"Loud, loud were the shouts of his boisterous mirth,
As he scatter'd dismay o'er the smiling earth;
The clouds were rent as the storm was driven;
He howl'd and laugh'd in the face of heaven."
The temperament and inclination cherished by the love of song, naturally
seek the companionship of similar tastes and congenial enjoyments. Thus,
in the midst of the turmoil and distractions of orders and sales,
invoices and shipments, Mr Bennoch has always found leisure to pay his
court to literature, and cultivate the society of those whose talents
adorn it. Conjoined with this, a skilful appreciation of works of art
has led him to intimate relations with many of the leading artists of
our time. The interesting Biography of Haydon affords a glimpse at the
character of some of these relations. Wherever disappointed and however
distressed, poor Haydon "claimed kindred here, and had his claim
allowed." To his mercantile friend in Wood Street he never applied in
vain. To a very considerable extent his troubles were solaced, his
difficulties surmounted, his dark despair changed to golden hope, and
the threat of the gaol brightened into another free effort of genius to
redeem itself from the thralls of law and grinding oppression. Had his
generous friend not been absent from England at the fatal time, it is
very probable that the dreadful catastrophe would have been averted; but
he only landed from the continent to receive the shocking intelligence
that all was over. Friendship could but shed the unavailing tear, but it
did not forget or neglect the dear family interests for which (in some
measure) the despairing sacrifice was made. It is to be hoped that such
an unhappy event has been somewhat compensated by the social intercourse
with talent ever hospitably cherished, not only in his pleasant home in
Blackheath Park, but amid the precious hours that could be snatched from
most active engagements in Wood Street. At either, authors and artists
are constantly met; and the brief snatches alluded to are often so
heartily occupied as to rival, if not surpass, the slower motions of the
more prolonged entertainments. Both may boast of "the feast of reason
and the flow of soul," and a crowning increase to these enjoyments is
derived from the circumstance, that Mr Bennoch's connexions with the
Continent, and more especially with the United States, contribute very
frequently to engraft upon these "re-unions" a variety of eminent
foreigners and intellectual citizens of America. It is a trite saying,
that few men can be good or useful abroad who are not happy at home. Mr
Bennoch has been fortunate in wedded life. She who is the theme of many
of his sweetest and most touching verses, is a woman whom a poet may
love and a wise man consult; in whom the sociable gentleman finds an
ever cheerful companion, and the husband a loving and devoted friend.
Among the latest of Mr Bennoch's movements in literary affairs, may be
mentioned his services on behalf of the late estimable Mary Russell
Mitford. Through his intervention the public was gratified by the issue
of "Atherton," and other tales, and also by a collected edition of her
dramatic works, which she dedicated to him as an earnest of her
affectionate regard.
Mr Bennoch is a member of the Society of Arts, the Royal Society of
Antiquaries, the Royal Society of Literature, and the Scottish Literary
Institute.