i PAULINE FORE MOFFITT LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA ^^/ JAMES K MOFFITT 3(,bS By James and Horace Smith ^' ^^SbhH^^^^^^^^^^Bi^ ^ 1 W ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^^r ^^^ f -/a •'t^^^^^V f ■^*^ ^^J'^ Z^- 1 't W'''- %- ^ » ROBERT SMITH. Thi; Father oh Jami;s anu Horaci; Smith. James and Horace Smith JOINT AUTHORS OF ' REJECTED ADDRESSES ' H ifamil^ IRarrative BASED UPON HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED PRIVATE DIARIES, LETTERS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS ARTHUR HfBEAVAN AUTHOR OF 'MARLBOROUGH HOUSE AND ITS OCCUPANTS,' 'POPULAR ROYALTY,' ETC. WITH FIVE PORTRAITS LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, LIMITED, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1899 All rights reserved. Richard Clat & Sons, Limited, London & Bunoay. PREFACE Very many Smithian " footprints on the sands of time " are somewhat faint, but those of James and Horace Smith have left a deep and lasting impres- sion. The brothers' chief work, Rejected Addresses, is, in its way, a classic, declared by so high an authority as Lord Jeffrey to indicate a talent to which he " did not know where to look for a parallel." Why, it may be asked, has not a systematic Life of James and Horace Smith been published before this ? The reason is not far to seek : until now, the necessary material has not been available. Horace penned a brief memoir of James, as preface to a collection of the latter's Comic Miscellanies, pub- lished in 1840 ; and after Horace's death in 1849, suggestions were made that a biography of the two eminent brothers should be written. But for various reasons the family discouraged the idea ; and vi PREFACE without their co-operation, it could not have been accomplished, as the private journals, containing all- important data, would have been inaccessible. Lapse of time, fortunately, has removed these objections; and through the kindness of a relative of the Smith family — Harry Magnus, Esq., of Stone- bridge Park, London — these journals have been placed at my disposal, and are here made use of in the writers' own words, and, as ftxr as possible chronologically. Arthur H. Beavan. CONTENTS CHAPTER I 1747—1769 PAGE Introduction — Eobert Smith, the father of James and Horace — His birth and parentage — Early recollections — Education — First poetical effort — Meets "Perdita" — Journeys to London — Is articled to an Attorney — Ex- periences in London — Sets out for the Continent . . 1 CHAPTER II 1769—1779 Eobert Smith in Paris — Goes to Compiegne — Sees Louis XV. and Madame du Barry — Sees Louis XV. at supper — Follows the Royal Stag-hunt at Compiegne — Meets the Corsican General, Paoli — Is admitted as an Attorney — His courtship and marriage — Resides at Fen Court— Birth of James Smith— Helps Mr. Hanway to promote philanthropic institutions, and appeals to David Garrick for a Benefit— Attends opening of Free Masons' Hall— Removes from Fen Court to Frederick's Place, Old Jewry 13 CHAPTER III 1779—1787 Birth of Horace Smith— The year 1780— The Lord George Gordon Riots — Robert Smith's personal experi- viii CONTENTS PAGE ence of them — He is appointed Assistant-Solicitor to the Board of Ordnance — Removes to Old Jewry — Visits the West Indies — Is elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries 28 CHAPTER IV 1787—1790 Association of James and Horace Smith with the City — Their childhood — James and Horace at Chi^well School 36 ■"o ' CHAPTER V 1790—1791 Sundays at ChigAvell — Play days and recreation at Chigwell — James at New College, Hackney — At Alfred House Academy, Camberwell — Attends book-keeping classes — Horace leaves Chigwell, and goes to Alfred House 46 CHAPTER VI The eve of the French Revolution — Robert Smith again in Paris — Sees Louis XVI. ami Marie Antoinette at Versailles — The French Drama — The political agita- tion in Paris — Robert Smith's providential escape frum the mob — James Smith in France — His narrow escape from death at Dover 53 CHAPTER VII 1791—1800 James is articled to his father — Goes to Scotland — Goes to the Isle of Wight — Robert Smith and Sir Joseph Banks — James visits Dartmouth, the Isle of Thanet, and " Leasowes " in Shropshire — Goes to various places on Ordnance Board business — Robert Smith elected Fellow of the Royal Society— Horace becomes clerk in a City counting-house — James admitted as an Attorney — The CONTENTS ix PAGE National Thanksgiving at St. Paul's — Patriotism in the City — Kobert Smith becomes a member of the Society of Arts — His experiences in Ireland .... 64 CHAPTER YIII 1800—1804 Earliest literary works of James and Horace Smith — No. 36 Basinghall Street — City Halls and State Lotteries — James dines with the Hon. Spencer Perceval — Family visit to Windsor — Illness and death of Mrs. Robert Smith 78 CHAPTER IX 1804—1812 Robert Smith's second marriage — He visits Cambridge, and there sees Henry Kirke White — Horace Smith be- comes a merchant — The City in the first decade of the century — Horace Smith's firm reconstituted— James ap- pointed joint-assistant to the Ordnance Board Solicitor — Robert Smith removes to Austin Friars — Horace Smith becomes a member of the Stock Exchange . . 86 CHAPTER X 1812 Horace Smith's burlesque, The Highgate Tunnel, is produced at the Lyceum Theatre — James and Horace Smith's connection with the drama — Destruction of Drury Lane Theatre by fire — Plans for the rebuilding — The new theatre 93 CHAPTER XI 1812 Competition for Address to be spoken at opening of new Drury Lane Theatre — Some of the Addresses — The X CONTENTS PAOK re-opening of Drury Lane Theatre — How Rejected Addresses came to be written — Its publication . .104 CHAPTER XII 1812—1813 Rejected Addresses and the Reviewers — The eflect of its success upon the careers of James and Horace Smith — Their social and literary circle — Horace Smith resides at Knightsbridge — His friend William Heseltine — Horace Smith and the Stock Excliantie . . . .117 o^ CHAPTER XIII 1813—1821 Horace Smith's letters to his sister Clara — His second marriage — Removes from Knightsbridge to Fulham — Entertains the poet Keats — Horace Smith's account of his introduction to Shelley and Keats . . . .129 CHAPTER XIV The Board of Ordnance, its officers and functions — The " Assistant to the Solicitor " and his duties — Emolu- ments of the office — An Ordnance Parliamentary " pre- serve" — Retirement of Robert Smith from business, and from the post of "Assistant to the Solicitor" — James Smith appointed "Assistant to the Solicitor" . .140 CHAPTER XV 1821—1825 Horace Smith and ^heUey (continued) — Horace Smith's connection with the Scott-Christie duel — Mr. Andrew Lang's remarks thereon — Tlie death of Keats — ILjrace Smith retires from business, and decides to visit Shcdiey in Italy — Letter to his sister Clara — Is detained at Paris by ill-health of his wife — Letters to Cyrus Redding . 149 CONTENTS xi PAGE CHAPTER XVI 1821—1825 Horace Smith receives the news of Shelley's death — His personal recollections of Shelley, and his estimate of the poet's character .167 CHAPTER XVII 1825—1832 The declining years of Eobert Smith — His verse-work — Family marriages — Death of his second wife — His last illness and death .178 CHAPTER XVIII James and Horace Smith as Wits and Humorists . 186 CHAPTER XIX Horace Smith's recollections of Sir Walter Scott, Southey, and Thomas Hill of Sydenham . . . 199 CHAPTER XX Horace Smith's recollections of Charles Mathews and Theodore Hook 214 CHAPTER XXI The personal appearance of James Smith — His habits — His social circle — His clubs — His love of London — Kevisits Chigwell school — His last illness and death . 233 ^O ' CHAPTER XXII The later literary works of James and Horace Smith . 249 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIII 1826—1849 PAGE Brighton in the "twenties," "thirties," and "forties" — Horace Smith at Brighton 267 CHAPTER XXIV The declining years of Horace Smith's life — His last illness and death — His personal appearance, tastes, opinions, character, and disposition — The end .291 INDEX 307 ILLUSTRATIONS ROBERT SMITH, 2ETAT 84, THE FATHER OF JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Frmtispiece From Original Miniature. MARY HMITH, iETAT 25, THE MOTHER OF JAMES AND HORACE SMITH To fact page 23 Frora a Silliciutte. MR. ALDERMAN CADELL, MASTER OP THE STATIONERS' COMPANY, 1798 115 From a Portrait in Stationers' Hall. JAMES SMITH, yETAT C2 288 From the Portrait by Lontdale. HORACE SMITH, iETAT 45 291 From the Portrait by Maifjucricr. Contributed by the Baroness BunDErr-CocTre. JAMES AND HOEACE SMITH CHAPTER I 1747—1769 Introduction — Robert Smith, the father of James and Horace — His birth and parentage — Earlj^ recollections — Education — First poetical effort — Meets " Perdita " — Journeys to London — Is articled to an Attorney — Experiences in London — Sets out for the Continent. Hard by the Wandle, in the ancient suburb to which the stream has given its name, is All Saints, Wandsworth, an unlovely church of some antiquity, whose flint walls have for many years been hidden beneath a casing of Georgian brickwork. It stands in a small disused churchyard, where, amongst some scores of tombs scattered about in various stages of decay, may be seen a plain headstone, bearing with- out text or comment this simple inscrij)tion : — En ^Icmorji of EGBERT SMITH, ESQ., OF ST. ANNE'S HILL, IN THIS PAEISH, WnO DIED SEPTEMBER 27, 1832, AGED So YEARS. 1 B 2 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Not one person in a thousand, perhaps, would take the trouble to bestow a second thought upon the owner of so common-place a name ; but the Robert Smith whose body lies there was no ordinary- person, and he was, moreover, the father of the authors of Rejected Addresses. His experiences, too, were exceptional. He had gazed upon the features of Louis the Well-Beloved, and of his mistress, Madame du Barry ; he had been a witness of the Lord George Gordon riots ; he had seen Louis XVI. and Mario Antoinette at Versailles, and had escaped by a mere chance the first outburst of mob-violence that presaged the Reign of Terror. This plain Robert Smith — a boy of thirteen when George IT. died — lived throughout the reigns of George III. and George IV., intelligently observing all the changes of that stirring period, and died just after the passing of the Reform Bill. Luckily for the biographer, Robert Smith had, from early boyhood, been in the habit of noting down, and afterwards elaborating, his impressions of pa.ssing events; and as time went on, this custom led him to keep a systematic diary of family aftairs, etc., preserved in two stout closely-written volumes. I was l)oi-n [he begins] on the 22nd of November, 1747, U.S., at the dwelling-house belonging to the Custom-House in Castle Street, Bridgwater,^ and, when between two and three years of age, ' Robert Smith's father was at one time .Mayor of Bridg- water, and heM the post of Dej^uty Collector of Custom.s at that port. ROBERT SMITH'S YOUTH 3 was placed at a day-school in the town kept by an old woman of the name of Keene, of whose person, I have still (1818) a clear recollection. There I remained until the latter end of the year 1751, when I was removed to a writing-school kept by Mr, David Webber. An event of a public nature took place in the year 1752, which was spoken of by everybody, but understood by few. I mean the alteration of the style by Act of Parliament. I was told, among other surprising changes, that I should keep my birthday, not on the anniversary of the day on which it really happened, but on the 4th of December. This puzzled me, as it did others to whom the Julian and Gregorian calendars were alike unknown. In the summer of 1754, when I was but seven years old, my father indulged me in a jaunt of pleasure to Bath and Bristol, under the charge of my Uncle George. I was mounted on a long-tailed pony, dressed in a new scarlet coat, boots, and a flowing Avig. The riding on horse-back so long a journey, and for the first time, I found fatiguing, but the wonders of Bath and a day or two's rest restored me. At Bristol we were met by father and mother, who had gone thither on horseback, she riding behind my father, seated on a blue cloth pillow, and dressed in a "Joseph," or brown serge riding-dress, with buttons down to the skirts. We all returned to Bridgwater, when I recounted my adventures with no little pride and satisfaction. During the same year, the town was a continual scene of liot and disorder, on account of the General Election for members of Parliament. The candidates were John, Earl of Egmont (in Ireland), afterwards created Baron Lovel and Holland (in England), Robert Balch, Esq., of Stowey in Somersetshire, and Bubb Doddington, Esq. (afterwards created Lord 4 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Melcombe-Regis). The two former were elected, and, as usual on such occasions, were " chaired " throusfh the town on men's shoulders, amidst the clamours of the high and low rabble, the ringing of bells, the tiring of " chambers," and the rude sneers of the unsuccessful party. Two circumstances took place in 1755 Avhich made an imi)rcssion upon my memory — the breaking out of the war with France, and the accounts received of a dreadful earthquake at Lisbon, wliich happened on the 1st of November; and the year 17U0 pre- sented an event of a public nature that made a strong impression upon my mind at the time, viz. the death of his Majesty, George II. It happened on the 25th of October; the account of it was received at Bridgwater on the following day. Throughout these early years of his life, Robert Smith was receiving a good and sensible education. He was thoroughly well grounded in writing, book- keeping, etc., and the object of his ambition was reached when an opportunity arose for acquiring a knowledge of the classics, by no means easy of attain- ment in those days at a place like Bridgwater. The scene now changed [he says]. Holmes' Latin Grammar was put in my hands ; and tlic difficulties which first present tht'inselves to a learner being over, I got through my lessons with tolerable credit. If a knowledge of the Latin tongue be a nece.s.sary part of education fur boys, what harm can it do to girls ? So my father rea.soned ; and he accordingly ]>laced my eldest sister, Molly, at the same .school. She Went through her exerci.ses regularly with the boys, and had advanced a.s far as Ovid's epistles, when my father removed her from the school. "THE BOLD IRRESOLUTE" 5 Besides Latin and Italian, the boy studied French, in which hmguage he afterwards became proficient ; so that he was well qualified for the start in life which presently offered itself in the office of a Mr. John Popham, a London attorney practising in the Court of Common Pleas, who owned a set of chambers on the ground floor of No. 5, New Inn, of which society he was an " Antient," and with whom it was arranged that Robert should be articled on his arrival in the metropolis. Robert Smith evinced considerable powers of composition at an early age ; and it is interesting to record the first literary effort of him from whom James and Horace Smith — the subjects of this biography — inherited the talent of comic versification. He describes it as " a loose imitation of some French verses that he had stumbled upon," in which the leading idea is sustained with humorous effect. THE BOLD IRRESOLUTE I. As on tlie mar!j,iu of the flood, Absorb'd in grief, young Colin stood, His hapless fate bewailing, Rous'd by despair the shepherd swore Love's torments he'd no more endure. So rashly plunged ... a pail in. II. Now, fierce with rage, he maddening flew, And from its sheath a hanger drew. Still o'er destruction brooding ; JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Before Dorinda's face, the sAvain, At one despairing stroke, in twain Down cleft, all me ! . . . a pudding. III. " The conflict's o'er — no more I'll flinch, But in the imi!ion''cl hoid will quench A flame than death more cruel," He said — then seizing on the bowl, To Heav'n commends his parting soul, And drank large draughts ... of gruel. lY. "With bitter pangs his heart opprest, Love's tumult btiiling in his breast, Ko mortal could abide it ; Eager he seeks the halter's aid Thick round his neck in order laid, He tied, and then . . . untied it. N(nv mopish grown, in pensive mood, Beside his bed the shepherd stood, And sigh'd and wept profoundly ; A smotheriwj death he now prefers. So clos'd his eyes, and said his prayers, Then on his bed . . . slept soundly. VI. At length the nymph, to ea.se his pain, Took pity on the amorous swain. Her cruelty relented ; In mutual love their willing hands They joined in Hymen's silken bands, And lived till both . . . repented. Shortly before his first journey to London, Robert and an old school-fellow, Juhn Chubb, seem to have "PERDITA" ROBINSOX 7 taken sundry excursions together, one being to Bristol, where they met the historic " Perdita," then an innocent little girl of four years, as unconscious of Florizel, the faithless, as he of his future in- namorata. Writing of this many years afterwards, Robert Smith says : — We spent a few days with Captain Derby and his wife, who was a distant relation of the Chubb family. Amongst their children was a most in- teresting little girl, who, Avhen grown up, married clandestinely at the age of sixteen, and by degrees fell off in her reputation. She became afterwards a " favourite " of the Prince of Wales, and, having made her dcliut on the stage in the character of " Perdita," she was well known to the public by that name. Her person and her manners were pleasing in the highest degree ; she lived much among persons of rank and fashion, and her literary talents were not despicable. For several years before her death she lost the use of her lower extremities, so as to be utterly unable to stand. The morning of Tuesday, the 7th of May,l76o,broke cold and cheerless over the town of Bath, hardly the kind of day one would have chosen for a long journey ; but Robert Smith, a tall and sturdy youth of eighteen, Avho had secured a seat the previous day after a pleasant ride from Bridgwater, was one whom mere physical discomfort would hardly deter from setting forth for London, where he hoped to play no unim- portant part. As, however, the cumbersome machine cautiously manoeuvred out of the White Lion Inn yard at seven o'clock, few hearts were heavier than 8 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH his, for he was very fond of his home, anfl keenly felt the parting from his peopk". Travelling in those days was no light thing — un- comfortable at its best, and often full of adventures not infrequently dangerous. It was always expensive, the fare from Bath to London during the summer being twenty-eight shillings, with only fourteen pounds weight of personal luggage allowed, anything extra being charged at the rate of three-halfpence per pound. Then there were the tips to the coach- man and guard, and the charges at the various inns were based upon a scale of great liberality towards the landlord. After leaving Bath, the coach made its way to Trowbridge, whence it leisurely rolled along to Devizes. At this point the serious part of the journey began, as the route lay through the most exposed district of Wiltshire, where the wind blew with frightful violence, not to speak of its being all " collar-work " for the horses. To beguile the time, the coachman recounted, with ample detail, how, two months before, there had been a most remarkable fall of snow in this part of England — which, indi-cd, had been general through- out the country — when many lives were lost from exposure, and numerous accidents occurred, the most extraordinary of which was one that ha|>pened near Newca.^tle, where, in the gloom of that storm, two men riding at fidl gallop in opposite directions met each r)tht'r with such force that both horses instantly died, and the lives of their riders were despaired of A JOURNEY BY COACH 9 But no snow fell on Robert Smith's journey ; and, after much laborious struggling over the rugged, hilly road, the travellers reached the inn at Shepherd Shore. Here they rested and had tea. Invigorated and warmed, horses and men jogged along to Beckhampton Inn, and thence pasb the famous Silbury Mound, where British warriors once gathered together in battle-array to celebrate King Arthur's second and last great battle of Badon Hill. On and on, to the George at West Overton, the Swan at Clatford, and — in the failing light — to the Castle at Marlborough ; and after skirting Savernake Forest for three miles, a welcome twinkling of lights at Hungerford announced that bed and supper awaited them at the Black Bear, sixty odd miles from London. At daybreak the coach was off again. The roads were now better, as was also the pace, and there was nothing of interest to note, except that at all the inns at Newbury, at the Angel, at Wool- hampton, and at Reading, the meat-hooks that generally bore a variety of tempting joints sustained nothing but mutton. After passing through Houns- low, the coachman, who had been repeatedly asked for a solution of the mystery, at last admitted that throughout Wilts and Berks, in consequence of the past severe weather, there had been great losses amongst the flocks of sheep, and consequently there was a perfect glut of mutton that had not " inter- viewed the butcher in a constitutional manner," though otherwise perfectly sound. Cart-loads had been brought into the nearest towns, and all the 10 JAMES AND HORACE 8MlTli inns along tlie road had very little else in their larders. At the Belle Sauvage on Ludgate Hill, where he arrived late on the second day of his journey, Robert Smith tarried not, but at once set out, following a porter who carried his trunk, to Milk Street in the City, where he was to lodge with his uncle Thomas, a wholesale linen-draper. The following morning, as the youth started west- ward to present himself to Mr. Popham, it was upon the London of Dr. Johnson, Boswell, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Garrick that he gazed; a London of picturesque gabled houses flung down ap])arently at random, with side streets so narmw and tortuous that it was hardly possible to walk or ride in safety, and whose principal thoroughfares, such as the Strand, were so dirty that every morning the ajiprentices might be seen washing away from the shop-fronts the accumulated filth of the previous day; whore jtedestrians in long blue coats like dressing-gowns, brown stockings, and red or brown iiizzlod })criwigs, braved all the splashings from pa.ssing traffic, as they walked on the narrow trottoir of a roadway consisting of rough stones, which idlhd and rubbed one against the other ona foundation of nothing but old mud. Robert Smith was articled I'or five years to Mi-. Po])ham, by which articles it was agreed that his father should ]»ay down a premium of one hundred guineas, and provide for his son board and lodgings, and " ajtparel suitable for a clerk," during the period ; while Mr. Poj)ham unrlertook to teach him the law. DR. JOHNSON 11 and so long as he abode with him, and was in his actual service, to pay him each term one guinea as " termage," or term fee. His line of life was now considered settled. His office hours were from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the term time, with an allowance of two hours for dinner; and day after day he valiantly trudged from Milk Street, having besides much walking to the law offices, the courts, etc. He lived frugally, knowing how necessary it was to save his father's purse ; and so well did he manage that, from the time of his leaving his father's house until the expiration of his articles, his expenses were not more than £55 j)er annum, and this at a time when living was comparatively dear. The neighbourhood soon became quite familiar to the young clerk — his own Inn of Court, with its dingy brick building, high-pitched roof, and clustered chimney-pots, its little hall inside the grass enclosure facing his office, and the archway leading into Wych Street, St. Clement's Church a stone's-throw off, and beyond it. Butcher Row, a decaying remnant of Elizabethan London, whose wood and plaster eaves overhung the street, noted for its shambles and eating-houses. In one of the last-named Robert Smith used occasionally to see the famous Dr. Johnson, whose acquaintance he subsequently made. Johnson knew the Row Avell, and rather surprised Boswell, who one day was dining at the Clifton, by coming in and taking his seat like any ordinary mortal intent upon economy. 12 JAMES AND lion ACE SMITH As years went by Smith became entrusted with more and more of the important business of the office. Diligent as he was, he found time for occasional relaxation. He says : — Now and then, though sjiaringly, I went to the theatre, Vauxhall, etc., and I was often entertained, not to sav instructed, at the debating society called the " llubin Huud," in Butcher Row, Temple Bar. I attended also at convenient opportunities anatomical lectures, dissections at the hospitals, Martin's lectures on experimental j)hilosophy, and at other places, where I thought a little useful knowledge might be gleaned. At the " Robin Hood." I have seen some of the first characters in point of rank and science ; but the greater part consisted of those who api)eared to be attracted by no higher motive than curiosity. The price of admittance was sixpence ; for which sum each person had a right to join in the debates and to a sup at the porter-pot when handed about. The chairman had standing before him a "five-minute" glass, which, when the sand was run out, he turned as a signal fur the speaker to draw his arguments to a c< )nclusion. Upon the whole, the business of the evening was conducted with great regidarity ; and at the breaking up of the a.ssembly, the chairman, with some of the members of the Society, retired to another room to sup. In the long vacation of 17G9, Robert Smith, instead of paying his customary visit to Bridgwater, decided to travel on the continent, then a somewhat formid- able undertaking. On the :5rd of August ho left London with his friend, ^Mr. Atkinson, embarked the same evening from lirighton, and arrived at Dieppe about 11 a.m. on the 5th. CHAPTER II 1769—1779 Robert Smitli in Paris — Goes to Compiegne— Sees Louis XV. and Mdme. du Barry — Sees Louis XV. at supper — Follows the Royal Stag-Hunt at Compiegne — Meets the Corsican General, Paoli — Is admitted as an Attorney — His courtship and marriage — Resides at Fen Court — Birth of James Smith — Helps Mr. Hanway to promote philanthropic institutions, and appeals to David Garrick for a Benefit — Attends opening of Free Masons' Hall— Removes from Fen Court to Frederick's Place, Old Jewry. At Dieppe the two friends engaged a Icrlinc to take them to Rouen, and set out the following morning, not a little entertained by their mode of conveyance. The traces of the horses [says Robert Smith] were of ropes, and the postilion's boots of immense size and thickness bound round with iron hoops, into which he thrust his legs without taking off his shoes. The use of these enormous boots was, how- ever, explained to us. Most of the travelling carriages in France, we were informed, are of two wheels only, drawn by three horses abreast. On the small near horse, or hidet, the postilion rides ; and next to the hidet is the linimonier, or thill-horse 13 14 JAME.S AND JiUllACE .SMITH (shaft-horse), which su])ports the whole weight of the carriage. The unyielding boots, therefore, are meant to protect the pDstiliun's legs from harm, in case of the hidct falling, as the carriage could make no impression upon such boots. From llouen they travelled in a chaise a qnatre pcrso7incs to Paris, where they put up at the Hotel de Casignan, Rue Quinquempoix, in the quarter of St. Denis, when the first thing Robert did was to "bespeak a suit of clothes proper to appear in at public jjlaces "where dress might be required." " I accordingly," he narrates, " ordered a maroon-col- oured silk (soic de la Rcine), a sword, and a hair-bag, as did Mr. Atkinson one of black silk, and each his chcq^ecm de hras." Meanwhile, the two lost no time in exploring the capital of France, visiting the markets, the Palais Rfjyal, the Palais de Tuileries, the quays, the streets and boulevards, purchasing on their way back to their hotel two knives for their personal use, for they had been told that the convert for each person con- sisted only of a " large four-pronged silver f«trk, a silver spoon, a cltHU iia})kin, a china plate, and a wab r- bcjttle and tumbler," that " every one carried his own knife in his pocket, the .same knife serving all ])ur- poscs of cutting the meat, the fork conveying it to the moulli." One evening they went to La Cometrforiried was Lc Vb-e de rOrphclin. THE COMEDIE FRANCAISE 15 The house [says Robert Smith] not unlike Foote's little theatre in the Haymarket, lamps placed along the front of the stage, no seats in the pit, over which were two chandeliers suspended, and, these being the only lights, the whole had but a sombre appearance. The favourite actor was Molle, but his action was too violent in parts which did not appear to me to require it. Here, as at the Opera in the Tuileries, the prompter's head is seen rising up through a small opening in the front of the stage. Their attire being now en r^glc, the friends set out for Compiegne, where the King was at the time, taking with them introductions to certain persons of influence at the Court. Passing through St. Denis, Ecouen, and Lusarche, we arrived at Chantilly at about seven o'clock in the evening. At this place the Prince of Conde has a superb chateau, which we visited immediately after our arrival. It is surrounded by a moat full of water, in which were some of the largest carp I ever saw, and so tame that after throwing to them a few bits of bread, they came and nibbled the bread from our hands. Near the village are the Prince's stables, a large uniformly-constructed building, in which we saw a great number of fine English hunters ; it is formed to contain two hundred and forty horses. As we walked through the park, we were astonished at the great number of partridges that were running about almost as tame as chickens. I had observed, indeed, in the country we passed through, partridges, pheasants, and hares in great plenty ; but this is not to be wondered at when we consider the severity of the game-laws in France ; offenders are sent to the army, or even to the IG JAMES AND HORACE SMITH p^alleys, with very little ceremony. Not far from the stables, between there and the village, is La Meute, a superb dog-kennel of three hundred hounds. Once a year, we were informed, the Prince treats his tenants, their fjimilies, and labourers, with a great fete in the park. Among the diversions is that of " shooting an arrow " fur a silver bowl and a silver plate given by the Prince. He himself shoots the first aiTow, taking care always to miss the mark. The/('i!c lasts three days, during which time dancing- parties exercise themselves on the lawn, where tents are erected, as well as in the wood; refreshments are given out unsparingly, and there are billiards, etc. etc. It is by these acts of condescension and kind- ness that princes and all others may recommend themselves to their dependants and secure their affections. The next morning, the Court being then at Com- piegne, we dressed ourselves in our silk suits, and about noon repaired to the chateau. We readily gained admittance, and waited with others for nearly half-an-hour in the King's ante-chamber, when the King entered it on his way to the cha})el. I had stationed myself so close to the door, that the King in passing made a short pause and looked steadfastly at me as if trying to recollect my person. The King is in stature rather above the middle height, stoops a little at the shoulders, and his knees turn out a little. His comjilexion is rather dark, his hair and eyebrows nearly black, his nose somewhat aquiline, and his look altogether majestic, though not the least severity or haughtiness in his countenance. Shortly after the King, his sisters, the mcsdauns of France, passed also through the ante-chamber on their way to the chapel, whither we ourselves then went. The chapel is plain and neat, the music soft and solemn. A little before the service was ended A DISH OF FROGS 17 we returned to the ante-chamber, and then again had a distinct view of the King and his sisters on their way back. We had afterwards another view of him in the court of the palace as he entered his carriage to go a-hunting, a diversion of which the king is said to be passionately fond. At supper that evening they had, among other things, a dish of fricasseed frogs. It stood near me [relates Robert Smith]; I tasted and liked it very much. My fellow-traveller tasted too, and thought them larks. The English are strongly prejudiced against frogs as a dish, but the food is delicate, and much prized when the prejudice is overcome. The skin is taken off, and the hind- quarters only are dressed, and when properly cooked with artichoke bottoms, truffles, morels, etc., form a repast of which no Englishman need be ashamed or afraid. What is there in the feeding of frogs more revolting than in that of eels and other pond iish, ducks, hogs, etc. ? Yet all these an Englishman eats without scruple or inquiry. In the following description given by Robert Smith of Louis XV. and his court, it will be observed that he was not at all impressed by the beauty of Madame du Barry. Voltaire remarked of her like- ness that " the original was intended for the gods." Smith writes : — On the morning of the 27th of August, which was Sunday, we paid another visit to the chateau. We then again saw the King, the Princess, the King's suite, etc., on their way to and from the chapel, as well as in it. Among the great folks were the c 18 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Duchess de Choisic, cmhoivpoint and handsome, the Duchoss do Chartros, young and ])retty. Wc had a good view also of Madame de Barre, the King's favourite. She is not a beauty, but has an agreeable form and cheerful countenance. That it is the road to preferment in Fiance is well known, and this lady, we observed, had great attention jxiid to her. \Ve were afterwards permitted to enter, with others, an ajjartment in which the King's grandson (the future Louis XVI.), the Comte de Provence, and the Comte d'Artois (afterwards Charles X.), were dining The former completed his tifteenth year on the 23rd of the present month. He is tall for his years, rather reserved in manner, and of a sallowish complexion. The Comte de Provence has a quick eye, but appears also rather reserved. The Comte d'Artois is handsome, lively, and laughing. From this apartment we went to another, in which the Mcsdco/irs of France were then at dinner ; and here we had a more distinct view of each than before. The eldest, iMadame Adelaide, has a genteel figure ; the second, Madame Victoire, is a complete brunette, cmhonpoint, and of rather a masculine ap- |)carance ; the two others, Madame Louison and ^ladame Sophie, having nothing particular in face or figure. Two of them wore their hair in coloured silk bags, in shape like those of men in full dress, and tht-y were all highly rouged. In the afternoon we took a rt'jrular survev t^f all the apartments, and upon our goinginto the gardens, we saw liom the terrace the King and his suite returning from his chasse cCoucnu.v, f(illowed by an immense concourse of people. The day was Sunday, ]mt Sundays in France have theii* diversions as well as their religious ceremonies. We were told that the King had, on that afternoon, shot with his own hands no less than thiity-seven brace of ]iartridges. LOUIS XV. AT TABLE 19 But this is not so surprising when we consider the very great plenty of birds, and the method of a chasse de fusile lioyale. The King has his chasseurs close to him, and the instant he discharges his piece he gives it to one of them, another at the moment clapping a loaded one into his hands, by which he has frequently an opportunity of shooting twice, if not three times, at the same bird or covey. This being the day on which the King and Royal Family usually go in procession to the Carmelites, we went thither, but were disappointed in our expecta- tions of seeing the ceremony ; it did not take place, the King being too much fatigued to attend. In the evening, however, we again saw the King and the Mcsdamcs at supper, on which occasion all persons decently dressed are admitted into the apartment. Before the King sat down, he took from his pocket two rolls of bread, which he laid on the table before him. These, we were informed, had been taken by the King from two baskets of bread, baked by dif- ferent bakers, a practice which had its origin prob- ably from an apprehension of poison. The King ate heartily, taking something from a number of dishes. When he had occasion to drink, he said " d hoirc," when two of his attendants in full dress, with bags and swords, advanced to the table (which was of semi-circular form), making their obeisances. One of them carried in his hands a gold or silver-gilt salver, on which were two bottles and two goblets of the same metal as the salver. Having poured into one of the goblets some wine from one of the bottles, and water from the other, the other attendant drank it. The two bottles and the other goblet were then presented to the King, who poured li'om the bottles and drank, when the attendants immediately retir- ing backwards with similar obeisances, left the room. This ceremony was performed three times during the 20 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH supper. What a fiircc ! As soon as the dessert was finished, the King and his sisters rose from the table and retired to his private apartments, as we did to our auhcrgc. Aitgust 2Sfh. — On this day was to be a Royal stag-hunt, and we repaired to the rendezvous in a carriage, where the King and his suite shortly after- wards arrived. Matters had been so arranged by M. Beauvais, that upon our alighting from the carriage we found a couple of English hunters ready for us, most gaily tricked out Avith crimson and gilt bridles and stirrups. Upon alighting from their carriages, the King and his suite mounted their horses and proceeded towards a neighbouring wood in which was the stag. Among others in the King's train was the Field-Marshal, Duke of Richelieu, a little merry-looking ohi man, mounted on a French lidd, and attended by a running footman dressed in a blue satin fancy dress with ornamental cap, holding in his hand a silver staff with a large knob at the top. As from curiosity we mixed among the King's attendants, one of them politely asked what answer he should return to his Majesty should he make inquiry concerning us, which he usually did u]ion perceiving strangers. I told him that we were English individuals who had visited France on a journey of pleasure, and had taken the liberty to attenfl, that we might have the honour of seeing the King, and the ceremonies of a Royal hunt. The King, it seems, is passionately fcjnd of all Held sports. He conversed freely with those about him, and especially with Madame de Barre, who rode by his side attired in a man's hunting-habit.^ * Tliis was a favourite dress of liers, usually ornamented with large revers, or facin^'.s, trimmed with Iloniton lace, whicli showed off to perfection her bare ami fauUIess neck A ROYAL STAG-HUNT 21 He hummed and whistled several hunting tunes, amongst them the pretty old French ditty Jean dc NivcUc a. trois manteanx, Trois -palefrois, d trois chateaux, listening occasionally to the horns of the chasseurs in the wood, and the " opening " of the hounds. From there he directed his course, but without attempting to keep in with them. After four or five hours' chase in this fashion, in which he had occasionally a distant view of the stag, the animal took to bay, and was shot to prevent his worrying the hounds. Here all remained until the King and his attendants rode up to the spot, when the principal chasseur cut off one of the stag's fore- feet, and on his knees presented it to the King. His Majesty handed it over to one of the attendants that it might be preserved among his other trophies of the chase. All the horses and dogs were English. We then dismounted, and returned in our carriage to Compiegne, where we again slept. The friends journeyed home by way of Antwerp, the Hague, and Helvoetsluys, and at the Hague had the good fortune to meet the celebrated Corsican patriot and chief, Paoli (mentioned in Boswell's Life of Johnson), who had just escaped from that island, and was proceeding to England by the same packet in company with a young Hanoverian baron. Paoli, it appears, entertained a dismal anticipation that he would be verj^ ill on the passage to Harwich. Says Robert Smith : — Upon our getting on board the packet, Paoli immediately went below deck and lay down to avoid sickness, but his forebodings were soon realized. I went down occasionally to inquire after him, and 22 JAMES AND IIOPvACE SMITH found liiiii (juitf (lishcartoned. l\v often exclaimed, half in jest and half in earnest, that he Avas sure the voyage would kill him, that he should iicxcr li\e to see EnLdaud. The vountjf Hanoverian continued on deck, eatint( his cold tongue and hread, di'inkiiig bottled beer, and capering about, highly rejoiced at the thought of soon seeing England. Indeed, as soon as the packet had hoisted her sails and put to sea, he said to me with an air of seeming triumph, "Now we are upon English ground!" I did not understand him at first, and answered. " Oh, no ! you must expect some rough weather before you reach England ; peihajis you will be ill too, as well as the general." He immediately replied, with another caper, "I beg your pard(jn, we are now upon the High Sea ; t/ud is English yround." His articles of clerkship having exi)ired, llobert Smith was admitted on the 23rd of June, 1770, as an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas : and ho subsequently became a solicitor both of the High Court of Chancery and of the Court of King's Bench, where the celebrated and accomplished Lord Mansfield ^ presided. And now the most important event in Robert Smith's life was approaching. The story is best told in his own words : — During the summer. I attended the Hampstead Assembly, and on the first night danced with Miss ' Described by Pope as — " Noble and younj:, who strikes the heart With cvory spri^'htly, every decent part ; ]v[U;il, the iiijiir'd to defend, To charm the MistrcFs, or to fix the Friend." MAkV SMI III, Thi: MMiHik or Jamus and Houm.i. Smith. MRS. ROBERT SMITH 23 Bogle, daughter of James Bogle French, Esq., a merchant in Swithin's Lane. My partner pleased me. I was struck with her person and manner of behaviour, and was anxious to know who and what she was. The result of my inquiry was satisfactory, and I now began to entertain feelings to which be- fore I was a stranger. On the following ball-night I again danced with her as a partner, slept at a friend's house at Hampstead, and in the morning waited upon my partner to inquire after her health. I was received with great good-humour both by herself and her mother. These circumstances en- couraged me, and I danced with her again on the folloAving ball- night. The business was now done so far as respected my own intentions, and on the following morning I waited upon the father in Swithin's Lane, to whom I opened myself fully. He received me with great civility, made the neces- sary inquiries into my education, family, and pros- pects, and after a pretty long conversation desired me to call on him again on that day Aveek. I was punctual to the appointment, when Mr. French told me that he had informed himself concerning me, communicated my wishes to his wife and daughter, and that I was at liberty to visit in the family. From this time my visits were constant, and in a month or two our union was considered as fixed. I now looked out for a home, and at length succeeded in engaging one, No. 1, Fen Court, Fen- church Street. The house being furnished, and all previous matters arranged, I was married on the 11th of February, 1773, at the Parish Church of St. Swithin's, London-Stone. I had now connected myself with a family who were dissenters from the Established Church, of which Church I considered myself a member, it being that in which I was brought up from my infancy ; but, to say the truth, 24 JAME.S AND HORACE SMI'lll religion, or rather, the difference between one form of Christian worship and another, was a subject that had never engaged my thoughts deeply : and upt)n now considering it, I found no dithculty in conform- ing to the mode of a worship adopted by my wife's family." A daughter, j\Iaria, was born in December of the same year; and in 1775 is recorded the birth at Fen Court of James, his eldest son — one of the future authors of Rejected Addresses : — On the 10th of February, my dear wife presented me with a son. He was baptized by the name of James, in Fen Court, by ill". Spilsbury on the 9th of March ; but his baptism was not registered at Dr. Williams' Library until the 11 th of December following, No. 8rS5.i In July [continues the journal] meetings were held by a few individuals, of whose number I was one, for establishing an " Inoculating Disjionsary " for the poor. The plan being finally arranged, officers were appointed, and a house was taken in Old Street, opposite St. Luke's Hcjspital. I acted as their secretary. It went on tolerably well at first, but prejudices and jealousies prevailing too strongly against it, the scheme was abandoned al- together in 1777, and I sat down with the l«^ss of a few pounds. ' In the "advertisement " to tlie 22ii(l clition of Tlcjerted Addn-fiMPH (Joliii Murrny, 1'<")1), it is stated incorrectly tliat 1)oth James and Horace Smilli were l)orn at No. 30, IJasinq- liall Street. Robert Sniitli'.s family did not remove lliere until 1790, when James was fifteen, and Horace eleven years of age. A LETTER FROM GARRICK 25 It will be seen that Robert Smith was consider- ably in advance of his time in his efforts to apply practically the principles of Jenner ; and, no doubt, it was the death of King Louis XV. from smallpox that confirmed him in his resolution to do all in his power to mitigate the ravages of the horrible disease in his own country. This, however, was not his first philanthropic work. A charitable institution had been established by the name of the Misericordia Hospital, in Ayliffe Street, Goodman's Fields, for the exclusive reception of contagious diseases of a particular kind. The celebrated j)hilan- thropist, Jonas Hanway, best known, perhaps, as having been the first individual who had the temerity to use an umbrella in the streets of London, was the chief promoter of the design, and Robert Smith was the secretary. The latter says : — In order to help the finances of the hospital, it -was thought desirable to obtain a benefit-night for it, it possible, at one of the London theatres, and I was desired to make the necessary application to Mr. Garrick, one of the proprietors, and sole manager of the Drury Lane House. I did so by letter, and received the following answer : — Adel]}hi, Dec. 12, 1775. Sir, The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane gives two Charity Benefits a year to the Hospitals, and they take their Turn in succession — there are two fix'd for this, and two for the next, and how they go on afterwards I cannot say, not having the Book with me ! — if the Committee would be pleas'd to 26 J A:\IES and HORACE SMITH know the future arrangements of the Benefits, if they will send their secretary, he shall see what we have done, what we shall, and what we can do. — I came from Ham|)ton yesterday, or you should have had an answer before. I am, .Sir, Your most obedt Servant, D. Garuick. Mr. Rorert Smith, Feit Court, Fenchurch Street. The following year, Robert Smith was present when the great actor retired from the boards. He says : — On the 10th of June Mr. Garrick took his leave of the stage, performing the part of Don Felix in the IFonder. After the performance, he addressed the audience in a composition of his own. The house was so crowded in all parts, that I had great difficulty in squeezing myself into a back row of the front boxes. I never saw plaudits so loudly, liberally, and deservedly bestowed as on that occasion. Next year he " assisted " at the function of a different kind : — On the 2:kd of May, Free .Afasons' Hall in Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Irm Fields, was dedicated with great solemnity. My friend Poole and myself, we being both of the craft, attended in our appropri- ate dre.sses. Strangers were admitted into the gallery, and among them a number of ladies. By the end of 1778, another son, Leonard, and another daughter, Sophia, had been born to him. AT FREDERICK'S PLACE 27 and, his business also increasing, he removed at Michaehnas, 1779, from Fen Court to Frederick's Place, Old Jewry, where he had taken a twenty-one years' lease of a roomy house that had been recently erected on the site of the old Excise Office. CHAPTER III 1770—1787 Birth of Horace Smith — The year 1780 — The Lord George Gordon Riots — Robert Smitli's personal experience of them — He is appointed Assistant-Solicitor to tlie Board of Ordnance — Removes to Old Jewry — Visits the West Indies — Is elected Felldw of the Society of Antiquaries. On Friday, the 31st of December, 1779, as the old year lay a-dying, Horace Smith was usliered into the world. Though always called Horace, he was baptized Horatio, on the 18th of February, 1780, by the Rev. ]\Ir. Spilsbury, minister of the dissenting congregation at Salter's Hall; and his baptism, like that of his brother James, was registered at Dr. Williams' Library, in accordance with the wishes of his mother's family, who, as we have seen, were Nonconformists. The first year of Horace Smith's life was one of stirring historical events. The War of Independence still raged in America, there being ranged against Great Britain, in addition to her rebellious colonies, both Franco and Sjiaiu, while the aiiticil neutrality (if Prussia, Russia, Sweden, and Norway, was prac- tically eipiivalcnt to open hostility. In far-off Asia, 28 THE LORD GEORGE GORDON RIOTS 29 Warren Hastings was a powerful administrator, fighting against tremendous odds. At home, the year was remarkable for the Lord George Gordon Riots, and the utter failure of the constituted authorities to adequately deal with the disturbance. James Smith always maintained that he had wit- nessed the rioting, and humorously posed as an authority on the subject; but cross-examination seldom failed to elicit the fact that, as soon as the first mutterings of the storm reached the city, his nurse, who, in order to see what was going on, had taken him with her into Cheapside, was terrified almost out of her wits by some of the mob insisting upon knowing where her blue cockade was, and so beat a retreat into the haven of Frederick's Place, breathless and exhausted with running all the way from St. Paul's Churchyard. However, his father has left us a vivid description of his own experience of the riots, which culmin- ated on Wednesday, June the 7th, when the mob attempted to take the Bank of England by storm. The month of June [says Robert Smith] was distinguished by one of the most atrocious riots that has disgraced the capital for many years. A Bill was then before Parliament for the repeal, or modification, of some of the statutes against Catholics. This measure met with opposition from some of the members, and by many without doors ; among others was Lord George Gordon, a half- cracked brother of the Duke of Gordon, who was himself a member, and a furious bigoted " Pro- testant." The cry of "No Popery" was spread 30 JAMES AXD HORACE SMITH pretty generally, and all true Protestants were in- vited by public hand-bills to assemble on the 2nd of the month, in St. George's Fields, for the purpose of accompanying their leader to the House of Commons with their Petition. A numerous mob assembled, with each a blue ribbon in his hat, and being then arranged in a sort of military array, they were after- wards marched through the City and along the Strand, to the House of Commons. I happened to be coming out of Somerset House as they passed it ; and as the day was hot, and a vulgar, furious zeal marked upon their countenances, 1 concluded that they would not separate without mischief. This proved to be the case. I followed them, and witnessed the commencement of the horrid out- rages that were committed both on pers(jns and property. The mob stopped the carriages of the members of both Houses, bawling out " No Popery," and chalking these words on the carriages. Such of the members as did not readily return the cry, were grossly insulted, some dragged from their carriages, and others forced to take shelter in the neighbour- ing houses. After a while, the Horse Guards made their ap])earance, and rode through the mob, who (opened right and left to let them ])ass, and immedi- ately closed, shouting and hissing, the soldiers flourishing their swords in a menacing attitude, but as they did not otherwise use them, the mob beciime more insolent, and pelted them with stones and ])ieces of faggot which they had taken from a neigh- bouring baker's. All was now uproar and confusion, and after a while detachments of the mob paraded oft' to difterent ])arts of the t(jwn, t(j execute, as it afterwards apjM^ired, their vengeance upon the ])laces of worship and houses of the Catholics. I thought it now high time to make my retreat, and returned to the city THE LORD GEORGE GORDON RIOTS 31 through St. George's Fields, and over Blackfriar's Bridge. In my way back I found that the mob had set fire to Newgate, and were liberating the prisoners. These scenes of lawless uproar continued both by day and by night for above a week, during which time the most savage excesses were com- mitted, the civil power hardly daring to show itself, from a consciousness of its inability to stem the torrent. Large bodies of troops having at length arrived in London by forced marches, martial law was pro- claimed. Houses and shops were kejDt shut, the military were posted in churches, upon the Royal Exchange, in Guildhall yard, and other places. Regular encampments were also formed in St. James's Park, the gardens of the British Museum, etc. etc. The mob were still daring, committing their ravages in all directions ; but at length the soldiery were compelled to act, and many lives were sacrificed ! Robert Smith used to relate how curiously silent Cheapside became as the light began to fail on Wednesday, the 7th of June, when the rioters were expected. Every preparation had been made for them. Warehouses, offices, and shops were close- barred ; the usually busy thoroughfare was deserted, and, firmly attached to the stout posts that edged the pavement, great hempen cables had been fixed aci'oss the street by the deft hands of sailors, who had brought them up in lighters from Deptford. The same precautions had been observed on the other side of the Bank, in Cornhill. Each soldier had thirty-six rounds of ammunition served out to 32 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH him ; and at about sunset the attack began. As the mob, disconcerted by the barriers in Cheapside, halted in their impetuous course, and broke uj) into small detachments, struggling along the pavement in their attempt to reach the Poultry, the military began to fire. At the first discharge some score of people fell, and were hastily dragged into St. Mildred's Church. Unfortunately, many innocent people suffered from the indiscriminate firing in different parts of the city, as it was very difficult to distinguish between the rioters and peaceable citizens. Robert Smith himself had a narrow escape from being killed : — I had [he says] the curiosity to Avalk out fi'om Frederick's Place, and to stand at the soiitli-west Corner of the Old Jewry, from whence I could tthserve all that passed. Shortly afterwards, four or five drunken fellows with blue cockades in their hats came reeling down Cheapside, bawling out " No Popery." As they approached, the eyes of the Volunteers were intent upon them, and the com- manding officer called out " Attention ! " All was silent, and the drunken fellows, withm some of his corn's])ondents in the West India Islands, ])ut more particularly in Granada, he thought it an object that I should go thither accom])anied by his son, in order to adjust the accounts, and make arrangements for remittance. For my own trouble and absence from my business at home, he offered to pay mo £15(J0, exclusive of all expenses. [He was ultimately paid £2000.] Knowing the im})ortance of the business to him.self and his family, I readily accepted the offer. Meanwhile, both he and his wife thought that the keeping up of the house in Frederick's Place during his absence would be an unnecessary expense ; and IN THE WEST INDIES 35 as the lady preferred to reside altogether at Hollo- way, where he had taken a small country-house three years before, Smith determined to part with his lease. But he could not do this without proper offices for his business, which was to be conducted during his absence by his managing-clerk. He therefore engaged with his brother-in-law, Mr. Norris, for the building behind his house, No. 21, in the Old Jewry. The lease of the Frederick's Place house he sold for £100. He set sail from Deal for the West Indies on November the 7th, 1785, and, having successfully accomplished his mission there, returned home, reaching Holloway on July the 1st, 1786. The following year he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London ; and, having paid his admission fee, and the usual composition in lieu of annual payment, he was, on May the 3rd, admitted a Fellow for life. CHAPTER IV 1787—1790 Association of James and Horace Smith with the City — Their childliood — James and Horace at Chigwell School. James and Horace Smith were not only city-born, but city-bred ; James residing there fifty-eight years, and Horace thirty-five, until they came to know every nook and corner of its intricate courts and alleys, and all worth remembering of its ancient history. Fen Court — where James first saw the light — is still a delightfully shady nook wherein to stray from Fenchurch Street on some broiling July day. It retains a fragment of an old churchyard, where sundry trees contrive to keep up ap])earances, and don each spring a new suit of tender green. In the last century, this scrap of graveyard was hemmed in by narrow red-brick tenements, where merchants und lawyers lived, and carried on business, and were as contented as are their modem descend- ants in ])alatial offices and homes in Kent or Surrey. As soon as he was able to walk, young James 36 EXPLORING THE CITY 37 used to go with his nurse or his mother to all kinds of delightful places close by. There were constant visits to Leadenhall Market, a never-failing source of interest, where the little boy revelled in the sight of live poultry, rabbits, guinea-pigs, and other " small deer " beloved of children. The Tower of London and its menagerie, easily reached down Mincing Lane, was a treat sparingly bestowed and rapturously enjoyed. There was the Monument, across Eastcheap, to be stared up at with wonder and amazement. London Bridge, with its four great wheels for raising water, was easily accessible, and often in the summer James was taken for a stroll through the sheds and pent-houses that then repre- sented Billingsgate, to the river front, or, better still, on the Custom House terrace, where he could watch for hours the noiseless floating traffic. Every day, almost, there was something new to look at, and at every hour of the day there was bustle and excitement in the crowded thoroughfares of the dear old city. Frederick's Place — where Horace was born — Old Jewry, Basinghall Street, and Austin Friars were not one bit less interesting than Fen Court, and in each of these localities the brothers lived, as from time to time their father shifted his place of abode. Thus while poor, friendless Charles Lamb — born the same year as James Smith — was prowling about the streets, " shivering at cold windows of print-shops to extract a little amusement," James and Horace were joyously exploring the City, until there was hardly an old mansion or hall that they did not know. 38 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Bv the time James was ten years old, an extensive family of brothers and sisters had sprung up around him. Leonard was nine years of age, Horace six ; and there were four sisters, Maria, Sophia, Louisa, and Adelaide, Subsequently, another sister was born, completing Robert Smith's family of three sons and five daughters. Everything was in favour uf the boys starting in life with an exceptionally good education, which began, as it should, at home. All the time that could be spared from the multifarious duties of her household, Mrs. Smith devoted to grounding her children thoroughly in the elements of know- ledge ; and her sweet, patient disposition, and un- affected but practical piety, effected more by force of example than all the precepts of divines and pedants, in developing their naturally amiable and attractive character. From their father the boys derived invaluable aid. Tired though he n^ght be after close applica- tion to his office-work, Robert Smith was ever ready to devote himself to the lads, teaching them the rudiments of the classics, French, and even Italian, patiently solving the difficulties in the iron rules of grammar, helping them with gentle hands along the stony paths of the three " R's," so that when they went to school, the usual drudgery stage that dis- gusts .all clever boys was (juickly surmounted, and they were able to ap})ly unhampered intelligence to the task on hand, and master it with ease. Their father, who from youth ujj had been in the EARLY VERSE-WRITING 39 habit of composing what he called " little poetical effusions," encouraged his children to do the same ; and both James and Horace soon evinced a special aptitude for rhyming, and such a decided love of punning, as would have been thought remarkable by any family not so accustomed to it. A particularly sociable man was Robert Smith, and his society was much courted by a large circle of acquaintances, who thoroughly appreciated his wit and conversational powers, which seemed to be rendered more striking because of his singularly handsome face and figure. Besides being a shrewd and close observer of nature, he had made quite a study of mankind, and possessed a deep penetration into character. In this respect, too, his sons were like him, for as mere boys they noted the peculiari- ties and eccentricities of others, reproducing their idiosyncrasies in neat little verses, all of which have, unluckily, perished. Several of their father's friends were poetically inclined, and amongst them was Mr. John Chubb, an old Bridgwater playmate, who, during his periodical visits to London, used to stay at the Smiths'. John Chubb possessed also a taste for painting and draw- ing, which latter art he cultivated with some success as a caricaturist ; and nothing more delighted the boys — especially Horace — than to watch him sketch a group of well-known people in all sorts of grotesque attitudes. Sometimes there came to dine with their father various members of literary and scientific societies, and after dinner the boys would creep in 40 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH to the dining-room, and eagerly listen to the grave dissertations, treasuring up all they could understand for further investigation. James Smith used to say that the crowning episode in his early years was when, but eight years old, he was taken by his father to Bolt Court and presented to Dr. Johnson, then near his end. The old sage received him very kindly, and told him to be " a good boy, and always obey his father and mother." Another " great event " of his childhood iiappened one Sunday. As he and his father were leaving Highgate Church, they were met by Lord Chief Justice Manstield, who, after a somewhat lengthy conversation with Robert Smith, turned to young James, and patting him on the head, inquired if he too intended to be a lawyer, a pleasant smile playing about his firm but kindly mouth. James was too confused to reply ; and this, he afterwards explained to his mother, was because he was won- dering all the time whether, in order to be a judge, one was obliged to have a big high nose and piercing eyes, in which case he had no chance of bccdiiiinLC one. Every year the young Smiths were taken into the country for change of air. TIk^sp were not the days when indulgent parents, aided and abetted by the family doctor, took their boys and girls t(^ the seaside, the Continent, or across the Atlantic, on every possible excuse. ()iir (ieorgian forefathers considered country air and country diet all-sufficient for themselves: and if forced to think of sea-air for IN THE COUNTRY 41 their little ones, as a rule found it at Gravesend. London, beyond the belt of market-gardens and orchards that encircled it, was surrounded by per- fectly rural places — villages as quiet and pleasant as many that are now found five miles from a railway station in Dorsetshire. Essex was the favourite resort of the London citizen. It was handy, notoriously healthy, and cheap ; and for Robert Smith it had other attractions, as many of his friends lived there. Thus in the spring of the year 1775, the family went into furnished lodgings at Layton. The next summer they went to Salter's Buildings near Epping Forest, and the following year a small house with a good garden was taken on lease at Layton for the term of fourteen years, at the rental of £21 per annum. For the greater convenience in going to and from London, and in order to give his wife and young ones an " airing " occasionally, Robert Smith pur- chased a horse and a " whiskey," a kind of light vehicle. A twenty-guinea rental does not seem much, but the cheapest bargain Robert Smith ever made in this line — and he seems to have had a craze for tak- ing leases and disposing of them — was at Upper Holloway, then exceedingly rural, where he got a house at the foot of Highgate Hill, with orchard, kitchen-garden, barn, stable, and paddock, for twenty-five guineas per annum, including taxes of every kind ! The day arrived when it became necessary to 42 JAMES AND II Oil ACE 8MITH select a school for the boys. A kind of family council Wcis held, and, by the advice of his Essex acquaintances, Chigwell School was decided upon. Thither James and Leonard were sent the following term, January 1785 ; Horace following, at the rather tender age of eight, two years later, there to " learn Latin and Greek, etc." School-life was then an altogether different affair from what it is now. Parents and boys were more easily satisfied, less fastidious about board and lodging. Pocket-money was sparingly bestowed, the quarterly tip of an ordinary present-day Eton lad probably exceeding the receipts of the eighteenth- century boy's entire school-days. The staple dietary was : for breakfast, bread and cheese, skimmed milk or porridge ; fart in these bills, and part in money ; and debts under 500 livres, ivs well as the payment of the army and navy, are to be paid wholly in money. As in the present situ- ation of the kingdom, and of jtublic credit, the King cannot borrow, the only alternative which is left to him is, not to pay. The affairs of France, as far as I can judge, seem drawing to a crisis. No confidence in the ])resent minister (Archbishop Lomenie de Brienne), })ublic credit gone, the administration of justice su.spended, and, notwithstanding all this, expensive public buildings are going forwards, and Lcs Spectacles and all other places of public entertainment are crowded to excess. Who shall pretend to say that France is not a happy nation in spite of the difficulties that threaten her ! Aufjust 27. — We drove this forenoon to Choisy Ic Jloi, and dined at Saint Nicolas (au hord de I'eaii), and had at our dinner an excellent matclotte, a dish of stewed eels and gudgeon. This dish alone is a " turtle-feast " to th(! cockneys of Paris, and I give them credit for their taste. Upon our return to Paris, we strolled to Ndtre Dame, and on our way back to the hotel we saw an immense multitude of peoj)le upon the Pont Kevf and in the riaec Ddiiphiad. In the latter place (at the top of which stands Le Palais des Marchands) were illuminations, fireworks, and other demonstra- tions of joy, on account of the Archbishop's dismissal from office. August 20. — We drove to St. Denis, dined at Le Pavilion Royal, and then returned to Paris. In the evening we took several turns upon the terrace of the r^jY/iTiVs gardens, and on our return to the hotel "THE RED FOOL-FURY" 59 we crossed Pont Royal. We again observed the illuminations in Place Dauphind and about the Pont Neuf, and heard the fireworks. The noise and shouting were louder than before. Surely Necker's friends (who is appointed the new Minister) must have a hand in the furious exultation. August 30. — Lucky was it for us that we returned from the Ticillerics across Pooit Royal. The noise which we heard proceeded from the most dreadful outrages on the Pont Neuf, Place Dau23hin4, Place cle la GHve, etc. It seems that on the preceding even- ing, a party of the Guet-a-inecl (city watch), com- manded by Monsieur Le Chevalier du Bois, had been under the necessity of using force to disperse the mob, who had been guilty of great irregularities in and about Pont Neuf. The mob resisted, and in the scuffle one of the Guet with the butt-end of his musket knocked out the brains of a young lad about seven or eight years old. This so enraged the popu- lace, that last night they attacked the different Corps de Gardes (guard-houses), pulled them to the ground, burnt the materials, and routed the Guets completely. Every carriage that passed the Pont NeufwaiS stopj^ed, and the passengers and coachmen were made to pull off their hats to the statue of Henry IV., and to bawl out, " Vivent le roi et Monsieur Necker." At length they laid about them with swords and bludgeons, slashing and bruising all without dis- tinction who attempted to pass the bridge. Mon- sieur le Comte de Nesle, who was returning from Versailles in his voiture, was stopped on the Pont Neuf, the glasses of his carriage were broken to pieces, and he himself was so much cut and bruised, that he is confined to his bed, and, as I understand, is dangerously ill. In the Place de G^^hve the Giu.t fired upon the mob, who, being possessed of firearms, returned the fire, and fifty or sixty persons were GO JAMES AND HORACE SMITH dangerously wounded, five were killed on the spot. Notwithstanding this disturbed state of things, we returned to those places to view the ravages that had been committed. In the Flace dc GHcc we saw against several of the houses marks of the musket balls, the Corps de Gardes were everywhere in mins, n(jt a Guet was to be seen ; and the mob have now their own way. Undeterred by the risk he had run in August, Robert Smith again went to Paris in December of the same year, to complete the troublesome piece of legal business he had in hand, taking with him liis son James — a great treat for the thirteen-year- old bov. Robert Smith writes : — ft/ December 23, 1788. — At Chantilly, whilst our breakfjxst was getting ready, we all strolled down to the chateau and gardens of the Prince de Conde. The moat round the chateau was frozen over, and several persons were amusing themselves in skating, etc. Among them was the young Due d'Enghein (son of the Due de Bourbon, and grandson of the Prince do Conde), who, with a person whom we understood to be his tutor, was entertaining himself in a curious manner. They had fach a small inii/ieai', or sledge, just large enough to receive one person, with short wooden spikes })ointed with iron in their hands. Each iraincdu had in it a low seat, was turned up before and shod with iron. Each withdrew his sledge a short distance from the other, and then, with the assistance of their ])ointed sj)ikes, advanced tow;irds each other with all the rapidity ill their ])o\ver, just like two rams fighting. The violence with which the jirows of the two trainccinx PARISIAN "LIFE" 61 met each other was sure to throw out one or other of the combatants, to the great entertainment of themselves and of the spectators. I could not help observing, however, that the tutor was displaced much oftener than the young duke ; perhaps the etiquette required that he should be. Arrived at Paris, the Smiths put up at their old hotel, the York, and in the evening young James made his first acquaintance with a French Variety Theatre in the Palais Royal. His father took him to Astley's, where they were entertained with feats of English horsemanship, some of which " made the French spectators stare with astonishment." They went everywhere, and appear to have seen every phase of Parisian life, even going to several of the guingucttes in the Faubourg Montmartre, where they saw the lower orders of people in high glee, eating, drinking, dancing, and waltzing, of which latter amusement Robert Smith evidently did not approve, for he remarks, " This species of dance I understand to be German, but to me it appears wanton and indecent ! " At last the wished-for day arrived, when the business that had detained Robert Smith three weeks, " doing little more than kicking up his heels," was completed, and he was free to return home. Being anxious to be gone [he says] I set off with my son in a cabriolet, but owing to the rugged- ness of the roads and the darkness of the evening, we proceeded no further than St. Denis. We left there at six o'clock this morning (January 16). We G2 JAMES AND HORACE SMTTir breakfasted at Chantilly, dined in our cal)riolet on a cold langue cle hiviif de Fiandres, which I had hiid in at Paris, and at half- past eight o'clock in the evening had reached Amiens. Continuing to Mon- treuil, we left that place early in the morning. Upon our arrival at Calais (January 18), I found that the wind had been so boisterous, none of the boats could venture out, so that all mv hurrv in wttinsf awav IVom Paris, and on the road, is likely to prove of little avail, the wind still continuing to blow strong. January 23. — The wind still blows strong, but Ca])tain Oakley of the Royal Charlotte, with whom I had agreed to sail when the weather should moderate, telling us that he might now venture out, we went on board, and soon afterwards sailed with a rough sea and a high wind. After beating up some time to the westward, the captain stretched across the channel, but before our arrival otf Dover we perceived the flag (jn the pier-head was taken down, as a signal that there was not water sufficient over the bar. Ca])tain Oakley paused for a few minutes, then whispering something to the man at the helm, he told us that he must either make the attempt to get in, or return to mid-channel, and there lie-to until the morning tide. He dashed therefore for the mouth of the harbour, notwithstanding the waving of hats on the pier for him to keep out. He persisted, and just as we got upon the bar, the vessel struck, and immediately laid d(jwn on her beam-enfls. The mainvard alnmst instantlv came upon deck, giving mo a smart ])low ui\ the shoulder in its fall, but I held fast to the pump, and saved myself from being carried overboard with the boat. My son James had fortunately slij»)»i'd into the cabin, and by that means escaped tlu; danger. The sailors on the jtier, perceiving the mischief, bawled out to the captain with their speaking-trumpets to CROSSING THE BAR 63 " keep all taut," meaning not to let go a single sail, lest the ship should be struck backwards and for- wards by the waves and dashed to pieces against the pier. A boat made the attempt to toss a rope to us, but the sea washed so powerfully into the mouth of the harbour that she could not get near enough. The bustle on the shore, and the confusion on board, were not a little alarming. However, after a few seas had broken over us, a most tremendous one came, took the ship's bottom as she lay on her side, and canted her over the bar into deeper water, when she righted, and was moored in the harbour as fast as possible. We all scrambled on shore, taking with us our luggage, without the ceremony of its being taken to the Custom House. The danger was certainly great, and our escape ought to call forth all our gratitude ! Having taken a hearty dinner, I set off with my son in a chaise and four horses for Canterbury, and from thence we went on to Sittingbourne, where we supped and slept. We proceeded in the same manner next morning, breakfasted at Rochester, changed horses at Dartford, and arrived safely at London. From thence, after a short stay, I went to my family at Holloway. CHAPTER VII 1791—1800 James is articled to liis fatlier — Goes to Scotland — Goes to the Isle of Wight — Robert Smith and Sir Joseph Banks — James visits Dartmouth, the Isle of Thanet, and " Lejisowes " in Shropshire — Goes to various places on Ordnance Board business — Robert Smith elected Fellow of the Royal Society — Horace becomes clerk in a City counting-house — James admitted as an Attorney — The National Thanksgiving at St. Paul's — Patriotism in the City — Robert Smith liecomes a member of the Society of Arts — His experiences in Ireland. Robert Smith was keenly in favour of boys see- ing, as soon as possible, all of the world that thoy could, regarding it as a most important part of their education that they should learn from ])ersonal observation what kind of a country they lived in. He therefore never lost an opportunity of taking them on his journeys. As to James, who was destined for the law, it was deemed essential that he should go with his father on his jjn^fessional tours, especially on those of Orflnancc Board business, in order to familiarize him witji iIkj dock- yards and forts under its control. 64 A TOUR IN THE NORTH 65 Consequently we find that in their holidays, or whenever leave of absence could be obtained, the boys paid visits to various parts of the kingdom ; the deliberate mode of travelling then in vogue affording them capital opportunity for their favour- ite study of humanity. Their experiences and adventures proved of the greatest use to them, for their memories were wonderfully retentive ; nothing, however trivial, escaped their keen powers of observation ; and, of course, every humorous in- cident was treasured up as a jewel of great price. By the time they had arrived at manhood, the two young Smiths were looked upon as experienced travellers, and probably knew Great Britain better than we, at the close of the nineteenth century, who, in our rush of travelling from London to distant centres, ignore the interesting districts that lie between. On March the 9th, 1791, James, at the age of seventeen, was articled to his father for five years as attorney's clerk. In August of the same year, James went on a tour to the North with his father, his grandfather French, and his sister Sophia, a man-servant ac- companying them. The party set out on Sunday in their " glass-coach and four," and with the usual changing of horses, breakfasting, dining, and supping on the road, arrived at Carlisle in five days, by way of Greta Bridge — the destined scene of Sir Walter Scott's Bokelnj — which Robert Smith describes as " a romantic little spot." 66 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH On Sunday morning, the 12th of August, they entered Scotland at the river Sark, the incident being thus recorded in the Journal : — A little beyond the river is Gretna Green, a place well-known to many a young couple, some of whom, no doubt, have heartily repented of their folly. Upon our entering the village, our ])ost-b()ys, out of mere fun, began smacking their whi})s, and driving at a furious rate. From a house on the left hand, we perceived a man come hastily to the door and stare at us ; but the drivers went on, shaking their heads at him and laughing. This man, they told us, was the famous blacksmith, Josejih Paisley. Two days later the party arrived at Glasgow, putting up at the Tontine. Citizens of Glasgow, and others who are acquainted with its wonderful progress, and with the marvellous transformation of the river Clyde, will be amused at Robert Smith's account : — Over the river [he says] are thrown two stone bridges, the " (Jld Bridge" and the "New Bridge." Just above the Old Bridge is a meadow of good size, called the " Green," which belongs to the town, and is rented by one Smitli.at £120 ]tii- annum. Upon it is erected a large building or wash-house, fitted up with a nninlxT of cojjjx-rs, and ])rovided with lul)S. A number of women we saw at the tubs, busily eniployed, ans HORACE'S EARLY NOVELS 79 clerk in a city counting-house, brought it out under the convenient name of " Mr. Smith." ^ It dealt with the felicities of domestic life in a highly moral and improving manner, after the fashion of the day. It must have had a sitccds d'estime ; for, the follow- ing year, the same publishers issued " Mr. Smith's " second novel, The Biinaivay, or the Seat of Benevolence, in four volumes, the scene of which entertaining production — a " novel with a purpose " — is laid at Cliffdown Lodge on the banks of the Avon in Gloucestershire, where the owner, Mr. Somers, a rich recluse, receives the penniless and ragged Theodore, a perfect stranger to him, and is so touched by his artless story of distress, and of his willingness to work as a clerk, or " even as a gardener," that he instantly closes with the offer of his services in the latter capacity, as follows : — " It fortunately happens at this time I am making some improvements in my pleasure-garden; if you will assist me in the design by giving your opinion and instruction, I shall consider it a favour; in retui-n for which, my house, table, and purse are at your service." .... Theodore was grateful, and was preparing to thank him, but Somers insisted that the obligation was on his side, and therefore requested he would say no more on the subject He next furnished him with a change of linen and various other articles he had immediate occasion for, and then threw down his purse on the table, desiring he would supply himself with sufficient to procure other necessaries. 1 Published by Crosby and Letterman of Stationer's Court, in three small volumes, at the price of half-a-guinea. 80 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH " Mr. Smith's " style was much jippreciated in certain circles, and The Manaway was quickly followed (in 1801) by Trevaiiion, or Maio'imonial Urrors (published by Earle and Hermit, 47 Albemarle Street), prefaced by these lines : 'Tis an important point to know, There's no perfection liere below ; Man's an odd coinpuund after all, And ever has been since the Fall ! Trevanion is, perhaps, even more stilted than The Runaivay. It treats of secret marriages generally, and the mischief arising therefrom, and, in a kind of epilogue, propounds some exceedingly virtuous sentiments. This work was followed in 1807 by Horatio, or Memoirs of the Davenjwrt Family. James, while quite a youngster, started his literary career by sending to the Gentleman's Magazine a series of characteristic letters, detailing the most extraordinary discoveries in natural history and antiquity. They were pure hoaxes, and the brothers, with all but irrepressible feelings of mirth, used to watch their unsuspecting father as he gravely read the pages of " Mr. Sylvanus Urban's" ultra-respectable periodical, in which their contribu- tions appeared anonymously. Together with Horace, James contributed in 1802 to the Pic Nic and Cabinet Weekly, an cjthemeral publication started by Colonel Henry Greville, of whom Lord Bynin \vn»te: — "Or hail at once the patron and the jiile Of vice and folly, Greville and Arj;yle." LITERARY ACTIVITY 81 In 1809 James was a contributor to The London Revieiv, which proved a failure, and was soon dis- continued. With Horace, he wrote several of the prefaces to Bell's British Theatre, published under the sanction of Mr. Richard Cumberland, the well-known dramatic author. From 1807 to I8I0 James was a constant writer for the Monthly^ Mirror, the property of the eccentric Mr. Thomas Hill of Sydenham. It was in this periodical that the poetical imitations called Horace in London — subsequently published in the first edition of Rejected Addresses — first appeared. It will be seen that the brothers were accustomed to the wielding of the pen, and, in fact, were ex- perienced writers, when (in 1812) their literary masterpiece was conceived and brought forth. In the year 1800 the Smith family were living at 36 Basinghall Street, whither they had removed from Old Jewry in 1790. The house was old-fashioned and roomy, of red-brick, and hidden away behind one of the ugly warehouses abounding in that narrow and tortuous thoroughfare, which connected Cateaton Street with London Wall. It had a long garden at the back, reaching almost to Coleman Street, where, in the heart of the city, all kinds of hardy shrubs flourished, and well-known herbaceous favourites appeared in the narrow borders, with each changing season. This garden adjoined that of the old Girdler's Hall, famous for a venerable mulberry-tree, said to have escaped the devouring flames of the Great Fire G 82 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH of London, which, raging all around, destroyed the parish-church of St. Michael's just across the street. There was much in the locality to feed the imagin- ations of such lovers of the past as James and Horace Smith. Improvements had not yet begun. London — at any rate the City — was to a great extent " old and picturesque London " still. The age of ugliness had not arrived, and designs for the dismal " bald street " yet slumbered in the brain of Nash, the architect, and his Royal patron. Quaint little casements, framed by projecting eaves and peaked gables, gazed into the street below with a look of hospitable invitation. Close by the church in Basinghall Street was Coopers' Hall, whose members made casks for the packing of dry goods, and of goods the reverse of "dry." For some years the State lotteries were held here, the tickets being arranged at Somerset House, and afterwards conveyed to Coopers' Hall on sledges, escorted by a detachment of Life Guards ; the drawings (which James and Horace used frequently to witness) being conducted by boys from Christ's Hospital. Whatever may be .said against the morality of the State lotteries, the temptation to an impecunious Government to rai.se money by this means was too great to be resisted, and all classes were bitten by the insane hope of making a fortune by the turn of a lucky number. Even such a high-minfled man as the Right Honourable William Windham was not above trying THE LAST PUBLIC LOTTERY 83 his luck, and seems to have regarded it as a perfectly legitimate investment. Robert Smith occasionally ventured his money, and, when verging upon his eightieth year, took a chance in the last public lottery in England, which he thus briefly records : — October 17, 1826. — I went to London in the stage. The drawing of the State lottery closing to-moiTow, I was disposed to try my luck, and pur- chased a ticket. It came up a blank. James was now his father's partner in all but name, and industriously attended to his legal duties. Leonard, to whom it is not necessary to refer at length in this narrative, was completing his seven years' clerkship at Downs, Thornton, and Free, the Bankers, in Bartholomew Lane. Horace, as we have seen, was a clerk in a Coleman Street counting- house, literally round the corner, just at the back of his house in Basinghall Street, where he joined the family at meal-times. James went a good deal into society even at this period; and on January 2nd, 1801, we find him dining at Bellsise House, Hampstead, with the Hon. Spencer Perceval and Mrs. Perceval, a daughter of Sir Thomas Wilson of Charlton.^ In the summer of 1803 James and Horace went 1 On March 11 of the following year, James Smith's sister, Sophia, was married at the church of St. Michael's, Bassishaw, to Mr. Thomas Cadell, only son of Mr. Alderman Cadell, the well-known publisher in the Strand. 84 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH with their father and mother to the Royal Borough, when they had the gratification of having a good look at King George and the Royal Family. Says the Journal : — On the 10th of July, Mrs. Smith and mysolf and our young folks took a little excursion to Windsor. We dined, supped, and slept at the Windmill Inn, at Salt Hill, and the following day (Sunday) drove in a glass coach to Windsor that we might see the Royal Family. We had the fir.st view of them on their going to Chapel, and afterwards during the service. We dined at the inn at Windsor, and in the evening walked to the Terrace. Upon the King, Queen, and Family entering the Terrace from the Queen's Palace, we all ranged ourselves against the wall of the castle, myself and my sons with our hats off. The King and Queen on passing looked at us, paused for a moment, and smiled as if pleased at the sight. King George and his consort, at sight of the Smiths and their eight children, were probably reminded only too forcibly of their own extensive family. This, unhappily, was the last excursion which Mrs. Robert Smith was permitted to take with the whole of her family. Up to this period her children had been spared that .saddest of all experiences — personal bereavement ; but they were soon to realize it in its acutest form. For .some time Mrs. Robert Smith's health had been declining, owing to con- stitutional weakness of the heart, which increa.sed a.s she grew older, and suddenly developed alarming DEATH OF MRS. R. SMITH 85 symptoms in the form of most distressing spasms. After a temporary recovery, the doctors advised her removal to Worthing, a place she much liked. She returned to Basinghall Street on the 24th of the month in better spirits, and improved in her general appearance ; but her husband's heart was " full of anxiety and forebodings," alas! only too well- founded, for one Saturday — the 3rd of November — ■ she died suddenly, from the effects of sudden excite- ment caused by unexpected noise and fear of fire. CHAPTER IX 1804—1812 Robert Smith's second marriage — He visits Cambridge, and there sees Henry Kirke White — Horace Smith becomes a merchant — The City in the first decade of the century — Horace Siiiilli'.s firm reconstituted — James appointed juint-assistant to tlie Ordnance Board Solicitor — Robert Smith removes to Austin Friars — Horace Smith becomes a member of the Stock Exchange. Mrs. Robert Smith's death left a dismal void in the family life at 36 Basinghall Street. Though many years elapsed before James and Horace set up establishments of their own, their lives gradually became more and more independent and self-contained, until with the second marriage nf their father an entirely new order of things prevailed. For, in spite of the loving attention of sons and daughters, Robert Smith, now verging on sixty, .sorely felt his loneliness. Essentially a domestic man, he shrank from the idea of having to face old age without the companionship and comfort i' a }»roperty-tax of ten HORACE IN BUSINESS 89 per cent. The celebrated Berlin Decrees, intended to cripple, if not to destory, British commerce, were promulgated by Napoleon, and added still more to the intense uneasiness and anxiety that prevailed in the City. Distrust abounded ; yet the most extra- ordinary frauds were concocted, and successfully carried out. In those days business was transacted with de- liberation and dignity ; not in the " life or death " manner of the present day. As regards costume, it was the era of top-boots and knee-breeches ; and we can picture the future author of Rejected Ad- dresses standing in front of the bow-windows of old Lloyd's co^e-hoase in Lombard Street, or on the flagstones of the Royal Exchange, clad in snuff- coloured coat, grey trousers, yellow-topped bluchers, and low hat, or in black coat, white cravat, and gaiters, according to the season, bargaining in the market for West Indian produce. Horace Smith exhibited in business a shrewdness and clearness of judgment for which his literary friends in after life never could give him credit. They quite overlooked the nature of his early training, and his constant association with a father who possessed business qualifications of a high order. Moreover, as has been observed, the possession of exceptional information was in those days more im- portant even than now. Robert Smith's position in the Ordnance Office enabled him to receive the earliest and most accurate intimation of the move- ments of the British forces, upon whom all eyes 90 JAMES AND JlOKACE SMITH -were fixed ; and the purport of many an important Government dispatch from the seat of war, privately reaching his ears some time before it was generally known in the City, was communicated by him to Horace. Horace Smith's firm prospered, inspiring so much confidence that three years after its formation Mr. John Down, a son of Robert Smith's banker (of the firm of Down, Thornton, Free, and Cornwall), joined the concern, and put into it the sum of £10,000, after which it was designated " Smith, Chesmer, and Down." Horace now began to make money ; and a pleasant side-light is thrown upon his disposition by a fact which his father records with great satisfaction. He says : — On this day (October I7tli) my son Horace, in consideration of the heavy payments which I have made for himself and his brothers, very kindly pre- sented me with £500. I received it as a token of affection from a dutiful son, and shall retain the remembrance of it as long as I live. James Smith pursued his calling with no less diligence than his brother, making himself more and more indispensable in his fiither's office, and (piali- fying for the important post of Joint-Assistant to the Solicitor of the Ordnance. He met with all kinds of curious experience, both in the ordinary course of business as a solicitor, and in that of the Government Department with which he was connected. In the year 1812, memorable for the dastardly "ASSISTANT TO ORDNANCE SOLICITOR" 91 assassination of Mr. Perceval, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons, Robert Smith, who for some time had been endeavouring to get his son James appointed as his joint-assistant — with a view, no doubt, to his eventually succeeding him — renewed his application as soon as the Earl of Mulgrave became Master-General of the Ordnance, in place of the Earl of Chatham. His request was granted, and the following letters were received from the Board's secretary : — The Master-General and Board, having been pleased to acquiesce in the request you have pre- ferred, that the name of your son, Mr. James Smith, may be added to your own in the appointment of " Assistant to the Ordnance Solicitor," I am directed to state the same for your information, and that you and your son will accordingly be termed " Joint- Assistants to the Solicitor," Having returned his thanks to the Master-General, Robert Smith received the following reply : — Sir, — The result of the inquiries which I made in consequence of your application, has rendered it highly satisfactory to comply with your request for the appointment of your son as assistant to the Ordnance Solicitor. I am, sir, You most obedient humble servant, Mulgrave. Egbert Smith, Esq. Finding that his means would not admit of his keeping up both the large expensive house in 92 JAMES AND HORACE RMTTIT Basinghall Street and the one at Woodford, and also that his wife preferred to live in the country, Robert Smith determined to make new arrange- ments. The lease of the Basinghall Street premises was therefore disposed of; rooms were taken at No. 18 Austin Friars, and thither the office papers were removed, and the business thenceforth carried on ; while he and his wife, with his unmarried daughters, went to live at Woodford. Horace Smith, who had severed his connection with the mercantile firm in which he was a partner, about this period became a member of the Stock Exchange, his place of business being in Shorter's Court, Throgmorton Street ; and he and his brothers lived together in rooms attached to the office in Austin Friars. CHAPTER X Horace Smitli's Burlesque, The Highgate Tunnel, is pro- duced at the Lyceum Theatre — James and Horace Smith's connection M'ith the drama — Destruction of Drury Lane Theatre by fire — Plans for the re-building — The new theatre. In the year 1810, a private Act of Parliament was applied for, empowering a Company ^ to carry out a laudable scheme, whose object was to divert the traffic entirely from the difficult and often dangerous ascent of Highgate Hill, by the creation of a new and easily accessible route. It Avas proposed to effect this object by the construction of a tunnel of considerable length ; but Mr. John Rennie, the famous engineer, having pointed out the great inconvenience of this, a shorter one with open approaches was agreed upon. The Act, in spite of the decided unpopularity of the project, was passed, and the work began. In this age of steel and iron, the idea of a petty little culvert, 211 yards in length, being regarded as a wonderful piece of engineering, seems incredible. 1 This Company eventually built the well-known Highgate Archway, now in course of re-construction by the London County Council. 93 94 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH But the good folk of LSlO, innocent of modern modes of steam and electricity, thought a good deal of it, and watched its progress with deep interest. Early on the morning of April 15th, 1812, when the work was about half finished, and luckily before any of the workmen had arrived, a tremendous slip occurred, the whole of the excavation collapsed, and the tunnel was filled up with earth. This accident caused an immense sensation in London, where the idea had from the first been regarded as chimerical and ridiculous ; so much so that the wits had at once produced a satirical pro- spectus for getting rid of the difficult ascent by the summary process of removing the hill itself " It is intended," they said, " by means of a mechani- cal slide, to remove the whole of the hill into the vale behind Caen Wood, where the seven ponds now are, thereby forming a junction with Hampstead, and inviting the approach of the two hamlets in a more sociable manner. On the spot where Highgate now stands, it is intended to form a large lake of salt water of two miles over or thereabouts, beginning at the north end of Kentish Town, and reaching to the spot where the White Lion at Finchley now stands." The prospectus went on to say, that the said lake was to be supplied with sea-water from the Es.sex roast by means of pipes, and to be stocked with all kinds of sea-fish except sharks, " there being plenty of these to be had in the neighbourhood." Further, it was intended, it said, to erect a large building in the centre of the wood on the north side of the lake, "THE HIGHGATE TUNNEL" 95 which building was to be used for insane surveyors and attorneys who had lately infested the neighbour- hood of Highgate, to the annoyance of the ordinary inhabitants. Horace Smith seized the ojDportunity, and under the pseudonym of " Momus Medlar, Esq.," produced a burlesque operatic tragedy in two acts, called The Highgate Tunnel, or, the Secret Arch, which was accepted by John Miller, the dramatic publisher of 25 Bow Street, was produced at the Lyceum Theatre on Thursday, the 2nd of July, 1812, and had what was then considered " quite a run " of twenty- four nights. Robert Smith, to whom the secret of the author's real name had been confided, was proud enough of his son's success, though tradition and professional etiquette forbade him openly to approve. The following bald entry appears in his Journal : — October, 1812. — A few months ago, my son Horace wrote a little after-piece for the stage, called The Highgate Tunnel, which was brought out at the Lyceum Theatre in the Strand, and had a run. There was, of course, after the fashion of the day, a Prelude to this production, termed An Ode to Fortttne, when Momus Medlar, Esq., one of the characters, and "Author of the New Tragedy," invokes the fickle Goddess : — Kick down (and welcome) Highgate Arch, But be content with one ill, When from the Gallery Ruin nods, Oh ! whisper silence to the gods, And spare the Muses' Tunnel ! 9G JAMES AND HORACE SMTTII The gods were pleased, and the critics favourable. Even the leading journal, the Times (July 4, 1812), condescended to bestow upon the piece the following remarks : — It is a burlesque, and a not unamusing one, on some of the late Covent Garden meludranias. The Secret Mine is treated with ridicule, if not very dexterous, at least very allowable ; and by the help of some popular melodies, the piece proceeds to its conclusion without any violent offence to criticism. Ridicule has been long since disallowed as the test of truth, and it nmst not rise into a test of dramatic merit ; but whatever makes some of the later jiro- ductions of the mclodramc manufacture hide their diminished heads renders a general service to public taste. The plot of the present piece is founded on the terrors of the Highgate publicans of losing their trade by the change of the road. The princi- pal sufferer has " a daughter fair," who has won the heart of a youthful miner. He is promised her hand on betraying the key-stone of the arch. The publicans project a general attack ; they are dis- comhted ; they attack again on horseback ; the battle is joined with fierceness, till, like Virgil's bees, exigui pulvcris jadu, the battle is stilled by a cloud of dust from above, — the arch gives way, — and the combatants all fall instantly dead. This is sustained Avith .some lively dialogue, and some ])aro(lies of favourite passages. The music is tolerably well selected ; and the piece, without admitting of much ])raise from the nature of the thing, is sufficiently well-conceived for its object. One of the parodies here referred to was recited by Jerry Grout, described in the play-bill as " an "ALL THE WORLD'S A STABLE" 97 honourable bricklayer, lover, and tunnelleer," who soliloquizes thus : — 'Tis all the same — All the World's a stable, And all the men and women ride on horses ; Youth has its field-horse ; age its chamber-horse ; And one man in his time mounts many hobbies, To travel many stages. — First, the rocking-horse. See-saw succeeding to the nurse's arms : — And then the braying donkey with his driver, Mounted by Margate Miss in shining spencer, Trotting to Dandelion.^ Then the hack By priggish cockney guided, prime, bang up. Whose threaten'd lash is all my eye, like that, Beneath his Mistress's eyebrow : — Then the palfrey Bearing an Actress feather'd like shuttlecock, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the Secret Mine. — Last scene of all, That ends this jockey, groomish history, Is second childishness, and neighing Actors, Whose dull horse-play can raise a dull horse-laugh, Sans wit, sans speech, sans taste, sans everything. — And now, my Mum, what say'st thou to a glass ? The musical portion of the burlesque included another amusing parody set to Dr. Arne's noble air, " The soldier, tir'd of war's alarms." It was sung by Tom Trowel, " a vocal labourer," to the words — The bricklayer, tir'd of bearing hods, Deserts his gang, exhausted nods. And snores both loud and clear ; But if the penny trumpet sound. He jumps, transported, from the ground. And claims his pot of beer. From early youth Horace, like his brother James, was an intense admirer of the drama, particularly of the plays of Richard Cumberland. These had ^ A place of amusement near Margate. H 98 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH fallen out of fixshion ; and in the year 1805, while Horace was still in a city counting-house, his con- viction that this neglect was utterly unwarranted became so strong, that he wrote a poem deploring the lamentable absence of taste on the part of the theatre-going public in ])referring the dramatic works of other writers to those of Cumberland. This effusion fell into Cumberland's hands, and he was so pleased that he quickly made the author's acquaintance, and introduced him into his own literary circle, and, to Horace's great delight, to most of the notable actors of the day. Thus James and Horace Smith soon came to know everybody in any way connected with the stage, and amongst them Miller, the dramatic publisher of Bow Street, and Charles William Ward, both of whom were destined to influence very considerably the lives of the brothers. Ward was of good famih' and well-connected, and had married Jane Linley, a younger sister of Brinsley Sheridan's first wife. He possessed a ver- satile talent, social tact, and easy manners, and had, besides, considerable judgment in l)usiness matters, so that he was well fitted for the responsible position of secretary to the Theatre Royal, Di'iiry Lane. Ward was of a convivial disposition, as were most of the popular men of his day, and an exc(>llcnt judge of port, the frequent imbibing of which generous liquor had .set its sign and seal on his nose. Hence the sobriquet of " Portsoken ^ ^ One of the City ward."?. AN EPIDEMIC OF FIRE 99 Ward," privately bestowed upon him by Horace Smith. It was really the Smiths' acquaintance with Ward that led to their writing Rejected Addresses. But here it is necessary that I should diverge slightly from the chronological order which I have endea- voured to maintain in this family narrative. On the 20th of September, 1808, a great sensation was created in London by the total destruction of Covent Garden Theatre, attended by sad loss of life. The recollection of this catastrophe was fresh in people's memories, when the town was startled (January 1809) by the intelligence that the entire east wing of St. James's Palace, including their Majesties' private apartments, and those of the Duke of Cambridge, had been burnt down, and the rest of the Palace saved only with great difficulty. An epidemic of terrible fires seemed to have set in. At the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the Cir- cassian Bride was running; and on the 24th of February, 1809, — the first Friday in Lent,— the theatre, according to custom throughout that season of mortification and fasting, was closed until the following day, and left in charge of the usual watch- men and caretakers. About eleven o'clock that night, a gentleman named Kent, residing in Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, happened to be passing, and noticed a strong light in one of the second-floor windows of the theatre facing Little Russell Street. He watched it for a few minutes, and deciding' that 100 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH it betokened nothing more unusual than workmen busy upon an urgent piece of repairs or alterations, passed on. In twenty niiuutes, however, the light had in- creased, and tongues of fire began to make their appearance at the window. Alarm was given, and messengers were dispatched in every direction for the fire-engines. At that time there was no Fire Brigade, but each of the Insurance Companies (and there were sixteen) maintained a number of engines, with a staff of firemen in distinctive costume. The engines were only in.uinals, ani] incapable of forcing the water to any great distance or in any- thing like an adecjuate (piantity for a large fire. By the time the " Hand-in-Hand," quickly foUcjwed by the " Phcenix " and the " Sun," had reached the spot, the entire upper portion of the great edifice was in a blaze, at an elevation that would have severely taxed the powers of even a modern "steamer." As it was, the manuals confined their attention to the surrounding houses, and, the su})]ily of water being plentiful, managed to keep them from catching alight. The sight was splendid : an iiiiKiMk.n mass of fiame enwrapped the whole building from Brydges ^ (now Catherine Street) Street to Drury Lane, a distance of one hundred and fifty 3'ards. I'y nn'd- night the roof had fallen in, and with it the gigantic wooden figure of Apollo that had stood on the summit; and soon afterwards, a poition of the ' Catlicrinc Street fonnfrly oiilaycd upon the water. And so great was the heat given out by the conflagration that it was distinctly felt across Covent Garden Market, at the portico of St. Paul's Church. A considerable time elapsed before arrangements could be made for the re-erection of the theatre. There were many questions to decide, and money was slow to come in. But by July of 1811, the Committee — appointed under the Act of Parliament, which authorized the formation of a Joint-Stock Company for the re-building by shares (^f £100 each — met under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Whitbread, M.P., the celebrated brewer, and were able to report that subscriptions were flowing in freely. Various designs for the now building were con- sidered, and, finally, Mr. Benjamin Wyatt was appointed architect; and his jilan, acrom])anied by a lucid explanatory tract, was freely circulated in the paj)crs, and on the whole approved of by the public. A certain kind of pro\ision was madi- against possible future conflagrations, by means of an acpie- duct of con.siderable deiith, ingeniously designed by Colonel Congreve, to furnish the house with an am})le supply of water, shoidd Jiccidont occur from fire. It was to be effected by an engine that would play from the stage into every box in the house! This is "CONGREVE'S PLUG" 103 referred to by Horace Smith in the Rejected Addresses : — Again should it burst in a blaze, In vain would they ply Congreve'e plug, For nought could extinguish the rays From "the gknce of divine Lady Mugg. CHAPTER XI 1812 Competition for Address to be spoken at opening of new Drury Lane Theatre — Some of the Addresses — The re-opening of Drury Lane Theatre — How Rejected Addresses came to be written — Its publication. It was arranged by the Committee that the opening night of the new theatre should be on the 10th of October, 1812 ; and on the 12th of August preceding, there appeared the following announcement in the leading daily paper : — " REBUILDING OF DRURY LANE THEATRE. " The Committee are desirous of promoting a free and fair competition for an Address to be spoken upon the opening of the Theatre, which will take place on the 10th of October next. They have, there- fore, thought tit to ann(junce to the public, that they will be glad to receive any such compositions, addressed to their Secretary, at the Treasury Office in iJrury Lane, on or before the 10th of September, sealed up, with a distinguishing word, number, or motto on the cover, corresponding with the inscrip- tion on a separate sealed paper, containing the name "WITHOUT A PHCENIX" 105 of the author, which will not be opened unless con- taining the name of the successful candidate." The brothers Smith had previously been made aware by their friend, Mr. Ward, that such a competi- tion would be promoted, and Horace, taking advan- tage of this information, prepared a genuine address, which was sent up with the others, and shared the same fate of rejection. It was incorporated in his volume of Rejected Addresses as " An Address without a Phoenix," and concludes thus : — Oil ! may we still, to sense and nature true, Delight the many, nor offend the few. Though varying tastes our changeful Drama claim. Still be its moral tendency the same — To win by precept, by example warn, To brand the front of Vice with pointed scorn, And Virtue's smiling brows with votive wreaths adorn. As many as one hundred and twelve Addresses were sent in to the Committee, who heroically sat and patiently listened while each one in turn was recited before them. Some were brief, others of inordinate length ; in fifteen, the poet " flashes his maiden sword." In general they bore a close resemblance to each other; thirty contained complimentary allusions to Wellington, and to Whitbread, the breAver ; and in no fewer than sixty-nine, the fabled Phcenix was invoked. Even Whitbread, who himself sent in an Address, had a Phoenix, but, according to Sheridan, he made more of the bird than his rivals had done, entering into particulars, and describing its wings, beak, tail, etc. ; in short, it was " a poulterer's descrip- tion of a Phoenix." lOG JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Some few of the Addresses were manifestly not seriously meant to be spoken ; and the professionals in the poetical world studiously abstained from competing. Bravely the Committee struggled through their thankless task. One Address, abounding in pathos, from the pen of the well-known W. T. Fitzgerald, of whom Lord Byron wrote — " Shall hoarse Fitzgerald bawl His creaking couplets in a tavern hall — " tiied their " staying " powers very severely. Six hours were spent in discussing the merits of this lengthy and elaborate elegiac, until at last it was decided, ncm. con., that, as it was confessedly by far the longest, it should be referred to the prompter to report, whether, with that superior merit, it might not, in his opinion, prove also the fittest, as giving the scene-shifters more time to arrange matters before the rising of the curtain. Eventually the Committee, sadly puzzled what to do, since none came up to their expectations, decided to reject them all, and in their dilemma applied to Lord Byron, who acceded to their request, and provided them with an Address which was duly recited at the re-opening. All London was ai?tir, and, as the hmir of opening approached, the streets leading to Drury Lane were crowded with sight-seers, ])atiently waiting in the pouring rain, up to their knees in mud. Scjldiers guarded the entrances to the theatre, and admitted MRS. DAVID GARRICK 107 the company so gradually that there was no crushing or confusion. The house was rapidly filled with an enthusiastic, well-behaved audience, who considerately abstained from hanging their shawls and coats over the front of the boxes, thus leaving the splendid decorations open to the sight of all. When the curtain drew up at half-past six o'clock, the entire company came forward and sang " God Save the King " and " Rule, Britannia," received with the loudest applause.^ Then came Lord Byron's Address, spoken by Elliston dressed as Hamlet. It began thus — " In one dread night, our city saw and sighed, Bowed to the dust, the Drama's tower of pride, In one short hour beheld the blazing fane, Apollo sink, and Shakspeare cease to reign," and finished — after more than sixty lines — with the following — " The curtain rises — may our stage unfold Scenes not unworthy Drury's days of old ! Britons our judges, Nature for our guide, Still may we please, long, long — may ijou preside."' A touching incident occurred before the perform- ance began. As Mrs. Garrick entered the box specially reserved for her, the audience rose, and welcomed her with three such hearty cheers, in memory of her incomparable husband, that the poor old lady, deeply moved by this exhibition of popular affection, shed tears. ^ The leader of the band was Sir George Smart. 108 JAMES AXT) TIORACE SMTTTI Tilt' play ^ thi-'H proci't'ilid, lullowod l»y the farce, The Devil to Pay. The audience was full of good- humour, and " all went uierry as a mamage-bell." Finally, it was said that the sum taken that night at the doors amounted to £S59. So passed the memorable performance, at which (it need hardly be said) James and Horace Smith were present, the former relating to his friends his personal recollection of the opening of the former Drury Lane Theatre, when, between the play and the farce, an epilogue, written by George Colman, had been " excellently spoken " by Miss Farren. Of course a good deal of discontent was felt among the one hundred and twelve " rejected," from the fact of Ijyron not having com^Jctcd ; but only one of the number tried publicly to air his grievance. This was a certain Dr. Busby, who, soon after the re-opening, created considerable disturbance by addressing the audience from one of the boxes, and, af'tci- much interruption and confusion, prevailed upon the good- natured au. Mountain as Oplitlia, an^'e with his l)eam the beams of Driiry Lane ; While gradual parties till our widen'd pit. And gape, and gaze, and wonder, ere they sit. " The Theatre " is more than a masterly imitation of George Crabbe. One can picture the interior of Drury Lane and the expectant audience, and can watch with deepest interest the successful efforts of Pat Jennings, the red-haired youth, who, to recover his hat, let down a " motley cable " composed of bon'owod handkerchiefs — Starr'd, striped, and spotted, yellow, red, and bine, Old calico, torn silk, and muslin new, and thus Rcgain'd the felt, and felt what he regain'd ; While to the applauding galleries grateful Pat Made a low bow, and touch'd the ransoni'd hat. The " Hampshire Fanner's Address," a j)arody of William Cobbett, also by James Smith, is considered by many excellent judges to be among the very best of the imitations. On the completion of Hrjrckd yidihrsscs, the authors sent their MS. to some of the leading pub- lishers, but in every ca.se it was perused and " retunied with thanks," The Smiths did not care to ])ay for its publication out of their own pocket, for, as Horace says, " We had no objection to raise a laugh at the expcn.sc of others, but to do itat ourown cost, uncertain WW. ALDERMAN CADl.l.L. MURRAY AND CADELL 115 as we were to what extent we might be involved, had never entered our contemplation." Amongst others, they had communicated with Mr. John Murray, but before sending him the MS. had inquired if he would entertain the idea of publishing it, in which case he might have the copyright for the modest sum of £20. Mr. Murray refused the offer, and subsequently stated that he did so because he had taken it for granted that, as Mr. Cadell was related to the Smiths, they had previously offered the MS. to him, and that he had declined it. The feeling of clanship is rarely so strong south of the Tweed as to lead people to be particularly anxious to do business with relations or connections, as such ; and Cadell was the last man in the world to be in- fluenced by these considerations. This the Smiths well knew ; but there was also another reason for their not offering the work to him. On the death of Alderman Cadell in 1802, the business, which had fallen into a state of comparative decrepitude, required that the closest economy should be practised, and that for many years no financial risks, however small, should be run. This had become a fixed principle of the firm, and Cadell — an excellent " man of affairs " — was well known among authors as " close," and little disposed to deal on the basis of cash down if he could avoid it.^ ^ As Thomas Cadell's grandson, the author may be allowed to make the above statement with some authority. Thomas Cadell, by dint of steady application, and ably assisted by his partner, Wm. Davies, and a particularly capable chief clerk, IK, JAMES AND HORACE SMITH However, as Mr. ]\Iurray had blindly rejected their Rejected Addresses, tiie tiuestion was, what were they to do ? At this point their good angel, C. W. Ward, reminded Horace that John Miller, the dramatic publisher of Bow Street, having already lathered the Hiyhgcdc Tunnel, would be the most likely person to apply to. No sooner hiul this gentleman looked over our manuscript [says Horace] than he immediately offered to take upon himself all the risk of publication, and to give us half the profit, should there he any — a liberal proposition with which Ave gladly closed. The success of the book was immediate and re- markable ; and as new editions were called for in (piick succession, the lucky authors were by and by able to dispose of their half cojn'right to Mr. MilUr for £1000. In Robert Smith's Journal Ave find this terse entry : — Octejher 11///, 181 2. — ^ly two sons, James and Horace, jointly (•')'ojits. On this da}', therefore, December 31st, 1818, my son provided himself with a new set of books; and my name was withdrawn from the office doors. In the course of the following year, the Duke of \\\'llington having done me the honour to ask ni}' opinion upon some point of law that was connected with his official character of Master-General, I con- ceived this a favourable opportunity to make known to his Grace my wishes concerning my son. To these applications I received a favourable answer ; that from the Duke's private secretary was as follows : — Office of Ordnance, July -loth, 1819. Sir, I am directed by the Master-General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 11th instant, and to acquaint you that his Grace has given orders that the name of your sou may be allowed to stand singly, as Assistant to the Ordnance Solicitor, agi'eeably with your request. I am, Sir, Your most obedient, llumbU- servant, ¥. B. Hervey. Robert Smith, Esq., 18 Austhi Friars. Thus my wishes in this respect are now accom- plished, and 1 rejoice at it. The situation of "Assistant to tin- Solicitor " n a scarecrow straggling village, or cluster of mud-hovels, till we got into an apple country, where there were ])lenty of trees, but not a single apple, the crop having utterly failed. Little variations occurred in these features till we got to the very barriei-s of Paris, when all at once we seemed to have lea])t forward about a thousand years, the houses presenting niodiiii classical eleva- tions, all built of white stone, extremely lofty, mngnihcent, and im))ressive, the streets wifle and handsome, gay carriage's Hitting about, and a smart, ' His .si.'^tcr. IN PARIS 159 numerous, and noisy population succeeding to the stagnation of life through which we had passed. We went to the Hotel Maurice, an immense place (140 bedrooms), so full of English that we could only get accommodated by putting up a temporary bed for Horace. Next day we put the children to school with a friend of Sophia's settled here, and most happy we were to get rid of Horace, who kept us in perpetual fear of his being lost or run over, or both, as he was perfectly wild with the novelty of the scene. Opposite to the back of our hotel is the Tuilleries and Louvre, with all its far-famed contents — the gardens with their Frenchified but very grand succession of statues, ponds, shady walks, gates and arches leading to the Bois de Boulogne and the Champs Elysees, where you may fancy yourself in Abyssinia — and on the other side of our street we walked to the Palais Royal, with its noble square surrounded with innumerable shops, and refreshed with trees and a handsome jet d'eau in the centre. To see all this within five minutes' walk of our residence, in the midst of Paris, certainly struck us all of a heap. But what pleases me most is the abundance of gardens and flowers, all as green and fresh as a pickled herring; artificial flowers inside the house, and real ones outside, seems to be a passion with the French, and I like them for it. We went one day to dine at Grignon's, a famous o-estaurateair, but Sophia could not be reconciled to the dishes or the publicity, and we sat down once or twice at the talle d'hote at Maurice's, generally from thirty to forty, and all English; but the place was so expensive and noisy that we have moved into these lodgings, small but comfortable, for which we pay 200 f a month, and where, to the amaze- ment of those who know it, we have determined on IGO JAMES AND HORACE SMITH dining at home occasionally, which to a Parisian seems perfectly ridiculous. We have bought a hattcrie dc cuisine for three or four francs, and enjdyed to-day some stewed voal and peas, au nature!, as the Frenchman says with a sneer when you decline kickshaws ; and for wine, I am quite content with the lowest price, \%'hich is 15 sous or 7 hi per bottle. I like all their wines except champagne. We spent a most delightful morning at the Cimeti^re of Pere la Chaise (whither I must go again), and the sight of which, with its exquisitely tasteful and picturesque toml)s, embowered in trees, shrubs, and flowers, with their simple and feeling inscriptions, was quite sufficient in my mind to dis- prove the assertion that the French are deficient in sentiment and affection. They come constantly to hang garlands and crosses on the tombs of their relations, and to refresh the flowers with which they are planted, for which purpose water-pots are left in many of the enclosures ; — not a flower was picked — m^t a stone scribbled — not a figure defaced, and inside most of the railings are chairs for the friends to come occasionally and weep in, an office in which we saw more than one engaged, and the day after our visit a man blew out his bmins on the toiid) of his wife ! There may be some parade in all this, but I am convinced there is a good deal of feeling, and I am glad I came here, were it only on account of Pere la Chaise. About five minutes' walk from our present lodgings are Tivoli Gardens, where we have been roaming, and of which some parts are perfectly secluded and rural. I think I shall sub.scribe for the morning walks. Wf have warm baths in the build- ing for Hfteen-j)ence, and are near all the gaiety if we like, but have yet been to no theatre. Once we have walked through the Louvre, and to-morrow we A CHANGE OF PLANS 161 are going to the Luxembourg. ... I shall stay here two months longer, and shall write to you again. Your affectionate brother, H. Smith. Horace Smith's plans, however, received an un- welcome upheaval. He had intended joining Shelley in Italy, and had, in fact, sent on all his heavy luggage to Leghorn by sea; but the weather in Paris became intensely hot, and his wife, who was singularly intolerant of warm weather, became so ill that she could not travel further. It was a great disappointment to Horace Smith, who wrote to his friend as follows : — Paris, August 30th, 1821. My dear Shelley, The disappointment and vexation by the sudden overthrow of all my long-cherished plans is not less painful to me than the cause of it is distress- ing. I have also to regret the trouble I have unnecessarily given you, and the disappointment (for I have vanity enough to believe you will think it such) to w^hich I have exposed you. In the midst of these more serious annoyances, I have hardly time to attend to the petty incon- veniences to which we must be subjected by wintering here without any of our clothes, books, or comforts, all of which have been shipped to Leghorn. I think of taking a house at Versailles, but at present I am quite unsettled in everything. When I have arranged my plans I shall write to you again, till when, and always, I am, my dear Shelley, Your very sincere and disappointed friend, Horatio Smith. M 162 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Eventually, Horace Smith took an apimrtcment in the Hotel des Reservoirs, Versailles, which he furnished, and from which he dates some very interesting letters to his friend, Cyrus Redding.^ 15 BxiP (/fcs Reservoirs, Versailles, 1821. Dear Sir, I have been a good deal occupied in changing and furnishing my lodgings, and have had but little time for writing, and I have no access to books, as mine have not yet been returned from Italy, but they are on the route, and I hope to keep you supplied with admissible matter. Your account of the sale is gratifying, and I should think must be satisfactory to Mr. Colburn, even should it not advance further, though his heavy expenses must demand a wide circulation. That you should not receive much novelty is natural enough, for who the deuce can hit upmi anything new, when half the world are racking their brains to do the same ? The magazine certain 1}' improves, and as far as I can judge from those who see it ht'iv and at Galignani's, gives groat satisfaction. I had heard of p(;or Leigh Hunt's adventure. I hope to heaven he will get out to Italy somehow, for this is the very crisis of his fate, not only as it may remove him from all the devilry with which he hius been S(» long beleaguered, but that it may })lace him within the powerful influence of Lord l^)yron. His non-arrival has occjisioned a whole chapter of embarrassments at Pisa, where his lordship h;vs ' Cyrus Redding's Fifty Years' Recollections. From 1821 to 1830 Reddini^ was the workin}^ editor of tlie New Munthbj Mitijazine, of wliidi Campbell, the poet, wan the nominul chief. He wiia also the iiulhor of several woiks. ABOUT SHELLEY 163 appropriated a part of his palace for his reception, and has matured the other phxns for which he was wanted. What these are I do not exactly know, but Shelley is only interested as an occasional contributor, and none of the party will dream of heretical, still less of atheistical theories, in a periodical publication which would be inevitably suppressed. Though Shelley is my most particular friend, I regret the imprudence of his early publications on more points than one, but as I know him to possess the most exalted virtues, and find in others who promulgate the most startling theories most amiable traits, I learn to be liberal towards abstract speculations, which, not exercising any baneful influence on their authors' lives, are still less likely to corrupt others. Truth is great, and will prevail — that is my motto, and I would, therefore, leave ever}> thing unshackled — what is true will stand, and what is false ought to fall, whatever be the consequences. Ought we not to feel ashamed that Lucretius could publish his book in the teeth of an established religion, while martyrs are groaning in perpetual imprisonment for expressing a conscientious dissent from Christianity? Human punishments and rewards will generally be found sufficient for human control, so far as it can really be controlled. Jack Ketch is the most effectual devil, and the gallows the most j^ractical hell ; the theoretical ones, which could not deter from crime, are seldom much thought of by the rogue, until these most tangible ones are about to jDuuish him. John Hunt is a fine-spirited fellow, and I beg to be kindly remembered to him. I am delighted with France, particularly Versailles, and do not think of an immediate return. There is very good English society here. I never look at the magazine without wondering 164 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH how you get through the labour, which I ll-ar is too heavy to allow you any trip to this side, where I should be most happy to see you. I have taken a})artnients and furnished them myself, whieh I find a much cheaper plan. I am always. Dear Sir, Yours very faithfully, Horatio Smith. 15 Rue des Reservoirs, Versailles, 1822. Many thanks, my dear Sir, for your acceptable letter of the 21st July, handed to me by Mr. Crowe, who passed a day with me, very agreeably on my part, and to whom I should have been happy to show further civilities, but that the shortness of his stay prevented it. He seems a very intelligent, unassum- ing man, and I should much like to join him in his excursion, as I still hope to visit the classic regions if I can get my wife's health re-established. I understand the paragra])h to which you allude in Blavhwooil is an ill-natured one towards me, and it d-ky — eternal and immut- able Scriptures, written by God himself, wliich all may read and none can interpolate, there would be a total cessation of the ddUnn tlicdJogicnin which has been such a lirebrand to the world ; the human race, unchecked in its progress of improvement, would be gradually uplifted into a higher state, and all created beings, living together in harmony as one family, would worship their common Father in the un- divided faith of brotherly love and the gratitude of peaceful ha]>piness. Utopian (h'cams, perchance, visionary yearnings, too great and glorious ever to receive their consum- mation upon earth ; but who shall describe the profound emotion with which I listfmd to them ? As we wandered al(»ne through the vast natural cathedral of the wcjods, our feet falling inaiidibly upon the turf, so that all around was hushed, as if the earth itself were listening to the rapt en- thusiastic voice, wliili' through the leafy openings overhead the blue sky seemed to smile benignly down upon him, who can wonder, although I wivs so many years older, that a solemn icverenee began to mingle with my admiral imi of the singular youth by my side i When I ga/,ed upon his beam- ing countenanee, and saw his fragile frame excited l)y his theme until his bosom appemed to be " heav- ing beneath incund)ent deity " ; when I recalled his exquisite genius, his intellectual illumination, his IDEALIZING THE REAL 175 exuberant philanthropy, his total renunciation of self, the courage and grandeur of his soul, combined with a feminine delicacy and purity, and an almost angelic amenity and sweetness, I could almost fancy that I had been listening to a spirit from some higher sphere, who had descended upon earth to inculcate a self-realizing confidence in the lofty destinies of mankind, and to teach us how we might accelerate the advent of a new golden age, when all the different creeds and systems of the world would be amalgamated into one — and liberated man would bow before the throne of his own aweless soul, or of the power unknown. During the poet's residence in Italy, I corre- sponded with him regularly on the subject of his poems, generally to make the same unfavourable report as to their sale, and often to receive the same reply, that since he found the public refused to sympathize with his effusions, he should cease to emit them ; but the injustice of the outer world had turned his thoughts inwards ; he found in the muse both a recipient for his blighted affections, and a vent for his aspiring hopes ; and he wrote on, in spite of neglect, and in defiance of abuse. Kemem- bering his school-boy's vow, he determined to fulfil his mission. I had frankly confessed my opinion that his writings, too subtle and mystical, and even too imaginative for the public taste, would have a better chance of success if they exhibited a greater variety of human character, and a more intelligible object. Mrs. Shelley says: — "More popular poets clothe the ideal with familiar and sensible imagery. Shelley loved to idealize the real, to gift the mechanism of the material universe with a soul and a voice, and to bestow such also on the most delicate and abstract emotions and thoughts of the mind." When this is extended to a long and not very intel- 176 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH lible allofrorv, the writer must content himself with an " audience fit, though few." Confessmg his pre- ference of idealism to reality, Shelley says in one of his letters, " The Epipsychidioii is a mystery: as to real tlesh and blood, you know that 1 do not deal in those articles ; you might as well go to a gin-shop for a leg of mutton as expect anything human or earthlv from me." ThJ " (Edijius Tyrannus; or Swellfoot the Tyrant," was transmitted to me in manuscript, with a recpiest that I would get it anonymously published. Though I thought it unworthy of Shelley's genius, which was little adapted to satire, and still less to political pleasantry, 1 complied Avith his request, little sus- pecting the dilemma in which it would involve me. Scarcely had it appeared in the bookseller's window, when a burly alderman called upon me on the part of "The Society for the Suppression of Vice," to demand the name of the author, in order that he might be prosecuted for a seditious and disloyal libel. On my denying its li.iliility to this accusation, and refusing to disclose the writer's name, I was angrily apprised, that unless I consented to give up the whole impression to the Society, an action would instantly be commenced against the publisher, who stood by the side of the alderman in dcej) tribula- tion of spirit. To .save an innocent man from fine and impri.sonment, and the chance of ultimate ruin, I submitted to this insolent dictation of the Society, and made holocaust of "Swellfoot the Tyrant" at the Tn(|uisition Offiec, in Bridge Street, Blackfrians. Much as Shelley was maligni'd by strangers, none of tho.se who knew liini ])ersonally had ever spoken of him except in tcnns of unbounded admiration and affection. Perhaps no one formed a juster estimate of his character, and no one was more comjK-tent to judge, than Lord Byron, who thus describes him: — BYRON ON SHELLEY 177 " He was the most gentle, most amiable, and least worldly-minded person I ever met ; full of delicacy, disinterested beyond all other men, and possessing a degree of genius, joined to simplicity, as rare as it is admirable. He had formed to himself a hemi ideal of all that is fine, high-minded, and noble ; and he acted up to this ideal, even to the very letter. He had a most brilliant imagination, but a total want of worldly wisdom." CHAPTER XVII 1825—1832 The declining years of Robert Smith — His verse-work — Family marriages — Death of his second wife — His last illness and death. In his declining years Robert Smith lived a quiet and useful life, devoting himself to his children and grand-children, and unostentatiously associating himself with every good work that came to hand. He observes : — A retired village life as mine will henceforth be, can afford but little occasion for remark of any kind. If I cannot attain to Otium cum dignitatc, I must endeavDur at all events to escape its opposite ex- treme, Tedium vita:. After living at Champion Hill, Camberwell, and Leyton in Essex, he finally .settled down for the remainder of his days at St. Anne's Hill, Wandsworth. Beneath his grave and business-like demeanour lay a fund of quiet wit and humour, which, whenever an opportunity offered, found vent in versification. Thus, when his wife's young niece, wli<» was very musical, was staying with them, he scribbled her the following lines : — 178 A MUSICAL JOKE 179 Praise, undeserved, the poet says, Is satire in disguise ; But commendation that is just No j)oet will despise. ir. Thus, " Laura, you are much improv'd In manners and in learning ; " Now, you will readily admit That uncles are discerning. -'o- III. Turn to your music-book, you'll find Rules and instructions plenty, Selected for the pupil's use, By Paddon and Clemen ti. IV. Give to these rules a wider field, A metaphoric meaning. So as to make them rules of life, Weeding as well as gleaning-. V. That every thought, and word, and deed, May properly avail, Order it rightly, then sum up In " Diatonic scale." VI. Neither too jj nor yet too b Be a " Piano " ; True to your " Time," your ^Tn your q In "Basso" or "Soprano." ISO JAMES AXD HORACE SMTTIT VII. Tliniigli you ]iave • •, "fret," aii.l tr. Willi I upright, (.Um't n^ And, slioukl you take a crabbed f^ " Finale," no i^:. VIII. Wliene'cr vou feel " con furia " rise, Restrain it fi-om — =:mi^ This do iu " aniorosa " style, Dolce IX. So manage " Cadence," " Air," and " Grace " (Vuu play in " Minor" key) As that the " Dominant " ' produce A " Perfect-Harmony." 'Twixt Chittagong - and Bedford Square ^ How vast the difference found ! There, all is dismal, dreary waste. Here, highly culturd ground. In 1821, his eldest grand-daughter, Marin (fainiHarly called Mira), had married the Rev. J. Channing Abdy, curate of St. CJeurge the Martyr, Southwark, who.se father, the Rev. W. J. Ahdy, rector of St. John's, Horsleydown, died in IS^.S. The living being vested in the Cri»wn, his son a]t)ilie(l to the Lord Chancellor for it. Ho succeeded in his application contrary to all expectation, clerical eti(juette being rather against the bestowal of a * Her governess. - Her birtliplace. * Her boarding-school. FROM MRS. S. C. HALL 181 living upon the son of a late incumbent. Abdj's most formidable rival was a certain Dr. Sampson, to whom Robert Smith, triumphing in his son-in-law's victory, addressed the following stanza : — Sampson, thy hopes upon St. John's, An Abdy raised, and can extinguish ; Fathers had merit, so have sons. And there are patrons who distinguish. Whatever emanates i'rom Eldon ^ Must of necessity be well done. Maria Abdy later in life contributed to the Ncio Monthly and Metropolitan Magazines and several of the fashionable annuals many poems of considerable merit, which were collected and printed for private circulation. After presenting one of these volumes to Horace Smith's friend, Mrs, S. C. Hall, she received the following letter of acknowledgment : — My dear Madam, A thousand thanks for the charming gift you sent me. I have read the poems with great pleasure ; some few are old friends. It was most kind of you to remember me in this way. I know you are very busy, for I often see your name, and you must permit me to add, never with- out pleasure and advantage. I am glad you like my young friend Toulmin. She is a very charming and valuable person, and not at all tinted with that awful bluism which disfigures so many literary ladies. I think a cousin of yours is one of Mr. Hall's dear friends, Mr. E. M. Ward ; what a noble artist and estimable man he is. 1 The Lord Chancellor, 182 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH I see Horace Smith's name very lVei|uentl}' in print, but of late I have not had time to read much — to my sorrow. I assure you I sympathize very afifectionately with yuu in your surruw/ fur I know what your sensitive nature must endure. Very faithfully, Your obliged, Anna Makia Hall. The liedonj, Old Bromptotiy IBth March, 1826. Mira Abdy had been married nearly nine years before she was blessed with any offspring. At last a boy was born ; and when Robert wrote to Mira's mother (his daughter) congratulating her upon having become a grandmother, he enclosed these lines : — Nonumquc prematur in Annum. I. So Mim fancies tliat "prematiir" Ap])lie.s alike to Art and Nature, At least, tliat it admits a " may lie " ; She therefore wait.s " nine year.s " the time, Then stereotypes her jirose ami rhyme, And iiuljlishe.s a little baby ! II. what a theme for spK-en and \V()nriTFT, writing of his brother James, says : — He was one of the most agreeable companions imaginable, and it was difficult to pass an evening in his company without feeling in better humour with the AV(jrld ; such was the influence of his in- exhaustible fund of amusement and information, his lightness, liveliness and good sense. He was not very witty or brilliant, nor even very ready at repartee. Indeed, I am ])rftty sure that most of the best things recorded of iiim were impromjytusfaifit d loisir ; but no man ever excelled him in starting plea.sant topics of conversation, and sustaining it ; nor was it well ])ossiblo for a party of modi-rate dimensions, when he was of it, to be dull. The droll anecdote, the apt illustrati(»n, the shrewd re- mark — a trait of humour from Fielding, a scrap of song from the Br'jfjars Oprrd, a knock-down retort of Johnson's, a C(juplet from Pojje or JJ)ry(len — all seemed to come as they were wanted, and, as he was always just as ready to listen as to talk, acted each in turn as a sort of challenge to the comjtany to bring forth their budgets, and contribute towards the feast. 180 JAMES SMITH AND THE JUDGE 187 He was rather fond of a joke at the expense of his own branch of the legal profession, and always gave a peculiar emphasis to any line in his songs that referred to an attorney, as for instance : — Mr. Barker's as mute as a fisli in the sea, Mr. Miles never moves on a journey, Mr. Gotobed sits up till half after three, Mr. Makepiece was bred an attorney y Mr. Gardener can't tell a flower from a root, Mr. Wilde with timidity draws back, Mr. Ryder performs all his journeys on foot, Mr. Foote, all his journeys on horseback. Yet James Smith had the greatest respect for his profession and instinctive reverence for legal digni- taries. An invitation to dine with a judge afforded him more gratification than would a command to banquet with Royalty itself. In his day [continues Horace Smith] it was cus- tomary on emergencies for the judges to swear affidavits at their dwelling-houses. James was de- sired by his father to attend a judge's chambers for that purpose, but being engaged to dine in Russell Square, at the next house to Sir George Holroyd's, one of the judges of the Court of King's Bench, he thought he might as well save himself the disagree- able necessity of leaving the party at eight o'clock, by dispatching his business at once ; so a few minutes before six, he boldly knocked at the judge's, and requested to speak to him on particular business. The judge was at dinner, but came down without delay, swore the affidavit, and then gravely asked what was the pressing necessity that induced James Smith to disturb him at that hour. As Smith told the story, he raked his invention for a plausible 188 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH excuse, but finding none fit for the purpose, he bhirted out the truth — " The fact is, my lord, I am engaged to dine at the next house — and — and — " — " And, sir, you thought you might as well save your own dinner by spoiling mine ? " — " Exactly so, my lord, but — " — " Sir, I wish you a good evening." Though he brazened the matter out, he said he never was more frightened in his life. The following well-known anecdote of James Smith is thus related in full by his brother Horace : — The many bodil}- infirmities of Charles Mathews, and more especially the sad accident that lamed him for life, had tended to irritate a temper which his extreme sensitiveness sometimes rendered touchy, though his nature was always kind and genial. Among his little jr/'andial peculiarities was a ve- hement objection to mock-turtle soup, on account of some unwholesome ingredient with which, as he a-sserted, it was usually thickened. Once I met him at a party where several servants in succession having oift ivd him a plate of his " pet abhtjrrence," he at length lost patience, uttered an angry, " No, I tell you ! " and petulantly tossing up his elbow at the .same time, upset a ])ortion of the rejected comjiound upon his sleeve. Next day, I again encountered him at dinner, when he related what had occurred, ex- claiming, " I am delighted beyond measure that ray coat is spoiled ; I have locked it uj) ; I wouldn't have it cleane-d for twenty pounds; call to-morrow, and I'll show you the sleeve ; it stands of itself, stiff as the arm of a statue. Y«>u wouldn't believe me when I told you on good authority, that the lawyers sold all their ])archments to the ])astry-cooks to make some villainous stuff called glaize or gelatine, or in plain ANECDOTES OF JAMES SMITH 189 English, glue, out of which they manufacture jelly, or sell it to our poisoning cooks, who put it into their mock-turtle to make the gruel thick and slab." " I have heard of a man eating his own words," said James Smith, " but if your statement be true, a man may have unconsciously eaten his own acts and deeds." " He may, he may ! " cried Mathews. " Egad, my friend, I thank you for the hint, it explains all about my confounded indigestion. Doubtless I have some other man's ivill, which renders it so in- subordinate to my own will ; I myself love roast pork and plum-pudding, but this alien will, transferred from some lawyer's office to my intestines, will not allow me to digest them. You have heard of the fellow with a bad asthma who exclaimed, ' If once I can get this troublesome breath out of my body, I'll take good care it shall never get in again,' and I may Avell say the same of this parchment usurper who has taken possession of my stomach. How he got there is the wonder, for years have elapsed since I swallowed glue — I mean jelly or mock-turtle." But for felicitous impromptu, the anecdote of James Smith told by the Rev. Julian Young, son of the famous actor, Charles Mayne Young, possibly bears the palm. Mr. Young says : — When Jesse was preparing for the press his Gleanings in Natural History, James Smith one day unexpectedly burst in upon him. The moment he saw him, he said, " My dear Smith, you have come in the very nick of time, as my good genius, to extricate me from a difficulty. You must know that to each of my chapters I have put an appropriate heading. I mean by that, that each chapter has 190 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH prefixed to it a quotation from some well-known author suitefl to the subject treated of, with one exception. I have been cudgeling my brains for a motto for my chapter on Crows and Rooks, and cannot think of one. Can you ? " — " Certainly," said he, with promptitude, " here is one from Shakespeare for you ! ' The cause (caws), my soul, the cause (caws) ! '" The following is one of James Smith's humorous compositions : — At a certain election dinner at Cambridge, the Mayor sat at one end of the table and Sir Peter Pawsey, a gentleman of good estate in Lincolnshire, at the other. Sir Peter's son, a raw, long-legged lad from Harrow, Avas also at table. After dinner, the general buzz that frecjuently occurs in a mixed party Wivs succeeded by a momentary silence. " Here is one of those awkward ^?a?tscs that one sometimes meets with at table," observed the Mayor to a doctor of civil law on his right. The conversation went on, and in about ten minutes another ces.satiun of talk suddenly took place. " Here is another of those awkward ^;rt?tsfs at table," repeated the mayor to the doctor. " Xot half so awkward as a Cambridge mayor," belhnved Sir Peter Pawsey, casting a furious glance at the astonished chief magistrate. The fact was, the baronet had jjocketed the first supp(^sed personal affront, which he had taken to himself; but the scconcl, glancing as it seemed to do, upon his darling and only son, wa.s too much for his temper's endurance. James Smith was in the hal)it of sending Lady Blessington occasional epigrams, complimentary scraps of verse, or punning notes, like this : — AN EPIGRAM 191 The newspapers tell us that your new carriage is very highly varnished. This, I presume, means your wheeled carriage. The merit of your personal carriage has always been, to my mind, its absence from all varnish. The question requires that a jury should be impannelled. The following is an epigram by James Smith upon a village physician and a vicar who often walked arm in arm together — D.D. AND M.D. How D.D. swaggers, M.D. rolls ! I dulj them both a brace of noddies ; Old D.D. has the cure of souls, And M.D. has the cure of bodies. Between them both, what treatment rare Our souls and bodies must endure ! One has the cure without the care, And one the care without the cure. James Smith was great at " taking off" the foibles of the Cockneys of his day, his descriptions being most faithful. Mrs. Dobhs at Home, which ajjj^eared in the Neiu Monthly Magazine, is perhaps the least known of these. It is rather a long poem, but the opening lines are worth repeating : — What I shall the Morning Post proclaim For every rich or high-born dame From Portman Square to Cleveland Row, Each item no one cares to know ; Print her minutest whereabouts, Describe her concerts, balls, and routs, Enumerate the lamps and lustres, Show where the roses hung in clusters. Tell how the floor was chalked, reveal The partners in the first quadrille — 102 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH How long they danced, till, sharp as hunters, They sut'down to the feast — from Gunter's ; How much a (luart was paid for peas, How nmcli for pines ami strawberries, Taking especial care to fix Tlie hour of parting — half-past six? And should no hard make proclamation Of routs enjoyed in humhler station ? Kise, honest Muse, in Hackney roam, And sing of " Mrs. Dobbs at Home." He who knows Hackney, needs must know That spot enchanting — Prospect Row, So called because the view it shows Of Shoreditcli Road, and when tliere blows No dust the folks may one and all get A peep— almost to Norton Folgate. Here Mrs. Dobbs at number three Invited all her friends to tea. Concerning aldermen and city magnates generally, James was always good-humouredly sarcastic ; as fur instance : — THE CLAPHAM CHALYBEATE Who has e'er been at Clapliam must needs know the pond That behmgs to Sir Pjaniaby Sturch ; 'Tis well stock'd with fish ; ami the knight's rather fond Of bobbing for tench or for perch. When he draws up his line to decide if all's right, Moist drops o er his pantaloons dribble ; Though seldom, if ever, licguiled l>y a bite. He now and then boasts of a nibble. Vulgar mud, very like vulgar men, will encroach Uncheck'd by the spaile and the rake ; In process of time it envelf)pcd the roach In Sir Barnaby's Lilliput lake. Five wfirkmen, well arm'd, and denuded of shoes, Now fearlessly delved in the flood, To steal unawares on the Empress of Oaze, And cast oil the insolent mud. BONS MOTS 193 The innocent natives were borne from the bog, Eel, minnow, and toad felt the shovel. And lizard-like eft lay with fugitive frog In a clay-built extempore hovel. The men worked away with their hands and their feet, And delved in a regular ring ; When lo ! as their task work was all but complete, They wakened a mineral spring. " We've found a Chalybeate, sir," cried the men ; " We halt till we know what your wish is." — " Keep it safe," quoth the knight, " till you've finished, and then — Throw it back with the rest of the fishes." These are necessarily but samples of the poetic humour of James Smith. Of his racy conversation and Ions mots, alas ! mere scraps remain on record. My political opinions [he once said] are those of the lady who sits next to me, and, as the fair sex are generally " perplexed like monarchs with the fear of change," I constantly find myself conservative. " Mr. Smith, you look like a Conservative," said a young man across the table, thinking to pay him a compliment. " Certainly, sir," was the prompt reply; " my crutches remind me that I am no member of the movement party." We are enjoined upon grave authority [he once wrote] to put off the old man. I should be happy to do so if I could. At present I am flying in the face of scripture, and putting it on. Alluding to the obelisk newly erected at the entrance of the Victoria Park in honour of Queen Victoria, he said : — o 194 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH The people of Bath surjias.s tlic Athenian sage. He merely chewed the pebbles, but, according to the Morning Herald, at Bath the Victoria Column is in everybody's mouth ! When one of James Smith's friends remarked that, since he had obtained a pension, he had ceased to write, James Smith replied — " I see you are a pen- shunner." He used to relate with great glee a story illustrat- ing the general conviction that he disliked rurality. He was sitting in the library at a country house, when a gentleman proposed a quiet stroll into the pleasure-grounds. " Stroll ! why, don't you see my gouty shoe ? " — " Yes, I see that plain enough, and I wish I'd brought one too, but they're all out now."— "W.ll, and what then?"— "What then? Why, my dear fellow, you don't mean to say that you have really got the gout ? I thought you had only put on that shoe to get off being shown over the improvements." Horace Smith's humour was of a different order from his brother's. Shelley said of him : — Wit and pcnse, Virtue and Innnan knowle(l<.!e, all tliat might Make tliisdiiil world a bu.sinc.i.s of delight Are all combined in Horace Smith. His definition oi wit is that it " consists in dis- covering likenesses, judgment in detecting differ- ences. Wit is like a ghost, much more often talked about than seen. To be genuine it should have KEATS ON HORACE SMITH 195 a basis of truth and applicability, otherwise it degenerates into mere flippancy." Here is an instance of his humour in verse : — THE ENGLISHMAN IN FRANCE A Frenchman seeing, as he walk'd, A friend on t'other side the street, Cried " Hem ! " exactly as there stalk'd An Englishman along the road ; One of those Johnny Raws we meet In every seaport from abroad, Prepared to take and give offence, Partly, perhaps, because they speak About as much of French as Greek, And partly from the want of sense. The Briton thought this exclamation Meant some reflection on his nation, So bustling to the Frenchman's side, " Mounseer Jack Frog," he fiercely cried, " Pourquoi vous dire ' Hem ! ' quand moi passe ? " Eyeing the querist with his glass, The Gaul replied — "Monsieur God-dem, Pourquoi vous passe quand moi dire ' Hem ' 1 " The poet Keats greatly appreciated Horace Smith's wit, and in a letter to his brother and sister, remarks : — Horace Smith said to one who asked him if he knew Hook, 'Oh, yes, Hook and I are very intimate.' There's a page of wit for you to put John Bunyan's emblems out of countenance. In a letter to Cyrus Redding, Horace Smith says : — You came down (to Brighton) last month to take a shower-bath or two ; if you want warm baths, now is your time ; and you will have nothing to pay, as the air will confer them gratuitously. 196 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Shonkl any of the articles I gave yon fi»r the 3Iagazine prove objectionable, you can return thcni Avhen any parcel is coming from Burlington Street. They are mere hors-d' ccnvrcs, as the French cartes say, and do not deserve to be treated ^vith any ceremony. Here are a few amusing passages from Horace's writings : — At some private theatricals given at Hatfield House, old General G was pressed by a lady to say whom he liked best of the actors. Notwith- standing his usual bluntness, he evaded the question for some time, but being importuned for an answer, he at length growled — " Well, madam, if you will have a reply, I liked the prompter the best, because I heard the most of him, and saw the least of him ! " He describes an alderman (for he did not admire the city fathers) as "a ventri-potential citizen, into whose mediterranean mouth good things are per- petually flowing, although none come out. His shoulders, like some of the civic streets, arc widened at the expense of the corporation." A saw he describes as " a sort of dumb alderman, which gets through a great y the pale mooulight ; but as I had been told that he himself had never taken his oini aduice, I proceeded to visit the abbey in the daytime, and in my next morning's drive over a dreary moor of forty miles to Ottorburn, had abundant time to reflect upon all that I had seen and heard in the modern Athens, and in the residence of our age's most illustrious writer. * * * * * At Keswick, we visited the poet Southey, Not without emotion did I })ush l)a(k the swing-gate, giving access to the large rambling garden in which his house w^as situated ; not with(jut a rovL-rent curiosity did I gaze U})on the books of which his collection was so large that they overflowed their appropriate receptacles, aii'l 1 liirkly lined the sides of the stairs up which we ascended. * « * « « In a handsome apartment, forming both a lilirary and silliiig-rouui, we I'uund llie laureate, surrounded by a portion of his charming family. Of trivial events I never retain the specific date, l)ut the honour of an introduction to so distinguished a writi^r will excuse my reconling that it occurred on the first day of July. I have not furgotten his tell- ing me that I had chosen td, and finally tuok cliamburs in James' Street, Adelphi, wherein he resided till his death. At last [continues Horace Smith] the pale sum- moner, who knocks alike at the door of the cottage and the palace (the Latin original is too hackneyed for quotation) founfl his way to the book-groaning third floor in the Adelphi, and it was announced that poor Tom Hill was dead : The statement was not universally believed, for ho had lived so long that many thought it had become, like his inquisitive- ness, a habit which he could not shake off. For the last half-century at least, his real age had been a mystery and a subject of incessant discussion among his friends, none of wIkmu could coax or cajole him out of the smallest admission that might throw light upon the subject. . . . My brother James once said to him, "The fiict is, Hill, that the register of your birth was destroyed in the great fire of London, and you take advantage of that accident to conceal your real age." But Hook went much further by suggesting that ' A iieplicw (jf Mri?. SiiMons, ami one of the executors of her will. He wa.s an eminent Liwyer and politician, and was Vice-Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He wrote the Life of Lord Eldon. A CHRONOLOGICAL MYSTERY 213 he might originally have been one of the little Hills recorded as skipping in the Psalms. No counter- statement that might at least reduce him to the level of Jenkins or old Parr, was ever made by the ruddy patriarch. Perhaps he did not know his real age — at all events, he never told it ; nor could others supply the information which he himself would not or could not furnish ; for the Maecenas of Queenhithe not being cttavis edite regihus, like his namesake of Rome, there were no known relations, dead or living, who could throw any light upon this chronological mystery. It has been stated, on what authority I know not, that he was only eighty-three when he died. CHAPTER XX Horace Smith's Recollections of Charles Mathews and TkeoJore Hook. Between Mr. and ]\rrs. Charles Mathews and the Smiths a cordial and lasting friendship existed, accentuated in the case of James by most pleiisant business relations. Shortly before Mathews left England for America, Horace wrote to him, expressing himself strongly against the contemplated trip : — BrujUon, 1822. Dear Mathew.s, Y(ju have no occasion for your friendly f^ar that I must have been" first knocked (/Mr;;, and then vj) by a bus or a cab," since I neither called a second time at Ivy Cottage, nor availed mj'.self of the box you were .so kind as to reserve for us. In fact, I knew nothing of the latter friendly arrangement, as I was compelled to leave London on Friday, antl did not receive your letter, which was sent after me, until yesterday. Best thanks, nevertheless, for your kind intentions; and you may well suppose that I Would gladly have .seen you "At Home," both theatrically and domestically, if I could. The mis- translation you mention is absurd enough ; but one might ea.sily find twenty worse cases in our highways 214 ADAPTED FROM THE FRENCH 215 and byways ; for the common people have a strange propensity to adapt foreign words to their own familiar notions, particularly in the signs of shops and public-houses. L Aiguille ct Fit (the needle and thread) after being corrujDted, perhaps in France, into L'Aigle d Fils, has been faithfully imported by our haberdashers as the Eagle and Child. Every one knows the perversion of Boulogne mouth ; and the arms of one of the city companies suspended from an inn at Hounslow with the motto of " God encompasses us" procured for the house the name of the Goat and Compasses, — a singular conjunc- tion, which is now actually figured on the signboard in lieu of the original arms. I have told you (have I not ?) of Mrs. Lennox's strange blunder in trans- lating from the French an account of the siege of Namur, which is equalled, if not surpassed, by one of those hacks employed by Cave to do into English Du Halde's Description of China, most Hibernically fixing an important occurrence to the twenty-first day of the neiu moon, having confounded the French words neuvc and neuvidnie. I should not, perhaps, intrude the opinion, but since you ask me how I like your friend — as a companion, I must frankly answer, not over much. He is ready and fluent, but it seemed to me to be a quickness of words rather than ideas. Whatever subject was started, he appeared to think it neces- sary to be always eloquent, in which, as well as in some other respects, he reminded me of " that great man, Mr. Prig, the auctioneer, whose manner Avas so invariably fine that he had as much to say upon a ribbon as upon a Raphael." Your receiving the thanks and applauses of for not knowing what you ought to have known touching his benefit, reminds me of an exploit of my own, when I w^as a boy at school, and was asked 216 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH the Latin for the word " cowardice." Having for- gotten it, I ventured to say that the Romans had none ; which was fortunately deemed a hon mot, and I got praises and a laugh for not knowing my lesson. 80 you really have serious thoughts of crossing the Atlantic, and picking Brother Jonathan's pocket of his dollars after you have thrown him into fits of laughter, and 3'ou speak of the project as calmly as if you were about to i\y horn a country where you had been unhappy and unsuccessful, and from people who did not appreciate you as you deserve. Why, you Mammonite, what is to become of ns in your absence ? You will bo making a fortune at our expense, not that of the Yankees ; and as to any pleasure in the trip, lay not that flattering unction to your soul. The voyage, like all other voyages, must be a monotonous, objectless, occujiationless, idealess nuisanro ; and how limited must be the pleasure of land travelling, even in the finest country in the world, where there are no human, or at least no civilized associations — nothing to connect the past with the present ! "What are rocks, forests, after your first stare of admiration, where there are no ruins, no local traditions, no historical records to lift them out of their materiality, by as.sociating them with the great names and great achievements of past ages? You remember what Johnson savs al)out the plains of Marathon and the ruins of lona. You may get stimulants to patriotism and j)iety in many other places than these [of the Old World] ; ])ut what elevating refolleotions can y(ni conjure up in a new C(juntrv ? Johnscjii has given his opinion on this very subject (and I say ditto to the D(jctor) — for when some one asked, " Is not America worth seeing?" he replied, "Yes, sir, but not worth going to sec!" That vou will make it worth vour while Jbiancialhj, I don't doubt — that it will answer your CHARLES MATHEWS THE ELDER 217 expectations in any other respect, I do doubt ; that you would do much better to remain quietly where you are, I am quite sure. My wish may be father to the thought, but that does not invalidate it. I and mine to thee and thine. Ever yours, Horatio Smith. P.S. — I saw our witty friend, Dubois ^ in London, who told me an anecdote in which you figured. W (so said the wag) pressed you to act for his benefit in the afterpiece at Covent Garden, which you said you would willingly have done, but that you were engaged that night to perform in the after- piece at the English Opera- House, and could not cut yourself in half. " I don't know that," replied W , " for I have often seen you act in two jneces." Is this true ? or is it one of Dubois' own children ? ^ When Mrs. Charles Mathews was collecting material for her husband's Memoirs, she applied to James and Horace Smith for any letters of his that they might have preserved. The result was very disappointing. James wrote back : — 27, Craven Street, 1837. My dear Mrs. Mathews, I have looked among my letters for any papers I might have retained of your departed and lamented husband. I have only been able to find one, which he sent me from America. I forward it with this. I have forborne to intrude upon you with con- dolences on account of your bereavement, looking as 1 At one time editor of the Monthly Mirror; author of My Pocket-Booh, etc. ^ Memoirs of Charles Mathews, by Mrs. Mathews. 218 JAMES ANT) HORACE SMITH I do upon such tributes cas useless. You must permit me, however, upon this occasion, to dilate a little upon the subject. Charles Mathews was one of my first theatrical acquaintances, and (without disparagement to his brethren of the sock and buskin), I will add, one of my most valued friends. He was really what the poet (perhaps a little too warmly) denominates " the noblest work of God" — an honest man. Whatever character he might be called upon to assume on the stage, he never lost sight of his own. This circum- stance was properly ap})reciated by the WDrld. He moved in the best circles of society, and was valued not less for the originality of his talents than for the excellence of his moral character. His public ad- mirers and his private friends are equal sufferers from his premature departure. Believe me to remain. Yours with great esteem, James Smith. With Horace Mrs. Mathews was even less suc- cessful, but his reply gives a capital risuvid of Mathews' excellent qualities. He wrote : — lirijhton, October 2, 1837. Dear Mrs. ]\Iathews, I am both sorry and ashamed to confess that of the many letters received at various times from the friend whoso loss I shall nevt-r cease to deplore, I do not retain a single line in my pos.session. I am sorry, because it prevents my complying with your request ; and ashamed, because my con- scii'ure now reproaches me with not having attached sufficient importance to his ever pleasant communi- cation.s. It is some consolation to know that I have not served him worse than others, the fact being. 'ALAS, POOR YORICK!" 219 that I have always been glad to get rid of letters as fast as I could. While unanswered, I contemplate them as accusing angels; I hate them afterwards for the compunctuous visitings they awakened before I could summon resolution to reply to them ; and with this feeling veiled under an affected dislike to the accumulation of papers, I commit them to the flames as soon as I can. For my offence in this instance I ought to stand in the pillory with the never-sufhciently-to-be-anathematized cook, who lighted her kitchen fire for several months with unique old plays taken from a trunk in her master's library. "Alas! poorYorick! . . . a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. Where be your gambols now ? Your songs ? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table in a roar ? " By how many thousands has this hackneyed quotation been uttered with reference to Mathews ; but, alas ! how few can feel it so deeply, so poignantly, so irrecover- ably, as those who were of his own immediate circle, and could therefore appreciate the charm of his society, whether in his moods of inexhaustible sprightliness, or when the rich stores of his pene- trating mind were suffered to flow forth in rational and instructive conversation never long unembel- lished with some amusing anecdote. Not only do I find it impossible even now to reconcile myself to his loss ; but at times, strange as it may sound, I can hardly believe in its reality. He was not of an age to justify any anticipation of such an event ; he seemed so well in health and so full of glorious glee when I last saw him ; it is so difficult to imagine that he Avho was all vitality, who was, as it were, the very life of life, should be snatched from the convivial circle and consigned to the cold dumb grave, that one may well be pardoned 220 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH for striving, even against conviction, to avoid the pang of so heart-withering a thought ! and when it forces itself upon one's belief, it brings with it the aggravating reflection that the loss is utterly irreparable. There was but one Charles Mathews in the world — there never can be such another ! Mimics, buffoons, jesters, wags, and even admirable comedians, we shall never want ; but what are the best of them compared to Jiim ? Hyperion to a Satyr ! He was the only original imitator I have ever encountered, for while others satisfied them- selves with endeavouring to embody their originals, he made it a study to mcntalizc them. I am obliged to coin a word, but my meaning is, that while he surpassed all competitors in the mere mimicry of externals, he was unique in the subtlety, acuteness, and truth Avith which he could copy the mind of his prototype ; extemporizing his moods of thought with all those finer shadings of the head and heart that constitute the niceties of individual character. As this intellectual portraiture demands a much higher order of talent than corporeal mimicry, so it is enjoyed with a much more ex(piisite zest by those who can ap])reciate its diflieulty. Others might produce the image, and elaborate a faithful likeness, but Mathews alone held the Promethean torch that could vivify and animate it. You and I know full well that in this manner his own suggestions, crea- tions, and mental mockeries, were the very soul of his entertainments at the Strand Theatre, although they were written and methodiztMl by others. For this the public gave him little credit, any more than for the extraordinary powers of memory evinced in the.sc unrivalled performances, Avith their numer- ous songs, and the ad iihitinn patter between the versos, very often varied with each enrorr. I re- member his telling me that in a single week at MATHEWS IN SCOTLAND 221 Edinburgh he had given as many, I think, as four different " At Homes," and all without book, note, or memorandum,— an effort of memory which I apprehend to be totally without parallel. A promos to his performances in " Auld Reekie/' which I visited some years ago, I recollect Sir Walter Scott mentioned them to me in terms of the highest admiration, adding expressions of sincere respect and friendship for the individual apart from all public and professional claims. Perhaps, there has never been a comedian who, while he lived in the full roar of popularity on the stage, was so universally and so thoroughly respected in private life, as Mr. Mathews. This it is that has made his loss so deeply and so widely felt. What numerous friends he possessed in England, Scotland, Ireland, America, to say nothing of the community at large, and how truly we may affirm that in his instance, even more extensively than in that of Garrick, his death " has diminished the public stock of harmless pleasure, and eclipsed the gaiety of nations ! " Tragedians, it has been observed, are generally sprightly and jocose, while comedians and profes- sional jesters not unfrequently sink into dejection or even confirmed hypochondria — a tendency which may easily be explained upon the principle of action and reaction, for the efforts of both classes are very exhausting, and they can only unbend by taking an opposite direction to that which has fatigued them. We may sit in one posture, until, like the tailor in the pit of Dublin theatre, we are glad to stand up to rest ourselves. Our minds like our bodies seek relief in contraries — a fact which is exemplified in nations as well as individuals. The habitually vivacious French find relaxation in cold, stern, unimpassioned classical tragedies ; the taci- turn melancholy Englishman is solaced by fun, farce, o o o JAMES AXD HORACE SMITH and foolery. I don't think Charles Mathews ex- hibited in any marked degree this ])rofessi()nal bent of mind ; but when severed from Ivnnc and his usual resources, he certainly did seem to require pretty constant excitement to keep him from stagnating, as he called it, though I myself liked his quiet moods not less than his joyous and hilarious ti-iumphs. It was only the ditfcrence between still and sparkling champagne. Some like the effervescence more than the flavour of the wine, others the reverse ; and Mathews, in his various moods, could charm and gratify every taste. But if I run on with the list of his various and high qualifications, I shall never have done ; and I must, therefore, devote the slip of paper that remains to the assurance that I am, with sincere regard, dear Mrs. Mathews, Yours fiiithfully, Horatio Smitii.^ Horace Smith, contrasting the wit and humour of his friend Theodore Hook with that of Charles ^lathews, says : ^ — Far different was the effect produced by the un- varied and irrepressible ebullience (A Theodore Hook's vivacity, which was a manifest exuberance from the conjunction of rampant animal spirits, a superabundance of corporeal vitality, a vivid si-nse of the ludicrous, a con.sciousness of his own un- ])aralleled readiness, and a self-pos.session, not to say an effrontiTv, that nothing could daunt. Indulging his natural frolicsomeness rather t(j amuse himself than others, he was not fastidious about the quality of his audience, whom he would startle by some out- rageous horseplay, or practical joke, if he found • Memoirs of Ch(irle.ortions with an infusion of some stimulat- ing powder, which he generally carried about with him. A])petite for food set^ned to have nearly failed him, but In- sought comjjensatioii in clmm- pagne, and 1 could ])erceive little or uu diminution of his customary vivarity and his witty .sallies. Willingly taking his })lace at the piano in the drawing-room, he connnenccd, "by particular desire of several persons of distinction," with the favourite A MISERABLE MERRY-ANDREW 229 mock cathedral chant of" The Little Birds do sing ; " after which he was prevailed upon to treat us with an extempore song, which proved as prompt, spark- ling, and felicitous, as the best effusion of his best days. In the midst of it, Sir David Wilkie stole into the room, making his salutations in a whisper, lest he should disturb the singer, who was so far from being disconcerted that he immediately intro- duced him to the company as " His worthy friend, douce Davy Wilkie, Who needn't speak so soft and silky," since his entrance, instead of interrupting him, had supplied him with another verse. A minute or two afterwards, a particle of candlewick fell upon the arm of Miss B , an incident which the vocalist instantly seized, by addressing the lady, and de- claring that it excited no surprise in him whatever — " Since he knew very well, by his former remarks, That wherever she went she attracted the sparks." In this impromptu style, his tumbler being duly replenished, he continued to delight and astonish his auditors, until, at the warning of the tell-tale clock, striking the little hours, they tore themselves reluctantly away. Poor, dear, fascinating, mirth-dispensing, body and m.ind-afflicted Theodore Hook ! From such scenes, from courtly bowers, and festive halls, and lordly saloons, where flattery, homage, worship, a living apotheosis, were lavished upon him by starred and gartered grandees, jewelled peeresses, bright- eyed belles, and the elite of the hccm-mondc, the miserable merry-andrew dragged himself to his vm- blessed home, utterly exhausted both in frame and mind, to bewail, in bitter compunction, his ruined 230 JAMES AXD HORACE SMITH prospects, his ever-increasing embarrassments, liis waning health, his wasted life, and the felt approaches of that death which would leave his creditors un- paid, his children and their mother utterly destitute ! The firework had been played off; it had flashed and sparklod, and scattered light and cheerfulness around, delighting all by its evor-changing and ever- charming forms and hues; and nothing now was left but the darkened, unsi(2rhtlv frame-work of the wheel, worn, wasted, and shattered by its own brilliant gyrations under an artificial and self-con- suming iuipulsc. A few weeks before the dinner- l)arty at which I had seen him lioni~inf/ in all his glory, and ap])arently sharing the hapjiinoss that he conferred, he had made the following entry in his diary — "January 1st, 1840. — To-day another year opens upon me with a vast load of debt and many incumbrances. I am suffering under constant anxiety and depression of spirits, which nobody who sees me in .society dreams of; but why should I suffer my own private worries to annoy my friends ? " He died the next year, and was buried in Fulham churchyard ; but few nKnirners, and none of an}' rank or fame, following him to the grave. Not thvy ! More deeply would they have regretted the lo.ss of a favourite living dog than of their dead lion 1 The popular ])layer, mountebank, and buHuon had taken his benefit in the way of invitations, b;ui(|uets, jolJiH- cations, metropolitan revels, and the run of rural castles, when a man of genius and pleasantry was wanted to enliven the dulne.ss of the guests; and the .sacrificers had now nothing further to do with or for their victim. No, nor for Iiis victims! the produce of his books and other effects, about £2500, having been surrendered to the Cnnvn as the ])nvileged creditor, and his children and their mother A COSTLY PRANK 231 being thus left penniless, a subscription was opened for their assistance, to which the King of Hanover generously transmitted £500, probably in grateful remembrance of the able assistance he had received from Hook's pen, when a malignant and groundless outcry was raised on account of the suicide of Sellis, His Majesty's German servant. Some of the friends of the deceased in middle life came forward with liberal donations ; but few, very few, of those who had either profited as politicians by Theodore Hook's zeal and ability, or courted him in their lofty circles for the fascination of his wit, were found to show any feeling for his unfortunate offspring. The practical jokes of Theodore Hook, especially in the early portion of his career, were sometimes senseless ; and in these " questionable freaks," as he dubs them, Horace Smith confessed that he occasionally participated. There is a local tradition amongst the oldest in- habitants of Fulham, that Hook, who was in the habit of driving about that remote suburb in a curricle, one evening drew up at the door of the Golden Lion, a tavern dating back to the time of Henry VII., and engaged " mine host " in earnest " horsey " controversy. Presently, leaving his com- panion to continue the discussion, in which the landlord, who prided himself upon his knowledge of horseflesh, had become intensely interested, he entered the house, and, knowing his way about, contrived, unperceived, to enter the cellars, where he deliberately turned on the taps and removed the spigots from the casks not in use, until the entire 232 JAMES AND HORACE SMTTII stock of ale and porter was H(j\ving away in .slreanis. The astonishment and indignation of the owner, who, after seeing Hook drive away, found his cellar flooded with malt-liquor, may be imagined ; and a pretty stiff bill for damages reminded Hook that " pranks " were sometimes rather costly forms of amusement. JAMES SMI I II. CHAPTER XXI The personal appearance of James Smith — His habits — His social circle — His clubs— His love of London — Eevisits Chig- well school — His last illness and death. The personal appearance of James Smith was decidedly striking. In his prime — when Rejected Addresses was published (1812) — he was considered to be one of the handsomest men about town. Tall, straight-limbed, and well-proportioned, blue-eyed, and fresh complexioned, his hair growing well back from a noble and intellectual forehead, the manly beauty of his person was evident, even in the unlovely dress of that period, with its heavily-lapelled, deep- cuffed coats, tight-fitting pantaloons, and stiff cravats that perpetually seemed to threaten apoplexy or strangulation. His manner was that of a polished well-bred gentleman, combined with a singular fascination of address. No one could better appre- ciate courtesy in others than he who possessed it in a marked degree. Later in life, depressed and enfeebled by ill-health, his natural animation somewhat failed him ; but no amount of suffering could extinguish the cheerfulness of his countenance when in congenial society, or dim the merry twinkle in his eyes that 233 •2-M JAMES A^D HORACE SMITH from long usage had contracted an habitual look of drollery, ever ready, at the prompting of anything, animate or inanimate, to find articulate utterance in some witty saying. Even his painful malady he made the subject of a now well-known epigram — The French have taste in all tliey do, While we are left without ; Nature to them lias f,'iven (joi'if, To us has given gout. He was a confirmed bachelor. His father used often to expostulate with him, instancing his own happy experience of matrimony — but in vain. After one of these attempts to shake his son's resolution, the good old gentleman made the following entry in his Journal : — Sejjtemhcr 4, 1829. — I went with my daughter Maria in a fly to call upon my son James, in Austin Friars. The gout has made ravages upon his health and personal comfort, but his spirits, I understand, have not much fallen off, I wish that he had taken to himself a ])rudent wife with good connections and a sufficiency of fortune to comf(jrt him in his declining years' This wish I have often expressed to himself and to his brother Leonard, who also has preferred a bachelor's life to that of a married man.^ James Smith's celibacy [says Horace] proceeded rather from t(jt< discursive than too limited an admir- ation of the sex. To the latest hour of his life, he exhibited a maiked })reference for the young, the ' Leonard Hubserjuently married a Miss Lane, a West Indian cousin, and died suy thoughts o'erladen, To where 'the pride of Chigwell Row' She lives — a handsome widow now, As erst a lovely maiden ! ^ Could James Smith resume this life and look in at his old school, he would find there a "Smith" dormitory, so called in honour of the authors of Bcjeded Addresses, and on each side of the library fire- place he would come face to face with presentments of himself and his brother Horace. In the Chigwell Kalcadar, he would, amongst many im])ortant entries, c«'* noliile fratrum. James Smith's patience in suffering was remark- able. Ill' buic his ever-increasing attacks of gout with great fortitude, seldom alluding to his malady, and checking all reference to it on the ])art of others. Til tlie presence of visitors he tried to tlirow ofV(\cn * C'hujwdl Revisited. "^ Ibid. THE LAST ILLNESS 247 the appearance of invalidism. When he required medical advice, he used to dispatch the following characteristic bulletin to Dr. Paris. 27, Craven Street. Feverish! please call upon, Yoiors truly, James Smith. He wovdd not permit even his nearest relations to nurse him. The faithful Mrs. Glover was the only person from whom he would accept assistance. In the early part of 1839 he was seized with acute influenza, which, combined with a very bad attack of gout, so completely upset him that his life was almost despaired of. He recovered, however, for the time, and joined his brother Horace at Tunbridge Wells, where, though quite crippled, he seemed to rally in an extraordinary manner, regaining all the buoyancy of his youth, singing, jesting, and laughing with his nieces from morning to night. Alas ! the candle was only flickering in its socket prior to extinction. With the last days of the year, though his pain was much lessened, he knew that he was approaching his end, which he regarded with philosophic resignation. As Christmas Day drew near, he rallied for a short period, and thought him- self justified in accepting an invitation to dine with Dr. Paris on that festive occasion ; but in the mean- time, his malady assumed a fatal form, locating in the vital organs, and at two o'clock on the morning of December 24th he quietly passed away in the sixty-fifth year of his age. 248 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH At his own request, he was buried with the utmost privacy in the vaults of St. Martin's Church. No commemoration tablet marks the house where he died, nor does " storied urn or animated bust " any- where recall his name. But he is not forgotten ; and if it be a merit to have added to the world's store of wit, and to have contributed to the innocent happiness of hundreds, James Smith lived to some purpose, and we should "keep his memory green." CHAPTER XXII The later literary works of James and Horace Smith. Apparently contented with the success of his contributions to the Rejected Addresses, and wanting all motive for serious effort, James Smith henceforth produced only what may be regarded as fugitive pieces. He contributed to the Neiu MontJdy Magazine from its commencement in 1821 ; and he composed mis- cellaneous sketches, etc., in prose and verse, which, after his death, were brought together and published by his brother. He also wrote the text for Charles Mathews' entertainments, the most important of which were The Trip to France and The Country Cousin. For these he received the handsome sum of £1000. They were written in the years 1820 — 1822; but long before, as Mrs. Mathews relates in her Memoirs of Mr. Charles Matheius, James Smith had been the collaborator of that gifted comedian. Says Mrs. Mathews : — In the course of this winter, 1808, Mr. Mathews conceived the idea of performing An Entertainment ; yet, doubting the possibility of one pair of lungs 249 250 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH being cable to furnish strength sufficient fur three consecutive hours' exertion, " the occasional assist- ance of Mrs. Mathews in the vocal departnient " was called in as a iiiako-wcight, and as the entertain- ment was only intended to be represented in York- shire, where I had been always received with ])artiality, such an auxiliary was not altogether insignificant to the end desired. Our friend, Mr. James Smith, kindly undertook to write some songs suitable to Mr. ^lathews' peculiar powers ; and to link together certain de- scriptions which he had heard him give, of eccentric characters, manners, and ventriloquy. So excellent was the whole, that it proved brilliantly successful ; and this first effort of actor and author, after ten years became the foundation of that extraordinary series of At Homes upon which my husband's great professional reputation was perfected. Among the songs, llic Mail Coach and JJartholomav Fair, which Mr. Mathews afterwards sung till all playgoers were familiar with them, were the most po])ular; and though introduced so long ago, and on eveiy possible occasion, they were as full of })oint and attraction in the year 1818, as if then heard for the first time. . . . How deejtly my husljand considered himself t(j be indebted to Mv. Smith for connecting ami iipplying in .so masterly a manner the matter which was before him, and for the humorous songs, written so admirably to display the oi'iginal jxjwers of the singer, may be imagined. 7'Jic Mail Coach and Bartholohicw Fair were the first of their chu^s, and might be said, like the two bags of gold, to be the fruitful parents of many more, well known to the jiubiic as belonging peculiarly to Mr. Matliew.s. For this in\alual)le service Mr. Smith declined anything like payment, and would at length only allow my husband to i>reseut him with some trivial A NOVEL CASE 251 remembrance. Mr, Smith's acknowledgment of this trifle offers so agreeable an evidence of his liberal feelings, and his friendship for my husband, that I cannot resist inserting it here. " Basinghall Street, July 8, 1808. Many thanks, my dear sir, for your present. Your kindness has caused you to overrate my poor abilities ; though you do no more than justice to the alacrity with which I endeavoured to serve one for whoso private worth and professional talents I entertain so high an esteem. I barely supplied the outline ; your initiative skill supplied the colouring and finish. Had I leisure for the undertaking, I certainly should endeavour to exhibit your powers in a more dramatic form, and transplant my weak pen from the lecture-room to the stage ; but other avocations prevent such an attempt. It is rather a novel case, that the ' pursuit of the law ' should save a man from damnation. With best compliments to Mrs. Mathews, believe me, Dear sir, very truly yours, James Smith. To Charles Mathews, Esq." Quite different was it with Horace Smith, who, although he postponed all serious effort until he retired from business, could not keep his pen quite idle. The hankering after dramatic fame ever strong within him, he wrote, in 1813, a five-act comedy entitled First Impressions, or Trade in the West; also a farce called The Absent Apothecary, the fate of which production, he says, effectually 252 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH cured him of his aspiration to become a play- writer. The authorship of the former had been carefully kept from all but his friend, Mr. Barron Field, at whose chambers he had agreed to dine on the night of its first representation. Mr. Langsdorff, an attache of the Bavarian embassy, was present, but he did not divine the reason for drinking success " to the new play." After dinner the three went together to Drury Lane Theatre, and took their places in the pit. All went smoothly [says Horace Smith] until the delivery of a claptrap speech by one of the actors, to the eftect that money raised in England for a single charity, often exceeded the revenues of a whole German principality. " Vot is dat ? " whi.sj)ered Langsdorff" to the author; " docs he lof at dc Jair- mans ? den, I shall damn his hlay." Whereupon, in spite of Field's protestations, he set up a low hiss, which presently awakened sympathetic though not very alarming echoes in various ])arts of the house. Every piaygDor knows that a sound of this sort, like a snowball, gathers as it rolls, and that even an individual goose seldom fails to obtain .sympathizing responses from his own flock. At first no particular eff't-'ctwas produced, but the unpacitied (Jerman, con- tinuing to renew the experiment, succeeded at length in establishing a decided opposition. The unfortunate author, sitting upon thorn.s, but endeavouring to look particularly comfortable, when the fate of the comedy seemed doubtful, sought to avoid suspicion by venturing now and then on a "FIRST IMPRESSIONS" 253 gentle sibillation, delivered sotto voce, more in sorrow than in anger, and with the natural tenderness of a father correcting his own child. But, as the clamour became louder, and the failure of the play appeared more certain, his anxiety to escape detection was pushed to such nervous excess that he even com- menced a vociferous cry of " Ojf/ Off!" Presently, however, a change came over the spirit of the house ; two or three scenes in succession had won manifest favour, and when the author, still more excited by some fresh but very partial signs of disapprobation, would have renewed the cry which Langsdorff was ever ready to commence, it was put down by still louder and more clamorous exclamations of " Silence ! turn them out ! turn them out ! " Peremptory as was the mandate, the playwright gratefully obeyed it, and even his German neighbour was compelled to hold his tongue ; the piece was given out for repeti- tion without a dissentient voice. It was acted twenty nights successively, and though possessing but little merit, it could claim the distinction of being the first instance (since the days of the Countess of Macclesfield and Savage) where the condemnation of the offspring has been eagerly sought by its own parent. But Horace Smith was not cured of his craving for fame as a playwriter, until the following episode occurred. He was about to bring out a farce, the great success of which was so confidently predicted by the performers during the rehearsals, and more especially by his friend Tom Dibdin, himself an 2.j4 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH experienced dramatist, that the author, in an un- lucky hour, consented to the insertion of a notice in the Moi'ning Chronicle, assigning to him the author- ship of the forthcoming piece, entitled T}(c Absent Apotlicceiry. Horace Smith, however, iiad his own misgivings on the subject. Writing to his friend Horace Twiss, he says : — Dear Twiss, Black Fate hangs o'er me, and the avenging gods. Will you witness my damnation to-morrow night, which they desire me to expect ? I wish you would go, you are a good laugher, though I do not promise that you ouglit to laugh. Yours truly, H. Smith. Tuesday night. That he might witness his anticipated triumph in comfort without being seen, Mr, lljiymcjnd gave him admission to his own private box at ])rury Ljine, which adjoined the corner of the two-shilling gallery, where the playwright took his seat. Frinn the com- mencement there was a furious contest between the supporters and the assailants of the new piece ; and during a lull in the ujjroar, Smith heard a savage- looking fellow in the gallery clo.se to his elbow, exclaim to a friend of the .same stamp, " I say. Jack, if I could get hold of the precious ass that wrote the rubbish, I'm bles.sed if I wouldn't take and chuck hiui right over." Not having the lea.st wish to be thrown overboard by the gallery gods, the "THE ABSENT APOTHECARY" 255 author quietly left the box and stole down-stairs, believing that, if discovered, he would be torn in pieces by the dissentients, so furious had they become. On reaching the outside of the theatre, and finding himself shrouded in friendly darkness, he felt as if he had just saved his life, and was hasten- ing away, when an irresistible desire to learn the fate of his bantling drew his step backwards to the stage-door. Nobody being there, he crept in, un- observed, and stealing to the rear of the building where a solitary lamp just served to make the darkness visible, stationed himself beneath it, listening to the loud conflict that agitated the invisible audience. While thus occupied, two scene- shifters approached his retreat, and recognizing him, for they had frequently seen him at the rehearsals, one said to the other in a pitying and patronizing tone, " Tell you what, mate ; I shouldn't mind betting a pot of porter that this here farce looks up a'ter all." Far from being consoled by the opinion of these discriminating critics, the author felt so humiliated by their commiseration that he again left the theatre, and betook himself to the coffee-room of the Hmnmums, where his brother had appointed to meet him and communicate the final decision of the audience. Soon did the herald appear, but with a sinister and flushed expression. The farce had been most unequivocally condemned ! Next morning, as he was threading his way 2.jG JAMES AND HORACE S:\rTTIT through unfrequented streets for fear of encountering any of his acquaintances, his eye glanced upon a play-bill before which he stood transfixed, for it announced a second performance of The Absent Ajyothecary. There it was in huge red letters, which appeared to grow in size as he rubbed his eyes and looked again and again. Then he ran to Golden Square, where lived the stage-manager, whom he luckily found at home. " Surely, sir, this must be some dreadful mistake," was his ejaculation as soon as he recovered breath enough for speech. "No, indeed, my friend, no mistake whatever; all right, all right." " All right ! I thought my unf(jrtunate force was imequivocally condemned last night ? " "So it was. With all my experience, I have seldom seen a hostile opinion so very decidedly and generally expressed." "In the name of heaven, then, Avhy have you announced it for repetition ? " "On that very account; for the public will be so very indignant at seeing it brought forward again, that they will come by hundreds to confirm their sentence — there will be a famous uproar as .soon as it begins — I shall then go fonvard as manager, and pledge myself to its withdrawal, and by this means, you see, we shall be sure of a bumi)cr." "And .so for your bumper house, for which I don't get a farthing, I am to undergo a second martyr- dom ? " "BRAMBLETYE HOUSE" 257 The manager gave a shrug of the shoulders, not less significant than Lord Burleigh's celebrated shake of the head. Horace Smith took his departure, vowing that he would never again attempt to write for the stage ; and he kept his word. In 1825, when Horace Smith returned from Versailles, some of his miscellaneous pieces were collected, and, under the title of Gaieties and Gravities, were jDublished by Henry Colburn. After a brief sojourn in London he went to Tunbridge Wells, where he lived for three years at Mount Edgcombe Cottage, and wrote Braiiibletye House, published by Henry Colburn in 1826. In this historical novel, he availed himself of romantic incidents connected with the Cromwellian and Restoration period of English history, and largely helped in developing a taste for that particular style in tales of adventure. It is of course a truism that Sir Walter Scott had previously, in 1822, introduced it in Feveril of the Peak, and when Horace Smith forwarded to Scott a copy of Bramhletye House he modestly admitted that his intention in writing that book was to follow in the footsteps of the Master of romance. Brighton, 5, Hanover Crescent, July 4, 1826. Sir, As I never proposed any other object to myself, in my novel of Bramhletye House, than to produce a humble imitation of that style which you 258 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH have so successfully introduced into the department of literature, I was so far gratified by the sale of the first two editions, as it proved that I had made some little approach towards my model. The call for a third I believe to be mainly attributable to the generous notice which you condescended to take of me in the Preface to Woodstock, for which I should sooner have taken the liberty to address you with my thanks, but that I waited to request your accept- ance of a copy. Requesting you to do me the fav(iur of now accepting it, I have the honour to be, with the most unfeigned admiration of your talents. Sir, Your obliged and obedient humble servant, Horatio Smith. Scott, on the other hand, in the Preface to which Horace Smith alludes, gracefully states that Bram- hldyc House might, to a certain extent, claim priority over his o^vn work : — " Hawks," we say in Scotland, " ought not to i)ick out hawk's eyes," or live u])on each other's (juarry ; and, therefore, if I had known that, in its date and in its characters, this tale was likely to interfere with that recently published by a distinguished contemporary, I should uncpiestionably have left Doctor IvDche- cliffe's manuscri})t in peace for the present season. But before I was aware of this circumstance, this little book was half through the press; and I had only the alternative of avoiding any intentional imitation by delaying a peru.sal of the contemporary work in question. Some accidental collision there must be, when works of a similar character are finished on the same general system of historical manners, and the same SIR WALTER SCOTT 259 historical personages are introduced. Of course, if such have occurred, I shall be probably the sufferer. But my intentions have been at least innocent, since I look on it as one of the advantages attending the conclusion of Woodstock, that the finishing of my own task will permit me to have the pleasure of reading Bramhkfi/e House, from which I have hitherto conscientiously abstained. Sir Walter kept his word to the letter; in his Diary we read : — 25, Pall Mall, Oct. 17, 1826. I read with interest during my journey. Sir John Chiverton and Braiiibletyc House. . . . They are both clever books ; — one in imitation of the days of chivalry — the other (by Horace Smith, one of the authors of Rejected Addresses) dated in the time of the Civil Wars, and introducing historical characters. Later, in the same Diary, Sir Walter Scott admits, with amusing naivete, his own undetected sins as regards crihling, while condemning its undisguised practice by others. October, 1826. Another thing in my favour is that my contem- poraries steal too openly. Mr. Smith has inserted in Bramhletye House whole pages from De Foe's Fire and Plague of London. Steal ! foh ! a fico for the phrase — Convey, the wise it call ! When I convey an incident or so, I am at as much pains to avoid detection as if the offence could be indicted at the Old Bailey.i 1 Lockhart's Memoirs of the Life of Sir TV. Scott, 1837. 2G0 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH In his excursions about Tunbridge Wells, Horace Smith came across a ruined mansion in Ashdown Forest, Sussex, that had been dismantled by Crom- well's troops. Years afterwards it had been set fire to by a half-crazy woman; and as there happened to be an unsuspected store of gunpowder in the cellars, the house was blo-svn up. Horace Smith took this spot as the scene of his book, to which it gave the title, and introduced the incident of the explosion. The romanticism inseparable from the Elizabethan and Carolian age always had a peculiar fascination for him ; and his friend, C}tus Redding, was right in regarding a visit they paid together to Penshurst as the determining cause of Horace Smith's adoption of this interesting style. Bramhldye House long retained its popularity, and has frequently been republished. A j^ropos of this novel, Horace Smith, writing to Mr. S. C. Hall in reference to a MS. he had sent to the New Monthly Magazine, says : — October]!, 1831. 10, ILmover Crescent. I am sorry you should deem the smallest apob>gy necessary lor returning my MS., a duty which every eflitor must occjisionally exercise towards all his contributors. From my domestic habits and love of occupation I am always scribbling, often without due considcraticjn of what I am writing, and I only wonder that so many of my frivolities have founrl their way into print. With this feeling, I am always grateful towards those who save me from committing myself, and aoquiesce very willingly in their decisions. In proof of this, I will mention a A FATHER'S CRITICISM 261 fact of which I am rather proud. Mr. Colburn had agreed to give me £500 for the first novel I wrote, and had announced its appearance, when, a mutual friend who looked over the MS. having expressed an unfavourable opinion of it, I threw it in the fire, and wrote Bramhletye, House instead. Let me not omit to mention, to the credit of Mr. C, that, upon the unexpected success of that work, he subsequently presented me with an additional £100. Yours very truly, Horatio Smith. Robert Smith criticized Bramhleh/e House in his Journal as follows : — (1829) I have omitted to notice in its proper place that early in the present year my son Horace published a little work in three duodecimo volumes, called Braiiiblctye House, or Cavaliers and Roundheads. It has hit the public taste, and has had a great run. For my own part, I do not much relish these " historical novels," in which truths are so much mixed up with fiction as to confound the unsuspecting reader. Besides, Horace has too often erred in giving to some of his characters the vulgar habit of swearing, etc., a fault which will not fail to give offence to serious characters, without having in it anything to ^j/casc the light and thoughtless. I have hinted to him my opinion upon this defect ; though I do not perceive that any of his critical reviewers have noticed it. Stimulated by the success of Brarnhletye House, its author produced in the same year The Tor Hill, also published by Henry Colburn. This deals with the Reformation period, and the scene is laid in the 262 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH neighbourhood of Glastonbury Abbey. Although interesting, it bears traces of hasty writing, and deserves the verdict pronounced by its author's father : — Towards the present month (October), my son Horace published another book in three volumes duodecimo, called The Tor Hill. In my opinion, it comes out too soon after Bramhlctyc House. Authors should take sufficient time for digesting their plans and correcting errors. In this respect Horace has forgotten the advice of his Latin namesake, Nonuiniqiie prematur in annum. He has not taken as many months. There was no second edition of The Tor Hill, but it was translated into French by Defauconpret of Paris. Ptcuhen Apslcy, an historical novel of the time of James II., followed in 1827 ; and in the course of the next year came Zillah, a Tale of the Holy City. They were both brought out by Colburn, and of the latter work there were two editions and a French translation. Horace Smith, in a letter to Cyrus Redding, says (in the postscript) : — Will you tell Colburn, when you see him, that Zillah is the most appropriate name he coilld choose for my novel ? I find that lady wtus the mother of Tubal Cain, the first of the Smiths, and, of course, the founder of my family. Perhajis the circumstance was in his eye when he })itched upon Zillah. Zillah is an admirable presentation of ihe nionieii- tous incidents that occurred at Jerusalem during "ZILLAH" 263 the three years preceding the capture of the Holy City by Herod (about 37 B.C.). It was violently attacked in the Q^iarterly Maga- zine, and its detractors maintained that it was but an imitation of Croly's Salathicl. This assertion was ridiculous, as the two books were written simultaneously ; but as Salathicl appeared first, the publication of Zillah was deferred, Horace Smith remarking in his advertisement — Considering that the scene is often identical, and the area nearly so, there are perhaps not so many coincidences between the two novels as might have been expected; and though the author of the present work, willing to avoid any immediate comparison, still less any appearance of competition, with the powerful writer of Salathicl, postponed its publica- tion, he has not thought it necessary to make any alteration in its pages beyond a few trifling omissions. After Zillah came The New Forest (1829), a work dedicated to William Heseltine of Turret House, Lambeth ; to the following year (1830) belongs Walter Colyton, a tale of the Revolution of 1688, the scene being laid near Bridgwater in Somerset. To 1830 belongs also The Midsummer Medley (a series of comic tales), and Festivals, Games, and Amusements, Ancient and Modern, which went through two editions in England, and one in New York. In 1882 appeared Talcs of the Early Ages, and, in 1885, Gale Middleton. The Tin Trumpet, published under a pseudonym in 1836, was repro- duced in 1869 by Bradbury, Evans, and Co., with 2G4 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH the author's real name attached by permission of the family. This, an amusing and well-thought-out medley, alphabetically arranged, is one of his best works. In 1838 came Jane, Lomax, a tale of modem times, bfised upon the commission of a fraud, on which James Smith makes the following criticism : — But there isanother legal objection. Lomax^ was, if I remember right, appointed executor under the will. He must in that capacity have possessed the prolate, and could not make a copy. Again I have my doubts whether Lomax 's crime wa.s capital. It did not consist in forging the testator's handwriting, but in putting before him a false or substituted will for his signature ; a fraud punishable, perhaps, with transportation ; but not a forgery. The interest, at the close, would have been much better worked-up by a trial at law, or an indictment at the Old Bailey — Lomax in the dock, trembling as the pr(»ofs accumulated, and urged to " Hare up " by his indig- nant helpmate. The will might have been set aside, and the man from abroad might have married the virtuous daughter. The wind-uj) with two old maids is an anti-climax. People who write works of fiction are not bound to kuijw the law, but in forming their catastrophes they should ajtply to those who do. I could have helped my bnjthcr to as pretty a law sct.'ne as you shall see on a summer's day. In LS40 Horace Smith edited Oliver Cromivcll, an historical novel, wherein the Lonl Protector's por- trait is drawn, to use the words of the preface, by ' The perpetrator of the fraud. OTHER WORKS 265 "a friendly hand." His interest in Cromwell had been greatly increased by the fact of his having handled and examined the Protector's skull, in the possession of a medical man whom he knew, who was not only quite satisfied as to its identity, but believed — and persuaded Horace Smith to believe — that it had been blown down from the porch of Westminster Hall, and picked up by the sentry, who disposed of it to the Russell family. In 1841 Horace Smith wrote Tlu Moneyed Man, or. The Lesson of a Life, which went through two editions ; and in 1842 he edited Masaniello, an LListorical Romance. In 1843 he produced Adam, Broivn, the Merchant, and in 1844 Arthur Arundel, a TaU of the English Revolution. In the latter year appeared Lmitations of Celebrated Authors, Charles Lamb, etc., two of the pieces in the book being by Horace Smith. In 1845 he penned his last work, Love and Mesmerism; and in 1846 his Poetical Works, collected for the first time, were published in two volumes.^ Although best known as a writer of prose fiction, Horace Smith established a reputation as an able, graceful, and above all, a natural poet. His verse is remarkable for variety in style and subject, and, as one might expect, is tinctured by a tendency to the humorous. He excelled in the class of versification midway between the serious and the comic, of which 1 Amarynthus the Nympholet, a Pastoral Drama, with other Poem, (1821), has been mentioned in the notice of Shelley, Chap. XV. 2GG JAMES AND HORACE SMITH his Address to a Mummy in Bclzoni's Uxhibition is a good example. One of the stanzas runs thus : — Perchance that very hand now pinioned flat, Has hob-a-nobbed with Pharaoh, glass to glass ; Or dropp'd a half-penny in Homer's hat ; Or dolf'd thine own to let Queen Dido pass ; Or held, by Solomon's own invitiition, A torch at the great temple's dedication. His life-long friendship with Campbell aroused his deepest feelings on the occasion of the poet's funeral in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, when the pall was held by six noblemen, and noted men of every shade of varying opinions stood round the grave. Thus sings Horace Smith of Campbell's burial : — Around his grave in radiant brotherhood, As it to form a halo o'er his head, Not few of England's master-spirits stood, Bards, artists, sages, reverently led To waive each SL-paniting plea Of sect, clime, party, and degree, All honouring him on whom Nature all honours shed. Altogether, in prose and verse, Horace Smith published more than fifty volumes. CHAPTER XXIII 1826—1849 Brighton in the "twenties," "thirties," and "forties" — Horace Smith at Brighton. Most of Horace Smith's novels were written at Brighton, where, after leaving Tunbridge Wells in 1826, he resided until his death. He could hardly have made a better selection than Brighton, for, until the railway from London began to bring down visitors by thousands and tens of thousands, it was a delightfully quiet place, yet justly boasting of society as bright and interesting as any to be found throughout the kingdom. In the season (summer) there was a fair amount of gaiety : public balls and assemblies ; breakfast, tea, and card-parties ; performances at the theatre ; bands of music on the Steine ; everywhere liveliness suffi- cient to compensate for the comparative dulness of the town during the rest of the year. The city man of to-day, comfortably breakfasting in the Pullman car, as the train conveys him from Brighton to the scene of his work at the rate of some five-and-forty miles an hour, finds it hard to 267 268 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH realize that, not so very long ago, such a thing was an unheard-of possibility. A couple of hours at the outside now takes him from his sea-side home to his city office, and ten shillings covers the cost of a first-class return ticket. In 1827 private travelling was a luxury, and when old Robert Smith drove his wife down from Wandsworth to Brighton to see his son Horace, the expenses on the road there and back amounted to not less than £20 10s. Sd.} and, as they slept at Crawley, the journey occupied about twenty-four hours each way. Few persons could afford cither this expenditure or this delay. The coach was much quicker, but slow enough from our point of view ; and even the Government contract speed with John Palmer in 183G for the mails was but six miles an hour, subsequently increased to ten and a half. Nevertheless, during the " twenties," " thirties,'' and "forties," there were many admirably appointed, well-horsed, and well-driven private coaches that did the distance from Brighton to the Metropolis in five or six hours along good roads, and, so far as it was possible, the service was perfect. It must have been well patronized, as sixteen coaches ran daily throughout the year, and it is recorded with pride that, on one day in October 1833, nearly five hundred visitors arrived by these popular conveyances. The average fiire, fifteen .shillings (inside passen- gers), seems low, but to this were added numerous ' The charge of nii uncnmfijrtahle post-chaise was about two .shillings per mile with many extras. FROM LONDON TO BRIGHTON 269 tips, the cost of hackney-coaches to and from the point of arrival and departure, and last, but not least, the expense of eating and drinking — a necessity, as the start was usually at seven or eight o'clock in the morning. Good opportunity was afforded for re- freshment at " The Cock," Sutton, Croydon, Reigate, Crawley, and Hand-Cross, when excellent ginger- bread, and Hollands that had not always been inter- viewed by the Excise, could be had. At Staplefield Common — a few miles nearer Brighton — a grand halt as a rule was called for a more substantial repast, which generally took the form of rabbit- pudding. Mrs. Glasse (1765) does not give any recipe for this famous local delicacy, although she mentions various strange meat puddings, one being composed of salt-pork, and another of a mixture of sheep's liver chopped up fine with suet, sweet herbs, nutmeg, pepper, and anchovy.^ Soon after he went to Brighton, Horace Smith be- came the tenant of No. 10, Hanover Crescent, a group of two-storeyed houses, facing the Level, and close to where the road to Lewes begins. The crescent stood in what was in those days the most northerly suburb of the town, and was almost rural. To the east and north were the open downs, unbuilt upon, and the walk to the sea-front by way of the Level ^ I am able to give, for tlie benefit of my lady-readers, the following recipe for mutton-pudding: — Use the short bones from the neck, or what is commonly called the skirting. Add mushrooms, when in season, a sweet crust, and boil in basin. Sometimes a rahbit is put with the mutton. 270 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH and the North Steine might, without much exag- geration, have been described as " countrified." At that time there existed no sea-wall, Marine Parade, Junction Parade, Madeira Road, ur King's Road in the well-kept form we know. There were no tastefully-laid-out gardens or marine lawns ; the Pavilion was a royal residence, and the grounds were strictly private and inaccessible ; therefore, the Chain Pier was the favourite place for promenaders, Arundel Terrace, Kemp Town, was the ultima thule of Brighton in the east. To the west, the old battery, with its flagstaff, cannons, and pyramids of shot, was a conspicuous object, and always attracted the young folks. About half-a-mile beyond, Bruns- wick Square, or, at the furthest, Adelaide Crescent and Palmyra Sqtiare, marked the western boundary of Brighton proper. From the fields to the north of the Square might be seen, a mile or so off, the out- lying village of Hove, the intervening space dotted with fanns and a few houses. Neither Cliftonville nor Prestonville harl been thought of by the most speculative of builders. St. Peter's Church on the Level was approaching completion and consecration. The Royal York w;xs the fashionable hotel ; the Albion had not long been opened ; the Old Ship, and the New Ship adjoining, were flourishing con- cerns ; but the famous old Castle Tavern had been pulled down a few years before. Huge caravan- saries, such as the Metropole and the Grand, were unknown. The population of Brighton was about 40,000, and THE BRIGHTON "M.C." 271 its vast extension, especially towards the setting sun, was a thing of the future ; yet who shall say that some prophet, regarded by his friends as a harmless lunatic, did not foresee with the eye of faith the " Queen of English watering-places " spread out beyond even its present limits, embracing Portslade, Southwick, and intervening open spaces, until the river Adur at New Shoreham alone checked the advance of brick and mortar ? In those pre-railway days (i. e. ante 1841), when everybody knew everybody, there were many in- teresting and original characters to be found at Brighton. First in importance, perhaps, was the Master of the Ceremonies, who, for the modest salary of £1000 a-year, presided at all the fashion- able balls given at the Old Ship. Lieut.-Colonel John Eld had been appointed, in 1828, to this responsible post, and held it until his death in 1855, when the office of M.C. was abolished. He used to keep a book at the Libraries (as did also Dickens's immortal Angelo Cyrus Bantam, Esq., M.C. of Bath), in which the residents and visitors, who aspired to be fashionable, were supposed to enter their names. In the case of strangers, a formal introduction to the M.C. gave them an entree to all entertainments over which he held sway. But customs were already quickly changing. Lady patronesses with " vouchers " supplanted this method of introduction ; and, by the time the railway appeared, Colonel Eld's duties had become nominal. He was a singular man, and as he walked down the parade in his characteristic 272 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH dress, of which a well-starched neck-cloth was a prominent feature, he looked, as he probably felt himself to be, " master," not only of the " cere- monies," but, potentially, of all Brighton. Though not a resident. Sir St. Vincent Cotton, the prince of amateur whips, was as well known as anybody. He was a Cambridgeshire baronet, and a descendant of Cotton, the collector of MSS. He lost two fortunes at the gambling-table, inherited a third, and settled down at Madingley Hall, near Cambridge. His coach, the " Age," its horses and its fittings, were unique ; even the horse-cloths were edged with broad silver lace ! One of the hahiUUs of Bedford's Club House on the South Parade on the Steine, carried on by a Mr. Wiick, formerly in the establishment of the Prince Regent, was General Sir William Keir Grant, an old traveller and thorough man of the world, who had lo.st his right arm in a duel. He was overflowing with curious anecdotes and traveller's tales. Once he called upon a newly-married couple on their return from their honeymoon trip to Italy, and asked the fair but inexperienced bride how she liked Venice. " I was very much delighted," she rcplicri, "but, to be sure, we timed our arrival most unluckily, fur, only fancy, the place was Hooded all the week we were there, and we had to go about in a boat ! " Of Brighton clergymen (barring the Rev. F. \\ . Robertson), the two Andersons, James and Robert, were perhaps the most notable. Robert Anderson A WELL-INFORMED NEWSPAPER 273 was of a very shy, retiring disposition, and his staid, still demeanour did little to betray the strong under- current of humour in his character. He loved to relate the ipllowing anecdote. It appears he had occasion to superintend the outside repairs of his chapel, when, amongst other improvements, a coat- ing of mastic had been applied with good effect. One of his churchwardens, a highly respectable but rather illiterate individual, was much struck by the improved appearance of the frontage, and in a most impressive and eulogistic manner, thus expressed himself: — " I'll tell you what, Mr. Anderson, now that you have finished masticating your chapel, I shall follow your example, and masticate my house ! " Local journalism was well represented by Mr. William Fleet, for whom Horace Smith always had a sincere regard. Mr. Fleet was the proprietor and editor of the Brighton Herald, founded in 1806 as the advocate of rational liberal principles. In its youth it was distinguished as the paper jjar excel- lence for its quickness in making known to the pub- lic some of the most important events in European history. The Herald was the first to proclaim the escape of Napoleon from Elba. The news of the French Revolution of 1830 was received by the Herald in advance of all other journals ; and " slips " were forwarded from its office to the London Times the same night. Eighteen years later, the earliest announcement of Louis Philippe's arrival at New- haven as a fugitive, was made by this well-informed paper. T 274 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH As regards professional men, Brighton was always well supplied, and in 1849 there must have been quite seventy-five physicians, etc., in practice, many of them eminently skilful. Of solicitors there were not many, Brighton being a non-litigious town. Art was represented by Sir Martin A. Shee, who, in 1850, was President of the Royal Academy. In characters in the humbler walks of life Brighton was rich, and to Horace Smith they formed a con- stant and amusing study. Male "bathers" and female "dippers" — successors of the Smoaker brothers, Mrs. Cobby, and Martha Gunn, queen of the bathing-machines — still exi.sted, and did a roaring trade in the season. The bathing- women, in (juaint costume, continued the practice of presenting their cards to visitors arriving by coach at Castle Square. Mr. Matthews, the pier-master, was a well-known figure ; and everybody who used the Pier made the acquaintance of the Rattys,^?tVc, m^rc, djille (originals of the type that Dickens sketched), who were in rough weather frequently washed out of their rooms at the toll-house, always to return, however, with renewed energy to minister to the wants of their patrons and friends. Then there was "Jonathan," the celebrated billiard-player, who used to exhibit his skill in one of the streets leading from the ]\Iarine Parade to James Street, where, too, could generally be seen a curious well-dressed little man, who went by the BRIGHTON "ORIGINALS" 275 soubriquet of "Badger" — why, no one seemed to know. In a small cottage standing on a common, midway between Kemp Town and Eastern Terrace, dwelt a singular character named Murray, who, because of his reticence concerning his early career, was as- sumed to have been a smuggler. He did a splendid business in the sale of agate, pebbles, and all those curios with which a visitor returning from the sea- side deemed it the correct thing to load himself Everybody in Brighton knew Sake Deen Mahomed, a native of the East, who introduced into the town the art of shampooing. His private baths were largely patronized, and his fame was enshrined in verse by James Smith, and in prose by Horace. The former, in an Ode to Ifahomet, the Brighton Shampooer, thus addresses him : — thou dark sage, whose vapour bath Makes muscular as his of Gath Limbs erst relax'd and limber ; Whose herbs, like those of Jason's mate, The wither'd leg of seventy -eight — Convert to stout hiee timber, Sprung, doubtless from Abdallah's son. Thy miracles thy sire' s outrun, Thy cures his deaths outnumber ; His coffin soars 'twixt heav'n and earth, But thou, within that narrow berth. Immortal, ne'er shall slumber.^ Lastly, among other "originals" at Brighton, I will single out a vendor of brandy-balls, who, clad in spotless white, and wearing a kind of fez which 1 He lived to be a centenarian. 276 JAMES AND HORACE SMTTII enhanced his Jewish u])pearance, with a lung curl of black hair plastered down on each side of his face, used to perambulate the quieter squares and terraces every evening at dusk, singing in a melodious voice of the mysterious confection, which, it may be pre- sumed, was of home manufacture. He was a con- stant source of wonderment, especially to young children. As early as 1830, the hourgcois element had begun to show itself amongst the visitors to Brighton. Horace Smith, describing the visit of a certain Clio Grub, puff provider fur Warner's blacking, tells us that To Brigliton he went and secured a retreat In the ]iebble-lniilt liouse of a narrow back street, AVith a starinf; bow-window to let him explore What was passing in either bow-window next door. And he represents the civic visitant to Brighton as singing— On the Downs you are like an old jacket Hunf,' uji in the suiisbine to dry ; In the town you are all in a racket, With doukcy-cart, wliiskey, and fly. AVe have seen the Chain-Pier, Devil's Dyke, The Chalybeate Sjirin},', Rottin-^'dean, Ant <>]\\\ the celebrated men and women of the day resident in Brighton — and there were many — but all visitoi-s of note found their way to the table of Horace Smith. Amongst his congenial fellow-townsmen were Cai)tain James Morier, traveller and novelist, the author of Hajji Baha of ItijMhaii, etc. ; Dr. Mantell, the geologist ; Mr. Moses Ricardo, scientist and Avorking-man's friend ; Mr. and i\Irs. JMontefiore ; Charles Young, the actor (who had retired to Brighton) ; Captain and Mrs. Heaviside, Avell-known in fashionable circles, and residing in Brunswick 8(|uare ; the Rounds, of Brunswick Terrace ; J. J. Masquerier, the painter of Za IJclle Alliance, which, together with his portraits of Miss O'Niel and Miss Mellon, are in the collection of the Baroness Burdett- Coutts. Amongst the Brighton visitors who were made free of No. 12 were Samuel Rogers; Sydney Smith ; Dr. Lardner, an eminent scientific man, and editor of the Enoirhqxrdia which bears his name ; Charles Kean, the actor, between whom and Jbjrace Smith there existed much sym})athy and warmest friend- ship; Copley Fielding, the water-colour painter of land-scapes ; Julian Fane, ])oot and diplomatist (then fjuite a young man); II. T. Buckle, the historian of civilizaticju ; Maoaulay ; J'rofcssor Owen; Jesse; Harrison Ainsworth ; Dickens, and Thackeray. Of the last named, Rosalind Smith used to relate how one day he jjopped in, and flinging himself THACKERAY 285 down on a couch with an expression of great despair, implored the " girls " to tell him a " nursery tale," " anything however trivial," to divert his mind and help to remove his anxiety, for he had (as was cus- tomary with him when in Brighton) put off his monthly contribution to a certain periodical, until but a couple of days were left for the work. Rosa- lind says that their nonsense comforted him, that he went away from Cavendish Place " like a giant refreshed with new wine," and accomplished his task easily, though nobody had a sight of him in the meantime. As to the origin of Pendennis, Herman Merivale tells the following story : — " Such a Brightonian as Thackeray was led naturally to his frequenting their rooms (the Smiths'). It was to them that he con- fided how he was bound to produce the opening chapters of Pendennis within a few days, and had no plot and no idea wherewith to start one. Shade of Trollope, how shocking ! So then and there, they told him a true anecdote of Brighton life. ' That will do,' said he, and went home and began the novel which, afterwards, in defiance of all the laws of self-respecting composition, developed into a work which has its merits still. In return for the favour, he christened his heroine Laura, after a younger sister. "It may be imagined with what interest the story was followed. . . . When first he visited the ladies after it was finished, the original Laura received him indignantly. ' I'll never speak to you again, Mr. 286 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH Thackeray; you knew I always meant to marry Warrington.' In the same spirit, spoke Lady Rockminster, when she accepted the young couple — ' It is all very well, but I should have preferred "Bluebeard"' (her name for Warrington), which proves to my mind that ladies do not always know what is good for them. " Worth recording, too, is the story of Thackeray going to see the Miss Smiths when he was about to give his George the Fourth lecture in the town, and expressing his relief that it was not to be in the Pavilion as at first proposed — ' I didn't like,' he said, ' the idea of abusing a man in his (jwn house.' "^ Of Charles Kean's fether a characteristic story was related to Horace Smith by a tradesman whose memory went back to the days when travellers in china and glass used to come with samples all the way to Kent and Sussex from Staffordsliire, in their " carriage and pair." One of these commercials, he said, happening to meet Edmund Kean at Maid- stone, challenged him to drink as much brandy-and- water hot as he could himself The traveller, sea.soned ve.ssel though he was, succumbed to the twenty-sixth tumbler, but Kean just managed the twenty-seventh, and won the wager ! Horace Smith had always been a great admirer of the celebrated actress. Miss Mellon, and when he met her as the Duchess of St. Albans at Brighton after a lapse of many years, he penned some stanzas to her, beginning : — ' Life iif jr. M. Thackeray, by Merivale and Marzials. AN ACTRESS-DUCHESS 287 Lady ! that sweet and cordial voice, Unalter'd since I heard it last, Hath made my weaken'd heart rejoice With recollections of the past. Her rare qualifications were summed up thus : — The lively wit without alloy, The mind acute, the spirit's flow — The kindly heart that welcomes joy. Yet melts at every tale of woe. These honours which thou ne'er can'st waive, These that no monarch could decree. Prove that 'twas Nature's self who gave Thy Patent of Nobility. Every winter at the beginning of the season, the Duchess came to St. Albans House, Brighton, to the joy of all, for she was the most liberal patroness of the tradespeople, the benefactress of the poor, and the disburser of unbounded hospitality to the upper classes. She used to hold what she called omnium gatJicrums, at each one of which, it is said, the oil and candle bill usually amounted to £20 — a large sum in those days. She was a woman (in appearance fat and some- what red-faced) whom exaltation in rank could not spoil or wean from simplicity of habits. After one of her gorgeous festivities, whereat all the delicacies of the season were profusely provided, when the guests had left, she turned to her sole remaining companion, and said, " Now I'm going to enjoy myself," and sat down in an unceremo- nious manner to a cold chicken and a bottle of stout. Later on, the Smiths were fortunate in their 288 JAMES AND HORACE .S.^fTTH friendship with the Duchess's heiress, Miss Burdett- Coutts (now the Baroness), who, when at Brighton, always calls upon Horace Smith's eldest and only surviving daughter, to talk over the memories of the past. The Smiths were her frequent guests in London, and Masquerier's excellent portrait of Horace Smith (which forms one of the illustrations of this volume) hangs ujDon the walls of Hi illy Lodge, Highgatc. The Rev. F. W. Robertson, the great preacher of Trinity Chapel, I mention last of all, because he did not arrive at Brighton till 1847, not long before Horace Smith died, Avhom he had consequently few opportunities of meeting. His first sermon there was a memorable one ; his text : " The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified," etc. As the Rev. Stopford Brooke says — " It at once awoke criticism and in- terest. As his peculiar views developed themselves, many of the old congregation left the church. Their places were rapidly filled up. Thoughtful and eager- minded men came in by degrees from all parts of Brighton, attracted not only by his earnest elofjuence, but by his original thought and clever reasoning." Amongst these was Horace Smith, who was in fullest touch with the broad and enlightened views on religion and })olitic8 that characterized the fam- ous preacher, and, had he lived but a few years longer, he might have been the means of helping to stem the torrent of cruel and unjust sectarian perse- cution that awaited Robertson. LOVE AND PHILOSOPHY 289 The man who in the past had stood by the side of the greatly misunderstood Shelley would most surely have undertaken the same noble office for the maligned incumbent of Trinity Chapel. For some time before this period, Brighton society had become exceedingly gay, and at all brilliant functions, public and private, the daughters of Horace Smith were conspicuous — Eliza, the eldest, notoriously witty and amusing ; Rosalind, the beau- tiful, overburdened with eligible offers of marriage, though dying unmarried in 1893 ; and Laura, the youngest, who married Mr. John Round, of West Bergholt, Essex, and died in 1864. One of the most striking of the gay assemblies at that time, was a fancy dress ball, at which Dr. Lardner appeared as a courtier, and the lovely Mrs. Heaviside as a dame dc cour of the Louis XVI. period, both attracting much attention. Unfor- tunately, the charms of his fair partner in the dance proved too much for the philosophy of the learned professor, and he fled with her via London to Paris, whither they were followed by the outraged husband. A sound horse-whipping of the culprit and a duel (without serious result) are said to have followed, with ultimately a divorce in the House of Lords. This regrettable affair to a certain extent broke up the pleasant " inner circle " which had led the fashion in Brighton, and of which the Horace Smiths were such prominent members. I must not close this sketch of Brighton and its u 290 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH association with Horace Smith, without expressing my indebtedness to Mr. Charles Fleet, Mr. D. Burchell Friend, Mr. John Haines, and other towns- men, for many valuable facts relating to the past history of the flourishing and ever popular water- ing-place in which they reside. HORACF: SMITH. CHAPTER XXIY The declining years of Horace Smith's life — His last illness and death — His personal appearance, tastes, opinions, character and disposition — The end. At the close of the year 1840, Cyrus Redding, resuming his correspondence with Horace Smith after a lapse of many years, noticed that his hand- writing " varied considerably from the very neat text it had before displayed," which he regarded as an evidence of failing health. The following year, Horace Smith had a severe attack of laryngitis, and on his recovery wrote the following letter to one of his sisters : — Brighton, lOth October, 1841. My dear Adelaide, I know that Maria is rather prone to make mountains of molehills, and, lest you should suppose that I was going to give you all the slip, I think it right to let you know that I am proceeding very favourably, that I am again downstairs, and mean to be better than ever in a very few days. It was an attack of acute inflammation in the Larynx, owing to a cold, and came on so suddenly in the night, as to be very alarming from its ajDpearance, and feeling of suffocation ; but we soon got a medicine man who 291 292 JAMES AND HORACE SMITH bled me till I fainted, and when I recover'd I had recover'd ray voice, and breathed with perfect ease ! Unluckily a bad cough supervened which threw me l)afk, but that yielded to active remedies and further reduction; and here I am nearly as well as ever, though not looking quite so rosy in the gills. My imprisonment comes at an unlucky moment, the place being full of friends whose society I was anxious to enjoy, particularly that of Sir Charles and Lady ^Morgan, and Lady"^ Stepney. Old Lady Holland, who has got Byham House just opposite, and who always had a romantic attachment to me (!!!), keeps us su])plied with game and all sorts of goody-goodies, but I cannot n(jw partake in them or join her parties, which I regret, as the last I joined was a very delightful one. All the world has been here ; but the railroad is getting so completely out of vogue, that I suspect we shall soon lose many of our visitants. All unite in kindest regards to yourself and Gom,^ with, Dear Adelaide, Yours ati'ectionately, Horatio Smith. From this time, his inclination, as well as his capacity, fc^r literary labour sensibly declined. It was the evening of his life, and thenceforth he did little beyond writing a couple of novels, editing a romance, gathering t