Although he left Ireland in pique, and although he gave his friends the
impression that he was leaving it for ever, it is doubtful if Lever had
arrived at any definite decision concerning his future movements when he
set out from Templeogue. It may be judged from the letter which he wrote
to Spencer upon his arrival in Brussels that he had at the back of his
mind an idea of returning, after a brief period of exile, to his native
country.
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Brussels, _Feb._ 28, 1845.
“On my way through London I made certain publishing arrangements which
can be fulfilled either by a residence abroad or in Ireland; and it is
a matter of grave debate with what to decide upon. Meanwhile, I should
like the power to resume my tenure of Templeogue, and would be greatly
gratified if you could make such an arrangement with Gogarty* that I
could hold on till the end of June or July on payment of a certain sum
(say £50), and in the event of returning continue my tenancy as
before. Should Gogarty make any arrangement to this purpose, pray then
communicate with Bennett the auctioneer, and do not let him sell the oak
or anything else, save the old lace given to him by my wife. If there
be a great difficulty with Gogarty, I should rather retain the house
and let it for the season in the event of my not returning. The other
alternative of being turned out of a place which suits me so well [? is
hateful].
* The landlord of Templeogue House.
“We have, _malgré_ two stormy nights at sea, [? progressed] admirably.
The children are in great health and spirits, and enjoying their old
haunts here in perfect ecstasies.
“The weather here is cold beyond anything. Snow and ice everywhere.
Stoves and fur coats are able for it, however, and the elasticity of the
air is actual champagne after the muddy small beer of a Dublin day.”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Hôtel Britannique, Brussels, _March 22_,1845.
“I am regularly installed here in capital quarters at the Hôtel
Britannique, with every comfort in the midst of much attentions and
civilities on all sides. The Rhine is frozen and the highroads ten or
twelve feet deep in snow, so that further travelling is for the present
out of the question, nor do I much regret it. We are well housed,
fed, and entertained--away from the worry of Curry & Co., and at least
enjoying tranquillity--if not deriving other benefits....
“There has been great delay about my book, ‘St Patrick’s Eve,’ but I
hope by the time this reaches you, you will have received a copy. I am
anxious you should like it, because, apart from any literary [? vanity],
I have taken the opportunity of saying my _mot sur l’Irelande_ which,
whether unfounded or true, is at least sincere.”
Pleasantly situated and infected with the gaiety of life in a
Continental capital, Lever quickly forgot his editorial worries. The
calumnies, the neglect, and the hard knocks which he had suffered at the
hands of political and journalistic opponents in Ireland were forgotten
or forgiven, and doubtless it was while he was enjoying this charitable
and happy frame of mind that he penned his “Word at Parting,” which was
printed in the August number of ‘The Dublin University.’ (A publishers
note accompanied the “Word,” explaining that it should have appeared in
the issue for July.) He proclaims: “I abdicate at goodwill with all
my fellow-labourers, and for reasons so purely personal that I feel it
would be an act of egotism to obtrude them on public notice.” Then he
goes on to say that he would have left the stage in silence,--there was
not infrequently a hint of the theatre about his sayings and doings,--if
he did not consider that his silence might be regarded as an act of
ingratitude to a public who had contributed so much to his happiness,
and who were so dear to his memory.
_To the Rev. John Lever._
“Brussels, _May_ 18, 1846.
“Etienne [or Steeni] has just arrived safely with all his menagerie in
good condition,--not even a scratch on the horses,--and his newly-bought
phaeton [? is] a perfect bijou, and when harnessed with my two new
ponies, a perfect park equipage, and already the envy of Belgium and the
Belgians.
“Will you think me a very shabby fellow if I ask you to give me back
a gift? I would not make the request for myself or mine, but I am
differently circumstanced at this moment. Sir Hamilton Seymour, whose
kindness to me is hourly and increasing, has asked me to initiate him
into the art or mystery of equestrianising his nursery, and even gone so
far as to beg me to get him a pony. Will you give me Prince for him? I
would not, as I have said, ask him for myself, but there are obligations
which really weary by repetition, and I, who have not found too many
such friends in the world, begin to feel a kind of depression at being
the recipient of bounties. Pray, then, forgive me, and don’t think me
the meanest fellow in the world.
“If I am not asking more than I dare, will you send the beastie to
Dublin and have him shipped--Saturday morning--by _long sea_ for
London, where Mr Pearce will meet him on landing, and take care of him.
I am ashamed (I cannot say more or less) of all this, but I own to you I
feel I am on safe ground that you will not judge me unfairly or harshly.
‘I’m in a dead fix, and that’s a fact,’ as the Yankees say. It is rather
of consequence that he should be sent off by the Saturday’s Dublin
Packet, because the Antwerp boat leaves London on Thursday morning, and
if the pony were not despatched by that day he should stay a week in
London. Smith, the gardener at Temple-ogue, would assist in getting
him comfortably installed by giving one of the sailors 10s. to mind him
during the voyage. He could be cared for--hay and bran being of course
provided....
“I shall write a line to Saunders by this post to assist so far as
regards payment of various expenses, land and sea. The beastie should be
well muffled up against cold.
“I have only one word to add. If all this be impracticable, difficult,
or impossible, get Dycer to buy me the smallest, roughest, most shelty,
‘Princely’ pony that can be had. I don’t care if he costs a little more
than a horse-fancier would say was his value. £10 or £15 I’ll give if
necessary.”
After a pleasant experience of entertaining and of being entertained in
Brussels, after a round of visits to salons and to picture-galleries,
excursions to Waterloo and elsewhere, Lever decided to set out upon a
tour through Belgium and up the Rhine. He was accompanied by the full
strength of his household, and about the middle of June he bade good-bye
once more to Brussels.
His first halting-place of importance was Bonn.
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Hotel bellevue, Bonn, _June_ 24, 1845.
“I have certainly the gift of what the French call the _mémoire de
l’escalier_, or the faculty of remembering on the stairs what should
have been said in the drawing-room....
“I am gaining in health and spirits and losing in flesh and depression,
wellnigh down to 12 stone (_vice_ 14 1/2), and I can exercise from
morning till night without feeling the slightest fatigue, and eat of
everything most sour, greasy, and German, and never know the penalty of
indigestion. For the three years I passed in Ireland I had not as
many days of health as I have already enjoyed here. This, though very
favourable to comfort, seems little conducive to hard labour, for
I cannot write a line, and really do nothing save amuse myself from
morning till night. The temptations are strong: we have the Rhine and
the mountains beside us, and, as we are all mounted, we pass the days
on horseback or on the water. We dine at one! and so have a very long
evening.... Let me hear how you like No. 7 [The] O’D[onoghue] when you
read it.”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe (or Bonn), _July_ 26, 1845.
“...My mind is at ease by thinking that I owe nothing to or in Ireland
save my affection for John* and yourself....
“My friend James has been spending a week with me here.”
* His brother.
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe, _Aug_. 10, 1846.
“Your letter followed me here from Bonn, from which delightful little
sojourn a royal visit and a musical festival had driven me,--Queen
Victoria and Beethoven, with the due accompaniment of bonfires, blue
lights, and bassoons, being too much for my common nerves. Here we are
for the present, located, as the Yankees say, in the stillest, quietest,
most fast-asleep of all German cities, regularly, even beautifully,
built,--with a Grand Duke and a Ministry and a _corps diplomatique_, but
all seemingly mesmerised into a dreamy lethargy, in which all speech or
motion is excluded. We had some thoughts of passing a winter here, but
though it would suit my pocket well, my impatience and restlessness
could scarcely stand the sluggish tranquillity.... I am unable to say
where we shall pass the winter. There was some thought of Lausanne, but
all Switzerland is dear, and our party is a large one--ten souls and
five quadrupeds.”
In sleepy Carlsruhe he received two letters which disturbed him
considerably,--one causing him the gravest annoyance and anxiety, the
other affording him intense and justifiable joy.
The unpleasant communication was from Curry & Co. It took the form of a
statement of account between publisher and author, and showed that the
latter was heavily indebted to the former. Lever wrote to his _fidus
Achates_ in Dublin, expressing his goodwill for Curry & Co., who had
hitherto treated him fairly. He declared that he had no desire to
quarrel with them. “I detest,” he wrote, “the hackneyed fightings of
bookseller and author,”--but he denied emphatically that he owed the
money claimed by Curry.
The pleasant letter was from Miss Edgeworth. He had written to her twice
from Templeogue, inquiring if he might dedicate to her ‘Tom Burke of
Ours.’ Miss Edgeworth replied tardily. In the course of her welcome
letter, the author of ‘Castle Rackrent’ spoke of having read aloud to
her nephews and nieces ‘The O’Donoghue,’ which was appearing in monthly
parts,--an announcement which afforded the author of ‘The O’Donoghue’
a thrill of delight, animated him with high hopes, and filled him with
fresh ambitions. To Spencer he wrote: “I hope John told you--I’d
rather he had than I--of a letter Miss Edgeworth wrote to me about
‘O’Donoghue.’ I never felt so proud in my life as in reading it. There
is, independent of all flattering, so much of true criticism, so much
of instructive guidance, that for the first time I begin to feel myself
able to take advice with advantage, and to hope that I have stuff in
me for something like real success. What a prerogative true genius
possesses when it can compensate by one word of praise for neglect and
calumny! So do I feel that Miss Edgeworth has repaid me for all the
bitterness and injustice of my Irish critics. I never made such an
effort as in this book. I hope sincerely that you may think I have
not failed, for with all my reliance on your friendship, I feel _your_
criticism will be as free from prejudice as so warm and affectionate a
friend’s can be.”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Baden-Baden, _Sept_. 8, 1846.
“Your kind and satisfactory letter reached me here, where we have been
sojourning in one of the sweetest valleys in the world,--a perfect
wilderness of vineyards and olives, traversed by innumerable streams,
and inhabited by a happy people. This day twelvemonth we were at Achill
in the midst of dire poverty, when the very waves that thundered along
the seashore were less stormy than the passions of man beside them. And
yet in one case the law of the land is Despotism, and in the other there
are the blessings (!) of the English constitution. So much have
political privileges to do with human happiness. In my own narrow
experience, I should say that the most contented communities are those
that know not how they are governed.
“As to my reserve fund, my intention is this--calculating loosely.
That between Daily (?), Clarence Street, and the Templeogue furniture,
something like £250 may result, which with the £350 already in bank will
make £600 (John’s £100 added). I will myself lay by £300 more to make up
£1000, the interest of which will meet one of the small nuisances, and
thus make a beginning--whether to end in anything more or not [? who
can say], for I am most unhappily gifted in the organ of secretiveness.
M’Glashan is far more eager to purchase my contingent copyright than he
lets it be known. I am well aware that such has been a long time since
a favourite object with him, but he’s a thorough fox, and likes to be
pushed on to his own inclinations.
“I have been fearfully walked into by that firm, but for many reasons
would rather bear it all now than make what the Duke calls ‘a little
war.’
“If the fine weather continues--it is glorious now--we shall spend the
month of October here, as by far the pleasantest spot I’ve set upon, and
then return to Carlsruhe for the winter. I’ll endeavour to pick up an
Irishman as a witness to the deeds and send them back at once.”
In Baden he spent a couple of pleasant months, though it is hinted that
he lost heavily at the gaming-tables there. An anecdote of these Baden
days is told by him. At a public dance an English lady of rank had
declined many offers of partners, not deeming any of the gentlemen good
enough for her. At length she was attracted by a handsome well-dressed
German who spoke English fluently. He made himself so agreeable to the
fine lady that she accepted his invitation to dance. She inquired who
he was, and was informed that he was the Oberkellner at the Gasthaus von
Rose. Under the impression that this meant that the favoured gentleman
occupied a high official position, the lady danced boldly with him
throughout the remainder of the night. When she consulted her dictionary
next morning she was horrified to discover that “Oberkellner” was
“head-waiter “!
Lever was now fit for work again, and he sketched out the plan of a new
novel which he proposed to call ‘Corrig O’Neill.’ He sent this sketch to
his literary counsellor, Mortimer O’Sullivan, instructing him to show it
to M’Glashan. This novel was never written, but some of the material was
used by the author later for ‘The Daltons.’ It was possibly his ill-luck
at roulette, and a desire for quietness and retrenchment, which drove
him back in October to drowsy Carlsruhe. He set earnestly to work at a
new story, ‘The Knight of Gwynne.’ He forwarded the early chapters to
his brother John.
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Stephanie Strasse, Carlsruhe, _Nov_. 16, 1846.
“Has John sent you--if not, get it--the opening chapter of my new tale,
‘The Knight of Gwynne’? I hope you may like it. I have a great object in
view--no less than to show that the bribed men of the Irish Parliament
are the very men who now are joining the Liberal ranks, and want to
assist O’Connell in bringing back the Parliament they once sold, and
would sell again if occasion offered. Of course, a story with love and
murder is the vehicle for such a dose of ‘bitters.’
“Will you also ask John to write half a dozen lines to M. O’Sullivan,
requesting him to forward to your care a MS. of mine which John sent
him, and which I would beg you to keep (and read if you like) for me? It
was my originally intended story before I began my ‘Knight of Gwynne.’”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe: dated _Jan. 7_,1846 (at top), and _Dec_. 6,1846 (at foot).
“Being at that time of the year when one’s creditors change their
outward form and become duns, I am obliged to see where I can find
anything available to meet them. I perceive in a letter of yours the
remark that no a/c of sales of ‘Hinton’ has been rendered by the Currys
for the past year--i.e., since October 1844, and in a letter from
M’Glashan that my share of Indian profits amounts to £52, 10s., I think.
Would you see after these small sums for me, as I am really worried and
vexed by the rascality of Orr and M’Glashan, who have cheated me in the
most outrageous fashion on two small works--‘Nuts’ and ‘Trains’--I gave
them for publication? M. O’Sullivan writes me that under John’s advice
and sanction he gave my MS. of ‘Corrig O’Neill’ to M’Glashan to ‘look
at,’ he, M’G., having applied to him for this. I desired no further
dealings or doings with that d------d Scotchman, and well he knows it,
for while asking to see my MS. he was in possession of a letter from me
telling him I should have no further dealings with him.
“I find that my expenses are overwhelmingly great here. Wasteful habits
dog me wherever I go, and I am obliged to think twice how I shall get
through the year. I suppose Gogarty takes Templeogue at once. Is there
any use of reminding him of his pledge to repurchase the furniture at
the price I paid,--he gave his word of honour (!!!) to do so?
“If the settlement about ‘Hinton’ and the Indian copyright should not
be easily effected now, let the matter lie over to meet the Insurances,
only take measures to have the money forthcoming then, for I know
well I’ll not have sixpence to spare the whole year through. I hear
(confidentially) that Remy* is about to review me again in ‘The Mail,’
He be d------d! I’ve outlived such beggarly support. Is there an opinion
of the ‘K. of Gwynne’ stirring in Dublin? My London accts. all so far
satisfactory.”
* Mr Remy Sheehan.--E. D.
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe, _Jan_. 19, 1846.
“I have been expecting somewhat anxiously to have heard from you or M’G.
relative to my late proposition, but suppose that the crafty Highlander
has preferred to lie by in the hope that I would reply to a late
communication of his which, in terms of great affected cordiality, asks
for a renewal of our dealings together. To this I have not made, nor
shall I make, any answer, nor will I write to him until he definitely
says something in answer to my application for the sale of my
copyrights.
“Yesterday my plate and linen arrived here quite safe. The books, I have
just learned, are at Dusseldorf, where, the Rhine being now frozen, they
must remain.
“You have before this read ‘The Knight.’ I hope your good opinion
continues unabated. Are there any critiques in the Irish papers? ‘The
Mail,’ I hear, will notice me now. Perhaps the Repealers think they have
found a backer. Let them hug the belief till the 4th No., and I shall
clear away the delusions.
“I have hints of a deep intrigue on the M’Glashan side to injure any
dealings I may have with the London publishers. I am greatly provoked
at M’Glashan being suffered to see my MS. of ‘Corrig O’Neill.’ It was a
false move, and will [? inconvenience] me very considerably. He affected
a half permission on my part which never was asked nor ever alluded to.”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe, _Jan_. 26,1646.
“I think you over-estimate the value of the copyrights, and would gladly
take £200 per vol.,--that is, £800 for ‘Hinton,’ ‘Burke,’ and ‘The
O’Donoghue’; but if the Currys are likely to make a proposal, it is best
to wait patiently. For although your calculation is perfectly correct as
to proportion, ‘Hinton’ was a more than usually successful book, and
too favourable to form a standard to measure others by. ‘O’D.’ will,
however, I am given to believe, eventually rival it.
“I yesterday received a long and confidential letter from Lord Douro.
The split in the Cabinet was not all on corn. The Duke wanted to give up
the commandership-in-chief, and the Queen, _folle de son mari_, actually
insisted on Prince Albert succeeding him,--an appointment which, if
made, would outrage the service and insult the whole nation. To avoid
such a _coup_ the Duke was induced to hold on and save us--for the
present, at least--from such a humiliation. As to the announcements in
‘The Times,’ and the disclosure of Cabinet secrets, the story is rather
amusing. Lord Douro says, ‘If my father’s beard only heard him mutter
in his sleep, he’d shave at bedtime.’ But Sidney Herbert is more in love
and less discreet, for he actually told Mrs Norton what had occurred at
the Council, and _she_ sold the information to ‘The Times’ for a very
large sum!* Even in Virgil he might have read a nice lesson on this
head,--but I suppose his classical readings were more of Ovid latterly.
Corn is doomed, and the Irish Church to be doomed--not now, but later.
The League have secured four counties and several boroughs. As to war:
the Duke says he could smash the Yankees, and ought to do so while
France is in her present humour,--and Mexico opens the road to invasion
in the South--not to speak of the terrible threat which Napier uttered,
that with two regiments of infantry and a field battery he’d raise the
Slave population in the Southern States.
* This story is now discredited, and was formally denied by
Lord Dufferin.
“The remark you heard at Curry’s about my Repealism is no new thing.
M’G. tried to fasten the imputation upon me when I sold ‘St Patrick’s
Eve’ to the London publishers, and the attempt to revive it displays
his game. A very brief hint would make the Repeal editors adopt it
for present gain and future attack when they discovered their error.
However, the deception will not be long-lived, and I think on the
appearance of No. 4 few will repeat the charge.
“Wilson (of Blackwood’s) has written me a long letter of such
encouragement that, even bating its flattery, makes me stout-hearted
against small critics and their barkings, and I am emboldened to
hope that I am improving as a writer. One thing I can answer for,--no
popularity I ever had, or shall have, will make me trifle with the
public by fast writing and careless composition. Dickens’s last book*
has set the gravestone on his fame, and the warning shall not be thrown
away.”
* ‘Dombey and Son.’
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Carlsruhe, _March_ 6, 1846.
“I hope you continue to like my ‘Knight,’ of which I receive favourable
opinions from the press and the publishers. I am told it is better
writing and better comedy than anything I have done yet. Pray let me
have your judgment--not sparingly, but in all candour.
“I sent a little article to M’Glashan about Fairy Tales, and he writes
to me as if the paper was a review. I have not written, expecting a
second advice from him containing a proof, but meanwhile would you
scratch him a line addressed to D’Olier Street, saying I have received
his note, and will correct the proof with pleasure, but that the
paper* is not a review of any one, and that the two first tales are
Danish,--the last is my own. Would you also ascertain if he is disposed
to entertain his own project of my continuing ‘Continental Gossipings’
for the Magazine, and subsequently publishing them in one or two vols.,
and if he would make any proposal as to terms? This latter I would
rather not mention in a note, but as a subject of chatting whenever
occasion offered.
* The contribution was entitled “Children and Children’s
Stories, by Hans Daumling.” It is interesting to note that
the first two tales were “The Little Tin Soldier” and “The
Ugly Buck.” Lever’s own fairy tale was entitled “The Fête of
the Flowers.”--E. D.
“The weather here has been like July, and the Rhine is like crystal. We
have large bouquets of spring flowers on the dinner-table every day,
and the buds are bursting forth everywhere. We shall in a few weeks more
resume our wanderings. Meanwhile I must press forward with my ‘Knight,’
which for some weeks I have shelved entirely.”
_To Mr Alexander Spencer._
“Stephanie Strasse, Cablsruhe, _March_ 29, 1846.
“I am working away at my ‘Knight,’ and have in the 7th No. got him into
as pleasant a mess of misfortunes as any gentleman (outside a novel)
ever saw himself involved in. I hear excellent accounts of his progress
in England, and have destined him to a long life--twenty numbers. This
at the publisher’s request rather than of my own convictions,--though I
need scarcely say, to my great convenience.... Let me hear your _mot_ of
No. 4, which I think is the best of the batch.”
Carlsruhe at first was a seductive place, “where life glided on
peaceably, and the current had neither ripple nor eddy.” It had no
riotous pleasures; it was equally free from the things that annoy--no
malignant newspapers, no malevolent enemies, no treacherous or
patronising friends. He had a good house, a first-rate chef, six horses,
and plenty of society,--a _corps diplomatique_ of pleasant folk and
their wives; cheerful reunions every evening; sometimes a dinner at the
Grand Duke’s Court. There were no professional beauties, no geniuses,
no bores. G. P. R James and himself were the cynosure of all eyes, and
there were whist-parties every night.
In this elysium it was no wonder that his spirits were elevated, and
that he worked with a will. The only rifts within the lute were the
difficulty of disposing satisfactorily of his interest in Templeogue
House and his disputations with Curry and M’Glashan.
Suddenly the sleepy paradise changed into a sleepy and contemptible
_inferno_. There was no revolution, no change in the Grand Ducal system,
nobody in Carlsruhe became any better or worse, nobody was any wiser or
more foolish,--but the Grand Ducal city is described as a “pettifogging
little place, with a little court, a little army, a little aristocracy,
a little _bourgeoisie_, a little diplomatic circle, little shops, and
very little money.” In compensation for these littlenesses there was a
flood of gossip and “any amount of etiquette.” The people of the Grand
Duchy had no commerce, no manufactories, no arts, no science,--no
interests, in fact, save in the small ceremonial life of the court,
no amusements except soirees held in ill-lighted rooms, where an
ill-dressed company talked scandal, military slang, and cookery--how
to dress a corporal or a cutlet. From this “dreary atmosphere of local
sewers, stale tobacco-smoke, and sour cabbage,” he was glad to escape.
Major Dwyer attempts to account for the changed aspect of Carlsruhe. He
describes Lever as being too fond of display and too outspoken. It
was his habit to gallop through the quiet streets with his wife and
children, all attired in very showy habiliments. The ponderosity and
solemnity of the little court occasionally tickled him, and he laughed
openly. Court etiquette, too, was a source of amusement, and he violated
its rules in a manner which horrified the stolid courtiers. Upon one
occasion he invited to a whist-party at his house the Hof Marschall (or
Lord Chamberlain), Kotzebue, Secretary to the Russian Embassy, and some
other notabilities. The Hof Marschall--doubtless acting upon the same
impulses which had actuated Archbishop Whately when he absented himself
from the dinner-party at Temple-ogue--did not arrive, and, worse still,
sent no apology. Lever was very angry, and he made some outrageous
verbal jokes at the expense of Grand Dukes, Hof Marschalls, and Gross
Herzogs. The upshot of the matter was that the Irish novelist
found Carlsruhe “too hot to hold him”; so (still accompanied by his
“menagerie”) he bade good-bye to G. P. R. James and to the Grand Duchy
of Baden-Baden, and, travelling somewhat in gipsy fashion through the
Black Forest, he reached the borders of Tyrol in the month of May 1846.