, if he enter. +Sceptre, crosier, sheep-crook is none there for him. + +There remains one other implement, the resource of all Adam's +posterity that are otherwise foiled,--the Pen. It was evident from +this point that Sterling, however otherwise beaten about, and set +fluctuating, would gravitate steadily with all his real weight towards +Literature. That he would gradually try with consciousness to get +into Literature; and, on the whole, never quit Literature, which was +now all the world for him. Such is accordingly the sum of his history +henceforth: such small sum, so terribly obstructed and diminished by +circumstances, is all we have realized from him. + + +Sterling had by no means as yet consciously quitted the clerical +profession, far less the Church as a creed. We have seen, he +occasionally officiated still in these months, when a friend requested +or an opportunity invited. Nay it turned out afterwards, he had, +unknown even to his own family, during a good many weeks in the +coldest period of next spring, when it was really dangerous for his +health and did prove hurtful to it,--been constantly performing the +morning service in some Chapel in Bayswater for a young clerical +neighbor, a slight acquaintance of his, who was sickly at the time. +So far as I know, this of the Bayswater Chapel in the spring of 1836, +a feat severely rebuked by his Doctor withal, was his last actual +service as a churchman. But the conscious life ecclesiastical still +hung visibly about his inner unconscious and real life, for years to +come; and not till by slow degrees he had unwinded from him the +wrappages of it, could he become clear about himself, and so much as +try heartily what his now sole course was. Alas, and he had to live +all the rest of his days, as in continual flight for his very +existence; "ducking under like a poor unfledged partridge-bird," as +one described it, "before the mower; darting continually from nook to +nook, and there crouching, to escape the scythe of Death." For +Literature Proper there was but little left in such a life. Only the +smallest broken fractions of his last and heaviest-laden years can +poor Sterling be said to have completely lived. His purpose had risen +before him slowly in noble clearness; clear at last,--and even then +the inevitable hour was at hand. + +In those first London months, as always afterwards while it remained +physically possible, I saw much of him; loved him, as was natural, +more and more; found in him, many ways, a beautiful acquisition to my +existence here. He was full of bright speech and argument; radiant +with arrowy vitalities, vivacities and ingenuities. Less than any man +he gave you the idea of ill-health. Hopeful, sanguine; nay he did not +even seem to need definite hope, or much to form any; projecting +himself in aerial pulses like an aurora borealis, like a summer dawn, +and filling all the world with present brightness for himself and +others. Ill-health? Nay you found at last, it was the very excess of +_life_ in him that brought on disease. This restless play of being, +fit to conquer the world, could it have been held and guided, could +not be held. It had worn _holes_ in the outer case of it, and there +found vent for itself,--there, since not otherwise. + +In our many promenades and colloquies, which were of the freest, most +copious and pleasant nature, religion often formed a topic, and +perhaps towards the beginning of our intercourse was the prevailing +topic. Sterling seemed much engrossed in matters theological, and led +the conversation towards such; talked often about Church, Christianity +Anglican and other, how essential the belief in it to man; then, on +the other side, about Pantheism and such like;--all in the Coleridge +dialect, and with eloquence and volubility to all lengths. I remember +his insisting often and with emphasis on what he called a "personal +God," and other high topics, of which it was not always pleasant to +give account in the argumentative form, in a loud hurried voice, +walking and arguing through the fields or streets. Though of warm +quick feelings, very positive in his opinions, and vehemently eager to +convince and conquer in such discussions, I seldom or never saw the +least anger in him against me or any friend. When the blows of +contradiction came too thick, he could with consummate dexterity whisk +aside out of their way; prick into his adversary on some new quarter; +or gracefully flourishing his weapon, end the duel in some handsome +manner. One angry glance I remember in him, and it was but a glance, +and gone in a moment. "Flat Pantheism!" urged he once (which he would +often enough do about this time), as if triumphantly, of something or +other, in the fire of a debate, in my hearing: "It is mere Pantheism, +that!"--"And suppose it were Pot-theism?" cried the other: "If the +thing is true!"--Sterling did look hurt at such flippant heterodoxy, +for a moment. The soul of his own creed, in those days, was far other +than this indifference to Pot or Pan in such departments of inquiry. + +To me his sentiments for most part were lovable and admirable, though +in the logical outcome there was everywhere room for opposition. I +admired the temper, the longing towards antique heroism, in this young +man of the nineteenth century; but saw not how, except in some +German-English empire of the air, he was ever to realize it on those +terms. In fact, it became clear to me more and more that here was +nobleness of heart striving towards all nobleness; here was ardent +recognition of the worth of Christianity, for one thing; but no belief +in it at all, in my sense of the word belief,--no belief but one +definable as mere theoretic moonshine, which would never stand the +wind and weather of fact. Nay it struck me farther that Sterling's +was not intrinsically, nor had ever been in the highest or chief +degree, a devotional mind. Of course all excellence in man, and +worship as the supreme excellence, was part of the inheritance of this +gifted man: but if called to define him, I should say, Artist not +Saint was the real bent of his being. He had endless admiration, but +intrinsically rather a deficiency of reverence in comparison. Fear, +with its corollaries, on the religious side, he appeared to have none, +nor ever to have had any. + +In short, it was a strange enough symptom to me of the bewildered +condition of the world, to behold a man of this temper, and of this +veracity and nobleness, self-consecrated here, by free volition and +deliberate selection, to be a Christian Priest; and zealously +struggling to fancy himself such in very truth. Undoubtedly a +singular present fact;--from which, as from their point of +intersection, great perplexities and aberrations in the past, and +considerable confusions in the future might be seen ominously +radiating. Happily our friend, as I said, needed little hope. To-day +with its activities was always bright and rich to him. His +unmanageable, dislocated, devastated world, spiritual or economical, +lay all illuminated in living sunshine, making it almost beautiful to +his eyes, and gave him no hypochondria. A richer soul, in the way of +natural outfit for felicity, for joyful activity in this world, so far +as his strength would go, was nowhere to be met with. + + +The Letters which Mr. Hare has printed, Letters addressed, I imagine, +mostly to himself, in this and the following year or two, give record +of abundant changeful plannings and laborings, on the part of +Sterling; still chiefly in the theological department. Translation +from Tholuck, from Schleiermacher; treatise on this thing, then on +that, are on the anvil: it is a life of abstruse vague speculations, +singularly cheerful and hopeful withal, about Will, Morals, Jonathan +Edwards, Jewhood, Manhood, and of Books to be written on these topics. +Part of which adventurous vague plans, as the Translation from +Tholuck, he actually performed; other greater part, merging always +into wider undertakings, remained plan merely. I remember he talked +often about Tholuck, Schleiermacher, and others of that stamp; and +looked disappointed, though full of good nature, at my obstinate +indifference to them and their affairs. + +His knowledge of German Literature, very slight at this time, limited +itself altogether to writers on Church matters,--Evidences, +Counter-Evidences, Theologies and Rumors of Theologies; by the +Tholucks, Schleiermachers, Neanders, and I know not whom. Of the true +sovereign souls of that Literature, the Goethes, Richters, Schillers, +Lessings, he had as good as no knowledge; and of Goethe in particular +an obstinate misconception, with proper abhorrence appended,--which +did not abate for several years, nor quite abolish itself till a very +late period. Till, in a word, he got Goethe's works fairly read and +studied for himself! This was often enough the course with Sterling +in such cases. He had a most swift glance of recognition for the +worthy and for the unworthy; and was prone, in his ardent decisive +way, to put much faith in it. "Such a one is a worthless idol; not +excellent, only sham-excellent:" here, on this negative side +especially, you often had to admire how right he was;--often, but not +quite always. And he would maintain, with endless ingenuity, +confidence and persistence, his fallacious spectrum to be a real +image. However, it was sure to come all right in the end. Whatever +real excellence he might misknow, you had but to let it stand before +him, soliciting new examination from him: none surer than he to +recognize it at last, and to pay it all his dues, with the arrears and +interest on them. Goethe, who figures as some absurd high-stalking +hollow play-actor, or empty ornamental clock-case of an "Artist" +so-called, in the Tale of the _Onyx Ring_, was in the throne of +Sterling's intellectual world before all was done; and the theory of +"Goethe's want of feeling," want of &c. &c. appeared to him also +abundantly contemptible and forgettable. + +Sterling's days, during this time as always, were full of occupation, +cheerfully interesting to himself and others; though, the wrecks of +theology so encumbering him, little fruit on the positive side could +come of these labors. On the negative side they were productive; and +there also, so much of encumbrance requiring removal, before fruit +could grow, there was plenty of labor needed. He looked happy as well +as busy; roamed extensively among his friends, and loved to have them +about him,--chiefly old Cambridge comrades now settling into +occupations in the world;--and was felt by all friends, by myself as +by few, to be a welcome illumination in the dim whirl of things. A +man of altogether social and human ways; his address everywhere +pleasant and enlivening. A certain smile of thin but genuine +laughter, we might say, hung gracefully over all he said and +did;--expressing gracefully, according to the model of this epoch, the +stoical pococurantism which is required of the cultivated Englishman. +Such laughter in him was not deep, but neither was it false (as +lamentably happens often); and the cheerfulness it went to symbolize +was hearty and beautiful,--visible in the silent unsymbolized state in +a still gracefuler fashion. + +Of wit, so far as rapid lively intellect produces wit, he had plenty, +and did not abuse his endowment that way, being always fundamentally +serious in the purport of his speech: of what we call humor, he had +some, though little; nay of real sense for the ludicrous, in any form, +he had not much for a man of his vivacity; and you remarked that his +laugh was limited in compass, and of a clear but not rich quality. To +the like effect shone something, a kind of childlike half-embarrassed +shimmer of expression, on his fine vivid countenance; curiously +mingling with its ardors and audacities. A beautiful childlike soul! +He was naturally a favorite in conversation, especially with all who +had any funds for conversing: frank and direct, yet polite and +delicate withal,--though at times too he could crackle with his +dexterous petulancies, making the air all like needles round you; and +there was no end to his logic when you excited it; no end, unless in +some form of silence on your part. Elderly men of reputation I have +sometimes known offended by him: for he took a frank way in the +matter of talk; spoke freely out of him, freely listening to what +others spoke, with a kind of "hail fellow well met" feeling; and +carelessly measured a men much less by his reputed account in the bank +of wit, or in any other bank, than by what the man had to show for +himself in the shape of real spiritual cash on the occasion. But +withal there was ever a fine element of natural courtesy in Sterling; +his deliberate demeanor to acknowledged superiors was fine and +graceful; his apologies and the like, when in a fit of repentance he +felt commanded to apologize, were full of naivete, and very pretty and +ingenuous. + +His circle of friends was wide enough; chiefly men of his own +standing, old College friends many of them; some of whom have now +become universally known. Among whom the most important to him was +Frederic Maurice, who had not long before removed to the Chaplaincy of +Guy's Hospital here, and was still, as he had long been, his intimate +and counsellor. Their views and articulate opinions, I suppose, were +now fast beginning to diverge; and these went on diverging far enough: +but in their kindly union, in their perfect trustful familiarity, +precious to both parties, there never was the least break, but a +steady, equable and duly increasing current to the end. One of +Sterling's commonest expeditions, in this time, was a sally to the +other side of London Bridge: "Going to Guy's to-day." Maurice, in a +year or two, became Sterling's brother-in-law; wedded Mrs. Sterling's +younger sister,--a gentle excellent female soul; by whom the relation +was, in many ways, strengthened and beautified for Sterling and all +friends of the parties. With the Literary notabilities I think he had +no acquaintance; his thoughts indeed still tended rather towards a +certain class of the Clerical; but neither had he much to do with +these; for he was at no time the least of a tuft-hunter, but rather +had a marked natural indifference to _tufts_. + +The Rev. Mr. Dunn, a venerable and amiable Irish gentleman, +"distinguished," we were told, "by having refused a bishopric:" and +who was now living, in an opulent enough retirement, amid his books +and philosophies and friends, in London,--is memorable to me among +this clerical class: one of the mildest, beautifulest old men I have +ever seen,--"like Fenelon," Sterling said: his very face, with its +kind true smile, with its look of suffering cheerfulness and pious +wisdom, was a sort of benediction. It is of him that Sterling writes, +in the Extract which Mr. Hare, modestly reducing the name to an +initial "Mr. D.," has given us:[13] "Mr. Dunn, for instance; the +defect of whose Theology, compounded as it is of the doctrine of the +Greek Fathers, of the Mystics and of Ethical Philosophers, +consists,--if I may hint a fault in one whose holiness, meekness and +fervor would have made him the beloved disciple of him whom Jesus +loved,--in an insufficient apprehension of the reality and depth of +Sin." A characteristic "defect" of this fine gentle soul. On Mr. +Dunn's death, which occurred two or three years later, Stirling gave, +in some veiled yet transparent form, in _Blackwood's Magazine_, an +affectionate and eloquent notice of him; which, stript of the veil, +was excerpted into the Newspapers also.[14] + +Of Coleridge there was little said. Coleridge was now dead, not long +since; nor was his name henceforth much heard in Sterling's circle; +though on occasion, for a year or two to come, he would still assert +his transcendent admiration, especially if Maurice were by to help. +But he was getting into German, into various inquiries and sources of +knowledge new to him, and his admirations and notions on many things +were silently and rapidly modifying themselves. + +So, amid interesting human realities, and wide cloud-canopies of +uncertain speculation, which also had their interests and their +rainbow-colors to him, and could not fail in his life just now, did +Sterling pass his year and half at Bayswater. Such vaporous +speculations were inevitable for him at present; but it was to be +hoped they would subside by and by, and leave the sky clear. All this +was but the preliminary to whatever work might lie in him:--and, alas, +much other interruption lay between him and that. + +CHAPTER V. +TO MADEIRA. + +Sterling's dubieties as to continuing at Bordeaux were quickly +decided. The cholera in France, the cholera in Nice, the-- In fact +his moorings were now loose; and having been fairly at sea, he never +could anchor himself here again. Very shortly after this Letter, he +left Belsito again (for good, as it proved); and returned to England +with his household, there to consider what should next be done. + +On my return from Scotland, that year, perhaps late in September, I +remember finding him lodged straitly but cheerfully, and in happy +humor, in a little cottage on Blackheath; whither his Father one day +persuaded me to drive out with him for dinner. Our welcome, I can +still recollect, was conspicuously cordial; the place of dinner a kind +of upper room, half garret and full of books, which seemed to be +John's place of study. From a shelf, I remember also, the good soul +took down a book modestly enough bound in three volumes, lettered on +the back Carlyle's _French Revolution_, which had been published +lately; this he with friendly banter bade me look at as a first +symptom, small but significant, that the book was not to die all at +once. "One copy of it at least might hope to last the date of +sheep-leather," I admitted,--and in my then mood the little fact was +welcome. Our dinner, frank and happy on the part of Sterling, was +peppered with abundant jolly satire from his Father: before tea, I +took myself away; towards Woolwich, I remember, where probably there +was another call to make, and passage homeward by steamer: Sterling +strode along with me a good bit of road in the bright sunny evening, +full of lively friendly talk, and altogether kind and amiable; and +beautifully sympathetic with the loads he thought he saw on _me_, +forgetful of his own. We shook hands on the road near the foot of +Shooter's Hill:--at which point dim oblivious clouds rush down; and of +small or great I remember nothing more in my history or his for some +time. + +Besides running much about among friends, and holding counsels for the +management of the coming winter, Sterling was now considerably +occupied with Literature again; and indeed may be said to have already +definitely taken it up as the one practical pursuit left for him. +Some correspondence with _Blackwood's Magazine_ was opening itself, +under promising omens: now, and more and more henceforth, he began to +look on Literature as his real employment, after all; and was +prosecuting it with his accustomed loyalty and ardor. And he +continued ever afterwards, in spite of such fitful circumstances and +uncertain outward fluctuations as his were sure of being, to prosecute +it steadily with all the strength he had. + +One evening about this time, he came down to us, to Chelsea, most +likely by appointment and with stipulation for privacy; and read, for +our opinion, his Poem of the _Sexton's Daughter_, which we now first +heard of. The judgment in this house was friendly, but not the most +encouraging. We found the piece monotonous, cast in the mould of +Wordsworth, deficient in real human fervor or depth of melody, +dallying on the borders of the infantile and "goody-good;"--in fact, +involved still in the shadows of the surplice, and inculcating (on +hearsay mainly) a weak morality, which he would one day find not to be +moral at all, but in good part maudlin-hypocritical and immoral. As +indeed was to be said still of most of his performances, especially +the poetical; a sickly _shadow_ of the parish-church still hanging +over them, which he could by no means recognize for sickly. +_Imprimatur_ nevertheless was the concluding word,--with these grave +abatements, and rhadamanthine admonitions. To all which Sterling +listened seriously and in the mildest humor. His reading, it might +have been added, had much hurt the effect of the piece: a dreary +pulpit or even conventicle manner; that flattest moaning hoo-hoo of +predetermined pathos, with a kind of rocking canter introduced by way +of intonation, each stanza the exact fellow Of the other, and the dull +swing of the rocking-horse duly in each;--no reading could be more +unfavorable to Sterling's poetry than his own. Such a mode of +reading, and indeed generally in a man of such vivacity the total +absence of all gifts for play-acting or artistic mimicry in any kind, +was a noticeable point. + + +After much consultation, it was settled at last that Sterling should +go to Madeira for the winter. One gray dull autumn afternoon, towards +the middle of October, I remember walking with him to the eastern Dock +region, to see his ship, and how the final preparations in his own +little cabin were proceeding there. A dingy little ship, the deck +crowded with packages, and bustling sailors within eight-and-forty +hours of lifting anchor; a dingy chill smoky day, as I have said +withal, and a chaotic element and outlook, enough to make a friend's +heart sad. I admired the cheerful careless humor and brisk activity +of Sterling, who took the matter all on the sunny side, as he was wont +in such cases. We came home together in manifold talk: he accepted +with the due smile my last contribution to his sea-equipment, a +sixpenny box of German lucifers purchased on the sudden in St. James's +Street, fit to be offered with laughter or with tears or with both; he +was to leave for Portsmouth almost immediately, and there go on board. +Our next news was of his safe arrival in the temperate Isle. Mrs. +Sterling and the children were left at Knightsbridge; to pass this +winter with his Father and Mother. + + +At Madeira Sterling did well: improved in health; was busy with much +Literature; and fell in with society which he could reckon pleasant. +He was much delighted with the scenery of the place; found the climate +wholesome to him in a marked degree; and, with good news from home, +and kindly interests here abroad, passed no disagreeable winter in +that exile. There was talking, there was writing, there was hope of +better health; he rode almost daily, in cheerful busy humor, along +those fringed shore-roads:--beautiful leafy roads and horse-paths; +with here and there a wild cataract and bridge to look at; and always +with the soft sky overhead, the dead volcanic mountain on one hand, +and broad illimitable sea spread out on the other. Here are two +Letters which give reasonably good account of him:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 16th November, 1837. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have been writing a good many letters all in a +batch, to go by the same opportunity; and I am thoroughly weary of +writing the same things over and over again to different people. My +letter to you therefore, I fear, must have much of the character of +remainder-biscuit. But you will receive it as a proof that I do not +wish you to forget me, though it may be useless for any other purpose. + +"I reached this on the 2d, after a tolerably prosperous voyage, +deformed by some days of sea-sickness, but otherwise not to be +complained of. I liked my twenty fellow-passengers far better than I +expected;--three or four of them I like much, and continue to see +frequently. The Island too is better than I expected: so that my +Barataria at least does not disappoint me. The bold rough mountains, +with mist about their summits, verdure below, and a bright sun over +all, please me much; and I ride daily on the steep and narrow paved +roads, which no wheels ever journeyed on. The Town is clean, and +there its merits end: but I am comfortably lodged; with a large and +pleasant sitting-room to myself. I have met with much kindness; and +see all the society I want,--though it is not quite equal to that of +London, even excluding Chelsea. + +"I have got about me what Books I brought out; and have read a little, +and done some writing for _Blackwood_,--all, I have the pleasure to +inform you, prose, nay extremely prose. I shall now be more at +leisure; and hope to get more steadily to work; though I do not know +what I shall begin upon. As to reading, I have been looking at +_Goethe_, especially the _Life_,--much as a shying horse looks at a +post. In truth, I am afraid of him. I enjoy and admire him so much, +and feel I could so easily be tempted to go along with him. And yet I +have a deeply rooted and old persuasion that he was the most splendid +of anachronisms. A thoroughly, nay intensely Pagan Life, in an age +when it is men's duty to be Christian. I therefore never take him up +without a kind of inward check, as if I were trying some forbidden +spell; while, on the other hand, there is so infinitely much to be +learnt from him, and it is so needful to understand the world we live +in, and our own age, and especially its greatest minds, that I cannot +bring myself to burn my books as the converted Magicians did, or sink +them as did Prospero. There must, as I think, have been some +prodigious defect in his mind, to let him hold such views as his about +women and some other things; and in another respect, I find so much +coldness and hollowness as to the highest truths, and feel so strongly +that the Heaven he looks up to is but a vault of ice,--that these two +indications, leading to the same conclusion, go far to convince me he +was a profoundly immoral and irreligious spirit, with as rare +faculties of intelligence as ever belonged to any one. All this may +be mere _goody_ weakness and twaddle, on my part: but it is a +persuasion that I cannot escape from; though I should feel the doing +so to be a deliverance from a most painful load. If you could help +me, I heartily wish you would. I never take him up without high +admiration, or lay him down without real sorrow for what he chose to +be. + +"I have been reading nothing else that you would much care for. +Southey's _Amadis_ has amused me; and Lyell's _Geology_ interested me. +The latter gives one the same sort of bewildering view of the abysmal +extent of Time that Astronomy does of Space. I do not think I shall +take your advice as to learning Portuguese. It is said to be very ill +spoken here; and assuredly it is the most direful series of nasal +twangs I ever heard. One gets on quite well with English. + +"The people here are, I believe, in a very low condition; but they do +not appear miserable. I am told that the influence of the priests +makes the peasantry all Miguelites; but it is said that nobody wants +any more revolutions. There is no appearance of riot or crime; and +they are all extremely civil. I was much interested by learning that +Columbus once lived here, before he found America and fame. I have +been to see a deserted _quinta_ (country-house), where there is a +great deal of curious old sculpture, in relief, upon the masonry; many +of the figures, which are nearly as large as life, representing +soldiers clad and armed much as I should suppose those of Cortez were. +There are no buildings about the Town, of the smallest pretensions to +beauty or charm of any kind. On the whole, if Madeira were one's +world, life would certainly rather tend to stagnate; but as a +temporary refuge, a niche in an old ruin where one is sheltered from +the shower, it has great merit. I am more comfortable and contented +than I expected to be, so far from home and from everybody I am +closely connected with: but, of course, it is at best a tolerable +exile. + +"Tell Mrs. Carlyle that I have written, since I have been here, and am +going to send to _Blackwood_, a humble imitation of her _Watch and +Canary-Bird_, entitled _The Suit of Armor and the Skeleton_.[15] I am +conscious that I am far from having reached the depth and fulness of +despair and mockery which distinguish the original! But in truth +there is a lightness of tone about her style, which I hold to be +invaluable: where she makes hairstrokes, I make blotches. I have a +vehement suspicion that my Dialogue is an entire failure; but I cannot +be plagued with it any longer. Tell her I will not send her messages, +but will write to her soon.--Meanwhile I am affectionately hers and +yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +The next is to his Brother-in-law; and in a still hopefuler tone:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq._[16] + FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, 3d March, 1838. + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--I have often been thinking of you and your +whereabouts in Germany, and wishing I knew more about you; and at last +it occurred to me that you might perhaps have the same wish about me, +and that therefore I should do well to write to you. + +"I have been here exactly four months, having arrived on the 2d of +November,--my wedding-day; and though you perhaps may not think it a +compliment to Susan, I have seldom passed four months more cheerfully +and agreeably. I have of course felt my absence from my family, and +missed the society of my friends; for there is not a person here whom +I knew before I left England. But, on the whole, I have been in good +health, and actively employed. I have a good many agreeable and +valuable acquaintances, one or two of whom I hope I may hereafter +reckon as friends. The weather has generally been fine, and never +cold; and the scenery of the Island is of a beauty which you unhappy +Northern people can have little conception of. + +"It consists of a great mass of volcanic mountains, covered in their +lower parts with cottages, vines and patches of vegetables. When you +pass through, or over the central ridge, and get towards the North, +there are woods of trees, of the laurel kind, covering the wild steep +slopes, and forming some of the strangest and most beautiful prospects +I have ever seen. Towards the interior, the forms of the hills become +more abrupt, and loftier; and give the notion of very recent volcanic +disturbances, though in fact there has been nothing of the kind since +the discovery of the Island by Europeans. Among these mountains, the +dark deep precipices, and narrow ravines with small streams at the +bottom; the basaltic knobs and ridges on the summits; and the +perpetual play of mist and cloud around them, under this bright sun +and clear sky,--form landscapes which you would thoroughly enjoy, and +which I much wish I could give you a notion of. The Town is on the +south, and of course the sheltered side of the Island; perfectly +protected from the North and East; although we have seen sometimes +patches of bright snow on the dark peaks in the distance. It is a +neat cheerful place; all built of gray stone, but having many of the +houses colored white or red. There is not a really handsome building +in it, but there is a general aspect of comfort and solidity. The +shops are very poor. The English do not mix at all with the +Portuguese. The Bay is a very bad anchorage; but is wide, bright and +cheerful; and there are some picturesque points--one a small black +island--scattered about it. + +"I lived till a fortnight ago in lodgings, having two rooms, one a +very good one; and paying for everything fifty-six dollars a month, +the dollar being four shillings and twopence. This you will see is +dear; but I could make no better arrangement, for there is an unusual +affluence of strangers this year. I have now come to live with a +friend, a Dr. Calvert, in a small house of our own, where I am much +more comfortable, and live greatly cheaper. He is a friend of Mrs. +Percival's; about my age, an Oriel man, and a very superior person. I +think the chances are, we shall go home together.... I cannot tell +you of all the other people I have become familiar with; and shall +only mention in addition Bingham Baring, eldest son of Lord Ashburton, +who was here for some weeks on account of a dying brother, and whom I +saw a great deal of. He is a pleasant, very good-natured and rather +clever man; Conservative Member for North Staffordshire. + +"During the first two months I was here, I rode a great deal about the +Island, having a horse regularly; and was much in agreeable company, +seeing a great deal of beautiful scenery. Since then, the weather has +been much more unsettled, though not cold; and I have gone about less, +as I cannot risk the being wet. But I have spent my time pleasantly, +reading and writing. I have written a good many things for +_Blackwood_; one of which, the _Armor and the Skeleton_, I see is +printed in the February Number. I have just sent them a long Tale, +called the _Onyx Ring_, which cost me a good deal of trouble; and the +extravagance of which, I think, would amuse you; but its length may +prevent its appearance in _Blackwood_. If so, I think I should make a +volume of it. I have also written some poems, and shall probably +publish the _Sexton's Daughter_ when I return. + +"My health goes on most favorably. I have had no attack of the chest +this spring; which has not happened to me since the spring before we +went to Bonn; and I am told, if I take care, I may roll along for +years. But I have little hope of being allowed to spend the four +first months of any year in England; and the question will be, Whether +to go at once to Italy, by way of Germany and Switzerland, with my +family, or to settle with them in England, perhaps at Hastings, and go +abroad myself when it may be necessary. I cannot decide till I +return; but I think the latter the most probable. + +"To my dear Charles I do not like to use the ordinary forms of ending +a letter, for they are very inadequate to express my sense of your +long and most unvarying kindness; but be assured no one living could +say with more sincerity that he is ever affectionately yours, + + "JOHN STERLING." + +Other Letters give occasionally views of the shadier side of things: +dark broken weather, in the sky and in the mind; ugly clouds covering +one's poor fitful transitory prospect, for a time, as they might well +do in Sterling's case. Meanwhile we perceive his literary business is +fast developing itself; amid all his confusions, he is never idle +long. Some of his best Pieces--the Onyx _Ring_, for one, as we +perceive--were written here this winter. Out of the turbid whirlpool +of the days he strives assiduously to snatch what he can. + +Sterling's communications with _Blackwood's Magazine_ had now issued +in some open sanction of him by Professor Wilson, the distinguished +presiding spirit of that Periodical; a fact naturally of high +importance to him under the literary point of view. For Wilson, with +his clear flashing eye and great genial heart, had at once recognized +Sterling; and lavished stormily, in his wild generous way, torrents of +praise on him in the editorial comments: which undoubtedly was one of +the gratefulest literary baptisms, by fire or by water, that could +befall a soul like Sterling's. He bore it very gently, being indeed +past the age to have his head turned by anybody's praises: nor do I +think the exaggeration that was in these eulogies did him any ill +whatever; while surely their generous encouragement did him much good, +in his solitary struggle towards new activity under such impediments +as his. _Laudari a laudato_; to be called noble by one whom you and +the world recognize as noble: this great satisfaction, never perhaps +in such a degree before or after had now been vouchsafed to Sterling; +and was, as I compute, an important fact for him. He proceeded on his +pilgrimage with new energy, and felt more and more as if authentically +consecrated to the same. + +The _Onyx Ring_, a curious Tale, with wild improbable basis, but with +a noble glow of coloring and with other high merits in it, a Tale +still worth reading, in which, among the imaginary characters, various +friends of Sterling's are shadowed forth, not always in the truest +manner, came out in _Blackwood_ in the winter of this year. Surely a +very high talent for painting, both of scenery and persons, is visible +in this Fiction; the promise of a Novel such as we have few. But +there wants maturing, wants purifying of clear from unclear;--properly +there want patience and steady depth. The basis, as we said, is wild +and loose; and in the details, lucent often with fine color, and dipt +in beautiful sunshine, there are several things mis_seen_, untrue, +which is the worst species of mispainting. Witness, as Sterling +himself would have by and by admitted, the "empty clockcase" (so we +called it) which he has labelled Goethe,--which puts all other +untruths in the Piece to silence. + + +One of the great alleviations of his exile at Madeira he has already +celebrated to us: the pleasant circle of society he fell into there. +Great luck, thinks Sterling in this voyage; as indeed there was: but +he himself, moreover, was readier than most men to fall into pleasant +circles everywhere, being singularly prompt to make the most of any +circle. Some of his Madeira acquaintanceships were really good; and +one of them, if not more, ripened into comradeship and friendship for +him. He says, as we saw, "The chances are, Calvert and I will come +home together." + +Among the English in pursuit of health, or in flight from fatal +disease, that winter, was this Dr. Calvert; an excellent ingenious +cheery Cumberland gentleman, about Sterling's age, and in a deeper +stage of ailment, this not being his first visit to Madeira: he, +warmly joining himself to Sterling, as we have seen, was warmly +received by him; so that there soon grew a close and free intimacy +between them; which for the next three years, till poor Calvert ended +his course, was a leading element in the history of both. +Companionship in incurable malady, a touching bond of union, was by no +means purely or chiefly a companionship in misery in their case. The +sunniest inextinguishable cheerfulness shone, through all manner of +clouds, in both. Calvert had been travelling physician in some family +of rank, who had rewarded him with a pension, shielding his own +ill-health from one sad evil. Being hopelessly gone in pulmonary +disorder, he now moved about among friendly climates and places, +seeking what alleviation there might be; often spending his summers in +the house of a sister in the environs of London; an insatiable rider +on his little brown pony; always, wherever you might meet him, one of +the cheeriest of men. He had plenty of speculation too, clear glances +of all kinds into religious, social, moral concerns; and pleasantly +incited Sterling's outpourings on such subjects. He could report of +fashionable persons and manners, in a fine human Cumberland manner; +loved art, a great collector of drawings; he had endless help and +ingenuity; and was in short every way a very human, lovable, good and +nimble man,--the laughing blue eyes of him, the clear cheery soul of +him, still redolent of the fresh Northern breezes and transparent +Mountain streams. With this Calvert, Sterling formed a natural +intimacy; and they were to each other a great possession, mutually +enlivening many a dark day during the next three years. They did come +home together this spring; and subsequently made several of these +health-journeys in partnership. + + +CHAPTER VI. +LITERATURE: THE STERLING CLUB. + +In spite of these wanderings, Sterling's course in life, so far as his +poor life could have any course or aim beyond that of screening itself +from swift death, was getting more and more clear to him; and he +pursued it diligently, in the only way permitted him, by hasty +snatches, in the intervals of continual fluctuation, change of place +and other interruption. + +Such, once for all, were the conditions appointed him. And it must be +owned he had, with a most kindly temper, adjusted himself to these; +nay you would have said, he loved them; it was almost as if he would +have chosen them as the suitablest. Such an adaptation was there in +him of volition to necessity:--for indeed they both, if well seen +into, proceeded from one source. Sterling's bodily disease was the +expression, under physical conditions, of the too vehement life which, +under the moral, the intellectual and other aspects, incessantly +struggled within him. Too vehement;--which would have required a +frame of oak and iron to contain it: in a thin though most wiry body +of flesh and bone, it incessantly "wore holes," and so found outlet +for itself. He could take no rest, he had never learned that art; he +was, as we often reproached him, fatally incapable of sitting still. +Rapidity, as of pulsing auroras, as of dancing lightnings: rapidity +in all forms characterized him. This, which was his bane, in many +senses, being the real origin of his disorder, and of such continual +necessity to move and change,--was also his antidote, so far as +antidote there might be; enabling him to love change, and to snatch, +as few others could have done, from the waste chaotic years, all +tumbled into ruin by incessant change, what hours and minutes of +available turned up. He had an incredible facility of labor. He +flashed with most piercing glance into a subject; gathered it up into +organic utterability, with truly wonderful despatch, considering the +success and truth attained; and threw it on paper with a swift +felicity, ingenuity, brilliancy and general excellence, of which, +under such conditions of swiftness, I have never seen a parallel. +Essentially an _improviser_ genius; as his Father too was, and of +admirable completeness he too, though under a very different form. + +If Sterling has done little in Literature, we may ask, What other man +than he, in such circumstances, could have done anything? In virtue +of these rapid faculties, which otherwise cost him so dear, he has +built together, out of those wavering boiling quicksands of his few +later years, a result which may justly surprise us. There is actually +some result in those poor Two Volumes gathered from him, such as they +are; he that reads there will not wholly lose his time, nor rise with +a malison instead of a blessing on the writer. Here actually is a +real seer-glance, of some compass, into the world of our day; blessed +glance, once more, of an eye that is human; truer than one of a +thousand, and beautifully capable of making others see with it. I +have known considerable temporary reputations gained, considerable +piles of temporary guineas, with loud reviewing and the like to match, +on a far less basis than lies in those two volumes. Those also, I +expect, will be held in memory by the world, one way or other, till +the world has extracted all its benefit from them. Graceful, +ingenious and illuminative reading, of their sort, for all manner of +inquiring souls. A little verdant flowery island of poetic intellect, +of melodious human verity; sunlit island founded on the rocks;--which +the enormous circumambient continents of mown reed-grass and floating +lumber, with _their_ mountain-ranges of ejected stable-litter however +alpine, cannot by any means or chance submerge: nay, I expect, they +will not even quite hide it, this modest little island, from the +well-discerning; but will float past it towards the place appointed +for them, and leave said island standing. _Allah kereem_, say the +Arabs! And of the English also some still know that there is a, +difference in the material of mountains!-- + +As it is this last little result, the amount of his poor and +ever-interrupted literary labor, that henceforth forms the essential +history of Sterling, we need not dwell at too much length on the +foreign journeys, disanchorings, and nomadic vicissitudes of +household, which occupy his few remaining years, and which are only +the disastrous and accidental arena of this. He had now, excluding +his early and more deliberate residence in the West Indies, made two +flights abroad, once with his family, once without, in search of +health. He had two more, in rapid succession, to make, and many more +to meditate; and in the whole from Bayswater to the end, his family +made no fewer than five complete changes of abode, for his sake. But +these cannot be accepted as in any sense epochs in his life: the one +last epoch of his life was that of his internal change towards +Literature as his work in the world; and we need not linger much on +these, which are the mere outer accidents of that, and had no +distinguished influence in modifying that. + +Friends still hoped the unrest of that brilliant too rapid soul would +abate with years. Nay the doctors sometimes promised, on the physical +side, a like result; prophesying that, at forty-five or some mature +age, the stress of disease might quit the lungs, and direct itself to +other quarters of the system. But no such result was appointed for +us; neither forty-five itself, nor the ameliorations promised then, +were ever to be reached. Four voyages abroad, three of them without +his family, in flight from death; and at home, for a like reason, five +complete shiftings of abode: in such wandering manner, and not +otherwise, had Sterling to continue his pilgrimage till it ended. + +Once more I must say, his cheerfulness throughout was wonderful. A +certain grimmer shade, coming gradually over him, might perhaps be +noticed in the concluding years; not impatience properly, yet the +consciousness how much he needed patience; something more caustic in +his tone of wit, more trenchant and indignant occasionally in his tone +of speech: but at no moment was his activity bewildered or abated, +nor did his composure ever give way. No; both his activity and his +composure he bore with him, through all weathers, to the final close; +and on the whole, right manfully he walked his wild stern way towards +the goal, and like a Roman wrapt his mantle round him when he +fell.--Let us glance, with brevity, at what he saw and suffered in his +remaining pilgrimings and chargings; and count up what fractions of +spiritual fruit he realized to us from them. + + +Calvert and he returned from Madeira in the spring of 1838. Mrs. +Sterling and the family had lived in Knightsbridge with his Father's +people through the winter: they now changed to Blackheath, or +ultimately Hastings, and he with them, coming up to London pretty +often; uncertain what was to be done for next winter. Literature went +on briskly here: _Blackwood_ had from him, besides the _Onyx Ring_ +which soon came out with due honor, assiduous almost monthly +contributions in prose and verse. The series called _Hymns of a +Hermit_ was now going on; eloquent melodies, tainted to me with +something of the same disease as the _Sexton's Daughter_, though +perhaps in a less degree, considering that the strain was in a so much +higher pitch. Still better, in clear eloquent prose, the series of +detached thoughts, entitled _Crystals from a Cavern_; of which the set +of fragments, generally a little larger in compass, called _Thoughts +and Images_, and again those called _Sayings and Essayings_,[17] are +properly continuations. Add to which, his friend John Mill had now +charge of a Review, _The London and Westminster_ its name; wherein +Sterling's assistance, ardently desired, was freely afforded, with +satisfaction to both parties, in this and the following years. An +Essay on _Montaigne_, with the notes and reminiscences already spoken +of, was Sterling's first contribution here; then one on +_Simonides_:[18] both of the present season. + +On these and other businesses, slight or important, he was often +running up to London; and gave us almost the feeling of his being +resident among us. In order to meet the most or a good many of his +friends at once on such occasions, he now furthermore contrived the +scheme of a little Club, where monthly over a frugal dinner some +reunion might take place; that is, where friends of his, and withal +such friends of theirs as suited,--and in fine, where a small select +company definable as persons to whom it was pleasant to talk +together,--might have a little opportunity of talking. The scheme was +approved by the persons concerned: I have a copy of the Original +Regulations, probably drawn up by Sterling, a very solid lucid piece +of economics; and the List of the proposed Members, signed "James +Spedding, Secretary," and dated "8th August, 1838."[19] The Club grew; +was at first called the _Anonymous Club_; then, after some months of +success, in compliment to the founder who had now left us again, the +_Sterling Club_;--under which latter name, it once lately, for a time, +owing to the Religious Newspapers, became rather famous in the world! +In which strange circumstances the name was again altered, to suit +weak brethren; and the Club still subsists, in a sufficiently +flourishing though happily once more a private condition. That is the +origin and genesis of poor Sterling's Club; which, having honestly +paid the shot for itself at Will's Coffee-house or elsewhere, rashly +fancied its bits of affairs were quite settled; and once little +thought of getting into Books of History with them!-- + + +But now, Autumn approaching, Sterling had to quit Clubs, for matters +of sadder consideration. A new removal, what we call "his third +peregrinity," had to be decided on; and it was resolved that Rome +should be the goal of it, the journey to be done in company with +Calvert, whom also the Italian climate might be made to serve instead +of Madeira. One of the liveliest recollections I have, connected with +the _Anonymous Club_, is that of once escorting Sterling, after a +certain meeting there, which I had seen only towards the end, and now +remember nothing of,--except that, on breaking up, he proved to be +encumbered with a carpet-bag, and could not at once find a cab for +Knightsbridge. Some small bantering hereupon, during the instants of +embargo. But we carried his carpet-bag, slinging it on my stick, two +or three of us alternately, through dusty vacant streets, under the +gaslights and the stars, towards the surest cab-stand; still jesting, +or pretending to jest, he and we, not in the mirthfulest manner; and +had (I suppose) our own feelings about the poor Pilgrim, who was to go +on the morrow, and had hurried to meet us in this way, as the last +thing before leaving England. + + +CHAPTER VII. +ITALY. + +The journey to Italy was undertaken by advice of Sir James Clark, +reckoned the chief authority in pulmonary therapeutics; who prophesied +important improvements from it, and perhaps even the possibility +henceforth of living all the year in some English home. Mrs. Sterling +and the children continued in a house avowedly temporary, a furnished +house at Hastings, through the winter. The two friends had set off +for Belgium, while the due warmth was still in the air. They +traversed Belgium, looking well at pictures and such objects; ascended +the Rhine; rapidly traversed Switzerland and the Alps; issuing upon +Italy and Milan, with immense appetite for pictures, and time still to +gratify themselves in that pursuit, and be deliberate in their +approach to Rome. We will take this free-flowing sketch of their +passage over the Alps; written amid "the rocks of Arona,"--Santo +Borromeo's country, and poor little Mignon's! The "elder Perdonnets" +are opulent Lausanne people, to whose late son Sterling had been very +kind in Madeira the year before:-- + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "ARONA on the LAGO MAGGIORE, 8th Oct., 1838. + +"MY DEAR MOTHER,--I bring down the story of my proceedings to the +present time since the 29th of September. I think it must have been +after that day that I was at a great breakfast at the elder +Perdonnets', with whom I had declined to dine, not choosing to go out +at night.... I was taken by my hostess to see several pretty +pleasure-grounds and points of view in the neighborhood; and latterly +Calvert was better, and able to go with us. He was in force again, +and our passports were all settled so as to enable us to start on the +morning of the 2d, after taking leave of our kind entertainer with +thanks for her infinite kindness. + +"We reached St. Maurice early that evening; having had the Dent du +Midi close to us for several hours; glittering like the top of a +silver teapot, far up in the sky. Our course lay along the Valley of +the Rhone; which is considered one of the least beautiful parts of +Switzerland, and perhaps for this reason pleased us, as we had not +been prepared to expect much. We saw, before reaching the foot of the +Alpine pass at Brieg, two rather celebrated Waterfalls; the one the +Pissevache, which has no more beauty than any waterfall one hundred or +two hundred feet high must necessarily have: the other, near +Tourtemagne, is much more pleasing, having foliage round it, and being +in a secluded dell. If you buy a Swiss Waterfall, choose this one. + +"Our second day took us through Martigny to Sion, celebrated for its +picturesque towers upon detached hills, for its strong Romanism and +its population of _cretins_,--that is, maimed idiots having the +_goitre_. It looked to us a more thriving place than we expected. +They are building a great deal; among other things, a new Bishop's +Palace and a new Nunnery,--to inhabit either of which _ex officio_ I +feel myself very unsuitable. From Sion we came to Brieg; a little +village in a nook, close under an enormous mountain and glacier, where +it lies like a molehill, or something smaller, at the foot of a +haystack. Here also we slept; and the next day our voiturier, who had +brought us from Lausanne, started with us up the Simplon Pass; helped +on by two extra horses. + +"The beginning of the road was rather cheerful; having a good deal of +green pasturage, and some mountain villages; but it soon becomes +dreary and savage in aspect, and but for our bright sky and warm air, +would have been truly dismal. However, we gained gradually a distinct +and near view of several large glaciers; and reached at last the high +and melancholy valleys of the Upper Alps; where even the pines become +scanty, and no sound is heard but the wheels of one's carriage, except +when there happens to be a storm or an avalanche, neither of which +entertained us. There is, here and there, a small stream of water +pouring from the snow; but this is rather a monotonous accompaniment +to the general desolation than an interruption of it. The road itself +is certainly very good, and impresses one with a strong notion of +human power. But the common descriptions are much exaggerated; and +many of what the Guide-Books call 'galleries' are merely parts of the +road supported by a wall built against the rock, and have nothing like +a roof above them. The 'stupendous bridges,' as they are called, +might be packed, a dozen together, into one arch of London Bridge; and +they are seldom even very striking from the depth below. The roadway +is excellent, and kept in the best order. On the whole, I am very +glad to have travelled the most famous road in Europe, and to have had +delightful weather for doing so, as indeed we have had ever since we +left Lausanne. The Italian descent is greatly more remarkable than +the other side. + +"We slept near the top, at the Village of Simplon, in a very fair and +well-warmed inn, close to a mountain stream, which is one of the great +ornaments of this side of the road. We have here passed into a region +of granite, from that of limestone, and what is called gneiss. The +valleys are sharper and closer,--like cracks in a hard and solid +mass;--and there is much more of the startling contrast of light and +shade, as well as more angular boldness of outline; to all which the +more abundant waters add a fresh and vivacious interest. Looking back +through one of these abysmal gorges, one sees two torrents dashing +together, the precipice and ridge on one side, pitch-black with shade; +and that on the other all flaming gold; while behind rises, in a huge +cone, one of the glacier summits of the chain. The stream at one's +feet rushes at a leap some two hundred feet down, and is bordered with +pines and beeches, struggling through a ruined world of clefts and +boulders. I never saw anything so much resembling some of the +_Circles_ described by Dante. From Simplon we made for Duomo +d'Ossola; having broken out, as through the mouth of a mine, into +green and fertile valleys full of vines and chestnuts, and white +villages,--in short, into sunshine and Italy. + +"At this place we dismissed our Swiss voiturier, and took an Italian +one; who conveyed us to Omegna on the Lake of Orta; a place little +visited by English travellers, but which fully repaid us the trouble +of going there. We were lodged in a simple and even rude Italian inn; +where they cannot speak a word of French; where we occupied a +barn-like room, with a huge chimney fit to lodge a hundred ghosts, +whom we expelled by dint of a hot woodfire. There were two beds, and +as it happened good ones, in this strange old apartment; which was +adorned by pictures of Architecture, and by Heads of Saints, better +than many at the Royal Academy Exhibition, and which one paid nothing +for looking at. The thorough Italian character of the whole scene +amused us, much more than Meurice's at Paris would have done; for we +had voluble, commonplace good-humor, with the aspect and accessories +of a den of banditti. + +"To-day we have seen the Lake of Orta, have walked for some miles +among its vineyards and chestnuts; and thence have come, by Baveno, to +this place;--having seen by the way, I believe, the most beautiful +part of the Lago Maggiore, and certainly the most cheerful, complete +and extended example of fine scenery I have ever fallen in with. Here +we are, much to my wonder,--for it seems too good to be true,--fairly +in Italy; and as yet my journey has been a pleasanter and more +instructive, and in point of health a more successful one, than I at +all imagined possible. Calvert and I go on as well as can be. I let +him have his way about natural science, and he only laughs benignly +when he thinks me absurd in my moral speculations. My only regrets +are caused by my separation from my family and friends, and by the +hurry I have been living in, which has prevented me doing any +work,--and compelled me to write to you at a good deal faster rate +than the _vapore_ moves on the Lago Maggiore. It will take me +to-morrow to Sesto Calende, whence we go to Varese. We shall not be +at Milan for some days. Write thither, if you are kind enough to +write at all, till I give you another address. Love to my Father. + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Omitting Milan, Florence nearly all, and much about "Art," Michael +Angelo, and other aerial matters, here are some select terrestrial +glimpses, the fittest I can find, of his progress towards Rome:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Lucca, Nov. 27th_, 1838.--I had dreams, like other people, before I +came here, of what the Lombard Lakes must be; and the week I spent +among them has left me an image, not only more distinct, but far more +warm, shining and various, and more deeply attractive in innumerable +respects, than all I had before conceived of them. And so also it has +been with Florence; where I spent three weeks: enough for the first +hazy radiant dawn of sympathy to pass away; yet constantly adding an +increase of knowledge and of love, while I examined, and tried to +understand, the wonderful minds that have left behind them there such +abundant traces of their presence.... On Sunday, the day before I +left Florence, I went to the highest part of the Grand Duke's Garden +of Boboli, which commands a view of most of the City, and of the vale +of the Arno to the westward; where, as we had been visited by several +rainy days, and now at last had a very fine one, the whole prospect +was in its highest beauty. The mass of buildings, chiefly on the +other side of the River, is sufficient to fill the eye, without +perplexing the mind by vastness like that of London; and its name and +history, its outline and large and picturesque buildings, give it +grandeur of a higher order than that of mere multitudinous extent. +The Hills that border the Valley of the Arno are also very pleasing +and striking to look upon; and the view of the rich Plain, glimmering +away into blue distance, covered with an endless web of villages and +country-houses, is one of the most delightful images of human +well-being I have ever seen.... + +"Very shortly before leaving Florence, I went through the house of +Michael Angelo; which is still possessed by persons of the same +family, descendants, I believe, of his Nephew. There is in it his +'first work in marble,' as it is called; and a few drawings,--all with +the stamp of his enginery upon them, which was more powerful than all +the steam in London.... On the whole, though I have done no work in +Florence that can be of any use or pleasure to others, except my +Letters to my Wife,--I leave it with the certainty of much valuable +knowledge gained there, and with a most pleasant remembrance of the +busy and thoughtful days I owe to it. + + +"We left Florence before seven yesterday morning [26th November] for +this place; travelling on the northern side of the Arno, by Prato, +Pistoia, Pescia. We tried to see some old frescos in a Church at +Prato; but found the Priests all about, saying mass; and of course did +not venture to put our hands into a hive where the bees were buzzing +and on the wing. Pistoia we only coasted. A little on one side of +it, there is a Hill, the first on the road from Florence; which we +walked up, and had a very lively and brilliant prospect over the road +we had just travelled, and the town of Pistoia. Thence to this place +the whole land is beautiful, and in the highest degree prosperous,--in +short, to speak metaphorically, all dotted with Leghorn bonnets, and +streaming with olive-oil. The girls here are said to employ +themselves chiefly in platting straw, which is a profitable +employment; and the slightness and quiet of the work are said to be +much more favorable to beauty than the coarser kinds of labor +performed by the country-women elsewhere. Certain it is that I saw +more pretty women in Pescia, in the hour I spent there, than I ever +before met with among the same numbers of the 'phare sect.' +Wherefore, as a memorial of them, I bought there several Legends of +Female Saints and Martyrs, and of other Ladies quite the reverse, and +held up as warnings; all of which are written in _ottava rima_, and +sold for three halfpence apiece. But unhappily I have not yet had +time to read them. This Town has 30,000 inhabitants, and is +surrounded by Walls, laid out as walks, and evidently not at present +intended to be besieged,--for which reason, this morning, I merely +walked on them round the Town, and did not besiege them.... + +"The Cathedral [of Lucca] contains some Relics; which have undoubtedly +worked miracles on the imagination of the people hereabouts. The +Grandfather of all Relics (as the Arabs would say) in the place is the +_Volto Santo_, which is a Face of the Saviour appertaining to a wooden +Crucifix. Now you must know that, after the ascension of Christ, +Nicodemus was ordered by an Angel to carve an image of him; and went +accordingly with a hatchet, and cut down a cedar for that purpose. He +then proceeded to carve the figure; and being tired, fell asleep +before he had done the face; which however, on awaking, he found +completed by celestial aid. This image was brought to Lucca, from +Leghorn, I think, where it had arrived in a ship, 'more than a +thousand years ago,' and has ever since been kept, in purple and fine +linen and gold and diamonds, quietly working miracles. I saw the gilt +Shrine of it; and also a Hatchet which refused to cut off the head of +an innocent man, who had been condemned to death, and who prayed to +the _Volto Santo_. I suppose it is by way of economy (they being a +frugal people) that the Italians have their Book of Common Prayer and +their Arabian Nights' Entertainments condensed into one." + + _To the Same_. + +"_Pisa, December 2d_, 1838.--Pisa is very unfairly treated in all the +Books I have read. It seems to me a quiet, but very agreeable place; +with wide clean streets, and a look of stability and comfort; and I +admire the Cathedral and its appendages more, the more I see them. +The leaning of the Tower is to my eye decidedly unpleasant; but it is +a beautiful building nevertheless, and the view from the top is, under +a bright sky, remarkably lively and satisfactory. The Lucchese Hills +form a fine mass, and the sea must in clear weather be very distinct. +There was some haze over it when I was up, though the land was all +clear. I could just see the Leghorn Light-house. Leghorn itself I +shall not be able to visit.... + +"The quiet gracefulness of Italian life, and the mental maturity and +vigor of Germany, have a great charm when compared with the restless +whirl of England, and the chorus of mingled yells and groans sent up +by our parties and sects, and by the suffering and bewildered crowds +of the laboring people. Our politics make my heart ache, whenever I +think of them. The base selfish frenzies of factions seem to me, at +this distance, half diabolic; and I am out of the way of knowing +anything that may be quietly a-doing to elevate the standard of wise +and temperate manhood in the country, and to diffuse the means of +physical and moral well-being among all the people.... I will write +to my Father as soon as I can after reaching the capital of his friend +the Pope,--who, if he had happened to be born an English gentleman, +would no doubt by this time be a respectable old-gentlemanly gouty +member of the Carlton. I have often amused myself by thinking what a +mere accident it is that Phillpotts is not Archbishop of Tuam, and +M'Hale Bishop of Exeter; and how slight a change of dress, and of a +few catchwords, would even now enable them to fill those respective +posts with all the propriety and discretion they display in their +present positions." + + +At Rome he found the Crawfords, known to him long since; and at +different dates other English friends old and new; and was altogether +in the liveliest humor, no end to his activities and speculations. Of +all which, during the next four months, the Letters now before me give +abundant record,--far too abundant for our objects here. His grand +pursuit, as natural at Rome, was Art; into which metaphysical domain +we shall not follow him; preferring to pick out, here and there, +something of concrete and human. Of his interests, researches, +speculations and descriptions on this subject of Art, there is always +rather a superabundance, especially in the Italian Tour. +Unfortunately, in the hard weather, poor Calvert fell ill; and +Sterling, along with his Art-studies, distinguished himself as a +sick-nurse till his poor comrade got afoot again. His general +impressions of the scene and what it held for him may be read in the +following excerpts. The Letters are all dated _Rome_, and addressed +to his Father or Mother:-- + +"_December 21st_, 1838.--Of Rome itself, as a whole, there are +infinite things to be said, well worth saying; but I shall confine +myself to two remarks: first, that while the Monuments and works of +Art gain in wondrousness and significance by familiarity with them, +the actual life of Rome, the Papacy and its pride, lose; and though +one gets accustomed to Cardinals and Friars and Swiss Guards, and +ragged beggars and the finery of London and Paris, all rolling on +together, and sees how it is that they subsist in a sort of spurious +unity, one loses all tendency to idealize the Metropolis and System of +the Hierarchy into anything higher than a piece of showy +stage-declamation, at bottom, in our day, thoroughly mean and prosaic. +My other remark is, that Rome, seen from the tower of the Capitol, +from the Pincian or the Janiculum, is at this day one of the most +beautiful spectacles which eyes ever beheld. The company of great +domes rising from a mass of large and solid buildings, with a few +stone-pines and scattered edifices on the outskirts; the broken bare +Campagna all around; the Alban Hills not far, and the purple range of +Sabine Mountains in the distance with a cope of snow;--this seen in +the clear air, and the whole spiritualized by endless recollections, +and a sense of the grave and lofty reality of human existence which +has had this place for a main theatre, fills at once the eyes and +heart more forcibly, and to me delightfully, than I can find words to +say." + +"_January 22d_, 1839.--The Modern Rome, Pope and all inclusive, are a +shabby attempt at something adequate to fill the place of the old +Commonwealth. It is easy enough to live among them, and there is much +to amuse and even interest a spectator; but the native existence of +the place is now thin and hollow, and there is a stamp of littleness, +and childish poverty of taste, upon all the great Christian buildings +I have seen here,--not excepting St. Peter's; which is crammed with +bits of colored marble and gilding, and Gog-and-Magog colossal statues +of saints (looking prodigiously small), and mosaics from the worst +pictures in Rome; and has altogether, with most imposing size and +lavish splendor, a tang of Guildhall finery about it that contrasts +oddly with the melancholy vastness and simplicity of the Ancient +Monuments, though these have not the Athenian elegance. I recur +perpetually to the galleries of Sculpture in the Vatican, and to the +Frescos of Raffael and Michael Angelo, of inexhaustible beauty and +greatness, and to the general aspect of the City and the Country round +it, as the most impressive scene on earth. But the Modern City, with +its churches, palaces, priests and beggars, is far from sublime." + +Of about the same date, here is another paragraph worth inserting: +"Gladstone has three little agate crosses which he will give you for +my little girls. Calvert bought them, as a present, for 'the bodies,' +at Martigny in Switzerland, and I have had no earlier opportunity of +sending them. Will you despatch them to Hastings when you have an +opportunity? I have not yet seen Gladstone's _Church and State_; but +as there is a copy in Rome, I hope soon to lay hands on it. I saw +yesterday in the _Times_ a furious, and I am sorry to say, most absurd +attack on him and it, and the new Oxonian school." + +"_February 28th, 1839_.--There is among the people plenty of squalid +misery; though not nearly so much as, they say, exists in Ireland; and +here there is a certain freedom and freshness of manners, a dash of +Southern enjoyment in the condition of the meanest and most miserable. +There is, I suppose, as little as well can be of conscience or +artificial cultivation of any kind; but there is not the affectation +of a virtue which they do not possess, nor any feeling of being +despised for the want of it; and where life generally is so inert, +except as to its passions and material wants, there is not the bitter +consciousness of having been beaten by the more prosperous, in a race +which the greater number have never thought of running. Among the +laboring poor of Rome, a bribe will buy a crime; but if common work +procures enough for a day's food or idleness, ten times the sum will +not induce them to toil on, as an English workman would, for the sake +of rising in the world. Sixpence any day will put any of them at the +top of the only tree they care for,--that on which grows the fruit of +idleness. It is striking to see the way in which, in magnificent +churches, the most ragged beggars kneel on the pavement before some +favorite altar in the midst of well-dressed women and of gazing +foreigners. Or sometimes you will see one with a child come in from +the street where she has been begging, put herself in a corner, say a +prayer (probably for the success of her petitions), and then return to +beg again. There is wonderfully little of any moral strength +connected with this devotion; but still it is better than nothing, and +more than is often found among the men of the upper classes in Rome. +I believe the Clergy to be generally profligate, and the state of +domestic morals as bad as it has ever been represented."-- + +Or, in sudden contrast, take this other glance homeward; a Letter to +his eldest child; in which kind of Letters, more than in any other, +Sterling seems to me to excel. Readers recollect the hurricane in St. +Vincent; the hasty removal to a neighbor's house, and the birth of a +son there, soon after. The boy has grown to some articulation, during +these seven years; and his Father, from the new foreign scene of +Priests and Dilettanti, thus addresses him:-- + + "_To Master Edward C. Sterling, Hastings_. + "ROME, 21st January, 1839. + +"MY DEAR EDWARD,--I was very glad to receive your Letter, which showed +me that you have learned something since I left home. If you knew how +much pleasure it gave me to see your handwriting, I am sure you would +take pains to be able to write well, that you might often send me +letters, and tell me a great many things which I should like to know +about Mamma and your Sisters as well as yourself. + +"If I go to Vesuvius, I will try to carry away a bit of the lava, +which you wish for. There has lately been a great eruption, as it is +called, of that Mountain; which means a great breaking-out of hot +ashes and fire, and of melted stones which is called lava. + +"Miss Clark is very kind to take so much pains with you; and I trust +you will show that you are obliged to her, by paying attention to all +she tells you. When you see how much more grown people know than you, +you ought to be anxious to learn all you can from those who teach you; +and as there are so many wise and good things written in Books, you +ought to try to read early and carefully; that you may learn something +of what God has made you able to know. There are Libraries containing +very many thousands of Volumes; and all that is written in these +is,--accounts of some part or other of the World which God has made, +or of the Thoughts which he has enabled men to have in their minds. +Some Books are descriptions of the earth itself, with its rocks and +ground and water, and of the air and clouds, and the stars and moon +and sun, which shine so beautifully in the sky. Some tell you about +the things that grow upon the ground; the many millions of plants, +from little mosses and threads of grass up to great trees and forests. +Some also contain accounts of living things: flies, worms, fishes, +birds and four-legged beasts. And some, which are the most, are about +men and their thoughts and doings. These are the most important of +all; for men are the best and most wonderful creatures of God in the +world; being the only ones able to know him and love him, and to try +of their own accord to do his will. + +"These Books about men are also the most important to us, because we +ourselves are human beings, and may learn from such Books what we +ought to think and to do and to try to be. Some of them describe what +sort of people have lived in old times and in other countries. By +reading them, we know what is the difference between ourselves in +England now, and the famous nations which lived in former days. Such +were the Egyptians who built the Pyramids, which are the greatest +heaps of stone upon the face of the earth: and the Babylonians, who +had a city with huge walls, built of bricks, having writing on them +that no one in our time has been able to make out. There were also +the Jews, who were the only ancient people that knew how wonderful and +how good God is: and the Greeks, who were the wisest of all in +thinking about men's lives and hearts, and who knew best how to make +fine statues and buildings, and to write wise books. By Books also we +may learn what sort of people the old Romans were, whose chief city +was Rome, where I am now; and how brave and skilful they were in war; +and how well they could govern and teach many nations which they had +conquered. It is from Books, too, that you must learn what kind of +men were our Ancestors in the Northern part of Europe, who belonged to +the tribes that did the most towards pulling down the power of the +Romans: and you will see in the same way how Christianity was sent +among them by God, to make them wiser and more peaceful, and more +noble in their minds; and how all the nations that now are in Europe, +and especially the Italians and the Germans, and the French and the +English, came to be what they now are.--It is well worth knowing (and +it can be known only by reading) how the Germans found out the +Printing of Books, and what great changes this has made in the world. +And everybody in England ought to try to understand how the English +came to have their Parliaments and Laws; and to have fleets that sail +over all seas of the world. + +"Besides learning all these things, and a great many more about +different times and countries, you may learn from Books, what is the +truth of God's will, and what are the best and wisest thoughts, and +the most beautiful words; and how men are able to lead very right +lives, and to do a great deal to better the world. I have spent a +great part of my life in reading; and I hope you will come to like it +as much as I do, and to learn in this way all that I know. + +"But it is a still more serious matter that you should try to be +obedient and gentle; and to command your temper; and to think of other +people's pleasure rather than your own, and of what you _ought_ to do +rather than what you _like_. If you try to be better for all you +read, as well as wiser, you will find Books a great help towards +goodness as well as knowledge, and above all other Books, the Bible; +which tells us of the will of God, and of the love of Jesus Christ +towards God and men. + +"I had a Letter from Mamma to-day, which left Hastings on the 10th of +this month. I was very glad to find in it that you were all well and +happy; but I know Mamma is not well, and is likely to be more +uncomfortable every day for some time. So I hope you will all take +care to give her as little trouble as possible. After sending you so +much advice, I shall write a little Story to divert you.--I am, my +dear Boy, + + "Your affectionate Father, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The "Story" is lost, destroyed, as are many such which Sterling wrote, +with great felicity, I am told, and much to the satisfaction of the +young folk, when the humor took him. + +Besides these plentiful communications still left, I remember long +Letters, not now extant, principally addressed to his Wife, of which +we and the circle at Knightsbridge had due perusal, treating with +animated copiousness about all manner of picture-galleries, pictures, +statues and objects of Art at Rome, and on the road to Rome and from +it, wheresoever his course led him into neighborhood of such objects. +That was Sterling's habit. It is expected in this Nineteenth Century +that a man of culture shall understand and worship Art: among the +windy gospels addressed to our poor Century there are few louder than +this of Art;--and if the Century expects that every man shall do his +duty, surely Sterling was not the man to balk it! Various extracts +from these picture-surveys are given in Hare; the others, I suppose, +Sterling himself subsequently destroyed, not valuing them much. + +Certainly no stranger could address himself more eagerly to reap what +artistic harvest Rome offers, which is reckoned the peculiar produce +of Rome among cities under the sun; to all galleries, churches, +sistine chapels, ruins, coliseums, and artistic or dilettante shrines +he zealously pilgrimed; and had much to say then and afterwards, and +with real technical and historical knowledge I believe, about the +objects of devotion there. But it often struck me as a question, +Whether all this even to himself was not, more or less, a nebulous +kind of element; prescribed not by Nature and her verities, but by the +Century expecting every man to do his duty? Whether not perhaps, in +good part, temporary dilettante cloudland of our poor Century;--or can +it be the real diviner Pisgah height, and everlasting mount of vision, +for man's soul in any Century? And I think Sterling himself bent +towards a negative conclusion, in the course of years. Certainly, of +all subjects this was the one I cared least to hear even Sterling talk +of: indeed it is a subject on which earnest men, abhorrent of +hypocrisy and speech that has no meaning, are admonished to silence in +this sad time, and had better, in such a Babel as we have got into for +the present, "perambulate their picture-gallery with little or no +speech." + +Here is another and to me much more earnest kind of "Art," which +renders Rome unique among the cities of the world; of this we will, in +preference; take a glance through Sterling's eyes:-- + +"January 22d, 1839.--On Friday last there was a great Festival at St. +Peter's; the only one I have seen. The Church was decorated with +crimson hangings, and the choir fitted up with seats and galleries, +and a throne for the Pope. There were perhaps a couple of hundred +guards of different kinds; and three or four hundred English ladies, +and not so many foreign male spectators; so that the place looked +empty. The Cardinals in scarlet, and Monsignori in purple, were +there; and a body of officiating Clergy. The Pope was carried in in +his chair on men's shoulders, wearing the Triple Crown; which I have +thus actually seen: it is something like a gigantic Egg, and of the +same color, with three little bands of gold,--very large Egg-shell +with three streaks of the yolk smeared round it. He was dressed in +white silk robes, with gold trimmings. + +"It was a fine piece of state-show; though, as there are three or four +such Festivals yearly, of course there is none of the eager interest +which breaks out at coronations and similar rare events; no explosion +of unwonted velvets, jewels, carriages and footmen, such as London and +Milan have lately enjoyed. I guessed all the people in St. Peter's, +including performers and spectators, at 2,000; where 20,000 would +hardly have been a crushing crowd. Mass was performed, and a stupid +but short Latin sermon delivered by a lad, in honor of St. Peter, who +would have been much astonished if he could have heard it. The +genuflections, and train-bearings, and folding up the tails of silk +petticoats while the Pontiff knelt, and the train of Cardinals going +up to kiss his Ring, and so forth,--made on me the impression of +something immeasurably old and sepulchral, such as might suit the +Grand Lama's court, or the inside of an Egyptian Pyramid; or as if the +Hieroglyphics on one of the Obelisks here should begin to pace and +gesticulate, and nod their bestial heads upon the granite tablets. +The careless bystanders, the London ladies with their eye-glasses and +look of an Opera-box, the yawning young gentlemen of the _Guarda +Nobile_, and the laugh of one of the file of vermilion Priests round +the steps of the altar at the whispered good thing of his neighbor, +brought one back to nothing indeed of a very lofty kind, but still to +the Nineteenth Century."-- + +"At the great Benediction of the City and the World on Easter Sunday +by the Pope," he writes afterwards, "there was a large crowd both +native and foreign, hundreds of carriages, and thousands of the lower +orders of people from the country; but even of the poor hardly one in +twenty took off his hat, and a still smaller number knelt down. A few +years ago, not a head was covered, nor was there a knee which did not +bow."--A very decadent "Holiness of our Lord the Pope," it would +appear!-- + +Sterling's view of the Pope, as seen in these his gala days, doing his +big play-actorism under God's earnest sky, was much more substantial +to me than his studies in the picture-galleries. To Mr. Hare also he +writes: "I have seen the Pope in all his pomp at St. Peter's; and he +looked to me a mere lie in livery. The Romish Controversy is +doubtless a much more difficult one than the managers of the +Religious-Tract Society fancy, because it is a theoretical dispute; +and in dealing with notions and authorities, I can quite understand +how a mere student in a library, with no eye for facts, should take +either one side or other. But how any man with clear head and honest +heart, and capable of seeing realities, and distinguishing them from +scenic falsehoods, should, after living in a Romanist country, and +especially at Rome, be inclined to side with Leo against Luther, I +cannot understand."[20] + +It is fit surely to recognize with admiring joy any glimpse of the +Beautiful and the Eternal that is hung out for us, in color, in form +or tone, in canvas, stone, or atmospheric air, and made accessible by +any sense, in this world: but it is greatly fitter still (little as +we are used that way) to shudder in pity and abhorrence over the +scandalous tragedy, transcendent nadir of human ugliness and +contemptibility, which under the daring title of religious worship, +and practical recognition of the Highest God, daily and hourly +everywhere transacts itself there. And, alas, not there only, but +elsewhere, everywhere more or less; whereby our sense is so blunted to +it;--whence, in all provinces of human life, these tears!-- + +But let us take a glance at the Carnival, since we are here. The +Letters, as before, are addressed to Knightsbridge; the date _Rome_:-- + +"_February 5th_, 1839.--The Carnival began yesterday. It is a curious +example of the trifling things which will heartily amuse tens of +thousands of grown people, precisely because they are trifling, and +therefore a relief from serious business, cares and labors. The Corso +is a street about a mile long, and about as broad as Jermyn Street; +but bordered by much loftier houses, with many palaces and churches, +and has two or three small squares opening into it. Carriages, mostly +open, drove up and down it for two or three hours; and the contents +were shot at with handfuls of comfits from the windows,--in the hope +of making them as non-content as possible,--while they returned the +fire to the best of their inferior ability. The populace, among whom +was I, walked about; perhaps one in fifty were masked in character; +but there was little in the masquerade either of splendor of costume +or liveliness of mimicry. However, the whole scene was very gay; +there were a good many troops about, and some of them heavy dragoons, +who flourished their swords with the magnanimity of our Life-Guards, +to repel the encroachments of too ambitious little boys. Most of the +windows and balconies were hung with colored drapery; and there were +flags, trumpets, nosegays and flirtations of all shapes and sizes. +The best of all was, that there was laughter enough to have frightened +Cassius out of his thin carcass, could the lean old homicide have been +present, otherwise than as a fleshless ghost;--in which capacity I +thought I had a glimpse of him looking over the shoulder of a +particolored clown, in a carriage full of London Cockneys driving +towards the Capitol. This good-humored foolery will go on for several +days to come, ending always with the celebrated Horse-race, of horses +without riders. The long street is cleared in the centre by troops, +and half a dozen quadrupeds, ornamented like Grimaldi in a London +pantomime, scamper away, with the mob closing and roaring at their +heels." + +"_February_ 9th, 1839.--The usual state of Rome is quiet and sober. +One could almost fancy the actual generation held their breath, and +stole by on tiptoe, in presence of so memorable a past. But during +the Carnival all mankind, womankind and childkind think it unbecoming +not to play the fool. The modern donkey pokes its head out of the +lion's skin of old Rome, and brays out the absurdest of asinine +roundelays. Conceive twenty thousand grown people in a long street, +at the windows, on the footways, and in carriages, amused day after +day for several hours in pelting and being pelted with handfuls of +mock or real sugar-plums; and this no name or presence, but real +downright showers of plaster comfits, from which people guard their +eyes with meshes of wire. As sure as a carriage passes under a window +or balcony where are acquaintances of theirs, down comes a shower of +hail, ineffectually returned from below. The parties in two crossing +carriages similarly assault each other; and there are long balconies +hung the whole way with a deep canvas pocket full of this mortal shot. +One Russian Grand Duke goes with a troop of youngsters in a wagon, all +dressed in brown linen frocks and masked, and pelts among the most +furious, also being pelted. The children are of course preeminently +vigorous, and there is a considerable circulation of real sugar-plums, +which supply consolation for all disappointments." + +The whole to conclude, as is proper, with a display, with two +displays, of fireworks; in which art, as in some others, Rome is +unrivalled:-- + +"_February 9th_, 1839.--It seems to be the ambition of all the lower +classes to wear a mask and showy grotesque disguise of some kind; and +I believe many of the upper ranks do the same. They even put St. +Peter's into masquerade; and make it a Cathedral of Lamplight instead +of a stone one. Two evenings ago this feat was performed; and I was +able to see it from the rooms of a friend near this, which command an +excellent view of it. I never saw so beautiful an effect of +artificial light. The evening was perfectly serene and clear; the +principal lines of the building, the columns, architrave and pediment +of the front, the two inferior cupolas, the curves of the dome from +which the dome rises, the ribs of the dome itself, the small oriel +windows between them, and the lantern and ball and cross,--all were +delineated in the clear vault of air by lines of pale yellow fire. +The dome of another great Church, much nearer to the eye, stood up as +a great black mass,--a funereal contrast to the luminous tabernacle. + +"While I was looking at this latter, a red blaze burst from the +summit, and at the same moment seemed to flash over the whole +building, filling up the pale outline with a simultaneous burst of +fire. This is a celebrated display; and is done, I believe, by the +employment of a very great number of men to light, at the same +instant, the torches which are fixed for the purpose all over the +building. After the first glare of fire, I did not think the second +aspect of the building so beautiful as the first; it wanted both +softness and distinctness. The two most animated days of the Carnival +are still to come." + +"_April 4th_, 1839.--We have just come to the termination of all the +Easter spectacles here. On Sunday evening St. Peter's was a second +time illuminated; I was in the Piazza, and admired the sight from a +nearer point than when I had seen it before at the time of the +Carnival. + +"On Monday evening the celebrated fire-works were let off from the +Castle of St. Angelo; they were said to be, in some respects more +brilliant than usual. I certainly never saw any fireworks comparable +to them for beauty. The Girandola is a discharge of many thousands of +rockets at once, which of course fall back, like the leaves of a lily, +and form for a minute a very beautiful picture. There was also in +silvery light a very long Facade of a Palace, which looked a residence +for Oberon and Titania, and beat Aladdin's into darkness. Afterwards +a series of cascades of red fire poured down the faces of the Castle +and of the scaffoldings round it, and seemed a burning Niagara. Of +course there were abundance of serpents, wheels and cannon-shot; there +was also a display of dazzling white light, which made a strange +appearance on the houses, the river, the bridge, and the faces of the +multitude. The whole ended with a second and a more splendid +Girandola." + +Take finally, to people the scene a little for us, if our imagination +be at all lively, these three small entries, of different dates, and +so wind up:-- + +"_December 30th_, 1838.--I received on Christmas-day a packet from Dr. +Carlyle, containing Letters from the Maurices; which were a very +pleasant arrival. The Dr. wrote a few lines with them, mentioning +that he was only at Civita Vecchia while the steamer baited on its way +to Naples. I have written to thank him for his despatches." + +"_March 16th_, 1839.--I have seen a good deal of John Mill, whose +society I like much. He enters heartily into the interest of the +things which I most care for here, and I have seldom had more pleasure +than in taking him to see Raffael's Loggie, where are the Frescos +called his Bible, and to the Sixtine Chapel, which I admire and love +more and more. He is in very weak health, but as fresh and clear in +mind as possible.... English politics seem in a queer state, the +Conservatives creeping on, the Whigs losing ground; like combatants on +the top of a breach, while there is a social mine below which will +probably blow both parties into the air." + +"_April 4th_, 1839.--I walked out on Tuesday on the Ancona Road, and +about noon met a travelling carriage, which from a distance looked +very suspicious, and on nearer approach was found really to contain +Captain Sterling and an Albanian manservant on the front, and behind +under the hood Mrs. A. Sterling and the she portion of the tail. They +seemed very well; and, having turned the Albanian back to the rear of +the whole machine, I sat by Anthony, and entered Rome in +triumph."--Here is indeed a conquest! Captain A. Sterling, now on his +return from service in Corfu, meets his Brother in this manner; and +the remaining Roman days are of a brighter complexion. As these +suddenly ended, I believe he turned southward, and found at Naples the +Dr. Carlyle above mentioned (an extremely intimate acquaintance of +mine), who was still there. For we are a most travelling people, we +of this Island in this time; and, as the Prophet threatened, see +ourselves, in so many senses, made "like unto a wheel!"-- + +Sterling returned from Italy filled with much cheerful imagery and +reminiscence, and great store of artistic, serious, dilettante and +other speculation for the time; improved in health, too; but probably +little enriched in real culture or spiritual strength; and indeed not +permanently altered by his tour in any respect to a sensible extent, +that one could notice. He returned rather in haste, and before the +expected time; summoned, about the middle of April, by his Wife's +domestic situation at Hastings; who, poor lady, had been brought to +bed before her calculation, and had in few days lost her infant; and +now saw a household round her much needing the master's presence. He +hurried off to Malta, dreading the Alps at that season; and came home, +by steamer, with all speed, early in May, 1839. + + +PART III. + +CHAPTER I. +CLIFTON. + +Matters once readjusted at Hastings, it was thought Sterling's health +had so improved, and his activities towards Literature so developed +themselves into congruity, that a permanent English place of abode +might now again be selected,--on the Southwest coast somewhere,--and +the family once more have the blessing of a home, and see its _lares_ +and _penates_ and household furniture unlocked from the Pantechnicon +repositories, where they had so long been lying. + +Clifton, by Bristol, with its soft Southern winds and high cheerful +situation, recommended too by the presence of one or more valuable +acquaintances there, was found to be the eligible place; and thither +in this summer of 1839, having found a tolerable lodging, with the +prospect by and by of an agreeable house, he and his removed. This +was the end of what I call his "third peregrinity;"--or reckoning the +West Indies one, his fourth. This also is, since Bayswater, the +fourth time his family has had to shift on his account. Bayswater; +then to Bordeaux, to Blackheath and Knightsbridge (during the Madeira +time), to Hastings (Roman time); and now to Clifton, not to stay there +either: a sadly nomadic life to be prescribed to a civilized man! + + +At Clifton his habitation was speedily enough set up; household +conveniences, methods of work, daily promenades on foot or horseback, +and before long even a circle of friends, or of kindly neighborhoods +ripening into intimacy, were established round him. In all this no +man could be more expert or expeditious, in such cases. It was with +singular facility, in a loving, hoping manner, that he threw himself +open to the new interests and capabilities of the new place; snatched +out of it whatsoever of human or material would suit him; and in +brief, in all senses had pitched his tent-habitation, and grew to look +on it as a house. It was beautiful too, as well as pathetic. This +man saw himself reduced to be a dweller in tents, his house is but a +stone tent; and he can so kindly accommodate himself to that +arrangement;--healthy faculty and diseased necessity, nature and +habit, and all manner of things primary and secondary, original and +incidental, conspiring now to make it easy for him. With the evils of +nomadism, he participated to the full in whatever benefits lie in it +for a man. + +He had friends enough, old and new, at Clifton, whose intercourse made +the place human for him. Perhaps among the most valued of the former +sort may be mentioned Mrs. Edward Strachey, Widow of the late Indian +Judge, who now resided here; a cultivated, graceful, most devout and +high-minded lady; whom he had known in old years, first probably as +Charles Buller's Aunt, and whose esteem was constant for him, and +always precious to him. She was some ten or twelve years older than +he; she survived him some years, but is now also gone from us. Of new +friends acquired here, besides a skilful and ingenious Dr. Symonds, +physician as well as friend, the principal was Francis Newman, then +and still an ardently inquiring soul, of fine University and other +attainments, of sharp-cutting, restlessly advancing intellect, and the +mildest pious enthusiasm; whose worth, since better known to all the +world, Sterling highly estimated;--and indeed practically testified +the same; having by will appointed him, some years hence, guardian to +his eldest Son; which pious function Mr. Newman now successfully +discharges. + + +Sterling was not long in certainty as to his abode at Clifton: alas, +where could he long be so? Hardly six months were gone when his old +enemy again overtook him; again admonished him how frail his hopes of +permanency were. Each winter, it turned out, he had to fly; and after +the second of these, he quitted the place altogether. Here, +meanwhile, in a Letter to myself, and in Excerpts from others, are +some glimpses of his advent and first summer there:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Clifton, June 11th_, 1839.--As yet I am personally very +uncomfortable from the general confusion of this house, which deprives +me of my room to sit and read and write in; all being more or less +lumbered by boxes, and invaded by servile domesticities aproned, +handled, bristled, and of nondescript varieties. We have very fine +warm weather, with occasional showers; and the verdure of the woods +and fields is very beautiful. Bristol seems as busy as need be; and +the shops and all kinds of practical conveniences are excellent; but +those of Clifton have the usual sentimental, not to say meretricious +fraudulence of commercial establishments in Watering-places. + +"The bag which Hannah forgot reached us safely at Bath on Friday +morning; but I cannot quite unriddle the mystery of the change of +padlocks, for I left the right one in care of the Head Steam-engine at +Paddington, which seemed a very decent person with a good black coat +on, and a pen behind its ear. I have been meditating much on the +story of Palarea's 'box of papers;' which does not appear to be in my +possession, and I have a strong impression that I gave it to young +Florez Calderon. I will write to say so to Madam Torrijos speedily." +Palarea, Dr. Palarea, I understand, was "an old guerilla leader whom +they called _El Medico_." Of him and of the vanished shadows, now +gone to Paris, to Madrid, or out of the world, let us say nothing! + + _To Mr. Carlyle_. + +"_June 15th_, 1839.--We have a room now occupied by Robert Barton [a +brother-in-law]; to which Anthony may perhaps succeed; but which after +him, or in lieu of him, would expand itself to receive you. Is there +no hope of your coming? I would undertake to ride with you at all +possible paces, and in all existing directions. + +"As yet my books are lying as ghost books, in a limbo on the banks of +a certain Bristolian Styx, humanly speaking, a _Canal_; but the other +apparatus of life is gathered about me, and performs its diurnal +functions. The place pleases me better than I expected: a far +lookout on all sides, over green country; a sufficient old City lying +in the hollow near; and civilization, in no tumultuous state, rather +indeed stagnant, visible in the Rows of Houses and Gardens which call +themselves Clifton. I hope soon to take a lease of a house, where I +may arrange myself more methodically; keep myself equably boiling in +my own kitchen; and spread myself over a series of book-shelves.... I +have just been interrupted by a visit from Mrs. Strachey; with whom I +dined yesterday. She seems a very good and thoroughly kind-hearted +woman; and it is pleasant to have her for a neighbor.... I have read +Emerson's Pamphlets. I should find it more difficult than ever to +write to him." + + _To his Father_. + +"_June 30th_, 1839.--Of Books I shall have no lack, though no +plethora; and the Reading-room supplies all one can want in the way of +Papers and Reviews. I go there three or four times a week, and +inquire how the human race goes on. I suppose this Turco-Egyptian War +will throw several diplomatists into a state of great excitement, and +massacre a good many thousands of Africans and Asiatics?--For the +present, it appears, the English Education Question is settled. I +wish the Government had said that, in their inspection and +superintendence, they would look only to secular matters, and leave +religious ones to the persons who set up the schools, whoever these +might be. It seems to me monstrous that the State should be prevented +taking any efficient measures for teaching Roman Catholic children to +read, write and cipher, merely because they believe in the Pope, and +the Pope is an impostor,--which I candidly confess he is! There is no +question which I can so ill endure to see made a party one as that of +Education."--The following is of the same day:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "MANOR HOUSE, CLIFTON PLACE, CLIFTON, + "30th June, 1839. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I have heard, this morning, from my Father, that +you are to set out on Tuesday for Scotland: so I have determined to +fillip away some spurt of ink in your direction, which may reach you +before you move towards Thule. + +"Writing to you, in fact, is considerably easier than writing about +you; which has been my employment of late, at leisure moments,--that +is, moments of leisure from idleness, not work. As you partly +guessed, I took in hand a Review of _Teufelsdrockh_--for want of a +better Heuschrecke to do the work; and when I have been well enough, +and alert enough, during the last fortnight, have tried to set down +some notions about Tobacco, Radicalism, Christianity, Assafoetida and +so forth. But a few abortive pages are all the result as yet. If my +speculations should ever see daylight, they may chance to get you into +scrapes, but will certainly get me into worse.... But one must work; +_sic itur ad astra_,--and the _astra_ are always there to befriend +one, at least as asterisks, filling up the gaps which yawn in vain for +words. + +"Except my unsuccessful efforts to discuss you and your offences, I +have done nothing that leaves a trace behind;--unless the endeavor to +teach my little boy the Latin declensions shall be found, at some time +short of the Last Day, to have done so. I have--rather I think from +dyspepsia than dyspneumony--been often and for days disabled from +doing anything but read. In this way I have gone through a good deal +of Strauss's Book; which is exceedingly clever and clearheaded; with +more of insight, and less of destructive rage than I expected. It +will work deep and far, in such a time as ours. When so many minds +are distracted about the history, or rather genesis of the Gospel, it +is a great thing for partisans on the one side to have, what the other +never have wanted, a Book of which they can say, This is our Creed and +Code,--or rather Anti-creed and Anti-code. And Strauss seems +perfectly secure against the sort of answer to which Voltaire's +critical and historical shallowness perpetually exposed him. I mean +to read the Book through. It seems admitted that the orthodox +theologians have failed to give any sufficient answer.--I have also +looked through Michelet's _Luther_, with great delight; and have read +the fourth volume of Coleridge's _Literary Remains_, in which there +are things that would interest you. He has a great hankering after +Cromwell, and explicitly defends the execution of Charles. + +"Of Mrs. Strachey we have seen a great deal; and might have seen more, +had I had time and spirits for it. She is a warm-hearted, +enthusiastic creature, whom one cannot but like. She seems always +excited by the wish for more excitement than her life affords. And +such a person is always in danger of doing something less wise than +his best knowledge and aspirations; because he must do something, and +circumstances do not allow him to do what he desires. Thence, after +the first glow of novelty, endless self-tormenting comes from the +contrast between aims and acts. She sets out, with her daughter and +two boys, for a Tour in Wales to-morrow morning. Her talk of you is +always most affectionate; and few, I guess, will read _Sartor_ with +more interest than she. + +"I am still in a very extempore condition as to house, books, &c. One +which I have hired for three years will be given up to me in the +middle of August; and then I may hope to have something like a +house,--so far as that is possible for any one to whom Time itself is +often but a worse or a better kind of cave in the desert. We have had +rainy and cheerless weather almost since the day of our arrival. But +the sun now shines more lovingly, and the skies seem less disdainful +of man and his perplexities. The earth is green, abundant and +beautiful. But human life, so far as I can learn, is mean and meagre +enough in its purposes, however striking to the speculative or +sentimental bystander. Pray be assured that whatever you may say of +the 'landlord at Clifton,'[21] the more I know of him, the less I shall +like him. Well with me if I can put up with him for the present, and +make use of him, till at last I can joyfully turn him off forever! + +"Love to you Wife and self. My little Charlotte desires me to tell +you that she has new shoes for her Doll, which she will show you when +you come. + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The visit to Clifton never took effect; nor to any of Sterling's +subsequent homes; which now is matter of regret to me. Concerning the +"Review of _Teufelsdrockh_" there will be more to say anon. As to +"little Charlotte and her Doll," I remember well enough and was more +than once reminded, this bright little creature, on one of my first +visits to Bayswater, had earnestly applied to me to put her Doll's +shoes on for her; which feat was performed.--The next fragment +indicates a household settled, fallen into wholesome routine again; +and may close the series here:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_July 22d_, 1839.--A few evenings ago we went to Mr. Griffin's, and +met there Dr. Prichard, the author of a well-known Book on the _Races +of Mankind_, to which it stands in the same relation among English +books as the Racing Calendar does to those of Horsekind. He is a very +intelligent, accomplished person. We had also there the Dean; a +certain Dr. ---- of Corpus College, Cambridge (a booby); and a clever +fellow, a Mr. Fisher, one of the Tutors of Trinity in my days. We had +a very pleasant evening."-- + +At London we were in the habit of expecting Sterling pretty often; his +presence, in this house as in others, was looked for, once in the +month or two, and came always as sunshine in the gray weather to me +and mine. My daily walks with him had long since been cut short +without renewal; that walk to Eltham and Edgeworth's perhaps the last +of the kind he and I had: but our intimacy, deepening and widening +year after year, knew no interruption or abatement of increase; an +honest, frank and truly human mutual relation, valuable or even +invaluable to both parties, and a lasting loss, hardly to be replaced +in this world, to the survivor of the two. + +His visits, which were usually of two or three days, were always full +of business, rapid in movement as all his life was. To me, if +possible, he would come in the evening; a whole cornucopia of talk and +speculation was to be discharged. If the evening would not do, and my +affairs otherwise permitted, I had to mount into cabs with him; fly +far and wide, shuttling athwart the big Babel, wherever his calls and +pauses had to be. This was his way to husband time! Our talk, in +such straitened circumstances, was loud or low as the circumambient +groaning rage of wheels and sound prescribed,--very loud it had to be +in such thoroughfares as London Bridge and Cheapside; but except while +he was absent, off for minutes into some banker's office, lawyer's, +stationer's, haberdasher's or what office there might be, it never +paused. In this way extensive strange dialogues were carried on: to +me also very strange,--private friendly colloquies, on all manner of +rich subjects, held thus amid the chaotic roar of things. Sterling +was full of speculations, observations and bright sallies; vividly +awake to what was passing in the world; glanced pertinently with +victorious clearness, without spleen, though often enough with a dash +of mockery, into its Puseyisms, Liberalisms, literary Lionisms, or +what else the mad hour might be producing,--always prompt to recognize +what grain of sanity might be in the same. He was opulent in talk, +and the rapid movement and vicissitude on such occasions seemed to +give him new excitement. + +Once, I still remember,--it was some years before, probably in May, on +his return from Madeira,--he undertook a day's riding with me; once +and never again. We coursed extensively, over the Hampstead and +Highgate regions, and the country beyond, sauntering or galloping +through many leafy lanes and pleasant places, in ever-flowing, +ever-changing talk; and returned down Regent Street at nightfall: one +of the cheerfulest days I ever had;--not to be repeated, said the +Fates. Sterling was charming on such occasions: at once a child and +a gifted man. A serious fund of thought he always had, a serious +drift you never missed in him: nor indeed had he much depth of real +laughter or sense of the ludicrous, as I have elsewhere said; but what +he had was genuine, free and continual: his sparkling sallies bubbled +up as from aerated natural fountains; a mild dash of gayety was native +to the man, and had moulded his physiognomy in a very graceful way. +We got once into a cab, about Charing Cross; I know not now whence or +well whitherward, nor that our haste was at all special; however, the +cabman, sensible that his pace was slowish, took to whipping, with a +steady, passionless, businesslike assiduity which, though the horse +seemed lazy rather than weak, became afflictive; and I urged +remonstrance with the savage fellow: "Let him alone," answered +Sterling; "he is kindling the enthusiasm of his horse, you perceive; +that is the first thing, then we shall do very well!"--as accordingly +we did. + + +At Clifton, though his thoughts began to turn more on poetic forms of +composition, he was diligent in prose elaborations too,--doing +Criticism, for one thing, as we incidentally observed. He wrote +there, and sent forth in this autumn of 1839, his most important +contribution to John Mill's Review, the article on _Carlyle_, which +stands also in Mr. Hare's collection.[22] What its effect on the +public was I knew not, and know not; but remember well, and may here +be permitted to acknowledge, the deep silent joy, not of a weak or +ignoble nature, which it gave to myself in my then mood and situation; +as it well might. The first generous human recognition, expressed +with heroic emphasis, and clear conviction visible amid its fiery +exaggeration, that one's poor battle in this world is not quite a mad +and futile, that it is perhaps a worthy and manful one, which will +come to something yet: this fact is a memorable one in every history; +and for me Sterling, often enough the stiff gainsayer in our private +communings, was the doer of this. The thought burnt in me like a +lamp, for several days; lighting up into a kind of heroic splendor the +sad volcanic wrecks, abysses, and convulsions of said poor battle, and +secretly I was very grateful to my daring friend, and am still, and +ought to be. What the public might be thinking about him and his +audacities, and me in consequence, or whether it thought at all, I +never learned, or much heeded to learn. + +Sterling's gainsaying had given way on many points; but on others it +continued stiff as ever, as may be seen in that article; indeed he +fought Parthian-like in such cases, holding out his last position as +doggedly as the first: and to some of my notions he seemed to grow in +stubbornness of opposition, with the growing inevitability, and never +would surrender. Especially that doctrine of the "greatness and +fruitfulness of Silence," remained afflictive and incomprehensible: +"Silence?" he would say: "Yes, truly; if they give you leave to +proclaim silence by cannon-salvos! My Harpocrates-Stentor!" In like +manner, "Intellect and Virtue," how they are proportional, or are +indeed one gift in us, the same great summary of gifts; and again, +"Might and Right," the identity of these two, if a man will understand +this God's-Universe, and that only he who conforms to the law of it +can in the long-run have any "might:" all this, at the first blush, +often awakened Sterling's musketry upon me, and many volleys I have +had to stand,--the thing not being decidable by that kind of weapon or +strategy. + +In such cases your one method was to leave our friend in peace. By +small-arms practice no mortal could dislodge him: but if you were in +the right, the silent hours would work continually for you; and +Sterling, more certainly than any man, would and must at length swear +fealty to the right, and passionately adopt it, burying all +hostilities under foot. A more candid soul, once let the stormful +velocities of it expend themselves, was nowhere to be met with. A son +of light, if I have ever seen one; recognizing the truth, if truth +there were; hurling overboard his vanities, petulances, big and small +interests, in ready loyalty to truth: very beautiful; at once a loyal +child, as I said, and a gifted man!--Here is a very pertinent passage +from one of his Letters, which, though the name continues blank, I +will insert:-- + + _To his Father_. + +"_October 15th_, 1839.--As to my 'over-estimate of ----,' your +expressions rather puzzle me. I suppose there may be, at the outside, +a hundred persons in England whose opinions on such a matter are worth +as much as mine. If by 'the public' you and my Mother mean the other +ninety-nine, I submit. I have no doubt that, on any matter not +relating peculiarly to myself, the judgment of the ninety-nine most +philosophical heads in the country, if unanimous, would be right, and +mine, if opposed to them, wrong. But then I am at a loss to make out, +How the decision of the very few really competent persons has been +ascertained to be thus in contradiction to me? And on the other hand, +I conceive myself, from my opportunities, knowledge and attention to +the subject, to be alone quite entitled to outvote tens of thousands +of gentlemen, however much my superiors as men of business, men of the +world, or men of merely dry or merely frivolous literature. + +"I do not remember ever before to have heard the saying, whether of +Talleyrand or of any one else, That _all_ the world is a wiser man +than any man in the world. Had it been said even by the Devil, it +would nevertheless be false. I have often indeed heard the saying, +_On peut etre plus FIN qu'un autre, mais pas plus FIN que tous les +autres_. But observe that '_fin_' means _cunning_, not _wise_. The +difference between this assertion and the one you refer to is curious +and worth examining. It is quite certain, there is always some one +man in the world wiser than all the rest; as Socrates was declared by +the oracle to be; and as, I suppose, Bacon was in his day, and perhaps +Burke in his. There is also some one, whose opinion would be probably +true, if opposed to that of all around him; and it is always +indubitable that the wise men are the scores, and the unwise the +millions. The millions indeed come round, in the course of a +generation or two, to the opinions of the wise; but by that time a new +race of wise men have again shot ahead of their contemporaries: so it +has always been, and so, in the nature of things, it always must be. +But with cunning, the matter is quite different. Cunning is not +_dishonest wisdom_, which would be a contradiction in terms; it is +_dishonest prudence_, acuteness in practice, not in thought: and +though there must always be some one the most cunning in the world, as +well as some one the most wise, these two superlatives will fare very +differently in the world. In the case of cunning, the shrewdness of a +whole people, of a whole generation, may doubtless be combined against +that of the one, and so triumph over it; which was pretty much the +case with Napoleon. But although a man of the greatest cunning can +hardly conceal his designs and true character from millions of +unfriendly eyes, it is quite impossible thus to club the eyes of the +mind, and to constitute by the union of ten thousand follies an +equivalent for a single wisdom. A hundred school-boys can easily +unite and thrash their one master; but a hundred thousand school-boys +would not be nearer than a score to knowing as much Greek among them +as Bentley or Scaliger. To all which, I believe, you will assent as +readily as I;--and I have written it down only because I have nothing +more important to say."-- + + +Besides his prose labors, Sterling had by this time written, +publishing chiefly in _Blackwood_, a large assortment of verses, +_Sexton's Daughter_, _Hymns of a Hermit_, and I know not what other +extensive stock of pieces; concerning which he was now somewhat at a +loss as to his true course. He could write verses with astonishing +facility, in any given form of metre; and to various readers they +seemed excellent, and high judges had freely called them so, but he +himself had grave misgivings on that latter essential point. In fact +here once more was a parting of the ways, "Write in Poetry; write in +Prose?" upon which, before all else, it much concerned him to come to +a settlement. + +My own advice was, as it had always been, steady against Poetry; and +we had colloquies upon it, which must have tried his patience, for in +him there was a strong leaning the other way. But, as I remarked and +urged: Had he not already gained superior excellence in delivering, +by way of _speech_ or prose, what thoughts were in him, which is the +grand and only intrinsic function of a writing man, call him by what +title you will? Cultivate that superior excellence till it become a +perfect and superlative one. Why _sing_ your bits of thoughts, if you +_can_ contrive to speak them? By your thought, not by your mode of +delivering it, you must live or die.--Besides I had to observe there +was in Sterling intrinsically no depth of _tune_; which surely is the +real test of a Poet or Singer, as distinguished from a Speaker? In +music proper he had not the slightest ear; all music was mere +impertinent noise to him, nothing in it perceptible but the mere march +or time. Nor in his way of conception and utterance, in the verses he +wrote, was there any contradiction, but a constant confirmation to me, +of that fatal prognostic;--as indeed the whole man, in ear and heart +and tongue, is one; and he whose soul does not sing, need not try to +do it with his throat. Sterling's verses had a monotonous rub-a-dub, +instead of tune; no trace of music deeper than that of a well-beaten +drum; to which limited range of excellence the substance also +corresponded; being intrinsically always a rhymed and slightly +rhythmical _speech_, not a _song_. + +In short, all seemed to me to say, in his case: "You can speak with +supreme excellence; sing with considerable excellence you never can. +And the Age itself, does it not, beyond most ages, demand and require +clear speech; an Age incapable of being sung to, in any but a trivial +manner, till these convulsive agonies and wild revolutionary +overturnings readjust themselves? Intelligible word of command, not +musical psalmody and fiddling, is possible in this fell storm of +battle. Beyond all ages, our Age admonishes whatsoever thinking or +writing man it has: Oh, speak to me some wise intelligible speech; +your wise meaning in the shortest and clearest way; behold I am dying +for want of wise meaning, and insight into the devouring fact: speak, +if you have any wisdom! As to song so called, and your fiddling +talent,--even if you have one, much more if you have none,--we will +talk of that a couple of centuries hence, when things are calmer +again. Homer shall be thrice welcome; but only when Troy is _taken_: +alas, while the siege lasts, and battle's fury rages everywhere, what +can I do with the Homer? I want Achilleus and Odysseus, and am +enraged to see them trying to be Homers!"-- + +Sterling, who respected my sincerity, and always was amenable enough +to counsel, was doubtless much confused by such contradictory +diagnosis of his case. The question, Poetry or Prose? became more +and more pressing, more and more insoluble. He decided, at last, to +appeal to the public upon it;--got ready, in the late autumn, a small +select Volume of his verses; and was now busy pushing it through the +press. Unfortunately, in the mean while, a grave illness, of the old +pulmonary sort, overtook him, which at one time threatened to be +dangerous. This is a glance again into his interior household in +these circumstances:-- + + _To his Mother_. + +"_December 21st_, 1839.--The Tin box came quite safe, with all its +miscellaneous contents. I suppose we are to thank you for the _Comic +Almanac_, which, as usual, is very amusing; and for the Book on +_Watt_, which disappointed me. The scientific part is no doubt very +good, and particularly clear and simple; but there is nothing +remarkable in the account of Watt's character; and it is an absurd +piece of French impertinence in Arago to say, that England has not yet +learnt to appreciate men like Watt, because he was not made a peer; +which, were our peerage an institution like that of France, would have +been very proper. + +"I have now finished correcting the proofs of my little Volume of +Poems. It has been a great plague to me, and one that I would not +have incurred, had I expected to be laid up as I have been; but the +matter was begun before I had any notion of being disabled by such an +illness,--the severest I have suffered since I went to the West +Indies. The Book will, after all, be a botched business in many +respects; and I much doubt whether it will pay its expenses: but I +try to consider it as out of my hands, and not to fret myself about +it. I shall be very curious to see Carlyle's Tractate on _Chartism_; +which"--But we need not enter upon that. + +Sterling's little Book was printed at his own expense;[23] published by +Moxon in the very end of this year. It carries an appropriate and +pretty Epigraph:-- + + "Feeling, Thought, and Fancy be + Gentle sister Graces three: + If these prove averse to me, + They will punish,--pardon Ye!" + +He had dedicated the little Volume to Mr. Hare;--and he submitted very +patiently to the discouraging neglect with which it was received by +the world; for indeed the "Ye" said nothing audible, in the way of +pardon or other doom; so that whether the "sister Graces" were averse +or not, remained as doubtful as ever. + + +CHAPTER II. +TWO WINTERS. + +As we said above, it had been hoped by Sterling's friends, not very +confidently by himself, that in the gentler air of Clifton his health +might so far recover as to enable him to dispense with autumnal +voyages, and to spend the year all round in a house of his own. These +hopes, favorable while the warm season lasted, broke down when winter +came. In November of this same year, while his little Volume was +passing through the press, bad and worse symptoms, spitting of blood +to crown the sad list, reappeared; and Sterling had to equip himself +again, at this late season, for a new flight to Madeira; wherein the +good Calvert, himself suffering, and ready on all grounds for such an +adventure, offered to accompany him. Sterling went by land to +Falmouth, meaning there to wait for Calvert, who was to come by the +Madeira Packet, and there take him on board. + +Calvert and the Packet did arrive, in stormy January weather; which +continued wildly blowing for weeks; forbidding all egress Westward, +especially for invalids. These elemental tumults, and blustering wars +of sea and sky, with nothing but the misty solitude of Madeira in the +distance, formed a very discouraging outlook. In the mean while +Falmouth itself had offered so many resources, and seemed so tolerable +in climate and otherwise, while this wintry ocean looked so +inhospitable for invalids, it was resolved our voyagers should stay +where they were till spring returned. Which accordingly was done; +with good effect for that season, and also with results for the coming +seasons. Here again, from Letters to Knightsbridge, are some glimpses +of his winter-life:-- + +"_Falmouth, February 5th_, 1840.--I have been to-day to see a new +tin-mine, two or three miles off, which is expected to turn into a +copper-mine by and by, so they will have the two constituents of +bronze close together. This, by the way, was the 'brass' of Homer and +the Ancients generally, who do not seem to have known our brass made +of copper and zinc. Achilles in his armor must have looked like a +bronze statue.--I took Sheridan's advice, and did not go down the +mine." + +"_February 15th_.--To some iron-works the other day; where I saw half +the beam of a great steam-engine, a piece of iron forty feet long and +seven broad, cast in about five minutes. It was a very striking +spectacle. I hope to go to Penzance before I leave this country, and +will not fail to tell you about it." He did make trial of Penzance, +among other places, next year; but only of Falmouth this. + +"_February 20th_.--I am going on _asy_ here, in spite of a great +change of weather. The East-winds are come at last, bringing with +them snow, which has been driving about for the last twenty-four +hours; not falling heavily, nor lying long when fallen. Neither is it +as yet very cold, but I suppose there will be some six weeks of +unpleasant temperature. The marine climate of this part of England +will, no doubt, modify and mollify the air into a happier sort of +substance than that you breathe in London. + +"The large vessels that had been lying here for weeks, waiting for a +wind, have now sailed; two of them for the East Indies, and having +three hundred soldiers on board. It is a curious thing that the +long-continued westerly winds had so prevented the coasters arriving, +that the Town was almost on the point of a famine as to bread. The +change has brought in abundance of flour.--The people in general seem +extremely comfortable; their houses are excellent, almost all of +stone. Their habits are very little agricultural, but mining and +fishing seem to prosper with them. There are hardly any gentry here; +I have not seen more than two gentlemen's carriages in the Town; +indeed I think the nearest one comes from five miles off.... + +"I have been obliged to try to occupy myself with Natural Science, in +order to give some interest to my walks; and have begun to feel my way +in Geology. I have now learnt to recognize three or four of the +common kinds of stone about here, when I see them; but I find it +stupid work compared with Poetry and Philosophy. In the mornings, +however, for an hour or so before I get up, I generally light my +candle, and try to write some verses; and since I have been here, I +have put together short poems, almost enough for another small volume. +In the evenings I have gone on translating some of Goethe. But six or +seven hours spent on my legs, in the open air, do not leave my brain +much energy for thinking. Thus my life is a dull and unprofitable +one, but still better than it would have been in Madeira or on board +ship. I hear from Susan every day, and write to her by return of +post." + +At Falmouth Sterling had been warmly welcomed by the well-known Quaker +family of the Foxes, principal people in that place, persons of +cultivated opulent habits, and joining to the fine purities and +pieties of their sect a reverence for human intelligence in all kinds; +to whom such a visitor as Sterling was naturally a welcome windfall. +The family had grave elders, bright cheery younger branches, men and +women; truly amiable all, after their sort: they made a pleasant +image of home for Sterling in his winter exile. "Most worthy, +respectable and highly cultivated people, with a great deal of money +among them," writes Sterling in the end of February; "who make the +place pleasant to me. They are connected with all the large Quaker +circle, the Gurneys, Frys, &c., and also with Buxton the Abolitionist. +It is droll to hear them talking of all the common topics of science, +literature, and life, and in the midst of it: 'Does thou know +Wordsworth?' or, 'Did thou see the Coronation?' or 'Will thou take +some refreshment?' They are very kind and pleasant people to know." + +"Calvert," continues our Diarist, "is better than he lately was, +though he has not been at all laid up. He shoots little birds, and +dissects and stuffs them; while I carry a hammer, and break flints and +slates, to look for diamonds and rubies inside; and admire my success +in the evening, when I empty my great-coat pocket of its specimens. +On the whole, I doubt whether my physical proceedings will set the +Thames on fire. Give my love to Anthony's Charlotte; also remember me +affectionately to the Carlyles."-- + +At this time, too, John Mill, probably encouraged by Sterling, arrived +in Falmouth, seeking refuge of climate for a sickly younger Brother, +to whom also, while he continued there, and to his poor patient, the +doors and hearts of this kind family were thrown wide open. Falmouth, +during these winter weeks, especially while Mill continued, was an +unexpectedly engaging place to Sterling; and he left it in spring, for +Clifton, with a very kindly image of it in his thoughts. So ended, +better than it might have done, his first year's flight from the +Clifton winter. + +In April, 1840, he was at his own hearth again; cheerily pursuing his +old labors,--struggling to redeem, as he did with a gallant constancy, +the available months and days, out of the wreck of so many that were +unavailable, for the business allotted him in this world. His swift, +decisive energy of character; the valiant rally he made again and ever +again, starting up fresh from amid the wounded, and cheerily storming +in anew, was admirable, and showed a noble fund of natural health amid +such an element of disease. Somehow one could never rightly fancy +that he was diseased; that those fatal ever-recurring downbreaks were +not almost rather the penalties paid for exuberance of health, and of +faculty for living and working; criminal forfeitures, incurred by +excess of self-exertion and such irrepressible over-rapidity of +movement: and the vague hope was habitual with us, that increase of +years, as it deadened this over-energy, would first make the man +secure of life, and a sober prosperous worker among his fellows. It +was always as if with a kind of blame that one heard of his being ill +again! Poor Sterling;--no man knows another's burden: these things +were not, and were not to be, in the way we had fancied them! + +Summer went along in its usual quiet tenor at Clifton; health good, as +usual while the warm weather lasted, and activity abundant; the scene +as still as the busiest could wish. "You metropolitan signors," +writes Sterling to his Father, "cannot conceive the dulness and +scantiness of our provincial chronicle." Here is a little excursion +to the seaside; the lady of the family being again,--for good +reasons,--in a weakly state:-- + + "_To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London_. + "PORTSHEAD, BRISTOL, 1st Sept., 1840. + +"MY DEAR FATHER,--This place is a southern headland at the mouth of +the Avon. Susan, and the Children too, were all suffering from +languor; and as she is quite unfit to travel in a carriage, we were +obliged to move, if at all, to some place accessible by water; and +this is the nearest where we could get the fresher air of the Bristol +Channel. We sent to take a house, for a week; and came down here in a +steamer yesterday morning. It seems likely to do every one good. We +have a comfortable house, with eight rather small bedrooms, for which +we pay four guineas and a half for the week. We have brought three of +our own maids, and leave one to take care of the house at Clifton. + +"A week ago my horse fell with me, but did not hurt seriously either +himself or me: it was, however, rather hard that, as there were six +legs to be damaged, the one that did scratch itself should belong to +the part of the machine possessing only two, instead of the +quadrupedal portion. I grazed about the size of a halfpenny on my +left knee; and for a couple of days walked about as if nothing had +happened. I found, however, that the skin was not returning +correctly; and so sent for a doctor: he treated the thing as quite +insignificant, but said I must keep my leg quiet for a few days. It +is still not quite healed; and I lie all day on a sofa, much to my +discomposure; but the thing is now rapidly disappearing; and I hope, +in a day or two more, I shall be free again. I find I can do no work, +while thus crippled in my leg. The man in Horace who made verses +_stans pede in uno_ had the advantage of me. + +"The Great Western came in last night about eleven, and has just been +making a flourish past our windows; looking very grand, with four +streamers of bunting, and one of smoke. Of course I do not yet know +whether I have Letters by her, as if so they will have gone to Clifton +first. This place is quiet, green and pleasant; and will suit us very +well, if we have good weather, of which there seems every appearance. + +"Milnes spent last Sunday with me at Clifton; and was very amusing and +cordial. It is impossible for those who know him well not to like +him.--I send this to Knightsbridge, not knowing where else to hit you. +Love to my Mother. + + "Your affectionate, + "JOHN STERLING." + +The expected "Letters by the Great Western" are from Anthony, now in +Canada, doing military duties there. The "Milnes" is our excellent +Richard, whom all men know, and truly whom none can know well without +even doing as Sterling says.--In a week the family had returned to +Clifton; and Sterling was at his poetizings and equitations again. +His grand business was now Poetry; all effort, outlook and aim +exclusively directed thither, this good while. + +Of the published Volume Moxon gave the worst tidings; no man had +hailed it with welcome; unsold it lay, under the leaden seal of +general neglect; the public when asked what it thought, had answered +hitherto by a lazy stare. It shall answer otherwise, thought +Sterling; by no means taking that as the final response. It was in +this same September that he announced to me and other friends, under +seal of secrecy as usual, the completion, or complete first-draught, +of "a new Poem reaching to two thousand verses." By working "three +hours every morning" he had brought it so far. This Piece, entitled +_The Election_, of which in due time we obtained perusal, and had to +give some judgment, proved to be in a new vein,--what might be called +the mock-heroic, or sentimental Hudibrastic, reminding one a little, +too, of Wieland's _Oberon_;--it had touches of true drollery combined +not ill with grave clear insight; showed spirit everywhere, and a +plainly improved power of execution. Our stingy verdict was to the +effect, "Better, but still not good enough:--why follow that sad +'metrical' course, climbing the loose sandhills, when you have a firm +path along the plain?" To Sterling himself it remained dubious +whether so slight a strain, new though it were, would suffice to +awaken the sleeping public; and the Piece was thrown away and taken up +again, at intervals; and the question, Publish or not publish? lay +many months undecided. + +Meanwhile his own feeling was now set more and more towards Poetry; +and in spite of symptoms and dissuasions, and perverse prognostics of +outward wind and weather, he was rallying all his force for a +downright struggle with it; resolute to see which _was_ the stronger. +It must be owned, he takes his failures in the kindliest manner; and +goes along, bating no jot of heart or hope. Perhaps I should have +more admired this than I did! My dissuasions, in that case, might +have been fainter. But then my sincerity, which was all the use of my +poor counsel in assent or dissent, would have been less. He was now +furthermore busy with a _Tragedy of Strafford_, the theme of many +failures in Tragedy; planning it industriously in his head; eagerly +reading in _Whitlocke, Rushworth_ and the Puritan Books, to attain a +vesture and local habitation for it. Faithful assiduous studies I do +believe;--of which, knowing my stubborn realism, and savage humor +towards singing by the Thespian or other methods, he told me little, +during his visits that summer. + + +The advance of the dark weather sent him adrift again; to Torquay, for +this winter: there, in his old Falmouth climate, he hoped to do +well;--and did, so far as well-doing was readily possible, in that sad +wandering way of life. However, be where he may, he tries to work +"two or three hours in the morning," were it even "with a lamp," in +bed, before the fires are lit; and so makes something of it. From +abundant Letters of his now before me, I glean these two or three +small glimpses; sufficient for our purpose at present. The general +date is "Tor, near Torquay:"-- + + _To Mrs. Charles Fox, Falmouth_. + +_Tor, November 30th_, 1840.--I reached this place on Thursday; having, +after much hesitation, resolved to come here, at least for the next +three weeks,--with some obscure purpose of embarking, at the New Year, +from Falmouth for Malta, and so reaching Naples, which I have not +seen. There was also a doubt whether I should not, after Christmas, +bring my family here for the first four months of the year. All this, +however, is still doubtful. But for certain inhabitants of Falmouth +and its neighborhood, this place would be far more attractive than it. +But I have here also friends, whose kindness, like much that I met +with last winter, perpetually makes me wonder at the stock of +benignity in human nature. A brother of my friend Julius Hare, Marcus +by name, a Naval man, and though not a man of letters, full of sense +and knowledge, lives here in a beautiful place, with a most agreeable +and excellent wife, a daughter of Lord Stanley of Alderley. I had +hardly seen them before; but they are fraternizing with me, in a much +better than the Jacobin fashion; and one only feels ashamed at the +enormity of some people's good-nature. I am in a little rural sort of +lodging; and as comfortable as a solitary oyster can expect to be."-- + + _To C. Barton_. + +"_December 5th_.--This place is extremely small, much more so than +Falmouth even; but pretty, cheerful, and very mild in climate. There +are a great many villas in and about the little Town, having three or +four reception-rooms, eight or ten bedrooms; and costing about fifteen +hundred or two thousand pounds each, and occupied by persons spending +a thousand or more pounds a year. If the Country would acknowledge my +merits by the gift of one of these, I could prevail on myself to come +and live here; which would be the best move for my health I could make +in England; but, in the absence of any such expression of public +feeling, it would come rather dear."-- + + _To Mrs. Fox again_. + +"_December 22d_.--By the way, did you ever read a Novel? If you ever +mean to do so hereafter, let it be Miss Martineau's _Deerbrook_. It +is really very striking; and parts of it are very true and very +beautiful. It is not so true, or so thoroughly clear and harmonious, +among delineations of English middle-class gentility, as Miss Austen's +books, especially as _Pride and Prejudice_, which I think exquisite; +but it is worth reading. _The hour and the Man_ is eloquent, but an +absurd exaggeration.--I hold out so valorously against this +Scandinavian weather, that I deserve to be ranked with Odin and Thor; +and fancy I may go to live at Clifton or Drontheim. Have you had the +same icy desolation as prevails here?" + + _To W. Coningham, Esq_. + +"_December 28th_.--Looking back to him [a deceased Uncle, father of +his correspondent], as I now very often do, I feel strongly, what the +loss of other friends has also impressed on me, how much Death deepens +our affection; and sharpens our regret for whatever has been even +slightly amiss in our conduct towards those who are gone. What +trifles then swell into painful importance; how we believe that, could +the past be recalled, life would present no worthier, happier task, +than that of so bearing ourselves towards those we love, that we might +ever after find nothing but melodious tranquillity breathing about +their graves! Yet, too often, I feel the difficulty of always +practicing such mild wisdom towards those who are still left me.--You +will wonder less at my rambling off in this way, when I tell you that +my little lodging is close to a picturesque old Church and Churchyard, +where, every day, I brush past a tombstone, recording that an Italian, +of Manferrato, has buried there a girl of sixteen, his only daughter: +_'L' unica speranza di mia vita_.'--No doubt, as you say, our +Mechanical Age is necessary as a passage to something better; but, at +least, do not let us go back."-- + +At the New-year time, feeling unusually well, he returns to Clifton. +His plans, of course, were ever fluctuating; his movements were swift +and uncertain. Alas, his whole life, especially his winter-life, had +to be built as if on wavering drift-sand; nothing certain in it, +except if possible the "two or three hours of work" snatched from the +general whirlpool of the dubious four-and-twenty! + + _To Dr. Carlyle_. + +"_Clifton, January 10th_, 1841.--I stood the sharp frost at Torquay +with such entire impunity, that at last I took courage, and resolved +to return home. I have been here a week, in extreme cold; and have +suffered not at all; so that I hope, with care I may prosper in spite +of medical prognostics,--if you permit such profane language. I am +even able to work a good deal; and write for some hours every morning, +by dint of getting up early, which an Arnott stove in my study enables +me to do."--But at Clifton he cannot continue. Again, before long, +the rude weather has driven him Southward; the spring finds him in his +former haunts; doubtful as ever what to decide upon for the future; +but tending evidently towards a new change of residence for household +and self:-- + + _To W. Coningham, Esq_. + +"_Penzance, April 19th_, 1841.--My little Boy and I have been +wandering about between Torquay and this place; and latterly have had +my Father for a few days with us,--he left us yesterday. In all +probability I shall endeavor to settle either at Torquay, at Falmouth, +or here; as it is pretty clear that I cannot stand the sharp air of +Clifton, and still less the London east-winds. Penzance is, on the +whole, a pleasant-looking, cheerful place; with a delightful mildness +of air, and a great appearance of comfort among the people: the view +of Mount's Bay is certainly a very noble one. Torquay would suit the +health of my Wife and Children better; or else I should be glad to +live here always, London and its neighborhood being +impracticable."--Such was his second wandering winter; enough to +render the prospect of a third at Clifton very uninviting. + + +With the Falmouth friends, young and old, his intercourse had +meanwhile continued cordial and frequent. The omens were pointing +towards that region at his next place of abode. Accordingly, in few +weeks hence, in the June of this Summer, 1841, his dubitations and +inquirings are again ended for a time; he has fixed upon a house in +Falmouth, and removed thither; bidding Clifton, and the regretful +Clifton friends, a kind farewell. This was the _fifth_ change of +place for his family since Bayswater; the fifth, and to one chief +member of it the last. Mrs. Sterling had brought him a new child in +October last; and went hopefully to Falmouth, dreading _other_ than +what befell there. + + +CHAPTER III. +FALMOUTH: POEMS. + +At Falmouth, as usual, he was soon at home in his new environment; +resumed his labors; had his new small circle of acquaintance, the +ready and constant centre of which was the Fox family, with whom he +lived on an altogether intimate, honored and beloved footing; +realizing his best anticipations in that respect, which doubtless were +among his first inducements to settle in this new place. Open cheery +heights, rather bare of wood: fresh southwestern breezes; a brisk +laughing sea, swept by industrious sails, and the nets of a most +stalwart, wholesome, frank and interesting population: the clean +little fishing, trading and packet Town; hanging on its slope towards +the Eastern sun, close on the waters of its basin and intricate +bay,--with the miniature Pendennis Castle seaward on the right, the +miniature St. Mawes landward to left, and the mining world and the +farming world open boundlessly to the rear:--all this made a pleasant +outlook and environment. And in all this, as in the other new +elements of his position, Sterling, open beyond most men to the worth +of things about him, took his frank share. From the first, he had +liked the general aspect of the population, and their healthy, lively +ways; not to speak of the special friendships he had formed there, +which shed a charm over them all. "Men of strong character, clear +heads and genuine goodness," writes he, "are by no means wanting." +And long after: "The common people here dress better than in most +parts of England; and on Sundays, if the weather be at all fine, their +appearance is very pleasant. One sees them all round the Town, +especially towards Pendennis Castle, streaming in a succession of +little groups, and seeming for the most part really and quietly +happy." On the whole he reckoned himself lucky; and, so far as +locality went, found this a handsome shelter for the next two years of +his life. Two years, and not without an interruption; that was all. +Here we have no continuing city; he less than any of us! One other +flight for shelter; and then it is ended, and he has found an +inexpugnable refuge. Let us trace his remote footsteps, as we have +opportunity:-- + + _To Dr. Symonds, Clifton_. + +"_Falmouth, June 28th_, 1841.--Newman writes to me that he is gone to +the Rhine. I wish I were! And yet the only 'wish' at the bottom of +my heart, is to be able to work vigorously in my own way anywhere, +were it in some Circle of Dante's Inferno. This, however, is the +secret of my soul, which I disclose only to a few." + + _To his Mother_. + +"_Falmouth, July 6th_, 1841.--I have at last my own study made +comfortable; the carpet being now laid down, and most of my +appurtenances in tolerable order. By and by I shall, unless stopped +by illness, get myself together, and begin living an orderly life and +doing my daily task. I have swung a cot in my dressing-room; partly +as a convenience for myself, partly as a sort of memorial of my poor +Uncle, in whose cot in his dressing-room at Lisworney I remember to +have slept when a child. I have put a good large bookcase in my +drawing-room, and all the rest of my books fit very well into the +study." + + _To Mr. Carlyle_. + +"_July 6th_.--No books have come in my way but Emerson's, which I +value full as much as you, though as yet I have read only some corners +of it. We have had an Election here, of the usual stamp; to me a +droll 'realized Ideal,' after my late metrical adventures in that +line. But the oddest sign of the Times I know, is a cheap Translation +of Strauss's _Leben Jesu_, now publishing in numbers, and said to be +circulating far and wide. What does--or rather, what does not--this +portend?"-- + + +With the Poem called _The Election_, here alluded to, which had been +more than once revised and reconsidered, he was still under some +hesitations; but at last had well-nigh resolved, as from the first it +was clear he would do, on publishing it. This occupied some +occasional portion of his thoughts. But his grand private affair, I +believe, was now _Strafford_; to which, or to its adjuncts, all +working hours were devoted. Sterling's notions of Tragedy are high +enough. This is what he writes once, in reference to his own task in +these weeks: "Few, I fancy, know how much harder it is to write a +Tragedy than to realize or be one. Every man has in his heart and +lot, if he pleases, and too many whether they please or no, all the +woes of OEdipus and Antigone. But it takes the One, the Sophocles of +a thousand years, to utter these in the full depth and harmony of +creative song. Curious, by the way, how that Dramatic Form of the old +Greek, with only some superficial changes, remains a law not only for +the stage, but for the thoughts of all Poets; and what a charm it has +even for the reader who never saw a theatre. The Greek Plays and +Shakspeare have interested a hundred as books, for one who has seen +their writings acted. How lightly does the mere clown, the idle +school-girl, build a private theatre in the fancy, and laugh or weep +with Falstaff and Macbeth: with how entire an oblivion of the +artificial nature of the whole contrivance, which thus compels them to +be their own architects, machinists, scene-painters, and actors! In +fact, the artifice succeeds,--becomes grounded in the substance of the +soul: and every one loves to feel how he is thus brought face to face +with the brave, the fair, the woful and the great of all past ages; +looks into their eyes, and feels the beatings of their hearts; and +reads, over the shoulder, the secret written tablets of the busiest +and the largest brains; while the Juggler, by whose cunning the whole +strange beautiful absurdity is set in motion, keeps himself hidden; +sings loud with a mouth unmoving as that of a statue, and makes the +human race cheat itself unanimously and delightfully by the illusion +that he preordains; while as an obscure Fate, he sits invisible, and +hardly lets his being be divined by those who cannot flee him. The +Lyric Art is childish, and the Epic barbarous, compared to this. But +of the true and perfect Drama it may be said, as of even higher +mysteries, Who is sufficient for these things?"--On this _Tragedy of +Strafford_, writing it and again writing it, studying for it, and +bending himself with his whole strength to do his best on it, he +expended many strenuous months,--"above a year of his life," he +computes, in all. + +For the rest, what Falmouth has to give him he is willing to take, and +mingles freely in it. In Hare's Collection there is given a _Lecture_ +which he read in Autumn, 1841 (Mr. Hare says "1842," by mistake), to a +certain Public Institution in the place,--of which more anon;--a piece +interesting in this, if not much in any other respect. Doubtless his +friends the Foxes were at the heart of that lecturing enterprise, and +had urged and solicited him. Something like proficiency in certain +branches of science, as I have understood, characterized one or more +of this estimable family; love of knowledge, taste for art, wish to +consort with wisdom and wise men, were the tendencies of all; to +opulent means superadd the Quaker beneficence, Quaker purity and +reverence, there is a circle in which wise men also may love to be. +Sterling made acquaintance here with whatever of notable in worthy +persons or things might be afoot in those parts; and was led thereby, +now and then, into pleasant reunions, in new circles of activity, +which might otherwise have continued foreign to him. The good +Calvert, too, was now here; and intended to remain;--which he mostly +did henceforth, lodging in Sterling's neighborhood, so long as lodging +in this world was permitted him. Still good and clear and cheerful; +still a lively comrade, within doors or without,--a diligent rider +always,--though now wearing visibly weaker, and less able to exert +himself. + +Among those accidental Falmouth reunions, perhaps the notablest for +Sterling occurred in this his first season. There is in Falmouth an +Association called the _Cornwall Polytechnic Society_, established +about twenty years ago, and supported by the wealthy people of the +Town and neighborhood, for the encouragement of the arts in that +region; it has its Library, its Museum, some kind of Annual Exhibition +withal; gives prizes, publishes reports: the main patrons, I believe, +are Sir Charles Lemon, a well-known country gentleman of those parts, +and the Messrs. Fox. To this, so far as he liked to go in it, +Sterling was sure to be introduced and solicited. The Polytechnic +meeting of 1841 was unusually distinguished; and Sterling's part in it +formed one of the pleasant occurrences for him in Falmouth. It was +here that, among other profitable as well as pleasant things, he made +acquaintance with Professor Owen (an event of which I too had my +benefit in due time, and still have): the bigger assemblage called +_British Association_, which met at Plymouth this year, having now +just finished its affairs there, Owen and other distinguished persons +had taken Falmouth in their route from it. Sterling's account of this +Polytechnic gala still remains,--in three Letters to his Father, +which, omitting the extraneous portions, I will give in one,--as a +piece worth reading among those still-life pictures:-- + + "To Edward Sterling, Esq., Knightsbridge, London_. + "FALMOUTH, 10th August, 1841. + +"MY DEAR FATHER,--I was not well for a day or two after you went; and +since, I have been busy about an annual show of the Polytechnic +Society here, in which my friends take much interest, and for which I +have been acting as one of the judges in the department of the Fine +Arts, and have written a little Report for them. As I have not said +that Falmouth is as eminent as Athens or Florence, perhaps the +Committee will not adopt my statement. But if they do, it will be of +some use; for I have hinted, as delicately as possible, that people +should not paint historical pictures before they have the power of +drawing a decent outline of a pig or a cabbage. I saw Sir Charles +Lemon yesterday, who was kind as well as civil in his manner; and +promises to be a pleasant neighbor. There are several of the British +Association heroes here; but not Whewell, or any one whom I know." + +"_August 17th_.--At the Polytechnic Meeting here we had several very +eminent men; among others, Professor Owen, said to be the first of +comparative anatomists, and Conybeare the geologist. Both of these +gave evening Lectures; and after Conybeare's, at which I happened to +be present, I said I would, if they chose, make some remarks on the +Busts which happened to be standing there, intended for prizes in the +department of the Fine Arts. They agreed gladly. The heads were +Homer, Pericles, Augustus, Dante and Michael Angelo. I got into the +box-like platform, with these on a shelf before me; and began a talk +which must have lasted some three quarters of an hour; describing +partly the characters and circumstances of the men, illustrated by +anecdotes and compared with their physiognomies, and partly the +several styles of sculpture exhibited in the Casts, referring these to +what I considered the true principles of the Art. The subject was one +that interests me, and I got on in famous style; and had both pit and +galleries all applauding, in a way that had had no precedent during +any other part of the meeting. Conybeare paid me high compliments; +Owen looked much pleased,--an honor well purchased by a year's hard +work;--and everybody, in short, seemed delighted. Susan was not +there, and I had nothing to make me nervous; so that I worked away +freely, and got vigorously over the ground. After so many years' +disuse of rhetoric, it was a pleasant surprise to myself to find that +I could still handle the old weapons without awkwardness. More by +good luck than good guidance, it has done my health no harm. I have +been at Sir Charles Lemon's, though only to pay a morning visit, +having declined to stay there or dine, the hours not suiting me. They +were very civil. The person I saw most of was his sister, Lady +Dunstanville; a pleasant, well-informed and well-bred woman. He seems +a most amiable, kindly man, of fair good sense and cultivated +tastes.--I had a letter to-day from my Mother [in Scotland]; who says +she sent you one which you were to forward me; which I hope soon to +have." + +"_August 29th_.--I returned yesterday from Carclew, Sir C. Lemon's +fine place about five miles off; where I had been staying a couple of +days, with apparently the heartiest welcome. Susan was asked; but +wanting a Governess, could not leave home. + +"Sir Charles is a widower (his Wife was sister to Lord Ilchester) +without children; but had a niece staying with him, and his sister +Lady Dunstanville, a pleasant and very civil woman. There were also +Mr. Bunbury, eldest son of Sir Henry Bunbury, a man of much +cultivation and strong talents; Mr. Fox Talbot, son, I think, of +another Ilchester lady, and brother of _the_ Talbot of Wales, but +himself a man of large fortune, and known for photogenic and other +scientific plans of extracting sunbeams from cucumbers. He also is a +man of known ability, but chiefly employed in that peculiar +department. _Item_ Professors Lloyd and Owen: the former, of Dublin, +son of the late Provost, I had seen before and knew; a great +mathematician and optician, and a discoverer in those matters; with a +clever little Wife, who has a great deal of knowledge, quite free from +pretension. Owen is a first-rate comparative anatomist, they say the +greatest since Cuvier; lives in London, and lectures there. On the +whole, he interested me more than any of them,--by an apparent force +and downrightness of mind, combined with much simplicity and +frankness. + +"Nothing could be pleasanter and easier than the habits of life, with +what to me was a very unusual degree of luxury, though probably +nothing but what is common among people of large fortune. The library +and pictures are nothing extraordinary. The general tone of good +nature, good sense and quiet freedom, was what struck me most; and I +think besides this there was a disposition to be cordially courteous +towards me.... + +"I took Edward a ride of two hours yesterday on Calvert's pony, and he +is improving fast in horsemanship. The school appears to answer very +well. We shall have the Governess in a day or two, which will be a +great satisfaction. Will you send my Mother this scribble with my +love; and believe me, + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + +One other little event dwells with me, out of those Falmouth times, +exact date now forgotten; a pleasant little matter, in which Sterling, +and principally the Misses Fox, bright cheery young creatures, were +concerned; which, for the sake of its human interest, is worth +mention. In a certain Cornish mine, said the Newspapers duly +specifying it, two miners deep down in the shaft were engaged putting +in a shot for blasting: they had completed their affair, and were +about to give the signal for being hoisted up,--one at a time was all +their coadjutor at the top could manage, and the second was to kindle +the match, and then mount with all speed. Now it chanced while they +were both still below, one of them thought the match too long; tried +to break it shorter, took a couple of stones, a flat and a sharp, to +cut it shorter; did cut it of the due length, but, horrible to relate, +kindled it at the same time, and both were still below! Both shouted +vehemently to the coadjutor at the windlass, both sprang at the +basket; the windlass man could not move it with them both. Here was a +moment for poor miner Jack and miner Will! Instant horrible death +hangs over both,--when Will generously resigns himself: "Go aloft, +Jack," and sits down; "away; in one minute I shall be in Heaven!" +Jack bounds aloft, the explosion instantly follows, bruises his face +as he looks over; he is safe above ground: and poor Will? Descending +eagerly they find Will too, as if by miracle, buried under rocks which +had arched themselves over him, and little injured: he too is brought +up safe, and all ends joyfully, say the Newspapers. + +Such a piece of manful promptitude, and salutary human heroism, was +worth investigating. It was investigated; found to be accurate to the +letter,--with this addition and explanation, that Will, an honest, +ignorant good man, entirely given up to Methodism, had been perfect in +the "faith of assurance," certain that _he_ should get to Heaven if he +died, certain that Jack would not, which had been the ground of his +decision in that great moment;--for the rest, that he much wished to +learn reading and writing, and find some way of life above ground +instead of below. By aid of the Misses Fox and the rest of that +family, a subscription (modest _Anti_-Hudson testimonial) was raised +to this Methodist hero: he emerged into daylight with fifty pounds in +his pocket; did strenuously try, for certain months, to learn reading +and writing; found he could not learn those arts or either of them; +took his money and bought cows with it, wedding at the same time some +religious likely milkmaid; and is, last time I heard of him, a +prosperous modest dairyman, thankful for the upper light and safety +from the wrath to come. Sterling had some hand in this affair: but, +as I said, it was the two young ladies of the family that mainly did +it. + +In the end of 1841, after many hesitations and revisals, _The +Election_ came out; a tiny Duodecimo without name attached;[24] again +inquiring of the public what its suffrage was; again to little +purpose. My vote had never been loud for this step, but neither was +it quite adverse; and now, in reading the poor little Poem over again, +after ten years' space, I find it, with a touching mixture of pleasure +and repentance, considerably better than it then seemed to me. My +encouragement, if not to print this poem, yet to proceed with Poetry, +since there was such a resolution for it, might have been a little +more decided! + +This is a small Piece, but aims at containing great things; a _multum +in parvo_ after its sort; and is executed here and there with +undeniable success. The style is free and flowing, the rhyme dances +along with a certain joyful triumph; everything of due brevity withal. +That mixture of mockery on the surface, which finely relieves the real +earnestness within, and flavors even what is not very earnest and +might even be insipid otherwise, is not ill managed: an amalgam +difficult to effect well in writing; nay, impossible in +writing,--unless it stand already done and effected, as a general +fact, in the writer's mind and character; which will betoken a certain +ripeness there. + +As I said, great things are intended in this little Piece; the motto +itself foreshadowing them:-- + + "_Fluellen_. Ancient Pistol, I do partly understand your + meaning. + _Pistol_. Why, then, rejoice therefor." + +A stupid commonplace English Borough has lost its Member suddenly, by +apoplexy or otherwise; resolves, in the usual explosive temper of +mind, to replace him by one of two others; whereupon strange +stirring-up of rival-attorney and other human interests and +catastrophes. "Frank Vane" (Sterling himself), and "Peter Mogg," the +pattern English blockhead of elections: these are the candidates. +There are, of course, fierce rival attorneys; electors of all creeds +and complexions to be canvassed: a poor stupid Borough thrown all +into red or white heat; into blazing paroxysms of activity and +enthusiasm, which render the inner life of it (and of England and the +world through it) luminously transparent, so to speak;--of which +opportunity our friend and his "Muse" take dexterous advantage, to +delineate the same. His pictures are uncommonly good; brief, joyous, +sometimes conclusively true: in rigorously compressed shape; all is +merry freshness and exuberance: we have leafy summer embowering red +bricks and small human interests, presented as in glowing miniature; a +mock-heroic action fitly interwoven;--and many a clear glance is +carelessly given into the deepest things by the way. Very happy also +is the little love-episode; and the absorption of all the interest +into that, on the part of Frank Vane and of us, when once this gallant +Frank,--having fairly from his barrel-head stated his own (and John +Sterling's) views on the aspects of the world, and of course having +quite broken down with his attorney and his public,--handsomely, by +stratagem, gallops off with the fair Anne; and leaves free field to +Mogg, free field to the Hippopotamus if it like. This portrait of +Mogg may be considered to have merit:-- + + "Though short of days, how large the mind of man; + A godlike force enclosed within a span! + To climb the skies we spurn our nature's clog, + And toil as Titans to elect a Mogg. + + "And who was Mogg? O Muse! the man declare, + How excellent his worth, his parts how rare. + A younger son, he learnt in Oxford's halls + The spheral harmonies of billiard-balls, + Drank, hunted, drove, and hid from Virtue's frown + His venial follies in Decorum's gown. + Too wise to doubt on insufficient cause, + He signed old Cranmer's lore without a pause; + And knew that logic's cunning rules are taught + To guard our creed, and not invigorate thought,-- + As those bronze steeds at Venice, kept for pride, + Adorn a Town where not one man can ride. + + "From Isis sent with all her loud acclaims, + The Laws he studied on the banks of Thames. + Park, race and play, in his capacious plan, + Combined with Coke to form the finished man, + Until the wig's ambrosial influence shed + Its last full glories on the lawyer's head. + + "But vain are mortal schemes. The eldest son + At Harrier Hall had scarce his stud begun, + When Death's pale courser took the Squire away + To lands where never dawns a hunting day: + And so, while Thomas vanished 'mid the fog, + Bright rose the morning-star of Peter Mogg."[25] + +And this little picture, in a quite opposite way:-- + + "Now, in her chamber all alone, the maid + Her polished limbs and shoulders disarrayed; + One little taper gave the only light, + One little mirror caught so dear a sight; + 'Mid hangings dusk and shadows wide she stood, + Like some pale Nymph in dark-leafed solitude + Of rocks and gloomy waters all alone, + Where sunshine scarcely breaks on stump or stone + To scare the dreamy vision. Thus did she, + A star in deepest night, intent but free, + Gleam through the eyeless darkness, heeding not + Her beauty's praise, but musing o'er her lot. + + "Her garments one by one she laid aside, + And then her knotted hair's long locks untied + With careless hand, and down her cheeks they fell, + And o'er her maiden bosom's blue-veined swell. + The right-hand fingers played amidst her hair, + And with her reverie wandered here and there: + The other hand sustained the only dress + That now but half concealed her loveliness; + And pausing, aimlessly she stood and thought, + In virgin beauty by no fear distraught." + +Manifold, and beautiful of their sort, are Anne's musings, in this +interesting attitude, in the summer midnight, in the crisis of her +destiny now near;--at last:-- + + "But Anne, at last her mute devotions o'er, + Perceived the feet she had forgot before + Of her too shocking nudity; and shame + Flushed from her heart o'er all the snowy frame: + And, struck from top to toe with burning dread, + She blew the light out, and escaped to bed."[26] + +--which also is a very pretty movement. + +It must be owned withal, the Piece is crude in parts, and far enough +from perfect. Our good painter has yet several things to learn, and +to unlearn. His brush is not always of the finest; and dashes about, +sometimes, in a recognizably sprawling way: but it hits many a +feature with decisive accuracy and felicity; and on the palette, as +usual, lie the richest colors. A grand merit, too, is the brevity of +everything; by no means a spontaneous, or quite common merit with +Sterling. + +This new poetic Duodecimo, as the last had done and as the next also +did, met with little or no recognition from the world: which was not +very inexcusable on the world's part; though many a poem with far less +proof of merit than this offers, has run, when the accidents favored +it, through its tens of editions, and raised the writer to the +demigods for a year or two, if not longer. Such as it is, we may take +it as marking, in its small way, in a noticed or unnoticed manner, a +new height arrived at by Sterling in his Poetic course; and almost as +vindicating the determination he had formed to keep climbing by that +method. Poor Poem, or rather Promise of a Poem! In Sterling's brave +struggle, this little _Election_ is the highest point he fairly lived +to see attained, and openly demonstrated in print. His next public +adventure in this kind was of inferior worth; and a third, which had +perhaps intrinsically gone much higher than any of its antecessors, +was cut off as a fragment, and has not hitherto been published. +Steady courage is needed on the Poetic course, as on all courses!-- + +Shortly after this Publication, in the beginning of 1842, poor +Calvert, long a hopeless sufferer, was delivered by death: Sterling's +faithful fellow-pilgrim could no more attend him in his wayfarings +through this world. The weary and heavy-laden man had borne his +burden well. Sterling says of him to Hare: "Since I wrote last, I +have lost Calvert; the man with whom, of all others, I have been +during late years the most intimate. Simplicity, benevolence, +practical good sense and moral earnestness were his great unfailing +characteristics; and no man, I believe, ever possessed them more +entirely. His illness had latterly so prostrated him, both in mind +and body, that those who most loved him were most anxious for his +departure." There was something touching in this exit; in the +quenching of so kind and bright a little life under the dark billows +of death. To me he left a curious old Print of James Nayler the +Quaker, which I still affectionately preserve. + + +Sterling, from this greater distance, came perhaps rather seldomer to +London; but we saw him still at moderate intervals; and, through his +family here and other direct and indirect channels, were kept in +lively communication with him. Literature was still his constant +pursuit; and, with encouragement or without, Poetic composition his +chosen department therein. On the ill success of _The Election_, or +any ill success with the world, nobody ever heard him utter the least +murmur; condolence upon that or any such subject might have been a +questionable operation, by no means called for! Nay, my own approval, +higher than this of the world, had been languid, by no means +enthusiastic. But our valiant friend took all quietly; and was not to +be repulsed from his Poetics either by the world's coldness or by +mine; he labored at his _Strafford_;--determined to labor, in all +ways, till he felt the end of his tether in this direction. + +He sometimes spoke, with a certain zeal, of my starting a Periodical: +Why not lift up some kind of war-flag against the obese platitudes, +and sickly superstitious aperies and impostures of the time? But I +had to answer, "Who will join it, my friend?" He seemed to say, "I, +for one;" and there was occasionally a transient temptation in the +thought, but transient only. No fighting regiment, with the smallest +attempt towards drill, co-operation, commissariat, or the like +unspeakable advantages, could be raised in Sterling's time or mine; +which truly, to honest fighters, is a rather grievous want. A +grievous, but not quite a fatal one. For, failing this, failing all +things and all men, there remains the solitary battle (and were it by +the poorest weapon, the tongue only, or were it even by wise +abstinence and silence and without any weapon), such as each man for +himself can wage while he has life: an indubitable and infinitely +comfortable fact for every man! Said battle shaped itself for +Sterling, as we have long since seen, chiefly in the poetic form, in +the singing or hymning rather than the speaking form; and in that he +was cheerfully assiduous according to his light. The unfortunate +_Strafford_ is far on towards completion; a _Coeur-de-Lion_, of which +we shall hear farther, "_Coeur-de-Lion_, greatly the best of all his +Poems," unluckily not completed, and still unpublished, already hangs +in the wind. + +His Letters to friends continue copious; and he has, as always, a +loyally interested eye on whatsoever of notable is passing in the +world. Especially on whatsoever indicates to him the spiritual +condition of the world. Of "Strauss," in English or in German, we now +hear nothing more; of Church matters, and that only to special +correspondents, less and less. Strauss, whom he used to mention, had +interested him only as a sign of the times; in which sense alone do we +find, for a year or two back, any notice of the Church, or its affairs +by Sterling; and at last even this as good as ceases: "Adieu, O +Church; thy road is that way, mine is this: in God's name, adieu!" +"What we are going _to_," says he once, "is abundantly obscure; but +what all men are going _from_, is very plain."--Sifted out of many +pages, not of sufficient interest, here are one or two miscellaneous +sentences, about the date we are now arrived at:-- + + _To Dr. Symonds_. + +"_Falmouth, 3d November_, 1841.--Yesterday was my Wedding-day: eleven +years of marriage; and on the whole my verdict is clear for matrimony. +I solemnized the day by reading _John Gilpin_ to the children, who +with their Mother are all pretty well.... There is a trick of sham +Elizabethan writing now prevalent, that looks plausible, but in most +cases means nothing at all. Darley has real (lyrical) genius; Taylor, +wonderful sense, clearness and weight of purpose; Tennyson, a rich and +exquisite fancy. All the other men of our tiny generation that I know +of are, in Poetry, either feeble or fraudulent. I know nothing of the +Reviewer you ask about." + + _To his Mother_ + +"_December 11th_.--I have seen no new books; but am reading your last. +I got hold of the two first Numbers of the _Hoggarty Diamond_; and +read them with extreme delight. What is there better in Fielding or +Goldsmith? The man is a true genius; and, with quiet and comfort, +might produce masterpieces that would last as long as any we have, and +delight millions of unborn readers. There is more truth and nature in +one of these papers than in all ----'s Novels together."--Thackeray, +always a close friend of the Sterling house, will observe that this is +dated 1841, not 1851, and have his own reflections on the matter! + + _To the Same_. + +"_December 17th_.--I am not much surprised at Lady ----'s views of +Coleridge's little Book on _Inspiration_.--Great part of the obscurity +of the Letters arises from his anxiety to avoid the difficulties and +absurdities of the common views, and his panic terror of saying +anything that bishops and good people would disapprove. He paid a +heavy price, viz. all his own candor and simplicity, in hope of +gaining the favor of persons like Lady ----; and you see what his +reward is! A good lesson for us all." + + _To the Same_. + +"_February 1st_, 1842.--English Toryism has, even in my eyes, about as +much to say for itself as any other form of doctrine; but Irish +Toryism is the downright proclamation of brutal injustice, and all in +the name of God and the Bible! It is almost enough to make one turn +Mahometan, but for the fear of the four wives." + + _To his Father_. + +"_March 12th_, 1842.--... Important to me as these matters are, it +almost seems as if there were something unfeeling in writing of them, +under the pressure of such news as ours from India. If the Cabool +Troops have perished, England has not received such a blow from an +enemy, nor anything approaching it, since Buckingham's Expedition to +the Isle of Rhe. Walcheren destroyed us by climate; and Corunna, with +all its losses, had much of glory. But here we are dismally injured +by mere Barbarians, in a War on our part shamefully unjust as well as +foolish: a combination of disgrace and calamity that would have +shocked Augustus even more than the defeat of Varus. One of the four +officers with Macnaghten was George Lawrence, a brother-in-law of Nat +Barton; a distinguished man, and the father of five totally unprovided +children. He is a prisoner, if not since murdered. Macnaghten I do +not pity; he was the prime author of the whole mad War. But Burnes; +and the women; and our regiments! India, however, I feel sure, is +safe." + + +So roll the months at Falmouth; such is the ticking of the great +World-Horologe as heard there by a good ear. "I willingly add," so +ends he, once, "that I lately found somewhere this fragment of an +Arab's love-song: 'O Ghalia! If my father were a jackass, I would +sell him to purchase Ghalia!' A beautiful parallel to the French +_'Avec cette sauce on mangerait son pere_.'" + + +CHAPTER IV. +NAPLES: POEMS. + +In the bleak weather of this spring, 1842, he was again abroad for a +little while; partly from necessity, or at least utility; and partly, +as I guess, because these circumstances favored, and he could with a +good countenance indulge a little wish he had long had. In the +Italian Tour, which ended suddenly by Mrs. Sterling's illness +recalling him, he had missed Naples; a loss which he always thought to +be considerable; and which, from time to time, he had formed little +projects, failures hitherto, for supplying. The rigors of spring were +always dangerous to him in England, and it was always of advantage to +get out of them: and then the sight of Naples, too; this, always a +thing to be done some day, was now possible. Enough, with the real or +imaginary hope of bettering himself in health, and the certain one of +seeing Naples, and catching a glance of Italy again, he now made a run +thither. It was not long after Calvert's death. The Tragedy of +_Strafford_ lay finished in his desk. Several things, sad and bright, +were finished. A little intermezzo of ramble was not unadvisable. + +His tour by water and by land was brief and rapid enough; hardly above +two months in all. Of which the following Letters will, with some +abridgment, give us what details are needful:-- + + "_To Charles Barton, Esq., Leamington_. + "FALMOUTH, 25th March, 1842. + +"MY DEAR CHARLES,--My attempts to shoot you flying with my paper +pellets turned out very ill. I hope young ladies succeed better when +they happen to make appointments with you. Even now, I hardly know +whether you have received a Letter I wrote on Sunday last, and +addressed to The Cavendish. I sent it thither by Susan's advice. + +"In this missive,--happily for us both, it did not contain a +hundred-pound note or any trifle of that kind,--I informed you that I +was compelled to plan an expedition towards the South Pole; stopping, +however, in the Mediterranean; and that I designed leaving this on +Monday next for Cadiz or Gibraltar, and then going on to Malta, whence +Italy and Sicily would be accessible. Of course your company would be +a great pleasure, if it were possible for you to join me. The delay +in hearing from you, through no fault of yours, has naturally put me +out a little; but, on the whole, my plan still holds, and I shall +leave this on Monday for Gibraltar, where the _Great Liverpool_ will +catch me, and carry me to Malta. The _Great Liverpool_ leaves +Southampton on the 1st of April, and Falmouth on the 2d; and will +reach Gibraltar in from four to five days. + +"Now, if you _should_ be able and disposed to join me, you have only +to embark in that sumptuous tea-kettle, and pick me up under the guns +of the Rock. We could then cruise on to Malta, Sicily, Naples, Rome, +&c., _a discretion_. It is just _possible_, though extremely +improbable, that my steamer of Monday (most likely the _Montrose_) may +not reach Gibraltar so soon as the _Liverpool_. If so, and if you +should actually be on board, you must stop at Gibraltar. But there +are ninety-nine chances to one against this. Write at all events to +Susan, to let her know what you propose. + +"I do not wait till the _Great Liverpool_ goes, because the object for +me is to get into a warm climate as soon as possible. I am decidedly +better. + + "Your affectionate Brother, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Barton did not go with him, none went; but he arrives safe, and not +_hurt_ in health, which is something. + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "MALTA, 14th April, 1842. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I am writing to Susan through France, by to-morrow's +mail; and will also send you a line, instead of waiting for the longer +English conveyance. + +"We reached this the day before yesterday, in the evening; having had +a strong breeze against us for a day or two before; which made me +extremely uncomfortable,--and indeed my headache is hardly gone yet. +From about the 4th to the 9th of the month, we had beautiful weather, +and I was happy enough. You will see by the map that the straightest +line from Gibraltar to this place goes close along the African coast; +which accordingly we saw with the utmost clearness; and found it +generally a line of mountains, the higher peaks and ridges covered +with snow. We went close in to Algiers; which looks strong, but +entirely from art. The town lies on the slope of a straight coast; +and is not at all embayed, though there is some little shelter for +shipping within the mole. It is a square patch of white buildings +huddled together; fringed with batteries; and commanded by large forts +on the ridge above: a most uncomfortable-looking place; though, no +doubt, there are _cafes_ and billiard-rooms and a theatre within,--for +the French like to have their Houris, &c., on _this_ side of Paradise, +if possible. + +"Our party of fifty people (we had taken some on board at Gibraltar) +broke up, on reaching this; never, of course, to meet again. The +greater part do not proceed to Alexandria. Considering that there was +a bundle of midshipmen, ensigns, &c., we had as much reason among us +as could perhaps be looked for; and from several I gained bits of +information and traits of character, though nothing very +remarkable.... + +"I have established myself in an inn, rather than go to Lady +Louis's;[27] I not feeling quite equal to company, except in moderate doses. I +have, however, seen her a good deal; and dine there to-day, very +privately, for Sir John is not quite well, and they will have no +guests. The place, however, is full of official banqueting, for +various unimportant reasons. When here before, I was in much distress +and anxiety, on my way from Rome; and I suppose this it was that +prevented its making the same impression on me as now, when it seems +really the stateliest town I have ever seen. The architecture is +generally of a corrupt Roman kind; with something of the varied and +picturesque look, though much more massive, of our Elizabethan +buildings. We have the finest English summer and a pellucid sky.... +Your affectionate + + "JOHN STERLING." + +At Naples next, for three weeks, was due admiration of the sceneries +and antiquities, Bay and Mountain, by no means forgetting Art and the +Museum: "to Pozzuoli, to Baiae, round the Promontory of +Sorrento;"--above all, "twice to Pompeii," where the elegance and +classic simplicity of Ancient Housekeeping strikes us much; and again +to Paestum, where "the Temple of Neptune is far the noblest building I +have ever seen; and makes both Greek and Revived Roman seem quite +barbaric.... Lord Ponsonby lodges in the same house with me;--but, of +course, I do not countenance an adherent of a beaten Party!"[28]--Or +let us take this more compendious account, which has much more of +human in it, from an onward stage, ten days later:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "ROME, 13th May, 1842, + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--I hope I wrote to you before leaving England, to +tell you of the necessity for my doing so. Though coming to Italy, +there was little comfort in the prospect of being divided from my +family, and pursuits which grew on me every day. However, I tried to +make the best of it, and have gained both health and pleasure. + +"In spite of scanty communications from England (owing to the +uncertainty of my position), a word or two concerning you and your +dear Wife have reached me. Lately it has often occurred to me, that +the sight of the Bay of Naples, of the beautiful coast from that to +this place, and of Rome itself, all bathed in summer sunshine, and +green with spring foliage, would be some consolation to her.[29] Pray +give her my love. + +"I have been two days here; and almost the first thing I did was to +visit the Protestant burial-ground, and the graves of those I knew +when here before. But much as being now alone here, I feel the +difference, there is no scene where Death seems so little dreadful and +miserable as in the lonelier neighborhoods of this old place. All +one's impressions, however, as to that and everything else, appear to +me, on reflection, more affected than I had for a long time any notion +of, by one's own isolation. All the feelings and activities which +family, friends and occupation commonly engage, are turned, here in +one's solitude, with strange force into the channels of mere +observation and contemplation; and the objects one is conversant with +seem to gain a tenfold significance from the abundance of spare +interest one now has to bestow on them. This explains to me a good +deal of the peculiar effect that Italy has always had on me: and +something of that artistic enthusiasm which I remember you used to +think so singular in Goethe's _Travels_. Darley, who is as much a +brooding hermit in England as here, felt nothing but disappointment +from a country which fills me with childish wonder and delight. + +"Of you I have received some slight notice from Mrs. Strachey; who is +on her way hither; and will (she writes) be at Florence on the 15th, +and here before the end of the month. She notices having received a +Letter of yours which had pleased her much. She now proposes spending +the summer at Sorrento, or thereabouts; and if mere delight of +landscape and climate were enough, Adam and Eve, had their courier +taken them to that region, might have done well enough without +Paradise,--and not been tempted, either, by any Tree of Knowledge; a +kind that does not flourish in the Two Sicilies. + +"The ignorance of the Neapolitans, from the highest to the lowest, is +very eminent; and excites the admiration of all the rest of Italy. In +the great building containing all the Works of Art, and a Library of +150,000 volumes, I asked for the best existing Book (a German one +published ten years ago) on the Statues in that very Collection; and, +after a rabble of clerks and custodes, got up to a dirty priest, who +bowing to the ground regretted 'they did not possess it,' but at last +remembered that 'they _had_ entered into negotiations on the subject, +which as yet had been unsuccessful.'--The favorite device on the walls +at Naples is a vermilion Picture of a Male and Female Soul +respectively up to the waist (the waist of a _soul_) in fire, and an +Angel above each, watering the sufferers from a watering-pot. This is +intended to gain alms for Masses. The same populace sit for hours on +the Mole, listening to rhapsodists who recite Ariosto. I have seen I +think five of them all within a hundred yards of each other, and some +sets of fiddlers to boot. Yet there are few parts of the world where +I have seen less laughter than there. The Miracle of Januarius's +Blood is, on the whole, my most curious experience. The furious +entreaties, shrieks and sobs, of a set of old women, yelling till the +Miracle was successfully performed, are things never to be forgotten. + +"I spent three weeks in this most glittering of countries, and saw +most of the usual wonders,--the Paestan Temples being to me much the +most valuable. But Pompeii and all that it has yielded, especially +the Fresco Paintings, have also an infinite interest. When one +considers that this prodigious series of beautiful designs supplied +the place of our common room-papers,--the wealth of poetic imagery +among the Ancients, and the corresponding traditional variety and +elegance of pictorial treatment, seem equally remarkable. The Greek +and Latin Books do not give one quite so fully this sort of +impression; because they afford no direct measure of the extent of +their own diffusion. But these are ornaments from the smaller class +of decent houses in a little Country Town; and the greater number of +them, by the slightness of the execution, show very clearly that they +were adapted to ordinary taste, and done by mere artisans. In general +clearness, symmetry and simplicity of feeling, I cannot say that, on +the whole, the works of Raffaelle equal them; though of course he has +endless beauties such as we could not find unless in the great +original works from which these sketches at Pompeii were taken. Yet +with all my much increased reverence for the Greeks, it seems more +plain than ever that they had hardly anything of the peculiar +devotional feeling of Christianity. + +"Rome, which I loved before above all the earth, now delights me more +than ever;--though at this moment there is rain falling that would not +discredit Oxford Street. The depth, sincerity and splendor that there +once was in the semi-paganism of the old Catholics comes out in St. +Peter's and its dependencies, almost as grandly as does Greek and +Roman Art in the Forum and the Vatican Galleries. I wish you were +here: but, at all events, hope to see you and your Wife once more +during this summer. + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +At Paris, where he stopped a day and night, and generally through his +whole journey from Marseilles to Havre, one thing attended him: the +prevailing epidemic of the place and year; now gone, and nigh +forgotten, as other influenzas are. He writes to his Father: "I have +not yet met a single Frenchman, who could give me any rational +explanation _why_ they were all in such a confounded rage against us. +Definite causes of quarrel a statesman may know how to deal with, +inasmuch as the removal of them may help to settle the dispute. But +it must be a puzzling task to negotiate about instincts; to which +class, as it seems to me, we must have recourse for an understanding +of the present abhorrence which everybody on the other side of the +Channel not only feels, but makes a point to boast of, against the +name of Britain. France is slowly arming, especially with Steam, _en +attendant_ a more than possible contest, in which they reckon +confidently on the eager co-operation of the Yankees; as, _vice +versa_, an American told me that his countrymen do on that of France. +One person at Paris (M. ---- whom you know) provoked me to tell him +that 'England did not want another battle of Trafalgar; but if France +did, she might compel England to gratify her.'"--After a couple of +pleasant and profitable months, he was safe home again in the first +days of June; and saw Falmouth not under gray iron skies, and whirls +of March dust, but bright with summer opulence and the roses coming +out. + +It was what I call his "_fifth_ peregrinity;" his fifth and last. He +soon afterwards came up to London; spent a couple of weeks, with all +his old vivacity, among us here. The AEsculapian oracles, it would +appear, gave altogether cheerful prophecy; the highest medical +authority "expresses the most decided opinion that I have gradually +mended for some years; and in truth I have not, for six or seven, been +so free from serious symptoms of illness as at present." So uncertain +are all oracles, AEsculapian and other! + +During this visit, he made one new acquaintance which he much valued; +drawn thither, as I guess, by the wish to take counsel about +_Strafford_. He writes to his Clifton friend, under date, 1st July +1842: "Lockhart, of the _Quarterly Review_, I made my first oral +acquaintance with; and found him as neat, clear and cutting a brain as +you would expect; but with an amount of knowledge, good nature and +liberal anti-bigotry, that would much surprise many. The tone of his +children towards him seemed to me decisive of his real kindness. He +quite agreed with me as to the threatening seriousness of our present +social perplexities, and the necessity and difficulty of doing +something effectual for so satisfying the manual multitude as not to +overthrow all legal security.... + +"Of other persons whom I saw in London," continues he, "there are +several that would much interest you,--though I missed Tennyson, by a +mere chance.... John Mill has completely finished, and sent to the +bookseller, his great work on Logic; the labor of many years of a +singularly subtle, patient and comprehensive mind. It will be our +chief speculative monument of this age. Mill and I could not meet +above two or three times; but it was with the openness and freshness +of school-boy friends, though our friendship only dates from the +manhood of both." + +He himself was busier than ever; occupied continually with all manner +of Poetic interests. _Coeur-de-Lion_, a new and more elaborate +attempt in the mock-heroic or comico-didactic vein, had been on hand +for some time, the scope of it greatly deepening and expanding itself +since it first took hold of him; and now, soon after the Naples +journey, it rose into shape on the wider plan; shaken up probably by +this new excitement, and indebted to Calabria, Palermo and the +Mediterranean scenes for much of the vesture it had. With this, which +opened higher hopes for him than any of his previous efforts, he was +now employing all his time and strength;--and continued to do so, this +being the last effort granted him among us. + +Already, for some months, _Strafford_ lay complete: but how to get it +from the stocks; in what method to launch it? The step was +questionable. Before going to Italy he had sent me the Manuscript; +still loyal and friendly; and willing to hear the worst that could be +said of his poetic enterprise. I had to afflict him again, the good +brave soul, with the deliberate report that I could _not_ accept this +Drama as his Picture of the Life of Strafford, or as any _Picture_ of +that strange Fact. To which he answered, with an honest manfulness, +in a tone which is now pathetic enough to me, that he was much grieved +yet much obliged, and uncertain how to decide. On the other hand, Mr. +Hare wrote, warmly eulogizing. Lockhart too spoke kindly, though +taking some exceptions. It was a questionable case. On the whole, +_Strafford_ remained, for the present, unlaunched; and _Coeur de-Lion_ +was getting its first timbers diligently laid down. So passed, in +peaceable seclusion, in wholesome employment and endeavor, the autumn +and winter of 1842-43. On Christmas-day, he reports to his Mother:-- + +"I wished to write to you yesterday; but was prevented by the +important business of preparing a Tree, in the German fashion, for the +children. This project answered perfectly, as it did last year; and +gave them the greatest pleasure. I wish you and my Father could have +been here to see their merry faces. Johnny was in the thick of the +fun, and much happier than Lord Anson on capturing the galleon. We +are all going on well and quietly, but with nothing very new among +us.... The last book I have lighted on is Moffat's _Missionary Labors +in South Africa_; which is worth reading. There is the best +collection of lion stories in it that I have ever seen. But the man +is, also, really a very good fellow; and fit for something much better +than most lions are. He is very ignorant, and mistaken in some +things; but has strong sense and heart; and his Narrative adds another +to the many proofs of the enormous power of Christianity on rude +minds. Nothing can be more chaotic, that is human at all, than the +notions of these poor Blacks, even after what is called their +conversion; but the effect is produced. They do adopt pantaloons, and +abandon polygamy; and I suppose will soon have newspapers and literary +soirees." + + +CHAPTER V. +DISASTER ON DISASTER. + +DURING all these years of struggle and wayfaring, his Father's +household at Knightsbridge had stood healthful, happy, increasing in +wealth, free diligence, solidity and honest prosperity: a fixed sunny +islet, towards which, in all his voyagings and overclouded roamings, +he could look with satisfaction, as to an ever-open port of refuge. + +The elder Sterling, after many battles, had reached his field of +conquest in these years; and was to be regarded as a victorious man. +Wealth sufficient, increasing not diminishing, had rewarded his labors +in the _Times_, which were now in their full flower; he had influence +of a sort; went busily among busy public men; and enjoyed, in the +questionable form attached to journalism and anonymity, a social +consideration and position which were abundantly gratifying to him. A +singular figure of the epoch; and when you came to know him, which it +was easy to fail of doing if you had not eyes and candid insight, a +gallant, truly gifted, and manful figure, of his kind. We saw much of +him in this house; much of all his family; and had grown to love them +all right well,--him too, though that was the difficult part of the +feat. For in his Irish way he played the conjurer very much,--"three +hundred and sixty-five opinions in the year upon every subject," as a +wag once said. In fact his talk, ever ingenious, emphatic and +spirited in detail, was much defective in earnestness, at least in +clear earnestness, of purport and outcome; but went tumbling as if in +mere welters of explosive unreason; a volcano heaving under vague +deluges of scoriae, ashes and imponderous pumice-stones, you could not +say in what direction, nor well whether in any. Not till after good +study did you see the deep molten lava-flood, which simmered steadily +enough, and showed very well by and by whither it was bound. For I +must say of Edward Sterling, after all his daily explosive +sophistries, and fallacies of talk, he had a stubborn instinctive +sense of what was manful, strong and worthy; recognized, with quick +feeling, the charlatan under his solemnest wig; knew as clearly as any +man a pusillanimous tailor in buckram, an ass under the lion's skin, +and did with his whole heart despise the same. + +The sudden changes of doctrine in the _Times_, which failed not to +excite loud censure and indignant amazement in those days, were first +intelligible to you when you came to interpret them as his changes. +These sudden whirls from east to west on his part, and total changes +of party and articulate opinion at a day's warning, lay in the nature +of the man, and could not be helped; products of his fiery impatience, +of the combined impetuosity and limitation of an intellect, which did +nevertheless continually gravitate towards what was loyal, true and +right on all manner of subjects. These, as I define them, were the +mere scoriae and pumice wreck of a steady central lava-flood, which +truly was volcanic and explosive to a strange degree, but did rest as +few others on the grand fire-depths of the world. Thus, if he stormed +along, ten thousand strong, in the time of the Reform Bill, +indignantly denouncing Toryism and its obsolete insane pretensions; +and then if, after some experience of Whig management, he discerned +that Wellington and Peel, by whatever name entitled, were the men to +be depended on by England,--there lay in all this, visible enough, a +deeper consistency far more important than the superficial one, so +much clamored after by the vulgar. Which is the lion's-skin; which is +the real lion? Let a man, if he is prudent, ascertain that before +speaking;--but above and beyond all things, _let_ him ascertain it, +and stand valiantly to it when ascertained! In the latter essential +part of the operation Edward Sterling was honorably successful to a +really marked degree; in the former, or prudential part, very much the +reverse, as his history in the Journalistic department at least, was +continually teaching him. + +An amazingly impetuous, hasty, explosive man, this "Captain +Whirlwind," as I used to call him! Great sensibility lay in him, too; +a real sympathy, and affectionate pity and softness, which he had an +over-tendency to express even by tears,--a singular sight in so +leonine a man. Enemies called them maudlin and hypocritical, these +tears; but that was nowise the complete account of them. On the +whole, there did conspicuously lie a dash of ostentation, a +self-consciousness apt to become loud and braggart, over all he said +and did and felt: this was the alloy of the man, and you had to be +thankful for the abundant gold along with it. + +Quizzing enough he got among us for all this, and for the singular +_chiaroscuro_ manner of procedure, like that of an Archimagus +Cagliostro, or Kaiser Joseph Incognito, which his anonymous +known-unknown thunderings in the _Times_ necessitated in him; and much +we laughed,--not without explosive counter-banterings on his +part;--but, in fine, one could not do without him; one knew him at +heart for a right brave man. "By Jove, sir!" thus he would swear to +you, with radiant face; sometimes, not often, by a deeper oath. With +persons of dignity, especially with women, to whom he was always very +gallant, he had courtly delicate manners, verging towards the +wire-drawn and elaborate; on common occasions, he bloomed out at once +into jolly familiarity of the gracefully boisterous kind, reminding +you of mess-rooms and old Dublin days. His off-hand mode of speech +was always precise, emphatic, ingenious: his laugh, which was +frequent rather than otherwise, had a sincerity of banter, but no real +depth of sense for the ludicrous; and soon ended, if it grew too loud, +in a mere dissonant scream. He was broad, well-built, stout of +stature; had a long lowish head, sharp gray eyes, with large strong +aquiline face to match; and walked, or sat, in an erect decisive +manner. A remarkable man; and playing, especially in those years +1830-40, a remarkable part in the world. + +For it may be said, the emphatic, big-voiced, always influential and +often strongly unreasonable _Times_ Newspaper was the express emblem +of Edward Sterling; he, more than any other man or circumstance, _was_ +the _Times_ Newspaper, and thundered through it to the shaking of the +spheres. And let us assert withal that his and its influence, in +those days, was not ill grounded but rather well; that the loud +manifold unreason, often enough vituperated and groaned over, was of +the surface mostly; that his conclusions, unreasonable, partial, hasty +as they might at first be, gravitated irresistibly towards the right: +in virtue of which grand quality indeed, the root of all good insight +in man, his _Times_ oratory found acceptance and influential audience, +amid the loud whirl of an England itself logically very stupid, and +wise chiefly by instinct. + +England listened to this voice, as all might observe; and to one who +knew England and it, the result was not quite a strange one, and was +honorable rather than otherwise to both parties. A good judge of +men's talents has been heard to say of Edward Sterling: "There is not +a _faculty of improvising_ equal to this in all my circle. Sterling +rushes out into the clubs, into London society, rolls about all day, +copiously talking modish nonsense or sense, and listening to the like, +with the multifarious miscellany of men; comes home at night; redacts +it into a _Times_ Leader,--and is found to have hit the essential +purport of the world's immeasurable babblement that day, with an +accuracy beyond all other men. This is what the multifarious Babel +sound did mean to say in clear words; this, more nearly than anything +else. Let the most gifted intellect, capable of writing epics, try to +write such a Leader for the Morning Newspapers! No intellect but +Edward Sterling's can do it. An improvising faculty without parallel +in my experience."--In this "improvising faculty," much more nobly +developed, as well as in other faculties and qualities with +unexpectedly new and improved figure, John Sterling, to the accurate +observer, showed himself very much the son of Edward. + +Connected with this matter, a remarkable Note has come into my hands; +honorable to the man I am writing of, and in some sort to another +higher man; which, as it may now (unhappily for us all) be published +without scruple, I will not withhold here. The support, by Edward +Sterling and the _Times_, of Sir Robert Peel's first Ministry, and +generally of Peel's statesmanship, was a conspicuous fact in its day; +but the return it met with from the person chiefly interested may be +considered well worth recording. The following Letter, after +meandering through I know not what intricate conduits, and +consultations of the Mysterious Entity whose address it bore, came to +Edward Sterling as the real flesh-and-blood proprietor, and has been +found among his papers. It is marked _Private_:-- + + "(Private) _To the Editor of the Times_. + "WHITEHALL, 18th April, 1835. + +"SIR,--Having this day delivered into the hands of the King the Seals +of Office, I can, without any imputation of an interested motive, or +any impediment from scrupulous feelings of delicacy, express my deep +sense of the powerful support which that Government over which I had +the honor to preside received from the _Times_ Newspaper. + +"If I do not offer the expressions of personal gratitude, it is +because I feel that such expressions would do injustice to the +character of a support which was given exclusively on the highest and +most independent grounds of public principle. I can say this with +perfect truth, as I am addressing one whose person even is unknown to +me, and who during my tenure of power studiously avoided every species +of intercourse which could throw a suspicion upon the motives by which +he was actuated. I should, however, be doing injustice to my own +feelings, if I were to retire from Office without one word of +acknowledgment; without at least assuring you of the admiration with +which I witnessed, during the arduous contest in which I was engaged, +the daily exhibition of that extraordinary ability to which I was +indebted for a support, the more valuable because it was an impartial +and discriminating support.--I have the honor to be, Sir, + + "Ever your most obedient and faithful servant, + "ROBERT PEEL." + +To which, with due loftiness and diplomatic gravity and brevity, there +is Answer, Draught of Answer in Edward Sterling's hand, from the +Mysterious Entity so honored, in the following terms:-- + + "_To the Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., &c. &c. &c_. + +"SIR,--It gives me sincere satisfaction to learn from the Letter with +which you have honored me, bearing yesterday's date, that you estimate +so highly the efforts which have been made during the last five months +by the _Times_ Newspaper to support the cause of rational and +wholesome Government which his Majesty had intrusted to your guidance; +and that you appreciate fairly the disinterested motive, of regard to +the public welfare, and to that alone, through which this Journal has +been prompted to pursue a policy in accordance with that of your +Administration. It is, permit me to say, by such motives only, that +the _Times_, ever since I have known it, has been influenced, whether +in defence of the Government of the day, or in constitutional +resistance to it: and indeed there exist no other motives of action +for a Journalist, compatible either with the safety of the press, or +with the political morality of the great bulk of its readers.--With +much respect, I have the honor to be, Sir, &c. &c. &c. + + "THE EDITOR OF THE 'TIMES.'" + +Of this Note I do not think there was the least whisper during Edward +Sterling's lifetime; which fact also one likes to remember of him, so +ostentatious and little-reticent a man. For the rest, his loyal +admiration of Sir Robert Peel,--sanctioned, and as it were almost +consecrated to his mind, by the great example of the Duke of +Wellington, whom he reverenced always with true hero-worship,--was not +a journalistic one, but a most intimate authentic feeling, +sufficiently apparent in the very heart of his mind. Among the many +opinions "liable to three hundred and sixty-five changes in the course +of the year," this in reference to Peel and Wellington was one which +ever changed, but was the same all days and hours. To which, equally +genuine, and coming still oftener to light in those times, there might +one other be added, one and hardly more: fixed contempt, not +unmingled with detestation, for Daniel O'Connell. This latter +feeling, we used often laughingly to say, was his grand political +principle, the one firm centre where all else went revolving. But +internally the other also was deep and constant; and indeed these were +properly his _two_ centres,--poles of the same axis, negative and +positive, the one presupposing the other. + +O'Connell he had known in young Dublin days;--and surely no man could +well venerate another less! It was his deliberate, unalterable +opinion of the then Great O, that good would never come of him; that +only mischief, and this in huge measure, would come. That however +showy, and adroit in rhetoric and management, he was a man of +incurably commonplace intellect, and of no character but a hollow, +blustery, pusillanimous and unsound one; great only in maudlin +patriotisms, in speciosities, astucities,--in the miserable gifts for +becoming Chief _Demagogos_, Leader of a deep-sunk Populace towards +_its_ Lands of Promise; which trade, in any age or country, and +especially in the Ireland of this age, our indignant friend regarded +(and with reason) as an extremely ugly one for a man. He had himself +zealously advocated Catholic Emancipation, and was not without his +Irish patriotism, very different from the Orange sort; but the +"Liberator" was not admirable to him, and grew daily less so to an +extreme degree. Truly, his scorn of the said Liberator, now riding in +supreme dominion on the wings of _blarney_, devil-ward of a surety, +with the Liberated all following and huzzaing; his fierce gusts of +wrath and abhorrence over him,--rose occasionally almost to the +sublime. We laughed often at these vehemences:--and they were not +wholly laughable; there was something very serious, and very true, in +them! This creed of Edward Sterling's would not now, in either pole +of its axis, look so strange as it then did in many quarters. + + +During those ten years which might be defined as the culminating +period of Edward Sterling's life, his house at South Place, Knights +bridge, had worn a gay and solid aspect, as if built at last on the +high table-land of sunshine and success, the region of storms and dark +weather now all victoriously traversed and lying safe below. Health, +work, wages, whatever is needful to a man, he had, in rich measure; +and a frank stout heart to guide the same: he lived in such style as +pleased him; drove his own chariot up and down (himself often acting +as Jehu, and reminding you a little of _Times_ thunder even in +driving); consorted, after a fashion, with the powerful of the world; +saw in due vicissitude a miscellany of social faces round +him,--pleasant parties, which he liked well enough to garnish by a +lord; "Irish lord, if no better might be," as the banter went. For +the rest, he loved men of worth and intellect, and recognized them +well, whatever their title: this was his own patent of worth which +Nature had given him; a central light in the man, which illuminated +into a kind of beauty, serious or humorous, all the artificialities he +had accumulated on the surface of him. So rolled his days, not +quietly, yet prosperously, in manifold commerce with men. At one in +the morning, when all had vanished into sleep, his lamp was kindled in +his library; and there, twice or thrice a week, for a three-hours' +space, he launched his bolts, which next morning were to shake the +high places of the world. + +John's relation to his Father, when one saw John here, was altogether +frank, joyful and amiable: he ignored the _Times_ thunder for most +part, coldly taking the Anonymous for non-extant; spoke of it +floutingly, if he spoke at all: indeed a pleasant half-bantering +dialect was the common one between Father and Son; and they, +especially with the gentle, simple-hearted, just-minded Mother for +treble-voice between them, made a very pretty glee-harmony together. + +So had it lasted, ever since poor John's voyagings began; his Father's +house standing always as a fixed sunny islet with safe harbor for him. +So it could not always last. This sunny islet was now also to break +and go down: so many firm islets, fixed pillars in his fluctuating +world, pillar after pillar, were to break and go down; till swiftly +all, so to speak, were sunk in the dark waters, and he with them! Our +little History is now hastening to a close. + + +In the beginning of 1843 news reached us that Sterling had, in his too +reckless way, encountered a dangerous accident: maids, in the room +where he was, were lifting a heavy table; he, seeing them in +difficulty, had snatched at the burden; heaved it away,--but had +broken a blood-vessel by the business; and was now, after extensive +hemorrhage, lying dangerously ill. The doctors hoped the worst was +over; but the case was evidently serious. In the same days, too, his +Mother had been seized here by some painful disease, which from its +continuance grew alarming. Sad omens for Edward Sterling, who by this +time had as good as ceased writing or working in the _Times_, having +comfortably winded up his affairs there; and was looking forward to a +freer idle life befitting his advanced years henceforth. Fatal +eclipse had fallen over that household of his; never to be lifted off +again till all darkened into night. + +By dint of watchful nursing, John Sterling got on foot once more: but +his Mother did not recover, quite the contrary. Her case too grew +very questionable. Disease of the heart, said the medical men at +last; not immediately, not perhaps for a length of years, dangerous to +life, said they; but without hope of cure. The poor lady suffered +much; and, though affecting hope always, grew weaker and weaker. John +ran up to Town in March; I saw him, on the morrow or next day after, +in his own room at Knightsbridge: he had caught fresh cold overnight, +the servant having left his window up, but I was charged to say +nothing of it, not to flutter the already troubled house: he was +going home again that very day, and nothing ill would come of it. We +understood the family at Falmouth, his Wife being now near her +confinement again, could at any rate comport with no long absence. He +was cheerful, even rudely merry; himself pale and ill, his poor +Mother's cough audible occasionally through the wall. Very kind, too, +and gracefully affectionate; but I observed a certain grimness in his +mood of mind, and under his light laughter lay something unusual, +something stern, as if already dimmed in the coming shadows of Fate. +"Yes, yes, you are a good man: but I understand they mean to appoint +you to Rhadamanthus's post, which has been vacant for some time; and +you will see how you like that!" This was one of the things he said; +a strange effulgence of wild drollery flashing through the ice of +earnest pain and sorrow. He looked paler than usual: almost for the +first time, I had myself a twinge of misgiving as to his own health; +for hitherto I had been used to blame as much as pity his fits of +dangerous illness, and would often angrily remonstrate with him that +he might have excellent health, would he but take reasonable care of +himself, and learn the art of sitting still. Alas, as if he _could_ +learn it; as if Nature had not laid her ban on him even there, and +said in smiles and frowns manifoldly, "No, that thou shalt not learn!" + +He went that day; he never saw his good true Mother more. Very +shortly afterwards, in spite of doctors' prophecies, and affectionate +illusions, she grew alarmingly and soon hopelessly worse. Here are +his last two Letters to her:-- + + "_To Mrs. Sterling, Knightsbridge, London_. + "FALMOUTH 8th April, 1843. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I could do you no good, but it would be the greatest +comfort to me if I could be near you. Nothing would detain me but +Susan's condition. I feel that until her confinement is over, I ought +to remain here,--unless you wished me to go to you; in which case she +would be the first to send me off. Happily she is doing as well as +possible, and seems even to gain strength every day. She sends her +love to you. + +"The children are all doing well. I rode with Edward to-day through +some of the pleasant lanes in the neighborhood; and was delighted, as +I have often been at the same season, to see the primroses under every +hedge. It is pleasant to think that the Maker of them can make other +flowers for the gardens of his other mansions. We have here a +softness in the air, a smoothness of the clouds, and a mild sunshine, +that combine in lovely peace with the first green of spring and the +mellow whiteness of the sails upon the quiet sea. The whole aspect of +the world is full of a quiet harmony, that influences even one's +bodily frame, and seems to make one's very limbs aware of something +living, good and immortal in all around us. Knowing how you suffer, +and how weak you are, anything is a blessing to me that helps me to +rise out of confusion and grief into the sense of God and joy. I +could not indeed but feel how much happier I should have been, this +morning, had you been with me, and delighting as you would have done +in all the little as well as the large beauty of the world. But it +was still a satisfaction to feel how much I owe to you of the power of +perceiving meaning, reality and sweetness in all healthful life. And +thus I could fancy that you were still near me; and that I could see +you, as I have so often seen you, looking with earnest eyes at wayside +flowers. + +"I would rather not have written what must recall your thoughts to +your present sufferings: but, dear Mother, I wrote only what I felt; +and perhaps you would rather have it so, than that I should try to +find other topics. I still hope to be with you before long. +Meanwhile and always, God bless you, is the prayer of + + "Your affectionate son, + "JOHN STERLING." + + _To the same_. + "FALMOUTH, 12th April, 1843. + +"DEAREST MOTHER,--I have just received my Father's Letter; which gives +me at least the comfort of believing that you do not suffer very much +pain. That your mind has remained so clear and strong, is an infinite +blessing. + +"I do not know anything in the world that would make up to me at all +for wanting the recollection of the days I spent with you lately, when +I was amazed at the freshness and life of all your thoughts. It +brought back far-distant years, in the strangest, most peaceful way. +I felt myself walking with you in Greenwich Park, and on the seashore +at Sandgate; almost even I seemed a baby, with you bending over me. +Dear Mother, there is surely something uniting us that cannot perish. +I seem so sure of a love which shall last and reunite us, that even +the remembrance, painful as that is, of all my own follies and ill +tempers, cannot shake this faith. When I think of you, and know how +you feel towards me, and have felt for every moment of almost forty +years, it would be too dark to believe that we shall never meet again. +It was from you that I first learnt to think, to feel, to imagine, to +believe; and these powers, which cannot be extinguished, will one day +enter anew into communion with you. I have bought it very dear by the +prospect of losing you in this world,--but since you have been so ill, +everything has seemed to me holier, loftier and more lasting, more +full of hope and final joy. + +"It would be a very great happiness to see you once more even here; +but I do not know if that will be granted to me. But for Susan's +state, I should not hesitate an instant; as it is, my duty seems to be +to remain, and I have no right to repine. There is no sacrifice that +she would not make for me, and it would be too cruel to endanger her +by mere anxiety on my account. Nothing can exceed her sympathy with +my sorrow. But she cannot know, no one can, the recollections of all +you have been and done for me; which now are the most sacred and +deepest, as well as most beautiful, thoughts that abide with me. May +God bless you, dearest Mother. It is much to believe that He feels +for you all that you have ever felt for your children. + + "JOHN STERLING." + +A day or two after this, "on Good Friday, 1843," his Wife got happily +through her confinement, bringing him, he writes, "a stout little +girl, who and the Mother are doing as well as possible." The little +girl still lives and does well; but for the Mother there was another +lot. Till the Monday following she too did altogether well, he +affectionately watching her; but in the course of that day, some +change for the worse was noticed, though nothing to alarm either the +doctors or him; he watched by her bedside all night, still without +alarm; but sent again in the morning, Tuesday morning, for the +doctors,--Who did not seem able to make much of the symptoms. She +appeared weak and low, but made no particular complaint. The London +post meanwhile was announced; Sterling went into another room to learn +what tidings of his Mother it brought him. Returning speedily with a +face which in vain strove to be calm, his Wife asked, How at +Knightsbridge? "My Mother is dead," answered Sterling; "died on +Sunday: She is gone." "Poor old man! " murmured the other, thinking +of old Edward Sterling now left alone in the world; and these were her +own last words: in two hours more she too was dead. In two hours +Mother and Wife were suddenly both snatched away from him. + +"It came with awful suddenness! " writes he to his Clifton friend. +"Still for a short time I had my Susan: but I soon saw that the +medical men were in terror; and almost within half an hour of that +fatal Knightsbridge news, I began to suspect our own pressing danger. +I received her last breath upon my lips. Her mind was much sunk, and +her perceptions slow; but a few minutes before the last, she must have +caught the idea of dissolution; and signed that I should kiss her. +She faltered painfully, 'Yes! yes!'--returned with fervency the +pressure of my lips; and in a few moments her eyes began to fix, her +pulse to cease. She too is gone from me!" It was Tuesday morning, +April 18th, 1843. His Mother had died on the Sunday before. + + +He had loved his excellent kind Mother, as he ought and well might: +in that good heart, in all the wanderings of his own, there had ever +been a shrine of warm pity, of mother's love and blessed soft +affections for him; and now it was closed in the Eternities +forevermore. His poor Life-partner too, his other self, who had +faithfully attended him so long in all his pilgrimings, cheerily +footing the heavy tortuous ways along with him, can follow him no +farther; sinks now at his side: "The rest of your pilgrimings alone, +O Friend,--adieu, adieu!" She too is forever hidden from his eyes; +and he stands, on the sudden, very solitary amid the tumult of fallen +and falling things. "My little baby girl is doing well; poor little +wreck cast upon the sea-beach of life. My children require me tenfold +now. What I shall do, is all confusion and darkness." + +The younger Mrs. Sterling was a true good woman; loyal-hearted, +willing to do well, and struggling wonderfully to do it amid her +languors and infirmities; rescuing, in many ways, with beautiful +female heroism and adroitness, what of fertility their uncertain, +wandering, unfertile way of life still left possible, and cheerily +making the most of it. A genial, pious and harmonious fund of +character was in her; and withal an indolent, half-unconscious force +of intellect, and justness and delicacy of perception, which the +casual acquaintance scarcely gave her credit for. Sterling much +respected her decision in matters literary; often altering and +modifying where her feeling clearly went against him; and in verses +especially trusting to her ear, which was excellent, while he knew his +own to be worth little. I remember her melodious rich plaintive tone +of voice; and an exceedingly bright smile which she sometimes had, +effulgent with sunny gayety and true humor, among other fine +qualities. + +Sterling has lost much in these two hours; how much that has long been +can never again be for him! Twice in one morning, so to speak, has a +mighty wind smitten the corners of his house; and much lies in dismal +ruins round him. + + +CHAPTER VI. +VENTNOR: DEATH. + +In this sudden avalanche of sorrows Sterling, weak and worn as we have +seen, bore up manfully, and with pious valor fronted what had come +upon him. He was not a man to yield to vain wailings, or make +repinings at the unalterable: here was enough to be long mourned +over; but here, for the moment, was very much imperatively requiring +to be done. That evening, he called his children round him; spoke +words of religious admonition and affection to them; said, "He must +now be a Mother as well as Father to them." On the evening of the +funeral, writes Mr. Hare, he bade them good-night, adding these words, +"If I am taken from you, God will take care of you." He had six +children left to his charge, two of them infants; and a dark outlook +ahead of them and him. The good Mrs. Maurice, the children's young +Aunt, present at this time and often afterwards till all ended, was a +great consolation. + + +Falmouth, it may be supposed, had grown a sorrowful place to him, +peopled with haggard memories in his weak state; and now again, as had +been usual with him, change of place suggested itself as a desirable +alleviation;--and indeed, in some sort, as a necessity. He has +"friends here," he admits to himself, "whose kindness is beyond all +price, all description;" but his little children, if anything befell +him, have no relative within two hundred miles. He is now sole +watcher over them; and his very life is so precarious; nay, at any +rate, it would appear, he has to leave Falmouth every spring, or run +the hazard of worse. Once more, what is to be done? Once more,--and +now, as it turned out, for the last time. + +A still gentler climate, greater proximity to London, where his +Brother Anthony now was and most of his friends and interests were: +these considerations recommended Ventnor, in the beautiful +Southeastern corner of the Isle of Wight; where on inquiry an eligible +house was found for sale. The house and its surrounding piece of +ground, improvable both, were purchased; he removed thither in June of +this year 1843; and set about improvements and adjustments on a frank +scale. By the decease of his Mother, he had become rich in money; his +share of the West-India properties having now fallen to him, which, +added to his former incomings, made a revenue he could consider ample +and abundant. Falmouth friends looked lovingly towards him, promising +occasional visits; old Herstmonceux, which he often spoke of +revisiting but never did, was not far off; and London, with all its +resources and remembrances, was now again accessible. He resumed his +work; and had hopes of again achieving something. + +The Poem of _Coeur-de-Lion_ has been already mentioned, and the wider +form and aim it had got since he first took it in hand. It was above +a year before the date of these tragedies and changes, that he had +sent me a Canto, or couple of Cantos, of _Coeur-de-Lion_; loyally +again demanding my opinion, harsh as it had often been on that side. +This time I felt right glad to answer in another tone: "That here was +real felicity and ingenuity, on the prescribed conditions; a +decisively rhythmic quality in this composition; thought and +phraseology actually _dancing_, after a sort. What the plan and scope +of the Work might be, he had not said, and I could not judge; but here +was a light opulence of airy fancy, picturesque conception, vigorous +delineation, all marching on as with cheerful drum and fife, if +without more rich and complicated forms of melody: if a man _would_ +write in metre, this sure enough was the way to try doing it." For +such encouragement from that stinted quarter, Sterling, I doubt not, +was very thankful; and of course it might co-operate with the +inspirations from his Naples Tour to further him a little in this his +now chief task in the way of Poetry; a thought which, among my many +almost pathetic remembrances of contradictions to his Poetic tendency, +is pleasant for me. + +But, on the whole, it was no matter. With or without encouragement, +he was resolute to persevere in Poetry, and did persevere. When I +think now of his modest, quiet steadfastness in this business of +Poetry; how, in spite of friend and foe, he silently persisted, +without wavering, in the form of utterance he had chosen for himself; +and to what length he carried it, and vindicated himself against us +all;--his character comes out in a new light to me, with more of a +certain central inflexibility and noble silent resolution than I had +elsewhere noticed in it. This summer, moved by natural feelings, +which were sanctioned, too, and in a sort sanctified to him, by the +remembered counsel of his late Wife, he printed the _Tragedy of +Strafford_. But there was in the public no contradiction to the hard +vote I had given about it: the little Book fell dead-born; and +Sterling had again to take his disappointment;--which it must be owned +he cheerfully did; and, resolute to try it again and ever again, went +along with his _Coeur-de-Lion_, as if the public had been all with +him. An honorable capacity to stand single against the whole world; +such as all men need, from time to time! After all, who knows +whether, in his overclouded, broken, flighty way of life, incapable of +long hard drudgery, and so shut out from the solid forms of Prose, +this Poetic Form, which he could well learn as he could all forms, was +not the suitablest for him? + +This work of _Coeur-de-Lion_ he prosecuted steadfastly in his new +home; and indeed employed on it henceforth all the available days that +were left him in this world. As was already said, he did not live to +complete it; but some eight Cantos, three or four of which I know to +possess high worth, were finished, before Death intervened, and there +he had to leave it. Perhaps it will yet be given to the public; and +in that case be better received than the others were, by men of +judgment; and serve to put Sterling's Poetic pretensions on a much +truer footing. I can say, that to readers who do prefer a poetic +diet, this ought to be welcome: if you can contrive to love the thing +which is still called "poetry" in these days, here is a decidedly +superior article in that kind,--richer than one of a hundred that you +smilingly consume. + +In this same month of June, 1843, while the house at Ventnor was +getting ready, Sterling was again in London for a few days. Of course +at Knightsbridge, now fallen under such sad change, many private +matters needed to be settled by his Father and Brother and him. +Captain Anthony, now minded to remove with his family to London and +quit the military way of life, had agreed to purchase the big family +house, which he still occupies; the old man, now rid of that +encumbrance, retired to a smaller establishment of his own; came +ultimately to be Anthony's guest, and spent his last days so. He was +much lamed and broken, the half of his old life suddenly torn +away;--and other losses, which he yet knew not of, lay close ahead of +him. In a year or two, the rugged old man, borne down by these +pressures, quite gave way; sank into paralytic and other infirmities; +and was released from life's sorrows, under his son Anthony's roof, in +the fall of 1847.--The house in Knightsbridge was, at the time we now +speak of, empty except of servants; Anthony having returned to Dublin, +I suppose to conclude his affairs there, prior to removal. John +lodged in a Hotel. + +We had our fair share of his company in this visit, as in all the past +ones; but the intercourse, I recollect, was dim and broken, a +disastrous shadow hanging over it, not to be cleared away by effort. +Two American gentlemen, acquaintances also of mine, had been +recommended to him, by Emerson most likely: one morning Sterling +appeared here with a strenuous proposal that we should come to +Knightsbridge, and dine with him and them. Objections, general +dissuasions were not wanting: The empty dark house, such needless +trouble, and the like;--but he answered in his quizzing way, "Nature +herself prompts you, when a stranger comes, to give him a dinner. +There are servants yonder; it is all easy; come; both of you are bound +to come." And accordingly we went. I remember it as one of the +saddest dinners; though Sterling talked copiously, and our friends, +Theodore Parker one of them, were pleasant and distinguished men. All +was so haggard in one's memory, and half consciously in one's +anticipations; sad, as if one had been dining in a will, in the crypt +of a mausoleum. Our conversation was waste and logical, I forget +quite on what, not joyful and harmoniously effusive: Sterling's +silent sadness was painfully apparent through the bright mask he had +bound himself to wear. Withal one could notice now, as on his last +visit, a certain sternness of mood, unknown in better days; as if +strange gorgon-faces of earnest Destiny were more and more rising +round him, and the time for sport were past. He looked always +hurried, abrupt, even beyond wont; and indeed was, I suppose, +overwhelmed in details of business. + +One evening, I remember, he came down hither, designing to have a +freer talk with us. We were all sad enough; and strove rather to +avoid speaking of what might make us sadder. Before any true talk had +been got into, an interruption occurred, some unwelcome arrival; +Sterling abruptly rose; gave me the signal to rise; and we unpolitely +walked away, adjourning to his Hotel, which I recollect was in the +Strand, near Hungerford Market; some ancient comfortable +quaint-looking place, off the street; where, in a good warm queer old +room, the remainder of our colloquy was duly finished. We spoke of +Cromwell, among other things which I have now forgotten; on which +subject Sterling was trenchant, positive, and in some essential points +wrong,--as I said I would convince him some day. "Well, well!" +answered he, with a shake of the head.--We parted before long; bedtime +for invalids being come: he escorted me down certain carpeted +backstairs, and would not be forbidden: we took leave under the dim +skies;--and alas, little as I then dreamt of it, this, so far as I can +calculate, must have been the last time I ever saw him in the world. +Softly as a common evening, the last of the evenings had passed away, +and no other would come for me forevermore. + +Through the summer he was occupied with fitting up his new residence, +selecting governesses, servants; earnestly endeavoring to set his +house in order, on the new footing it had now assumed. Extensive +improvements in his garden and grounds, in which he took due interest +to the last, were also going on. His Brother, and Mr. Maurice his +brother-in-law,--especially Mrs. Maurice the kind sister, faithfully +endeavoring to be as a mother to her poor little nieces,--were +occasionally with him. All hours available for labor on his literary +tasks, he employed, almost exclusively I believe, on _Coeur-de-Lion_; +with what energy, the progress he had made in that Work, and in the +art of Poetic composition generally, amid so many sore impediments, +best testifies. I perceive, his life in general lay heavier on him +than it had done before; his mood of mind is grown more +sombre;--indeed the very solitude of this Ventnor as a place, not to +speak of other solitudes, must have been new and depressing. But he +admits no hypochondria, now or ever; occasionally, though rarely, even +flashes of a kind of wild gayety break through. He works steadily at +his task, with all the strength left him; endures the past as he may, +and makes gallant front against the world. "I am going on quietly +here, rather than happily," writes he to his friend Newman; "sometimes +quite helpless, not from distinct illness, but from sad thoughts and a +ghastly dreaminess. The heart is gone out of my life. My children, +however, are doing well; and the place is cheerful and mild." + +From Letters of this period I might select some melancholy enough; but +will prefer to give the following one (nearly the last I can give), as +indicative of a less usual temper:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "VENTNOR, 7th December, 1843. + +"MY DEAR CARLYLE,--My Irish Newspaper was _not_ meant as a hint that I +wanted a Letter. It contained an absurd long Advertisement,--some +project for regenerating human knowledge, &c. &c.; to which I prefixed +my private mark (a blot), thinking that you might be pleased to know +of a fellow-laborer somewhere in Tipperary. + +"Your Letter, like the Scriptural oil,--(they had no patent lamps +then, and used the best oil, 7s. per gallon),--has made my face to +shine. There is but one person in the world, I shall not tell you +who, from whom a Letter would give me so much pleasure. It would be +nearly as good at Pekin, in the centre of the most enlightened +Mandarins; but here at Ventnor, where there are few Mandarins and no +enlightenment,--fountains in the wilderness, even were they +miraculous, are nothing compared with your handwriting. Yet it is sad +that you should be so melancholy. I often think that though Mercury +was the pleasanter fellow, and probably the happier, Saturn was the +greater god;--rather cannibal or so, but one excuses it in him, as in +some other heroes one knows of. + +"It is, as you say, your destiny to write about Cromwell: and you +will make a book of him, at which the ears of our grandchildren will +tingle;--and as one may hope that the ears of human nature will be +growing longer and longer, the tingling will be proportionately +greater than we are accustomed to. Do what you can, I fear there will +be little gain from the Royalists. There is something very small +about the biggest of them that I have ever fallen in with, unless you +count old Hobbes a Royalist. + +"Curious to see that you have them exactly preserved in the Country +Gentlemen of our day; while of the Puritans not a trace remains except +in History. Squirism had already, in that day, become the _caput +mortuum_ that it is now; and has therefore, like other mummies, been +able to last. What was opposed to it was the Life of +Puritanism,--then on the point of disappearing; and it too has left +its mummy at Exeter Hall on the platform and elsewhere. One must go +back to the Middle Ages to see Squirism as rampant and vivacious as +Biblicism was in the Seventeenth Century: and I suppose our modern +Country Gentlemen are about as near to what the old Knights and Barons +were who fought the Crusades, as our modern Evangelicals to the +fellows who sought the Lord by the light of their own pistol-shots. + +"Those same Crusades are now pleasant matter for me. You remember, or +perhaps you do not, a thing I once sent you about Coeur-de-Lion. Long +since, I settled to make the Cantos you saw part of a larger Book; and +worked at it, last autumn and winter, till I had a bad illness. I am +now at work on it again; and go full sail, like _my_ hero. There are +six Cantos done, roughly, besides what you saw. I have struck out +most of the absurdest couplets, and given the whole a higher though +still sportive tone. It is becoming a kind of _Odyssey_, with a +laughing and Christian Achilles for hero. One may manage to wrap, in +that chivalrous brocade, many things belonging to our Time, and +capable of interesting it. The thing is not bad; but will require +great labor. Only it is labor that I thoroughly like; and which keeps +the maggots out of one's brain, until their time. + +"I have never spoken to you, never been able to speak to you, of the +change in my life,--almost as great, one fancies, as one's own death. +Even now, although it seems as if I had so much to say, I cannot. If +one could imagine--... But it is no use; I cannot write wisely on +this matter. I suppose no human being was ever devoted to another +more entirely than she; and that makes the change not less but more +bearable. It seems as if she could not be gone quite; and that indeed +is my faith. + +"Mr. James, your New-England friend, was here only for a few days; I +saw him several times, and liked him. They went, on the 24th of last +month, back to London,--or so purposed,--because there is no pavement +here for him to walk on. I want to know where he is, and thought I +should be able to learn from you. I gave him a Note for Mill, who +perhaps may have seen him. I think this is all at present from, + + "Yours, + "JOHN STERLING." + +Of his health, all this while, we had heard little definite; and +understood that he was very quiet and careful; in virtue of which +grand improvement we vaguely considered all others would follow. Once +let him learn well to be _slow_ as the common run of men are, would +not all be safe and well? Nor through the winter, or the cold spring +months, did bad news reach us; perhaps less news of any kind than had +been usual, which seemed to indicate a still and wholesome way of life +and work. Not till "April 4th, 1844," did the new alarm occur: again +on some slight accident, the breaking of a blood-vessel; again +prostration under dangerous sickness, from which this time he never +rose. + +There had been so many sudden failings and happy risings again in our +poor Sterling's late course of health, we had grown so accustomed to +mingle blame of his impetuosity with pity for his sad overthrows, we +did not for many weeks quite realize to ourselves the stern fact that +here at length had the peculiar fall come upon us,--the last of all +these falls! This brittle life, which had so often held together and +victoriously rallied under pressures and collisions, could not rally +always, and must one time be shivered. It was not till the summer +came and no improvement; and not even then without lingering glimmers +of hope against hope, that I fairly had to own what had now come, what +was now day by day sternly advancing with the steadiness of Time. + +From the first, the doctors spoke despondently; and Sterling himself +felt well that there was no longer any chance of life. He had often +said so, in his former illnesses, and thought so, yet always till now +with some tacit grain of counter-hope; he had never clearly felt so as +now: Here _is_ the end; the great change is now here!--Seeing how it +was, then, he earnestly gathered all his strength to do this last act +of his tragedy, as he had striven to do the others, in a pious and +manful manner. As I believe we can say he did; few men in any time +_more_ piously or manfully. For about six months he sat looking +steadfastly, at all moments, into the eyes of Death; he too who had +eyes to _see_ Death and the Terrors and Eternities; and surely it was +with perfect courage and piety, and valiant simplicity of heart, that +he bore himself, and did and thought and suffered, in this trying +predicament, more terrible than the usual death of men. All strength +left to him he still employed in working: day by day the end came +nearer, but day by day also some new portion of his adjustments was +completed, by some small stage his task was nearer done. His domestic +and other affairs, of all sorts, he settled to the last item. Of his +own Papers he saved a few, giving brief pertinent directions about +them; great quantities, among which a certain Autobiography begun some +years ago at Clifton, he ruthlessly burnt, judging that the best. To +his friends he left messages, memorials of books: I have a _Gough's +Camden_, and other relics, which came to me in that way, and are among +my sacred possessions. The very Letters of his friends he sorted and +returned; had each friend's Letters made into a packet, sealed with +black, and duly addressed for delivery when the time should come. + +At an early period of his illness, all visitors had of course been +excluded, except his most intimate ones: before long, so soon as the +end became apparent, he took leave even of his Father, to avoid +excitements and intolerable emotions; and except his Brother and the +Maurices, who were generally about him coming and going, none were +admitted. This latter form of life, I think, continued for above +three months. Men were still working about his grounds, of whom he +took some charge; needful works, great and small, let them not pause +on account of him. He still rose from bed; had still some portion of +his day which he could spend in his Library. Besides business there, +he read a good deal,--earnest books; the Bible, most earnest of books, +his chief favorite. He still even wrote a good deal. To his eldest +Boy, now Mr. Newman's ward, who had been removed to the Maurices' +since the beginning of this illness, he addressed, every day or two, +sometimes daily, for eight or nine weeks, a Letter, of general +paternal advice and exhortation; interspersing sparingly, now and +then, such notices of his own feelings and condition as could be +addressed to a boy. These Letters, I have lately read: they give, +beyond any he has written, a noble image of the intrinsic +Sterling;--the same face we had long known; but painted now as on the +azure of Eternity, serene, victorious, divinely sad; the dusts and +extraneous disfigurements imprinted on it by the world, now washed +away. One little Excerpt, not the best, but the fittest for its +neighborhood here, will be welcome to the reader:-- + + "_To Master Edward C. Sterling, London_. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 29th June, 1844. + +"MY DEAR BOY,--We have been going on here as quietly as possible, with +no event that I know of. There is nothing except books to occupy me. +But you may suppose that my thoughts often move towards you, and that +I fancy what you may be doing in the great City,--the greatest on the +Earth,--where I spent so many years of my life. I first saw London +when I was between eight and nine years old, and then lived in or near +it for the whole of the next ten, and more there than anywhere else +for seven years longer. Since then I have hardly ever been a year +without seeing the place, and have often lived in it for a +considerable time. There I grew from childhood to be a man. My +little Brothers and Sisters, and since, my Mother, died and are buried +there. There I first saw your Mamma, and was there married. It seems +as if, in some strange way, London were a part of Me or I of London. +I think of it often, not as full of noise and dust and confusion, but +as something silent, grand and everlasting. + +"When I fancy how you are walking in the same streets, and moving +along the same river, that I used to watch so intently, as if in a +dream, when younger than you are,--I could gladly burst into tears, +not of grief, but with a feeling that there is no name for. +Everything is so wonderful, great and holy, so sad and yet not bitter, +so full of Death and so bordering on Heaven. Can you understand +anything of this? If you can, you will begin to know what a serious +matter our Life is; how unworthy and stupid it is to trifle it away +without heed; what a wretched, insignificant, worthless creature any +one comes to be, who does not as soon as possible bend his whole +strength, as in stringing a stiff bow, to doing whatever task lies +first before him.... + +"We have a mist here to-day from the sea. It reminds me of that which +I used to see from my house in St, Vincent, rolling over the great +volcano and the mountains round it. I used to look at it from our +windows with your Mamma, and you a little baby in her arms. + +"This Letter is not so well written as I could wish, but I hope you +will be able to read it. + + "Your affectionate Papa, + "JOHN STERLING." + +These Letters go from June 9th to August 2d, at which latter date +vacation-time arrived, and the Boy returned to him. The Letters are +preserved; and surely well worth preserving. + +In this manner he wore the slow doomed months away. Day after day his +little period of Library went on waning, shrinking into less and less; +but I think it never altogether ended till the general end came.--For +courage, for active audacity we had all known Sterling; but such a +fund of mild stoicism, of devout patience and heroic composure, we did +not hitherto know in him. His sufferings, his sorrows, all his +unutterabilities in this slow agony, he held right manfully down; +marched loyally, as at the bidding of the Eternal, into the dread +Kingdoms, and no voice of weakness was heard from him. Poor noble +Sterling, he had struggled so high and gained so little here! But +this also he did gain, to be a brave man; and it was much. + +Summer passed into Autumn: Sterling's earthly businesses, to the last +detail of them, were now all as good as done: his strength too was +wearing to its end, his daily turn in the Library shrunk now to a +span. He had to hold himself as if in readiness for the great voyage +at any moment. One other Letter I must give; not quite the last +message I had from Sterling, but the last that can be inserted here: +a brief Letter, fit to be forever memorable to the receiver of it:-- + + "_To Thomas Carlyle, Esq., Chelsea, London_. + "HILLSIDE, VENTNOR, 10th August, 1844. + +MY DEAR CARLYLE,--For the first time for many months it seems possible +to send you a few words; merely, however, for Remembrance and +Farewell. On higher matters there is nothing to say. I tread the +common road into the great darkness, without any thought of fear, and +with very much of hope. Certainty indeed I have none. With regard to +You and Me I cannot begin to write; having nothing for it but to keep +shut the lid of those secrets with all the iron weights that are in my +power. Towards me it is still more true than towards England that no +man has been and done like you. Heaven bless you! If I can lend a +hand when THERE, that will not be wanting. It is all very strange, +but not one hundredth part so sad as it seems to the standers-by. + +"Your Wife knows my mind towards her, and will believe it without +asseverations. + + "Yours to the last, + "JOHN STERLING." + +It was a bright Sunday morning when this letter came to me: if in the +great Cathedral of Immensity I did no worship that day, the fault +surely was my own. Sterling affectionately refused to see me; which +also was kind and wise. And four days before his death, there are +some stanzas of verse for me, written as if in star-fire and immortal +tears; which are among my sacred possessions, to be kept for myself +alone. + +His business with the world was done; the one business now to await +silently what may lie in other grander worlds. "God is great," he was +wont to say: "God is great." The Maurices were now constantly near +him; Mrs. Maurice assiduously watching over him. On the evening of +Wednesday the 18th of September, his Brother, as he did every two or +three days, came down; found him in the old temper, weak in strength +but not very sensibly weaker; they talked calmly together for an hour; +then Anthony left his bedside, and retired for the night, not +expecting any change. But suddenly, about eleven o'clock, there came +a summons and alarm: hurrying to his Brother's room, he found his +Brother dying; and in a short while more the faint last struggle was +ended, and all those struggles and strenuous often-foiled endeavors of +eight-and-thirty years lay hushed in death. + + +CHAPTER VII. +CONCLUSION. + +Sterling was of rather slim but well-boned wiry figure, perhaps an +inch or two from six feet in height; of blonde complexion, without +color, yet not pale or sickly; dark-blonde hair, copious enough, which +he usually wore short. The general aspect of him indicated freedom, +perfect spontaneity, with a certain careless natural grace. In his +apparel, you could notice, he affected dim colors, easy shapes; +cleanly always, yet even in this not fastidious or conspicuous: he +sat or stood, oftenest, in loose sloping postures; walked with long +strides, body carelessly bent, head flung eagerly forward, right hand +perhaps grasping a cane, and rather by the middle to swing it, than by +the end to use it otherwise. An attitude of frank, cheerful +impetuosity, of hopeful speed and alacrity; which indeed his +physiognomy, on all sides of it, offered as the chief expression. +Alacrity, velocity, joyous ardor, dwelt in the eyes too, which were of +brownish gray, full of bright kindly life, rapid and frank rather than +deep or strong. A smile, half of kindly impatience, half of real +mirth, often sat on his face. The head was long; high over the +vertex; in the brow, of fair breadth, but not high for such a man. + +In the voice, which was of good tenor sort, rapid and strikingly +distinct, powerful too, and except in some of the higher notes +harmonious, there was a clear-ringing _metallic_ tone,--which I often +thought was wonderfully physiognomic. A certain splendor, beautiful, +but not the deepest or the softest, which I could call a splendor as +of burnished metal,--fiery valor of heart, swift decisive insight and +utterance, then a turn for brilliant elegance, also for ostentation, +rashness, &c. &c.,--in short, a flash as of clear-glancing +sharp-cutting steel, lay in the whole nature of the man, in his heart +and in his intellect, marking alike the excellence and the limits of +them both. His laugh, which on light occasions was ready and +frequent, had in it no great depth of gayety, or sense for the +ludicrous in men or things; you might call it rather a good smile +become vocal than a deep real laugh: with his whole man I never saw +him laugh. A clear sense of the humorous he had, as of most other +things; but in himself little or no true humor;--nor did he attempt +that side of things. To call him deficient in sympathy would seem +strange, him whose radiances and resonances went thrilling over all +the world, and kept him in brotherly contact with all: but I may say +his sympathies dwelt rather with the high and sublime than with the +low or ludicrous; and were, in any field, rather light, wide and +lively, than deep, abiding or great. + +There is no Portrait of him which tolerably resembles. The miniature +Medallion, of which Mr. Hare has given an Engraving, offers us, with +no great truth in physical details, one, and not the best, superficial +expression of his face, as if that with vacuity had been what the face +contained; and even that Mr. Hare's engraver has disfigured into the +nearly or the utterly irrecognizable. Two Pencil-sketches, which no +artist could approve of, hasty sketches done in some social hour, one +by his friend Spedding, one by Banim the Novelist, whom he slightly +knew and had been kind to, tell a much truer story so far as they go: +of these his Brother has engravings; but these also I must suppress as +inadequate for strangers. + + +Nor in the way of Spiritual Portraiture does there, after so much +writing and excerpting, anything of importance remain for me to say. +John Sterling and his Life in this world were--such as has been +already said. In purity of character, in the so-called moralities, in +all manner of proprieties of conduct, so as tea-tables and other human +tribunals rule them, he might be defined as perfect, according to the +world's pattern: in these outward tangible respects the world's +criticism of him must have been praise and that only. An honorable +man, and good citizen; discharging, with unblamable correctness, all +functions and duties laid on him by the customs (_mores_) of the +society he lived in,--with correctness and something more. In all +these particulars, a man perfectly _moral_, or of approved virtue +according to the rules. + +Nay in the far more essential tacit virtues, which are not marked on +stone tables, or so apt to be insisted on by human creatures over tea +or elsewhere,--in clear and perfect fidelity to Truth wherever found, +in childlike and soldier-like, pious and valiant loyalty to the +Highest, and what of good and evil that might send him,--he excelled +among good men. The joys and the sorrows of his lot he took with true +simplicity and acquiescence. Like a true son, not like a miserable +mutinous rebel, he comported himself in this Universe. Extremity of +distress--and surely his fervid temper had enough of contradiction in +this world--could not tempt him into impatience at any time. By no +chance did you ever hear from him a whisper of those mean repinings, +miserable arraignings and questionings of the Eternal Power, such as +weak souls even well disposed will sometimes give way to in the +pressure of their despair; to the like of this he never yielded, or +showed the least tendency to yield;--which surely was well on his +part. For the Eternal Power, I still remark, will not answer the like +of this, but silently and terribly accounts it impious, blasphemous +and damnable, and now as heretofore will visit it as such. Not a +rebel but a son, I said; willing to suffer when Heaven said, Thou +shalt;--and withal, what is perhaps rarer in such a combination, +willing to rejoice also, and right cheerily taking the good that was +sent, whensoever or in whatever form it came. + +A pious soul we may justly call him; devoutly submissive to the will +of the Supreme in all things: the highest and sole essential form +which Religion can assume in man, and without which all forms of +religion are a mockery and a delusion in man. Doubtless, in so clear +and filial a heart there must have dwelt the perennial feeling of +silent worship; which silent feeling, as we have seen, he was eager +enough to express by all good ways of utterance; zealously adopting +such appointed forms and creeds as the dignitaries of the World had +fixed upon and solemnly named recommendable; prostrating his heart in +such Church, by such accredited rituals and seemingly fit or half-fit +methods, as his poor time and country had to offer him,--not rejecting +the said methods till they stood convicted of palpable unfitness and +then doing it right gently withal, rather letting them drop as +pitiably dead for him, than angrily hurling them out of doors as +needing to be killed. By few Englishmen of his epoch had the thing +called Church of England been more loyally appealed to as a spiritual +mother. + +And yet, as I said before, it may be questioned whether piety, what we +call devotion or worship, was the principle deepest in him. In spite +of his Coleridge discipleship, and his once headlong operations +following thereon, I used to judge that his piety was prompt and pure +rather than great or intense; that, on the whole, religious devotion +was not the deepest element of him. His reverence was ardent and +just, ever ready for the thing or man that deserved revering, or +seemed to deserve it: but he was of too joyful, light and hoping a +nature to go to the depths of that feeling, much more to dwell +perennially in it. He had no fear in his composition; terror and awe +did not blend with his respect of anything. In no scene or epoch +could he have been a Church Saint, a fanatic enthusiast, or have worn +out his life in passive martyrdom, sitting patient in his grim +coal-mine, looking at the "three ells" of Heaven high overhead there. +In sorrow he would not dwell; all sorrow he swiftly subdued, and shook +away from him. How could you have made an Indian Fakir of the Greek +Apollo, "whose bright eye lends brightness, and never yet saw a +shadow"?--I should say, not religious reverence, rather artistic +admiration was the essential character of him: a fact connected with +all other facts in the physiognomy of his life and self, and giving a +tragic enough character to much of the history he had among us. + +Poor Sterling, he was by nature appointed for a Poet, then,--a Poet +after his sort, or recognizer and delineator of the Beautiful; and not +for a Priest at all? Striving towards the sunny heights, out of such +a level and through such an element as ours in these days is, he had +strange aberrations appointed him, and painful wanderings amid the +miserable gaslights, bog-fires, dancing meteors and putrid +phosphorescences which form the guidance of a young human soul at +present! Not till after trying all manner of sublimely illuminated +places, and finding that the basis of them was putridity, artificial +gas and quaking bog, did he, when his strength was all done, discover +his true sacred hill, and passionately climb thither while life was +fast ebbing!--A tragic history, as all histories are; yet a gallant, +brave and noble one, as not many are. It is what, to a radiant son of +the Muses, and bright messenger of the harmonious Wisdoms, this poor +world--if he himself have not strength enough, and _inertia_ enough, +and amid his harmonious eloquences silence enough--has provided at +present. Many a high-striving, too hasty soul, seeking guidance +towards eternal excellence from the official Black-artists, and +successful Professors of political, ecclesiastical, philosophical, +commercial, general and particular Legerdemain, will recognize his own +history in this image of a fellow-pilgrim's. + +Over-haste was Sterling's continual fault; over-haste, and want of the +due strength,--alas, mere want of the due _inertia_ chiefly; which is +so common a gift for most part; and proves so inexorably needful +withal! But he was good and generous and true; joyful where there was +joy, patient and silent where endurance was required of him; shook +innumerable sorrows, and thick-crowding forms of pain, gallantly away +from him; fared frankly forward, and with scrupulous care to tread on +no one's toes. True, above all, one may call him; a man of perfect +veracity in thought, word and deed. Integrity towards all men,--nay +integrity had ripened with him into chivalrous generosity; there was +no guile or baseness anywhere found in him. Transparent as crystal; +he could not hide anything sinister, if such there had been to hide. +A more perfectly transparent soul I have never known. It was +beautiful, to read all those interior movements; the little shades of +affectations, ostentations; transient spurts of anger, which never +grew to the length of settled spleen: all so naive, so childlike, the +very faults grew beautiful to you. + +And so he played his part among us, and has now ended it: in this +first half of the Nineteenth Century, such was the shape of human +destinies the world and he made out between them. He sleeps now, in +the little burying-ground of Bonchurch; bright, ever-young in the +memory of others that must grow old; and was honorably released from +his toils before the hottest of the day. + + +All that remains, in palpable shape, of John Sterling's activities in +this world are those Two poor Volumes; scattered fragments gathered +from the general waste of forgotten ephemera by the piety of a friend: +an inconsiderable memorial; not pretending to have achieved greatness; +only disclosing, mournfully, to the more observant, that a promise of +greatness was there. Like other such lives, like all lives, this is a +tragedy; high hopes, noble efforts; under thickening difficulties and +impediments, ever-new nobleness of valiant effort;--and the result +death, with conquests by no means corresponding. A life which cannot +challenge the world's attention; yet which does modestly solicit it, +and perhaps on clear study will be found to reward it. + +On good evidence let the world understand that here was a remarkable +soul born into it; who, more than others, sensible to its influences, +took intensely into him such tint and shape of feature as the world +had to offer there and then; fashioning himself eagerly by whatsoever +of noble presented itself; participating ardently in the world's +battle, and suffering deeply in its bewilderments;--whose +Life-pilgrimage accordingly is an emblem, unusually significant, of +the world's own during those years of his. A man of infinite +susceptivity; who caught everywhere, more than others, the color of +the element he lived in, the infection of all that was or appeared +honorable, beautiful and manful in the tendencies of his Time;--whose +history therefore is, beyond others, emblematic of that of his Time. + +In Sterling's Writings and Actions, were they capable of being well +read, we consider that there is for all true hearts, and especially +for young noble seekers, and strivers towards what is highest, a +mirror in which some shadow of themselves and of their immeasurably +complex arena will profitably present itself. Here also is one +encompassed and struggling even as they now are. This man also had +said to himself, not in mere Catechism-words, but with all his +instincts, and the question thrilled in every nerve of him, and pulsed +in every drop of his blood: "What is the chief end of man? Behold, I +too would live and work as beseems a denizen of this Universe, a child +of the Highest God. By what means is a noble life still possible for +me here? Ye Heavens and thou Earth, oh, how?"--The history of this +long-continued prayer and endeavor, lasting in various figures for +near forty years, may now and for some time coming have something to +say to men! + + +Nay, what of men or of the world? Here, visible to myself, for some +while, was a brilliant human presence, distinguishable, honorable and +lovable amid the dim common populations; among the million little +beautiful, once more a beautiful human soul: whom I, among others, +recognized and lovingly walked with, while the years and the hours +were. Sitting now by his tomb in thoughtful mood, the new times bring +a new duty for me. "Why write the Life of Sterling?" I imagine I had +a commission higher than the world's, the dictate of Nature herself, +to do what is now done. _Sic prosit_. + + +NOTES: +_______________________________ +[1] _John Sterling's Essays and Tales, with Life_ by Archdeacon Hare. +Parker; London, 1848. +[2] _Commons Journals_, iv. 15 (l0th January, 1644-5); and again v. +307 &c., 498 (18th September, 1647-15th March, 1647-8). +[3] _Literary Chronicle_, New Series; London, Saturday, 21 June, 1828, +Art. II. +[4] "The Letters of Vetus from March 10th to May 10th, 1812" (second +edition, London, 1812): Ditto, "Part III., with a Preface and Notes" +(ibid. 1814). +[5] Here, in a Note, is the tragic little Register, with what +indications for us may lie in it:-- + (l.) Robert Sterling died, 4th June, 1815, at Queen Square, in + his fourth year (John being now nine). + (2.) Elizabeth died, 12th March, 1818, at Blackfriars Road, in + her second year. + (3.) Edward, 30th March, 1818 (same place, same month and year), + in his ninth. + (4.) Hester, 21st July, 1818 (three months later), at Blackheath, + in her eleventh. + (5.) Catherine Hester Elizabeth, 16th January, 1821, in Seymour + Street. +[6] _History of the English Universities_. (Translated from the +German.) +[7] Mrs. Anthony Sterling, very lately Miss Charlotte Baird. +[8] _Biography_, by Hare, pp. xvi-xxvi. +[9] _Biography_, by Mr. Hare, p. xli. +[10] Hare, pp. xliii-xlvi. +[11] Hare, xlviii, liv, lv. +[12] Hare, p. lvi. +[13] P. lxxviii. +[14] Given in Hare (ii. 188-193). +[15] Came out, as will soon appear, in _Blackwood_ (February, 1838). +[16] "_Hotel de l'Europe, Berlin_," added in Mrs. Sterling's hand. +[17] Hare, ii. 96-167. +[18] Ib. i. 129, 188. +[19] Here in a Note they are, if they can be important to anybody. The +marks of interrogation, attached to some Names as not yet consulted or +otherwise questionable, are in the Secretary's hand:-- + J. D. Acland, Esq. H. Malden, Esq. + Hon. W. B. Baring. J. S. Mill, Esq. + Rev. J. W. Blakesley. R. M. Milnes, Esq. + W. Boxall, Esq. R. Monteith, Esq. + T. Carlyle, Esq. S. A. O'Brien, Esq. + Hon. R. Cavendish (?) Sir F. Palgrave (?) + H. N. Coleridge, Esq. (?) W. F. Pollok, Esq. + J. W. Colville, Esq. Philip Pusey, Esq. + Allan Cunningham, Esq. (?) A. Rio, Esq. + Rev. H. Donn. C. Romilly, Esq. + F. H. Doyle, Esq. James Spedding, Esq. + C. L. Eastlake, Esq. Rev. John Sterling. + Alex. Ellice, Esq. Alfred Tennyson, Esq. + J. F. Elliott, Esq. Rev. Connop Thirlwall. + Copley Fielding, Esq. Rev. W. Hepworth Thompson. + Rev. J. C. Hare. Edward Twisleton, Esq. + Sir Edmund Head (?) G. S. Venables, Esq. + D. D. Heath, Esq. Samuel Wood, Esq. + G. C. Lewis, Esq. Rev. T. Worsley. + H. L. Lushington, Esq. + The Lord Lyttleton. James Spedding, _Secretary_. + C. Macarthy, Esq. 8th August, 1838. +[20] Hare, p. cxviii. +[21] Of Sterling himself, I suppose. +[22] Hare, ii. p. 252. +[23] _Poems by John Sterling_. London (Moxon), 1839. +[24] _The Election: a Poem, in Seven Books_. London, Murray, 1841. +[25] Pp. 7, 8. +[26] Pp. 89-93. +[27] Sister of Mrs. Strachey and Mrs. Buller: Sir John Louis was now +in a high Naval post at Malta. +[28] Long Letter to his Father: Naples, 3d May, 1842. +[29] Death of her Mother, four mouths before. (_Note of_ 1870.] + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of Life of John Sterling, by Carlyle + diff --git a/old/old/strlg10.zip b/old/old/strlg10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1dc05ca --- /dev/null +++ b/old/old/strlg10.zip |