Full text of "Bristol and its famous associations"

BRISTOL
AND ITS FAMOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

,**B»v k

■ V

BITS Ol OLD AND NEW BRISTOL.

BRISTOI

d its

Famous Associations

STANLEY HUTTON

FIFTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS

BRISTOL

J. W. Arrowsmith, II Quay Street

LONDON

SiMPKIX, ^L\RSHALL, HAMILTON, KeNT & Co. LiMITEr
1907

IN GRATITUDE

I INSCRIBE THIS WORK TO

W. H. DOWDIXG AND G. FALCONER KIXG.

PREFACE. 5?H^5^

• N connection with a city whose foundation dates
before the Conquest, there must of necessity be
many and famous personal associations which
have gathered round its centuries of growth and
progress.

Impelled by a love of his native city, it has been
the task — a fascinating one — of the writer to gather
together, from every available source, biographical material,
which he has organised under definite headings, and
which he trusts will have a real and living interest for
his fellow-citizens, if not for that wider audience, the
general public.

If those of his critics who scan the following pages
will be good enough to bear in mind the enormous field
these researches cover, they will perhaps pardon any
omissions in these biographical cameos, many of which
are omitted by intention. Kings and queens and others
who have had merely an accidental or purely historical
association have been ignored ; the ordinary histories
will supply their omission. By consulting, too, the best
authorities, the writer has endeavoured to be accurate
as well as interesting.

In conclusion, the author desires most gratefully to
acknowledge his indebtedness to that biographical treasury,
The Dictionary of National Biography ; the encyclopaedic
Annals of Bristol's Froissart, John Latimer; the incite-
ment, as well as material, derived from the works of
the late John Taylor ; and lastly to the generous and
unfailing encouragement — without which this work would
never have been written — of the proprietors of The
Western Daily Press, Messrs. Walter and W. Nichol Reid.

Stanley Huttox.
May, 1907.

CONTENTS

Chapter
I.

II.

III.

IV.

\l.

VIII.
IX.
X.

XI.

Page

Maritime Associations ..... i
Literary Associations.

PART I. LAXGLAND TO CHATTERTON . . 4I

II. CHATTERTOX • • • • • 53

III. HANNAH MORE AND HER CIRCLE . 85

IV. A GREAT COTERIE .... 99

V. CLOSIXG ASSOCIATIONS OF THE

EIGHTEEXTH CENTURY . . I40

VI. NINETEENTH CENTURY ASSOCIATIONS I44

VII. DISTINGUISHED JOURNALISTS AND

HISTORIANS ..... 175

VIII. Bristol's connection with fiction 184
Art Associations.

PART I. distinguished ARTISTS . . . 20I

ii. miscellaneous .... 227

Musical Associations ..... 235

Dramatic Associations ..... 243
Scientific Associations.

PART I. miscellaneous .... 269

ii. medical and surgical . . . 2g2

Military Associations ..... 303

Political Associations ..... 321

Assvriologists and Travellers . . . 336
Religious Associations.

PART I. distinguished CHURCHMEN . . 347

II. distinguished nonconformists . 362

Philanthropic and Social .... 385

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

BITS OF OLD AND NEW BRISTOL

(From an Old Frinf)

WILLIAM CANYNGES

SEBASTIAN CABOT .......

VIEW OF THE HARBOUR, SHOWING THE CATHEDRAL

AND ST. Stephen's church ....

VIEW OF the HARBOUR, SHOWING REDCLIFF CHURCH

(After a Water Colour by Nicholas Pocock, 1787.)

THE "GREAT WESTERN" (tHE FIRST OCEAN-GOING
STEAMSHIP built) .....

SWEARING IN THE MAYOR, I479

A VIEW OF THE HOTWELL, civca 1 735 .

NORTH PORCH, ST. MARY REDCLIFF

GEORGE SYMES CATCOTT ....

HENRY BURGUM . From an Old Engraving)

FACSIMILE OF CHATTERTON'S WILL

HANNAH MORE (After Painting by H. W. Pickersgili,, A.R.A.)

ANN YEARSLEY ......

ROBERT SOUTKEY (After Drawing by Robert Hancock)

FACSIMILE OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF S. T
COLERIDGE ......

FACSIMILE OF MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE OF R. SOUTHEY

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE ....

JOSEPH COTTLE (After Portrait by Branwhite

WM. WORDSWORTH (From a Drawing by Hancock, T789)

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR

CHRIST CHURCH, FROM HIGH STREET

MARY CARPENTER ....

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS

FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE

WILLIAM BARRETT, F.S.A. ( I 733— I 789)

REV. SAMUEL SEYER, M.A, (1757 1831)

GEORGE PRYCE, F.S.A. (1799 1868)

J. F. NICHOLLS, F.S.A. (1818 — 1883)

JOHN TAYLOR (1829 1893) .

JOHN LATIMER (1824 — 1904) .

DANIEL DEFOE ....

MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ALMSHOUSE, KING STREET

"HUGH CONWAY" (FREDERICK JOHN FARGUS)

fyontispiece

Page

facing 5
») \)

43
48
56
60

72-78

85
96

106
107
108
117
124
133
^37
147
^57
164
180
180
^83
183
183

^«3
184

189

196

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

W. J. MULLER (After Painting by Nathan Branwhitk)

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE, P.R.A.

(After the Painting by himscli)

E. II. HAII.V, R.A. ......

BRISTOL ART GALLERY .....

NEW CENTRAL MUNICIPAL LIBRARY

DAVID GARRICK (After the Painting by S\r ]ostiVfi Revhovds)

SARAH SIDDONS (After the Painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence)

"1'ERDITA" (MARY ROBINSON)

WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADV

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY .....

THOMAS BEDDOES, M.D. .....

JAMES COWLES PRICHARD, M.D.

LORD JOHN LAWRENCE .....

SIR WILLIAM DRAPER .....

EDMUND BURKE ......

HON. F. H. F. BERKELEY ....

BISHOP BUTLER .....

OLD CITY LIBRARY, KING STREET .

ROBERT HALL ......

JOHN WESLEY ......

GEORGE FOX .......

WM. PENN .......

EFFIGY ON TOMB OF EDWARD COLSTON, IN ALL

saints' CHURCH

Colston's almshouses, st. michael's hill
george muller ......

Pa«e
20I
205

206
221
228
244
248
256
260
268
277
292

308
329

347
349
364
373
381

384

388
397

ADVERTISEMENT.

The tlianks of the Publisher are due to the Bristol Museum
AND Art Gallery Committee for permission to reproduce
various sketches and engravings in their possession ; to
the Proprietors of Tlie Illustrated London h^ews, to Messrs.
Macmillan & Co. Ltd., to Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co.,
and to Messrs. Chapman & Hall Ltd., for certain of the
portraits appearing in the book; and to the Churchwardens
OK St. Mary Redcliff Church for courteously allowing him to
photograph the register containing the marriage certificates of
S. T. Coleridge and Robert Southey.

aritime and Commercial
Associations.

' The good ships freighted in the South
Come up to us from Avonmouth,
Come steaming past famed Clevedon's shore,
Haunt of the deathless ones of yore.
From lands where Empire's sturdy root
Is set, they bring us corn and fruit;
They take, to children of our blood,
The cheery word of brotherhood.

■ O fare ye by the sounding docks,
Or claniber high as Clifton's rocks,
Where salt winds from the channel blow,
And make your English pulses glow ;
The accent of those far-off lands,
Where uncouth force and law clasp hands
To circumscribe unfetter'd space.
Shall thrill you with the pride of race.

' The good ships freighted from the South
Come up to us at Avonmouth ;
Come up with the rejoicing tide
That makes the Severn still more wide :
And with their spice and cattle bring
A fair, unpurchasable thing —
The breath and glamour of the sea
That made us great, that keeps us free."

* Slightly altered from the original.

CHAPTER I.

MARITIME AND COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Bristol's commerce in the earliest times— William Canynges :
Magnitude of Jiis transactions ; monopoly of Danish
trade — Voyage of the Cabofs : Discovery of America;
credit due to John Cabot ; erection of Cabot Tower —
Expedition sent by Robert TJiornc in search of North-
West Passage — Trade of Nicholas Thome ivith the West
Indies — Dangers attending commercial enterprises —
Voyage of Martin Pring — Sir Ferdinando Gorges :
Colonisation schemes; oivncr of "'Great House^'' —
Voyage of Captain James in search of North-W^est
Passage : Daring character of the expedition — BristoVs
manufacturers and wealth — Dudley North — John Gary —
St. James's Fair and its importance in the seventeenth
century — Bristol privateering enterprises: The '^ Angel
Gabriel" — Discovery of Alexander Selkirk by Captain
Woodes Rogers: Great financial success of tJiis expedi-
tion ; Selkirk's adventures form basis of Defoe's
^'Robinson Crusoe" — Bristol's merchandise and com-
merce : Defoe's observations thereon — Great Western
Raihcay — Building of "Great Western" steamship:
First voyage across Atlantic a triumphant sticcess —
Launch and first voyage of the " Great Britain "
— fBristoVs lost opportunity — Conrad Finzel — Samuel
Plimsoll.

T is by no adventitious aid that Bristol has become

: . what she is to-day, for her trreatness was founded

on commerce ; she exists by commerce, and on

commerce alone must her future depend as one of the

foremost maritime ports of the empire.

MA KIT I Ml-: ASSOCIATIONS.

Defoe has rightly said : " Seeing that trade is the fund
of weahh and power, we cannot wonder that we see the
wisest princes and states anxious and concerned for the
increase of the commerce and trade of their subjects and
of the growth o{ the coinitrx ."

In no cit\- of I'2ngland were these wise words more
fullv realised than in the ancient city of Bristol. One
of the earliest references, if not the earliest, to Bristol's
status as a port is that of William of Malmesbury, who
lived in the first half of the twelfth century. When writing
of the Vale of Gloucester, he says: "In this same valley
is a i'e>y celchyatcd toivn, by name Bristowe, in which is a
port, a resort of ships coming from Ireland, Norway, and
other countries beyond sea ; lest a region so fortunate in
native riches should be destitute of the commerce of
foreign wealth."

At the time of Edward III. so extensive and important
was its commerce that it directed the whole foreign trade
and the import of foreign merchandise, and even then did
business on a very considerable scale, for in 1375 Bristol
ships laden with salt were captured and burnt in the
channel, and the losses were set down at no less than
£^7>759^ ^ huge sum of money in those days. Fifty
years later Bristol's trading vessels were known in every
sea from Syria to Iceland.

One of the earliest tributes to the maritime importance
of Bristol was paid by Henry I\'. about 1400 in a
charter which says : " Considering the many notable
services which very many merchants and burgesses of our
town of Bristol have done for us and our famous pro-
genitors with their ships and vo}-ages at their own great
charges and expense, we have granted that the said town
shall be for ever free from the jurisdiction of f^ir Admiraltv."

WILJ.IAM CANYNGES.
(From an old Print.)

WILLIAM CANYNGES.

Mrs. J. R. Green, in Town Life in the Fifteenth Century,
has truly remarked: "There were none who surpassed
the merchants of Bristol — men who had made their town
the chief depot for the wine trade of Southern France, a
staple for leather, lead, tin, and the great mart for fish of
the channel and for the salt trade of Brittany, whose
cloth and leather were carried to Denmark to be
exchanged for stock-fish, and to France and Spain for
wine ; who as early as 1420 made their way by compass
to Iceland, and whose vessels were the first to enter the
Levant."

Great indeed were Bristol's merchant princes in those
early days of her history. The case of Robert Sturmy,
Mayor of Bristol in 1453-4, is but one typical of the
time. This great merchant had one of his ships plundered
by the Genoese, who had bitterly resented his intrusion
on their trading territory, and laid his complaint before
the king, who forthwith had all the Genoese merchants
then in London thrown into prison until they should give
bonds for the -£"6,000 at which Sturmy had estimated his
losses. Sturmy dwelt at this period in Spycer's Hall on
the Welsh Back. Here flourished in the fifteenth century
the greatest of all Bristol's merchant princes, William
Canynges, son and grandson of eminent merchants of our
city, and the benefactor of Redcliff Church. At this
period he had in his hands the chief trade with Northern
Europe. Not only were his factors established in the
Baltic ports, but his transactions with Iceland and with
Finland were on so great a scale that when in 1450 all
English trade with those countries was forbidden, in
virtue of a treaty with the King of Denmark, Canynges
was specially exempted for his services to the Danes,
and had therefore for some time the monopoly of

MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

their tradL-. Moreover, the ships he owned were the
largest hitherto known in England. During the eight
years prior to 1460 he. employed on an average
eight hundred seamen to navigate his fleet of ten
vessels.

How the greatest of Bristol's merchant princes rebuilt
Redcliff Church, erected the great house in Redcliff
Street, the chapel of which still exists; was Ave times
Mayor of Bristol and twice represented it in Parliament ;
and finally in his old age retired to the college of
Westbury-on-Trym, became its Dean, and there died, are
events in his life familiar to all who dip into our local
histories.

The great importance of the clothing trade of Bristol,,
still one of its staple industries, is illustrated by the fact
that as early as 1292 the St. James's Fair was famous
throughout the kingdom as a cloth mart. For in that
year the Archbishop of Canterbury in his rules governing
his household particularly mentions that " robes were to
be bought at St. James's tide," viz. at St. James's Fair.
It was early in the following century that the family of
Blanket, whose name has been erroneously made famous
as the inventors of that article of domestic comfort, first
settled here. The name blanket is really a term of French
derivation, meaning white cloth, and Becket is said to have
been dressed in a "curtil of w^hit blankit " one hundred
and fifty years before the Blanket family appeared in
Bristol.

Their advent, however, with their fellow Flemish
weavers, gave a powerful impetus to the trade, not only
of Bristol, but all England. This development became
so rapid that ere long English merchants were competing
successfully in foreign markets, and amongst those who

THE CABOT VOYAGE.

competed none were more active and adventurous than
men of Bristol.

The centur\- of Canynges, to whom we have just
alhided, marks the greatest and most glorious achieve-
ment of our civic annals. The closing years of that
fifteenth century greeted the arrival in our city of John
Cabot, peer of the great Columbus himself, for was it
not this world-famous navigator who " called in a new
world to redress the balance of the old " ? Here he
resided with his family, and, encouraged by the merchants
of our city, he applied for and obtained, on March 5th,
1496, a patent from King Henry VII. empowering him
and his three sons — Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctus — to
set sail and discover and possess the new isles beyond
the seas. Accordingly, in the May of the following
year (1497), they embarked in the little ship the Matthew,
probably less than a hundred tons burden, equipped by
Bristol merchants and manned by eighteen seamen,
nearly all Bristolians, on that memorable voyage that
had such momentous and far-reaching consequences to
the English race. In the early summer they made their
historic landing on the coast of Newfoundland. The actual
spot, though conjectured, is still an unsolved geographical
riddle. This great event preceded Columbus's discovery
of South America by at least a year.

It is curious to speculate what might have happened
had the possession of the southern continent fallen to
England instead of Spain. It was not the fault of
Bristol men that England was anticipated by her
southern rival.

Undoubtedly the part played by the Cabots, equipped
and sent forth by Bristol merchants, has rightly become
one of our national glories. All competent authorities

MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

arc now aj,'rocd that the voyage of the Cabots marks
<;nc' of the greatest epochs of English history, and that
John Cabot, father of Sebastian, was the real founder
of liritish maritime supremacy. Lindsay, in his great
work on the History of Merchant Shipping, says: "To the
discoveries and wise policy of Cabot England was far
more indcbteil than to the so-called celebrated ' Naviga-
tion Laws' of Oliver Cromwell."' Campbell, too, in his
Lives of the Admirals, refers to Cabot as "the author of
our maritime strength, who had opened the way to those
improvements which have rendered us so great, so
eminent, so flourishing a people."

It was not unfitting that on the four hundredth
anniversary of that glorious achievement Bristol's citizens
built the noble Cabot Tower on Brandon's green and
lofty hill, from whose summit the silver bar of Severn
can easily be seen on a clear da}'. The magnificent view
obtained of Bristol and its lovely surroundings from the
tower is a sight to linger long in the memory. It was
built at a cost of ^^3,300, and the ceremonies of laying
the foundation stone and the opening were performed
by the late Marquess of Dufferin.

That Bristol was in the van of early colonisation is
proved by the fact that seventeen years before the voyage
of Cabot, viz. in 1480, two ships of eighty tons burden,
belonging to John Jay, merchant of Bristol, who had filled
the office of sheriff, and whose monument is in the church
of St. Mary Redcliff, set sail to the west of Ireland to find
the Islands of Brazil. A disinterested testimony to the
spirit of adventure on the part of Bristol is that of Pedro
de Ayala, a member of the Spanish Embassy, who in
writing to the Spanish authorities in 1498 said: "The
people of Bristol have for the last seven years every year

THE CABOT VOYAGE.

sent out two, three, and four light ships in search of the
Island of Brazil and the seven cities."

In regard to the Cabot voyage of 1497, Lorenzo
Pasqualigo, writing on October nth to his brother^
says : —

"The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship
from Bristol (the Matthew) in quest of new islands, is
returned, and says that seven hundred leagues hence he
discovered land, the territory of the Great Cham. He
coasted for three hundred leagues and landed, saw no
human being, but he has brought hither to the king
certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a
needle for making nets ; he also found some felled trees,
wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants, and returned
to his ship in alarm.

" He was three months on the voyage, and on his
return he saw two islands to the starboard but would not
land, time being precious, as he was short of provisions.
He says that the tides are slack and do not flow as they
do here. The King of England is much pleased with this
intelligence.

" The king has promised that in the spring our
countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order, and
at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, except
such as are confined for high treason, to man the fleet.
The king has also given him money wherewith to amuse
himself till then, and he is now at Bristol with his wife,
who is also a Venetian, and with his son. His name is
Zucan Cabot, and he is styled the 'Great Admiral.' Vast
honour is paid him, he dresses in silk, and these English
run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as
many of them as he pleases, and a number of our own
rogues besides."

10 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

Considerinf:; how world-faiiKHis Bristol was as a port
of maritime adventure, it is not at all improbable that
Columbus came here, and that the two jjreat captains of
their age met. Cunningham, in his Growth of English
Industry, definitely states that Columbus came to Bristol
and stayed some time.

Sebastian, the famous son of John Cabot, was l)orn
some say in Venice and others in Bristol. There is con-
siderable confliction of evidence on the point, because he
seems to have hed unblushingly when it suited his
purpose. For instance, he has stated first that he was
born at Venice, and again later, when an old man, he
distinctlv told his friend, Richard Eden, that "he was
borne in Brystowe, and that at iiii yeare ould he was
carried with his father to Venice, and so returned agayne
into England with his father after certayne years, whereby
he was thought to have been born in Venice."

There is little doubt that through the mendacity of
Sebastian the honour rightly belonging to his father,
John Cabot, has for centuries been withheld. Hence-
forth all the eulogies applied to Sebastian by successive
writers on maritime history must be transferred to the
real discoverer, his father, John Cabot. Undoubtedly
modern research into the history of the Cabots, especially
the great work of Mr. Harrisse, have all been destructive
of the fame hitherto awarded him, and to-day he is
dethroned in favour of his father as the " greatest navi-
gator and cosmographer that ever lived."

Fired by the example of the Cabots, we find Robert
Thome, an eminent Bristol merchant, urging on
Henry VIII. the desirability of making an attempt to
find the north-west passage of the Moluccas. Said he :
*' With a small number of ships there might be discovered

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES. 11

divers new lands and kingdoms in the which without
doubt your Grace shall win perpetual glory and your
subjects infinite profit. To which places there is left
one way to discover, which is into the north."

This representation to the king was promptly acted
upon, but unfortunately with barren results, for on May
20th, 1527, he sent — Hakluyt tells us — "two fair ships well
manned and victualled, having in them divers cunning
iiien, to seek strange regions." These ships, the Ma}y of
Guildford and the Samson, set sail from Bristol on
June loth, and proceeded due north as Thorne had
directed; but on July ist a violent storm arose, which
Wrecked the Samson with the loss of all her crew. The
s?ister ship sailed a little farther, but not speedily finding
the wealth of Cathay, the captain lost heart on finding
many great islands of ice and returned.

Thus ended the first and only voyage of discovery
in the reign of Henry VIII. Thorne thereupon turned
his attention to commerce in other directions, and
amassed great wealth, which he as freely spent in doing
good. He was a merchant of great repute engaged in
cloth and soap manufacture. That he was "a man of
distinction in our city is proved by his being mayor in
1515, and his being appointed by the Crown with others
to hold in commission the office of Admiral of England in
Bristol. In 1523 he represented Bristol in Parliament,
and, dying soon after, left two sons. Robert Thorne
and his brother Nicholas were jointly the founders of
the Bristol Grammar School. Hakluyt alludes to
Nicholas as "a principal merchant of Bristol."

Nicholas Thorne, as early as the year 1526, was
sending commodities to the West Indies, thus antici-
pating by nearly three centuries the great trade P)ristol

12 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

ultimatch' did with those islands. He formed one of
a deputation to Henry N'lII. in Auf;ust, 15 J5, when
the king and his consort, Anne Boleyn, were staying^ at
Thornbury Castle, the seat of the ill-fated Buckingham,
to present them with costly gifts.

In regard to the benevolence of Robert Thorne,
(juaint old Fuller remarks : " I see it matters not, what
the name be, so the nature be good. I confess thorns
came in by man's curse, and our Saviour sayeth, ' Do-
men gather grapes of thorns?' But this our Thorn (God
send us many coppices of them) was a blessing to our
Nation and wine and oil may be said to freely flow from
him." And again he says : " I have observed some at the
church door cast in a sixpence with such ostentation that
it rebounded from the bottom and rang against both sides
of the basin, so that the same piece of silver was alms
and the giver's trumpet, whilst others have dropped
down five shillings, without noise. Our Thorn was of
the second sort, doing his charity effectually, but w^ith
privacy."

Ever seeking new outlets for her trade, in the year
1552 three Bristol ships, freighted with cargoes of linen
and woollen cloth, amber, and jet, sailed from Kingroad
for Morocco. Though they incurred the anger of the
Portuguese and w^ere attacked by the Spaniards they
returned safely. This voyage was the first instance
of trade between Bristol and the African continent ; in
subsequent years Bristol's connection with the West
Coast of Africa formed a large portion of her com-
merce.

Many were the risks and dangers incurred by merchants
who sought a wider market for their merchandise, as,
for instance, in the case of Andrew Barker, a Bristol

VOYAGE OP^ MARTIN PRING. la

merchant, who in 1576 traded with the Canaries by
taking out cloth and bringing back wine. Hearing that
his goods had been seized by the Inquisition at Tenerilfe
to the value of £i,yoo, and his factor there imprisoned,
he, with the help of friends, fitted out two barques,
the Ragged Staff and the Bear, and set sail with a view
to reprisals.

Reaching Trinidad, they proceeded along the northern
coast of South America, doing all the damage they could
to the Spanish ships they encountered. Their efforts
were crowned with success, for the}' captured a frigate
containing gold and silver to the value of ;^500 and
other spoil. Unfortunately the crews subsequently
mutinied, and Barker and those who sided with him
were defeated after fighting two duels ; they were
then forcibly landed on an island, where they were set
upon by Spaniards and killed.

We find, too, that in the year 1577 that fine old
sea-dog, Martin Frobisher, came with his ship into
Kingroad after a vain attempt to discover the North-
West Passage.

In the beginning of the following century we learn
from that justly-celebrated work, Purchas's Pilgrims,
the following account of the early colonial enterprise of
Bristol: "A voyage set out from the city of Bristol, at
the charge of the chiefest inhabitants, with a small ship
and barque for the discovery of the north part of Virginia,
under the command of Martin Pring."

This gallant Bristol seaman, then only 23 years of
age, states that the voyage was undertaken through the
" reasonable inducement of Richard Hakluyt, prebendary
of the cathedral," " the chief furtherers " of the under-
taking being those public-spirited merchants of the city„

14 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

Aldermen Aldworth and Whitson, and altogether /"ijOoo
was adventured on the enterprise. The vessels, from a
modern maritime point of view, were absurdly small, and
ill-htted to battle with the storms of the Atlantic. The
Spcccht'ell was but fifty tons burden, with a crew of thirty-
tive men, whilst her companion, the Discoverer, was only
twenty tons.

Pring, however, fearlessly set sail on March 20th, 1603,
-and reached the coast of North Virginia, the New England
of later days, early in June. He remained there nearly
two months, lying for some time in the harbour, to which
he gave the name of Whitson, but which was afterwards
to become memorable as " Plymouth," at which the
Pilgrim Fathers landed seventeen years later. Having
closely surveyed the coast, discovered several rivers and
harlxiurs, and loaded his ships with sassafras, then a
valuable medicinal plant, he set sail for England, and
reached Bristol on October 2nd, when he reported the
land to be " full of God's good blessings."

Associated, too, with our city was " the Father of
English Colonisation in North America," Sir Ferdinando
•Gorges, who came of an honourable family long connected
with Wraxall, near Bristol, and was moved through
nformation supplied him by one of the early explorers to
form a company for the colonisation of America. Through
his efforts a Virginia Company was established in
1606, and was granted a charter by Charles I. "This
document," says Bancroft, the American historian, "was
the first colonial charter under which the English were
planted in America." By the influence of Sir Ferdinando
Gorges and Lord Chief Justice Popham, who had at
an earlier period represented Bristol in Parliament, a
subscription was opened at the Council House, Bristol,

COLONISATION SCHEMES. 15

for " the plantation and inhabiting of Virginia," the
contributions to extend over five years.

Among those who responded to the invitation were
the mayor, John Guy, and Robert Aldworth. A vessel
was forthwith equipped and sent out from Bristol, sailing
in September or October, 1606, Hannam being appointed
commander and Martin Pring master. Little is recorded,
however, of its adventures save a brief note by Gorges
containing the important statement that Pring had re-
turned with " the most exact discovery of that coast that
ever came into my hands." A similar expedition had at
the same time started from Plymouth.

Though the voyages of Pring were apparently barren
of practical results, yet they bore fruit in keeping the
spirit of colonising alive in our city, for in the early part
of i6og permission was sought from the Privy Council to
found a plantation in Newfoundland, the petitioners being
composed of London and Bristol merchants, among whom
were Humphrey Hooke, Thomas Aldworth, and Philip
and John Guy ; their official title being the " Company
of Adventurers and Planters of London and Bristol for
the colony or plantation of Newfoundland." John Guy,
who was a merchant of great repute, was appointed the
first governor of the company.

Early in May, Guy, with his brother Philip and William
Colston, with a number of emigrants of both sexes, to
say nothing of cattle, poultry, etc., were embarked in
three ships that had been equipped for the purpose
en route for the new colony. They arrived in New-
foundland in twenty-three days, and erected dwellings,
store -houses, wharves and a fort, whilst Guy built
himself a mansion called Sea Poorest House. Returning
to Bristol in 161 1, he, in the following year, took out

16 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

another party of emi^jrants. By his will in February,
1626, he left his share of the settlement to his sons,
then under age.

Unfortunately, the experiment in colonisation was not
successful, for there appears no record of the colony's
existence after the year 1628. In spite of this, however,
Newfoundland proved an excellent outlet for Bristol's
trade, for in December, 1667, the merchants and ship-
owners of our city petitioned the Privy Council, praying
for the better protection of Newfoundland against the
French and Dutch cruisers, who threatened to destroy
their trade, in the course of which they asserted that the
Customs duties paid at Bristol on wine, oil, and fruit
brought in from Spain, Portugal, and Italy, in exchange
for the fish they carried to those countries, amounted to
^40,000 yearly.

Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who seems to have been
an enthusiastic pioneer of colonisation, applied to
James I. in 1620 and obtained a patent for a new
company styled "The Council for New England," to
which the king made the extraordinary grant of the
whole of North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
lying between the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of
latitude. Gorges endeavoured to induce the Mayor
of Bristol and other merchants to join in the enter-
prise, but they refused to have anything to do with a
scheme they regarded as impracticable and altogether
unworkable, and the Merchant Venturers' Society, writing
to the Members of Parliament for the city, said that
they "in no wise liked" Gorges' scheme. As far as Bristol
was concerned, therefore, it became a dead letter. This
famous man ultimately married in 1627 the widow of
Sir Hugh Smyth of Ashton, and became in right of her

VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN JAMES. 17

jointure the owner of the "Great House" on Saint
Augustine's Back, which house early in the following
century became Colston's School.

The final allusion to this extraordinary pioneer of the
" expansion of England " occurs in a charter granted
to him in 1639, when he was 70 years of age, by
which Charles I. conceded to him and his heirs the
entire province of Maine, New England, minus certain
reservations to the Crown.

Notwithstanding that our Bristol merchants refused
to join in the above scheme of Gorges, their indomitable
spirit of adventuring was unquenched, and broke out
in a fresh place in the year 1631, when a bold attempt
was once more made to find the elusive North-West
Passage. Charles I.,' who was interesting himself in
the matter, equipped a royal ship for that purpose,
hearing of which our Bristol merchants asked to be
allowed to take part by themselves, fitting out a ship
to be under the command of Captain Thomas James,
a Bristol mariner of tried skill. This request was
graciously acceded to, and James waited on His Majesty
to pay his respects.

The chief Bristol merchants who took part were
Humphrey Hooke, Andrew Charlton, Miles Jackson and
Thomas Cole. The little ship equipped for this expedition
was named, in honour of the Qiieen, Henrietta Maria, and
was of eighty tons burden. " The number thought
conuenient to mannage such a buisnesse was twentie
two, whereof nineteene were choice able men, two yonkers
and my unworthy selfe their Commander all which the
Bristowe merchants did most Judicously and bountifully
accomodate, and had in readinesse the first of May, 1631."

Sailing from Bristol on May 3rd, they steered their

18 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

course by way of Greenland to Hudson's Strait, the
weather throughout the voyage being extremely bad, and
at length entered a ba\- which, in honour of their leader,
was named James's Bay. Some weeks later they reached
a place they called Charlton, after one of the above-
mentioned merchants, and there the state of the weather
compelled them to remain. Owing to their being unable
to get nearer than three miles to the shore, they deemed
it advisable to sink the ship to prevent damage to her
bv "bumping," the crew taking refuge on land. Here
they wintered and had an awful time of cold and priva-
tion, hut in the following May they dug out their ship
and got her once more afloat and sailed for England,
arriving after a tempestuous voyage on October 22nd,
1632. By this time the vessel was in so unseaworthy
a condition that it was considered a miracle that she
arrived home.

The intrepid conduct of Captain James became the
theme of general admiration throughout the country, and
on his presenting himself at Whitehall with a chart of
his voyage, the king gave him a warm welcome and
conversed with him respecting his voyage for a couple of
hours, being so interested that he desired James on leaving
his presence to attend again to give him further details.

The nobility of the Court, taking the cue from their
ro5'al master, paid him the most flattering attentions, and
James became the lion of the season. His reputation as
a skilful and scientific mariner was still further enhanced
by his spirited account of his arctic adventures, published
in 1633. His portrait in that work, in the corner of the
map of Hudson's and Baftin's Bay, has been in such
demand by the disciples of Granger — the founder of
grangerising — that several guineas have been given for it.

BRISTOL'S WEALTH. 19*

and many copies of that rare volume have been mutilated
for the sake of its possession.

Among the staple manufactures for which Bristol has.
for centuries been famous is that of soap, alluding to
which old Fuller exclaims: "As to gray sope I behold
Bristol as the staple place thereof, where alone it was
anciently made. . . . Yea it is not above an hundred and
fifty years " (viz. the beginning of the sixteenth century)
"since the first sope was boyled in London. Before which
time the land was generally supplied with Castile from
Spain, and graj' sope from Bristol."

In 163 1, however, its manufacture in Bristol received
a severe blow, for in December of that year a patent was
granted by the Crown to a number of courtiers and
Londoners, conferring on them the sole right of manu-
facturing soap from home materials. A royal charter also
empowered them to destroy the plant and buildings of
persons invading their privilege. This practically ruined
the local industry.

A striking evidence of Bristol's wealth and status in
the seventeenth century is afforded by the fact that a sum
of ;^2,ooo for the equipment of a royal ship with two-
hundred and sixty men to man her was provided by
Bristol, whilst Liverpool's contribution on the same
occasion was but a beggarly ;^I5.

It has been stated that the founder of the great tin-
plate industry, Andrew Yarranton, set up his works in
Bristol. He is one of England's forgotten benefactors,
who lived in the seventeenth century, having in disguise
discovered its secrets of manufacture from the Germans
and brought them to England. In the same century,
too, the famous founder of the Bank of England —
William Patcrson — lived for some time in Bristol with

21) MARITIME ASi^OCIATIONS.

a relative of his mother's, from whom he is said to have
derived a legacy.

A complaint by Bristol merchants to the Privy
C'cMincil in the year 1667 illustrates the extent of the
tobacco trade, for the applicants stated that during the
late war with the Dutch the enemy had captured six
of their ships laden with 3,300 hogsheads of tobacco in
1665-6, while in 1667 nine ships with 6,000 hogsheads
had been taken and burnt. In November, 1670, vSir
John Knight stated in the House of Commons that of the
6,000 tons of shipping possessed by Bristol one half was
employed in the importation of tobacco. Great therefore
as Bristol's tobacco trade is to-day, the above proves it to
be no modern industry.

A famous personality of this period connected with
Bristol was Dudley North, one of the greatest financiers
and economists of his time. Just before the king nominated
him Sheriff of London, he had fallen in love with Lady
Gunning, a widow very beautiful and rich, the daughter
of Sir Robert Cann, a morose and irascible merchant of
Bristol in the latter end of the seventeenth century-. The
match was very nearly falling through, for when the
consent of the old knight was asked, he required that
North should purchase and secure to the lady an estate
worth jr3, 000 or ;^4,ooo per annum. North replied that
he could not spare so much capital from his business, but
that he would make a settlement of £20,000. To that
offer he received the laconic reply : " Sir, — My answer to
your letter is an answer to your second. Your humble
servant, R.C." The rejoinder was equally brief: "Sir, —
I perceive you like neither me nor my business. Your
humble servant, D.N."

North thereupon addressed himself to the beautiful

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DUDLEY NORTH. 21

widow, and with such success that she coaxed her father,
who at last grudgingly consented to their marriage, North
previously settling his property upon her ; the deed of
settlement, however, she generously destroyed ere the
ceremony took place. Ultimately her father became
reconciled and proud of his son-in-law, and when the
latter came to Bristol, would say to him, " Come, son,
let us go out and shine," viz. promenade the streets
attended by a retinue of servants in rich liveries.

So able a man was North, that even Macaulay, much
as he disliked the Norths, could not withhold his tribute
of admiration, for he pronounces him " one of the
ablest men of his time." North's tract on currency
anticipated the views of Locke and Adam Smith, and
he was one of the earliest economists to advocate Free
Trade.

His brother, Roger North, Recorder of Bristol, alludes
to the trading enterprise of Bristol at this period, for he
observes, " Petty local shopkeepers, selling candles and
the like, would venture a bale of stockings or piece of
stuff in a cargo bound for Nevis or Virginia."

Another striking individuality belonging to the end
of this same century deserves mention — John Gary, a
merchant of our city, the author of a remarkable Essay on
the State of England, in Relation to its Trade, its Poor, and
iti Taxes, one of the earliest specimens of printing from
a Bristol press, published by William Bonny in 1695.
The work is now extremely rare.

John Gary was the son of Thomas Gar}-, Vicar of
St. Philip and Jacob, and a man of great intelligence, his
views expressed in his famous essay being far in advance
of those of his age. He strongly advocated the encourage-
ment of domestic manufactures by freeing raw materials

22 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

from Customs duties, and deprecated the granting of
monopolies, and even urged tlie free admission of produce
from Ireland, a polic}' utterly opposed to the narrow-
view of the landed interest.

John Locke was so delighted with the author's ideas
on trade that he said they were "the best I ever read on
the subject."

Cary held sound \iews on the Poor Law question, and
it was due entirely to his initiative set forth in his
broadside — "Proposals for the better maintaining and
imploying of the Poor of the cit}' of Bristol, humbly
offered to the consideration of the Mayor" — that Bristol
had the honour of being the first in the kingdom to
establish the " Poor Law Union."

Earlier we have alluded to the importance of St.
James's Fair as a mart for cloth, and in the seventeenth
century its fame, though centuries had elapsed, was still
as great as ever, so that ships bound thereto were the.
object of special attention by Turkish corsairs. As
many as eleven sail of these flying English colours were
on one occasion reported to be on the sea waiting to
seize passengers bound for Bristol. The Mayor of
Penzance (July 4th, 1636) gave notice of this to the
Secretary of State, complaining that His Majesty's fleet
had not been seen off Cornwall for fourteen days, and
that the Turkish corsairs intended to be about the
Lizard Point and Land's End against St. James's
Fair.

St. James's Fair has long since fallen from its ancient
importance as the market-place of Europe ; within com-
paratively recent years it became the rendezvous of
acrobats and others of a like nature who used their
skill for the amusement of the public. Since the property

ST. JAMES'S FAIR. 2;i

has fallen into the civic possession it has been made into
one of the many open spaces of our city, and no shows
or exhibitions are now permitted to be held there.
Among those who in the eighteenth century performed
at St. James's Fair was one Maddox, who excited great
admiration by his skill as an acrobat upon the wire.

The late C. J. Harford tells the following curious
anecdote of the subsequent history of Maddox : —

"In the year 1786," he says, "I was in Moscow, and
met in a large company there a Mr, Maddox, who, having
six horses to his carriage, I knew must have the rank of
a brigadier-general. Being introduced as coming from
Bristol he seemed much delighted. ' Pray, sir,' said he,
' can you inform me is St. James's Fair still kept up ?
And is old Seward the trumpeter alive?' Much
surprised at this question, I assured him that St. James's
Fair would take place the next Friday (as it was the
last week in August this took place), and I had seen
old Seward trumpeting before the sheriffs the March
preceding. 'And now, Mr. Maddox, allow me to inquire
how you could know anything about St. Jam.es's Fair,
or be interested about old Seward ? '

" ' Sir,' replied Mr. Maddox, ' I am exceedingly pleased
at what you tell me. Many a time have I acted Punch,
and played on the salt box in the gallery, at the corner
of Silver Street, I think you call it ; and Seward is my
uncle, he brought me up from a child.' ' By your name,
Mr. Maddox,' I replied, ' I suppose you are some relation
of the famous Tom Maddox, the rope dancer, who with
all his family and troupe, except one infant that floated
ashore in a cradle, were lost about 1757 in a packet off
Holyhead ? ' ' Mr. Harford, I am that child, m}' Uncle
Seward bred me up, and here you hnd me director

24 .MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

of the opera or theatre, and keephi^ a Vauxhall at
Moscow.' I frequently dined with this extraordinary
character, who always spoke with pleasure of St. James's
l-'air."

At this fair, too, niigiit have been seen at one
time Behoni, afterwards the celebrated explorer of
Egypt, who was accustomed at St. James's Fair
and other similar resorts to exhibit those herculean feats
which his great physical strength enabled him to do.

Before passing on to the eighteenth century, a brief
allusion must be made to the remarkable activity of
privateering carried on by Bristol merchants \\'ith very
lucrative results to those concerned.

In the years 1626-27-28 no less than sixty Bristol
privateers, many of which were the property of the
well-known Merchant Venturers' Society, were fitted out
and empowered by Government letters of marque to
harass and capture French and Spanish merchantmen.
The tonnage of these little vessels ranged from thirty
to three hundred tons. Among those who engaged in
this lucrative and successful adventuring were William
Colston, father of the great philanthropist, Giles Elbridge,
and Humphrey Hooke, who of all those that took part
reaped the greatest financial harvest, for one of his
ships, the Ea<flc, brought home prizes in 1630 to
the value of £"40,000. By means of this success
and other windfalls, Hooke, who came to Bristol as
a boy from Chichester, became extremely wealthy, and
was enabled to purchase great estates in the locality,
including that of Kingsweston. The success of these
expeditions may be gauged from the fact that the
Duke of Buckingham, who as Lord of the Admiralty
claimed a tenth part of their prizes, received ;£'20,ooo

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PRIVATEERING ENTERPRISES. 25

as his share of the spoil. This wealth was not, however,
obtained without great boldness and daring, and many
a stirring fight occurred in its gain.

One of these fights, showing the intrepid character
of our Bristol seamen, is immortalised in the ballad
entitled, The Honour of Bristol, which is not unworthy
to rank with the best of our maritime ballads, and which
Latimer justly observes is "as heartstirring as 'Chevy
Chase.' " It tells how about the year 1625, when
we were at war with Spain, the Angel Gabriel of
Bristol, sailed by her captain the famous Nethaway
with forty fighting men, put to flight three Spanish
ships of war, with the alleged loss to them of five
hundred men. The following verses are a type of
the whole ballad : —

" The lusty ship of Bristol

Sailed out adventurously
Against the foes of England

Their strength with them to try :
Well victuall'd, rigged and mann'd,

And good provision still,
Which made them cry — To sea

With the Angel Gabriel!

"The captain, famous Netheway,

So was he called by name ;
The master's name John Mines,

A man of noted fame ;
The gunner, Thomas Watson,

A man of perfect skill.
With other vahant hearts

In the Angel Gabriel.'"

The terrible nature of the fight when they encountered
the Spaniards is indicated in the following verse : —

" With that their three ships boarded us

Again with might and main.
But still our noble Englishmen

Cried out — A fig for Spain !
Though seven times they hoarded us

At last we showed our skill,
And made them feel the force

Of our Angel Gabriel."

26 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

The ballad concludes with —

" At Bristol we were landed,
And let ns praise God still,
That thus hath blessed our men
And the Angel Gabriel."

The closing years of the seventeenth century were
made notorious in our annals by the commencement of
the disgraceful traffic in negro slaves to the West Indies
from Africa. Its lucrativeness to those concerned may be
judged from the fact that Bristol had sixty vessels engaged
in it. Liverpool, too, was equally interested, and it has
been estimated that in the first nine years there were
shipped from Africa by these two ports no less than
160,950 negroes to the English plantations.

Passing on to the eighteenth century, we find the spirit
of privateering in no way abated, and one of the many
expeditions has become a classic. In the year 1708
Captain Woodes Rogers was placed in command of two
vessels equipped by some of Bristol's leading merchants —
the Duke and the Duchess, both less than three hundred
and fifty tons, having for their pilot no less a person
than the intrepid and famous voyager William Dampier,
a native of Somerset. In such little vessels, which
would be deemed mere cockle-shells in these days of
leviathans of the deep, they sailed from 'Bristol on
August 2nd, 1708. Their crews were a mixed collection
of humanity, ^ amongst them being " tinkers, tailors,
peddlars, and fiddlers," etc., a portion of whom ran away
at Cork. In spite of this, however, 333 were left to
man the ships. At first they met with little luck in the
way of prizes, for nothing was captured save a small
Spanish barque in June, 1709. Sighting soon after the
Island of Juan Fernandez they were astonished at the
sight of a fire, as it was generally supposed that

DISCOVERY OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK. 27

the island was uninhabited. However, on landing they
discovered it had been lit by Alexander Selkirk, a Scotch-
man well known to Dampier, who had been living there
alone for nearly four years and a half. His adventures
formed the basis of Defoe's immortal romance — Robinson
Crusoe. Finding that he was an excellent seaman,
Captain Rogers gave him a post as mate, which he filled
with entire success. After this interesting event their
quest for prizes proved more successful, for they secured
six vessels, and emboldened by this they attacked the
city of Guayaquil and with complete success, for after
burning and plundering the town they wound up by
extorting the handsome ransom of 30,000 "pieces of
eight." Soon after they also attacked and took possession
of four more vessels, some of which were ransomed, and
one converted into a sister privateer and named the
Marqtiis.

In the course of fitting out this latter vessel there were
found in her hold " five hundred bales of Pope's Bulls " (in-
dulgences), " sixteen reams in each bale," which totals out to
nearly four millions of those documents, which the Spanish
colonists were in the habit of purchasing, at dear rates,
from the Catholic clergy. With utter disregard of their
sacred purpose, Rogers cynically observed that he found
them useful for burning the pitch off the ships' bottoms
when they were careened, the rest being thrown overboard.
After this they cruised about in search of other prizes
with varying success, in the course of which they fought
and captured a Spanish vessel of twenty guns, Rogers
being severely wounded, but losing none of his crew. The
captured vessel was placed under the command of Dr.
Dover (of Dover Powders fame), Selkirk being appointed
master. Finally, the ships returned by way of Good

28 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

Hope, under the convoy of some Dutch men-of-war,
and arrived in Holland in July, 1711, and on October
14th the three privateers anchored in the Thames, their
booty being estimated at the enormous sum of ^f 170,000,
On Rogers's return he wrote an able and most interesting
account of his Voyaf^e round the World, published in
1712, containing some details of the singular career of
Alexander Selkirk. The latter received ;^8oo as his
share of the plunder of this memorable expedition.

Rogers's residence when at Bristol was in his own
house, No. ig Queen Square, which he had built. This
residence formed one of three taken down to be replaced
by the present Dock Offices.

In the year 1717 we find him employed by the Govern-
ment by being placed in command of an expedition sent
out to the Bahama Islands for the purpose of destroying
a nest of pirates who made them their haunt, whence they
committed great ravages on the passing vessels. In this
object he was entirely successful, and two hundred of the
pirates were forced to surrender. Later, in 1728, he was
appointed governor of those islands, and occupied that
post till his death in 1732. Selkirk resided in Bristol for
a considerable time, and in 1713 he was living in St.
Stephen's parish.

Fascinating as this privateering chapter of Bristol
history is, we must close with the following. Two remark-
able captures were brought into Kingroad on September
8th, 1745, by the Prince Frederick and the Duke of London,
being treasure ships which these two vessels had fought
and captured off the American coast and towed across
the Atlantic. Their cargoes consisted of 1,093 chests
of silver bullion, weighing 2,644,922 oz., besides a
quantity of gold and silver plate and other valuables.

BRISTOL'S COMMERCE. 29

Their arrival created enormous excitement, which was
intensified by the fact that the treasure was conveyed to
London in twenty-tw^o wagons, each guarded by armed
sailors on horseback. This event naturally kindled anew
the passion for privateering.

A very gallant fight took place in 1760 between a
Bristol privateer named the Constantine and a French
privateer called the Victoire. Taken somewhat unawares,
as he had believed the French vessel to be an English man-
of-war, Captain Forsyth of the Bristol ship and his men
"" behaved themselves like English lions, and twice cleared
the bowsprit, forecastle and head, though six to one against
us"; even though the French rushed her quarter-deck
and came in at the cabin windows. So severe was the
fight that the captain of the French ship was killed and
a great number of his men — the blood running out of
the scuppers ; and the foe sheered off and escaped,
though his vessel left a blood-dyed track behind him.
''Blessed be the Almighty," said Captain Forsyth, "I had
but two wounded, who came to their quarters as soon
as they were dressed by the surgeon." This was a
victory won against great odds, for the Bristol vessel
had only eighteen four-pounders and forty-six men, whilst
the Frenchman had twenty six-pounders and two hundred
and fifty men.

In regard to its commerce, wine, which from earlies;t
times was one of Bristol's justly celebrated industries,
still enjoyed an unrivalled reputation, for a writer dealing
with the social life of the period states that the most
eminent London merchants " brought wine by road from
Bristol."

Bristol in the eighteenth century was also doing
an enormous trade in sugar with the West Indies, as

3 A

30 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

a document shows, dated October 24th, 1724, fixing the
tares to be allowed purchasers of sugar landed at this
port. To this were appended the signatures of no fewer
than ninty-nine firms who approved of the arrangement.
There were at this period twenty refineries in our city.

Defoe, in his Tour Through Great Britain, observes :
"The merchants of this city" (Bristol) "have not only
the greatest trade, but they trade with a more entire inde-
pendency upon London than any other town in Britain.
Whatsoever expeditions they make to any part of the
world, they are able to bring the full returns back to
their own port, and to dispose of them there, which is not
the case in any other port in England. But the Bristol
merchants, as they have a very great trade abroad, so
they have always buyers at home for their returns, and
such buyers that no cargo is too big for them. To this

purpose the shopkeepers in B , who in general were

wholesale men, have so great an inland trade among all
the western counties that they maintain carriers, just as
the London tradesmen do. Add to this that sails by sea,
as by the navigation of two great rivers, the Severn and
the Wye, they have the whole trade of South Wales as it
were to themselves, and the greater part of North Wales,^
and as to their trade with Ireland it has prodigiously
increased since the Revolution."

He noted, too, that there were no less than fifteen
glass houses, which are more than are in London, and in
passing says that " vast numbers of bottles are now used
for sending the water of St. Vincent's Rock " (Hotwell
water) "not only all over England, but all over the world."
"They say above three thousand sail of ships belong to
Bristol." Further words are needless to emphasise the
vast extent of Bristol's commerce at this period.

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. 31

Early in the same century was introduced a new
industry, not only to Bristol but England also, viz. the
casting of ironware — pots, etc., for cooking purposes — by
Abraham Darby, a Quaker, who with friends had set
up works at Baptist Mills as brass and iron founders.
Until this time these pots were imported from abroad.
Darby, who had in vain endeavoured to perfect their
manufacture here, at length went over to Holland, and
after a searching inquiry found that the whole secret
of their making consisted in casting them in fine dry
sand. Returning to Bristol, he brought with him some
skilful Dutch workmen, and successfully inaugurated their
manufacture.

Darby, however, proved too go-ahead and enterprising
for his partners ; he therefore severed his connection
and removed to Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, where he
started for himself and laid the foundation of the great
foundry which attained a European reputation. The
famous Bristol philanthropist, Richard Reynolds, born
in Corn Street, who married Darby's granddaughter,
succeeded to the management on the death of Darby.

It was during Reynolds' supervision that the art of
puddling iron was discovered by two of his workmen,
for which a patent was obtained ; it produced enormous
profits to the firm.

Coming down to the nineteenth century, the three
great events which mark this period of Bristol's history
are, first, the birth of the Great Western Railway ;
secondly, the building of the pioneer steamship the Great
Western; and, thirdly, the building of the great docks at
Avonmouth, now nearly finished, to enable Bristol to
deal with the great and increasing volume of trade that
is continually flowing to our ancient city from America,

32 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

Like other colossal concerns, the largest railway in
the British Isles had a modest beginning ; tradition says
that the Great Western Railway Company was projected
in a small office on Temple Backs. Be that as it may,
its birth took place in the year 1833. In support of it
some of the shrewdest of Bristol's leading citizens em-
barked fortunes in the undertaking. For instance,
among local contributions were the following : Robert
Bright, /"25,900 ; Peter Maze, 3^23,000 ; George Jones,
3^20,000; C. B. Fripp, ^^15,500; T. R. Guppy, £"14,900;
W. S. Jacques, ^^12,000 ; John Harford, y^ii,goo, etc.

After a parliamentary campaign costing nearly
£100,000, the line was sanctioned by the legislature
in August 1835, and in 1838 the first section, between
London to Maidenhead, was opened. The line between
Bristol to Bath was first used for public traffic on
August 31st, 1840, and in the following year the through
line to London was established. The leading engineer
engaged on its construction was the world - famous
Isambard Kingdom Brunei, whose name and work is
imperishably associated with Bristol, for did he not
design the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the Great
Western steamship, the first real pioneer of Atlantic Ocean
steam traffic, which sailed from Bristol ?

The immediate effect of the Great Western line was
to displace that most picturesque form of road locomotion,
the stage coach, of which over fifty were running to and
from our city. What the Great Western has grown
to in 1906 is best evidenced by its latest figures, which
prove it to be ahead of all the railway systems of the
British Isles in the magnitude of its operations.

Next in importance to the world-famous achievement
of the Cabots must rank the building of the first steam-

THE " GREAT WESTERN " STEAMSHIP. 33

ship expressly designed for the Atlantic trade to cross
without rccoaling. This honour unquestionably belongs
to Bristol. The famous Brunei designed this pioneer
steamship, and she was called the Great Western, built
by WilHam Patterson of Wapping, of 1,340 tons, and
costing her owners ^63,000. Much expedition was
shown in her building, and on July 19th, 1837, ^he was
launched.

It was but two brief years before that the celebrated
Dr. Lardner, in the course of a lecture at Liverpool, rashly
assumed the role of a prophet by predicting : "As to the
project, however, which was announced in the newspapers,
of making the voyage directly from New York to Liverpool,
it was, he had no hesitation in saying, perfectly chimerical,
and they might as well talk of making a voyage from New
York to the moon." The result triumphantly confuted the
learned doctor.

On April 8th, 1838, the Great Western sailed from
Bristol, seven passengers alone risking their lives in her,
so many experts doubting whether she would ever reach
New York. However, fifteen days later she steamed into
that port. Her best day's run was 243 knots, and her
average 208, and her gross consumption of coal during
the voyage was only 655 tons, instead of the 1,480 that
the scientific calculators had fixed as the minimum.

The great problem was indeed solved, and on her
return voyage on May 7th, so unbounded was the enthu-
siasm over the event that no less than 100,000 spectators
assembled at New York to see her start on the homeward
voyage, her passengers numbering sixty-six, and carrying
mails to the extent of 20,000 letters. The run home was
accomplished in the unprecedented time of twelve days,
fourteen hours. Thus a ship built in Bristol demonstrated

34 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

beyond doubt that the bridging of the Atlantic by steam
was an accompHshed fact.

Alas ! after such a magnificent beginning the fruits
which should have naturally been Bristol's, in securing
practically the monopoly of transatlantic traffic, were
wrested from her by the canny Scotchman Cunard,
founder of the noble line that bears his name, who,
with the assistance of his friends at Liverpool, seizing
Bristol's neglected opportunity, created a line by
building four" sister ships of the Great Western type,
and by their means secured the mails, with the result
that the tide of Atlantic traffic has flowed from Liver-
pool ever since. Thus the golden opportunity w^as lost,
and over a year was allowed to elapse before any
attempt was made to build another vessel. When at
length Bristol recommenced, it was to build a huge ship
of quite a different type, and so entirely novel that it was
aptly described as a " museum of inventions "; in a word,
a vessel without precedent in the art of shipbuilding.
There were man}^ obstacles in the way of her construc-
tion, it being with the utmost difficulty that her engines
of 1,500 indicated horse-power could be built, as no
engineering firm could be found willing to supply them,
and also there was not a forge hammer in the British
Isles powerful enough to forge her paddle-shaft. Applica-
tion to Nasmyth, the famous inventor, for advice, set him
thinking, with the remarkable result that within an hour
he had worked out the whole details of his wonderful
steam hammer, which is so beautifully constructed that it
is capable of forging the sheet anchor of an ironclad, and
so delicately adjusted that it will crack a nut wathout
bruising the kernel. However, it was not required for
the special purpose that inspired its invention, because

BRISTOL'S LOST OPPORTUNITY. 35

in the course of the construction of the Great Britain
Brunei adopted the newly -discovered principle of the
screw, with entirely satisfactory results, and gave the
lead for ocean-going steamers that has ever since been
followed.

Built by William Patterson, the builder of her pre-
decessor, the Great Western, she was at length, after great
difficulties, launched in 1843, Prince Albert coming down
specially from Windsor to perform that duty. Her
success as a steamship was simply perfect, and although
through the culpable negligence of her captain she ran
aground on her first trip in Dundrum Bay, Ireland, and
there remained all the winter, yet so superbly was she
constructed that on being refloated she was found to have
sustained no real injury, and indeed ran for twenty-one
years afterwards between England and Australia. In
1882 she was converted into a sailing-ship, and was then
as sound and strong as when she left the hands of her
builder.

It is with cities as with men, one city's failure is another
city's opportunity. Even that terrible disaster might have
been largely retrieved had Bristol been fully alive to her
magnificent geographical position, and built at once docks
at the mouth of the Avon, as she is now doing after fruitless
years of endless discussion and schemes for better dock
accommodation.

Notwithstanding, however, Bristol's failure in the past
to take occasion by the hand, so magnificent is her road-
stead, her nearness to America, and the volume of her
ever-increasing trade, that it is not beyond the bounds
of possibility she may yet take the place she has
so long vacated, and be once more, as Burke proudly
intimated in 1774, " the second city of the kingdom."

36 MARITIME ASSOCIATIONS.

Among men associated with the maritime and com-
mercial interests of our city in the nineteenth century the
names of Conrad Finzel and Samuel Plimsoll are easily
first. Finzel, the great sugar refiner, came from Germany
to England, and learning the business of refining in
London, obtained an engagement with a Bristol house
as principal refiner, and ultimately set up here for himself.
So successful was he that he built the colossal refinery
that formerly stood on the site of the present electric
power station of the tramways. Owing to his improve-
ments and inventions in sugar refining he built up the
largest business of its kind in the kingdom, employing
over five hundred persons and requiring a small fleet of
vessels to keep it in full work. Some idea of the magni-
tude of its business operations may be judged by the
Bristol Times of September 28th, 1872, stating that "last
week sales b}' Messrs. Finzel and Sons reached 1,800 tons,
the value of which would probably be ;^70,ooo." The
founder of this great concern was as generous as he was
successful, and it is said on good authority that he gave
to the support of the orphan houses on Ashley Down,
founded by his fellow-countryman George Miiller, from
5^5,000 to ;£'io,ooo a year. Many years after his death,
owing primarily to the Sugar Bounty system and,
secondl}', to bad management, this colossal business
declined and ultimately ceased to exist.

Few of the older generation of Bristolians can have
forgotten the name of Samuel Plimsoll, " the sailor's
friend," whose fame was great in his lifetime. He was
the son of a Bristolian, and on leaving school became
a solicitor's clerk. Later he managed a brewer}', and
in 185 1 was connected with the Great Exhibition as
honorary secretary. In the year 1853 he established

SAMUEL PLIMSOLL. 37

himself in London as a coal merchant, and eventually he
entered Parliament in the Radical interest for Derby in
1868, and at once threw himself into the question of
maritime shipping. He commenced his campaign in 1870
by proposing a resolution condemning the unnecessary
loss of life and property at sea by sending out "coffin
ships," and insisting on a compulsory " load-line." After
strenuous and sustained agitation he nearly succeeded
in getting a Bill passed in 1874, the majority against
being only three. In the year following he so vehemently
attacked the ship-owning interest in the Commons that
he caused a scene, for which he apologised. This so
excited public opinion on the measure he advocated that
in deference to it a measure was hurried through the
House, known to-day as the Merchant Shipping Act of
1876. In 1880, having accomplished what he had so
long fought for, Plimsoll resigned his seat to the late Sir
William Harcourt, and never again entered the House.
His interest in the British sailor, however, remained as
keen as ever, and he expended large sums of money and
a large portion of his time in promoting further reforms,
and seeing that the existing legislation was fully carried
into effect. In i8go he was made President of the
Sailors' and Firemen's Union. He wrote many articles
in the Nineteenth Century and published many pamphlets
on the cause he had so much at heart. Countless genera-
tions of those " that go down to the sea in ships, that do
business in great waters" will have occasion to revere
with gratitude the name of Samuel Plimsoll, the " sailor's
friend." He died in i8g8.

Literary Associations-

CHAPTER II.

PART I.
LANGLAND TO CHATTERTON.

William Langland — John Lydgate : Earliest mention of
Bristol in literature — William Wyrcestre — Robert Ricart
— William Norton — John Fowler — Sir John Stradling
— Visit of John Evelyn in search of Bristol diamonds —
Visit of Samuel Pepys : Record of it in his Diary —
Thomas Norton — Connection of Addison with Bristol —
David Hume — Visit of Alexander Pope ; His description
of the Hotwells — Thomas Cadell — Richard Savage —
Charles Wesley — Rev. William Mason.

MONG the few great cities of England imperishably
associated with hterature Bristol justly claims a
foremost place. Many and famous are those who
have trod her ancient streets and been dwellers in her
midst from the age of Chaucer to our own.

The first recorded association is with the famous
author of Piers Plowman — William Langland, who whilst
residing here wrote his poem of Richard the Redeless.

Probably the first early writer to enshrine Bristol in a
literary work was John Lydgate, a poet who flourished
at the close of the fourteenth and the beginning of the
fifteenth century — one of the immediate successors of
the father of English poetry, Chaucer. This work was
The Child of Bristow, and has been deemed of sufficient
importance to be included in the well-known Camden
Society's publications.

42 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

In Bristol was born on St. James's Back (now Silver
Street), in the year 141 5, the celebrated itinerant, William
Wyrcestre (whose family name was Botoncr). No student
who has studied his writings can fail to be impressed with
the loving care with which he paced Bristol's streets and
churches and recorded so minutely their dimensions. By
his descriptions we are enabled to picture Bristol as it
appeared in the fifteenth century. He was also a man
of science, who practised medicine and cultivated his
garden of herbs, as well as a man of letters who at
forty-three "hath goon to scole to a Lumbard, called
Karoll Giles, to lern and to be red in Poetre or els in
Frensh ; for he hath byn with the same Karoll every dav
ii times or iii, and hath bought divers boks of hym, for the
which (as I suppose) he hath put himself in daunger" {i.e.
in debt) "to the same Karoll. . . . And he said that he
wold be as glad and as fejm of a gode boke of Frensh or
of Poetre (as some would be) to purchase a fair manior."

Who does not recall on reading this that famous
scholar of Chaucer's — " The Gierke of Oxenford " ?

" For him was lever have at his beddes head
Twenty bokes clothed in blak and red
Of Aristotil and his philosophie
Than robes riche, or fiddle or psaltery."

Wyrcestre was at one period of his life in the service
of the prototype of Shakespeare's immortal character, Sir
John Falstaff. In the declining years of his life he estab-
lished himself in a house and garden which were his own
property, near St. Philip's Ghurchyard gate. At this time
he appears to have been lending his books to some of the
civic worthies, for he mentions : " I rode to Westbury
Gollege and spoke to John Gryffiths, a merchant of

SWEARINr, IN THE MAYOR, 1479.
iFio])i RrcAKT's CiilendiDW

WILLIAM NORTON. 43

Bristol, dwelling there ; likewise I rode as far as Shire-
hampton, and spoke to Thomas Young about recovering
two books of mine, one a great book of ethics, and another
called 'The Myrrour of Dames,' covered with red leather,
and I breakfasted with him. He gave me a cheerful
countenance for the love his father bore me, and his wife
welcomed me." One of the works of this old-world
scholar was printed by Caxton in 1481, and is now in the
British Museum.

Here too was living Wyrcestre's friend and contem-
porar}^, Robert Ricart, Town Clerk of Bristol, whose fame
rests upon his having compiled the remarkable book known
as the Mayor's Kalendar, an extremely interesting work
recording the ancient usages and customs of our cit}'.
This work also finds a place amongst the Camden
Society's publications.

That learning was well represented in our city is
shown by the fact that Grocyn, the famous scholar and
friend of the still more famous Erasmus and Sir Thomas
More, was brought up and educated here. Bristol at
this early period appears on good authority to have been
a centre of intellectual life, and its society adorned by
men of wide knowledge and culture. Grocyn, it will be
remembered, was the first to teach Greek at Oxford.

Passing on to the sixteenth century, we find that the
celebrated printer and publisher, William Norton, was
born here in 1527. He was one of the original freemen
of the Stationers' Company named in the charter granted
by Mary and Philip in 1555. He became master of the
company in the years 1580, 1586, and 1593. Among
other books he published were two editions of Horace,
1574 and 1585, and an edition of the Bishop's Bible
in 1575-

44 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

John Fowler, a famous Catholic scholar, was also
born here in 1537. Wood, of A thence Oxoniensis fame,
says of him " that he was well skilled in the Greek and
Latin tongues, a tolerable poet and author, and a
theologist not to be contemned. So learned he was
also in criticisms, and other polite learning that he might
have passed for another Robert or Henry Stephens."
Owing to Elizabeth's accession he retired to Louvain,
where he published several works.

One of the most celebrated men of his age. Sir John
Stradling, was born at St. George in the year 1563.
He was educated under one of the canons of Bristol
Cathedral, and his attainments were such that when
at Oxford he was considered "a miracle for his forward-
ness in learning and of parts." He represented
St. Germans, Cornwall, in Parliament. So great was
his reputation for learning, that Camden eagerly culti-
vated his friendship, and quotes him in his celebrated
Britannia (ed. 1607, p. 498). Stradling was the author
of several w^orks, and his poems enjoyed the patronage
of James I. and Charles I.

In the following century we find that the celebrated
diarist, John Evelyn, came here on a brief visit in June,
1654. He was struck with the city, and compared it
to London " in its manner of building," but thought little
of the castle, being of " no great concernment." He was
much interested in the way sugar was refined, for
he says : " I first saw the manner of refining sugar, and
casting it into loaves, where we had a collation of eggs
fried in the sugar furnace, together wuth excellent Spanish
wine ; but what was most stupendous to me was the
rock of St. Vincent, the precipice whereof is equal to
anything of that nature I have seen in the most con-

VISIT OF SAMUEL PEPYS. 45

fragous cataracts of the Alps. Here we went searching
for Bristol diamonds and to the Hotwells at its foot.
There is also on the side of this horrid Alp a very
remarkable seat " (probably the Giant's Cave).

A more interesting visit was paid to Bristol fourteen
years later, when Pepys, the quaint diarist, accompanied
by his wife and maid, hired a coach at Bath to spare his
own horses, and came over on June 13th, 1668, where
they were set down at the " Horse Shoe," and there being
"trimmed by a very handsome fellow, 2/-; walked with my
wife and people through the city, which is in every respect
another London, that one can hardly know it stands in
the country. No carts, it standing generally on vaults,
only dog-carts." From the "Horse Shoe" he went to
the "Sun" "and there Deb." (his maid) "going to see her
Uncle Butts, and leaving my wife with the mistress of the
house, I to see the Key, which is a large and noble place ;
and to see the new ship building by Bally" (Baylie). " It
will be a fine ship, and walked back to the Sun, where
I find Deb. come back, and with her, her uncle, a sober
merchant, very good company, and so like one of our
sober wealthy London merchants, as pleased me mightily.
Here we dined, and much good talk with me, 7/6. Then
walked with Butts and my wife and company round the
Key, and he showed me the Custom House, and made me
understand many things of the place, and led me through
Marsh Street where our girl " (Deb.) " was born. But Lord !
the joy that was- among the old poor people of the place,
to see Mrs. Willefs daughter, it seems her mother being a
brave woman and mightily beloved ! And so brought us
back by surprise to his house, where a substantial good
house, and well furnished ; and did give us good enter-
tainment of strawberries, a whole venison pasty, and

46 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

plenty of brave wine, and above all Bristol Milk : where
comes in another poor woman, who, hearing that Deb.
was here, did come running hither, and with her eyes so
full of tears, and her heart so full of joy, that she could
not speak when she came in, that it made me weep too :
I protest that I was not able to speak to her, which I
would have done, to have diverted her tears. Butts' wife
a good woman, and so sober and substantial as I was
never more pleased anywhere. So thence took leave, and
he with us through the City. He showed us the place
where the merchants meet here, and a fine cross yet
standing like Cheapside " (it stood at the junction of the
four principal streets. Wine Street, Corn Street, etc.)
"And so to the Horse Shoe . . . And by moonshine to
Bath again, about ten o'clock."

John Locke, the famous philosopher, was evidently
well acquainted with Bristol, for, writing to a friend
abroad who was about to visit England, he says : " At
Bristol see the Hotwells, St. George's Cave [sic] where
the Bristol Diamonds are found. Ratcliffe Church, and at
Kingswood, the Coalpits. Taste there Milford oysters,
Marrow Puddings, Cockale, Metheglin, White and Red
Muggets, Elvers, Sherry Sack (which with sugar is called
'Bristol Milk')."

Here too was born in i6gg the founder of Messrs.
Longmans, the publishers, Thomas Norton. His ancestors
were successful Bristol soapmakers. At the age of seven-
teen he was apprenticed to Osborne, bookseller of Lom-
bard Street, London, whose daughter he ultimately wooed
and married. At the close of his apprenticeship he bought
the business of John Taylor, the original publisher of
Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, and subsequently his father-in-law
joined him. Longman was one of the half-dozen book-

DAVID HUME. 47

sellers who commissioned Johnson to write his famous
Dictionary. It was the son of his nephew, who
succeeded to the business, and purchased about 1800
the business of Joseph Cottle, which included The
Lyrical Ballads. Longman ultimately presented Cottle
with the copyright of those remarkable poems, and he
in turn presented it to Wordsworth,

Connected by ties of blood and friendship Addison, the
prince of English essayists, was especially linked to our
city. His mother was the sister of Dr. Goulston, Bishop of
Bristol ; and according to Seyer, whilst on a visit here he
offered to promote the interests of two youths, sons of a
near relation named Addison, a merchant in the city. In
a summer-house, it is said, on the St. Anne's estate,
New Brislington, he wrote some of his famous Spectator
papers. Be that as it may, we find that he was taking the
Hotwell waters in 1718, and writing to his friend Swift, he
says: "The greatest pleasure I have met with for months
is the conversation of my old friend Dr. Smalridge, who is
to me the most candid and agreeable of bishops."

The celebrated historian and philospher, David Hume,
was in the year 1734 for a short time a clerk in the
employ of Michael Miller, a merchant residing at 16
Queen Square (the house is still standing). The employ-
ment, however, proved uncongenial, and his stay speedily
terminated, due for one reason to the fact that he had
presumed to correct his employer's English. " I tell
you what, Mr. Hume," said the irate and successful
merchant, " I have made ^20,000 by my English, and I
won't have it mended."

A few years later in November 1739 the famous poet,
Alexander Pope, paid a visit to the Hotwells. To his
friend and correspondent, Martha Blount, he gives a

48 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

graphic description of Bristol. The first thing that
struck him on entering the city from Bath was the
view of " twenty odd pyramids smoking over the
town " (the glasshouses). " Then you come first
to the old walls " (Temple Gate), " and over a
bridge built on both sides like London Bridge, and as
much crowded, with a strange mixture of seamen,
women, children, loaded horses, asses, and sledges with
goods, dragging along all together without posts to
separate them. From thence you come to a key along
the old wall, with houses on both sides, and in the middle
of the street, as far as you can see, hundreds of ships,
their masts as thick as they can stand by one another,
which is the oddest and most surprising sight imaginable.
This street is fuller of them than the Thames from London
Bridge to Deptford." There being no docks, on the
receding of the tide the ships were grounded on the mud,
and the appearance then was of "a long street full of ships
in the middle, with houses on each side, looks like a
dream." Pope then proceeds to describe the Hotwells :
" Passing still along by the river, you come to a rocky
way on one side, overlooking green hills on the other ;
on that rocky way rise several white houses, and over
them red rocks, and as you go further more rocks above
rocks mixed with green bushes and of different coloured
stone. This at a mile's end terminates in the house of the
Well. . . . When you have seen the hills, which seem
to shut in upon you, and to stop any further way, you go
into the house (p — p-room) and look out at the back door.
A vast rock of an hundred feet of red, white, green, blue,
and yellowish marble, all blotched and variegated, strikes
you quite in the face, and turning on the left there opens
the river at a vast depth below, winding in and out, and

THOMAS CADELL. 49

accompanied on both sides with a continued range of
rocks up into the clouds of a hundred colours, one behind
another. . . . Upon the top of those high rocks there runs
a large down of fine turf for about three miles. It looks
too frightful to approach the brink, and look down upon
the river. . . . There is a little village upon this down
called Clifton, where are very pretty lodging houses, and
steep cliffs and very green valleys. ... I am told that
one may ride ten miles further on an even turf, on a ridge
that on one side views the river Severn." Reverting once
more to Bristol, he remarks: "The streets are as crowded
as London ; but the best image I can give you of it is, 'tis
as if Wapping and Southwark were ten times as big, or
all their people ran into London." Curious to say, in a
city famous for its splendid churches, he found " nothing
fine in it but the square" [Queen Square], "which is larger
than Grosvenor Square, and well builded . . . and the
key, which is full of ships, and goes half way round the
square. The College Green is pretty, and (like the square)
is set with trees, with a very fine old cross of Gothic
curious work in the middle, but spoiled with the folly of
new gilding it, that takes away all the venerable antiquity."
At a later period, in 1743, he again paid Bristol a visit.

One of the greatest of eighteenth-century publishers,
Thomas Cadell, was born in Wine Street in 1742. He
served his apprenticeship to the famous bookseller and
publisher, Andrew Millar, of the Strand ; and so able did
he prove himself that in the course of time Millar took
him into partnership. Following Millar's example, he
treated authors generously, and fully maintained the
reputation of the house. Among great writers whose
works he published were Gibbon and Blackstone. Having
amassed a fortune, he retired in 1793, and became succcs-

oO LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

«
sively Sheriff of London and Master of the Stationers'
Compan)'. His portrait hangs in the court-room of that
body.

In the churchyard of St. Peter's Church, a few feet
from the entrance to the south porch, Hes buried, at the
expense of his humane and kindly gaoler, Abel Dagge of
Newgate, the remains of Richard Savage, the poet, whose
■name will be for ever linked with his great friend Dr.
Johnson, by whom his Life was written. (Within the last
few years an inscribed stone to his memory has been
inserted in the south wall of the church.) Mr. Latimer
has well said that Johnson has secured for Savage un-
deserved rank in English literature. The sordid and
wretched details of his life afford complete evidence
that he was worthless, shiftless, and ungrateful, and
disgusted every one of his friends by his insolent
importunities for money. In spite of the fact that
he was honoured by special marks of favour by the
leading merchants of Bristol, and invited to their
houses and public feasts, that he was treated with
every kindness and regard on his coming here in 1739,
and that on his second visit £^0 were collected for him,
he continued to make further demands. All the kindness
showered upon him was recklessly abused, and finding
his insulting demands for help, which were made as
though they were legitimately his due, unsuccessful, he
revenged himself by writing during his imprisonment
a satire that is best described by the adjective his name
expresses. The following lines are a type of the
whole : —

" In a dark bottom sunk, O Bristol now
With native malice lift thy low'ring brow ! . . .
Boast swarming vessels, whose plebeian state
Owns not to merchants but mechanics freight.

CHARLES WESLEY. 51

Boast nought but pedlars' fleets ...
Boast thy base Tolsey, and thy turnspit dogs,
Thy halHers' horses, and thy human hogs,
Upstarts and mushrooms, proud, relentless hearts.
Thou blank of sciences, thou dearth of arts.
Such foes as learning once was doomed to see,
Huns, Goths, and Vandals, were but types of thee."

Such were the lines he wrote on a city that had succoured
and befriended him.

The sympathetic biography by Dr. Johnson long pro-
tected and induced pity for his memory, but recent
researches have revealed his true character in all its
greediness, dissipation and ferocity, and there is practically
no question now that his own account of his noble
birth and subsequent persecution by a heartless mother
is one long tissue of lies from beginning to end, as
great an imposition in its way as the notorious Tich-
borne case.

Connected most closely with our city in the eighteenth
century was the world-famous hymn-writer and divine,
Charles Wesley. F'or over twenty years he made Bristol
his home, living at Charles Street, St. James's Barton.
Several of his children lie buried in St. James's Church-
yard. As a writer of hymns Charles Wesley stands pre-
eminent. Even Dr. Watts did not hesitate to say that
his " Wrestling Jacob " was worth all the verses he
himself had written. Wesley was a most prolific com-
poser, for he is reputed to have written some thousands
of hymns, five hundred of which are still in common
use.

A pathetic literary and personal link with Mason the
poet, and biographer of Gray of " Elegy " fame, is to be
found in our cathedral, where on a marble slab on the
north wall appears the following inscription to the memory

52 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

of his wife, who died at the Hotwells, where she had
gone to drink the waters, on March 27th, 1767 : —

" Take Holy earth all that my soul holds dear,

Take that best gift which Heav'n so lately gave ;
To Bristol's fount I bore with trembling care

Her faded form : she bowed to taste the wave
And died. Does youth, does beauty, read the line ?

Does sympathetic fear their breasts alarm ?
Speak dead Maria ! breathe a strain divine ;

Ev'n from the grave thou shalt have power to charm.
Bid them be chaste, be innocent like thee,

Bid them in duties' sphere as meekly move :
And if so fair, from vanity as free ;

As firm in friendship, and as fond in love.
Tell them, tho 'tis an awful thing to die,

('Twas ev'n to thee) yet, the dread path once trod.
Heaven lifts its everlasting portals high

And bids ' the pure in heart behold their God.' "

The final lines (here printed in italics) of this famous
epitaph were written by Gray, who was dissatisfied with
his friend Mason's lame ending.

CHAPTER II. {continued)

PART II.
CHATTERTON.

Chatterton's place in literature — Johnson's criticism of him —
His poetic genius — Influence on him of St. Mary Redcliff
Church — His birth and early years — Sudden awakening
of his mental powers — Early ambition — Pupil of Colston'' s
School — Thirst for reading — Apprenticeship to Lambert
— Publication of his first fabrication — Production of
Rowley Poems — Imposture on Catcott, Bur gum and
Barrett — Connection and correspondence with Walpole
— Extracts from his poems — Chatterton's resentment and
bitterness towards the world — His Will — Goes to London
— Early hopes disappointed — Reduced to desperation —
Suicide — Concluding observations.

^MONG the supremely gifted poets of the Enghsh
language whose tragic fate lends a keener interest
to his all too brief and sordid life, " the sleepless
soul that perished in his pride " must ever have immortal
place. When we consider his poetic achievements during
an existence that ended in its eighteenth year, we stand
amazed both at the quantity and quality of his work.
Well might the great arbiter* of eighteenth-century
literature marvel at his powers, and exclaim on visiting
Bristol in 1776 : " This is the most extraordinary young
man that has encountered my knowledge ; it is wonder-
ful how the whelp has written such things."

Dr. Johnson.
4 A

54 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Though scorned and neglected during his Hfe, Chat-
terton has bequeathed a legacy of imperishable song, some
of which might not be unworthy of Shakespeare's very
self. If we look for the dominant characteristic that
saturated the whole mental life of Chatterton, it is that in
a very real and true sense he was a dreamer of dreams.
There is a great deal of mental kinship between him and
that other remarkable dreamer, William Blake ; both lived
in a world of their own creation.

There was, too, the other side of his wondrous
personality, the " damned native, unconquerable pride,"
that intellectual arrogance which found a too favourable
soil to thrive in amid the atmosphere of dull pedantry
and excessive credulity of the dunderheads with whom his
circumstances unhappily brought him in contact. Ever
hankering after the fame that, alas ! eluded his ardent,
longing soul, tied down to the deadening routine and
monotony of a lawyer's office, is it any wonder that the
allurement of London's intellectual vortex cast a spell over
him by its irresistible fascination.

One of his most discerning and sympathetic of critics*
says truly : " We do not predict that, as the public get
more and more acquainted with Chatterton through his
finest works, they will gradual!}' get to think him a poet
standing in the same rank with Byron and Shelle}%
Wordsworth and Coleridge (all of whom he so strongly
impressed), or even some other poets of less than
Shakespearean rank ; but we are bold to affirm, — and this
we believe will be the final verdict of the public, — that, in
a large proportion of the Rowley Poems, there is a closer
and more genuine love of and adherence to nature than is to
be found in the works of the greatest poet among those

■* H. Buxton Forman.

CRITICISMS ON CHATTERTON'S WORK. 55

who served Chatterton as models in his eighteenth century
work. That Pope's exquisitely finished and often very
powerful poems will always take in bulk a higher
position than Chatterton's will cannot be doubted; but that
Chatterton's affinities with nature were closer and more
loving than Pope's, or those of anyone between the era of
Pope and that commencing with Burns, we firmly believe ;
while we discern in page after page of the Rowley Poems,
and notably in the lyrical portions, fiery flashes of high
poetic genius, more uplifted into that spiritual atmosphere
that is above and beyond reach of all things sordid and
mean, than any passages to be found in Pope or any other
of those poets upon whose heels Chatterton followed, and
some of whom outlived him. There is a genuine lyric fire,
an energetic intensity, an absolute power of soaring, that
go to make up the highest poetic faculty, whether manifested
in short poems or in long ones."

Chatterton, indeed, is fully entitled to divide with
Burns and Cowper the honour of heralding in a nobler and
truer era of English poetry. It was the erathat produced the
epoch-making work of the Lyrical Ballads, which marked
the breaking of the shackles of artificiality that had for so
long fettered the liberty of poetry and of song ; a glorious
reaction that introduced a galaxy of immortals, of whom
Keats, Shelley, and Wordsworth were not the least.

The pivot round which the life of Chatterton revolved
was Redcliff Church. No Bristolian with a love for his
native city should fail to visit that architectural dream, "the
pride of Bristowe and the western londe," consecrated for
all time to his memory. The whole of his best poetry is
permeated with the mediaeval atmosphere emanating from
that exquisite and stately home of prayer — a veritable
poem in stone. Well might Elizabeth say, when visiting

56 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Bristol in 1574, that it was the fairest church in all her
realm.

From the entrance gate the beautiful fabric stands
before the eye in all the bold relief of Gothic grandeur of
arch, tower, and turret, whilst over the last rises a circle
of spire-like pinnacles. From its great upper windows
arched spandrels of chiselled masonry link the lower to the
upper portion of the building. Over the famous north porch
stands the muniment room, where the coffers are still inexist-
ance that held the deeds which fired that youthful brain
of imagination, all compact with the idea of fabricating the
Rowley Poems. Enter it and take your stand at the
antique wrought-iron gates which fitly terminate the nave.
On each side rise columns to support a roof which rivals
in loveliness, loftiness, and lightness of design all other
churches in England, and, it is generally believed, many
out of it. The carving of the roof is full of elaborate
detail ; but as it stretches over the head to the north porch,
it seems a sheet in perspective of the richest embroidery.
The clerestory windows admit a soft twilight, which falls
on the groined arches sufficiently to bring out the light
and shade of their masonry ; while concealing half their
beauty, the twilight lends them the majesty and mystery
of shadow. Opening to the eye of the delighted beholder
is a bewildering wealth of beauty in the minute fluting, the
foliated tracery, the bosses — of which there are nearly two
thousand — ribs and capitals that enrich its glorious interior.

Full and suggestive of a mighty past are its monumental
efiigies. Below the window of the north transept the full-
length figure of a mailed knight reclines. Mayhap he has
listened to the voice of Peter the Hermit, or followed
Godfrey of Bouillon to do battle for the Cross upon the
plains of Palestine. Perhaps the most interesting effigy

NOK'JIl I'OKCH, ST. MARY KEDCLlif.

BIRTH OF CHATTERTON. 57

here, however, is that of its great benefactor and rebuilder,
WilHam Canynges, the greatest of all England's merchant
princes at that period. So great was his seaborne com-
merce, that it might be said of him as with Shakespeare's
Antonio that he had " argosies on every ocean."

Beneath the shadow of this magnificent pile was born
in the School-house, Pile Street, on November 20th,
1752, Thomas Chatterton, the son of a schoolmaster and
sub-chanter in Bristol -Cathedral, his posthumous birth
occurring little more than three months after his father's
death. His ill-starred life has been fitly epitomised in the
following sentence : " From the first hour to his last,
poverty was his lacquey and pride his patron." During his
earliest years his singularity, which is oft-times, but not
necessarily, the mark of genius, led him to seclude himself
from his companions at school and at play. But the
church of St. Mary Redcliff exerted over him a singular
fascination. Indeed, he was never happier than w^hen
within its walls or precincts. The one place above all
others that drew him like a charm was the muniment
room. Long before he became a scholar at Colston's
School on St. Augustine's Back (Colston's Hall stands on
its site), he had read and re-read the ancient MSS. which
were stored in the chests of that room. Here with their
assistance he wrote the famous Rowley Poems, which he
passed off on a credulous world as the work of a fifteenth-
century monk. For many years after his death a mighty
controversy raged as to whether Rowley or Chatterton
wrote them.

At the age of five Chatterton was sent by his widowed
mother to the Pile Street School under her husband's
successor, but the latter could make nothing of him, and at
length, his patience being exhausted by the boy's dullness.

58 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

he sent him home as being too stupid to be taught. (Many-
distinguished men were in early youth ajfflicted with this
same dullness, Goldsmith and Sheridan for example.)
His mother was much grieved at this circumstance, and
tried in vain to teach him herself. Indeed, so wanting in
intelligence did he seem, that she despaired of teaching
him his letters, and at length began to think him an
absolute fool, nor hesitated to tell him so.

During his seventh year, however, she chanced to show
him an old musical MS. in French with illuminated
capitals. So fascinated was he that, to use her own words,
he " fell in love " with it. From this MS. he acquired the
alphabet, and was soon able to read from an old black-
letter Testament. The torpidity of his mental powers now
vanished, and henceforth his progress was as rapid as it
had previously been slow. At seven, to his mother's surprise
and joy, distinct improvement had taken place, and at
eight he was so eager for books that he read nearly every
moment of his waking hours, and devoured all the books
which those with whom he was acquainted could lend him.

His desire for fame had manifested itself at quite an
early age, for ere he was five we are told he was master of
his playmates and they his hired servants. On one occasion
he gave a remarkable illustration of this trait of character.
A friend of the family wishing to present him with a piece
of china asked him what he desired should be painted
upon it. He replied : " Paint me an angel with wings and
a trumpet to trumpet my name over the world."

On August 3rd, 1760, at the age of seven years and
nine nrionths, Chatterton was admitted into Colston's
School through the influence of the then vicar of Henbury,
John Gardiner. Chatterton was proud of his election,
" Here," said he exultantly, " I shall get all the learning I

CHATTERTON'S APPRENTICESHIP. -59

want." The dull monotony of the studies suited to those
intended for commercial pursuits soon, however, proved
distasteful, and he became wearied and disgusted.

His thirst, however, for reading still continued, and
after he had been at school for two years he began to hire
books with the small amount of pocket money his widowed
mother could afford him. At a later period, in his twelfth
year, he compiled a catalogue of books he had read to the
number of seventy. The assistant master of Colston's
School at this period was one Thomas Phillips, who, having
a taste for history and poetry, became by reason of kindred
tastes Chatterton's closest friend. Chatterton remained
at school for seven years, and on leaving in July, 1767, he
was apprenticed as a scrivener to Mr. John Lambert,
attorney, 37 Corn Street, opposite the Exchange. His
apprenticeship Indentures with other rare MSS., including
the unique and remarkable Will, are among the literary
treasures of our civic Art Gallery.

Lambert's office hours compelled Chatterton to be
there from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. all the year round. From
the first the proud spirited boy was treated as a mere office
drudge, and had to take his meals in the kitchen. Living
with his master, one hour only was his own, from 8 till
9 in the evening. He was known but once to exceed that
brief period — upon the Christmas Eve, when he stayed
away till 10. His most intimate friends were Thomas
Palmer, an apprentice to a jeweller in the same house ;
Thomas Cary, a pipe-maker, called his " second self; " and
William Smith, sailor and actor.

The work of the office was not heavy and did not
employ more than two hours a day of his time ; during the
rest of the time he devoted himself strenuously to self-
improving studies and poetical composition. His researches

60 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

at this period covered a wide range, embracing heraldry^
metaph3'sics, astronomy, music, antiquities, medicine, and
mathematics.

It was during the second year of this apprenticeship
that Chatterton pubHshed his first fabrication of the
antique, relating to Bristol Bridge — an account of the
mayor's first passing over the old bridge in 1248, which
appeared in Felix Farley's Journal on October ist, 1768,
and created quite a stir in the city. About this time, too,
Chatterton made the acquaintance of George Catcott and
Henry Burgum, who were partners in a pewtering business
at No. 2 Bristol Bridge.

Catcott, who was a fussy, self-important, and eccentric
man, sadly lacking common sense, but possessed of extra-
ordinary credulity, greedily swallowed all that Chatterton
told him respecting the alleged Rowley Poems. His
pompous and vain partner, Henry Burgum, was equally
credulous ; to him, therefore, Chatterton imparted the
information that among the Rowleian MSS. he had dis-
covered at Redcliff Church was a document having the
armorial bearings of the De Berghams, with proof of their
descent from the time of the Conqueror. The native vanity
of Burgum was aroused, and, highly pleased with the
news, he rewarded his informant with the sum of five
shillings. Later Chatterton supplied him from the same
source with his pedigree down to the year 1685, and with
a poem alleged to have been written by one of his ancestors,
John de Bergham, in 1320. These were rewarded by another
crown.

Encouraged by his successful imposture, and having
in the meantime been introduced to Catcott's brother,
the Rev. Alexander Catcott, vicar of Temple Church, and
to William Barrett, then projecting his well-known

GEORGE SYMES CATCOTT.

(A/tcr tlic Furtrait by Edvvaud Bird, R.A.)

CHATTERTON AND WALPOLE. 61

History of Bristol, he began bringing the latter various
documents bearing on that subject, which were eagerly
received without the slightest attempt by the historian to
test their genuineness. Their inclusion in his history
have done much to discredit that work.

Yearning too for that recognition of his undoubted
poetic merits, and yielding to the prevalent idea of the
age, that a patron was the surest aid to fame and fortune,
Chatterton addressed himself to Horace Walpole, the
Strawberry Hill dilettante, as the possible Maecenas of his
muse. The latter had just published his well-known work,
Anecdotes of Painting, and to him Chatterton sent the
following letter, enclosing Rowley's "Ryse of Peyncteynge
in Englande," and some verses about Richard I. : —

" Bristol, March 25, Corn St.

" Sir, — Being versed a little in antiquitys I have met
with several curious manuscripts, among which the follow-
ing may be of Service to you in any future edition of your
truly entertaining Anecdotes of Painting. In correcting
the mistakes (if any) in the Notes you will greatly
oblige your most humble servant

" Thomas Chatterton."

These were most courteously acknowledged by M^alpole.
Thus encouraged, Chatterton sent off another batch of
MS., including the " Historic of Peyncters yn Englande,"
with the pointed intimation that their sender, though a
lover of literature, was in humble circumstances. These
latter, having been submitted to the poets Gray and
Mason, were pronounced by them to be forgeries. Natur-
ally irritated at being duped, Walpole wrote a letter that

62 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

stung the proud and sensitive nature of Chatterton to the
quick, and in so doing he neglected to enclose Chatterton's
MSS.

After repeated applications for them, Chatterton, on
July 24th, wrote Walpole the following proudly reproachful
letter : —

"Sir, — I cannot reconcile your behaviour with the
notions I once entertained of you. I think myself injured,
Sir, and did you not know my circumstances, you would
not dare to treat me thus.

" I have sent twice for a copy of the manuscripts — no
answer from you. An explanation or excuse for your
silence would oblige

"Thomas Chatterton."

This note produced the immediate return of his
MSS., and effectually prevented further correspondence
between them. Bitter indeed was the disappointment of
Chatterton's sanguine hopes, and lost for ever Walpole's
opportunity of eternal honour. For the poems of
Chatterton constrained even him to admit that he did
not "believe there ever existed so masterly a genius";
and again, "As for Chatterton, he was a gigantic genius,
and might have soared I know not whither."

A pen portrait of Chatterton at this period describes
him as being " well grown and manly, having a proud air
and a stately bearing. When he so desired to be, he was
extremely prepossessing, though usually he bore himself
as one who knew his superiority. His eyes were gray
and exceedingly brilliant, and were evidently his most
remarkable feature." George Catcott describes the
expression of his eyes as "a kind of hawk's e3-e," adding

ROWLEY POEMS. 63

that " one could see his soul through it." Barrett,
who of course knew him well, said " he never saw such
eyes — fire rolling at the bottom of them." He acknow-
ledged to Sir Herbert Croft that he had often differed
with him for the express purpose of seeing how wonder-
fully his eyes would strike fire, kindle and blaze up !

At this point it may not be out of place to state most
emphatically, in spite of statements to the contrary even
by such an authority as the writer of the article on
Chatterton in the Dictionary of National Biography , that
there is no authentic portrait of him in existence. This,
though deeply to be regretted by all interested in his life,
is not surprising when we take into consideration his
humble circumstances.

It was during his school-days that the creation of the
famous Rowley Poems first had birth in his brain, for
his friend Thistlethwaite, writing to Dean Milles (the
champion of the Rowleian fiction, whose conduct Coleridge
gibbeted in that immortal sentence : " An owl mangling
a dead nightingale ") at a later period, says : " One day,
during the summer of 1764, going down Host Street,
I accidentally met Chatterton ; entering into conversation
with him he informed me he was in possession of certain
old MSS. which had been deposited in Redcliff Church
and that he had lent some to Phillips. A day or two
after this I saw Phillips and repeated to him the infor-
mation I had received from C . Phillips produced a

MS. on parchment or vellum, which I am confident was
Elinoure and Juga, afterwards published in the Town
and Country Magazine.'"

Here it will not be inappropriate to submit illustrative
specimens of these famous Rowley Poems. The martial
swing of the magnificent fragment of a chorus on Liberty

64 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

with which the Tragedy of Goddwyn ends has few equals of
its kind in the language : —

" When Freedom, drest in blood-stained vest,
To every knight her war-song sung,
Upon her head wild weeds were spread,
A gory anlace by her hung.
She danced on the heath,
She heard the voice of death.
Pale-eyed Affright, his heart of silver hue,

In vain assailed her bosom to acale.^
She heard unflemed^ the shrieking voice of woe.
And sadness in the owlet shake the dale.
She shook her burled^ spear;
On high she jeste* her shield ;
Her foemen all appear
And flie along the field.
Power with his heafod straught^ into the skies.

His spear a sunbeam and his shield a star;
Alike twae brendyng gronfyres" rolls his eyes;
Chafts with his iron feet and sounds to war.
She sits upon a rock ;
She bends before his spear ;
She rises from the shock,
Wielding her own in air.
Hard as the thunder doth she drive it on.
Wit skilly wimpled^ guides it to his crown ;
His long sharp spear, his spreading shield is gone ;
He falls, and falling, rolleth thousands down.
War, gore-faced War, by Envy burl'd arist.
His fiery helm ynodding to the air.
Ten bloody arrows in his straining fist."

None but a poet who anticipated Wordsworth in his
love of nature could have written the lines in ^lla : —

"The budding floweret blushes at the light,

The meads are sprinkled with the yellow hue ;
In daisied mantles is the mountain dight,

The nesh young cowslip bendeth with the dew ;
The trees enleafed, unto heaven straught,
When gentle winds do blow, to whistling din are brought."

^ Freeze. ' Undismayed. •'* Pointed. * Raised. ^ Head stretched.
^ Flaming meteors. '' Covered.

EXTRACTS FROM CHATTERTON'S POEMS. 65

And surely the exquisite dirge from his masterpiece
jElla is not unworthy of Shakespeare himself*. —

" Oh sing unto my roundelay ;
Oh drop the briny tear with me ;
Dance no more on holiday ;
Like a running river be.

My love is dead,

Gone to his death-bed

All under the willow tree !

" Black his hair as the winter night,
White his skin as the summer snow,
Red his face as the morning light,
Cold he lies in the grave below.

My love is dead,

Gone to his death-bed

All under the willow tree !

" Sweet his tongue as the throstle's note.
Quick in dance as thought can be.
Deft his tabor, cudgel stout ;
Oh, he lies by the willow tree.

My love is dead.

Gone to his death-bed

All under the willow tree !

" Hark ! the raven flaps his wing
In the briery dell below ;
Hark ! the death-owl loud doth sing
To the night-mares as they go.

My love is dead.

Gone to his death-bed

All under the willow tree ! "

These few excerpts from his Rowleian Poems will not
have been given in vain if readers are induced to read in
their entirety those wonderful creations of his genius, not
forgetting his noble Balade of Charitie.

Although his minor poems lack the lyrical imaginative
intensity which characterises these, yet they too, in
individual cases, reach a high level of excellence. Take
for instance his Hymn for Christmas Day, written when
he was only eleven years of age, commencing : —

66 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

" Almighty Framer of the skies !
O let our pure devotion rise,

Like incense in Thy sight !
Wrapt in impenetrable shade
The texture of our souls were made,

Till Thy command gave light."

The Resignation is also instinct with all that is best
in the highest flights of devotional poetry, as the opening
stanzas will prove : —

" O God, whose thunder shakes the sky,
Whose eye this atom globe surveys.
To Thee, my only rock, I fly,

Thy mercy in Thy justice praise.

" The mystic mazes of Thy will,
The shadows of celestial light.
Are past the power of human skill, —
But what th' Eternal acts is right.

" O teach me in the trying hour.

When anguish swells the dewy tear.
To still my sorrows, own Thy power.
Thy goodness love, thy justice fear."

In regard to the Rowley Poems, it has often been
asserted that they are forgeries, which term implies
the counterfeiting of work already in existence. But
Chatterton did no such thing, he simply hid his own
genius behind a fictitious personality. When we view
all the circumstances of his brief and sordid life, and take
into consideration the sterile age in which he lived, with
its pseudo love of the antique, it is riot surprising that
he masked the rich outpourings of his wondrous
imagination in hoar antiquity, as the one and only
way to obtain that recognition for which he longed.
It is not without interest to note that an actual Thomas
Rowley did exist in Bristol in the fifteenth century,
in the person of a merchant of that name, who died
January 23rd, 1478; his tomb is in St. John's Church.

CHATTERTON'S SATIRICAL POWER. 67

It seems well-nigh incredible that for so many years
there raged a controversy as to whether Chatterton or
Rowley wrote those remarkable poems, considering how
flimsy was the antique dress in which they were disguised.
Meanwhile, burning with resentment towards Walpole
and with bitterness to the world in general, Chatterton
used his power of satire as a weapon against all of his
Bristol associates, with one solitary exception. Even the
inoffensive Rev, Alexander Catcott did not escape the
general castigation, for to him was addressed his " Epistle
to the Rev. Alexander Catcott," written December 6th,
1769, and the " Postscript to the Epistle " of the same
month, which effectually ended their hitherto friendly
relations. This was the more to be regretted as the
vicar of Temple Church was the only one of all
Chatterton's circle who truly gauged his remarkable
powers ; for his credulous brother, in answer to a query
of Dean Milles, president of the Antiquarian Society
and previously alluded to, says : " The information you
received concerning my late brother's sentiments was
strictly true. I have frequently heard him say he "
(Chatterton) " was capable of writing anything attributed
to Rowley, and that he was upon the whole the most
extraordinary genius he ever met with." The solitary
exception that escaped Chatterton's satiric pen was
Michael Clayfield, distiller of Castle Street, to whom he
had been introduced in the closing months of 1769. To
this worthy man he was indebted for the loan of maijy
books, and from these acquired the scientific knowledge
that enabled him to write his fine poem, The Copernican
System, which appeared in the Town and Conntry
Magazine, 1769, in which many of his contributions had
appeared. In this magazine was inserted his Elegy

€8 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

on Thomas Phillips, the assistant master at Colston's
School.

Filled with desperation, brought about by uncongenial
employment, the petty persecution of his master, who
never failed to burn any of what he called Chatterton's
"stuff" that came in his way, and sick with disappointed
hopes, Chatterton wrote to Clayfield that he intended to
put an end to his life. This letter in course of transit
was seen by Lambert, who at once brought it to the
notice of Barrett. The latter interviewed Chatterton, and
so earnestly pointed out the folly and wickedness of such
a course of conduct that Chatterton was moved to tears.

Subsequently he wrote Barrett a most remarkable
letter, the keynote of which was that pride, "damned
native unconquerable," formed the chief part of his nature.

Not long after Lambert found to his intense astonish-
ment the unique " Last Will and Testament of Thomas
Chatterton " conspicuously placed on the boy's desk,
which commenced with the words : —

" All this wrote between eleven and two o'clock on
Saturday, in the utmost distress of mind, 14 April, 1770."

This curious document deserves more than a passing
mention. Among other things it apostrophises Catcott,
the pewterer, thus : —

"Thy friendship never could be dear to me,
Since all I am is opposite to thee.
If ever obligated to thy purse,
Rowley discharges all — my first, chief curse !
For had I never known the antique lore,
I ne'er had ventured from my peaceful shore
To be the wreck of promises and hopes,
A Bo)^ of Learning, and a Bard of Tropes ;
But happ3' in my humble sphere had moved,
Untroubled, unrespected, unbeloved."

^■m^

(/■'ivDij an idd Engriiviiit;.)

CHATTERTON'S WILL. 69

After which follows : —

" This is the last Will and Testament of nie, Thomas
Chatterton, of the Gity of Bristol : being sound in Body,
or it is the Fault of my last Surgeon. The Soundness of
my Mind the Coroner and Jury are to be Judges of-
desiring them to take notice, that the most perfect Masters
of Human Nature in Bristol distinguish me b}^ the Title
of the Mad Genius. Therefore if I do a mad action, it
is conformable to every action of my life, which all
savored of Insanity.

"Item. If after my Death, which will happen to-
morrow night before 8 o'clock, being the feast of the
resurrection, the Goroners and Jurors bring it in Lunacy,
I will and direct, that Paul Farr, Esqr. and Mr. J no.
Flower, do at their joint Expence, Gause my Body to be
interred in the Tomb of my Fathers, and raise the
Monument over my Body to the Height of 4 foot
5 Inches, placing the present Flat stone on the Top and
adding six Tablets. . . ."

Among the inscriptions he directed should be inscribed
on them was the following on the fourth : —

" To the Memory of Thomas Ghatterton. Reader,
judge not ; if thou art a Christian, believe that he shall
be judged by a Superior Power. To that Power only
is he now answerable. . . ."

"And I will and direct, that if the Goroners Inquest
bring it in Felo de se, the sd. Monument shall be, notwith-
standing, erected. And if the sd. Paul P^arr and Jno.
Flower have Souls so Bristollish as to refuse this my
Bequest, they will transmit a Gopy of my Will to the
Society for supporting the Bill of Rights, whom I hereby
empower to build the said Monument according to the
aforesaid Directions. And if they, the said Paul P'^arr
and Jno. P^'lower, should build the said Monum[ent], I will

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

and direct that the Second Edition of my Kew Gardens
shall be dedicated to them in the following Dedication : —
To Paul Farr and John Flower Esqrs. this Book is most
hiHiibly dedicated by the Author's Ghost.

"Item. I give and bequeath all my Vigor and Fire
of Youth to Mr. George Catcott, being sensible he is in
most want of it.

''Item. From the same charitable motive I give and
bequeath unto the Revd. Mr. Camplin, Senr., all m}^
Humility. To Mr. Burgum all my Prosody and Grammar,
likewise one Moiety of my Modesty ; the other moiety to
any young Lady who can prove without blushing that she
wants that valuable Commodity. To Bristol all my Spirit
and Disinterestedness : parcells of Goods unknown on her
Key since the days of Canynge and Rowley ! 'Tis true a
Charitable Gentleman, one Mr. Colston, smuggled a
Considerable quantity of it, but it being prov'd that he
was a Papist the worshipful Society of Aldermen endeavor
to throttle him with the Oath of Allegiance. I leave
also my Religion to Dr. Cutts Barton, Dean of Bristol,
hereby impowering the Sub-sacrist to strike him on the
head when he goes to Sleep in Church. My Powers of
Utterance I give to the Reverend Mr. Broughton hoping
he will employ them to a better Purpose than reading
Lectures on the immortality of the Soul. I leave the
Revd. Mr. Catcott some little of My free thinking,
that he may put on the Spectacles of reason, and see how
vilely he is duped in believing the Scripture literally.
I wish he and his Brother would know how far I am their
real Enemy ; but I have an unlucky way of railing, and
when the strong fit of Satyi;e is on me, Spare neither
Friend nor Foe. This is my Excuse for what I have said
of them elsewhere. I leave Mr. Clayfield the sincerest
thanks my Gratitude can give ; and I will and direct that
whatsoever any Person may think the Pleasure of reading
my Works worth, they immediately pay their own valua-
tion to him, since it is then become a lawful Debt to
me, and to him as my Executor in this Case.

CHATTERTON'S WILL. 71

" I leave my Moderation to the Politicians on both
Sides the Question, I leave my Generosity to our
present Right Worshipful Mayor, Thomas Harris
Esqr. I give my Abstinence to the Company at the
Sheriff's annual feast in General, more particularly to
the Aldermen.

" Item. I give and bequeath unto Mr. Mat. Mease a
Mourning Ring with this Motto, ' Alas ! poor Chatterton '
Provided he pays for it himself.

" Item. I leave the young Ladys all the Letters they
have had from me, assuring them they need be under no
Apprehensions from the Appearance of my Ghost, for I
dye for none of them.

"Item. I leave all my Debts, in the whole not five
Pounds, to the Payment of the Charitable and generous
Chamber of Bristol, on Penalty, if refused, to hinder every
Member from ever eating a good Dinner, by appearing in
the form of a Bailiff. If, in defiance of this terrible
Spectre, they obstinately persist in refusing to discharge
my Debts, let my two Creditors apply to the Supporters
of the Bill of Rights.

"Item. I leave my Mother and Sister to the Pro-
tection of my Friends, if I have any.

" Executed in the presence of Omniscience, this 14th
day of April, 1770.

" T. Chatterton."

" Codicil. It is my pleasure that Mr. Cocking and
Miss Farley print this my Will the first Saturday after
my death. " X. C."

Such are the contents of what must assuredly rank
for all time as one of the most singular documents ever
penned, and in view of its pathetic and tragic sequel it
will ever have for the student of Chatterton's life a
peculiar and fascinating interest.

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

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76 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

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LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

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CHATTERTON GOES TO LONDON. 79

After reading this, Lambert at once cancelled
Chatterton's indentures. Among his few friends a
subscription was raised which fell short of £^, and with
this slender capital he started by coach a few days later
to take the great world of London by storm. On
reaching there, -in his first letter to his mother he gives
a graphic description of his journey. His first lodgings
were at Shoreditch, with a plasterer of the name of
Walmsley. There he spent his first seven weeks, sharing
his bed with his landlord's nephew. We are told by the
latter that Chatterton scarcely slept whilst there, passing
the hours of each night in the feverish haste of penning
his thoughts red hot from his too fertile and active
brain.

In the daytime he was going the round of the various
journals seeking literary work and recognition, to one or
two of which he had contributed when at Bristol.
Flushed with new-born hopes and fresh from being
emancipated from the galling and wearisome employ of
Lambert the attorney, the future seemed to him rosy
indeed.

During the following four months he wrote for eleven
of the various journals there. His industry and applica-
tion at this period were simply astounding. So remarkable
was his facility of composition, that his poem The
Exhibition, which he wrote whilst in London, and which
contains no less than 444 lines, was started on the ist of
May and ended on the 3rd. Squibs, tales, songs, letters —
in some of which to the Middlesex Journal he tried to
rival Junius — flowed like water from his untiring pen.
His bodily nourishment at this time, for he was very
abstemious, was chiefly cakes and water.

Among his correspondents was Lord Mayor Beckford,

80 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

whom he interviewed. Just when he was exhilarated
with high hopes of what Beckford might do for him in
advancing his interests, all expectations were dashed to the
ground by the Lord Mayor's death. It has been recorded
that he was perfect!}' frantic on hearing the news. In a
spirit of pure sardonic humour, as we. may believe, he
made out the famous account that has injured his
memory. It is as follows : —

"Accepted by Bingley, set for and thrown out of the
North Briton 21st of June, on account of the Lord
Mayor's death : —

Lost by his death on this essay ;^i n ^
Gained in Elegies... ... 220

„ Essays ... ... 3 5 o

Am glad he is dead by ... 3 13 o "

This unfortunate and untimely piece of sardonic jesting
has been a text for the utterance of many hard things with
regard to Chatterton's callousness.

It was about this time that he changed his lodgings and
went to 39 Brook Street, Holborn ; there he lodged with
a Mrs. Angel, a sacque maker, and had a room to himself.
Here too, alas ! he began to lose hope. Was it any wonder,
when we consider the princely payment he received, even
when his work was accepted ? From the Town and Country
Magazine, for sixteen songs, he received los. 6d ; for two
hundred and fifty lines of The Consuliad contributed to
the Freeholder's Magazine the like sum ; for the exquisite
poem The Excelente Balade of Charitie — the last of the
Rowley cycle — the doom of rejection.

A momentary gleam of success came to him through
his The Revenge : a Burletta, a musical trifle, w^hich was
acted after his death. For this he received five guineas,
on the strength of which he sent a box of presents to his

REDUCED TO DESPERATION. 81

family at Bristol. They consisted of a china tea service,
French snuff box, fans for his mother and sister, and some
herb tobacco for his grandmother, etc.

This affords ample proof that though pride and ambi-
tion were the governing forces of his fiery nature, yet
when absolutely on the verge of starvation, and with
a self-sacrifice little short of heroic, the first-fruits of success
were willingly and gladly yielded to those near and dear to
him.

This success was but a transient gleam, to be followed
by the still deeper blackness of agony and despair, as
disappointment succeeded disappointment.

The last letter he is knovvn to have written to anyone
was to Catcott. In it he mentions, " I intend going abroad
as a surgeon. Mr. Barrett has it in his power to assist me
greatly by his giving me a physical character. I hope he
will." He speaks of a proposal for building a new spire
for St. Mary Redcliff, and concludes : " Heaven send you
the comforts of Christianity ! I request them not, for I am
no christian."

Eating his heart out with the longing for recognition,
starving day by day, too proud to beg and too honest to
steal, how infinitely full of pathos is the picture that poor
Chatterton presents to us in that period of the eighteenth
century aptly described as "the valley of dry bones."
Though he had won the affection of all who knew him, he
was deaf to their invites to dine or sup. On one occasion
only was hi« pride overborne, and he partook of a barrel of
oysters, which he was observed to eat ravenously. Three
days later Mrs. Angel, his landlady, feeling fully assured
that the unhappy boy was literalK- starving, begged him on
August 24th to take some dinner with her, but pride
conquered his natural craving for food, and he assured her

82 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

he was not hunf,ay. That very same night, driven to
desperation, the pathetic tragedy was enacted.

The cold, grey dawn of a London morning broke
murkily in through the casement of his garret. Through
it in the misty distance could dimly be discerned the
dome of St. Paul's and the tops of the distant and
surrounding houses. Within on the pallet lay the form
of him whose eagle soul had bravely fought, but fought
in vain, against the pitiless forces of circumstance in
mighty modern Babjdon. His outstretched, but lifeless,
hand hung limply down,. whilst on the floor beneath lay
the phial that held the fatal draught of arsenic. Scattered
o"er the room lay in countless fragments the remains of his
latest compositions. The candle had expired in its socket,
and he who perished in his pride after life's fitful fever
now slept well. Yet due to him at his death from his
publishers was a sum of over ten guineas.

Not for him the Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey,
but the interment of the common pauper. His remains
were laid in the burial-ground of Shoe Lane Workhouse,
which in after years became the site of Farringdon
Market. It is related, such is the irony of fate, that shortly
after his untimely end Dr. Fry, head of St. John's
College, Oxford, proceeded to Bristol to investigate the
particulars of the history of the Rowley Poems and to
befriend and assist their creator if found worthy.

Though scorned, neglected, and starved in his life.
Time, that brings its revenges, has achieved for his
works tributes of immortal praise. Malone declared him
to be " the greatest genius England has produced since
Shakespeare " ; Warton too looked upon him as a
"prodigy of genius"; Southey, Wordsworth, Coleridge,
Byron, Scott, Moore, and Campbell have been equally

CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 83

unanimous in their praise of his marvellous powers.
To him Coleridge dedicated his Motwdy, Keats his
maiden poem Endymion, whilst Rossetti, in addition
to inditing to his honour one of his noblest sonnets, wrote
of him as "the absolutely miraculous Chatterton,"
Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton says: "It seems im-
possible to refuse to Chatterton the place of the father
of the new romantic school. As to the romantic spirit,
it would be difficult to name anyone of his successors
in whom the high temper of romance has shown so
intense a life." And another living authority, Dr.
Garnett, says : " All recognise in him the most extra-
ordinary literary phenomenon that the world ever saw."
We trust that the day is not far distant when Bristol
will adequately recognise the memory ot the most
illustrious of her sons. The present monument at the
north-east corner of Redcliff Church, near the north
porch, erected to his memory in 1840, is in no sense
worthy of his imperishable genius.

" O, Chatterton! that thou wert yet aUve !
Sure thou would'st spread the canvas to the gale,
And love, with us, the tinkling team to drive
O'er peaceful freedom's undivided dale;
And we, at sober eve, would round thee throng,
Hanging, enraptured, on thy stately song!
And greet with smiles the young-eyed poesy
All deftly mask'd as hoar antiquity."

Coleridge.

Note. — The ivvitcr of tJiis brief life of Chatterton desires
gratefully to acknoivledi^e his indebtedness to the labours of the
late William George, it'Iio did so much in Jiis lifetime to foster
an interest in the nnfortiinate genius and his works.

In 1881 the late John Taylor, historian of the city,
discovered in the possession of a dealer in Bristol an
imperfect copy of Clarke's ^'History of tJie Bible," 1730-40,

«4 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

which contamed valuable MS. entries relating to Chatterton'a
family. This work Mr. George promptly purchased for ten
guineas, and on his death in 1900, it was generously presented
to the Bristol Museum by his family, and is now in the Art
Gallery.

From the entries in that work we find that Chatterton's
mother's name was Sarah Young, and that she married his
father at Chipping Sodbury Church on April 25th, 1748;
also that Chatterton had a brother whose name was Giles
Malpas, born December 12th, 1750, but who died ere he was
five months old.

As Thomas Malpas (Master of the Wire Drawers' and
Pin Workers'' Company) built at his own expense the house
attached to the school, it shows Chatterton's father was not
quite destitute of the feelings of gratitude when he linked
the name of Malpas to that of his son.

Through the munificence also of Sir George White and
Alfred C. Pass, the unique collection of Chatterton MSS.
in the possession of the City has been still further enriched
by the acquisition of " Kew Gardens," the Bergham Pedigree,
the Bergham Arms, " The Death of Sir Charles Bawdin " in
98 verses, besides other MSS., to say nothing of that priceless
gem, the actual pocket-book in Chatterton's possession at the
time of his death, containing entries recording his financial
transactions with the various journals to which he contributed,
by which we find there was actually due to him the sum
of £10 17s. 6d., a tithe of which would have averted his
tragic fate.

It is noteworthy that every vestige of his original MSS.
tend year by year to rise in value. As an instance of this, on
December 6th, 1905, twelve pages of the first draft of '' AiUa"
fetched in a London auction room no less a sum than £255^
notwithstanding there was a doubt about its aidhenticity.

HANNAH MORE

[AjUi I'aiiiting by H. \V. Pickeksoill, A.K.A.)

CHAPTER II. {continued).

PART III.
HANNAH MORE AND HER CIRCLE.

Hannah Move's birtJi — Early bent towards literature — Goes
to London — Introduction to Dr. Johnson and other
literary celebrities -• — Friendship with the Garricks —
Production of " Percy " — Retires to Barley Wood,
Wrington, after Garrick's death, and devotes herself to
religious writings — Publication of "Cheap Repository
Tracts" — Her connection with the Macaiilays — Visited
by Freeman, Coleridge, Southey and others — Patroness
of Ann Yearsley — Dies in Clifton.

N February 2nd, 1745, Hannah More, philan-
thropist, authoress, and dramatist, was born at
Fishponds, then in the parish of Stapleton. The
house, which is still standinj^'-, adjoins Fishponds church.
None held a more distinguished place amongst women of
that period, and certainly none have left a more noble,
useful, and blameless record of a well-spent life.

Her father, Jacob More, was a schoolmaster, and she
was one of five sisters. Her association with Bristol is
the association of a lifetime. Following their father's
profession, her elder sisters and herself opened a school
at No. 6 Trinity Street, College Green, in 1758, which
was announced in the local journals as follows : " On
Monday after Easter will be opened a School for Young
Ladies by Mary More and Sisters, where will be carefully

8.')

«6 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

taught French, Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Needle-
work. ... A Dancing Master will attend."

The school from its start was highly successful; so
much so, that when Park Street was laid out for building,
one of the first houses erected there was built to the order
of the Misses More, and they removed to it in 1762. One
of their pupils was the unfortunate, beautiful, and gifted
Mary Robinson, " Perdita," to whom allusion will be made
more fully later on.

The bent of Hannah's mind towards literature early
showed itself, one of her first compositions, at the age of
sixteen, being an ode on some lectures on eloquence,
delivered in Bristol by the famous author of The School
for Scandal, Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Later the art of
the drama intensely interested her, and as a result she
produced at seventeen a play for the pupils of the school
to act, entitled The Search After Happiness. Miss Mitford,
author of Our Village, in a delightful sketch, describes the
getting up of this comedy at the school she attended at
Reading.

Hannah More's appearance at this time is described
as being "pretty, with delicate, refined features, rather
sharply cut, and beautiful, keen, dark eyes, which were
enhanced in brilliancy by the whiteness of her powdered
hair." Even at this early period her conversation is said
to have been charming. It is also recorded that being ill,
she so delighted her doctor with her conversation that he
entirely forgot she was his patient, and after taking leave
returned with, " And how are you, my poor child ? "

United with solid knowledge, was a wit and vivacity
of mind rare in women of that period. At the age of twenty-
two the inevitable lover appeared in the shape of an elderly
admirer of wealth and position, named Turner, whose

HANNAH MORE IN LONDON.

cousins, to whom he was j^uardian, were pupils at the
school. At their desire, Hannah and her sister Patty
were invited to his seat at Belmont, Wraxall, near Bristol.

Whilst on this visit Hannah wrote inscriptions for
favourite spots in his grounds, which curiously enough he
had painted on boards and affixed to trees. Greatly
admiring her, he made proposals of marriage, which she
accepted, though he was twenty years her senior; he
proved, however, but a procrastinating lover, and finally,-
indignant at his treatment, her famil}^ insisted on the
match being broken off. Anxious to make some sort of
reparation, through the intervention of a mutual friend he
offered to settle a handsome annuity on her (/"200), which,
after considerable hesitation, she accepted. This enabled
her to free herself from the uncongenial work of the school
and to devote herself to literature. Shortly after, armed
with good introductions, she set out for London, in
whose intellectual society she soon proved herself a bright
]:>articular star.

vSettled in lodgings, she witnessed Sheridan's Rivals,
and quickly became acquainted with Sir Joshua Reynolds,
Johnson, Burke, and the Garricks. Her introduction to
that brilliant circle was largely due to a letter she wrote
on Garrick's acting of " King Lear." They (the Garricks)
were anxious to see its author, and having met her, a
mutual liking began, which ripened into a lifelong
friendship. At their house she met ]\lrs. Montagu, the
queen of the blue stockings of the j^eriod. Among those
with whom she came into contact was the famous Fanny
Burney, and commenting on her, she said : "This Evelina
is an extraordinary girl ; she is not more than twcnt}-,
and of a very retired disposition."'

When Hannah met Johnson at the Reynolds' he

88 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

astonished her by coming forward with Reynolds's macaw
on his arm and repeating the first verse of a morning hymn
which she had written. Later, when taking tea, she was
placed next to him, and they entirely monopolised the
conversation. " They were both in high spirits, and you
would have imagined we had been at some comedy had
you heard the peals of laughter." On their visiting
Johnson, Sally More relates how Hannah seated herself
in his great armchair hoping to catch a little of his genius,
at which, when he heard, he laughed heartily, and told
her it was a chair on which he never sat.

On her return at the close of the season to Bristol,
she said to her sisters : "I have been so fed with
flattering attentions that I think I will venture to
try what is my real value by writing a slight poem
and offering it to Caddell." Thereupon she wrote the
ballad of Sir Eldred of the Bower, modelled on the
style of those collected b}- Bishop Percy, and, accom-
panied by her sister Sally, returned to London and
submitted it to Caddell, who offered her more than
she had dared to expect. Johnson admired it sufficiently
to add a stanza of his own, and Miss Reynolds told her
friends that " Sir Eldred was the theme in all polite
circles, and that the beauteous Bertha had kindled a flame
in the cold bosom of Johnson." Garrick was equally
delighted, and read the ballad to select audiences, and on
one occasion in the presence of Hannah More herself;
such was the effect of his marvellous elocution that, as
she describes in a letter to a friend, " I think I never was
so ashamed in my life, but he read it so superlatively that
I cried like a child."

Years but cemented her friendship with the Garricks.
It was to her that David Garrick' presented a casket made

HANNAH MORE AND THE GARRICKS. 89

from Shakespeare's mulberry tree (now in the Art Gallery),
and bearing this inscription on a silver plate : —

" I kissed the shrine where Shakespeare's ashes lay,
And bore this rehc of the Bard away."

To her he also gave the shoe buckles he wore at his last

appearance on the stage, of which Mrs. Barbauld wrote : —

" Thy buckles, O Garrick, thy friend may now use,
But no one shall venture to tread in thy shoes."

Even the cold-hearted dilletante, Horace Walpole, was
charmed with her, and in writing called her Saint
Hannah. It was to her that Johnson made his famous
remark respecting Milton's sonnets : " Milton, Madam,
was a genius that could cut a colossus from a rock, but
could not carve heads upon cherry stones."

On the publication of her Sacred Dramas the work
became so popular that it went through nineteen editions.
A copy of this work she presented to the late W. E.
Gladstone when as a youth he was taken by his mother
to see her at Barley Wood, Wrington. One of her most
successful works was Ccclebs m Search of a Wife, which was
published in iSog, and ran through no less than twelve
editions in as many months in England, whilst in America
thirty editions appeared during its author's lifetime.

Her Thoughts on the Importance of the Manners of the
Great to General Society, though published anonymously,
was a work that created a profound sensation. The
following epigram respecting it was sent her: —

" Of sense and religion in this little book
All agree there 's a wonderful store.
But while everywhere for an author they look
I only am wishmg for More."

Though she wrote a great deal of verse during her
long life, probably her Carpet Turned will be most

99 LITKKARV ASSOCIATIONS.

«
likely to live. The tangled web of human life, its good

and evil, is finely epitomised in it : —

" This world, which clouds thy soul with doubt,
Is but a carpet inside out ;
As when we view these threads and ends
We know not what the whole intends. . ."

Under the direct guidance and help of Garrick she
brought out her greatest dramatic effort — her play of
Percy — for which he wrote both the prologue and the
epilogue. Its success was immediate and triumphant ;
four thousand copies of it were sold in a fortnight,
and, remarkable to say, in the lifetime of those dramatic
giants who wrote The School for Scandal and She Stoops
to Conquer, she was exalted by popular opinion to their
level. Writing to her sisters, she says of the reception
of Percy : " One tear is worth a thousand hands, and I
have the satisfaction to see men shed them in abundance.
... As I am a living Christian woman, I will only say
as Garrick does, that I have had so much flattery that
I might, if I would, choke myself in my own pap."

Soon after its production, to her deep regret, Garrick
died, on June 20th, 1779. This event profoundly
affected the whole current of her life, for from this
time forward she devoted her energies to writing
religious and moral works, the monetary returns from
which being spent on her varied schemes of social philan-
thropy. At Barley Wood, Wrington, to which she
retired, she laboured ceaselessly with her sisters for the
uplifting of the benighted agricultural communities in the '
Mendip and Cheddar valleys in a way that commands
the admiration and gratitude of posterity. To those
interested in that remarkable social work of hers reference
may be made to Roberts's Mendip Annals.

HANNAH MORES " REPOSITORY TRACTS." 91

To allay the intense excitement caused by the French
Revolution she wrote a tract called Village Politics, which
did much in England to counteract its pernicious effects.
Many thousands of copies were sold, even the Govern-
ment scattering them broadcast throughout the country,
and many patriotic people went so far in practical approval
as to print large editions at their own expense for distri-
bution. Later she published a series entitled Cheap
Repository Tracts. These attained an enormous circula-
tion, running into millions. William Cobbett was so
delighted with them that he used his influence to have
them largely circulated in America. To them we owe the-
foundation of the Religious Tract Society, so well known
to-day.

Well and truly has it been said : "By her writings
and her own personal example she drew the S3'mpathy of
England to the poverty and crime of the agricultural
labourer, and she took no inconsiderable part in paving
the way for the uncanonised saints of the eighteenth
century — Wilberforce, Clarkson, and John Howard."

It was during |her residence at Barley Wood that two
great historians made her acquaintance — Macaulay and
Freeman. It is not generally known that Selina Macaulay,
the mother of the historian, was a Bristolian, being the
daughter of a Bristol bookseller named Mills. She was the
lifelong friend of the sisters More, and before her marriage
to Zachary Macaulay, which event took place in Bristol
on August 26th, 1799, assisted them in their school in
Park Street, and on their retirement took over its
management, which was advertised as follows in the
Bristol Journal of January 2nd, 1790: —

" Selina Mills, many years teacher at the Misses More's
boarding school, begs leave to inform her friends and the

^2 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

public that she has taken the large and commodious house
in Park Street, now occupied by the Misses More (who
retire from business), where she and her sisters propose
carrying on the boarding and day school for young ladies
on exactly the same plan and with the same masters. The
school will be opened on Monday, the 14th inst. The
terms for boarding are reduced to twenty guineas. vS. Mills
returns her sincere thanks to the Misses More's friends
and her own for the great encouragement she has received
from them."

Her management of the school, however, did not last
long, and even while she was its nominal head, her time
was mostly spent up to the year 1795 between the house
of the Misses More and Bath. From the time of her
engagement to Zachary Macaulay she gave up the school
to her sisters, and spent most of the intervening time
until her marriage in i/gg with her future husband's
sister, Mrs. Babington (whence was derived Macaulay's
second Christian name), at Rothley Temple.

A pen portrait of her at this period is as follows :
" In Miss Selina Mills there is something so insinuating
and soft that I do not wonder at the enconiums I have
heard given to her. Her voice is extremel}' harmonious,
and should you ever be low-spirited, I think it would have
upon you the effect which David's harp had upon Saul.
. . . She had a bonnet on the first night, but to-night
was so good as to put on a cap, which gave me a good
view of her face. I thought it more lovely than ever. I
have never seen a more amiable, engaging behaviour than
that of Miss Selina. There is so much sweetness in all
her actions that the heart of a miser might be warmed
to acts of generosity by the spark of goodness which he
would catch from her charms."

HANNAH MORE AND THE MACAULAYS. 9:^

On Zachary Macaulay falling in love with her and
desiring her hand, he had to encounter considerable
opposition from her family, who were intent on making
a better match for her. Hannah More, however, stood
a staunch friend to them, and through her influence and
advocacy their marriage eventually took place.

Hannah More's friendship for the parents was shared
from his earliest childhood by Lord Macaulay himself, for
when she lived at Barley Wood he was a most welcome
visitor, staying there for weeks together. His early literary
efforts — hymns chiefly — were regarded as marvellous by
his kind hostess. He became deeply attached to^ her,
and that attachment lasted throughout his life. To her,
indeed, was due the foundation of his librar}^ When he
was six years old she wrote him as follows: "Though
you are a little boy now, you will one day, if it please
God, be a man ; but long before you are a man I hope
\ou will be a scholar. I therefore wish }-ou to purchase
such books as will be useful and agreeable to you then,
and that you will employ this very small, sum in laying
a tiny corner for your future librar}-."

That his happ}- childhood's days spent in her company
at Barley Wood were to bim an unforgettable memory
is proved by the fact that when ordered to Clifton in 1852
for the benefit of his health he took an early opportunity
of revisiting the place so endearing in its associations.
He took up his residence at 16 Caledonia Place, where a
tablet to his memory was unveiled by Lord Avebury in
1903.

In his diary he notes : " August 2rst. A fine day. At
eleven the Harfords, of Blaise Castle, called in their
barouche to take Margaret " [his sister] " and me to Barley
Wood. Tlie valley of Wrington was as rich and lovely

94 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

as ever. The Mendip ridge, the church tower, the islands
in the distance " [referring to the Steep and Flat Holms]
" were what they were forty }-ears ago and more. ..."

That the Mendip country made an ineffaceable im-
pression on his mind is proved by the lines in his famous
ballad, The Spanish Arviada, where he says: —

"The rugged miners poured to war from Mendip's sunless caves."

Under date September I4tli he again describes a
second visit. On reaching Barley Wood he says: "We
saw Hannah More's room. ... I could point out the
very spot where the Don Quixote, in four volumes, stood,
and the ver}' place from which I took down at ten years
of age the Lyrical Ballads. With what delight and horror
I read the 'Ancient Mariner' ! "

Two days after he is greatly pleased at a call from
Bishop Monk (Bishop of Bristol), his old Trinity tutor.
" I was really glad to see him and shake hands with him,
for he was very kind to me when I was young, and I was
ungrateful and impertinent to him.'"

Whilst staying here in Clifton he was busy writing
his famous History. On one of the Sundays during this
visit he went to Christ Church, Clifton. " I got a place
among the free seats, and heard not a bad sermon on the
word ' Therefore.' The preacher disclaimed all intention
of startling us by oddity, after the fashion of the seven-
teenth century ; but I doubt whether he did not find in
St. Paul's ' Therefore ' much more than St. Paul thought
of. There was a collection for church building, and I
slipped my sovereign into the plate the more willingly
because the preacher asked for our money on sensible
grounds and in a manly manner."'

It was during his stay here that he walked over to

HANNAH MORE AND THE MACAULAYS. 95

Leigh Court to see the famous collection of pictures
(now alas ! dispersed), and found that report had
not done them justice; in connection with this visit he
relates the following charming anecdote : " On the road
between Leigh Court and the Ferry " [the Suspension
Bridge was not then built], ''however, I saw a more delight-
ful picture than any in the collection. In a deep, shady lane
was a donkey-cart, driven by a lad ; and in it were four
very pretty girls, from eleven to six, evidently sisters.
They were quite mad with spirits at having so rare a
treat as a ride, and they were laughing and singing in a
way that almost made me cry with mere sense of the
beautiful. They saw that I was pleased, and answered
me very prettily when I made some inquiry about my
route. I gave them all the silver that I had about me
to buy dolls ; and they all four began carolling in perfect
concert and in tones as joyous as a lark's. I should like
to have a picture of the cart and the cargo. Gainsborough
would have been the man."

His letters written from Clifton bear witness to his
keen pleasure in the place and its surroundings, for he
speaks in them of its beauty, the delicious air, and the
fine churches in the localit}-.

Bristol's interest in his works derives particular point
from the fact of his famous description of Bristol at the
close of the seventeenth century and his allusion to our
city in his soul-stirring ballad of The Spanish Armada,
where he says : —

" Right sharj) and (luick the bcHs all night rang out from Bristol
town,

And ere the day three hundred horse had met on Clifton Down."

Four years after Hannah More's death, writing to a
friend, he sa3's : " Her notice first called out my literary

96 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

tastes. She was what Ninon was to Voltaire — begging
her pardon for comparing her to a bad woman, and yours
for comparing myself to a great man. She really was a
second mother to me. I have a real affection for her
memory."

Edward A. Freeman, the historian of the Xdiiium
ConcpiLSt, loved to relate how his grandmother, who
resided at Weston-super-Mare (then a mere village) and
was a personal friend of Hannah More, took him to see
her. Hannah More was delighted with the little yeliow-
luiircd lad, who was full of questions and quaint remarks,
and at parting gave him her blessing.

Whilst she resided at Barley Wood, Joseph Cottle
took down Coleridge and Southey to see her, and she
was charmed with the former's conversation. Indeed,
her abode became a shrine to which distinguished people
made a pilgrimage from all parts of England, the Con-
tinent, and America. In the latter there was hardly a
city in which she had not a correspondent on matters of
religion, morals, or literature. Ue Quincey has told us
how he met the famous Mrs. Siddons at Barley Wood,
and of her exhibiting there her marvellous declamatory
power.

To Hannah More was due the meteor-lik'^ fame of
Ann Yearsley, the Bristol milkwoman, as a poetess. In
the year 1784 Hannah More became interested in her
through one of her poems being brought to her notice.
She (Ann Yearsley) was at this time the mother of six
children and 28 years of age. So precarious was their
position when Hannah More discovered her that they
were on the brink of starvation. Struck with the
simplicity of her manners, ability, and good taste,
Hannah More exerted herself tc so much purpose among

'■^i -ITV

ANN YEARSLEY.

ANN YEARSLEY AND HANNAH MORE. 97

her distinguished acquaintances, even to the labour of
writing hundreds of letters on her behalf, that a collec-
tion of Ann Yearsley's poems was published, with the
eminently satisfactory result that £"500 was obtained
with which to assist her. The money was forthwith
invested in the Funds, but the deed of trust excluded the
authoress from the control of the money. This arrange-
ment was so distasteful to Ann Yearsley's wishes that she
bitterly resented it, and so far forgot herself as to go to
the unfortunate length of accusing her benefactress of
appropriating the money to her own use. Disgusted at her
ingratitude, Hannah More paid the money over to her, and
her progress towards oblivion was as rapid as it appears to
have been deserved. With the money she vainly sought
to gain a comfortable living by setting up a circulating
library at the Hotwells ; but the ban of an ingrate dogged
her, and failing in that business she removed to Melksham,
Wilts, where she died insane in 1806, and was buried in
Clifton Churchyard. Southey, who seems to have gauged
her talents, allowed her some feeling and capability, but
adds : " Though gifted with voice, she had no strain of
her own whereby to be remembered." Cottle, however,
thought her an extraordinary woman. A letter of hers
written to a clergyman in 1797 about her poems gives,
however, little evidence of education beyond the
ordinary.

The closing years of Hannah More's life were spent at
4 Windsor Terrace, Clifton, to which she removed in 1828,
owing to the ingratitude of her servants at Barley Wood.
At her death, which occurred in 1833 at the great age
of 88, she left a fortune of ;^30,ooo, of which Bristol
derived a large share in benefactions, and a name for
good deeds, which will only pass away with the city

98 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

itself. Beneath the shadow of the most famous of the
Somerset towers — Wrington, in the parish of which
Barley Wood was situate — she lies with her four sisters
in one grave. A chaste and beautiful tablet, designed by
Bristol's famous sculptor, Edward Hodges Baily, affixed in
the church, records her life's work and benefactions.

Truly it might be said of her, the labourer dieth, but
the work lives eternal.

CHAPTER 11. (continued).

PART IV.
A GREAT COTERIE.

Joseph Cottle — His introduction to Coleridge and Soiithey —
Pantisocratism — Generosity of Cottle to Coleridge and
SotUhey — Marriage of the two latter to the sisters Fricker
— Production of " The Watchman " — Publication of
Coleridge's first book of poems — Southcy settles at
Westbiiry-on-Trym — Acquaintance formed by him with
the Wedgwoods and Davy — Production of " The Annual
Anthology " — Sojourn of Coleridge and the Wordsworths
among the Quantocks — Sir Humphry Davy — The Beddoes
— Mrs. Barbauld and Dr. Estlin — Coleridge receives an
annuity from the Wedgwoods — Begins the habit of taking
opium — Wordsworth and his sister in Bristol; Go with
Coleridge to Germany — Lamb's connection with Bristol
— De Quincey — Meeting of Southey and Landor,
and formation of friendship between them — Southey's
character.

t'^^'^HE position of Joseph Cottle, bookseller, of Bristol,
as the intimate friend of three of the greatest
writers of English literature is probably without
a parallel in its glorious annals. Such a peculiar com-
bination of circumstances which brought about that
friendship will, it is safe to assume, never happen again.
Remarkable indeed is the fact that a bookseller in a
provincial city had the honour of introducing to the world

00 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

tlie tirst printed productions in volume form oi such
modern classics as Coleridge, Wordsworth, Lamb and
Southey.

In spite of Cottle's detractors, who are lavish in their
censure but nif^gardly in their praise, when we examine his
life and his treatment of those famous men with whom he
was in daily contact, in common justice we are forced to
the conclusion that, take him for all in all, he was a truly
kind and generous man, and worthy, despite his unfor-
tunate habit of garbling, of their lifelong esteem and
gratitude.

To the eccentric John Henderson, who was con-
sidered by those who knew him best to be a prodig}' of
learning, but who nevertheless left no mark on the
intellectual progress of his age, Cottle's interest in books
and reading was due. Before Cottle was twenty-one he
had read more than a thousand of the best works of
English literature. In the year 1791 he started business
in Bristol as a bookseller, at the top corner of High
Street, opposite the old Dutch House, not in the present
shop, as is so often erroneously asserted, but in the one
which was burnt down in December, 1819, and which
stood on the site.

His first introduction to that brilliant circle whose
fame is linked with his name for all time took place at
the close of the year 1794, when the young Quaker poet,
Robert Lovell (who had married a Miss Fricker) revealed
to him the great Pantisocratic scheme, the apostles of
which were four in number, \'\z. S. T. Coleridge (with
whom the idea first originated), Robert Southey, George
Burnet, and Lovell himself, and desired Cottle's co-
operation.

The scheme was briefly summarised as follows : —

ROBERT SOUTHEY.

{Aflcr Druiviiiji by Roblut Hancock.)

THE PANTISOCRATIC SCHEME. 101

Twelve gentlemen of good education and liberal
principles were to embark with twelve ladies in April next,
fixing themselves in some delightful part of the new back
settlements of America. The labour of each man, for two
or three hours a day, it was imagined, would suffice to
support the colony. The produce was to be common
property. There was to be a good library, and the ample
leisure was to be devoted to study, discussion, and the
education of the children on a settled system.

The women were to be employed in taking care of
the infant children and in other suitable occupations, not
neglecting the cultivation of their -minds. Among other
matters not yet determined, was whether the marriage
contract should be dissolved, if agreeable to one or both
parties. Everyone was to enjoy his own religion and
political opinions, provided they did not encroach on
the rules previously made. They calculated that every
gentleman providing £"125 would be sufficient to carry the
scheme into execution. •

This Utopian scheme was hatched at Oxford and
matured in Bristol.

It was at Oxford, to which Coleridge went on a visit
to their mutual friend Allen, of Balliol, that Southey's
acquaintance with him began. Writing from the
University town to his friend, Grosvenor Bedford, on
June I2th, 1794, Southey said : '' Allen is with us daily,
and his friend from Cambridge, Coleridge, whose poems
you will oblige me by subscribing to. . . . He is of most
uncommon merit, — of the strongest genius, the clearest
judgment, the best heart. My friend he already is, and
must hereafter be yours."

One of the recreations of these Pantisocrats in Bristol
was the joint production of the drama The Fall of

6 A

102 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Robespierre, two-thirds of which Southey wrote ; but
it was with great difficulty that any publisher was
prevailed upon to publish it.

When later introduced by Lovell to Southey, Cottle
was deeply impressed with the latter, and said : " Never
will the impression be effaced, produced on me by this
young man. Tall, dignified, possessing great suavity of
manners ; an eye piercing, with a countenance full of
genius, kindliness and intelligence, I gave him at once the
right hand of fellowship, and to the moment of his decease,
that cordiality was never withdrawn." Even his great
antagonist Byron adrnitted that Southey was handsome.
Robert Southey, who was born under the shadow of
Christ Church, Bristol, spent his boyhood at No. 9 Wine
Street — a tablet marks the house.

Cottle was also struck with Coleridge's appearance
when they were introduced: "I instantly descried his
intellectual character; exhibiting as he did, an eye,
a brow, and a forehead, indicative of commanding
genius."

Both the poets submitted their productions to the
worthy Cottle, who read and admired them and gave a
practical proof of his admiration by offering them
generous terms for the copyright of their respective
poems. Coleridge, who in London had been offered six
guineas for his poems, was surprised at the liberality of
Cottle, who offered him thirty guineas ; and a like sum to
Southey, and also promised the latter to give him fifty
guineas for his projected Joan of Arc. As both were
on the eve of their marriage to two of the sisters Flicker
(Lovell being already married to a third), daughters of a
sugar-mould maker of Westbury-on-Trym, but afterwards
residing with their widowed mother at Redcliff Hill,

COTTLE'S GENEROSITY. 103

the offer was doubly acceptable. To facilitate Coleridge's
marriage, Cottle promised him a guinea and a half for
every hundred lines he should write. Cottle essayed to
be a poet himself — though his Alfred or The Fall of
Cambria or the Malvern Hills are poor passports to fame —
and this probably accounted in some degree for Cottle's
partiality for the young poets. Amos Cottle also wrote
verse, and both have been lashed by the whip of satire.
Byron, it will be remembered, in his English Bards and
Scotch Reviewers, said : —

" Oh, Amos Cottle ! — Phoebus! what a name
To fill the speaking trump of fame."

Whilst Joseph figured in the lines ascribed to George
Canning : —

" Cottle, not he by Alfred made famous,
But Joseph, of Bristol, the brother of Amos."*

While preparing their poems for publication and
vainly awaiting converts to their great Pantisocratic
scheme, Coleridge and Southey took lodgings in College
Street — a tablet on the house now commemorates the fact
that Coleridge lived there — and gave themselves up to
dreams of philosophy and poetry. Alas ! the realities of life
soon disturbed them, for funds ran low, and the aid of Cottle
was invoked, with the result that he lent them £^ to defray
their lodging bill. Turning about for means of income, they
resolved on giving courses of lectures — Southey on history
and Coleridge on politics and morals. Coleridge delivered
his first two at the Plume of Feathers Inn, Wine Street,
and several at the Assembly Rooms, Prince Street.
Southey's were given at the latter place, and both courses

* The writer has mixed up the identities of the brothers Cottle in the
latter couplet.

104 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

were well attended, despite the unpopular opinions of the
two orators. On a certain occasion some hostile critics
attended one of Coleridge's political lectures and testified
their disapproval of his sentiments by hissing. He at
once, without the slightest hesitation, remarked : " I am
not at all surprised, when the red-hot prejudices of
aristocrats are suddenly plunged into the cold water
of reason, that they should go off with a hiss!" The
effect was electrical, and the lecturer was immensely
applauded.

On October 4th, 1795, Coleridge was married at
St. Mary Redcliff Church, and he and his bride departed
to spend their honeymoon at Clevedon (famous for its
associations with the Hallams, Tennyson, Thackeray, and
others). The newly-wedded pair had been there but a few
days when the indispensable Cottle's help was desired
to supply them with the following quaint assortment of
household requisites: — "A riddle slice; a candle box;
two ventilators ; two glasses for the wash-hand stand ;
one tin dust-pan ; one small tin tea-kettle ; one pair of
candlesticks ; one carpet brush ; one flour dredge ; three
tin extinguishers; two mats; a pair of slippers; a cheese
toaster ; two large tin spoons ; a Bible ; a keg of porter ;
coffee ; raisins ; currants ; catsup ; nutmegs ; allspice ;
cinnamon; rice; ginger; and mace" — to which the
thoughtful Cottle added a piece of carpet.

Robert Southey led Edith Fricker, to whom he had
long been engaged, to the altar at the same church on
November 14th, 1795. Before doing so, however, Cottle's
generosity supplied the money for the w'edding-ring and
licence, an act that Southey remembered to the day of
his death, and nobly acknowledged when at the zenith
of his fame in a letter to Cottle that deserves, for its

MARRIAGE OF COLERIDGE & SOUTHEY. 105

manliness, a place by the side of Johnson's famous letter
to the Earl of Chesterfield.

Southey"s marriage was hastened by the fact that
his uncle at Lisbon had come to England, and was
desirous that the young poet should return to Portugal
with him. Southey consented ; but before doing so he
resolved to make Edith his wife, so that she could
honourably accept whatever he could send for her
support, the arrangement being that she should, in his
absence, live with Cottle's sister and pass under her
maiden name. So at the church door, after clasping
hands with mingled feelings of sadness and joy, husband
and wife parted.

In the meantime Coleridge had found out the
inconvenience of living away from the intellectual
companionship of his friends at Bristol and the depri-
vation of the books he was wont to browse upon at
the Bristol Library in King Street. Consequently he
and his wife returned to Bristol, and lived in rooms on
Redcliff Hill. His regret at leaving Clevedon, natural to
one of such keen poetic sensibility, is expressed in the
following lines : —

" Ah ! quiet dell ! clear cot, and mount sublime !
I was constrained to quit you. Was it right,
While my unnumbered brethren toiled and bled,
That I should dream away the entrusted hours
On rose-leaf beds, pampering the coward heart
With feelings all too delicate for use ? "

Soon after his return, with the enthusiasm of
inexperience, Coleridge induced his equally enthusiastic
friends to embark on his memorable undertaking, the
publication of the short-lived but famous magazine,
The Watchman.

!_-

108 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

At the Rummer Tavern, near All Saints' Church, one
evening in December, 1795, it was definitely decided
to bring out the magazine. Early in the following
January Coleridge started off in quest of subscribers.
The magic of his persuasive powers induced a thousand
to give him their support. A vivid account of this tour
will be found in his Biographia.

It was after his return to Redcliff Hill, on
February 22nd, 1796, that, in reply to a note from
Cottle, he addressed to him the following remarkable
letter: —

" My dear Sir, — It is my duty and business to thank
God for all his dispensations, and to believe them the
best possible ; but, indeed, I think I should have been
more thankful, if he had made me a journeyman shoe-
maker, instead of an author by trade, I have left my
friends ; I have left plenty ; I have left that ease which
would have secured a literary immortality, and have enabled
me to give the public works conceived in moments of
inspiration, and polished with leisurely solicitude ; and alas !
for what have I left them? for — who deserted me in the
hour of distress, and for a scheme of virtue impracticable
and romantic !

" So I am forced to write for bread; write the flights
of poetic enthusiasm, when every minute 1 am hearing a
groan from my wife. Groans, and complaints, and sickness !
The present hour I am in a quickset hedge of embarrass-
ment, and whichever way I turn a thorn runs into me !
The future is cloud and thick darkness ! Poverty,
perhaps, and the thin faces of them that want bread
looking up to me ! . . . Oh, wayward and desultory
spirit of genius! Ill canst thou brook a taskmaster! The

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE.

(A/lei- Viawini; hy 1'i-/ikk Vanhv ki.. )

PRODUCTION OF "THE WATCHMAN." 109

tenderest touch from the hand of obhgation wounds thee
like a scourge of scorpions. . . ."

Some such mood of bitterness as this must have
inspired his Monody on Chatterion, of which the following
are among the concluding lines : —

" Poor Chatterton ! farewell ! of darkest hues
This chaplet cast I on thy unshaped tomb ;
But dare no longer on the sad theme muse,
Lest kindred woes persuade a kindred doom ! "

On March ist, 1796, The Watchman appeared ; but, alas !
its chief characteristic, from the waiting subscribers'
point of view, was its deadly dulness (the unforgivable
literary sin). It lingered on, offending numbers of its
subscribers b}'^ its heretical opinions, until No. 10
was reached, when its career came to a close, an
event fully anticipated by Coleridge's shrewd and trusted
friend, Thomas Poole, of Nether Stowey.

The despondency induced by the non-success of The
Watchman was greatly alleviated by the timely and
delicate generosity of the worthy Poole, who sent
Coleridge a sum of money, at the same time inviting
him to recruit himself by spending a few days at Nether
Stowey : this was accepted, and a restful fortnight
spent there.

On his return to Bristol early in April Coleridge's
first book of poems was published under the title of
" Poems on Various Subjects, by S. T. Coleridge, late of
Jesus College, Cambridge, 1796." This volume derives
additional interest from the fact that contained in it are
four sonnets by Charles Lamb. The celebrated volume,
now very rare, is contained in the Bristol Collection of
the city libraries, having been presented by the author.

In June of the same year Coleridge received an offer

110 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

— which, had it been accepted, might have placed him
in the proud position of independence for the rest
of his Hfe — through the influence of the celebrated
Dr. Beddoes, of Clifton. It was that of the assistant
editorship of the Morning Chronicle. But fate decreed
it otherwise. That infirmity of indecision, which was
his leading moral characteristic through life, and marred
the full flowering forth of his great and complex
genius, prevented his taking occasion by the hand,
and made him, too, the victim of ceaseless financial
embarrassment.

It was from Redcliff Hill in this same month of June
that he wrote on the 22nd to his republican friend,
John Thelwall : "I wish very much to See you. Have
you given up the idea of spending a few weeks or month
at Bristol ? . . . We have a large and every way
excellent library, to which I could make you a temporary
subscriber. . . . We have a hundred lovely scenes about
Bristol which would make you exclaim, ' O admirable
Nature!' and me, 'O gracious God!'"

Later in the year the Coleridges removed to Oxford
Street, Kingsdown, and whilst the poet was absent at
Birmingham on a visit to Charles Lloyd, the son of a
banker philanthropist of that city (whose acquaintance
he had made on his Watchman tour), he received the
pleasing intelligence of the birth of his first-born.
Hartley.

This interesting event took place on September 19th,
1796. Three sonnets proclaimed Coleridge's gladness to
the world. The first of these ended with that exquisite
*■ touch of nature that makes the whole world kin " : —

" So for the Mother's sake the Child was dear,
And dearer was the Mother for the Child."

SOUTHEY SETTLES xVT WESTBURY. Ill

Fascinated by the converse of Coleridge, and with
poetic instincts of his own, Lloyd greatly desired to sit at
his feet and drink daily of the copious spring of poetry
and wisdom. Consequently he begged Coleridge to
allow him to "domesticate" with him as a paying
guest. Coleridge yielded to his desire, and hastened
back to Bristol accompanied by Lloyd. Writing to
Poole at a later date, he alluded to Lloyd as follows :
•'Charles Lloyd wins upon me hourly; his heart is
uncommonly pure, his affection delicate, and his benevo-
lence enlivened but not sicklied by sensibility. . . . His
joy and gratitude to Heaven for the circumstance of his
domestication with me I can scarcely describe to you ;
and I believe that his fixed plans are of being always
with me. ..."

Shortly after this was written Coleridge, his family,
and Lloyd were at Nether Stowey visiting Poole, and
whilst there the poet conceived a passion for rural life
which crystallised into a plan for living there, to be
near Poole, in spite of the dissuasion of the latter, who
pointed out the apparent folly of burying himself in an
obscure village like Stowey, far from libraries and the
society of his intellectual friends.

The letter containing Poole's advice on this project
moved Coleridge profoundly, and another remarkable
letter was written in reply, exhibiting the bitter travail
of his soul.

During the summer of this year Southey had returned
from his visit to his uncle in Portugal. After a vain
attempt to study for the law in London, and visits to
friends at Norwich and Christchurch, Southey once more
returned to his beloved Bristol, and settled at Westbury,
where he enjoyed "twelve happy months" in devoting

112 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

himself to the passion of his life — htcrary composition.
" I never before or since," he said, " produced so much
poetry in the same space of time." At Westbury, too,
he enjo3'ed the companionship of Davy, and the Southeys
and Coleridgcs were welcome guests at Cote House, the
residence of John Wedgwood, whose brothers, Josiah and
Thomas, were frequent visitors there. Speaking of Davy,
Southe}^ observed : " He is not twenty-one, nor has he
applied to chemistry more than eighteen months, but he
has advanced with such seven-leagued strides as to over-
take everybody." It was whilst residing at Westbury
that Southey projected The Annual Anthology for the year
1799-1800 ; it contained poems by Coleridge, Lamb,
Lloyd, Hucks, Dyer, the Cottles, Mrs. Robinson (Perdita),.
and Mrs. Opie.

This delightful time had but a brief duration, for the
owner of the house in which the Southeys lived desired
re-possession, and they had reluctantly to seek another
home. Southey's health, too, being at this time (1799)
impaired, he and his wife decided to go into Hampshire.
Their stay there, however, was cut short, for Southey was
taken ill with fever, and on recovering they once more
turned their steps to Bristol. Total change was deemed
necessary to re-establish entirely the poet's health, and his
memory became haunted by the scent of the lemon groves
of Portugal. Early, therefore, in April, 1800, he and
his wife took ship to that country, and spent there a
delightful time with his uncle, for in a week the poet was
so fully restored to health that he was enabled to finish
his poem Thalaba. On his return to England in 1801
he found a letter awaiting him at Bristol from Coleridge,
entreating him to come to Greta Hall, Keswick, and
eulogising the beauty of the situation. The letter closed

AMONG THE QUANTOCKS. 113

with the words : " I know no place in which you and
Edith would find yourselves so well suited."

The persuasive arguments of Coleridge prevailed, and
the Southeys went to Keswick for a short stay. Thence
they proceeded to Wales, but this visit was suddenl}-
terminated by the offer of the post of private secretary to
the Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland, attached to
which was a salary of four hundred pounds per annum.
Southey accepted the offer and posted off to Dublin,
and thence went to London, where his mother, who
joined them, breathed her last. This sad event, and
the uncongenial nature of the work, induced Southey
to resign the post, and he and his wife returned
once more to Bristol. Here he laboured daily at his
History of Portugal and the Ainadis of Gaul. Here too,
in September, 1802, his first child was born. All too
brief was her little life, and, saddened by the loss, the
bereaved parents turned their steps yet again to the
Coleridges at Greta Hall, Keswick, which proved to be
thenceforth their future home.

Reverting once more to Coleridge, his sojourn among
the ferny and beautiful combes of the Quantocks is the
most fascinatingly interesting period of his life. It was a
singularly productive time, and the poems originating
from that staj'' in the " Oberland of Somerset " were by
him never surpassed. His masterpiece. The Ancitiit
Mariner, was written there ; and there,* too, it will be

* Avery interesting and much debated point, viz. wliere tliese two great
poets first met, " as quite recently been cleared up by Professor Knight,
who proves that it was in Bristol, at 7 Great George Street, then the
residence of John Pinney, father of Charles Pinney, Mayor of Bristol at
the time of the Riots in 183 1. It was the elder Pinney who lent Wordsworth
the farmhouse at Racedown, Dorset. Professor Knight considers that the
meeting of Coleridge and Wordsworth was one of the most i-emarkable
conjunctions of genius in the literary history of England.

114 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

remembered, he was joined by Wordsworth and his sister,
who were drawn thither by the wonderful converse of
Coleridge, which delighted and enchanted all with
whom he came into contact. The spell of that delightful
locality has been immortalised by both these poetic giants.
Wordsworth, in his Prelude says, alluding to the rambles
and communings over the Quantocks : —

" Upon smooth Quantock's airy ridge we roved
Unchecked, or loitered 'mid her sylvan combs,
Thou in bewitching words, with happy heart,
Didst chaunt the vision of that Ancient Man,
The bright-eyed Mariner, and rueful woes
Didst utter of the Lady Christabel. . . ."

Whilst Coleridge, with his magical descriptive power,
speaks of —

" The many-steepled tract magnificent,
Of hilly fields, and meadows and the sea,
With some fair bark, perhaps, whose sails light up
The slips of smooth clear blue betwixt two isles
Of purple shadow."

But the great work imperishably linked with the
Quantocks, was the production of the famous volume,
the Lyrical Ballads, a work that undoubtedly revolu-
tionised the artificiality of English poetry, which had
lapsed into the dull, mechanic exercise, and made it once
more become transfigured with "the light that never was
on sea or land." Hazlitt, De Quincey, Lamb, and Cottle
visited the Coleridges there. Hazlitt has eloquently
recorded his impressions of Nether Stowey and Alfoxden.
Well indeed have the Quantocks been described as " The
Cradle of the Lake Poets."

It was whilst there that Coleridge wrote that singularly
charming note to Cottle respecting Dorothy Wordsworth,
which runs as follows : —

COLERIDGE AND THE WORDSWORTHS. 115

" My dear Cottle, — W and his exquisite sister

are with me. She is a woman indeed ! in mind I mean,
and heart ; for her person is such, that if you expected to see
a pretty woman, you would think her rather ordinary ; if
you expected to see an ordinary woman, you would think her
pretty ! but her manners are simple, ardent, impressive.
In every motion her most innocent soul outbeams so
brightly that who saw would say, ' Guilt was a thing
impossible in her.' . . . — S. T. C."

Dorothy Wordsworth, too, was impressed with Cole-
ridge, for she wrote : " He is a wonderful man. His
conversation teems with soul, mind and spirit." Speaking
of his eye, she remarked : " It has more of the poet's eye
in a wild frenzy rolling than I ever witnessed."

Earlier we have alluded to Coleridge's habit of reading
and borrowing books from the Bristol Library. The
registers are still preserved which record the works taken
out by Coleridge, Southey, Landor and Davy, as young
men then on the threshold of their future fame. It is a
record unique and absorbing in its interest to all literary
students.* To the present City Librarian, Mr. E. R.
Norris Mathews, the credit is due of having rescued these
memorials from the garret to which they had been igno-
miniously consigned. The peculiarly interesting feature
of the entries is that in the majority of cases the books
were signed for in the autograph of those famous men in
the actual registers.

The following pungent and characteristic letter was
written from Nether Stowey concerning the detention by
Coleridge of a work in quarto from the library : —

* In the February number of Chamben' Journal for 1890 is an interest-
ing account of the books they read.

116 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

" Stowey, May, 1797.

" Mr. Catcott, — I beg your acceptance of the enclosed
letters. You must not think Hghtly of the present as they
cost me, who am a very poor man, one shilling ajid three-
tience. For the future all letters to me from the Library
must be thus directed :

" S. T. Coleridge,
" Mr. Cottle's, bookseller, High Street, Bristol.

With respect to the Brackers, altho' by accident they
were registered on the 23rd of March, yet they were not
removed from the Library for a fortnight after, and when I
received your first letter on this subject I had had the two
volumes just three weeks. Our learned and ingenious
committee may read thro' two quartos, i.e. two thousand
and four hundred pages of close printed Greek and Latin- in
three weeks, for aught I know to the contrary. I pretend
to no such intenseness of application or rapidity of genius.
I must beg you to inform me by Mr. Cottle (what) length
of time is allowed b}^ the rules and customs of our institu-
tion for each book. Whether the contents as well as
their size are consulted in apportioning the times, or
whether, customarily, any time at all is apportioned except
when the committee, in individual cases, chuse to deem
it proper.

" I subscribe to your Library, Mr. Catcott, not to read
novels, or books of quick reading and easy digestion, but
to get books which I cannot get elsewhere, books of massy
knowledge, and as I have few books of my own, I read
with a commonplace book, so that if I be not allowed
a larger period of time for the perusal of such books,
I must contrive to get rid of my subscription, which

-^'

400.

JOSEPH COTTLE.

{Ajicy Portrait by Branwhite.)

COLERIDGE'S POEMS. 117

would be a thing perfectly useless, except as far as it

gives me an opportunity of reading your little notes

and letters.

" Yours in Christian fellowship,

" S. T. Coleridge.
" Mr. G. Catcott, Sub. Libra": "

Through the instrumentality of Poole, Coleridge
was made acquainted with the Wedgwoods, who sub-
sequently proved his generous friends. One of the
first letters the poet wrote after reaching Stowey was
the following : —

" My dear Cottle, — We arrived safe. Our house
is set to rights. We are all — wife, bratling and self,
remarkably well. Mrs. Coleridge likes Stowey, and loves
Thomas Poole and his mother, who love her. A com-
munication has been made from our orchard into
T. Poole's garden, and from there to Cruickshank's, a
friend of mine, and a young married man, whose
wife is very amiable, and she and Sara are already
on the most cordial terms ; from all you will conclude
we are happy. By-the-bye, what a delightful poem,
is Southey's ' Musings on a Landscape of Gaspar
Poussin.' I love it alm.ost better than his ' Hymn to
the Penates.' . . ."

Indeed, during Coleridge's stay there he was in
constant correspondence with Cottle, and arranged for
the publication of a second edition of his poems. The
volume contains several contributions added by his
friends Lamb and Lloyd. Some of the pieces in the
first edition were discarded and new ones inserted.

118 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

To use Coleridge's own words to Cottle, he intended
to admit nothing to the new volume but the "choicest
fish."

During the year 1797 Coleridge published in a Bristol
journal a poem on the death of Burns. This effort
resulted in a handsome local contribution towards the
fund for the support of the Scottish poet's family.

On October 2nd, 1798, Mr. Davy (afterwards the
famous Sir Humphry) of whom mention has already
been made came up from Cornwall to take charge of
the Pneumatic Institute in Dowry Square, Bristol,
started by the well-known Dr. Beddoes, with whom
Coleridge and Southey were on terms of close friend-
ship. The institute was opened in 1799. The physicians
in attendance were Beddoes and Roget, the latter
achieving distinction later in life by his celebrated and
indispensable work to literary men, the Thesaurus of
English Words and Phrases.

Though the Dowry Square venture failed to achieve
the object for which it was founded, it will ever be
memorable for fostering the genius of the greatest
chemist of his age. It was during his superintendence
of the institute that Davy discovered the properties of
nitrous oxide, to the exuberant delight of Southey.
Dr. Beddoes, who won the esteem of all who came into
contact with him, died in 1808. Among tributes to his
worth, Davy said: "He had talents which would have
raised him to the highest pinnacle of philosophical
eminence if they had been applied with discretion."

In their anxiety to be near Dr. Beddoes, the brothers
Thomas and Josiah Wedgwood came to Bristol, the
former settlmg down at Cornwallis House, Clifton, and the
latter joining his brother John at Cote House, Westbury-

THOMAS LOVKLL BEDDOES. 110

on-Trym. Thomas Wedgwood generously contributed
;£'i,ooo to assist in the estabhshment of the Pneumatic
Institute. Apart from the fact that he was the son of
Josiah Wedgwood, potter, of Etruria, Thomas Wedg-
wood's connection with so many famous men, and the
circumstance that he was the earhest discoverer of the
art of photography, will keep his memory green.

Dr. Beddoes's fame is somewhat overshadowed by
the achievements of his eccentric but highly-gifted son
the poet Thomas Lovell Beddoes. Though not a poet
to be compared with Chatterton, yet no history of
literature would be complete without the inclusion of
the younger Beddoes's name and work. He was born
at 3 Rodney Place, Clifton, on July 20th, 1803. As
the poet of death, revealed in his Bride's Tragedy and
Death's Jest-Book, morbidity of a unique kind is the
keynote of his poetry. Yet scintillating from his verse
are flashes of the fitful splendour of the northern lights,
strangely beautiful and arresting and of great power.

There is, too, in his poems lyrical faculty of a very
high order. These characteristics account for the chorus
of praise which greeted their arrival. In addition to all
this, the younger Beddoes was a consummate literary
craftsman. No less an authority than Mr. Edmund
Gosse has said that some of his poems are " marvellously
clever tours de force.'" Mr. George Saintsbury also adds
his tribute when he says that these poems " contain
passages of most exquisite fancy and music, such as
since the seventeenth century none but Blake and
Coleridge had given." Beddoes was one of the earliest
to recognise the genius of Shelley.

Thomas Lovell Beddoes bore a striking resemblance
in appearance to Keats. Browning once said with

120 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

reference to his poetry : " If I were Professor of Poetry,
my first lecture at the University should be on ' Beddoes,
a forgotten Oxford poet ' " ; while Mr, Swinburne has
said, too, that '" he had a noble instinct for poetry."

In the course of a visit to Dr. John Prior Estlin,
Unitarian Minister and father of John Bishop Estlin,
the great ophthalmic specialist of his day, in 1797
Mrs. Barbauld, the famous writer of the poem Life,
which has won her an immortal place in English
literature, mentioned, with reference to the elder Beddoes,
in writing to a friend : '* I have seen Dr. Beddoes. He
is a very pleasant man. His favourite prescription to
ladies is the inhaling of the breath of cows ; and he does
not, like the German doctors, send the ladies to the
cow-house. The cows are to be brought into the ladies'
chamber, where they are to stand all night with their
heads within the curtains." It was during this visit
that Coleridge, who admired Mrs. Barbauld's writing,
walked up from Nether Stowey for no other purpose
than that of meeting her. Continuing, Mrs. Barbauld
wrote : " We are here very comfortable with our friend,
Mr. Estlin, who, like some other persons that I know,
has the happy art of making his friends feel entirely at
home with him."

Dr. Estlin, who kept one of Bristol's famous schools
on St. Michael's Hill, was for years a helpful and true
friend to Coleridge. An extremely interesting collection
of his (Coleridge's) letters to Dr. Estlin has quite recently
been bequeathed to the city by the late Miss Estlin,
daughter of the famous surgeon, John Bishop Estlin,
and friend of the more famous Dr. James Martineau.
These letters formed the series edited by Mr. Henry
Bright, and were contributed to the privately - printed

COLERIDGE AS A PREACHER. 121

volume of the Philobiblon Society. With them, too, was
bequeathed a lock of Coleridge's hair.

At the close of 1797 Coleridge received an invitation
to preach at Shrewsbury as a candidate for the pastorship
of the local Unitarian Chapel. He was tempted to
accept by reason of the salary of ;^i5o per annum
attached to it. On the second Sunday of 1798, there-
fore, he preached, " with much acceptance," to the
congregation there. Among his listeners on that day
was the famous and brilliant essayist, William Hazlitt,
then but a youth. Living some ten miles from the
chapel, he rose at daybreak to hear the new candidate
preach, and his eloquent description of Coleridge is
imperishable. Its opening lines are as follows : " When
I got there the organ was playing the looth Psalm ;
and w^hen it was done, Mr. Coleridge rose and gave out
his text, ' And he went up into the mountain to pray.
Himself, alone.'' As he gave out this text his voice ' rose
like a steam of rich distilled perfumes ' ; and when he
came to the last two words, which he pronounced loud,
deep, and distinct, it seemed to me, who was then young,
as if the sounds had echoed from the bottom of the
human heart, and as if that prayer might have floated
in solemn silence through the universe. ..."

To that youthful listener Coleridge's oratory was
indeed the " music of the spheres."

Hazhtt proceeded to describe Coleridge's personal
appearance: "His complexion was at that time clear, and
even bright — 'As are the children of yon azure sheen.'
His forehead was broad and high, light as if built of ivory,
with large projecting eyebrows, and his eyes rolling beneath
them, like a sea with darkened lustre. 'A certain tender
bloom his face o'erspread,' a purple tinge as we see it in

122 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

the pale thoughtful complexions of the Spanish portrait-
painters Murillo and Velasquez. His mouth was gross,
voluptuous, open, eloquent ; his chin good-humoured and
round ; but his nose, the rudder of the face, the index of
the will, was small, feeble, nothing — like what he has
done. . . . His hair (now, alas! grey) was then black
and glossy as the raven's, and fell in smooth masses over
his forehead. . , ."

It was with the knowledge of this visit to Shrewsbury
that the brothers T. and J. Wedgwood made Coleridge
the offer of an annuity of £"150 to enable him to devote
his glorious gifts to the study of poetry and philosophy.
This nobly generous offer the poet accepted and posted off
to Cote House to thank his benefactors. His note to his
friend Thelwall, written on the January 30th, 1798, telling
him of his good fortune (the Wedgwood annuity) was
written in Cottle's shop.

About this time Coleridge was, at the invitation of the
proprietor of the Morning Post, contributing to its columns
at the munificent salary of a guinea a week. Among
those contributions was the splendid Ode to France.
During the year 1798, whilst Coleridge was still at Nether
Stowey with Wordsworth, came the rupture with Lloyd
and the former's recourse to opium consequent on the
pain to his feelings which that event produced. The
exhilaration of his mental powers from the drug enabled
Coleridge to produce, during that historic retirement at
the lonely farmhouse between Porlock and Lynton,
his magical and unsurpassable poetic fragment Kubla
Khan. Lloyd's unfortunate habit of tittle-tattle at this
time caused for a brief period a rupture between Coleridge
and Lamb, an event which inspired Lamb to write his
beautiful and pathetic lines, The Old Familiar Faces.

THE WORDSWORTHS VISIT BRISTOL. 123

It is not without interest that Lloyd's novel, Edmund
Oliver, the principal cause of the estrangement between
Coleridge and himself, was published by Cottle in
1798. In May, too, of this notable year of 1798 Cottle
spent a week with Coleridge and the Wordsworths at
Alfoxden, and arrangements were definitely made for the
publication of the Lyrical Ballads. On Cottle's return to
Bristol he carried with him the MS. of The Ancient
Mariner, the price of the copyright of the epoch-making
ballad being fixed at thirty guineas. The Lyrical Ballads
being ready by midsummer, Wordsworth, accompanied
by his sister, set out for Bristol to place them in the
hands of Cottle, the travellers visiting on their devious way
the Wye Valley, which inspired the justly-celebrated
poem, Lines written above Tintern Abbey. Wordsworth
himself has told the world how he wrote it : " No poem
of mine was composed under circumstances more pleasant
for me to remember than this. I began it on leaving
Tintern, after crossing the Wye, and concluded it just as
I was entering Bristol in the evening after a ramble of
four or five days with my sister. Not a line of it was
altered, and not any part of it written down till I reached
Bristol." This poem was committed to paper in Cottle's
parlour. Tennyson, who greatly admired Wordsworth's
poetry, said : " I have a profound admiration for ' Tintern
Abbey,'" and instanced in that poem the beautiful line —

" Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,"

as being of exceptional merit. In this parlour of Cottle's,
too, Coleridge wrote part of his Religious Musings.

In Bristol Wordsworth and his sister stayed for some
weeks, from July to September, for Wordsworth was
desirous of being near the printer whilst his Lyrical

124 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Ballads were passing through the press. It was during
this visit that James Tobin, brother of the dramatist, to
whom Cottle had shown the MS. of We are Seven, in
the opening lines of which Wordsworth had "hitched"
him in as "dear brother Jim," came and implored
Wordsworth to leave it out.

" You must cancel it," he said, " for if published it
will make you everlastingly ridiculous."

"Nay," was Wordsworth's calm reply; "that shall
take its chance."

Though the edition of the Lyrical Ballads consisted of
only 500 copies, such was the severity of the reviews and
so few the sales that the largest proportion of the volumes
passed into the hands of a London bookseller named
Arch. The edition has since become extremely rare and
valuable.

Coleridge joined the Wordsworths in Bristol, and
arranged for their German tour. A few days afterwards
the party was at Yarmouth en route for Germany.

On the eve of their departure the Lyrical Ballads
were published. Regarding this event, the travellers
received in their absence the report from Mrs. Coleridge
that " the Lyrical Ballads are not liked at all by any
one." There were, however, two w4io differed greatly in
opinion with the " any," for De Quincey said of them :
"I found in these poems 'the ray of a new morning,'
an absolute revelation of untrodden worlds teeming with
power and beauty as yet unsuspected amongst men." This
opinion was shared by Christopher North, of Blackii'ood.
Needless to say, subsequent writers have confirmed the
discernment and judgment of De Quincey and North.

In July of 1799 the literary tourists returned to
England — Coleridge to Stowey and the Wordsworths to

WM. WORDSWORTH.

(From a Drawing by Hancock, 1789.)

WORDSWORTH'S LETTER TO DAVY. 125

friends at Sockburn. Whilst the former was at Stowey
Southey, who had been visiting in Devon, came up with
his wife, and spent two or three weeks with him there.
After a brief visit to his old home at Ottery St. Mary,
Coleridge joined Wordsworth, and together they went on
to the Lakes. By Christmas Wordsworth had decided to
settle at Grasmere, and had taken up his abode with his
sister at the now famous " Dove Cottage." Thence in the
early part of 1800 he was busy arranging with Biggs and
Cottle to publish a second edition of the Lyrical Ballads
in two volumes, with respect to which he wrote the
following letter to Davy, at the Pneumatic Institution,
Dowry Square, Bristol : —

" Grasmere, near Ambleside,

"Tuesday, 28th July (1800).

" Dear Sir, — So I venture to address you though I
have not the happiness of being personally known to
you. You would greatly oblige me by looking over the
enclosed poems and correcting anything you find amiss
in the punctuation a business in which I am ashamed to
say I am no adept. I was unwilling to print from the
MSS. which Coleridge left in your hands, because as I
had not looked them over I was afraid that some lines
might be omitted or mistranscribed. I write to request
that you would have the goodness to look over the proof
sheets of the second volume before they are finally struck
off. In future I mean to send the MSS. to Biggs and
Cottle with a request that along with the proof sheets
they may be sent to you. ... In order that no time may
be lost I have sent off this letter which shall be followed
by others every post-day, viz: three times a week till the
whole is completed. You will be so good as to put the

7 A

126 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

enclosed poems into Mr. Bij:^f^s hands as soon as you

have looked them over in order that the printing may

be commenced immediately. The preface for the first

vol: shall be sent in a few days. Remember me most

affectionately to Tobin ['dear brother Jim' of 'We are

Seven '] . I need not say how happy I should be to see

you both in my little cabin. I remain with great respect

and kind feelings

" Yours sincerely

" W. Wordsworth."

Writing later to Biggs on September 15th, 1800, he
says : —

" Dear Sir, — It is my particular request that, if no
part of the poem of Christabel is already printed off,
the poems which I now send should be inserted before
Christabel. This I wish to be done even if the press
for Christabel be composed. I had no notion that the
printing of Christabel would be begun till you received
further intelligence from Mr. Coleridge or I should have
sent these poems before. The preface shall certainly be
sent off in four days at furthest.

" I am, dear Sir

"Your most obed*. serv'.

" W. Wordsworth."

At the time of sending the above letters Coleridge
was constantly with the Wordsworths, and his assistance
and advice were rendered to Wordsworth in every possible
way in the preparation of this second edition of the
Lyrical Ballads. Dorothy notes in her "Journal":
" Sept. 14th, 1800 — Coleridge came in. Oct. 4th —

LAMB'S CONNECTION WITH BRISTOL. 127

Exceedingly delighted with second part of ' Christabel.'
Oct. 5th — Coleridge read ' Christabel ' a second time ; we
had increasing pleasure." His own poems in this second
edition Coleridge most carefully revised, for no fewer
than seventy-one alterations of the Ancient Mariner,
were made, in addition to which several stanzas were
omitted ; moreover, a new one was added, and it distinctly
improved that wonderful poem.

In a letter written on October gth, 1800, to Coleridge,
Charles Lamb described a solemn call of condolence
he had paid, accompanied by George Dyer, to Joseph
Cottle on the death of his brother Amos : " For
some time after our entrance, nobody spake till George
modestly put in a question, whether ' Alfred ' was likely
to sell. This was Lethe to Cottle, and his poor face,
wet with tears, and his kind eye brightened up in a
moment. Now I felt it was my cue to speak. I had
to thank him for a present of a magnificent copy, and
had promised to send him my remarks, — the least thing
I could do ; so I ventured to suggest, that I perceived
a considerable improvement he had made in his first
book since the state in which he first read it to me.
Joseph, who till now had sat with his knees cowering in
by the fireplace, wheeled about, and, with great difficulty
of body shifted the same round to the corner of a table
where I was sitting, and first stationing one thigh over
the other, v*'hich is his sedentary mood, and placidly
fixing his benevolent face right against mine, waited my
observations. ... I could not say an unkind thing of
* Alfred.' ... At that moment I could perceive that
Cottle had forgot his brother was so lately become a
blessed spirit. In the language of mathematicians, the
author was as 9, the brother as i."

128 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Not the least interesting link of our city with Lamb
was J. M. Gutch, a Bristol journalist who achieved a
great provincial reputation. His letters over the signa-
ture of "Cosmos" earned for him the title of "The
Bristol Junius." In the early years of the last century
he was proprietor of Felix Farley's Journal. At Christ's
Hospital Lamb and Coleridge were his school-fellows.

Writing to Coleridge at the close of 1800, Lamb
says : " Soon after I wrote to you last, an offer was
made me by Gutch (you must remember him, at Christ's;
you saw him, slightly, one day with Thomson at our house),
to come and lodge with him, at his house in Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, This was a very comfortable
offer to me, the rooms being at a reasonable rent, and
including the use of an old servant, besides being
infinitely preferable to ordinary lodgings in our case, as
you must perceive. As Gutch knew all our story and
the perpetual liability to a recurrence in my sister's
disorder, probably to the end of her life, I certainly
think the offer very generous and very friendly. I have
got three rooms (including servant) under £"34 a 3-ear,
Here I soon found myself at home ; and here, in six
weeks after, Mary was well enough to join me. So we
are once more settled. ..."

For the next two or three years Coleridge lived in
the vicinity of the Wordsworths, with occasional
excursions to London and the West. During one of
these to Stowey in 1803, on the forward journey he
looked in on Wedgwood and Southe}' at Bristol, and
spent a few days with the latter ; and after a prolonged
sojourn in Malta he again revisited Bristol in 1807, where
his wife and family had preceded him. From Bristol
they all proceeded in June to Poole's house at Nether

DE QUINCEY. 129

Stowey. It was during this visit that De Quincey, who
had long paid intellectual homage to Coleridge, on
arriving at the Hotwells, learned that Coleridge was at
Poole's, and posted off to find him, bearing a letter
of introduction from Cottle. The particulars of his
search and meeting with Coleridge are graphically
related by De Quincey, and will be found in his works.
How profoundly he was impressed wath Coleridge's
genius can be measured somewhat by the noble and
delicate generosity which, through Cottle, he offered to
the idol of his admiration on learning that he was in
financial straits. This was no less than the anonymous
gift of ;^50o, which Cottle prudently persuaded him to
reduce to ;£'300. Coleridge's receipt for that amount
was as follows : —

"November 12th, 1807. — Received from Mr. Joseph
Cottle, the sum of three hundred pounds, presented to me,
through him, by an unknown friend.

" S. T. Coleridge.
"Bristol."

The record of De Ouincey's brief sta}' in Bristol is
contained in a letter to his sister, written on September
15th of that year. In the course of this epistle he
mentioned that Hartley Coleridge dined with him a few
days before — "And I gained his special favour, I believe,
by taking him — at the risk of our respective necks —
through every dell and tangled path of Leigh Wood."

Whilst in Bristol, to relieve the mind of Coleridge
(who was due in London to deliver a course of lectures
at the Royal Institution at Davy's earnest request),
De Quincey kindly took upon himself the duty of
accompanying Coleridge's family to the Lakes to pay

130 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

a visit to Wordsworth and Southey — a visit that he
(De Quincey) had also contemplated.

This was not the only occasion on which De Quincey
was in Bristol, for a few years later, in 1814, he came
again to the city, on the occasion of his visit to Hannah
More at W'rington. De Quincey's mother so greatly
admired Hannah More that she removed to the neigh-
bourhood of Barley Wood to be near her. In his Murder
Considered as One of the Fine Arts De Quince}' has made
classic the Ruscombe murders committed in Bristol in
1764.

From 1S07 to 1813 Coleridge divided his time between
the Lakes and London, and some of his most brilliant
lectures were given to select audiences (which included
Byron and Rogers) in the metropolis. But in October,
1813, he once more returned Bristol-wards by the coach,
having arranged to lecture at the " White Lion " (now
the Grand Hotel, Broad Street). Whilst travelling down
he discovered that a fellow-passenger was the sister of a
particular friend, and was on her way to North Wales.
Moved by one of his too frequent impulsive fits, nothing
would do but that he must escort the lady to her destina-
tion, with the result that he arrived at Bristol two or
three days behind time. On this occasion he was the
guest of an old friend, Josiah Wade, at 2 Queen Square.

Coleridge's non-arrival necessarily postponed the first
of his lectures, which was not delivered until October
28th, when, after some difficulty, his attendance was
secured and he was deposited on the platform just one
hour (Cottle tells us) " after all the company had im-
patiently awaited him." In spite of their inauspicious
commencement, the lectures gave great satisfaction. The
famous painter, C. R. Leslie, then an Academy student,

COLERIDGE, A VICTIM TO OPIUM. 131

and visiting some Bristol friends, heard three of them.
He was much struck, and wrote that the discourses gave
him "a much more distinct and satisfactory view of the
nature and ends of poetry and of painting than I ever had
before." It was during this, his last visit, that Coleridge's
friends in Bristol began to notice something unusual and
strange about his looks and deportment, due to the
excessive use of opium, which was the bane of his
existence. Incredible as it may seem, his consumption of
that destructive drug was from " two quarts a week to a
pint a day ! "

Whilst in Bristol Southey wrote to Cottle, deprecating
monetary assistance to Coleridge, which indicated too
clearly the terrible hold the drug habit had gained over
the latter. In the course of his letter Southey said :
'' This too I ought to say, that all the medical men to
whom Coleridge has made his confession, have uniformly
ascribed the evil, not to bodily disease, but to indulgence.
. . . He has sources of direct emolument open to him
in the Courier and in the Eclectic Review. . . . His great
object should be, to get out a play, and appropriate the
whole produce to the support of his son Hartle}', at
College. Three months' pleasurable exertion would affect
this. Of such fit of industry I by no means despair; of
anything more than fits, I am afraid I do."

Coleridge was at this time so completely the victim to
the habit of opium taking, which paralysed his marvellous
intellectual power and enervated his body, that for months
he was utterly incapable of mental exertion. His friend
Wade, with whom he resided, endeavoured to wean him
from the habit ; how successfully the following anecdote
will show. Wade had engaged a deca}cd tradesman to
attend Coleridge in his walks with a view to prevent his

132 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

giving way to opium. But how easily did Coleridge
circumvent this plan ! On one occasion as he and his
attendant were passing along the Quay Coleridge noticed
a druggist's shop (probably w^ell known to him). At the
same moment, directing his companion's attention to a
ship moored at some distance, he said, " I think that's an
American." " Oh, no, I'm sure it's not," replied the man.
" I think it is," replied Coleridge. " I wash you would step
over and bring me particulars." The man did so. As soon
as his back was turned Coleridge stepped into the shop,
and had his portly bottle (which he always carried in his
pocket) filled with opium. He quickly regained the spot
where his attendant had left him. The man, having
returned, began, " I told you, sir, it was not an American ;
but I have learned all about her." "As I am mistaken,
never mind the rest," said Coleridge, and walked on.
His departure in September, 1814, on a visit to his
friends the Morgans in Wilts, wath occasional letters of
appeal to Cottle for pecuniary assistance, marked the
close of this remarkable man's connection with Bristol.

To return once more to Southey. In the year 1808,
being on a visit to Bristol, he met the man of all others he
most desired to meet, Walter Savage Landor. As Southey
says in writing to a friend: "The onh' man living of
whose praise I was ambitious, or whose censure would
have humbled me. You will be curious to know who this
can be. Savage Landor, the author of ' Gebir,' a poem
which, unless you have heard me speak of it, you have
probably never heard of at all. I never saw anyone more
unlike myself in every prominent part of human character,
nor any one who so cordially and instinctively agreed with
me on so many of the most important subjects. I have
often said before we met, that I would walk forty miles to

WALTER SAVAGE LAN DO K.

SOUTHEY AND LANDOR. 133

see him, and having seen him, I would gladly walk four-
score to see him again. He talked of Thalaba, and I
told him of the series of mythological poems which I had
planned, . . . and also told him for what reason they
had been laid aside ; in plain English, that I could not
afford to write them. Landor's reply was, 'Go on with
them, and I will pay for printing them, as many as you
will write, and as many copies as you please.' " (Surely
an unparalleled princely act of generosity from one
literary man to another).

Is it to be wondered at that henceforth Southey took
Landor to his heart of hearts ? That this feeling was
reciprocated Landor has given ample proof. Each
admired the inherent nobility of character in the other.
Landor wrote of Southey: —

" No firmer breast than thine hath Heaven

To poet, sage, or hero given ;
No heart more tender, none more just

To that He largely placed in trust;
Therefore shalt thou, whatever date
Of years be thine, with soul elate
Rise up before the Eternal throne.
And hear, in God's own voice, ' Well done.' "

In another poem on the death of Southey he says : —

" ' I do not ask,'
Said I, ' about your happiness : I see
The same serenity as when we walk'd
Along the downs of Clifton.' "

Years but cemented their friendship. Writing of their
first meeting, Landor in a poem to the Rev. Cuthbert
Southey says : —

" Twelve years had past, when upon Avon's cliff,
Hard by his birthjjlace, first our hands were join'd ;
After three more he visited my home.
Along Llanthony's ruin'd aisles we walk'd. ..."

134 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Rejoicing at Southey's appointment to the Laureateship
in 1813 he wrote : —

" In happy hour doth he receive
The laurel, meed of famous bards of yore,
Which Dryden and diviner Spenser wore —
In happy hour; and well may he rejoice,
Whose earliest task must be
To raise the exultant hymn for victory."

In the year 1813 was published Southey's immortal
Life of Nelson. It was Southey's congenial task to
superintend the publishing of Landor's famous Imaginary
Conversations, and it was in Landor's company that
for the last time, in the year 1836, he revisited his
beloved native city, its glorious Downs, and all the old
familiar scenes of his boyhood. His early publisher, the
worthy Cottle, gladly welcomed and entertained him. It
was when at the flood-tide of his career, at the time
when he was Poet Laureate and writing articles for The
Quarterly at ;£"ioo each, and when he had been more
than once offered and had refused the blue ribbon of
English journalism, no less than the editorship of Tlic
Times with a salary of /2,ooo a year, and when foreign
societies were showering distinctions upon him — such was
the time he chose, when it would have been but too
human to forget, to write that memorable letter acknow-
ledging his deep sense of indebtedness to Cottle, his early
and lifelong friend, for ha\ing supplied him with the
money to buy his wedding ring and licence. The letter
runs as follows : " Do you suppose, Cottle, that I have
forgotten those true and most essential acts of friendship
which you showed me when I stood most in need of
them ? Your house was my home when I had no other.
The very money with which I bought my wedding-ring

SOUTHEY'S CHARACTER. 135

and paid my marriage-fees, was supplied by you. It was
with your sisters I left Edith during my six months'
absence, and for the six months after my return it was
from you that I received, week by week, the little on which
we lived, till I was enabled to live by other means. . . .
You are in the habit of preserving your letters, and if you
were not, I would entreat you to preserve this that it might
be seen hereafter. Sure I am, that there never was a
more generous, tender heart than yours, and }ou will
believe me when I add, that there does not live that man
upon earth whom I remember with more gratitude and
more affection. My head throbs and my eyes burn with
these recollections. Good-night ! my dear old friend and
benefactor. . . ." Surely such a letter tells us more
than volumes what manner of man Southey was. Apart
from Scott, modern letters have given us few nobler men
than the manly, loyal and tender-hearted Southey. Allan
Cunningham said of him, " Southey is one of the very
noblest and purest characters in the world."

It may be that in some minds he suffers a total eclipse
from the literary standpoint compared to his great con-
temporary Coleridge, yet on the other hand Coleridge
is as truly eclipsed by Southey ; for Coleridge, though
a giant in intellect, had morally the backbone of
a jelly-fish. To visit the house at Bedminster where his
grandmother lived, the church which with his mother
and her he attended fifty years before, his aunt's house
in College Green, not forgetting in their pilgrimage the
house where he was born in Wine Street, was an un-
speakable delight to Southey. Nothing was overlooked
that was endeared to his memory by happy bygone years.
As he darted down an alley, or showed them a short cut
or byway, he would tell his companions he had not trod

136 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

them since his schooldays. " Ah ! " said Landor, turning
to him as they stumbled over some workmen in passing
College Green, " workmen some day may be busy on this
very spot putting up your statue, but it will be twenty
years hence." " Well," replied Southey, " if ever I have
one I would wish it to be here." (This wish has yet to
be fulfilled.)

Landor, whose Imaginary Conversations is one of the
choicest of English classics, predicted his own niche in
the temple of fame in the following words : " I shall dine
late, but the dining-room will be well lighted, the guests
few and select." Dickens has presented the world with
a picture of this erratic, choleric, but withal lovable and
great personality, in his " Mr. Boythorn " in Bleak House.

The nobility of Landor's friendship with Southey is
evidenced in the last letter he wrote to him : " If any
man living is ardent for 3'our welfare, I am; whose few and
almost worthless merits your generous heart has always
over-valued, and whose infinite and great faults it has
been too ready to overlook. I will write to you often
now that I learn I may do it inoffensively; well remember-
ing that among the names you have exalted is Walter
Landor." To the bust of Southey executed by his
distinguished fellow-citizen, E. H. Baily, to commemorate
his memory, and placed in Bristol Cathedral, Landor
contributed the sum of ;^20.

Few men have pursued the career of letters with such
devotion as Southey, and fewer still have so generously
recognised the talent of their contemporaries as he.
The practical interest he took in Kirke White is well
known, and his self-sacrificing efforts on behalf of
Chatterton's sister, Mrs. Newton, in bringing out (by
the aid of Cottle) an edition of Chatterton's works in 1803,

CHRIST CIIUKCH, 1-KOM IIIC^H STREET

SOUTHEY AND CHARLOTTE BRONTE. 137

which resulted in a clear profit of ;r300, also deserves
honourable mention. Being of such a disposition, is it
to be wondered at that the little Yorkshire governess,
Charlotte Bronte, whose genius has placed her securely
among the half-dozen of great English novelists, being
in sore need of a word of encouragement at the outset
of her career, dropped, full of hopes and fears, her packet
of MS. into the little post office at Haworth, addressed
to Robert Southey, asking him the favour of his judgment
on it. For weeks she vainly waited for a reply. At
length it came, and the reason of the delay was that
he had been absent from home. It was a letter that
raised no false hopes, but was full of temperate and kind
criticism and admirable advice. Its recipient years
afterwards acknowledged its justice. " Mr. Southey's
letter," said Charlotte Bronte, " was kind and admirable,
a little stringent, but it did me good." She wrote again :
"I had not ventured to hope for such a reply; so con-
siderate in its tone, so noble in its spirit." To which
Southey replied, expressing the hope that she would
visit him at the Lakes. " You would then think of me
afterwards with the more goodwill, because you would
perceive that there is neither severity nor moroseness in
the state of mind to which years and observation have
brought me. . . . And now, madam, God bless you.
Farewell, and believe me to be your sincere friend,
Robert Southey."

Thus through Southey, Bristol is associated with the
author of Jane Eyre, one of the supreme novels of the
world. During his long and honourable career as a
man of letters, few were those of distinction who were
unknown to him. At the Lakes he met and visited the
unfortunate Shelley. Carlyle too he knew, and won his

138 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

esteem. Amongst his truest friends he numbered Sir
Walter Scott, who rejected the offer of the Laureateship
in Southey's favour. Truly, as John Addington Symonds
remarked to Robert Louis Stevenson, there must have
been something essentially good about Southey to have
won the admiration of two such opposite personalities as
Landor and Carlyle.

Thackeray too, in his Four Georges, after referring to
Sir Walter Scott, says: "I will take another man of
letters, whose life I admire even more, — an English
worthy, doing his duty for fifty noble years of labour,
day by day storing up learning, day by day working for
scant wages, most charitable out of his small means,
bravely faithful to the calling which he had chosen,
refusing to turn from his path, for popular praise or prince's
favour : — I mean Robert Southey. ... I hope his life
will not be forgotten, for it is sublime in its simplicity,
its energy, its honour, its affection."

Yet, in spite of his long and honourable servitude to
letters, it is but a slender store, especially of verse, which
will carry Southey down the stream of time as one of the
immortals. Much as he might have otherwise desired, it
is not by his Joaji of A re, his Madoc, or Thalaba
that he will be remembered, but by his prose. His best
passport to fame he won by his peerless biography of
Nelson, which is, and will continue to be, an English
classic — a work which his friend Sir Humphry Davy
described as " an immortal monument raised by genius
to valour." Speaking of his Life of Wcdcy, Coleridge
said : " My favourite of my library, among many
favourites, the book I can read for the twentieth time,
when I can read nothing else at all."

Professor Edward Dowden, one of our foremost

DEATH OF SOUTHEY AND COTTLE. 131^

critics, has said of Southey's prose: "He is never dull,
he affects neither the trick of stateliness nor that of
careless ease; he does not seek out curiosities of refine-
ment, nor caress dehcate affectations. Because his style
is natural it is inimitable, and the only way to write like
Southey is to write well."

Few probably of the present generation have read The
Doctor, a book teeming with mirth, learning, and wisdom.
"The wit and humour of The Doctor,'" says Edgar Allan
Poe, "have seldom been equalled. We cannot think
Southey wrote it."

In addition to these works he has given the world
a nursery classic, The Three Bears, which will charm
countless children yet unborn.

The lifelong friendship of Southey with Landor has
already been adverted to. In those sad and pathetic
closing years of his life, when the light of reason had
fled, with almost his latest breath he was heard to repeat
fondly to himself the name of " Landor, ay Landor."

What Landor himself felt at the death of Southey is
best epitomised in the following couplet : —

" Southey, my friend of forty years, is gone,
And, shattered by the fall, I stand alone."

Cottle, the humble link with these world-famous men,
retired from business a year or two after the publication
of the Lyrical Ballads, and died eventually at his residence,
Firfield House, Upper Knowle, Bristol, in the year 1853.

CHAPTER 11. {continued).

PART V.

CLOSING ASSOCIATIONS OF THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.

Sir Nathaniel Wraxall — Maria Edgeworth ; Description of
her life in Clifton — Lady Hesketh — Mrs. Draper.

WRITER who attained considerable celebrity in
the closing years of the eighteenth century as
the Greville of his day was Sir Nathaniel
William Wraxall, the son of a Bristol merchant, born
in 1751 on the south side of Queen Square.

His Historical Memoirs of My Own Time from 1772
to 1784 is steeped in the ver}^ atmosphere of that period.
It created a storm of hostile criticism, and the first
edition of it was sold out in a month. Among its critics
have been Croker, Mackintosh, and Macaulay, who
vigorously attacked the truth of its statements. The
Edinburgh Review of the time contained the following
caustic epigram, said to have been written by George
Coleman : —

" Men, measures, scenes, and facts all.
Misquoting, misstating.
Misplacing, misdating.
Here 'lies' Sir Nathaniel Wraxall."

140

WRAXALL AND MARIA EDGEWORTH. 141

Notwithstanding this powerful onslaught, Wraxall replied
with considerable success to his critics' charges. Indeed,
Sir George Osborn, for fifty years equerry to George III.
and a disinterested onlooker, declared : " I pledge my name
that I personally know nine parts out of ten of your
anecdotes to be perfectly correct " ; whilst Sir Archibald
Alison, the historian, writing in Blackwood, said nothing
but truth could produce so portentous an alliance as that
between the Quarterly and the Edinhiir^Ji. In brief, time
has signally falsified the prediction of his critics that
the work would be rapidly forgotten. In addition to
this celebrated work he wrote others. He died at Dover
in his 8ist year.

Maria Edgeworth came to Clifton in the year 1793.
She was charmed with the place, her residence being at
Prince's Buildings. Writing to her uncle, she says :
"We live just the same life that we used to do at
Edgeworthstown. . . . All the Phantasmas I had
conjured up to frighten myself, vanished after I had
been here a week. . . . We live very near the Downs,
where we have almost every day charming walks,
and all the children go bounding about over hill and
dale along with us. . . . My father has got a transfer
of a ticket for the Bristol Library, which is an
extremely fine one, and what makes it appear ten times
finer is that it is very difficult for strangers to get into.
From thence he can get almost any book for us when
he pleases, except a few of the most scarce, which are, by
the laws of the library, immovable. No ladies go to
the librar}^ ; but Mr. Johnes, the librarian, is very civil,
and my mother went to his rooms and saw the beautiful
prints in Boy dell's Shakespeare."

Again, in a letter written to her cousin on March 9th,

142 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

1792, she writes : " We went the other day to see the
collection of natural curiosities at a Mr. Broderip's (the
Bristol naturalist), which entertained us very much. My
father observed he had but very few butterflies, and he
said : ' No, sir ; a circumstance which happened to me
some time ago determined me never to collect any more
butterflies. I caught a most beautiful butterfly, thought
I had killed it, and ran a pin through its body to fasten
it to a cork. A fortnight afterwards I happened to look
in the box where I had left it, and saw it writhing in
agony. Since that time I have never destroyed another.'
Mrs. Yearsley, the milkwoman, whose poems I daresay
my aunt has seen, lives near us at Clifton. We have
never seen her, and probably never shall ; for my father
is so indignant against her for her ingratitude to her
benefactress, Miss Hannah More, that he thinks she
deserves to be treated with neglect."

Writing later to another correspondent, she says :
" My uncle has just been with us for three weeks, and
in that time filled five quires of paper with dried plants
from the neighbouring rocks. He says there is at Clifton
the richest harvest for botanists. How I wish you were
here to reap it. There is a species of cistus which grows
at St. Vincent's Rock which is not, I am told, to be found
in any other part of England." Her association with
Clifton was later rendered still more close from the
interesting fact that her sister, Anna, became the wife of
the famous Dr. Beddoes, the patron and friend of Sir
Humphry Davy. In the year 1799 a return visit was
made to Clifton by the Edgeworths. The life of this
charming woman, who numbered Sir Walter Scott
amongst her friends, has been added to the famous
English Men of Letters Series.

LADY HESKETH AND MRS. DRAPER. 143

In the year 1799 was living at Clifton Cowper's
charming friend, the beautiful Lady Hesketh, one of
the most fascinating women of her time. Writing in
September to a friend, she says : " I left Bath last
Thursday, and came to this most charming place, Clifton
Hill, where I design to pass some time, and which is
just now in great beauty, the woods which crown these
charming rocks being as green as in June, and the
verdure of the whole country intense ! I think you
would be greatly charmed and delighted could you see
the sweet, sublime, yet peaceful views which I enjoy.
Nature has been so profuse in her bounties in the dis-
position of the ground and the happy combination of
wood, water, rocks, etc., that it is always preferable to
any other place." From Clifton she indited many charm-
ing letters to Cowper, and her vivacity of disposition did
much to enliven his habitual melancholy. " A thousand
times," Cowper writes to her on October 12th, 1785,
" have I recollected a thousand scenes in which our two
selves have formed the whole of the drama with the
greatest pleasure. ... I have laughed with you at the
Arabian Nights, which afforded us, as you well know, a
fund of merriment that deserves never to be forgot."
She died in 1807, and was buried in Bristol Cathedral.

Within this same edifice lies beneath a plain stone
all that was mortal of her who inspired Sterne's Letters
to Eliza — Mrs. Draper. She died at Clifton August 3rd,
1778, aged 35.

CHAPTER II. [coniinued).

PART VI.
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ASSOCIATIONS.

]uhn Kenyon and the Browniiii^s — Shelley — Lady Xairnc —
Crahhc — Longfelloiv and Dickens — Mary Carpenter and
Lady Byron — Tennyson — T. E. Brown — Sir Charles
Elton and C. L Elton — Mrs. Thrale — John
Sterling and Carlyle — Ruskin — The Symondses —
Poem by J. A. Symonds the younger — Dean ChnrcJi —
Walter Bagehot — F. D. Maurice — Rev. R. H. Barhain
— Joseph Sortain and Thackeray — Henry Hallam—-
Dr. James Martineau : his personality — Mary Mitford —
Crabb Robinson — William Chatterton Dix — Sir John
Bowring — The Sisters Winkworth — Francis Fry —
Vincent Stuckey Lean — J . S. Harford — Judge O'Connor
Morris — Alfred Ainger.

'OT the least noted of the many hterary men and
women who have hnked their names with Bristol
and added lustre to its civic annals are those
who forgathered here during the eventful years of the
nineteenth century.

One of the earliest of these was John Kenyon, whose
name will go down to posterity, like Cottle's, by reason of
his disinterested friendship with distinguished contem-
poraries, rather than on account of his own claims to
immortality. He was one of a gifted band of schoolboys
who were at Seyer's School on St. Michael's Hill, known

144

KENYON, SHELLEY, AND LADY NAIRNE. 145

as " The Fort." Among his companions was Robert
Browning's father. Kenyon was described by one who
was with him there as "the richest and most generous boy
amongst us." As the boy was so became the man, and his
whole hfe through was associated with friendships of the
most famous people of his day. From the various eulogies
of those friends we clearly perceive the kind of man he
was. Crabb Robinson, of Diary fame, who knew him
well, said that he made "the happy happier," and that the
pleasantest days of his life were connected with Kenyon.
Landor was always at his best in Kenyon's company.
Kenyon's cousin, Elizabeth Barrett, married Browning,
and the devotion of the two poets to each other is
told to a curious world in The Browning Letters.
Kenyon was keenly interested on first meeting Browning
to find that he was the son of his old schoolfellow at
Seyer's. He and the elder Browning, when there, were
passionately fond of the classics, and were fired with
ambition to realise Homeric combats, and having obtained
swords and shields, hacked away at each other right
valiantly, spurring themselves to battle by insulting
speeches culled from the original. Ken}on, after this
meeting with Robert Browning, was ceaseless in shower-
ing kindnesses on the son of his old schoolfellow. At his
death, too, he bequeathed the Brownings a sum of ;^io,ooo,
and to Southey nearly the like amount.

In the years 1815 and 1816 Shelley was visiting Bristol;
whilst in 1829 resided at Clifton the world-famous Scotch
singer, Lady Nairne, the writer of The Land 0' the Leal,
Caller Herrin\ The Lass 0' Gowrie, and scores of other
well-known songs. It is thought that here she wrote
her vigorous and touching ballad, Farewell to Edinburgh,
and it was whilst at Clifton that she lost her fa\ourite

146 Literary associations

niece, Caroline Oliphant, who lies buried in Clifton
Churchyard.

To Clifton in 1831, a memorable year in Bristol's
annals, came " nature's sternest painter, yet her best,"
the poet Crabbe, on a visit to his friends the Hoares.
Writing from there he says : " I have to thank my
friends for one of the most beautiful as well as
comfortable rooms you could desire. I look from
my window upon the x\von and its wooded and
rocky bounds — the trees yet green. A vessel is sailing
down, and here comes a steamer (Irish, I suppose). I
have in view the end of the Cliff to the right, and on
my left a wide and varied prospect over Bristol, as far
as the eye can reach, and at present the novelty makes
it very interesting. Clifton was always a favourite place
with me. I have more strength and more spirits since
my arrival at this place, and do not despair of giving a
good account of my excursion on my return."

It was during his stay here that the great Riots
took place, writing of which he remarks : " Bristol, I
suppose, never in the most turbulent times of old
witnessed such outrage. Queen Square is but half
standing, half is a smoking ruin."

A not uninteresting link with Longfellow lies in the
fact that at the close of his visit to England in 1842,
when he stayed with Dickens, the latter accompanied
him to Bristol, from which he embarked on the Great
Western steamship. Apropos of Longfellow's departure,
Dickens writes him : —

" London, December 2gth, 1842.

" My dear Longfellow, — I was but poorly received
when I came home from Bristol that night, in consequence

MARY CARPENTER.

LONGFELLOW, LORD BYRON, TENNYSON. 147

of my inability to report that I left you actually on board
the Great Western, and that I had seen the chimney
smoking. But I have got over this gradually, and I am
again respected."

When Southey and Cottle brought out in 1803 their
edition of Chatterton's works for the benefit of his surviving
sister Mrs. Newton, Longfellow, then a lad, was one of
its first buyers, for he tells us that he acquired Chatter-
ton's works with the very first earnings of his pen at
a cost of fourteen dollars. Writing to his mother he
expresses great pleasure at having secured them, and
wishes he could send her copies of the poems.

Through Mary Carpenter Bristol is linked with Lord
Byron, for his wife was deeply interested in her social
work, so much so that Lady Byron purchased the Red
Lodge and transferred it to her to be used as a reforma-
tory. Mary Carpenter grew much attached to Lady Byron,
and was in a sense made her literary executor ; but having
investigated the contents of the trunks committed to her
care, full of all manner of documents, some of which were
of a most compromising kind, poems and tradesmen's
bills all jumbled together, she gave up the task in despair.
Among the multifarious documents she discovered Byron's
famous verses commencing —

" Fare thee well ! and if for ever,
Still for ever, fare thee well."

which were written on the back of an unpaid butcher's
bill.

Tennyson came to Clifton in the memorable year
of the publication of his great poem In Memoriam,
whilst on his honeymoon in the West. His brother
Frederick was a frequent visitor here. Sydney Dobell

148 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

also wintered in Clifton for many years at the close of
his life.

In the year 1875 the Rossetti family were evidently
on a visit to Clifton, for writing to his mother on the 31st
of August of that year Dante Gabriel says: "I got your
dear letter from Clifton. ..."

The Manx poet — T. E. Brown, author of Fo'c'sle Yarns
— was long associated with our city, having been for over
thirt}- years a master at Clifton College. There he was
" wholly lovable and idolised by the boys." He died
whilst on a visit to the school in the year 1897. The
late W. E. Henley, the poet, wrote a fine sonnet to his
memory.

A humbler singer in the person of Sir Charles Elton
deserves mention. Born at Bristol, he was the only
son of Sir Abraham Elton, of Clevedon Court. His
Monody on the deplorable death of his two sons by
drowning at Weston-super-Mare in 1819 evinces keen
poetic sensibility. Landor could never read the touching
couplet —

" That night the little chamber where they lay
Fast by our own, was silent and was still " —

contained in it, without being moved to tears. • Mrs.
Brookfield, whose fascinating volume of memories was
published in the autumn of 1905, was Sir Charles Elton's
youngest daughter, and was born at Clifton. She says :
" I was one day bowling my hoop down the Royal (York)
Crescent, when Mr. Landor appeared walking with his
friend Southey. Southey was in an old-fashioned spencer,
his hair tied behind in queue style with a black ribbon.
I remember quite well the eagle eye and aquiline nose, and
the excitement to me of meeting the author of Kchana in

C. I. ELTON, MRS. THRALE, STIRLING. 149

real life." Landor was a constant visitor at her father's
house. Sir Charles Elton was an admirer of Charles
Lamb, and his Epistle to Elia will be found in Lamb's
Commonplace Book, published in 1904.

Another member of this interesting family, born here
in 1839 — Charles Isaac Elton — achieved distinction both
in literature and law. In a long review of his posthumous
work, William Shakespeare, his Family and Friends, the
Times said : " It will probably rank along with the Diary
of Master William Silence as one of the most original
contributions made in recent years to the biography of
Shakespeare." In regard to his knowledge of the law,
he was considered the most erudite lawyer of his
generation, and was indeed a mine of information on
all subjects connected not only with the law but other
matters as well. His mother was the sister of Sir
Charles Elton, and his death occurred in 1900.

In regard to prose writers, Bristol is associated with
many distinguished men of letters, who have bequeathed
no small share to England's noblest possession — her
literature. For example, Bristol has an interesting
personal link with the famous Doctor Johnson, for during
the years 1820-1 Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale), to whom we are
indebted for so many sidelights on the great doctor's
character, lived at Clifton, chiefly at 36 Royal York
Crescent. Writing from here, she says : " Dear Mrs.
Willoughby will be glad to hear I am where I shall be
on the sweet Downs." At the above address she died
in the year 1821.

In the Old Manor House, Clifton, resided in 1839 and
1840 John Sterling, the early champion of Carlyle. In
that first year of his stay at Clifton he contributed to
Mill's Westminster Review his article on Carlyle. The

8 A

150 LITERARY ASSOCLVTIONS.

subject of it was moved intensely by the generous
recognition of his work, and wrote as follows : —

"What its effect on the public was I knew not, and
know not ; but remember well, and may here be permitted
to acknowledge, the deep silent joy, not of a weak or ignoble
nature, which it gave to myself in my then mood and
situation ; as it well might. The first generous human
recognition, expressed with heroic emphasis, and clear
conviction visible amid its fiery exaggeration, that one's
poor battle in the world is not quite a mad and futile, that
it is perhaps a worthy and manful one, which will come
to something yet : this fact is a memorable one in every
history; and for me Sterling, often enough the stiff
gainsayer in our priwate communings, was the doer of
this. The thought burnt in me like a lamp, for several
days; lighting-up into a kind of heroic splendour the sad
volcanic wrecks, abj-sses, and convulsions of said poor
battle, and secretly I was ver}- grateful to my daring
friend, and am still, and ought to be." A year or two
after, in 1843, Carlyle spent a da}- or two in Clifton,
and says in a letter to his wife : " The rocks of the
Avon at Clifton excel all the things I have seen. Even
I, the most determined anti - view hunter, find them
worthy of a word."

His friend Ruskin spent some weeks at Clifton with
his parents, and writing in May, 1841, from A'cnice to a
friend, he remarks: "I don't wonder at your admiring
Clifton. It is certainly the finest piece of limestone
scenery in the kingdom, except Cheddar, and Cheddar
has no wood. Did you ever find out the Dingle running
up through the cliffs on the south side of the river,
opposite St. A'incent's? " [Nightingale \^alley.] "When
the leaves are on, there are pieces of Ruysdael study of

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS. 151

rock there, with the noble diff through the breaks of the
fohage, quite intoxicating."

To revert to Sterhng, we find him writing to his father
from Portishead, whither he had gone from Chfton for an
excursion, under date September, 1840: " Milnes" [Lord
Houghton] "spent last Sunday with me at Clfton ; and
was very amusing and cordial. It is impossible for those
who know him well not to like him." Whilst residing
in Clifton Sterling published his little book of poems,
which unfortunately failed to interest the reading public.
Among those with whom he became acquainted during his
sta}- were Drs. S3'monds and Prichard. He alludes to the
latter in writing to a friend as "the author of a well-
known book on the Races of Mankind, to which it stands
in the same relation among English books as the Racing
Calendar does to those of Horsekind. He is a very intelli-
gent, accomplished person."

The allusion to Dr. Symonds naturally calls to mind the
fact that his famous son, John Addington Symonds, has
splendidly maintained the literary traditions of Bristol. His
scholarly and brilliant works on the Italian Renaissance, to
say nothing of his other productions, have earned for him
the gratitude of all students of Italian history. He was
born at 7 Berkeley Square on October 5th, 1840, the gifted
son of a gifted father, and became a pupil under Kingslo3''s
old master, the Re\-. William Knight, at Ikickingham
\'illas, Pembroke Road. His memories of his birthplace
are full of haunting tenderness; save Southey, no
Bri'Stolian e\er evinced greater love for it than Symonds.
There are exquisite descriptive touches in his Cliflon
and a Lad's Love contained in In the Key of Blue which
convince us of his love of Bristol. Many of his recorded
memories of our city relate to the line old Georgian

152 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

mansion, originally built in 1747 by Paul Fisher on
Clifton Hill, to which the Symonds family removed from
Berkeley Square, and the Downs over which he loved
to roam. The former is best described in his own words :
" It is a ponderous square mansion, built for perpetuity
with walls three feet in thickness, faced with smooth Bath
stone. But, passing to the southern side, one still enjoys
the wonderful prospect which I have described. Time
has done much to spoil the landscape. Mean dwellings
have clustered round the base of Brandon Hill, and crept
along the slopes of Clifton. The city has extended on
the further side towards Bedminster. Factory chimneys
with their filth and smoke have saddened the simple
beauty of the town and dulled the brightness of its air.
But the grand features of nature remain. The rolling
line of hills from Lansdown over Bath, through Dundry
with its solitary church tower to Ashton guarding the
gorge of Avon, presents a free and noble space for
cloud shadows, a splendid scene for the display of
sunrise. The water from the Severn still daily floods
the river-beds of Frome and Avon; and the ships still
come to roost, like ocean birds beside the ancient
churches." Lovingly he dwells on the details of his
home at Clifton Hill: of the stables, where his father kept
eight horses ; of the lead roof, which formed a capital
playground, from the height of which the eye swept spaces
of the starry heavens at night — by day town, tower, and
hill, wood and field and river, lay bathed in light.

When at Harrow School he speaks of the unpleasing
nature of its landscape compared with the rocks, woods
and downy turf of Clifton, which rendered his holidays
at home doubly delightful by contrast.

An ever-welcome guest at Symonds's home was

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS. 153

the great Master of Balliol College, Benjamin Jowett,
who had more than a passing interest in Clifton. His
cousins resided here, and he was, moreover, one of
the founders and benefactors of University College,
contributing more than ;£"i,500 towards its funds, and
up to the time of his death being a member of the
Council. Writing to the late Albert Fry, another of its
benefactors, on May i2th, 1893, he says: "There are
few things in life that I look back upon with greater
pleasure than the share which I was able to take in the
foundation of University College, Bristol."

Symonds among his many friends numbered Robert
Louis Stevenson, and the latter after meeting him at Davos,
writes as follows to a friend : " Beyond a splendid climate,
it" [Davos] "has to my eyes but one advantage — the
neighbourhood of J. A. Symonds — I daresay you know
his work, but the man is far more interesting."
Stevenson celebrated Symonds in the character of
Opalstein in his Memories and PortraUs.

A distinguished living writer and critic * nobly
eulogises Symonds's work. He says : " I have always
enjoyed the Sketches in Italy and Greece and the Sketches
and Studies in Italy as delightful reminiscences of some
of the loveliest scenes on earth. They record the
thoughts of one who was at once scholar, historian,
poet, and painter. The combination is very rare."
Alluding to Symonds's pictures of Italian cities, he
remarks : " The history is never sacrificed to the
landscape, nor the landscape to the poetry, nor the
scholarship to the sunlight, the air, and the scents of
fiower or sounds of the waves and the torrents. All
is there ; and in this way they surpass those pictures

* Mr. P'rederick Harrison.

154 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

of Italian scenes that we read in Ruskin, George Eliot,
or Freeman. Freeman has not the poetry and colour
of Symonds ; George Eliot has not his ease and grace,
his fluidity of improvisation ; and Ruskin. with all his
genius for form and colour, has no such immense and
catholic grasp of history as a whole. ... It will, I think,
be recognised by all that no English writer of our time
has equalled Symonds in knowledge of the entire range of
Italian literature. ... In all he has written on Italian Art
he has shown ripe knowledge and consummate judgment."
Symonds died at Rome on April 19th, 1893.

The following poem, which has hitherto been published
only in Thirteen at Dinner (the first Bristol Annual issued),
is printed here in full in order that Bristolians may have an
opportunity of becoming better acquainted with the
vigorous work of a fellow-citizen.

THE STORY OF GINEVRA DEGLI ALMIERI,

Who was Buried Alive in Florence.

By John Addington Symonds.

Five hundred years ago, in that fair town

Of Tuscany where Giotto built his tower.
A marble lily heavenward mid the crown
Of hills ascendant ; where blue lilies flower
On the grey city walls ; and Arno brown
From Vallombrosa between laurel bower
And olive garden seeks the Pisan shore ;
And Florence is a joy for evermore;

Two lovers dwelt. — Their legend strange yet true
Grave in its issues, in its ending gay,
I will in antique rhyme rehearse to you.
Even as a poet one past summer day
Told me the tale. But first I must renew
The by-gone griefs which on that people lay,
When plague was in their homes and mortal dread
O'er the doomed city like a pall was spread.

POEM BY SYMONDS. 155

The Black Death with his dark Lethean rod

Stalked through the streets, and maniac terror went
Before him where unseen, unheard, he trod :
Husband from wife, father from child was rent,
And human kindness 'neath the curse of God
Dried up like dew, leaving bewilderment
And blank dismay and selfish fear of hell : —
The sick were straightway buried where each fell.

Now it so happened that the flower of grace
Among the maids of Florence in that time
Was young Ginevra, with an angel's face
And soft voice musical as murmured rhyme;
She was the scion of an ancient race,
And blooming in her girlhood's golden prime.
By words and deeds befitting noble blood
Gave promise of a glorious womanhood.

Among her many lovers there was one,

Antonio, who with service leal and long
Had wooed and waited till her heart he won :
Her secret heart he held ; for love so strong.
Lodged in a form fair as the rising sun,
May win a maiden's homage without wrong :
Yet from her sire, Bernardo, he in vain,
Being poor but noble, sought her hand to gain.

Bernardo to a youth of gentle birth,

Francesco Agolanti, stout and proud,
Rich, powerful, and withal of manly worth,
His daughter's troth in open court had vowed.
The match was equal, and their marriage mirth
Scattered for some brief houi-s the brooding cloud
That dwelt on Florence. But true love aloof,
Love strong as Death, flew from that noisy roof.

And so it chanced that just at eventide.

When first Ginevra crossed her bridegroom's door,
A pallor overspread her cheeks, and dyed
Her fair white brows with hues of violet o'er;
Then clasping both hands to her aching side,
Upon the step she fell and moved no more :
The marriage songs into shrill shrieks of dread
Changed, as those merry-makers turned and fled.

156 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

" Tlie plague ! the plague ! " they cried. Then, swift as doom,
Came body-buriers down the street, a crew
Black-stoled with torches in the gathering gloom,
Who on their bier the swooning maiden threw,
And bore her to her bride-bed in the tomb :
Alone she went, for all those friends untrue.
Yea and the husband sworn to shield and save.
Had shrunk with nameless horror from her grave.

Not so Antonio, not her lover leal ;

For when he heard the din of marriage flutes
Break into dismal shriek and funeral wail.
Alone amid those mercenary mutes
He walked, and watched the sexton's hand unseal,
With brutal haste which the calm grave pollutes,
The marble sepulchre wherein were laid
Ginevra's forefathers among the dead.

It was a monument 'twixt door and door
Of Santa Reparata, lifted high
Above the busy crowds who pace that floor
Foot-polished, reared beneath the open sky;
And here, as was their wont in days of yore,
Each Almieri in his turn must lie.
Awaiting sepulture within the grand
Cathedral aisles of gloom Arnolfo planned.

From the huge chest the lid they wrenched in haste,
In haste consigned her to its marble maw.
And hastily the covering stone replaced ;
Then, as those wardens of the dead withdraw,
Antonio for some little while embraced
The frigid coffin which, by death's fell law.
His dearest lady, so be dreamed, must hold.
Slumbering for ever in eternal cold.

There too he prayed : but when the pallid moon

Peered o'er the house-roofs, lingering, loth to part,
He left his dear love's body lapped in stone.
Bearing her pure pale image in his heart
Back to his cold fire-side, and wept alone :
"Alas," he cries, "that prayers are dumb, and art
All powerless to restore my lady's grace !
Would God that I were buried in her place !"

JOHN ADDINGTON SVMONDS.

POEM BY SYMONDS. 157

Now she who slept, and was not dead at all,
But only frozen in a death-like trance,
What time the dews of night began to fall
And the white moon npon her eyes to glance,
Glintmg through chinks and crannies in the wall
Ill-soldered where they laid her by mischance,
Lifted her head, and in the twilight gloom
Felt with frail fingers round about her tomb.

As one who from a dream by slow degrees

Grows into consciousness, and first is ware

Of somewhat far away he cannot seize,

And knows not where he lies, and doth not dare

To stir the floods of fear that round him freeze.

Then suddenly starts up to quick despair ;

So in a moment like a scorching flame

The truth of her mishap upon her came.

" Alive, alive, laid in the dreadful grave I
Mary Madonna, have I then no hope ?
Help me, thou blessed Virgin ! Hear and save ! "
Then like a caged bird beating on the cope
Of marble and that stubborn architrave,
The narrow room she searched. Her weak hands grope
Along the crevices where moonbeams rain ;
And the lid stirs a little to her strain.

The stone lid stirs; and bending all her might
Into one utmost effort, bit by bit.
Led by the kindly silver streaming light.
With slow persistent urge she conquers it :
Then, sheeted in her grave-clothes, to the bright
Star-spangled heavens and sweet air infinite
Emerges ; as on Resurrection morn
The striving dead shall be from earth re-born.

On her left hand with marbles overlaid

Soars Giotto's tower, familiar, pure and fair ;

And broad before her between light and shade

Spreads the deserted silent city square.

Lost for awhile 'twixt dread and joy she stayed,

Nor dared to trust her soft feet to the bare

Pavement, and breathed the night, and felt the wind

Float in her hair and soothe her fevered mind.

158 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Then shivering 'neath the blast October blew

From Mount Morello down the unpeopled street,
Across her breast that long white sheet she drew,
And toward her husband's home with noiseless feet
And streaming hair, pale as a phantom, flew.
In dread lest some night-wanderer she should meet,
And stood before the door, and knocked, and cried :
" Francesco, let me in ! " — By the hearth-side

Francesco sat, nursing a numb dull woe.

Reckoning the days that should have been so dear.

" Who calls ? " he cried. But she : " Dost thou not know

Thine own Ginevra ? " Through his veins ran fear :

Crossing himself, he shuddered : " Prithee go

Back to thy grave, poor ghost ! Have better cheer !

To-morrow for thy rest shall bells be rung,

And masses o'er thy buried body sung! "
In vain she wept ; in vain she beat the door ;

Wailing: " And is it doomed that I must die,
Twice die this night ? Help, husband, I implore ! "
But he was dumb, nor answered to her cry.
Then to her father's house, lashed by the frore
Whip of the wind, beneath that wintry sky.
Sickening with fear and stumbling in her shroud.
She came and called her mother's name aloud :

*' O mother, mother, open ! It is me 1

Thine own Ginevra calls ! " But the old dame.

Wrapped up in grief's insensibility.

Watched the red embers leap into a flame

Upon the hearth before her tremblingly.

And crossed herself hearing her daughter's name.

And cried : " Go hence in peace, soul pure and blest I

Fair daughter, sweet and dear, go hence and rest!"

And when Ginevra leaning on the sill

Tapped with her linger at the window-pane.
She only turned, and smit with deadly chill
Called to the sheeted ghost : " Come not again !
Some shape art thou of unimagined ill !
My daughter rests among the dead, and fain
Am I to sleep beside her." Then her head
Sank on her breast, and nothing more she said.

POEM BY SYMONDS. 159

Repulsed, abandoned, outcast, left to roam

With death and darkness through the frosty night,
Driven from her husband's and her father's home,
What shall Ginevra do in this sore plight ?
Like a ship rudderless that rides the foam,
And drifts before the storm's relentless might,
She hurries through her kinsfolk, door by door,
Taking the same cold comfort as before:

" Go hence in peace, fair soul ! Sweet ghost, repose I
Masses to-morrow for thy sake we say ! "
At last unto Antonio, at the close
Of this dread night, in the first glint of day,
Fainting and dizzy with despair she goes.
To prove if lover's love be cold as they.
And knocks, and on the door-step falls full length.
Face downward, at the end of all her strength.

Antonio rose and to his window went :

" Who knocks so late ? " The voice, as half-awake.

Came feebly, for life's force was well-nigh spent :

" It is Ginevra ! for Christ's mercy sake

Help poor Ginevra !" — Like an arrow sent

Straight at the aim unerring archers take,

He hearing his dear lady seized a light,

Nor stayed to fear lest he should meet a sprite ;

But brake the doors, and down beside her knelt ;
And gazing in her face beheld how frost
Had turned her limbs to stone; then chafed and fel
Her stiffening hands, fearing that life was lost
Then hoped that warmth once more her veins might melt,
And raised her in his arms, and shouting crossed
The threshold of his house, and in a bed
Laid her with coverlids and blankets spread ;

And called his serving-maidens, by whose care,
With kindly heat and such restoratives
As women cunning in their art prepare,
Death's ice was thawed. Once more Ginevra lives,
And from her heart back to her forehead fair
And finger-tips those startled fugitives.
The vital spirits, tingling with a flush
Like breaking dawn, in sweet confusion rush.

160 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Her faint eyes and her ears, yet half asleep,

As in a dream, the kind warm room survey;

She sees the flame upon the hearth-stone leap,

And hears the whispering maids, while pale and grey

Steals morning through the curtains folded deep

Around a bed where yet she never lay ;

And at the last " Where am I ? '' from her lips.

Still as in murmurous dreams, soft-breathing slips.

Antonio at that low and tremulous cry

Knelt forward to the pillow where her head

Moved in unrest, and put the curtains by.

And said : " Dear love, take courage ! fear hath fled

With the dark night of infelicity.

I am at hand to shield thee from all dread.

Ask and command. I wait on thy behest.

Light of my life, fear not ! Sweet heart, have rest ! "

And she, still timid, with a tender shame.

Said : " My Antonio, take me ; I am thine.
Think of mine honour and thine own fair fame."
Then told him all her story, line by line
And bade him seek the coffin whence she came.
And fix the lid firm on that marble shrine,
That men might think she still lay sleeping there
Secluded in death's dream from light and air.

When this was done, Antonio's mother brought

Such meat as might her failing strength restore,

And clothed her in fair silken raiment wrought

With needlework from her own bridal store.

And said : " My daughter, thou must now take thought

Whether to seek thy plighted husband, or — "

Speech failed her here; but soft Ginevra spake :

" Not so : what love hath won, let true love take !

" I will not turn unto his home again

Who sent me to the inhospitable tomb :
Death endeth all, troth, fealty, joy and pain :
I am Antonio's treasure-trove, with whom,
If he be willing, I shall aye remain.
Death hath released me from the dreadful doom
Of life-long bondage to that man whose troth
Was but lip-service and a lying oath."

DEAN CHURCH AND WALTER BAGEHOT. 161

No sooner said than done. Their vows were spoken,
Their bridal rings exchanged and kisses given,
And faith confirmed by many a tender token,
Love, strong as death, at odds with Death had striven :
Death, self-defeating. Love's false bonds had broken :
Love, loosed by Death, had found his heart's true heaven. —
Thus, when their case was tried, the verdict carried :
"Antonio and Ginevra duly married.''

In A\e early years of the nineteenth century Dean
Church, of St. Pau 's, spent five years of his school
life at Redland under Dr. Swete. Like Kingsley, he
was here at the time of the Riots, which left an unfading
impression on his young mind. Speaking of this period,
Church says : " We were going to church one Sunday,
when we heard shots fired in the direction of Bristol.
... In the evening I went out of the schoolroom into
the playground, and there was half the horizon lighted up
with vast conflagrations. Of course the excitement was
tremendous. To us boys it seemed as if an attack of
the school was imminent. It was a question whether
any of us had a pistol among his contraband treasures."
One of Church's favourite recreations during his stay
was to haunt the second-hand bookshops of the city.
Had he chosen he might have been x\rchbishop of
Canterbury, so highly was he esteemed by Gladstone.

That powerful and original writer, Walter Bagehot, was
early associated with our city. He was born at Langport,
and was a member of the great Somerset Banking Com-
pany of Stuckeys. In this country he was justly regarded
as the foremost authority on banking and currency
questions, and was a man to whom Chancellors of the
Exchequer gladly turned for advice in times of financial
stress. For many years he was editor of The Ecoiwuiist
and joint editor of The National Review. Among his

162 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

mail}- intellectual activities, he won himself a great
literary reputation by his brilliant essays, biographical,
etc. Here he went to school, his aunt being the wife
of the famous Bristol surgeon, John Bishop Esthn,
and he became a frequent visitor during his holidays
at the home of her brother-in-law, the world-famous
ethnologist, James Cowles Prichard, at Red Lodge,
Park Row. Mr. Augustine Birrell, speaking of Bagehot's
literary originality, says : " Bagehot crops up all over the
country. His mind is lent out ; his thoughts toss on
all waters ; his brew, mixed with a humbler element,
may be tapped everywhere ; he has made a hundred
small reputations. ... He wrote about Lombard Street
like a lover, about the British Constitution like a polished
Member of Parliament, about the gaiety of Sir John
Fahtaff like a humorist. ... To know Walter Bagehot
through his books is one of the good things of life."

Another writer of distinction and great influence, who
spent a good portion of his early years in Clifton and
Frenchay, was Frederick Denison Maurice. Writing to a
friend, he says : '' The woods and rocks at Clifton
are connected with m}- earliest thoughts and associ-
ations." At Clifton Church he was married on October
7th, 1837, the officiating clergyman being none other
than John Sterling. Writing on May 5th, 1849, to
Miss Hare, of the well-known Hare family, who becaiijc
his second wife, he remarks : " I have not one feeling
which would interfere with your going to Clifton. On
the contrary, I should like }OU to go there. It has a
very sacred place in ni}- mind, connected with so many
of my early associations as well as with so many after
I became bound to Annie. No place is so pregnant
with meaning to me, and seems to link the different

FREDERICK DENISON MAURICE. 163

parts of my history so strangely together. . . . The
CHfton rocks gave me the first impressions I ever had
of inland beauty, and Ashton and Leigh are charmed
names in my infantine dreams, the first, no doubt,
derived from strawberries and cream, which were always
the object there in summer ; but one had to cross the
Ferry to get to them, and the course of that muddy
beautiful Avon comes before me every time I think of
that time. If you should go to either the Crescent,
to Prince's Buildings, to The Mall, or indeed to almost
any place there, you will be in the midst of places that
are more familiar to me than any part of London, so
I shall be very glad — if you should go there."

Few men ha\e been more highly esteemed by their
contemporaries than Maurice. Kingsley sat at his feet,
as at the feet of a master, and termed him " the most
beautiful human soul he had known,", whilst Gladstone
tells us that Arthur Hallam, the inspirer of In Memoriam,
had the most unbounded admiration for him. Maurice
and his friend Sterling were two of the earliest editors
of The Athenceum. Though below the middle height, his
(Maurice's) noble and expressive countenance gave dignity
to his appearance.

Tennyson has placed on record for all time his friend-
ship for Maurice in the following lines : —

•' Come, when no graver cares employ.
Godfather, come and see your boy :

Your presence will be sun in winter,
Making the little one leap for joy.

" Should all our churchmen foam in spite
At you, so careful of the right,

Yet one lay-hearth would give yiHi welcome
(Take it and come) to the Isle of Wight.

■Z- «ii «

164 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

" Come, Maurice, come : the lawn as yet
Is hoar with rime, or spongy-wet ;

But when the wreath of March has blossomed
Crocus, anemone, violet.

" Or later pay one visit here,
For those are few we hold as dear ;

Nor pay but one, but come for many,
Many and many a happy year."

In the month of May, 1845, the author of the Ingoldsby
Legends, Rev. R. H. Barham, was hving at g Dowry
Square, in a vain effort to regain his shattered health.
He gives a humorous sketch of his medical attendants
during his stay. " If," says he, " in the multitude of
counsellors there be wisdom, in that of apothecaries
there is jaw, and with such a one as my adviser possesses,
Samson might have laid waste all Mesopotamia, let alone
Philistia. He has the art of saying nothing in a cascade
of language comparable only to that ' almighty water
privilege ' — Niagara." In the bulletin written whilst here
Barham cleverly hits off his medical attendants —

" Hark ! the doctors come again.
Knock — and enter doctors twain —
Dr. Keeler, Dr. Blane : —

' Well, sir, how

Go matters now ?
Please put out your tongue again I '
Meanwhile t' other side the bed,

Dr. Keeler

Is a feeler
Of my wrist, and shakes his head : —
' Rather low, we are rather low ! '
* * *

" ' Now, what sort of night, sir, eh ?
Did you take the mixture, pray ?
Iodine and anodyne.
Ipecacuanha wine.
And the draught and pills at nine ? '

I'KEDERICK Dl'INlSON MAURICE.

JOSEPH SORTAIN. 165

Patient (loquitur).
" ' Coughing, doctor, coughing, sneezing,
Wheezing, teasing, most nnpleasing.
Till at length I, bj' degrees, in-
Duced " Tired nature's sweet restorer,"
Sleep, to cast her mantle o'er her
Poor unfortunate adorer,
And became at last a snorer.' "

The last piece this genial humorist ever wrote — As
I Lay a Thynkynge — was written at the Hotwells.
Finding himself no better for his stay, he returned home,
and on the 17th of June, 1845, he passed away.

At No. 20 Lower Berkeley Place, Clifton, was born in
1809 a forgotten Bristol celebrity, Joseph Sortain, a writer
of considerable merit and a most eloquent preacher.
He contributed many articles to The Edinburgh Review
and The British Critic. On publishing a volume of his
sermons he forwarded a copy to Thackeray, who was
an admirer of his eloquence. The latter's acknowledg-
ment shows how deeply the great satirist and novelist

felt on religious matters : —

" May 15th, 1850.

" My dear Sir, — I shall value your book very much,
not only as the work of the most accomplished orator
I have ever heard in my life, but if you will let me so
take it, as a token of good will and interest on your part
in my own literary pursuits. I want, too, to say in my
way, that love and truth are the greatest of Heaven's
commandments and blessings to us ; that the best of us,
the many especially who pride themselves on their virtue
most, arc wretchedly weak, vain, and selfish, and to
preach such a charity at least as a common sense of our
shame and unworthiness might inspire to us poor people.
I hope men of my profession do no harm who talk this
doctrine out of doors to people in drawing-rooms and in

166 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

the world. Your duty in church takes them a step higher,
that awful step beyond Ethics, which leads you up to
God's revealed truth. What a tremendous responsibility
his is who has that mystery to explain ! What a boon
the faith that makes it clear to him ! I am glad to have
kind thoughts from you and to have this opportunity of
offering you my sincere respect and regard.

" Believe me, most truly yours, my dear sir,

"W. M. Thackeray.

" P.S. — Your book finds me at my desk writing, and
I leave off to begin on a sermon."

A not uninteresting link of the great novelist with our
old city is that in 1850, on his way to Clevedon, he stayed
at the "White Lion" (now the Grand Hotel), Broad Street,
and at a later date he gave at the Victoria Rooms his
lectures on the " Four Georges."

One of the greatest writers connected with Bristol

during the nineteenth century was Henry Hallam, the

historian, who was born here, being the son of the Dean

of Bristol. Few visit that literary Mecca of the West

country — Clevedon — who have not read his touching

epitaph in the old church on the hill to his son Arthur.

Tennyson beautifully alludes to it in the following

lines : —

" When on my bed the moonhght falls,
I know that in thy place of rest
By that broad water of the west,
There comes a glory on the walls :

" Thy marble bright in dark appears,
As slowly steals a silver flame
Along the letters of thy name,
And o'er the number of thy years."

Hallam was a frequent visitor to Clifton in later life,

DR. JAMES MARTINEAU. 167

That noble and inspiring personality Dr. James
Martineau, one of the greatest ethical and philosophic
writers of the century, was closely associated with Bristol.
He was a scholar at the famous school of Lant Carpenter,
at 2 Great George Street, and later returned for a brief
period as its head. Both he and Sir John Bowring
have placed on record their unqualified admiration of
their beloved master and friend. Martineau's tribute is
indeed a remarkable one, for it occupies no less than ten
closely - printed pages in the Memoir of that excellent
pastor of Lewin's Mead Chapel.

A portion of Martineau's schooldays were spent at
Norwich, and there he had for a school-fellow George
Borrow, the celebrated author of The Bible in Spain.
" Borrow on one occasion," Martineau told Frances
Power Cobbe, " persuaded several of his companions to
rob their fathers' tills, and then they set off to join
some smugglers on the coast. But by degrees they
one by one grew tired and hungry as they marched on,
and were finally overtaken and brought back to the
school, where fitting chastisement awaited them. George
Borrow received his well - deserved punishment horsed
on Martineau's back ! — a disagreeable fact that Borrow
never forgot."

Amid the strenuous and ceaseless war that Martineau
made throughout his long life on the dogmas and shib-
boleths of his time, in the dust and turmoil of polemic
discourse, he fought and sought for truth, and that alone.
All the resources of his splendid scholarship and his
intimate acquaintance with the complexities of science
were ever arrayed with matchless skill against Agnosti-
cism and Materialism ; so much so, that he was accounted
by their champions " the most dangerous opponent they

168 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

had to reckon with." He himself has tersely summed
up his long life, verging on a century, in a noble saying :
" What I planned, I did ; what I desired to be, I was ;
what was in me I taught." On his 83rd birthday he
received an extraordinary tribute in the shape of an
address expressive of reverence and affection, followed
by a list of signatures which is probably unique. This
address came, too, from the most opposite quarters in the
literary, scientific, political, and religious world. Among
those who signed it were Tennyson, Browning, Jowett,
Max M tiller, Lowell, Seeley, Lecky, and others to the
number of 650.

That Martineau never forgot his early association with
Bristol is evidenced in the following letter to the late
Miss Estlin, written when he was 90, on May nth, 1895: —

" Dear Miss Estlin, — No letter occasioned by my
recent Birthday touches upon tenderer memories than
yours, and from my inmost heart I thank you for so
vividly recalling to memory a figure most dear while
visible, and sacred ever since" [her father, John Bishop
Estlin, the surgeon], "Three years only, out of my
ninety, were spent in Bristol and in Great George Street
— as pupil from 1819-1821, as responsible head from
1827-1828 — but they contained a more fruitful experi-
ence in its bearing on the course of future years than
any similar section of my life.

" They fell within the period of quickest susceptibility
and most rapid growth, and all who ministered, either
intentionally or by the mere presence of a winning and
impressive personality, to the expanding life still look
down upon me with unfaded colours and expression from
the picture-gallery of my affection. . . .

DR. MARTINEAU'S PERSONALITY. 169

"The links, once so numerous, connecting me with
Bristol have become sadly few, or nearly worn away
Yet I do not complain of the loneliness of old age,
which only calls on us to wait awhile and it will cease.
Besides, it is the privilege of a life spent mainly in
teaching to fall in love with a continuous series of young
people, each entering on a life full of interesting possi-
bilities and openings of noble hope, so there is no excuse
for shutting oneself up in the past and trying to sleep
through the stir of the ever-moving present. . . .

"Accept my warmest thanks, and believe me to

the end,

"Yours affectionately,

"James Martineau."

One who knew him said : "In personal converse
there was a gracious sweetness about his manner, and
a lofty sincerity which entranced the listener, a s\Neetness
that arose from conscious strength and wide sympathies.
. . . Although his wonderful eyes are now closed in their
last sleep and the quiet, penetrating voice hushed for ever,
yet Dr. Martineau has left behind him imperishable legacies
of thought which will enrich succeeding generations with
their luminous suggestiveness and stimulating power.
There are passages scattered throughout his works which
for sheer beauty of diction and sublimity of thought
will endure with the imperishable classics of English
literature."

In Bristol also his famous sister, Harriet Martineau,
spent a portion of her schooldays, and during her stay
was charmed with the scenery of Bristol, and spoke in
rapturous admiration of her walks in Leigh Woods and
on the Downs.

170 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Here too in the early forties, stayed for a time Mary
Mitford, the author of Our Village. She was greatly
impressed with the city, and remarked : "What a glorious
old city is Bristol ! Bath leaves few and faint impressions.
Bristol, on the other hand, is warm, glowing, and
picturesque." During her stay she visited Cottle, who
was then living at Firlield House, Knowle. "Twice,"
she says, "I went to Redcliffe Church, twice over the
Mayor's Chapel, the Cathedral, and the great iron ship
Great Britain.'' At the beauty of Clifton she exclaimed,
"It is lovely!"

In 1841 Crabb Robinson was staying at Clifton with
his nephew, who was in consumption, and under the
care of John Bishop Estlin.

Among those associated with Bristol in later days was
Chatterton Dix (son of John Dix, the biographer of
Chatterton), the well-known hymn-writer, whose reputation
is not confined to this country, but whose " best-known
hymns," as Julian says, "are in common use in America
and other English-speaking countries." His well-known
hymn. As with gladness men of old, was highly
eulogised by Lord Selborne, no mean judge, and is
included in his Book of Praise. The closing period of
Dix's life was spent at Cheddar, where he died in i8g8,
and in the churchyard of which he lies buried.

Sir John Bowring, the great linguist, diplomatist, and

poet, went to Lant Carpenter's school ; his famous

hymn —

"In the Cross of Christ I glory,

Towering o'er the wrecks of Time" —

will keep his name green when his other works are
forgotten. In i860 he renewed his association with
Bristol by marrying the daughter of Thomas Castle, of

THE SISTERS WINKWORTH. 171

Clifton. He lies buried at Exeter, and the foregoing couplet
is inscribed on his tomb.

Mention must be made of Catherine and Susannah
Winkworth, friends of the Gaskells, Bunsen, and
Martinean, who resided at 31 Cornwallis Crescent for
many years. Catherine's claim to fame rests upon her
Lyra Gcruianica. Her translation of the German hymn
in this work has given it great popularity. Apart from
her literary labours, she threw herself heart and soul into
the movement for the higher education of women, and
became secretary of the local committee. She became
a governor of the Red Maids' School, and a promoter
of Clifton High School for Girls. She died suddenly
abroad in 187S, and a monument has been erected to her
memory in the cathedral. The esteem in which she was
held was shown by the foundation of two scholarships at
University College to perpetuate her memory.

Her elder sister, Susannah, also possessed no ordinary
literary ability ; she translated from the German the
Life of Nebuhr, during which work she formed the
acquaintance of Baron Bunsen, and translated for him
some of his works, including his celebrated book God in
History. Like her sister, she was deeply interested in the
social life of her time, and worked personally among the
poor of Bristol. She was one of the first in Bristol to
grapple practically with the problem of housing the poor.
Indeed, she rented several houses, put them in proper
repair, and let them out to suitable tenants. The Jacob's
Wells Industrial Dwellings were built on her initiative,
and she managed them herself till her death. She
succeeded her sister as a governor of the Red Maids'
School, her death taking place in 1884 at 21 Victoria
Square, Clifton,

172 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

Closely connected with Bristol was Francis Fry, ot
Tower House, Cotham Park, one of the famous Fry
family, who have for nearly two centuries been identified
with Bristol's commercial history. He was born at
Westbury-on-Trym and educated at Fishponds. As an
authority on editions of the I3iblc, he achieved a great
bibliographical reputation, his collection of Bibles being
remarkable, and his knowledge of the subject in all its
bearings unrivalled. A choice selection of his Bibles were
purchased by private subscription and presented to the
Bible Society. He reproduced in facsimile the unique
first translation of the New Testament by Tyndale, a
work which is absolutely priceless, and proved beyond
question that it came from Schoeffer's press.

Coming to those who have but recently departed from
amongst us, the name must not be omitted of Vincent
Stuckey Lean, who will long be remembered for his
generous encouragement of the cause of literature, no less
than for his literary work itself. He was born in Clifton
in 1820, and died at Clevedon in iSgg. The great work
of his life, a large portion of which he spent in travel, was
his wonderful collection of Proverbs and Folk-lore of "all
nations^ parts of which were published in 1904, under
the title of Leans Collectanea. His munificent bequest of
;;f50,ooo to his native city rendered possible the erection
of the new Central Library in Deanery Road.

Not unknown to fame was J. S. Harford, born in
Bristol in 1785, and son of the well-known banker, J. S.
Harford, of Blaise Castle. He possessed great taste in
the arts, and collected on the Continent a number of
valuable pictures, which adorn the walls of that charming
residence, which William Wilberforce pronounced to be
the "sweetest residence of a private gentleman save one,

JUDGE O'CONNOR MORRIS. 173

to be found in England." Many works, chiefl}' bio-
graphies, emanated from his cultured pen, amongst which
was a life of Michael Angelo, with translations of his
poems and letters. Harford was a liberal benefactor to
the cause of religious education, and helped to found St.
David's College, and contributed generously to the restora-
tion of the cathedrals of Llandaff and Saint David's.
Hannah More made him the hero of her Caiebs in Search
of a Wife.

The late Judge O'Connor Morris, the author of many
works on military subjects, who died in 1904, was
intimately connected with Clifton, his father having
taken refuge there during the famous rising in 1798,
when he lived in Prince's Buildings. In 1867 the judge
resided for a considerable time in Clifton for the sake
of his wife's health. Referring to this time, he sa3-s :
" During these long months of care I saw a good deal
of the high life of Clifton, and thoroughly explored
Bristol and its picturesque scenes. . . . Clifton, which
in my bo}hood was hardly more than a small suburb
of Bristol perched above the Avon, had expanded into
a fine populous town, its long lines of villas running out
for miles, its churches shooting up their spires to heaven,
its admirable college already taking a foremost place
among our great Public Schools." He noted too
that " rows of new warehouses and of busy marts and
extending circles of modern dwellings had gathered round
the skirts of the ancient city; and w^hile Bristol, with
its magnificent churches, its land-locked river and forest
of masts, and its hills cro\Mied with their world of
houses, retained its mediaeval aspect, it was evidently
increasing in size and population." Among the friends
he made were William Budd, one of the great pioneers

174 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

of the germ theory and sanitation, and " Francis
Newman, the brother of the renowned John Henry, a
man of remarkable parts and culture scarcely inferior
in intellect to the great cardinal. To Budd's skill and
care my wife perhaps owed her life. He was one of the
kindest friends I have ever made. I greatly enjoyed his
conversation — ^joyous, animated, and full of fun and
intelligence."

Last, but not least, among these nineteenth-century
associations comes that delightful and cultured personality,
Alfred Ainger, Master of the Temple and for so many
years canon of the cathedral, whose memory is still
fresh to many Bristolians ; his death occurred on
February 8th, 1904. He was the son of a London
architect, and was born in 1S37. As the Master
of the Temple, his silvery eloquence excited great
admiration amongst Londoners. Few men have read
so exquisitely as Ainger ; to hear him was a lesson
in elocution of the finest kind. As a man of wide
and deep culture, he appealed by his Life and Letters
of Charles Lamb to a larger audience than his voice
could reach. There was a good deal of mental kinship
between him and Lamb, for he possessed humour in
the highest degree informed with the kindest humanity.
Early in his life he came under the influence of F. D.
Maurice, whose close association with Bristol is related
earlier in this section. His death was not only a local
loss, but a national one ; few have been so good, and at
the same time so learned as Alfred Ainger.

CHAPTER II. {continued).

PART VII.

DISTINGUISHED JOURNALISTS AND
HISTORIANS.

William Combe: his extfavai(ance — Samuel Lucas — T. H.
Cook — Philip Harwood — G. W. Thornhury — Whitwell
Ehoin — J. B. Kington — Charles Pebody — jfohn Leech
— William Barrett — Rev. Samuel Seycr — John Evans —
— George Pryce — J. F. Nicholls and John Taylor —
JoJm Latimer.

OURNALISM is indebted to Bristol for man\'
brilliant recruits to its ranks. One of the
earliest to be associated with the city was
the celebrated William Combe, author of The Tour
of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque, a work
which has recently been republished, with reproduc-
tions of the original plates of Rowlandson in colour,
forming the latest of many editions. Few writers have
attained greater popularity by a single work. William
Combe was born in Bristol in 1741, and educated at
Eton and Oxford. Possessed both of personal attractions
and fascinating manners, he was received in the best
society, but his extravagant tastes and utter thriftlessness
soon reduced him to poverty, and he became by turns
waiter, cook, and soldier. Having been left a legacy, in
1772 he visited the Hotwells, where he lived in princely

175

176 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

style, having a chariot and retinue of servants at his com-
mand, and being commonly known as " Count Combe."
Here one of his first books was published, The Philosopher
in Bristol — a work now rare. A comedy written b\' him,
The Flattering Milliner, was played at the Bristol Theatre,
King Street, on September nth, 1775.

Afterwards, finding his resources exhausted, owing to his
own folly. Combe seriously turned to literature to recoup
himself, and produced a large number of works, all of
which, however, were published anonymously. By his
political writings he secured the friendship of Pitt, who
ultimately obtained for him a pension of £200 a year.
This he enjoyed until the death of his patron. Later
he became connected with The Times, in reference to
which Crabb Robinson says in i8og : " There is another
person belonging to this period who is a character cartainl}-
worth writing about. Indeed, I have known few to be
compared with him. It was on my first acquaintance
with Walter that I used to notice in his parlour a
remarkably fine old gentleman. He was tail, with a
stately figure and handsome face. He did not appear
to work much with his pen, but was chiefly a consulting
man." The same authority relates a funny anecdote in
his Diary on Combe's powers of romancing in conversation.
Being at a dinner in the company of Dr. Parr, he gave a
very pleasant and interesting account of his building a
well-known house on Keswick Lake. He went, however,
so much into details that the patience of at least one
member of the party was exhausted, and he cried out,
"Why, what an impudent fellow you are! You have
given a very true and capital account of the house, and
I wonder how you learnt it ; but that house was built by
Tny father. It was never out of the family, and it is in

SAMUEL LUCAS. 177

my own possession at this moment." Our author was
not in the least abashed, but answered with great coohiess,.
" I am obliged to you for doing justice to the fidelity of my
description. I have no doubt it is your property, and I
hope you will live long to enjoy it." Owing to his
inveterate extravagance, however, Combe was compelled
to live within the "rules" of King's Bench Prison for the
last forty years of his life. He died in London on June
igth, 1S23, in his 82nd year.

Few journalists have wielded a more cultured, able,
or incisive pen than Samuel Lucas, the son of Thomas
Lucas, a Bristol merchant. Equipped with a University
education, winning whilst at Oxford the Newdigate prize
for English verse and the Chancellor's prize for the
English essay, he opened his career by becoming a
barrister, and won much popularity on the \\'estern
Circuit. Having, however, a strong bent towards
literature, he connected himself with the London press,
and soon became a frequent contributor and reviewer
for The Times. Many of his articles have been collected
and published, notably Mornings of the Recess, a series
of biographical and literary studies. Later on we shall
see how he made famous Mrs. Henry Wood's novel,
East Lynne. Lucas wrote for The Times the review of
Lord Macaulay's famous History, which so pleased its
author that he wrote in his diary, December 17th, 1853:
" An article on my book in The Times in tone what I
wished — that is to say, laudatory without any appearance
of puffing." He also contributed many articles to the
local press, which were subsequently published as
Illustrations of the History of Bristol and its Neigh-
bourhood.

Bristol was also the birthplace of T. H. Cook, who

178 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

likewise became a barrister and a constant contribvitor to
The Times. As its special correspondent he was sent
to China on the outbreak of the war in 1856. His
articles were afterwards republished in book form, and
met with great success, a fifth edition being called for
in 1861. He also wrote another successful series, which
was similarly dealt with, entitled Conquest and Colo-
nisation in North Africa. He was a facile writer,
rarely correcting or retouching what he had written.
Endowed with many gifts, he possessed tireless energy.
After endeavouring unsuccessfully to get into Parliament,
he was appointed Commissioner in one of the Govern-
ment departments, in which position he proved an
unqualified success.

A journalist who achieved considerable distinction
was Philip Harwood, who was born in Bristol in iSog.
He first applied himself to the law% but retired from it
in favour of the ministry. Ultimately he drifted into
journalism, and became sub-editor of The Examiner ;
later he received an appointment on the staff of The
Spectator. After a brief stay he joined J. D. Cook as
sub-editor of the Morning Chronicle. The paper, however,
failing from the commercial side, he went to assist in
conducting the newly-started Saturday Review, and upon
the death of his chief he took his place as editor. He
was a splendid type of journalist, and had the reputation
of being one of the best of sub-editors.

The writer of the standard biography of Turner,
the great artist, G. W. Thornbury, was intimately
associated with Bristol at the beginning of his journalistic
career, for he was at the age of 17 contributing topo-
graphical and antiquarian articles to Felix Farley's
Bristol Journal. Here too he published a volume of

WHITWELL ELWIN AND J. B. KINGTON. 179

poems. Proceeding to London about 1851, he joined the
staff of The Athenceum, and filled the position of art
critic with conspicuous ability. Subsequently he assisted
Charles Dickens as a contributor to Household Words
and All the Year Round, and became one of the most
valued of his staff. His Life of Turner was written
under the direct supervision of Ruskin, an ordeal which
Thornbury said was "very much like working bareheaded
under a tropical sun !" His share in Old and New London
is still highly esteemed. He died in 1876 of overwork.

One of the greatest journalistic forces of the nineteenth
century — Whitwell Elwin — editor of The Quarterly, be-
came acquainted with his future wife whilst staying with
friends at Clifton. It was a case of love at first sight.
He was much mortified, however, to learn that the object
of his passion was already engaged, and on taking his
leave of her he told her that he would have proposed
if she had been free. With silent eloquence she gave an
emphatic denial to the report of her engagement by kissing
him. In spite of her mother's declaration, " It won't last,"'
the attachment proved a lifelong one. In after years as
man and wife they revisited Clifton once more. Elwin is
said to have been descended from the celebrated Indian
Princess Pocahontas.

Among journalists connected with Bristol, the author
of The Battle of Nibley Green, J. B. Kington, deserves
mention. He was originally a local journalist. Later
he started a newspaper for himself, and though the venture
was unsuccessful, it brought him the valuable friendship
of Lord Macaulay, to whom he dedicated the above work.
Finally he became editor of the Weekly Chronicle, and
was called to the Bar.

One of the ablest editors of the many who have

180 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

controlled the destinies of the Bristol Times and Mirror
was Charles Pebod\', who afterwards attained distinction
when holding a similar position on the Yorkshire Post, for
at the time of his death he had placed that, paper in the
front rank of pro\incial journals.

No record of those connected with Bristol journalism
would be complete without the inclusion of John Leech,
the shrewd, observant and genial writer and part proprietor
"of the Bristol Times and Mirror, whose chief legacy to
posterity has been Tlic Church Goer, a series of gossipy
papers on the churches in and around our ancient city,
and his Brief Romances from Bristol History.

To-day Bristol's connection with journalism is
unbroken, for some of the most distinguished members
of the profession now with us own this ancient city as
their birthplace.

There have been seven prominent local historians
whose names may be here mentioned.

The first of these, William Barrett, was born in Wilt-
shire in 1733, and on arriving at manhood he settled in
Bristol as a surgeon. He had not been here long before
he conceived the project of writing the history of our city.
Though most industrious in quest of materials, which
took him thirty years to collect, he was credulous Lo a
degree ; the consequence being that he fell an easy prey
to Chatterton's MS. " finds " in the muniment room of
Redcliff Church, and incorporated them in his History
of Bristol without the slightest attempt to investigate
their origin. This unfortunate act has discredited the
entire work, and on its publication in 1789 it covered its
author with ridicule, and it is said hastened his death,
which occurred the same year.

The Rev. Samuel Seyer, the next to essay the task

WILLIAM BARRETT, F.S.A.

1733 i-sg-

RKV. SAMUIiL SKYER, MA.

»757— i«3i-

TWO LOCAL HISTORIANS

REV. SA^IUEL SKYER. 181

of writing a History of Bristol, was encouraged by a
substantial grant of money from the Corporation. A
schoolmaster, and the son of a schoolmaster, he was
born in Bristol in 1757, his father having been the
head master of the Grammar School. Seyer's school,
The Fort, St. Michael's Hill, was famous for the many
distinguished men educated there, among whom were
Robert Browning's father ; John Kenyon, cousin of
Elizabeth Barrett Browning ; Johii Broderip, the
naturalist ; John Eagles, " The Sketcher " ; and
Andrew Crosse, the Somerset electrician. Se}'er was a
stern disciplinarian, for Crosse relates: " I was caned, upon
an average, three times a day for seven years." (School-
boys of to-day have much to be thankful for.) Continuing,
he says : " He " (Seyer) '• was an admirable classic, a good
grammarian ; he had some nobility of feeling, was perfectly
honest, but was a narrow-minded man, and without any
sense of justice. I remember one day I was had up as
usual to read Virgil ; I had nearly completed the fifth
book, when I made a mistake in a w'ord. ' Let me
look,' said Seyer, and, taking the volume from me, he
found that the whole of the fifth book had been torn out.
I had repeated it from memory. I then explained to him
that, without any fault of my own, one of my school-
fellows, in a fit of mischief, had torn it out some
months since. My master's only reply was a good caning;
and what was worse, whenever he was out of temper with
me, he would call me up, and asking to look at my Virgil,
repeat the caning every time." Seyer's History, however,
though marred by a good deal of irrelevant matter, is
beyond question one of the best of our local histories.

A useful work, based largely on Seyer's, entitled
A Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol, was

182 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

compiled by John Evans, a native of the city, born, in
1774, and editor of the Bristol Observer. He was killed
by the falling of the Brunswick Theatre, London,
February 28th, 1828.

The next writer who devoted himself to the work
was the city librarian, George Pryce, a man of consider-
able ability and industry, though somewhat pugnacious.
The chief fault of his History lies in his lack of historical
perspective ; unnecessary details crowd his pages to the
exclusion of other and more important matter. His best
claim to our gratitude lies in the fact that through his
unaided efforts was laid the foundation of the valuable
collection of Bristol books and pamphlets the city now
possesses.

A much more comprehensive work was that of J. F.
Nicholls and John Taylor, entitled Bristol : Past and
Present, issued in 1881 in three volumes. It was divided
into two parts, civil and ecclesiastical, Nicholls being
responsible for the former and Taylor for the latter.
Competent authorities have long since decided that
Taylor's share is much the more accurate and valuable
of the two. He is deservedly looked upon as the authority
on Bristol's church history, in addition to which he was
a fine antiquarian, a scholar, and a writer of considerable
charm. Many of his articles enriched the columns of
The Saturday Review.

The last and greatest of all Bristol's historians was
John Latimer, whose death occurred on January 4th,
1904, and whose Annals of the seventeenth, eighteenth,
and Hineteenth centuries are indeed the best monument
to his memory. Though a Newcastle man by birth,
he became a Bristolian in the noblest sense of the term,
living in our midst for over forty years, twenty-five of

GEORGE PRYCE, F.S.A.

1799 — 1 868.

J. F. NICHOLLS, F.S.A.

iSi8— 1883.

(yhoU; rutir):< <£-• Quirl;J

JOHN TAYLOR.
1829—1893.

r/';»/(.., Ah>I LfU-is Ji: Son.)

JOHN LATIMER.

1824— 1904.

FOUR LOCAL HISTORIANS.

JOHN LATIMER. 183

which he spent in the editorial chair of the Bristol
Mercury. All future writers on our history will be deeply
indebted to him for the great harvest of accurate facts
stored up in his Annals. Others have eclipsed him in
their style, but none in their matter. With perfect truth
■and justice can it be said of him that none have so well
" drawn back the ever-thickening curtain of the past " "'
that hides the events of Bristol's history. A tablet
recording his association with our city has been placed
in the cathedral.

* The Rev. A. N. Blatchford at the graveside.

CHAPTER II. (continued).

PART VIII.
BRISTOL'S CONNECTION WITH FICTION.

Dejoe and "Robinson Crusoe'' — "Gulliver's Travels" —
" Huniphry Clinker" — Fanny Biirney's "Evelina" —
Sir Walter Scott — jfane Porter — Harriett Lee — Charles
Kingsley : his recollections of the Riots — Frances Trollope
— "The Journal of Llewellin Penrose'' — Bristol in
"The Pickwick Papers" — "The Caxtons" — Bristol in
"Treasure Island" — Description of Bristol in "Campion
Court" — -"East Lynne" reviewed by Samuel Lucas —
Amelia B. Edwards — A. T. Quiller-Couch — Description
of the Downs in " The Strange Adventures of a
House-boat" — "Hugh Conway" — Mrs. Emma Marshall
— Miscellaneous.

'O English city save London has been more closely
identified with the art of fiction than Bristol.
For nearly two hundred years — from Daniel
Defoe to Israel Zangwill — its connection has been
an unbroken one. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say
that fiction pales before the glowing record that adds
lustre and fame to a cit}- whose founding dates before the
Conquest. To name but one deed emblazoned high up
on the scroll of fame, Cabot's discovery of the northern
continent of America was an epic romance in itself.

The justly-celebrated author of our boyhood's classic,

184

DANIEL DEFOE.

DEFOE AND " ROBlNSOxN CRUSOE.' 185

Robinson Crusoe — a work that will be as endurinp^ as the
English language itself, and of which Landor said,
"Achilles and Homer will be forgotten before Crusoe and
Defoe" — was a frequent visitor to Bristol, his favourite
haunt being the " Star Inn," Cock and Bottle Lane,
Castle Street. His biographer states that a friend of his,
resident in Bristol, relates that one of his ancestors
remembered Defoe, and sometimes saw him walking in
the streets of Bristol accoutred in the fashion of the
times with "a fine flowing wig, lace ruffles, and a sword
by his side." The same authority adds that one Mark
Watkins, who kept the " Red Lion " in Castle Street,
which Defoe used also occasionally to visit, was wont to
entertain his company in after times with an account of a
singular personage who made his appearance in ]>rist()l
clothed in goat-skins, in which dress he was in the habit
of walking the streets, and went by the name of Alexander
Selkirk, or Robinson Crusoe. It will be remembered
that Alexander Selkirk was taken off the island of Juan
I'^ernandez by Captain Woodes Rogers, of privateering
fame, and brought home to Bristol.

In that other equally famous classic of fiction, Gulliver s
Travels, does not the hero start out on his memorable
voyage to Lilliput from the port of Bristol ?

Readers of Humphry Clinker, Smollett's very humorous
novel, will no doubt recall to mind that some of the
opening letters in it are written from the Hotwells, the
fashionable and celebrated spa of the period. The heroine,
Miss Lydia Melford, writing from there to a friend, says :
" We set out for Bath to-morrow, and I am almost sorry
for it ; as I begin to be in love with solitude, and this
is a charming romantic place. The air is so pure ; the
Downs so agreeable; the furze in full blossom; the ground

186 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

enamelled with daisies, and primroses, and cowslips . . .
the groves resound with the notes of the blackbird, thrush,
and linnet, and all night long sweet Philomel pours forth
her ravishingly delightful song."

The recent republication of Fanny Burney's famous
novel, Evelina, should remind Bristolians that full
references to the Hotwells are therein given. Burke
and Reynolds had a great opinion of this novel, and
were so absorbed in its perusal that they sat up all night
to finish it, whilst the great doctor got it nearly off by
heart, and mimicked the characters with roars of laughter.
One of Macaulay's famous essays is devoted to Fanny
Burney. That essay is indeed a memora.ble tribute.
Rogers, the banker poet, sitting with her just before her
death, said to her, " Do you remember those lines of
Mrs. Barbauld's Life which I once repeated to you?"
" Remember them," she replied, "I repeat them to myself
every night before I go to sleep."

Sir Walter Scott in his novel, The Pirate, has
immortalised our city in that passage where the captain
of the Good Hope says to Mordaunt Mertoun : "My name
is Clement Cleveland, captain, and part owner, as I said
before — I am a Bristol man born — my father was well
known on the Tollsell — old Clem Cleveland of the College
green."

Jane Porter, the gifted authoress of The Scottish Chiefs
and TJiaddcus of Warsaiv, resided for many years in Bristol,
and died at 29 Portland Square on May 24th, 1850.
Indirectly, tradition sa}-s, the world owes to her the
creation of the Wavcrley Novels, for Sir Walter Scott,
being one day in the company of George IV., frankly
admitted in the course of conversation that The Scottish
Chiefs was the parent of that world-famous series. The

HARRIETT LEE & CHARLES KINGSLEY. 187

late Sir Leslie Stephen said that he would rather have
written the Waverley novels than have won the Battle
of Waterloo or even Trafalgar.

Harriett Lee's Canterbury Talcs were much in vogue at
that period. Byron read them in his youth and was greatly
influenced by them, and in his preface to Werner he acknow-
ledged his indebtedness to their author. The famous
William Godwin, whose daughter married the poet Shelley,
was an unsuccessful suitor for her hand. A tablet to her
memory and that of her sister is in Clifton Church.

At Bristol the famous novelist and poet, Charles
Kingsley, went to school. His master was the Rev.
William Knight, Rector of St. Michael's, by whom
he was described as " affectionate, gentle, and fond of
quiet." At that period he was a passionate lover of
nature, and nothing more quickly roused him to anger
than to have the treasures he had collected in his walks
over the Downs swept away as rubbish by the housemaid.
Visiting Bristol in after life, he graphically related his
experience of the Riots of 1831, which took place
during his schooldays here. " I was a school-boy in
Clifton up above. I had been hearing of political
disturbances, even of riots, of which I understood
nothing, and for which I cared nothing. But on one
memorable Sunday afternoon I saw an object which
was distinctly not political. It was an afternoon of
sullen, autumn rain. The fog hung thick over the docks
and lowlands. Glaring through the fog I saw a bright
mass of flame, almost like a half-risen sun. That, I was
told, was the gate of the new gaol on fire — that the
prisoners had been set free. . . . The fog rolled slowly
upward. Dark figures, even at that great distance, were
flitting to and fro across what seemed the mouth of

LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

the }'it. Tlic llame increased — multiplied — at one point
after another ; till, by ten o'clock that night, one seemed
to be looking down upon Dante's Inferno, and to hear the
multitudinous moan and wail of lost spirits surging to
and fro amid that sea of tire. Right behind Brandon
Hill — how can I ever forget it ? — rose the central mass of
fire, till the little mound seemed converted into a
volcano. . . . Higher and higher the fog was scorched
and shrivelled upward by the fierce heat below, glowing
through and through with reflected glare till it arched
itself into one vast dome of red-hot iron, fit roof for all
the madness down below — and beneath it, miles away,
I could see the lovely tower of Dundry shining red — the
symbol of the old faith, looking down in stately wonder
and sorrow upon the fearful birth-throes of a new age."

At Stapleton was born Frances Trollope, the famous
mother of a famous son — Anthony Trollope. Her
Widow Barnahy was a highly successful novel, and her
racy descriptions of our Yankee cousins in her Domestic
Manners of the Americans gave sore offence to the people
of that great country. In 1S43 she resided at 7 Caledonia
Place, Clifton, for a short time. The remarkable thing
about her career is that she did not publish her first work
until she was over fifty }ears of age.

Numberless readers have been thrilled by the weird and
wonderful tales of Edgar Allan Poe; but few Bristol readers
are aware that the extraordinary story of the Gold Beetle —
being an account of the discovery of pirates' concealed
treasure by the deciphering of a mystically written
manuscript — is taken in its leading incidents from the
remarkable Journal of Llcicellin Penrose, a Seaman. The
origin of this Journal is well worth relating. Towards the
close of the eighteenth century Mr. Thomas Eagles, the

'•JOURNAL OF LLEWELLIN PENROSE.' 189

father of John Eagles, "The Sketcher" of BlackicoocL was
one day accosted in the street by a poor old man, whose
bearing and speech betrayed the fact that he had seen
better davs. He begged for a pass to St. Peter's Hospital,
saying that his family were all dead, and that he had no
wish to live, but onh' sought a shelter where he might die.
Mr. Eagles, senior, took the trouble to inquire into the
circumstances of the stranger, and finally procured for him
a place in the Merchant Seamen's Almshouse, King Street,
where he found himself in comparative comfort. His
health improved, and, in fact, he lived on for some years.
Mr. Eagles, who had been warmly interested in this lonely
old man from the first, found on further acquaintance that
he was a person of education and had had a very varied
experience of life. He had lost his sons in the Battle
of Bunker Hill, and all his family were dead and gone.
Of his origin he never spoke, but he gave the impression
that his birth had given him some claim to charity in the
city of Bristol. John Eagles remembered him well, as his
father asked him occasionally to dine, when he proved
himself a well-bred man, and his talk about art, literature,
and travel w^as most entertaining. When the mysterious old
man died, he bequeathed all he possessed to his benefactor.
The legacy seemed at first of little importance, con-
sisting merely of a few books and two manuscripts. One
was the Lives of the Painters, the other The Journal of
Llewellin Penrose, a Seaman. When the latter came to be
read aloud, as it was in the family circle, it was found to
be most exciting, so exciting indeed that John Eagles,
then a schoolboy, confessed that he managed to miss the
coach that was to have taken him to school, that he might
remain at home another evening to hear the end of these
wonderful adventures. Mr. Eagles had the whole manu-

190 LITKRARY ASSOCIATIONS.

script copied out, and induced his artist friends, Nicholas
Pocock and Edward Bird, to ilhistrate it. Having sub-
mitted it to John Murray, that pubHsher gave ;£'200 for it.

Byron read it with the greatest interest, and said :
" I never read so much of a book at one sitting in my life.
He" [Penrose] "kept me up half the night, and made me
dream of him the other half. It has all the air of truth,
and is most entertaining and interesting in every point
of view."

On the site of Lloyds Bank, Corn Street, there
formerly stood the Bush Inn, famed for its entertain-
ment, and in the old coaching days one of the chief
inns of the city. Here it was that Mr. Winkle, in
Dickens's Pickwick Papers, took up his quarters in his
lovelorn quest for the missing Arabella Allen, who was
surmised to be hidden somewhere in Bristol or its
neighbourhood. It will doubtless be recalled how Winkle
walked forth to view the city, its quays, ships, cathedral,
etc., and how, having lost his way, he stepped into
" something between a shop and a private house," over
the door of which a red lamp was suspended declaring
the residence of a doctor, and how, on inquiring within,
to his great astonishment he was suddenly embraced by
his old friend Bob Sawyer, who had here set up as a
doctor. Subsequently, on the arrival of Sam Weller
and the immortal Pickwick, they sallied out to discover
Winkle's lost love. It was during this quest that Sam
Weller had his altercation with the surly groom on
the Downs. "I'd knock your head off for half- a -
crown," said he. " Couldn't afford to have it done on
those terms," rejoined Sam. " It 'ud be vorth a life's
board wages, at least, to you, and 'ud be cheap at that.
Make my compliments in-doors. Tell 'em not to vait

"THE CAXTONS" & "TREASURE ISLAND." 191

dinner for me, and say they needn't mind puttin' any by,
for it vill be cold afore I come in." Muttering a fervent
desire to damage somebody's head, the groom disappeared,
wholly unheeding Sam's affectionate request " to leave
him a lock of his hair, before he went."

In Lord Lytton's The Caxtons, Mr. Caxton, in his
discourse on the "hygienic chemistry of books," speaks
of biography as being the medicine of life's distresses and
sorrows, and advises his son to read the Life of Robert Hall
(the famous Bristol preacher and orator), which he handed
him. "After breakfast the next morning, I took my hat
to go out, when my father, looking at me, and seeing by
my countenance that I had not slept, said gently, ' My
dear Pisistratus, you have not tried my medicine yet.'
' What medicine, sir ? ' ' Robert Hall.' ' No, indeed, not
yet,' said I, smiling.' ' Do so, my son, before you go
out ; depend on it, you will enjoy your walk more.'
I confess that it was with some reluctance I obeyed.
I went back to my own room and sat resolutely down to
ni}' task. Are there any of you, my readers, who have
not read the Life of Robert Hall ? If so, in the words of
the great Captain Cuttle, 'when found, make a note of it'.
Never mind what your theological opinion is — Episco-
palian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Paebaptist, Independent,
Quaker, Unitarian, Philosopher, Free Thinker — send for
Robert Hall ! . . . Whatever, then, thou art, orthodox or
heterodox, send for the Life of Robert Hall. It is the life
of a man that does good to manhood itself to contem-
plate. . . ."

In that thrilling masterpiece of fiction, Stevenson's
Treasure Island, Bristol figures prominently, for was
it not in Bristol, at the sign of the " Spy-Glass,"
the little tavern near the docks, with a large brass

192 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

telescope hung over the door, that the hero became first
acquainted with that matchless scoundrel, John Silver,
whose favourite song, commencing " Fifteen men on the
dead man's chest," haunts the reader's memory? From
here, too, they set sail in the Hispaniol.i on their adven-
turous quest of the "Treasure Island."

Emma Jane Worboise, in her historic novel, Campion
Court, speaks of Bristol as "a port of such renown that
it could dispute the palm, for trade and commerce, even
with London itself . . . and her merchants were men of
dignity, and of almost measureless wealth." She gives a
fine picture of the city in the following passage : " The
sun lighted up the ancient streets, and sparkled on the
Float . . . The cool shadows yet lay broad and deep
across the College Green, and the cathedral tower, though
of no very fair proportions, rose massively against the
intense blue of the cloudless sky. Coming down the path
under the walls of St. Augustine's Church, the knight
remarked that the scene reminded him very much of
Venice, for there was the broad water, and the tall ships,
and the little boats floating idly at the foot of the ferry
steps ; and over the water lay the mass of the ancient city,
with its lofty spires and towers, and above all the magnifi-
cent tower of the church dedicated to St. Stephen the
Martyr."

The success of Mrs. Henry Wood's East Lynne was
entirely due to a Bristolian. When that famous novel
had been published over a year, and was not in any sense
taking the fiction-reading public by storm, by a lucky
chance it fell into the hands of Samuel Lucas, already
referred to, who reviewed for The Times. It came
about in this way. Meeting Tinsley, the publisher, one
day, he said : " Well, Tinsley, which is the most popular

A. B. EDWARDS AND SIR W. BESANT. 193

novel at the present time ? " Tinsley replied that he
thought East Lynnc was the most interesting he had
met with. This casual opinion induced Lucas to obtain
a copy, which he took home and read, and not only read,
but what is more, wrote an extremely long review on it,
extending to nearly two columns, for The Times, which
appeared on January 25th, 1862. This review gave an
extraordinary stimulus to the sale of the novel, and for
weeks afterwards the printers were kept busy day and
night to cope with the demand for copies. From that
time its success was assured.

The famous Egyptologist and novelist, Amelia B.
Edwards, lived at The Larches, Westbury-on-Trym, for
nearly thirty years. She wrote eight novels, several of
which were very successful, her last and most popular one.
Lord Brackenbury, passing through no fewer than fifteen
editions. Her career, however, as a novelist came to an
abrupt close when she paid her first visit to Egypt, which
changed the whole course of her intellectual life. She
conceived an intense enthusiasm for the study of Egypt-
olog)^, and to her and the late Reginald Stewart Poole the
world owes the founding of the Egypt Exploration Fund.
She founded, too, the first chair of Egyptology in this
country, and designated the well-known authority on
Egypt, Professor Flinders Petrie, its first occupant. She
died in 1892, and lies buried in Henbury Churchyard.

Readers of Sir Walter Besant's fine historical novel,
For Faith and Freedom, will remember that the arch-
hypocrite, Peel, took the heroine, Alice Eykin, on their
arrival in Bristol, to a house in Broad Street, near
St. John's Arch, to lodge, preparatory to her being
shipped — as, alas ! too many of the unfortunate victims of
the Monmouth Rebellion were — to Barbadoes as a slave.

194 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

There is, too, a great deal of local colouring in Clark
Russell's Jack's Courtship, for in speaking of Redcliff
Church, he sa}S : " It is an architectural dream, most
lovely and most tender. Why are not all churches
equally lovely? Ladies, St. Mary RedcUff is a church to
get married in,"

A. T. Quiller-Couch (an Old Cliftonian), in one of
his finest historical novels. The Splendid Spur, tells how
his hero, John Marvel, escapes from Bristol Castle (being
a king's man), and by the timely aid of the quaint and
deaf skipper of the Godsend, gets beyond the reach of his
enemies.

In William Black's novel, llie Strange Adventures of

a House-boat, occurs a graphic description of our Downs,

which runs as follows: — "After luncheon we got a

carriage and drove away out to the famous Downs of

which Bristol is very naturally proud. It was a beautiful

afternoon — a light westerly wind tempering the hot glare

of the sun ; and there was everywhere a summer-like

profusion of foliage and blossom — of red and white

hawthorn, of purple lilac and golden laburnum — in the

pretty gardens that front the long-ascending Whiteladies-

Road. Arrived at the downs, we of course proceeded on

foot, across the undulating pasture land bestarred with

squat hawthorn-bushes, that were now all powdered over

with pink-white or cream-white bloom. The view from

these heights was magnificent : beyond the luxuriant

woods in the neighbourhood of the Avon, which were

all golden-green in the warm afternoon light, the wide

landscape retreated fold upon fold and ridge upon ridge

to the high horizon line, becoming bluer and bluer till

lost in the pale southern sky. It was only here or there

that some far hill or hamlet, some church spire, or

" HUGH CONWAY." 195

wood -crowned knoll, caught that golden glow, and shone
faint and dim ; mere distance subdued all local colour ;
and the successive landscape waves that rolled out to the
horizon were but so many different shades of atmospheric
azure, lightening or deepening according to the nature of
the country. Of topographical knowledge we had none ;
we only knew that this was a bit of England; and a very
fair and pleasant sight it seemed to be.

"And then, again, from these lofty heights, we made
our way down the steep slopes that overhang the river,
by pathways flecked with sunlight and shade, and through
umbrageous woods that offered a welcome shelter on
this hot afternoon. Truly Bristol is a fortunate city to
have such picturesque and pleasant open spaces in her
immediate neighbourhood ; and she has done wisely in
not employing too much of the art of the landscape-
gardener. There is sufficient of the wilderness about
these hanging woods — though there are also smooth
winding wa3's for those who object to scrambling and
climbing. . . .

" Then we climbed up again to the summit of Clifton
Down . . . and found another spacious landscape all
round us — the deep chasm of the river right beneath ;
high in the air, but still far below us, the Suspension
Bridge ; over to the west the beautiful woods of Leigh ;
and beyond these the stretch of fertile country that lies
between the Avon and the Severn."

Chief among modern fiction writers who are connected
with Bristol is " Hugh Conway," the famous author of
Called Back. F. J. Fargus, to give his real name, was
born at Bristol, December 26th, 1847. His first literary
efforts were in the direction of plays and songs. At the
age of seventeen he sent a burlesque which he had written

196 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

to William Robertson (father of Mrs. Kendal), at the
Bristol Theatre Royal. He was, however, more successful
with his songs, and one of them, Some Day, was
extremely popular. But it was when he turned his
attention to fiction that he really made headway, and in
the year 1883 he took the reading public by storm with
his celebrated novel, Called Back, which was followed by
Dark Days. From that time till his lamented death at
Nice, on May 15th, 1885, he was in the front rank of
popular novelists.

To use a journahstic phrase, Called Back "caught on"
in a wonderful way. It was altogether in a new style,
brilliantly written, and was published at a moderate price,
and it is no exaggeration to say that its publication
sounded the death-knell of the three volume novel.

It may not be inappropriate to introduce here the
remarks which appeared in Truth with reference to this
epoch-making novel : — " Who Arrowsmith is and who
Hugh Conway is I do not know, nor had I ever heard
of the Christmas Annual of the former, or of the latter
as a writer of fiction ; but a week or two ago a friend
of mine said to me : ' Buy Arrowsmith's Xmas Annual
if you want to read one of the best stories that have
appeared for many a year.' A few days ago I happened
to be at the Waterloo Station waiting for a train. I
remembered the advice, and asked the clerk at the book-
stall for the Annual. He handed it to me, and remarked,
' They say the story is very good, but this is only the third
copy I have sold.' It was so foggy that I could not read
it in the train, as I had intended, so I put the book in my
pocket. About two that night it occurred to me that it
was nearing the hour when decent, quiet people go to bed.
I saw the Annual staring me in the face, and took it up.

._A «-^ o^Qk. Co

<-A>*»*M

"HUGH CONWAY."
FREDERICK JOHN I-ARGUS.

MRS. EMMA MARSHALL. 197

Well, not until 4.30 did I get to bed. By that time I had
finished the story. Had I not I should have gone on
reading. I agree with my friend — nay, I go further than
him, and say that Wilkie Collins never penned a more
enthralling story. ... I can only hope that Mr. Hugh
Conway will soon be good enough to write another story
— a better one of its kind than Called Back, however,
neither he nor anyone else can write. I only ask that
it should be one half as good."

The novel was first published as the Christmas Afinual
for 1883 in connection with the Bristol Library Series.
Its success was phenomenal, nearly half a million copies
having been sold ; it has also been translated into many
languages.

"Hugh Conway's" death was deeply regretted by those
who saw that, had he been spared, he would have
produced far better work than that which secured his
success. He lies' buried at Nice, and the late Lord
Houghton wrote his epitaph, which described him as
"A British writer of fiction of great renown and greater
promise, who died prematurely." In Bristol cathedral is
a memorial tablet to his memory.

As a writer of pure and wholesome stories for the
young, the name of Emma Marshall must not be
forgotten. For many years she was resident in Clifton.
Between 1861 and i8gg, the year of her death, she wrote
over two hundred stories. The late Master of the Temple,
Alfred Ainger, in advocating the memorial to her memory
in the cathedral, spoke of " the high and pure qualit}^ of
her literary work," and declared that her stories " have
been a means of awakening and cultivating a taste for
history and literature throughout the English-speaking
world." Several of her works, viz. In Colston's Days,

10 A

198 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS.

The Totcer on the Cliff, and Bristol Diamonds, are distinctly
local in their scenes and incidents.

Among distinguished writers of our day connected
with Bristol are Israel Zangwill, who was educated at
Redcross Street School ; Robert Hichens, novelist and
playwright, who lived for many years in Clifton, and was
educated at its college ; and Charles Marriott, who was
born here. Many too are the novels of living writers
which have scenes and references to Bristol, Among
these may be noted A. E. W. Mason's Courtship of Morricc
Buckler, Cope Cornford's Buccaneers, Conan Doyle's Rodney
Stone, and Dora Chesney's Rupert, By the Grace of God.
Enough, however, has been said to show that Bristol in
fiction, as in other directions, plays a very important
part.

Art Associations.

W. J. MULLER.
Aftey Painting by Nathan Branwhite.

CHAPTER III.

PART I.
DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS,

W. J. Midler ; his great sketching powers; early death — Sir
Thomas Laivrence — Edivard Hodges Baily — Turner's
connection ivith Bristol — JoJin Simmons and Hogarth —
Edward Bird — Paul Falconer Poole — Francis Dauby
and his sons, T. and J. F. Danhy — James Baker Pyne
— H. Brittan Willis — Nicholas Pocock and his son,
Isaac Pocock — G. A. Fripp and A. D. Fripp — Samuel
Jackson and S. P. Jackson — William Evans — John King
— Samuel Collins — -Nathan and CJiarlesBranwhitc — John
Skinner Prout — John Eagles, friend of the "Bristol
School'' of Artists — Peter Vandyke — Robert Hancock,
engraver ■ — • William Pether, mezzotint engraver — Sir
Robert Ker Porter and his association with Bristol —
William Blake and George Ctmiberland — Edward
Blore — Joh)i Syer—C. W. Furse — E. W. Godwin; his
friendship with James McNeill Whistler.

^MONG associations which have justly made Bristol
famous are those connected with Art. The pride
of place among these must be given to W. J.
Miiller, born in 1812, at 13 Hillsbridge Parade, near
Bath Bridge, the son of a former curator of the civic
museum. His first lessons in painting were derived
from his fellow-townsman, James Baker Pyne, and at

201

202 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

the age of fourteen a picture painted by him was accepted
and hung at the Bristol Art Exhibition.

It is somewhat remarkable that, at the very begin-
ning of his career as an artist, he boldly struck out a
new line for himself, and went direct to Nature and
painting in the open air. At the age of twenty-one he
began to exhibit at the Royal Academy. Miiller soon
proved himself one of the most original and powerful
of painters from Nature. He seized with instinctive
ease the characteristics of a scene with wonderful fidelity
and clearness. His selection and generalisation were
nearly always masterly, his colour pure and strong, and
he could probably suggest more with a few touches of
his brush than any of his contemporaries. He was, too,
one of the lirst English artists to visit and paint the
gorgeous East, and his sketches in Egypt and Asia
Minor are still as unequalled in force and brilliance of
record and in the purity of their Eastern character as
they are in sheer sketching strength. It is only necessary
to view the fine collection in the Birmingham Art Gallery
to be convinced of this.

Apart from the East, which he loved so well, no
scenery appealed to him more strongly than that which
surrounded the place of his birth. The localities of
Stapleton, Hambrook, Hanham, Whitchurch, and
Pensford yielded a rich harvest of subjects for his
gifted and untiring brush ; but his favourite haunt was
Brislington Valley (Saint Anne's). His first sketch was
made in the grounds of Blaise Castle at Henbury.

One of Miiller's greatest admirers was his young
contemporary, the afterwards famous David Cox, who
thought him a man of extraordinary ability. Soon
after Miiller's return from the East, Cox obtained an

W. J. MULLER. 203

introduction to him, and was privileged to see him
at work in his studio. One of the pictures he painted
in Cox's presence was the famous " Ammunition
Wagon," which he completed — such was the rapidity
of his execution — in two sittings. Miiller's dexterity in
using the brush was nothing short of the marvellous.
His " Chess Players " is an illustration of this rapidity
of execution, for he only took two days to paint it.
This celebrated work was originally sold by Miiller for
-£■2^ ; in 1874 it fetched -£"4,052. Cox was profoundly
impressed with Miiller's methods, and, basing his own
on them, rapidly won for himself a position in the very
front rank of artists. A proof of Cox's admiration for
Miiller's work lies in the fact that he purchased several
of his pictures for his own pleasure and study —
surely the finest tribute of praise from one artist to
another !

x\n amusing story of Miiller's sketching powers is
the following: — On one occasion he was on a sketching
tour in North Wales, and whilst at his inn got into
conversation with a stranger, who was also an artist.
Miiller, whose dress betokened anything but the pro-
fessional artist, misled the stranger, who took him for
an amateur painter — probably a small tradesman or clerk
in some city establishment taking his holiday and doing
a little sketching by way of amusement. However, tliey
both went out sketching together. Finding some good
cottage subjects in the neighbourhood, they selected
one and started painting. The stranger artist sketched
most carefully the subject upon the canvas, laid out
his colours, and put in a few tints here and there
just to feel his way, and after working for about an
hour he thought he would have a peep and see how

204 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

the "amateur" was getting on. He fully expected to
see a mere daub, out of perspective and vile in colour
and drawing. What was his astonishment on discover-
ing that his companion had nearly finished his picture,.
whilst his own was little more than commenced !
And such a picture ! so masterly in its colouring and
handling, every detail being simply perfect, that he
was speechless in contemplating it. At length he burst
out, " Well, you have astonished me ! I did not think
you could paint anything fit to be seen ! May I inquire
your name ? " " Miiller," was the quiet reply. " Oh,"
replied the other with a groan of contrition, "why didn't
you tell me that before ? I took you for a tailor ! "

Ere, however, Muller's splendid talents had won him
well-deserved recognition in the art world, he succumbed
to a fatal disease contracted by exposure on his sketching
tours in the East, which cut short his career in 1845 ^^
the early age of thirty-three. He died at his brother's
house at the corner of Park Row and Park Street
Avenue (corner nearest the Prince's Theatre). Well and
truly has it been said, such were the evidences of his skill
which he left behind him, that it was impossible to say
to what heights he would not have soared had death
spared him for a longer span of life. There could be
little doubt, however, that he would have taken high
rank as one of the greatest and noblest of landscape
painters. Few men have laid their art on such a
firm and sound basis ; and with long life, closer com-
munings with Nature, his great brush power and fine
sense of colour, his art would have broadened still further
and his triumphs have been many. Certain it is that
with the bare record of life ending at thirty-three, William
James Muller must ever hold a foremost place amongst

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE.

(After the Painting by himself.)

SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE. 205

the greatest of English painters. His works have
risen enormously in the public estimation since his
death.

At No. 6 Redcross Street was born on May 4th, 1769,
one of the most distinguished of the presidents of the
Royal Academy, Sir Thomas Lawrence. His early
education was derived from Mr. Jones, the predecessor
of Samuel Seyer, on St. Michael's Hill. For a short
time his father kept the " White Lion," Broad Street,
better known to-day as the "Grand Hotel." The bent
of his genius early showed itself, for when in his teens
his proficiency was such as to leave all his competitors
in the antique school far behind him. His personal
attractions, too, were as remarkable as his talents, and
to his admiring fellow-students he seemed to be endowed
with the gifts of a young Titian. Strikingly handsome,
with lovely chestnut locks flowing down his shoulders,
his appearance was romantic in the extreme. From
early }-outh to the close of his brilliant and successful
career he was an indefatigable worker. He became
the great rival of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who most
generously showed him much kindness, and adjured
him to " Study Nature ! Study Nature ! "

Becoming by his courtly and fascinating manners
the favourite painter of George HL, through whose
influence he ultimately became President of the Royal
Academy, his studio was inundated with the rank and
beauty of the age, who literally clamoured for sittings..
Among those who sat to him were the illustrious Sarah
Siddons, Lady Hamilton, the object of Nelson's attach-
ment, and Cowper the poet.

In the painting of the human eye Lawrence was
considered unrivalled. A bust of this great artist from

■206 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

the chisel of his distinguished fellow -citizen, Baily,
adorns the civic Art Gallery.

Edward Hodges Baily, the sculptor, was the son of
a ship -carver of this city, and to this fact must be
attributed his early bent towards art. Soon after the age
of sixteen he became a pupil of the famous Flaxman,
under whom his progress was rapid. Ere he attained
his twentieth year he had carried off a prize given by the
Society of A.rts, and but little more than a year later he
was awarded the first silver medal of the Royal Academy,
and at twenty-three he secured the coveted gold medal
and fifty guineas, which were then the "blue ribbon"
of that Institution. At the very threshold of his career,
when he was but twenty-four, he produced his famous
and exquisite statue of " Eve at the Fountain,'' which
is one of the city's most prized possessions, and which
won for its creator the prize of one hundred guineas
from the British Institution as the best specimen of
British sculpture. The loveliness of this great work
placed him at a bound in the front rank, and casts
of it were at once in demand from the continental art
schools. This work was purchased from the artist for
-^^550 ; the marble alone cost the sculptor ;^400.

In 182 1 he became Academician, and was the only
sculptor who succeeded to that honour during the
presidency of Sir Thomas Lawrence. The beautiful
frieze over the portico of the Freemasons' Hall, at the
bottom of Park Street (formerly the Bristol Institution),
is from his chisel, and was presented as a token of
affection to his native city. Though begrimed almost
beyond recognition, close inspection will convince one
that it bears the impress of a master hand.

Among the various statues he executed during his

■y

E. II. JiAILY, K.A.

TURNER'S CONNECTION WITH BRISTOL. 207

career were those of Sir Robert Peel at Manchester
and Earl Grey at Newcastle, whilst the commanding
figure of Nelson that surmounts the column in Trafalgar
Square, London, was also his work. He died in 1867.

Turner, the greatest name in English landscape art,
had more than a passing acquaintance with Bristol.
In his early life he met in Devonshire, where he was
sketching, Mr. Narraway, a fellmonger of Broadmead
(his dwelling stood on the site of Nos. 50 — 53), who
invited Turner to visit him. This the painter did, and
his acquaintance with the Narraways ripened after his
visit. A drawing of Cote House, Westbury, was done
whilst here in the year 1791 or 1792, when Turner was
about eighteen, in which he introduced the figures of
Sir Henry Lippincott and others. This drawing was
originally bought by Mrs. Herbert Thomas (sister of Mary
Carpenter) from Miss Dart, niece of Mr. Narraway, for
the sum of £20. It measures 16 in. by iifin. Another
drawing he did at this time was " St. Mary Redciiff —
the Chapel, south-west," a drawing of considerable
power and beautiful in tone. This was originally in
the possession of a Bristolian named Short.

Miss Dart has stated that during his stay in Bristol
he borrowed a pony and saddle from her uncle when
he departed on a sketching tour in Wales. These,
she says, were never returned, but collateral c\idence
proves that Turner more than repaid with drawings and
money any kindness that the Narraway family had shown
him whilst here. For instance, on Miss Dart at Turner's
death writing to his executors asking for time to pay a
sum of ;£'35 she owed him, they found no note of the debt
among his papers. It is, therefore, justly supposed that
he had destroyed evidence of the debt.

208 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

That Turner was in Bristol in the closing years of
the eighteenth century is still further proved by the fact
that a drawing of his, " The Old Hotwell House in
1791," is in the possession of the Fine Arts Academy,
and that in 1793 he exhibited, at the Royal Academy
a view on the River Avon entitled, " Rising Squall,
Hotwells." He also sketched a view of the Avon ^from
the Sea Walls, "View of Cook's Folly, looking up the
Avon."

A long - forgotten art worthy of Bristol, John
Simmons, deserves honourable mention in the roll of
Bristol artists. He was born in 1714, and acquired in
his day a great local reputation as a signboard painter.
Many famous artists, among others David Cox, have been
signboard painters. When Hogarth was in Bristol putting
up his celebrated pictures in Redcliff Church, which
were purchased by the vestry for five hundred guineas,
and afterwards presented to the Fine Arts Academy,
tradition says that passing along Redcliff Street the
sign of "The Angel" attracted his attention, and being
informed that it was painted by Simmons, he said,
"Then they need not have sent for me; that is the
artist who should have executed the altar-piece in
Redcliff Church."

Hogarth became acquainted with Simmons, and
when walking one day through the city with him stood
some time looking at a signboard in one of the streets.
On Simmons asking him why he noticed it, he replied,
" I am sure you painted it, for there is no one else
here that could."

Apropos of this, Thackeray gives in his English
Humourists a very amusing account of Hogarth's con-
tempt for the great masters by putting into his mouth

EDWARD BIRD. 209

the following: "Historical painters be hanged! Here's
the man that will paint against any of them for a
hundred pounds. Correggio's ' Sigismunda ' ! Look at
Bill Hogarth's * Sigismunda ' ; look atjmy altar-piece at
St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol; look at my 'Paul befoie
Felix,' and see whether I 'm not as good as the best
of them ! "

In the year 1797, Edward Bird, who had migrated
here from Birmingham, announced in the local press
of June 24th that as historical and landscape painter
he had opened an evening school for young gentlemen —
the first of its kind to be opened in the city. This
art school was opened in the last neighbourhood which
an artist of to-day would dream of selecting for the
purpose — Temple Back. Mr. Bird's terms were as
modest as his surroundings were humble, his fee being
for each pupil one guinea a quarter for three lessons
per week from five to seven o'clock. To his honour,
and with little encouragement from the city of his
adoption, he rose by his talents to the coveted position
of Royal Academician.

His most celebrated painting, " Chevy Chase," was
purchased by the Marquis of Stafford for three hundred
guineas, the original sketch being acquired^ by Sir Walter
Scott. The remarkable power shown in its composition
is best evidenced by the eloquent fact that on seeing it
Allan Cunningham was so profoundlyTimpressed that
he burst into tears. This picture procured for Bird
the honour of being appointed court painter to Princess
Charlotte.

In regard to another of his works. ^" The Death of
Eli," it is related that owing to his procrastination in
finishing it he narrowly esccfped being too late for the

210 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

Exhibition. However, by means of great exertion he
finished it, and ere it was dry packed and hurried it
to the "Bush" coach office for transit to London; but
the book-keeper being already full up with luggage,
peremtorily refused so large a package. Matters looked
desperate, but fortunately at this juncture Mr. Weeks,
the popular host of the " Bush," arrived on the scene,
and speedily changed the aspect of affairs by declaring,
on hearing it was Bird's picture refused, " that he
would have the whole coach unpacked but what it should
go." Thanks therefore to him, the picture reached the
exhibition in time. This work was awarded a premium
of three hundred guineas by the British Institution.

Bird died at King's Parade, Redland (lately demol-
ished) in i8ig, and lies buried in Bristol Cathedral. So
great was the respect in which he was held, that no
fewer than two hundred of the leading citizens followed
his remains. A subscription was afterwards raised for
his family, Prince Leopold, to whom Bird had been
appointed historical painter, sending ;^ioo. His last
great work, "The Embarkation of Louis XVIIL," was
purchased for ;r65o by the Earl of Bridgwater. John
Eagles, well known in his day as " The Sketcher " of
Blackivood, was one of his closest friends.

At 43 College Street, was born, in 1807, Paul
Falconer Poole, the son of a small tradesman. Though
entirely self-taught, by sheer force of native ability he won
an eminent place in the art world. Going to London
early in his career, the first picture he exhibited at
the Royal Academy was entitled "The Well," a scene
at Naples. After passing through a period of privation, he
left London and went back to the provinces, but returned
again to London in 1836, and succeeded in getting

PAUL FALCONER POOLE. • 211

his pictures hung at the Royal Academy. He is
described about this time by Mr. Bell Scott, who, when
speaking of a group of young artists, said : " The best
is Poole, who is possessed of a strong individuality,
a man of peculiar powers of mind, vivid perceptions,
entering into everything with as much interest as into
his own affairs." Poole's greatest work, " Solomon
Eagle," the enthusiast of Ainsworth's romance, when
hung, attracted immediate and general attention, and
won the eulogistic praise of The AihencBtan and
Blackwood, and also brought the artist a ^^300 prize
from Liverpool. After becoming an Associate, his
" Edward the Third and the Burghers of Calais,"
exhibited in Westminster Hall competition, also gained
him a prize of ;^300, and made his position as an
artist assured. One of Poole's most impressive pictures
was that of "Job," and one of his most poetical "The
Song of the Troubadour." The purchaser of the latter
picture, a worthy Manchester merchant, was so pleased
with his bargain, that of his own accord he changed
the ;;{^6oo to six hundred guineas. Unhappily, in so
doing he wounded the feelings of the artist, who refused
to accept the addition to the price. Perhaps Poole's
greatest success was his picture exhibited in i860,
founded on Lytton's Last Days of Pompeii, entitled
" Glaucus, lone, and Nydia." The following year he
was elected to the coveted distinction of Royal Acade-
mician. Those w^ho were privileged to know this poet-
painter, described him as brilliant in conversation and
well read, for he charmed all by his genial and courteous
manners. He was exceedingly kind and generous to
youngj artists. Turner he admired intensely and boldly
declared he was the greatest artist of all time. Poole,

212 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

like the object of his eulogistic praise, was a superb
colourist, the dominant note of his work being a tawny
gold. The position he attained in the world of art
may be gauged from the fact that he occupies a place
with W. J. Miiller in the gth edition of the Encyclo-
pcedia Britannica.

Closely associated with Bristol was the distinguished
and original painter Francis Danby. Born in Ireland
in 1793, the son of a small landed proprietor, he took
lessons in that country, but in the year 1813, accom-
panied by friends, migrated to England, reaching Bristol
in so destitute a condition that he was obliged to sell
two of his sketches for the ridiculous sum of 8s. 6d. to
a stationer in College Green to relieve his immediate
wants. However, in spite of this inauspicious begin-
ning, he took up his abode in Bristol and met with
a liberal patron in one of her citizens named Fry.
In 1817 he contributed his first picture to the Royal
Academy.

Becoming conscious of his powers, he successfully ex-
hibited three important pictures at the British Institution
and Academy in 1820-1. One of these, "Disappointed
Love," now in the Sheepshanks Collection at South
Kensington, was considered a remarkable instance of the
triumph of imaginative genius over technical defects.
His magnificent painting, " Sunset at Sea after a
Storm," received the great compliment of being pur-
chased by Sir Thomas Lawrence, and his " Enchanted
Island" was celebrated by " L.E.L." in verse. In 1825
he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy.
The path to the highest honours in his profession were
now opened to him, but domestic difficulties, chiefl}' of
his own making, intervened. Had it not been for this,

THE DANBYS AND JAMES BAKER PYNE. 213

it is no idle statement to say he would have ranked
with the greatest exponents of his art.

His works have been eulogised by Thackeray, who
says : " We have scarcely ever seen a work by him in
regarding which the spectator does not feel impressed
by something of that solemn contemplation and reverent
worship of Nature which seem to pervade the artist's
mind and pencil. One may say of Mr. Danby that he
paints morning and evening odes." Disraeli alludes in
his novel Coningsby to the " magic pencil of Danby."
The mind of a true poet inspired all that he did.

His sons, Thomas and J. F. Danby, followed their
father's profession, but the former alone attained
eminence. He was born in Bristol in 1817, and early
showed artistic promise. During a sojourn with his father
on the Continent at the youthful age of thirteen, he was
able to draw so well that he earned his living by copying
pictures at the Louvre. Whilst so engaged, he became
deeply impressed with the work of Claude. Later, he
visited Switzerland, and in 1866, at the Dudley Gallery,
his drawings attracted much attention, and were well
hung. His landscapes, like his father's, are impressed
with poetic feeling. He just missed, by one vote, being
elected Associate of the Royal Academy, but the Water-
Colour Society received him with open arms. His
favourite sketching ground was Wales. " He was always
trying," said The Times at his death, " to render his
inner heart's feeling of a beautiful view rather than the
local facts received on the retina."

Among Bristol artists of eminence was James Baker
Pyne, born in the city in 1800, and educated with the
idea of following the law. Art, however, had stronger
attractions for him, and though entirely self-taught, he

214 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

soon gained a considerable reputation. In the year
1835 he went to London and exhibited at the Royal
Academy. Afterwards he contributed chiefly to the
Society of British Artists. He emulated the later style
of Turner, was a good colourist, showed marked
proficiency in technique, and was in every way a
meritorious artist.

Contemporary with him at the beginning of the last
century was H. Brittan Willis. This distinguished
artist was born in Bristol in 1810, his father being a
painter of considerable local reputation. By the aid of
his father's instruction, combined with unremitting study
of Nature, Willis achieved great success as an animal
and landscape painter. Although very prolific, all his
paintings are characterised by much careful work, :ire
attractive in the highest degree, and were often hung
at the Royal Academy and other well-known exhibitions.
His sketching haunts were chiefly Scotland and Wales.
In 1862 he was elected a member of the Old Water-
Colour Society, and became a constant contributor to
its exhibitions. One of his finest pictures, " Highland
Cattle," painted in 1866, was honoured by being bought
by Queen Victoria. His " Ben Cruachan Cattle coming
South " was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

The eminent depicter of some of England's greatest
naval battles, Nicholas Pocock, had his birth in Bristol.
He was the eldest son of a merchant ; early in life he
took to the sea, and afterwards was for some time in the
employ of the famous Bristol potter, Richard Champion.
In 1767 he left Bristol as commander of one of
Champion's shi43s. The Lloyd, for South Carolina.
Later he commanded The Minerva, belonging to the
same owner. His bent, however, towards art showed

NICHOLAS POCOCK AND ISAAC POCOCK. 'il5

itself even whilst on his voyages, for his journals were
charmingly illustrated by sketches in Indian ink. In
the year 1780 Pocock sent his first attempt in oils, a
seascape, to the Royal Academy. It arrived too late
for exhibition, but Sir Joshua Reynolds was so struck
with its merits as to write him an encouraging letter
of advice. In 1782 he was more successful, apd
exhibited at the Royal Academy "A View of Redcliff
Church from the Sea Banks," Henceforward he became
a constant exhibitor. In 1789 he removed to London,
where he rapidly rose to eminence as a painter of naval
engagements. He was one of the original founders of
the Old Water-Colour Society, and refused its presidency.
Whilst living in Bristol he resided in Prince Street.
Several of his works are among the art treasures at
Hampton Court and Greenwich Hospital. A fine canvas
of his is in the Merchant Venturers' Hall, King Street,
Bristol, " Earl Rodney's Victory over De Grasse in the
West Indies." This picture was engraved in 1784, and
the Merchant Venturers subscribed ten guineas towards
the expense. He died in 1821.

Isaac Pocock, his son, born in Bristol in 1782,
inherited much of his father's skill, and about 1798
became a pupil of the famous George Romney, after
whose death he studied under Sir William Beechey.
He absorbed to some extent the style of both. Between
the years 1800 and 1805 he constantly exhibited at the
Royal Academy, and in 1807 his " Murder of St.
Thomas a Becket " was awarded the prize of /^loo
given by the British Institution. His death took place
in 1835.

One of the most distinguished members of the Old
Water-Colour Society, and one of its founders, G. A.

216 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

Fripp, was born in Bristol, and received his art educa-
tion here. His work is representative of a type of
landscape art refining in itself and essentially English
in its character. He was the contemporary in Bristol
of Miiller and Pyne. With the former he had the great
privilege of spending some months on a sketching tour
in Italy. In the year 1838 he was exhibiting at the
Royal Academy, and in 1841 he was elected an Associate
of the Society of Painters in Water-Colours, on the
strength of some drawings he had sent up. His s-uccess
was now assured as a water-colourist, though he painted
too in oils, some of which were exhibited at the Royal
Academy in the years 1843 to 1848, notably " The Pass
of Splugen, Switzerland," and " Mont Blanc from near
Cornayeur, Val d'Aosta." This last was a very large
picture, and was bought by a leading citizen of Liverpool,
who presented it to the city. The picture evoked high
praise from the great Turner, also from David Cox, who
in writing to a friend says : " G. Fripp has some very
carefully-finished landscapes, which are very good, and
are liked." Having in the course of his sketching tours
devoted much time to the mountain and moorland scenery
of Scotland, he was naturally gratified when in i860
Queen Victoria " commanded " him to visit Balmoral for
the purpose of sketching the royal residence and the
neighbourhood. His work was characterised by refined
delicacy and tenderness in his sky effects, by truth of
colouring and by balance of composition. His son,
Charles E. Fripp, is the distinguished war artist for the
Graphic.

A. D. Fripp, his younger brother, was also born in
Bristol, in 1822, and was indebted for his art instruction
to W. J. Miiller. He soon became successful and

SAMUEL JACKSON AND S. P. JACKSON. 217

removed to London, where he was elected Associate of
the Old Water- Colour Society. Among his intimate
acquaintances were Lord Leighton, Sir E. J. Poynter,
and other leading artists of distinction. In 1853 he
exhibited his " Pompeii, or the City of the Dead."
This picture had the honour of being exhibited at the
Manchester Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. Having spent
many years in Italy, he painted several subjects dealing
with that sunny land. So esteemed was he by the
Old Water - Colour Society that its members elected
him their secretary, a post he filled with credit to
himself and advantage to the Society.

Not unknown to fame was Samuel Jackson, an artist
of considerable merit. He was the son of a Bristol
merchant, and was born in 1794. Disliking the
routine of a merchant's office, he abandoned business
and devoted himself to landscape art, and became a
pupil of Francis Danby. His success was such that
in 1823 he was elected Associate of the Society of
Painters in Water-Colours, and for many years con-
tributed to its exhibitions. Wales, Devon, Somerset,
and the locality of Bristol and Clifton, were his chief
sketching haunts. Late in life he visited Switzerland,
and his pictures of its scenery are counted amongst his
most successful works. He died in 1869.

His son, S. P. Jackson, who died so recently as the
beginning of 1904, followed with distinction in his
father's footsteps. He was born in 1830, studying figure
drawing at the life school of the Bristol Academy. His
first exhibited work in London was painted when he
was twenty. It was a large picture, four feet long,
entitled "An Indiaman ashore on the Welsh coast," and
was hung on the Line at the British Institute in 1850.

218 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

He followed up this with other successes, many of his
works being hung at the Royal Academy. For many
years he was a member of the Old Water-Colour Society.
Within the confines of the British Isles he found ample
subjects for his brush. His drawings are remarkable
for clean handling and sober harmonies of colour, in
which the moist vapours of our west country are sug-
gested by the use of well-blended greys, which secured
the approval of such a master as Copley Fielding. In
his treatment of landscape he showed the power of
poetic insight and feeling of a rare order. His was
not the work to appeal to the multitude, but the
solemn beauty of his Cornish twilight coast scenes
were most impressive. He was one of the youngest
artists ever elected Associate of the Old Water-Colour
Society.

Among Bristol painters of his period William Evans,
popularly known as " Evans of Bristol," well deserves a
place. He was the son of John Evans, author of the
Chronological Outline of the History of Bristol. Evans's
rendering of the scenery of North Wales stamped him
as a painter of no ordinary kind and secured him fame.
So enthusiastic was he in the study of Nature that, in
order to watch the snow effects on the mountains, he
lived at a wretched hovel of a farm near Bettws-y-Coed,
and the room in which he slept, we are told, was full
of holes swarming with rats, which ran over his bed
during the night.

An artist who attained considerable local fame was
John King, born at Dartmouth in 1788. He first
exhibited at the British Institution in 1814, and at the
Royal Academy in 1817. His paintings were chiefly
historical subjects and portraits. He painted many

COLLINS, REDMOND AND BRANWHITE. 219

pictures in Bristol, notably " The Incredulity of St.
Thomas " for St. Thomas's Church in 1828, and
"The Dead Christ Surrounded by His Disciples" for
the church of St. Mark's (the Lord Mayor's Chapel).
He excelled in portraiture, and executed many portraits
of the leading citizens of Bristol. His death occurred
in 1847.

In Bristol also was born in 1750 the celebrated
miniature painter, Samuel Collins. Originally intended
for the law, the bent of his inclination was to art.
Proceeding to Bath, he soon acquired a large practice,
and attained a great reputation as one of the most
perfect miniature painters of the time. He painted
both on enamel and ivory. Some of his portraits were
exhibited at the special exhibition of portrait miniatures
held in 1865. He died in 1780.

Another miniature painter of repute, Thomas
Redmond, born at Brecon in 1745, was originally
apprenticed to a house - painter in Bristol. After a
course of study in London, he also settled in Bath,
where he met with considerable success. He exhibited
many portraits at the London exhibitions.

Among celebrated miniature painters connected with
Bristol the name of Nathan Bran white must not be
ignored. Though born in Suffolk, he early settled down
in this city, at No. i College Green, and met with
considerable success. He exhibited many miniatures
at the Royal Academy between 1802 and 1825. He
was also a very good stipple engraver.

His son, Charles Branwhite, was born in Bristol
in 1 8 17. He too became an artist, and devoted himself
first to sculpture, and when about twenty secured silver
medals from the Society of Arts for figures in bas-relief.

220 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

Finally he turned to oil painting. Between the years
1845 and 1859 he contributed numerous works to the
great exhibitions and also to provincial galleries. For
thirty years he was a constant contributor to the Old
Water-Colour Society. His characteristic paintings were
winter scenes with sunset effects. He rarely painted out
of the British Isles; North Devon, Somerset, the Thames,
and Wales kept him supplied with subjects for his brush.
He died in 1880. Branwhite was a friend of Miiller, and
with him he spent much time sketching in Leigh Woods.
As a sculptor he executed busts of Robert Hall, Dr.
Symonds, and other Bristol worthies.

Contemporary with Branwhite, John Skinner Prout,
nephew of the great Samuel, the subject of Ruskin's
eloquent praise, must not be passed over. Born at
Plymouth in 1806, he early migrated to Bristol, and
became one of that famous coterie, or school, who have
left no ignoble name in the annals of British art,
viz. W. J. Miiller, Samuel Jackson, J. B. Pyne, H. B.
Willis, the Fripps, and Evans. A local work of Front's,
Picturesque Antiquiiies of Bristol, published in 1835, was
republished as late as 1893. He died in London in
1876.

A famous contemporary and friend of the above
" Bristol School " of artists was John Eagles. He was
born in the parish of St. Augustine's in 1783, and was
educated at Seyer's school. He early devoted himself to
art, as he wished to become a landscape painter; but his
gift lay rather in art criticism than in its production.
William Miiller thought highly of his critical powers,
and valued his friendship. Besides Eagles's numerous
contributions on art to Blackwood, he wrote a number of
essays full of shrewd, genial humour, amusing anecdote

VANDYKE, HANCOCK AND PETHER. 221

and apt quotation. He also wrote verse, including Felix
Farley's Rhymes, published in 1826. He was happily
described by Sydney Smith, to whom he was at one
time curate, as a "happy mixture of Dean Swift and
Parson Adams." His quickness of repartee was pro-
verbial.

Among artists who have settled in Bristol was Peter
Vandyke, an alleged relation of the great Vandyke. He
came to England at the invitation of Sir Joshua Reynolds
from Holland in 1729 to assist in painting draperies and
similar work. Removing soon afterwards to Bristol, he
set up as a portrait painter, and whilst there painted for
Joseph Cottle the well-known portraits of S. T. Coleridge
and Robert Southey, now in the National Portrait
Gallery.

In Bristol lived during the latter part of his life Robert
Hancock, the celebrated engraver, who was at one time
part proprietor of the Worcester Porcelain Works. It
was during his residence here that he drew portraits
in crayon of Lamb, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey.
These too are in the National Portrait Gallery. Born
in 1730, he lived till he was eighty-seven. The famous
Valentine Green, whose engravings have fetched such
remarkable prices within the last few years, was his
pupil.

His great contemporary, William Pether, one of the
most eminent mezzotint engravers of his time, lived
in Bristol for many years. Some of his engravings,
after the English, Dutch, and Italian masters, especially
Rembrandt, whose strong effects he rendered with
admirable taste, are considered masterpieces of engraved
art. For instance, his plates of "The Jewish Bride,"
"Officer of State," "Lord of the Vineyard," "The

II A

222 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

Hermit," and "The Alchymist." are magnificent speci-
mens of mezzotinting. One of his engravings fetched
ninety-five guineas in 1903. Whilst living in Bristol
Pether engraved the portraits of Colston and Seyer. He
died in 1821 in Montagu Street, and is buried in Horfield
Churchyard. Not only was he a great engraver, but
he was a man of considerable taste and culture. Being
one day in company with the then City Librarian, he
mentioned that whilst present one evening at a London
tavern, a gentleman amongst the company drew forth
from his pocket a manuscript and requested permission
to read it. This was granted. The reader was none
other than Oliver Goldsmith, and the poem he read
was The Traveller. Happy hstener !

In dealing with artists connected with Bristol, place
must be given to that remarkable man Sir Robert Ker
Porter, brother of Jane Porter, the author of Scottish
Chiefs. Born in 1777, he early became interested in
art, and in 1790 his mother took him to Sir Benjamin
West, who was so much struck by the vigour and
spirit of some of his sketches that he procured his
admission as an academy student at Somerset House.
His progress was rapid, and in 1792 he received a
silver palette from the Society of Arts for a historical
drawing, "The Witch of Endor." In the following
year he was commissioned to paint an altar-piece for
Shoreditch Church, and in 1794 he painted " Christ
Allaying the Storm " for the Roman Catholic Chapel
at Portsea, and in 1798 "St. John Preaching" for St.
John's College, Cambridge. His artistic precocity ^^■as
fully recognised by the fraternity of young artists with
whom he mixed at this period, and Bob Porter was
noted for his skill in wielding: the " Big Brush." In

SIR ROBERT KER PORTER. 223

the year 1800 he astonished the pubhc b\' his " Storm-
ing of Seringapatam," a huge panoramic picture 120
feet long which, on the statement of his sister Jane
Porter, he painted in six weeks. Among others of a
similar character were his "Agincourt," "Battle of
Alexandria," the " Siege of x\cre," and the " Death of
Sir Ralph Abercrombie," all of which were executed
about this period. Between 1792 and 1S32 he exhibited
thirty-eight pictures. In 1804 he secured the appoint-
ment of historical painter to the Czar of Russia. There
he executed some vast historical paintings, and during
his residence in the capital w^on the affections of a
Russian princess. The difficulties this created induced
him to leave Russia, and he subsequently accompanied
Sir John Moore (the hero of Wolfe's famous lines) to
Spain, where he was present throughout the campaign.
In 181 1 he revisited Russia and triumphantly married
his Russian princess.

He soon returned to England, and was knighted by
the Prince Regent. Shortly after he proceeded through
the Caucasus, and ultimately to the site of the ancient
Persepolis, where he made valuable drawings, and
transcribed a number of the cuneiform inscriptions.
After visiting many other places, he published the
results in his Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia and
Ancient Babylonia, a work full of interest. Whilst at
Teheran he had an interview with the Shall, whose
portrait he j)aintfd, ;ind who conferred upon him the
order of the " Lion and the Sun." Returning once
more to England, he was appointed British Consul in
Venezuela. In 1841 he was again in England, and
came to Bristol on a visit to his brother, Dr. W. O.
Porter, at 29 Portland Square. In the following year

224 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

he died suddenly in Russia as he was returning in his
drosky from a visit to the Czar. He was a man of
wonderful versatihty, and has justly been described as
^' distinguished alike in arts, in diplomacy, in war and
in literature." He was, too, exceedingly popular with
people in every condition of life, and also the idol of
his own fireside.

Bristol has also an interesting link with that great
original, imaginative artist and poet, William Blake, in
the person of George Cumberland. This excellent man
was a personal friend of Blake's, and was the means
of rendering a great service to him by introducing him
in 1813 to John Linnell, who became a valued and
helpful friend to Blake. Cumberland was one of the
few who appreciated Blake's work. x\mong things the
artist did for him was a card-plate. In Cumberland's
work. Thoughts on Outline, Sculpture, and the System that
guided Ancient Artists in composing their Figures and
Groups, there are several plates engraved by Blake.

One of Cumberland's numerous friends in Bristol
was John Eagles, who loved to roam with him in
Leigh Woods. Cumberland took a deep interest in
our city, and delighted to support every good w-ork ;
he was a frequent correspondent to the local press
of his day. His death occurred at the great age
of ninety-five.

The famous architect and artist, Edward Blore, in his
youth did a good deal of sketching in Bristol, and some of
the most beautiful illustrations to Seyer's i/^mom of Bristol
were drawn and engraved by him, Blore is well known
for his fine work on the Monumental Remains of Noble
and Eminent Persons. He had a most distinguished
career, being the designer of many public and private

J. SYER, C. W. FURSE AND E. W. GODWIN. 225

buildings, including works connected with Windsor
Castle, Hampton Court and Buckingham Palace. He
also became intimate with Sir W^alter Scott, and
designed in his presence and carried out the building
of Abbotsford. For many years he was architect of
Westminster Abbey. His powers of sketching were
simply remarkable.

That fine artist, John Syer, was closely associated
with Bristol during the whole of his life. Though
there is a certain mannerism in his work, many of his
canvases show a breadth of treatment and a mastery
over landscape and sea effects that evidences close
communion with Nature. His death took place in
1885.

Among modern artists connected with Bristol was
Charles Wellington Furse, who as a great and brilliant
portrait painter soared like a meteor into fame in
1903, and, alas ! vanished from human ken the following
year at the early age of thirty-six. His wife was the
daughter of the celebrated art writer and Bristolian,
John Addington Symonds.

That very clever and versatile artist, E. W. Godwin,
must not be forgotten. He was born in Old Market
Street in 1833, ^md his father being in business as a
decorator, he earl)- in life developed a taste for archi-
tectural and archaeological studies, so that before leaving
school he had already mastered Bloxham's Gothic Archi-
tecture. He received his training as architect in Bristol,
and followed it here for many years. Ultimately he
removed to London, where he did a great deal of work
and enjoyed the friendship of the most eminent members
of his profession, including Scott, Street, and Burgess.
He was a good draughtsman, an antiquarian, a clear

226 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

writer, a Shakespearian scholar, and an excellent lecturer.
Towards the close of his life he devoted himself to
designing theatrical costumes with considerable success.
His death occurred in 1866.

Through him Bristol is linked with one of the most
remarkable artists of modern times — Whistler, In 1879
Godwin designed for that world-famous impressionist the
house in London celebrated as "The White House."
There is in existence a water-colour (now at Boston,
U.S.A.) bearing Whistler's signature, on the back of
which is Godwin's endorsement : " From mv window.
This was his" [Whistler's] "first attempt at water-
colour. E. W. Godwin." A year after Godwin's death
Whistler married his widow ; she proved in every
way an artistic helpmate, and he valued her critical
opinion of his art highly. When she came into his
studio he would eagerly ask her opinion of the work
he had in hand, and her suggestions were always
followed. When she died in 1897 he regarded her loss
as irreparable, and never regained his light-heartedness.
She was an artist of no mean ability herself, and in
his will he gave expression to his admiration of her
art and his own devotion to her memory. Whistler's
Gentle Art of Making Enemies proved that had he not
been a great artist he might have been a great writer.
Few men have wielded so caustic and witty a pen.

CHAPTER III. {continued),

PART II.
MISCELLANEOUS.

Richard Champion and William Cookworthy, and their
manufacture of Bristol porcelain — Henry Bone — Mimgo
Ponton — Bristol Art Gallery — Leigh Court picture
gallery — Kedclijf Church gates — Chimney-piece in
Central Library — Mrs. Ellen Sharpies and the Fine
Arts Academy.

'OT the least of Bristol's Art Associations is its
connection with the manufacture of china. For
this it has acquired world-wide fame. According
to the Bristol Intelligencer, the earliest date of its manu-
facture was in the year 1750. This is corroborated in
Doctor Pocock's Travels through England, published by
the Camden Society ; Pocock being in Cornwall in
that year, notes that he " visited the Lizard Point to
see the Soapy rock. There are white patches of it,
which is mostly valued for the manufacture of porcelaine,
now carrying on at Bristol."

In 1768 Richard Champion, whose name is im-
perishably associated with Bristol china manur^cture,
assisted by some of our leading merchants, and in
partnership with the celebrated William Cookworthy,
who had a porcelain factory at Plymouth, set up his
works in Castle Green. Soon after Cookworthy, having

227

228 ART ASSOCIATIONS-

relinquished the pottery at Plymouth, joined Champion,,
and the firm then assumed the name of William Cook-
worthy and Co.

In the year 1773 they were advertising in the Bristol
newspapers as follows : " Complete Tea-sets in the
Dresden taste, highly ornamented, £'] ys. to ;/^i2 12s.
and upwards." After a year or two the entire concern,
on the retirement of Cookworthy, devolved on Champion,
and then attained its highest artistic development and
excellence. So admirable were the specimens of ceramic
art he produced, that even the most skilful of connois-
seurs were deceived by his wonderful imitations of real
Dresden china. In the production of flowers and vases
he displayed remarkable skill, for the}- were characterised
by the utmost artistic delicacy and beauty.

In the year 1775, however. Champion applied to
Parliament for an extension of Cookworthy's patent, but
largely through the unscrupulous opposition of his great
rival, Wedgwood, who had powerful friends to aid him,,
the Act, though obtained, was rendered practically value-
less. Owing to this, notwithstanding, as he said, that his
manufactor}^ was " the greatest ever known in England,''
and from lack of sufficient capital and the severe com-
mercial depression which followed on the outbreak of the
war with America, in which country he had hoped for
a large market for his productions, he had ultimately
to close his works in 1782. Wedgwood, to his disgrace,
openly rejoiced in Champion's discomfiture. However,
through the noble friendship of Burke, Champion
obtained the office for a year or two of Deputy- Pay master
of the Forces. Finally, in 1784, he emigrated to South
Carolina, where he died on October 7th, 1791, at the
comparatively early age of forty-eight.

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RICHARD CHAMPION. 229^

Edmund Burke, in recognition of the hospitality and
kindness extended to him during his election in 1774
by his friend and supporter, Mr. Joseph Smith, com-
missioned Champion to use his utmost skill in the
production of a tea service for presentation to that
gentleman. Some of the most exquisite examples of his
art Champion made and presented to Mrs. Burke. The
result was a triumph of ceramic art which for purity
of material and splendour of ornamentation have never
been surpassed. As late as 1876 a teapot of the Burke
service fetched at public auction £21^ 5s., and Disraeli,
when the guest of Mr. Callender at Manchester,
drank out of a cup and saucer which cost their owner
at the same sale £<)i, more than thrice the value of
their weight in gold. A beautiful oval plaque, with the
arms of Burke and Nugent, was bought by the late
Mr. Francis Fry, of Cotham Tower House, for ninety-
nine guineas. This exquisite example of Champion's
art is now in the British Museum.

Short as was the period in which Champion was
engaged in the production of Bristol china, to so great
a degree of perfection did he arrive in the specimens
of ceramic art created, that, as Owen justly remarks
in his Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol, they
afford indisputable evidence that had the works been
adequately supported, they might have successfully
rivalled the famous royal factories of Sevres and
Dresden.

Champion's claim to being the manufacturer of real
china was strikingly sustained in the fire at the Alexandra
Palace, London, in 1873, when several thousand speci-
mens of English ceramics, made at the famous factories
of Bow, Worcester, and Chelsea, were reduced to a.

230 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

molten mass, but the Bristol china issued almost
unscathed from the fiery ordeal.

Connected with the Bristol china works was the
celebrated Henry Bone, whose remarkable achievements
in enamel painting have secured for him the proud
appellation of " the Prince of Enamellers," for it is
considered doubtful whether he has ever been surpassed
in that important branch of pictorial art. He was born
in Truro, and was apprenticed to William Cookworthy
at Plymouth. In 1772 he removed with his master to
Bristol, where he remained for six years, working from
6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and at night studying drawing. On
the closing of the works he went to London, and
soon found constant employment in enamelling watches,
fans, etc. In 1780 he exhibited his first picture at the
Royal Academy, a portrait of his wife. Later, in 1789,
he exhibited there the largest enamel painting ever
executed, " A Muse of Cupid." Success followed on
success, and in 1800 he was appointed enamel painter to
the Prince of Wales, and later to George III.; he
held the same position in the two subsequent reigns.
In 181 1 he was elected Royal Academician, and he
immediately produced the magnificent enamel, 18 in. by
16 in., after Titian's "Bacchus and Ariadne": it created
a sensation in the art world, and several thousand people
came to his house to inspect it ; he sold it for 2,200
guineas, which sum consisted partly of a cheque on
Fauntleroy's Bank, which he cashed luckily the very
day before that bank stopped payment. At his death
he left a collection of enamels valued at /"io,ooo,
which were dispersed at Christie's. So high is the
quality of his works that they are in great demand
by collectors. Chantrey carved a fine bust of Bone,

BRISTOL ART GALLERY. -281

who was a man of unaffected modesty and generosity.
He died in 1834.

Mungo Ponton, to whom the art of photography is
for ever indebted, Hved for many years till his death
at No. 4 The Paragon, Clifton. His fame rests upon
the vital and important discovery "that the action
of sunlight renders bichromate of potassium insoluble,"
which has had more to do with the production of
permanent photographs than any other. It forms the
basis of nearly all the photo mechanical processes now
in use.

Though Bristol as a city possesses but few great
works of art, considering her wealth of art associations,
the opening of the magnificent Art Gallery in the year
1905, the noble gift of one of Bristol's wealthy and public-
spirited sons — Lord Winterstoke — will undoubtedly stimu-
late others to foster a greater love of art among her
citizens, so that in the near future the Metropolis of the
West may rival the splendid art collections of the Midland
and Northern cities. The "few great works" already
possessed by the city are chiefly housed with other rare
civic treasures at the Council House. Among these is the
magnificent portrait of the Earl of Pembroke by Vandyke.
In the civic acounts dated 1627 is the following note :
" Paid the picture-maker for drawing the Earl of Pem-
broke, £'^ 13s. 4d." Tradition, no doubt with some real
foundation of truth, avers that the family offered to
purchase the portrait by giving as many sovereigns as
would cover its surface. Whereupon the then City
Chamberlain replied, on behalf of the Corporation, that
if the family would stand the sovereigns edgeways they
would be prepared to consider the offer — surely a
remarkable illustration of the saying that Bristol sleeps

232 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

with one eye open. There is also a portrait of Lord
Clare, by Gainsborough ; the Duke of Portland, by Sir
Thomas Lawrence; and Edmund Burke, by Sir Joshua
Reynolds.

'At one period, and that well within living memory,.
Bristol was an art Mecca of European reputation. For
at Leigh Court, the seat of the Miles family, was housed
a truly magnificent collection of old masters, which would
have graced the palace of an emperor. Dr. Waagen, in
his A rt Treasures in Great Britain, eulogises this noble
collection of Italian, Flemish, Spanish, and French
masters. They were brought together by Mr. Richard
Hart Davis, who represented Bristol in Parliament from
1812 to 1830. This unrivalled private collection was
sold at Christie's in July, 1884. One picture alone, a
magnificent Claude — "The Sacrifice of Apollo'" — which
the auctioneer declared they had never before had an
opportunity of competing for in that room, was finally
knocked down to Agnew for 5,800 guineas. Agnew him-
self purchased ^^20,000 worth of pictures at the sale.

In the famous Baptist College, the home of so many
remarkable treasures — literary, numismatic, and otherwise
— is the celebrated miniature of Oliver Cromwell, painted
by Samuel Cooper, for which the Empress of Russia
vainly offered its owner, Dr. Andrew Gifford, five hundred
guineas.

Lovers of art metal-work should not fail to inspect
the magnificent wrought-iron gates in Redcliff Church.
For these the authorities of South Kensington have
offered the sum of £2,000. They were constructed by
Edney in 1710, and cost the vestry one hundred guineas.

Those interested in ancient sculpture of the East
have the opportunity in the Municipal Art Gallery of

CENTRAL LIBRARY— MRS. E. SHARPLES. 233

inspecting three magnificent examples of Nineveh marbles,
the gift of the great Assyriologist, Sir Henry Rawlinson,
whose connection with our city, as related elsewhere,
was a close one. These marbles were originally housed
in the Fine Arts Academy, and were found in the ruins
of the palace which Ashur-Nasir-Pal, King of Assyria,
about B.C. 885, built at Calah, situated on the banks of
the Tigris, about thirty miles south of Nineveh. They
bear inscriptions relating the titles, genealogy, and con-
quests of the king, detailing too the countries which he
"swept bare like the Storm God."

Admirers of beautiful wood-carving should not lose
the opportunity of inspecting the exquisitely - carved
-chimney-piece in the Central Library, said to have
been presented by Alderman Michael Becher. The
wealth of intertwining foliage, flowers — mark the roses
— and the representation of a real woodcock, and
pheasants, etc., form a combination in carved woodwork
rarely to be met with, especially as the objects in some
instances stand out six inches from the flat.

Before closing this account of the Art Associations of
our city, a few words of recognition are due to Mrs. Ellen
Sharpies, the generous foundress of the Bristol Fine
Arts Academy. She was born at Bath, and married
there an artist named James Sharpies. With him, in the
year 1794, she went to America, where they remained
eight years, during which period Mr. Sharples's skill as a
miniature painter was in great request. Amongst many
distinguished Americans whose portraits he executed were
Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Hamilton. After
coming to England for a brief period, they again returned
to America, where Mr. Sharpies died in 1811. After his
death the famil}- once more returned to England for

234 ART ASSOCIATIONS.

good, and settled ultimately in Clifton, at 3 St. Vincent's
Parade. Mrs. Sharpies had during her husband's lifetime
taken lessons in portrait painting from him, and as her
son and daughter followed their father's profession also,
they all practised at the above residence. Here they
resided from 1832 to 1849, the year of Mrs. Sharples's
death. Prior, however, to this event Mrs. Sharpies gave
a sum of ;£'2,ooo for the purpose of founding the present
Fine Arts Academy. Her beneficence did not end there,
for she bequeathed the interesting and valuable series
of miniatures and pastels, which include the portraits of
some of the most distinguished men of the time, viz.
Sir Humphry Davy, Robert Southey, Doctor Beddoes —
names imperishably associated with our city — and
Darwin, Priestley, Herschel, etc. In addition to which
the Academy benefited to the extent of ^£'3,465, making
with the previous amount the handsome sum of ;^5,465.

Musical Associations.

CHAPTER IV.

William Child— The Wesley family — Rev. Thos. Broughton
and his friendship with Handel — Robert Lucas Pearsall
— Henry Phillips — W. L. Phillips — Thomas German
Reed, founder of the "musical sketch" — Rene Harris —
Paganini — Sir G. J. Elvey.

NE of the earliest musicians to be associated
with Bristol was Wilham Child, born in 1606.
From earliest youth he devoted himself to
the study of music, and in 1631 took the degree of
Mus. Bac. at Oxford, soon after which he was appointed
one of the organists at the Chapel Ro3^al. On the death
of his colleague he became organist -in -chief. Whilst
there his original compositions won him the patronage
of King Charles I. At the Reetoration he was appointed
composer to the king. Pepys relates that he called on
Child when at Windsor. It was Child's fortune to live
in five reigns, and at the Coronation of James II. he
walked in the procession in his academical robes as father
of the Chapel Royal. There is little doubt as to his being
a fine musician, and his compositions are remarkable
both for their simplicity and melody. Ridiculed as to
the style of his works, he wrote in defence his celebrated
Service in D, to prove that the simplicity of his music
arose from design, and not from lack of ability. Child's
compositions are still rendered in the city of his birth,
uot.ihU' at the cathedral.

237

238 MUSICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The famous Wesley family are linked for all time
with our city. Here John Wesley founded Methodism,
assisted by his gifted brother Charles, the hymn-writer,
who lived for many years in Charles Street, St. James's
Barton. Two of the latter's sons were musicians of
uncommon power. Samuel Wesley, the elder, was born
in Bristol in 1766, and from his earliest childhood gave
evidence of his remarkable gifts. His father placed on
record that when he (Samuel) was between four and
five years old he taught himself to read music by the
oratorio of Samson. When he was six he composed the
airs of his oratorio Ruth, and kept them treasured in his
memory until he was eight, when he wrote them down.
A distinguished friend of his father's once remarked to
him, " Sir, you have an English Mozart in your house."
In 1771, Charles Wesley having removed to London, his
sons, Samuel and Charles, gave subscription concerts, which
were attended by the nobility. In 1784 Samuel Wesley
joined the Roman Catholic Church, to the amazement and
grief both of his father and of his uncle, John Wesley;
shortly after which he composed a Mass, which he dedicated
to the Pope. Subsequently he separated from the Romish
church, saying, " The crackers of the Vatican are no
longer taken for the thunderbolts of Heaven : for excom-
munication I care not three straws." The great work
of Samuel Wesley's life is considered to be his vigorous
championship of the works of Sebastian Bach, into
which he entered with extraordinary enthusiasm. He
frequently lectured at the Royal Institution and else-
where, and in 181 1 he conducted the Birmingham
Musical Festival, He was not only a distinguished
musician, but a fine scholar also. He had, too,
remarkable conversational powers, and was a man

THE WESLEYS AND R. L. PEARSALL. ^39

of keen and brilliant wit. As an organist, he was
the foremost man of his age, and absolutely unrivalled
as an extemporaneous performer on the king of
instruments.

His brother Charles, born in 1757, as a child was
possessed of extraordinary precocity as a musician,
and was justly regarded as a prodigy. Before he was
three years of age he could play a tune on the harpsi-
chord readily and in correct time. At the age of four
he was taken to London, and made a marked impression
on several of the leading musicians there by his skill.
Unfortunately time did not justify the brilliant promise
of his youth, and as a man he failed to rival his more
gifted brother Samuel.

Bristol is linked, too, with the mighty Handel in
the person of the Rev. Thomas Broughton, who was
Vicar of Bedminster in Chatterton's time, when St. Mary
Redcliff and St. Thomas' and Abbot's Leigh churches
were annexed to that living. Broughton was on terms
of friendship with that great composer of the Messiah,
and supplied him with the words for some of his
compositions, including his drama of Hercules. A
stained glass window in St. Mary Redcliff Church
commemorates his friendship with Handel.

At Clifton was born in 1795 the famous madrigal
composer, Robert Lucas Pearsall, who was one of the
original members of the Bristol Madrigal Society, and
took the deepest interest in its welfare. It is considered
that the attention he devoted to madrigal writing was
largely due to the encouragement he received from that
Society, to whom he presented some of his finest
madrigals. His having been born at Clifton gives
a distinct local significance to his fine madrigal. Oh,

240 MUSICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

who will o'er the Downs so free ? Among the choicest
specimens of his work are Great God of Love and Lay
a Garland, both for eight voices; they are considered to
be amongst the most melodious and pure specimens of
eight-part writing ever penned by an EngHshman. He
died abroad in 1856.

The celebrated bass singer, Henry Phillips, was born
in Bristol, and was the son of an actor. At the age
of eight he was singing boy at Harrogate Theatre, and
later was engaged to sing soprano parts at the
Haymarket and Drury Lane Theatres. At the very
outset of his career as a singer, when engaged to sing
at Covent Garden in Arne's Artaxerxes, the newspapers
of the time condemned him as a total failure. Not-
withstanding this adverse verdict, by patient study his
voice, though never powerful, attained great sweetness,
and he soon soared into the front rank as the first of
English bass singers. Two characteristics of his singing
made him highly acceptable to the public — first, the
correctness of his intonation, and, secondly, the use
of appropriate declamation and dramatic fire. In this
respect he is said to have resembled the great Braham
more than any of his contemporaries. His style was
simple, but perfectly natural, without any pomposity,
combined with an ingenuous modesty that went straight
to the hearts of his audience. He was thus in demand
at all the great musical festivals. In Barnet's Mountain
Sylph his rendering of the ballad, " Farewell to the
Mountain," achieved success for the opera. In 1844 he
visited America. As a tribute to his vocal powers, it
may incidentally be mentioned that Mendelssohn com-
posed a " Scena " for him, and he sang it at the
Philharmonic Concert, March 15th, 1847. He was a

W. L. PHILLIPS AND T. G. REED. 241

fine exponent of the art of ballad singing. Like Sims
Reeves, however, he unhappily outlived his reputation,
his death occurring in 1876.

Another singer of the same name, W. L. Phillips,
was born in Bristol in 1816. At one time he was
in the cathedral choir, and subsequently proceeded to
London, where his beautiful voice attracted the attention
of Miss Stephens, afterwards Countess of Essex. He
was class-fellow with Sir William Sterndale Bennett at
the Royal Academy of Music, and became professor of
composition at that institution. He was also a composer
of merit.

The founder of the " musical sketch " form of enter-
tainment was Thomas German Reed, son of Thomas
Reed, musician. His mother was a Bristolian, daughter
of Captain German. As early as eighteen years of age
he appeared in public as a musical performer, soon after
which he was engaged at the Haymarket Theatre,
London, where his father was musical conductor. In
the year 1832 he acted as deputy for his father as
leader of the band at the Garrick Theatre. After
studying harmony and counterpoint, he "adapted" new
operas, and ultimately succeeded Cooke as chapel-
master of the Royal Bavarian Chapel, and became
the musical director of the Haymarket Theatre, where
he greatly improved the music. In 1855 he commenced
with his wife the form of entertainment which has made
his name so well known in musical and dramatic
circles, and which brought him a very wide reputation.
Their first performance was entitled Miss P. Horton's
Illustrative Gatherings. This was the beginning of a
series of great successes. In 1868 they enhsted
a very powerful recruit in the person of Corney

242 MUSICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Grain. Many will remember their Box and Cox,
a most mirth-provoking entertainment. Reed's wife,
whose maiden name was Horton, was an exceedingly
capable actress, and materially added to the success of
her husband's efforts. Her rendering of " Ophelia " in
Hamlet in 1840 was especially marked out for praise
by the Athcnccum. Her varied impersonations were
considered admirable. Alfred Reed, the son of the
foregoing, continued after his parents' retirement, in
conjunction with the brilliant Corney Grain, the form
of entertainment so successfully inaugurated by them.
Curiously enough, he, his mother and Corney Grain all
died in 1895 within a few days of each other.

To Bristol retired Rene Harris, the great organ
builder of the seventeenth century, and resided here till
his death. His sons, who followed the same profession,
built organs for St. Mary Redcliff, St. Thomas', and
St. James' churches.

From a musical point of view the year 1831 was
memorable from the fact that the world-famous violinist
Paganini gave a recital at the Royal Theatre.

In recent years the late Sir G. J. Elvey was a
frequent visitor to Bristol. In 1892 he attended the
Orpheus Glee Society's concert, and was especially
delighted with the exquisite rendering of his part-song.
From Yonder Rustling- Mountain. He took the deepest
interest, too, in the famous Madrigal Society, and for
years regularly attended on " Ladies' Nights."

Had the living come within the scope of these
associations they would have added lustre to an already
distinguished roll, one of the most glorious songstresses
of modern times being included in the number.

Dramatic Associations.

UAVU) GARRICK.
(After the Painting; hy Sik Josmia Rkvnoi.ds.)

CHAPTER V.

BrhtoVs close connection with the stage — David Garrick ;
his friendship with Hannah More — Sarah Siddons's
appearances at Theatre Royal ; connection of her family
with Sir Thomas Lawrence — Charles Macklin ; his
performance of " Shylock" — John Gay and the
"Beggar's Opera'' — William Powell; his great popu-
larity in Bristol; death and burial — John Hippisley; the
Jacob's Wells Theatre; his daughter Jane Hippisley —
Miss Hallam — Mary Robinson, "Perdita" ; her associa-
tion with the Prince Regent ; her beauty — Elizabetlt
Canning, mother of George Canning — Elizabeth Inch-
bald — John Quick and W. J. Dodd — Johi Tobin,
blaywrighi — Sophia Lee — Isaac Pocock's success as
a playwright — Richard Brinsley Sheridan's connection
with Bristol — James Macready ; his farewell to Bristol;
Tennyson's ode to him — Barry Sullivan — Walter Lacy
— Amy Sedgwick — William Fosbrooke — Sir Henry
Irving; the complimentary banquet to him at Bristol
— Closing notes.

)ROM Shakespeare's time, and earlier, down to the
present day Bristol has been closely connected
with the drama, and many of the brightest
stars who have illumined the dramatic firmament,
including the illustrious Sarah Siddons, have appeared
in sock and buskin at one or other of Bristol's theatres.
For generations Bristol, with her sister city of
Bath, was the nursery of some of the greatest actors
and actresses of modern times. Though it is to be
regretted that we have no actual proof that Shakespeare

12 A

245

246 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

himself came to Bristol, yet there is presumptive evidence
that he probably did so, seeing that his company visited
the city in the year 1597, a fact vouched for by that
eminent Shakespearean scholar the late Halliwell
Phfllipps.

Again, no record exists of the great Garrick having
appeared here professionally, yet there is ample evidence
of his connection with the city. For instance, whilst
the old theatre in King Street was in course of
erection, in 1764, he surveyed the building, and was so
pleased with its construction that he pronounced it to
be "the most complete of its dimensions in Europe."
Not only did he inspect and approve of the theatre, but,
what is more, he wrote the prologue to the first play
ever produced there, viz. The Conscious Lovers, with
which it opened on May 30th, 1766. We quote the
following lines from the prologue : —

"'That all the world's a stage,' you can't deny

And what 's our stage ? a shop — I '11 tell you why —

You are the customers, the tradesmen we ;

And well for us, you pay before you see ;

We give no trust, a ready money trade ;

Should you stop payment, we are bankrupts made.

To feast your minds and soothe each worldly care,

We '11 largely traffic in dramatic ware.

Then swells our shop, a warehouse to your eyes.

And we, from small retailers, merchants rise I

" From Shakespeare's golden mines we '11 fetch the ore,
And land his riches on this happy shore !
For we, theatric merchants, never quit
This boundless store of universal wit.
And we in vain shall richly laden come
Unless deep water brings us safely home ;
Unless your favour in full tides will flow,
Ship, crew, and cargo, to the bottom go ! "

Few lines with their commercial and maritime
allusiveness could have been more appositely conceived

GARRICK'S LETTER TO HANNAH MORE. 247

for rendering to a Bristol audience. Elsewhere in this
work allusion has been made to Garrick's close friend-
ship with Hannah More, which is eloquently indicated
in the following letter written to her respecting her

play Percy : —

" Hampton (London),

"August 20th, circa 1776.

"We sincerely hope and believe, dear Nine" (this
being his favourite appellation in writing her in allusion
to her personifying all the Muses), " that you were
woefully disappointed at our not peeping in at you at
Bristol — you would be a very hard - hearted creature if
you were not — so say no more Madame Hannah upon
that subject. We felt it as well as your ladyship and
pathetic sisters. May I take the liberty to say that I
don't think you w'ere in your most acute and best
feeling when you wrote your third act " (referring to her
play of Percy, for w'hich he WTote both the prologue
and epilogue). "I am not at all satisfied with it; it is
the weakest of the four, and raises much expectation
from the circumstances, that a great deal more must
be done to content your spectators and readers. I am
rather vexed that nothing more is produced by that
meeting which is the groundwork of the tragedy, and
from which so much will be required, because such an
alarm is given to the heart and mind.

" I have been in so much company, and have so
little time to study your matter, that I can say no more
at present. I '11 at my return from Brighthelmstone "
(Brighton) " pore upon it, and give my thoughts more
fully upon the business. Till then rest you quiet, and
be assured that I am your sincere friend, though at
times, more bold than welcome. My wife sends her

248 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

love with mine to you all. She has not yet seen
your third and fourth, nor do I yet know whether she
may be trusted with it.

" I am, dear Nine,

" Ever and sincerely yours,

" D. Garrick.

" You have not sent us what you reprinted about
me in your Bristol paper."

When this unequalled actor passed away, his friend
Johnson said that his death " eclipsed the gaiety of
nations."

In the closing years of the eighteenth century and
the beginning of the nineteenth the illustrious Sarah
Siddons was constantly acting here at the King Street
Theatre. Her salary, it has been stated, was no more
than £3 per week ! What would the stars of to-day
say to such a salary.

Sir Thomas Lawrence was intimately acquainted
with her, and painted her portrait more than once.
A remarkable love episode in his life is that he
paid his attentions to Mrs. Siddons's two daughters in
succession. First he was enamoured with the elder,
but on his ardour cooling he calmly transferred his
affection to the 5'ounger ; that too having waned, he
then, to the painful embarrassment of all concerned,
shamelessly again paid his court to the elder. How-
ever, fate ruled that he should have neither.

In spite of Lawrence's waywardness of affection, to
use no stronger term, towards her daughters, Mrs.
Siddons felt unabated friendship towards him, for on
one occasion she said to her brother, Charles Kemble,
"Charles, when I die I wish to be carried to the- grave

SARAH SIDDONS.

(/)//(! Ilie I'mntiitg by Sir Thomas Lawrfnce.)

SARAH SIDDONS AND CHARLES MACKLIN. 249

by you and Lawrence." When Lawrence heard this
he threw down his pencil, clasped his hands, and with
eyes full of tears exclaimed, " Good God ! did she say
that ? "

In Mrs. Siddons's niece, Fanny Kemble, Lawrence
took the deepest interest, never omitting one of her
performances, and always on the following morning
sending her a detailed criticism of her efforts, combined
with enthusiastic admiration.

The celebrated actor, Charles Macklin, who was at

one time the intimate friend of Garrick, appeared in

Bristol for the first time in 1717, and his connection with

the Bristol stage continued for fifteen 5'ears. So finely

did he act the part of " Shylock " in the zenith of his

fame that it is related that Pope on one occasion was

so struck with his impersonation of that character that

he said —

"This is the Jew
That Shakespeare drew."

In 1741 he first acted the great character of
** Shylock," with which his name is imperishably
associated. On the eventful evening the house was
crowded from fioor to ceiling, the two front rows of
the pit being filled by the most dreaded dramatic
critics of the period. Unseen and calm, Macklin
surveyed the critical audience, and with unshaken con-
fidence remarked as he turned away, " Good ! I shall
be tried to-night by special jury."

That his confidence in his own powers was fully
justified was proved as the play proceeded by the
ejaculations of his critics. "Good!" "Very good!"
etc., greeted his acting, until, as the play advanced
in dramatic intensit}', he touched the hearts of his

250 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

audience. In a word, those who came to censure
remained to praise. And when in the final scene,
calmly and confidently, but with indescribable malignity,
he whetted his knife and demanded his pound of flesh,
the irrepressible shudder that ran through his hearers
told more eloquentl}- than any words that he held his
audience by the heart-strings.

Macklin was in early life a scout at Trinity College,
Dublin. The custom at that time was for the servants
to wait in the courts of the college in attendance on
the class of students. To every shout of "Boy!" the
scout first in turn replied, " What number ? " and on
its being told him, went to the room indicated for
orders. On one occasion when Macklin was acting in
the Dublin theatre a number of unruly persons caused
a disturbance, when Macklin promptly rebuked them for
their behaviour. The audience applauded, but one of
them, thinking to cover him with confusion by a refer-
ence to his early humble condition, with contemptuous
bitterness shouted out, " Boy ! " Poor Macklin for a
moment lost his presence of mind, but recollecting
himself, modestly stepped forward, and with manly
dignity responded, " What number ? " The plaudits of
the house avenged him on his brutal insulter.

Macklin's features were the reverse of prepossessing,
and on someone remarking to his brother actor, Quin,
on the lines of Macklin's face, he was cut short with,
"Lines of his face, sir? You mean cordage." As an
actor not even Garrick surpassed him in his own special
character, and ]Macready looked upon him as a model
of excellence. jNIacklin was also a skilful play-writer,
his Man of the World being considered one of the best
plays of the eighteenth century.

JOHN GAY AND WILLIAM POWELL. 251

In the year 1728 the celebrated dramatist, John Gay,
was in Bristol superintending the performance of his
famous play. The Beggar's Opera. So popular was this
play in Bristol, that it was performed here no less than
fifty times. The character of " Polly Peachum," the
heroine, has been the means of leading three of its
impersonators to the peerage, i.e. Miss Fenton (Duchess
of Bolton), Miss Stephens (Countess of Essex), and
Miss Bolton (Lady Thurlow).

A famous actor closely associated with Bristol at this
period was WilHam Powell. Chatterton has immortalised
him in his lines : —

" What language, Powell ! can thy merits tell,
By Nature formed in every path t' excel,
To strike the feeling soul with magic skill.
When every passion bends beneath thy will ?

Though great thy praises for thy scenic art,
We love thee for the virtues of thy heart."

Powell was in the cast of the first play ever put on
the boards of the old theatre. The Conscious Lovers.
For three years he played there with great success,
and became ultimately one of the finest actors of his
time, due in the first place to his own extraordinary
talents, and secondly to the generous assistance of
Garrick, writing to whom he says : " You, sir, have
put within my view the prospect of future happiness
for me, my wife, and little infants, who are daily taught
to bless your name as the best of friends."

So popular did Powell become in Bristol, that he was
the chief subject of conversation at the coffee houses
and taverns; in fact, the rage. Anyone who had missed
seeing Powell was considered wanting in taste. Crowds
were turned away at his benefits. At Bristol he was

DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

seized with his fatal illness, and as evidencing the respect
with which the citizens regarded him, the magistrates
of the city ordered chains to be thrown across King
Street whilst he was dying, to prevent carriages disturbing
him. An affecting anecdote is told of this sad event.
On the night of his decease his great friend, Holland,
was playing the part of " Richard III.," and had repeated
the line, "All of us all have cause to wail the dimming of
our shining star!" when a gentleman suddenly entered
the house and exclaimed, " Mr. Powell is dead ! " On
hearing which Holland reeled to the wings as though
shot, stammered, and came forward, and in a vain
attempt to apologise, burst into uncontrollable tears.

When on his death-bed, Mrs. Powell having tem-
porarily left him, Hannah More, who sat by his.
bedside, was alarmed by observing his cheek suddenly
assume a lively colour. At the same instant he threw
himself into the proper attitude and exclaimed, " Is
this a dagger which I see before me ? " and expired. He
was but thirty- three when he died, July 3rd, 1769, and
so great were his dramatic powers that he was looked
upon as the legitimate successor to Garrick. His
interment took place in the cathedral, the Dean,
Dr. Barton, performing the last sad rites in the presence
of a large gathering of representative citizens. On
a marble tablet there is inscribed an epitaph, written
by George Colman to his memory.

An eloquent testimony to the status of the old
theatre (then known as the " New ") is afforded by
the fact that Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer was
performed there for the first time in Bristol on July
igth, 1773, barely four months after its first appearance
at Covent Garden.

JOHN HIPPISLEY. 253

The famous comedian, John Hippisley, was extremely
well known in Bristol, where in 1729 at Jacob's Wells
he biiilt a theatre, in which some of the greatest
actors and actresses of the period appeared. It opened
with the play, Love for Love, June 23rd, 1729. In
the year 1736 he occupied a dwelling adjoining the
theatre, and ultimately died there in 1748. Though
he acted many parts on the stage, his finest was that
of '■ Peachum " in the Beggar's Opera, which he
originated, acting it for sixty -three successive nights.
Like J. L. Toole, his very appearance created roars of
laughter. This was somewhat due to a burn on his
face which he received in youth. He himself admitted
that his " ugly face w^as a farce." When he told the
famous Quin that he thought of bringing up his son to
the stage, Quin replied, "If that is the case, it's high time
to burn him." Hippisley's " Corbaccio " in Volpone was
considered a superb picture of covetousness and deafness.

A correspondent writing to Felix Farley's Journal,
August 1 2th, 1768, says: "I remember him a young
man, and can tell many a pleasing anecdote respecting
him ; let it suffice, however, at present, that he was
a most cheerful companion, that he was wont to set
the table in a roar."

In addition to being a fine comedian, he wrote a
farce, called A Journey to Bristol, which was often given
here. At his death the following lines were contained
in an epitaph written on him : —

" Here lies John Hip'sley dead in truth
Who oft' 171 jest dy'd in his youth ;
If acting well a soul will save
His sure a place in Heaven shall have :
And yet to speak the truth I ween
As great a scrub as e'er was seen."

254 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

His daughter, Jane Hippisley, who subsequently
became Mrs. Green, was a pupil of Garrick, and
attained a distinguished place among the actresses of
the eighteenth century. Among her many successful
impersonations were " Anne Page," " Ophelia," and
"Perdita." She was the great rival of Mrs. Olive, and
was the original " Mrs. Malaprop." Her death took
place at her residence adjoining the Jacob's Wells
Theatre, in 1791, and she was interred at Clifton. A
monument to her memory is in Clifton Church.

Among those acting at this theatre in 1749 were the
celebrated Thomas King and Mrs. Pritchard. William
Whitehead, the Poet Laureate of the period, being at
that time on a visit to Bristol, attended some of the
performances and was highly pleased.

Miss Hallam, niece of William Hallam, manager
of the theatre in Goodman's Fields, London, who
afterwards achieved fame as " Mrs. Mattocks," and
became the favourite actress at Covent Garden, made
her debut at this theatre. It is said that George IIL
and his Consort delighted so much in her acting, that
they settled on her an annuity of ;^200 on her retirement
from the stage in 1808, after a professional life of nearly
sixty years.

In Bristol was born, on November 27th, 1758, at the
Minster House (long since demolished), the unfortunate
and gifted Mary Robinson, termed by her admirers
the " English Sappho." Her father was a local
merchant named Darby, who ruined himself in a few
years by misguided speculation. She was educated
at the school kept by the sisters More. Possessed of
great personal attractions, and having been abandoned
by the scoundrel who had married her in her sixteenth

MARY ROBINSON. 255

year, she adopted the stage as a profession, and soon
became one of the most favourite actresses of her time.

Whilst playing the part of " Perdita " in 1780, her
fatal gift of beauty captivated the too susceptible heart
of the "first gentleman of Europe" — " Florizel," then
in his eighteenth year. Yielding at last to his per-
sistent siege, she was forthwith provided with a
splendid establishment by her royal lover. But brief
was her reign over that inconstant heart, for in August,
1781, George III. employed an agent to obtain the
compromising love-letters his son had written her,
which he obtained for ^5,000. Later he discovered
that the Prince had given her a bond for -£"20,000
on her consenting to quit the stage and become his
mistress. This she surrendered to Mr. Fox for an
annuity of ;£^5oo.

Having married later one Colonel Tarleton, she lost
the use of her limbs through travelling one winter's night
to rescue him from a debtor's prison. Finally, in 1788
she applied herself to literature, and wrote and published
about twenty novels and books of poems. Among
those who were the admirers of this beautiful woman
were Coleridge, Dr. Walcot, and Sir R. Ker Porter.

Writing May 21st, 1800, from Nether Stowey to
William Godwin, Coleridge asks: "Have you seen
Mrs. Robinson lately? How is she? Remember me
in the kindest and most respectful phrases to her. I
wish I knew the particulars of her complaint, for Davy"
(Sir Humphry) "has discovered a perfectly new acid, by
which he has restored the use of their limbs to persons
who had lost them for years in cases of supposed
rheumatism. At all events, Davy says it can do no
harm in Mrs. Robinson's case, and if she will try it

256 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

he will make . up a little parcel and write her a letter
of instructions." Her death occurred a few months
after, on December 26th, 1800. "Rainy day" Smith
counts as one of the seven great events of his life of
which he was most proud, the incident of his receiving
a kiss as a boy from the beautiful " Perdita."

Contemporary with her was Elizabeth Canning, the
mother of the famous Prime Minister, George Canning.
Her husband, having married her against his father's
wishes, was cut off with a pittance of £150 a year.
In less than two years he left her a widow, having
died on his son's birthday. She was very beautiful and
possessed of friends who had the ear of royalty, and
Garrick was induced to give her leading parts. These
by nature and ability he soon found she was incapable
of sustaining, in consequence of which she had to take
secondary parts, which she acted chiefly in the
provinces. At Bristol, in 1775, her beauty attracted
the attentions of an actor of repute named Reddish,
who was then manager of the old theatre, and she
finally accepted him. Four years later he became
insane, and at length, in 1785, died in York lunatic
asylum.

Through the kindheartedness of Moody, a fellow
actor, who was keenly interested in her son George,
and who instinctively foresaw signs of his future brilliant
career, appeals were made to the boy's uncle, Stratford
Canning. After some hesitation the latter agreed to
adopt him, but on the condition that his intercourse
with his mother's family was to be of a limited nature.
By his uncle he was successively sent to Winchester
and Eton, where he rapidly attained distinction in his
studies, more especially for his skill in Latin and

( I'lwt'i, W. A. M.hi^.Ul

FERDITA" (MARY KOlilNSON)

Gainsii(iroi(;ii.

(From Wallace CoUcctum,)

CANNING, E. INCHBALD, QUICK & DODD. 257

English verse, and the vivacity and generosity of his
character.

Be it said to his honour that in spite of his
adoption by his uncle, and the different sphere of life
in which he moved, he never forgot his mother.
Whether at Eton, or later in life as Foreign Minister,
and even when he attained the rank of Premier,
nothing ever prevented his weekly letter to her,
in which he poured out all the ardent hopes and
aspirations of his life. No false pride prevented him
visiting her, for when time and opportunity afforded he
eagerly did so. When, too, on his retirement from the
office of Secretary of State he became entitled to a
pension, he at once gladly had it settled on her.

At the King Street theatre, on September 4th, 1772,
appeared for the first time Elizabeth Inchbald, who had
not then reached her nineteenth year, in the character
of " Cordelia." A playbill of the period states that it
was her first appearance on any stage. She subse-
quently acquired a lasting reputation and a handsome
competence by her dramas and novels.

Among great actors of the eighteenth century appear-
ing at this theatre, John Quick and W. J. Dodd were
ever welcome. No comedian of his time excelled Quick,
who played here many times. He was the favourite
actor of George III., who continually insisted on his
appearance, and is said more than once to have
addressed him personally. So droll was he, that he
must have been " born to relax the muscles and set
mankind a tittering." He had a close personal association
with Bristol in the fact that he was married here to the
daughter of a clergyman named Parker. Dodd, considered
the finest coxcomb ever seen on the stage, and the

258 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

original " Sir Benjamin Backbite " in The School for
Scandal, acted for several years at the Theatre Royal,
and was at one time manager. As a genteel fop
he has never been beaten. Lamb gave him high praise
and said, " In expressing slowness of apprehension this
actor surpassed all others. You could see the first
dawn of an idea steal slowly over his countenance."

At the same theatre a play b}^ Richard Savage,
whose close connection with Bristol is dealt with on
page 50, was performed on June 26th, 1777.

A Londoner, writing in 1792 of the Theatre Royal,
remarked that "it was no uncommon thing to see one
hundred carriages at the doors of the house," so great
was its reputation as a temple of Thespis.

Among playwrights of distinction at this period associ-
ated with Bristol was John Tobin, the author of the
famous play, The Honeymoon. Here he resided in his
youth, and went to the Grammar School under Dr. Lee.
Though he wrote several plays, including the Faro Table
and The Curfew, only one of them was acted on the
stage till his Honeymoon was accepted. He was in
Cornwall at the time recruiting his health, and when
he heard the news of that play's acceptance he
was almost delirious with joy. Just as the ball of
fortune was at his feet consumption manifested itself,
and he was ordered to the West Indies, but he had
scarcely left the shores of England when he died —
the first day out. The ship at once put back, and he
was buried in the little churchyard of Cove, near Cork,
the resting-place of the immortal author of The Burial
of Sir John Moore. Tobin's Honeymoon proved a great
success, and held the English stage for twenty years.
Quite in accordance with precedent, his rejected plays

SOPHIA LEE AND ISAAC POCOCK. 259

were after this success greatly in request among stage
managers.

At Clifton for many years lived Sophia Lee, born in
175O5 with her more famous sister, Harriett Lee. She
wrote an operatic play, entitled A Chapter of Accidents,
which achieved great success, and held the stage for
many years. It was produced at the Haymarket bv
Colman the elder, and was translated into French and
German. In 1785 she essayed novel writing, and
published The Recess, or a Tale of Other Times, one of
the earliest of English historical novels. From the
profits derived from her play she set up a school in
Bath, and ultimately retired to Clifton. She died in
1824, and lies buried with her sister Harriett in Clifton
Church (see page 187).

Isaac Pocock, who first achieved success as a painter,
was born in Bristol in 1782 ; but on succeeding to some
property his attention was directed to the drama, in
which he was successful, many of his plays running for
weeks. His first piece was a musical farce in two acts,
Yes or No, produced at the Haymarket in 1808, but
it did not keep the boards long. His Hit or Miss was
a great advance, running for thirty-three nights, whilst
his Zembacca, first given at Covent Garden as a holiday
piece, was equally successful. He was a prolific writer,
and nearly all his plays enjoyed a large measure of public
favour. Among his most successful efforts were his
dramatic rendering of Scott's novels, notably Rob Roy,
with Macready in the chief role, which proved exceedingly
popular. He died in 1835.

To the Hotwells at the close of the eighteenth century
came the beautiful and accomplished wife of the great
dramatist, orator, and wit, Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

260 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Falling into a rapid consumption, she was brought here
in the vain hope that the Hotwell waters would restore
her to health. Here she passed away in her husband's
arms on June 28th, 1792, and lies interred in the
cloisters of Wells Cathedral. There is a story told,
which, it is to be hoped, is untrue, that whilst taking an
airing on the Downs her carriage and horses were seized
by her husband's creditors, this painful event materially
hastening her end.

Among the roll-call of great actors who have illu-
mined the annals of dramatic art in the nineteenth
century, the name of the famous Macready is imperishably
associated with Bristol. His father became the lessee
of the old theatre in the year iSig, and consequently
he was often here, where crowded houses invariably
awaited him. In Bristol he first made the acquaintance
of Miss Atkins, who later became his wife, and here,
too, he married his second wife at St. John's Church,
Redland, on April 3rd, i860.

His last professional appearance in Bristol took
place on January i8th, 1850, when the play selected
was Henry IV. The following extract from Macready' s
Reminiscences will be of interest : —

" As the curtain was falling I stepped forward ; the
audience, unprepared, gave most fervent greeting. On
silence I addressed them, quite overcome by recollections
and my own feelings to good old Bristol.

" ' Ladies and Gentlemen, I have not waited to-night
for the summons with which you have usually honoured
me. As this is the last time I shall ever appear on
this stage before you, I would beg leave to offer a few
parting words, and would wish them to be beyond
question the spontaneous tribute of my respect. . . .

WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY.

JAMES MACREADY. 261

For a long course of years — indeed, from the period of
my early youth — I have been welcomed b\- you in my
professional capacity with demonstrations of favour so
fervent and so constant, that they have in some measure
appeared in this nature to partake almost of a personal
interest. Under the influence of such an impression,
sentiments of deep and strong regard have taken firm
root in m\' mind, and it is therefore little else than
a natural impulse for me at such a moment to wish
to leave with you the assurance that, as I have never
been insensible to your kindness, so I never shall be
forgetful of it. Let me, therefore, at once and for all,
tender to you my warmest thanks joined with my
regretful adieux, as in my profession of an actor I most
gratefully and respectfully bid you a last farewell.' "

In tendering these words to his Bristol friends
Macready was quite overcome, and was unable to check
the tears that silently rolled down his cheeks. " And
so," said he, "farewell to my dear old Bristol audiences;
most warmly and affectionately do I remember them."

A magnificent farewell banquet was given in London
in his honour, organised by Charles Dickens and pre-
sided over by the author of The Last Days of Pompeii,
Lord Lytton, who had written for Macready his great
plays, Richelieu and The Lady of Lyons. The guests
numbered several hundred, including the representatives
of literature, science, and art. Dickens, in proposing
the toast of the evening, alluded to Macready as " his
dear and valued friend." Tennyson, too, honoured the
occasion by writing the following lines : —

" Farewell, Macready, since to-iiif,'ht we part ;
Fiill-lianded thunders often have confessed
Thy power, well-used to move the public breast.
We thank thee witli one voice, and from the lieart.

262 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Farewell, Macready, since this nij;ht we part,

Go, take thine honours home; rank with the l^est,
Garrick and statelier Kemble, and the rest

Who made a nation purer through their art.

Thine is it that our drama did not die.
Nor flicker down to brainless pantomime,
And those gilt gauds men-children swarm to see.

Farewell, Macready; moral, grave, sublime;

Our Shakespeare's bland and universal eye

Dwells pleased, through twice a hundred years, on thee."

That always welcome actor to Bristol playgoers,
Barry Sullivan, was closely connected with our city
in early life. As a boy he went to the Catholic School
in Trenchard Street, which was presided over by one
Martin Bayne, one of the nearly extinct t}-pes of school-
masters who firmly believed in the scriptural injunction,
" Spare the rod and spoil the child." Under him
Sullivan made a diligent pupil, and years after freely
admitted that he owed much of his success in his art
to the stern discipline of his old master, at the same
time paying a tribute to Bayne's accomplishments,
amongst which was his splendid elocutionary power.
Naturally gifted, Sullivan under such a master made
rapid progress, and was soon held up as a model for
elocution to the rest of the scholars. Among his
schoolfellows was one named Harvey, whose firm friend
he soon became, and to him Sullivan used to recite
passages from Shakespeare in their rambles across the
Downs. A lasting friendship resulted from that intimacy,
and Sullivan never visited Bristol in after years without
enjoying the hospitality of " Dear old Harvey."

At the age of fourteen Sullivan was apprenticed to
Daniel Burges, solicitor, whose office was in the Council
House. It was during his employment there that he
first conceived his ambition for histrionic honours ; for,

BARRY SULLIVAN AND WALTER LACY. 263

visiting the Royal Theatre one evening, he saw the great
Macready act, arid at once became "stage-struck."
Forthwith he conceived a passionate admiration for
Macready that soon reached the pitch of adoration.
In conjunction with several of his fellow-clerks, Sullivan
formed a dramatic club in Host Street. Their stage
was of primitive modesty, twelve bottles holding as many
candles doing duty as footlights. To those who, like
the writer, witnessed his rendering of " Richard III."
the memory is an unforgettable one. Crowded houses
were the invariable rule on his appearances.

An actor of conspicuous ability in light comedy was
Walter Lacy, whose real name was Williams. He was
born in Bristol in i8og, the son of a coachbuilder.
In his twentieth year he appeared at Edinburgh in
The Honeymoon, and his first appearance in London
was at the Haymarket Theatre in the character of
"Charles Surface." He was the original "Rouble" in
Boucicault's Prima Donna, and he was extremely
successful as " Renaud " in the Corsican Brothers. He
ultimately became associated with the famous Kean in
several plays. Among the many characters he appeared
in were "Sir Brilliant Fashion," "Tony Lumpkin,"
''Bob Acres" and "Jeremy Diddler," On one occasion
when acting in The Ojibbcway Indians, a party of the
real tribe happened to be present, and suddenly became
so excited at the realism of his scalping the " ring-
tailed roarer of the backwoods," that, uttering a terrific
war-whoop, they prepared to rush the stage, but on
seeing that he took off his fellow-actor's wig only, they
relaxed into peals of laughter. In the closing years of
Lacy's life he became professor of elocution at the
Royal Academy of Music.

264 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

In the year 1830 that extremely capable actress,
Amy Sedgwick, was born in Bristol. She created the
character in many plays, among those she impersonated
being " Mrs. Bloomby " in Wigan's Charming Woman,
" Orelia " in Filmore's Winning Suit, and " Phoebe
Topper" in One Good Turn Deserves Another, etc. She
also excelled in dramatic recitals, being "commanded"
more than once to appear before Queen Victoria. Her
death occurred in 1897.

That mirth-provoking comedian of the old school,
William Fosbrooke, must not be passed over, if only
from the fact that the name of "Old Fozzie " is a
cherished recollection to Bristolians of a decade ago.
From the year 1852 onwards he was a member of the
famous stock company of James Henry Chute (father
of the present James Macready Chute), both at the
old theatre and later at the new theatre, Park Row,
better known to-day as the Prince's. One of "Fozzie's"
greatest successes was that of "James Dalton " in the
Ticket of Leave Man. He also played with marked
ability the part of "Justice Hare" in Mrs. Wood's East
Lynne. This character he is said to have acted no fewer
than 2,500 times. Surely a record ! Year after year in
the eighties no pantomime here was considered complete
without " Old Fozzie." He died in i8g8, and a monu-
ment to his memory has been erected in Westbury-on-
Trym Churchyard.

An actor of considerable merit died in 1904 in the
person of William Rignold, who with his brother was
early associated with Bristol's school of actors, some of
whom, as is w^ell known, have achieved world-wide fame.

Whilst these Associations were passing through the
press, the dominant personality of modern drama made

SIR HENRY IRVING. 265

his last appearance on the stage of Hfe — Sir Henry
Irving, whose real name was Brodribb. Born in the
little Somerset village of Keinton Mandeville, his
earliest associations were connected with Bristol, where
he lived with his parents at No. i Wellington Place, at
the corner of Picton Street and Ashley Road. He him-
self has told us that he well remembered being taken at
five years of age to see the launch of the Great Britain
by the Prince Consort. Here he went to school, after
leaving which he was for a time junior clerk in the
firm of Messrs. Budgett, the wholesale grocers of
Nelson Street. From Bristol, too, he started on his
great dramatic career.

As late as June loth, 1904, a complimentary
banquet was given him whilst paying Bristol a pro-
fessional visit. The following graceful lines from the
pen of the well-known song-writer, F. E. Weatherly,
adorned the toast list : —

TO SIR HENRY IRVING.

Let other hands the laurel bring

To crown thee on the stage ;
Let other lips thy homage sing,

First actor of our age !
We bring a flower that will outlast

The summer and the snow,
Rosemary— for Remembrance

That will not let thee go !

In the course of his speech on that occasion, alluding
to the part played by the drama in the national life,
he said : " Without opening a book, or listening to
music, or sitting at the play, or meditating at a
picture gallery, you can lead a blameless, prosperous,
and even energetic life. But it will be a very dry,
narrow and barren life, cut off from some of the

»3

2«6 DRAMATIC ASSOCIATIONS.

world's greatest treasures. It will be a life of
defective growth on the imaginative side. I hold that
the drama is an expression of our nature on that side
which cannot be wisely neglected, and that it behoves
all of you who have influence for the social welfare
to keep the dramatic taste of the people as high as
you can. . . . This is a memorable gathering for
me — a gathering which adds another link to the chain
of affectionate remembrances binding me to Bristol,
your ancient and historic city ; and I want to thank
you very simply, but very gratefully, for the proof of
a regard which I have prized most highly for many
a year."

Irving's appearance was singularly striking, and it
has been said that he was one of three men in
England that people would turn round to look at
in the street, the other two being Cardinal Manning
and W. E. Gladstone. Be that as it may, his portrait
by Whistler, which cost him £"100, fetched after his
death no less a sum than 4,800 guineas.

In closing these Dramatic Associations allusion must
be made to the remarkable band of amateur actors
who honoured Bristol with a visit in 1851. On
November 12th of that year Charles Dickens (manager),
assisted by Douglas Jerrold, John Forster, Mark Lemon,
Wilkie Collins, Peter Cunningham, R. H. Home, Dudley
Costello, and A. Egg, produced at the Victoria Rooms
Not So Bad As We Seem and Mr. Nightingale's Diary.
So great was the demand for seats that long before the
eventful evening every seat was booked, and so earnest
' were the appeals for another performance that two
days later it was again given.

Scientific Associations.

SIR IIUMl'HKV DAVY.

CHAPTER VI.

PART I.
MISCELLANEOUS.

Sii' Humphry Davy ; superintendent of Dr. Beddoes'
Pneumatic Institute; experiments luith " laughifig gas'' ;
his relations with Cottle, Coleridge, Southey and
others ; appointment to Royal Institution — Southey's
appreciation of Dr. Beddoes' character — Henry Kater ;
his pendulum experiments — Augustus De Morgan —
Andrew Crosse — Sir George Stokes — /. W. Brett —
G. H. K. Thwaites ; his botanical research — C. T.
Hudson — William Lonsdale — Robert Etheridge —
William Sanders — John Samuel Milller, curator of
Bristol Museum — W. J. Broderip — Mrs. Sarah Lee —
Sir Joseph Banks — Alexander Catcott, friend of Chatter-
ton — IF. B. Carpenter and P. P. Carpenter, sons of
Lant Carpenter.

HE greatest name in science associated with
Bristol is that of Sir Humphry Davy, the
chemist and natural philosopher, who gave the
miner his safety lamp. His presence in Bristol was due
to Dr. Beddoes, who had come from Oxford with ;i high
reputation for his studies in chemistr}-, and st-tth d \u
Clifton in the year 1793 with a view to estabhsliing his
Pneumatic Institute. The method of treatment vigorously
advocated by this original thinker was that of the inli;da-
tion of the new gas, nitrous oxide, just discovered l)y the;

^3 '^

270 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

famous Joseph Priestley. Among those whose sympathy
and help he enlisted were Mr, Lambton, father of the
first Earl of Durham, and Thomas Wedgwood (son of
the great Wedgwood), who had removed to Clifton to
place himself under Dr. Beddoes' care, and was living
at Cornwallis House, to be in the same neighbourhood
as his brother John, who was residing at Cote House,
Westbury. These two generously contributed ;^i,ooo
and ^1,500 respectively towards the undertaking.

In the year 1798, Gregory Watt, the son of the
famous James Watt of Birmingham, who had been
wintering at Penzance, where he had lodged with Davy's
mother, induced Beddoes by the favourable account he
gave him of Davy to engage the latter as superin-
tendent of the Pneumatic Institution, then on the eve
of inauguration. Accordingly Davy came to Bristol in
October of 1798 and joined Beddoes. His journey
thither was rendered agreeable and memorable inasmuch
that he " came into Exeter in a most joyful time, the
celebration of Nelson's victory. The town was beautifully
illuminated, and the inhabitants loyal and happy."

He was domesticated with the Beddoes family at
No. 3 Rodney Place, Clifton. Writing to his mother
a few days after his arrival, on October nth, 1798, he
says :—

" I must now give you a more particular account of
Clifton, the place of my residence, and of my new friends
Dr. and Mrs. Beddoes and their family.

" Clifton is situated on the top of a hill, commanding
a view of Bristol and its neighbourhood, conveniently
elevated above the dirt and noise of the city. Here are
houses, rocks, woods, town and country in one small

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 271

spot ; and beneath us the sweetly -flowing Avon, so
celebrated by the poets. Indeed, there can hardly be a
more beautiful spot ; it almost rivals Penzance and the
beauties of Mount's Bay.

" Our house is capacious and handsome ; my rooms
are very large, nice, and convenient ; and, above all, I
have an excellent laboratory. Now for the inhabitants,
and, first. Dr. Beddoes, who, between you and me, is
one of the most original men I ever saw — uncommonl}-
short and fat, with little elegance of manners, and
nothing characteristic externally of genius or science ;
extremely silent, and in a few words, a very bad
companion. His behaviour to me, however, has been
particularly handsome. He has paid me the highest
compliments on my discoveries, and has, in fact, become
a convert to my theory, which I little expected. He
has given up to me the whole of the business of the
Pneumatic Hospital, and has sent to the editor of the
Monthly Magazine a letter, to be published in November,
in which I have the honour to be mentioned in the
highest terms. Mrs. Beddoes" (Mana Edgeworth's sister)
"is the reverse of Dr. Beddoes — extremely cheerful, gay
and witty ; she is one of the most pleasing women I
have ever met with. With a cultivated understanding
and an excellent heart, she combines an uncommon
simplicity of manners. We are already ver}- great
friends. She has taken mc to sec all the fine sccncrx-
about Clifton ; for the Doctor, from his or.cupations and
his bulk, is unable to walk much. In the house are two
sons and a daughter of Mr. Lambton, very line children,
from five to thirteen years of age. ... I am now
very much engaged in considering of the erection of the
Pneumatic liospital. . . ."

272 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Through Beddoes, whose home was a centre of the
intellectual and literary life of Clifton, Davy was brought
closely into contact with Coleridge, Southey, and Tobin
the dramatist, and other notable people of the time.

Writing to his friend and patron, Mr. Davies Gilbert,
on November 12th, 1798, Davy says : —

" Dear Sir, — I have purposely delayed writing until
I could communicate to you some intelligence of import-
ance concerning the Pneumatic Institution. The speedy
execution of the plan will, I think, interest you both as
a subscriber and a friend to science and mankind. . . .
We are negotiating for a house in Dowrie Square, the
proximity of which to Bristol, and its general situation
and advantages, render it very suitable to the purpose. . . .
We shall try the gases in every possible way. . . .

" I suppose you have not heard of the discovery of
the native sulphate of strontian in England. I shall
perhaps surprise you by stating that we have it in large
quantities here. . . . We opened a fine vein of it about
a fortnight ago at the Old Passage near the mouth of
the Severn. . . .

"We are printing in Bristol the first volume of the
' West Country Collection,' which will, I suppose, be
out in the beginning of January.

"Mrs. Beddoes ... is as good, amiable, and elegant
as when }'ou saw her.

" Believe me, dear sir, with affection and respect,

truly yours,

" Humphry Davy."

The Pneumatic Institute, to which Davy alludes
was opened in March, 1799, at No. 6 (present
numbering) Dowry Square, Hotwells, and in the course

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 273

of the announcement of the event, which appeared in
the Bristol Gazette and Public Advertiser of the 21st of
that month, it stated, " It is intended, among other
purposes, for treating diseases hitherto found incurable
upon a new plan. . . . The application of persons in
confirmed consumption is principally wished at present,
and though the disease has heretofore been deemed hope-
less, it is confidently expected that a considerable portion
of such cases will be permanently cured." A sanguine
hope that was doomed to be unrealised, and to-day — a
hundred years later — the world is anxiously watching for
the deliverer who shall rid it of this deadly disease.

In regard to the application of nitrous oxide gas, the
world has unfairly given all the credit to Davy ; but
in justice to Dr. Beddoes it must be stated that vears
before Davy joined him he had been experimenting with
the pneumatic treatment, and it was solely at his instance
that it was used. Truly has it been said that, " for-
tunate in having voiced the views of Beddoes and his
fellow-workers on the anaesthetic properties of nitrous
oxide, Davy has received to-day the credit of having
discovered them, and to the general public the name of
Thomas Beddoes, the real discoverer, is practically
unknown." It is indeed to the latter that the
world owes the birth of modern anaesthetics. What,
however, is to the credit of Davy is the daring with
which he experimented at this period.

Writing again to Davics Gilbert on April loth from
Dowry Square, where he had fitted up a laborator\', he
says : —

" I made a discovery yesterday which proves how
necessary it is to repeat experiments. The gaseous

274 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

oxide of azote is perfectly respirable when pure. It
is never deleterious but when it contains nitrous gas.
I have found a mode of obtaining it pure, and
I breathed to-day, in the presence of Dr. Beddoes
and some others, sixteen quarts of it for near seven
minutes. It appears to support life longer than even
oxygen gas, and absolutely intoxicated me. . . . We
have upwards of eighty out-patients in the Pneumatic
Institution, and are going on wonderfully well."

Dozens of people were induced to inhale the nitrous
oxide (or "laughing gas"), among whom were Coleridge,
Southey, Tobin, Joseph Priestley (son of the discoverer
of it), and the Wedgwoods. Maria Edgeworth, who
was at this time on a visit to Clifton, writes : —

"A young man, a Mr. Davy, at Dr. Beddoes's,
who has applied himself much to chemistry, has made
some discoveries of importance, and enthusiastically
expects wonders will be performed by the use of
certain gases, which inebriate in the most delightful
manner, having the oblivious effects of Lethe, and at
the same time giving the rapturous sensations of the
Nectar of the Gods!"

Southey, too, writing to his brother, July 12th, 1799,
says : —

"Oh, Tom! Such gas has Davy discovered, the
gaseous oxyde ! Oh, Tom ! I have had some ; it made
me laugh and tingle in every toe and finger tip. Davy
has actually invented a new pleasure, for which language'
has no name. Oh, Tom ! I am going for more this
evening ; it makes one strong and so happy ! so
gloriously happy ! . . . Oh, excellent air bag ! Tom,

SIR HUMPHRY DAVY. 275

I am sure the air in heaven must be this wonder-
working air of dehght."

An amusing anecdote is related by Coleridge, that as
soon as the powers of nitrous oxide were discovered,
Dr. Beddoes at once concluded that it must necessarily
be a specific for paralysis. A patient was selected for
trial, and the management of it entrusted to Davy.
Previous to the demonstration of the gas, he inserted
a pocket thermometer under the tongue of the patient,
as he was accustomed to do on such occasions, to
ascertain the degree of temperature with a view to
future comparison. The paralytic man, wholly ignorant
of the nature of the process to which he was sub-
mitting, but deeply impressed, from the representations
of Dr. Beddoes, with the certainty of its success, no
sooner felt the thermometer between his teeth than he
concluded that the talimian was in full operation, and
in a burst of enthusiasm declared that he already
experienced the effects of its benign influence through-
out his whole body. The opportunity was too tempting
to be lost. Davy cast an intelligent glance at Coleridge,
and desired the patient to renew his visit on the follow-
ing day, when the same ceremony was performed and
repeated every d%.y for a fortnight. The patient gradually
improved during that period, when he was dismissed as
cured, no other application having been used than that
of the thermometer.

That Davy's work was attracting great attention in
the scientific circles of his day is proved from the
eulogistic letter of appreciation written to him from
Priestley at the period, which opens willi the follow-
ing:—

276 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

" Sir, — I have read with admiration your excellent
publications, and have received much instruction from
them. It gives me peculiar satisfaction that, as I am
far advanced in life, and cannot expect to do much
more, I shall leave so able a fellow-labourer of my
own country in the great fields of experimental
philosophy. . . ."

The companionship and friendship of Coleridge and
Southey at this period were an intellectual stimulus
to him, keeping his enthusiasm in pursuit of knowledge
at a white heat.

Cottle gives us, in his Reminiscences, a word picture
of him : —

"I was," says he, "much struck with the intel-
lectual character of his face. His eye was piercing, and
when not engaged in converse was remarkably intro-
verted, amounting to absence, as though his mind had
been pursuing some severe trains of thought, scarcely
to be interrupted by external objects ; and from the
first interview also, his ingenuousness impressed me as
much as his mental superiority."

After Coleridge left for the Lakes his attachment

to Davy was unabated, and shows, too, that Davy was

fully in touch with his and Wordsworth's literary

work : —

" Keswick,

" July 25th, 1800.

" My dear Davy, — Work hard, and if success do
not dance up like the bubbles in the salt (with the
spirit lamp under it)" — alluding to the decomposition of
ammonium nitrate which he had seen Davy effect —
" may the Devil and his dam take success. . . .

THOMAS BEDDOES, M.D.

DAVY AND COLERIDGE. 277

" W. Wordsworth is such a lazy fellow, that I bemire
myself by making promises for him : the moment I
received your letter I wrote him. He will, I hope,
wTite immediately to Biggs and Cottle. At all events,
these poems must not as yet be delivered up to them,
because that beautiful poem, " The Brothers," which I
read to you in Paul Street " (Kingsdown), " I neglected
to deliver to 3'ou, and that must begin the volume. . . .
May God and all His sons love you as I do.

" S. T. Coleridge.

" Sara desires her kind remembrances. Hartley is a
spirit that dances on an aspen leaf : the air that yonder
sallow-faced and yawning tourist is breathing, is to my
babe a perpetual nitrous oxide. . . ."

Writing later in October of the same year, he says : —

"'SIy dear Davy, — I was right glad, glad with a stagger
of the heart, to see your writing again. Many a moment
have I had all my France and England curiosity sus-
pended and lost, looking in the advertisement front
column of the "Morning Post Gazetteer" for Mr. Davy's
Galvanic habitudes of charcoal — Upon my soul, I believe
there is not a letter in those words round which a
world of imagery does not circumvolve ; your room,
the garden, the cold bath, the moonlight rocks. . . ."

Later in the letter he refers to his and Words-
worth's poetic works, in the course of which he says : —

" I assure you I think very differently of " Christabel."
I would rather have written " Ruth " and " Nature's
Lady " than a million such poems."

Surely another proof that an author is not always the
best judge of his work. Wordsworth, his friend, was the

278 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

last to belittle his own work, for in his eyes Peter Bell
was equally as good as Lucy.

" When you write — and do write soon — tell me how
I can get your essay on the nitrous oxide. . . .
" God bless you !

" Your most affectionate

"S. T. Coleridge."

Early in the following year (1801) Davy's brief but
fruitful period of his connection with Bristol terminated,
for he had received and accepted the appointment of
Assistant- Lecturer at the Royal Institution. In the
minute book there is the following resolution: "Resolved
— That Mr. Humphry Davy be engaged in the service
of the Royal Institution in the capacities of Assistant-
Lecturer in Chemistry, Director of the Laboratory,
and Assistant-Editor of the Journals of the Institu-
tion. . . ."

Davy accepted the post with the full approbation of
Dr. Beddoes, who generously released him from, all
engagements with the Pneumatic Institution ; and his
after distinguished career fully bore out, as all the
world knows, the promise with which it opened in our
city.

Alluding to this, Cottle on one occasion said to
Coleridge : " During your stay in London you doubtless
saw a great many of what are called ' the cleverest
men.' How do you estimate Davy, in comparison with
these ? "

Coleridge's reply was strong but expressive : " Why,
Davy could eat them all ! There is an energy, an elas-
ticity in his mind, which enables him to seize on, and
analyse, all questions, pushing them to their legitimate

SOUTHEY'S APPRECIATION OF BEDDOES. 279

consequences. Every subject in Davy's mind has the
principle of vitahty. Living thoughts spring up Hke
the turf under his feet."

The departure of Davy for a larger sphere of labour,
if not the death-blow to the Pneumatic Institution, did
not tend to prolong its existence, for ere many months
had elapsed its doors were closed. Thus ended all the
sanguine hopes that Dr. Beddoes had so ardently
<:herished concerning its establishment.

The character of this excellent man is best indicated
in the following letter of Southey to his friend, John

^' "August, 1799.

" Of Beddoes you seem to entertain an erroneous
opinion. Beddoes is an experimentalist in cases where
the ordinary remedies are notoriously, and fatally,
inefficacious. . . . The faculty dislike Beddoes, because
he is more able, and more successful, and more celebrated,
than themselves, and because he labours to reconcile
the art of healing with common sense, instead of all the
parade of mystery with which it is usually enveloped.
Beddoes is a candid man, trusting more to facts than
reasonings : I understand him when he talks to me,
and, in case of illness, should rather trust myself to his
experiments than be killed off secundum avion, and in
the ordinary course of practice."

At Beddoes's death, which occurred a few years after
the closing of the Pneumatic Institution, he said,
" From Beddoes I hoped for more good to the human
race than any other individual,"

Alas ! as he bitterly wrote to Davy on his death-bed,
it was his to "scatter abroad tiie avena fatua of know-
ledge, from which neither branch nor blossom nor fruit

280 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIOiNS.

has resulted." Nevertheless his name will always be
honoured in the history of chemistry, for through him
the Pneumatic Institution became the cradle of the
genius of the first chemist of his age — Sir Humphry
Davy.

In Bristol was born in the year 1777 ^he distinguished,
scientific investigator, Henry Kater, the son of Henry
Kater, a sugar baker, of Tucker Street. He first entered
a lawyer's office, but after his father's death he devoted
himself to his favourite pursuit of mathematics. In
1799 he joined the army by becoming ensign of the
i2th Foot, which proceeded to India. When promoted
to a lieutenancy he was employed in the survey of the
country between the Malabar and Coromandel coasts.
Returning home on account of ill-health, he was, on
his recovery, after passing a distinguished examination
at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, promoted to
a company. Later he was ordered on recruiting service,
and was for several years brigade-major at Ipswich. In
1S14 he retired from the army on half-pay. In 1815
he was elected F.R.S., and became for a long period
treasurer of the Royal Society. Among honours
conferred upon him was the Order of Saint Anne in
recognition of his services with respect to the standard
measures of the Russian Government.

In connection with pendulum experiments, he became
associated with the famous Arago and other scientists
in the observation for determining the difference of
longitude between the Observatories of Greenwich and
Paris. Kater at this time was a member of all the
leading scientific societies at home and abroad. He
devised the important method of dividing the astro-
nomical circles on the principle of the beam compass.

KATER AND DE MORGAN. 'j81

and succeeded in measuring one ten-thousandth of an
inch. For years he laboured upon an exact determination
of a pendulum vibrating seconds, and at length solved
the problem, by which means he was enabled to produce
seconds of extraordinary delicacy. In 1820 he deli\ered
the Bakerian Lecture on the best kind of steel for compass
needles. His astronomical contributions to science were
many and valuable, the most important of which was
the invention of the floating collimator, for determining
the line of collimation of a telescope attached to an
astronomical circle in any position of the instrument.
His death occurred in 1835.

To the well-known school of Mr. Parsons, Redland,
went, in the early years of the nineteenth century,
the famous mathematician, Augustus De Morgan. He
suffered from the infirmity of having lost one of his
eyes, which made him the victim of a savage trick bv
one of his schoolfellows. This particular boy would
stealthily creep up to De Morgan's blind side, and
holding a sharp -pointed penknife to his cheek would
suddenly utter his name, when on turning round De
Morgan would receive the point of the knife in his
face. This brutal trick occurred more than once, and
at length, complaining to a school chum, De Morgan
expressed his determination to thrash his tormentor if
he could only catch him. This was the difficulty, for
owing to De Morgan's defective sight he was gone
before his victim could la)^ hands on him. However,
a plan was arranged. One day, therefore, De Morgan
was seated at his desk with a book before him, when
his cowardly tormentor stole in as usual, pointed his
knife at his cheek, and said, " De Morgan!" but his
intended victim failed to turn round, and before he

282 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

could fly he was seized by De Morgan's friend, who
held him whilst De Morgan gave him the thrashing
he so richly deserved. Needless to say, he was ever
after left in peace. Whilst at this school De Morgan
attended St. Michael's Church with the rest of the
scholars, and there until quite recent years the first and
second proposition of Euclid pricked out by means of
a shoe buckle with his initials on the oak wainscoting
of the school pew could be seen.

At Seyer's school, top of St. Michael's Hill, went
Andrew Crosse, one of the earliest pioneers of elec-
tricity, having for his schoolfellows John Kenyon and
Browning's father. On his estate in Somerset he
erected a mile and a quarter of insulated copper wire,
and made valuable observations of the electrical pheno-
mena exhibited, and earned from the ignorant peasantry
of his neighbourhood the title of " Devil Crosse." In
1837, whilst pursuing his investigations, he observed the
appearance of insect life in metallic solutions previousl}'
considered to be destructive of animal life, a discovery,
curious to say, which occasioned much unreasoning
hostility.

At Bristol College was educated Sir George Stokes,
"the last resident survivor of the golden age in
Cambridge mathematics." He considered that he owed
much to the teaching of Francis Newman, brother
of the Cardinal, then mathematical master, a man
of great charm as well as of unusual attainments. A
tablet to Sir George Stokes' memory is in Westminster
Abbey.

Few Bristolians are aware that in Bristol was born
in 1805 J. W. Brett, who must justly be regarded with
honour as the founder of submarine telegraphy, which

J. W. BRETT AND G. H. K. THWAITES. 283

has revolutionised the communications of the world.
He was the son of a Bristol cabinet maker. The
first cable linking England with France was due to
him, and although he ne\-er lived to see it, he always
expressed himself confident of the linking together by
cable of England and America. Brett was a man filled
with that happy union of enthusiasm and knowledge
without which nothing great can be accomplished, com-
bined with unshaken confidence in the ultimate triumph
of his ideas. His death occurred in 1863, and he lies
buried in Westbury-on-Trym Churchyard.

In the domain of natural science, Bristol is repre-
sented by names high up on the roll of fame in addition
to Davy, for in Bristol, in the year 181 1, was born
G. H. K. Thwaites, one of the most distinguished
botanists and entomologists of the nineteenth century.
From being originally an accountant, he devoted himself
to the study of microscopical botany. In 1839, ^s
local secretary of the Botanical Society of London, he
became so well known as a biologist, that Dr. W. B.
Carpenter engaged him to revise his work on General
Physiology, then entering its second edition. Thwaites
was a remarkably keen observer and skilful microscopist.
His discoveries, owing to the lack of attention given
to cryptograms in England, were so much unrecognised,
that the credit of his pioneer work was given to later
continental students in the same field of investigation.
However, in 1845 J. F. C. Montague honoured him l)y
dedicating to him the algal genus Thwaitesia.

Thwaites did not confine his studies to flowerless
plants, for he compiled a list of the flower plants
within a ten-mile radius of Bristol. These he com-
municated to Hewett Watson for his Topographical

284 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Botany. In 1846 he was lecturing on Botany in the
Bristol Medical School. Finally the chance of his life
came when in 1849 he secured the appointment of
Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens of Ceylon.
There he did most valuable work, contributing twenty-
five new genera to Hooker's Journal of Botany. In
1857 he was made Director, and in the year following
he began printing his Eniimeratio Plantarimi Zeylania.
In 1878 he was made a Companion of the Order of
St. Michael and St. George. His death occurred in
1882.

The distinguished authority on the " Rotifera,"
Charles Thomas Hudson, LL.D., F.R.S., was closely
connected with our city. For five years he was head
master of Bristol Grammar School (1855 — 1860), and for
the twenty years succeeding he kept a large private
school at Manilla Hall, Clifton. He was twice President
of the Royal Microscopical Society. His death took
place in 1903.

William Lonsdale, a geologist of European reputa-
tion, resided at Bristol in the closing period of his
brilliant life. Starting his career by becoming a soldier,
he served with marked distinction both in the Peninsular
War and at Waterloo. Retiring from the army, he
settled in Bath, and devoted himself to the study of
geology with great success, for in 1829 he became
Curator of the Bath Museum, and was elected F.G.S.
Later he was elected to the onerous post of Curator to
the London Geological Society, and during his term of
office did much valuable work by his skilful condensa-
tion of its Transactions. In 1846 he received both the
Wollaston Fund and Medal for his research work on the
corals. So important were some of his investigations,

W. LONSDALE AND R. ETHERIDGE. 285

that he is entitled to a place beside Murchison and
Sedgwick as co-originator of the theory of the inter-
dependence of the Devonian system. He was the first
to suggest the independent origin of the Old Red
Sandstone. He lies buried in Arno's Vale Cemetery.

Not the least of the distinguished geologists con-
nected with Bristol is Robert Etheridge, F.R.S. l^orn
at Ross in 1819, he came in early youth to our city,
where his grandfather was harbour master. Owing to
the latter's collection of natural objects formed on his
various voyages Etheridge's interest was excited, and
he soon began a collection of his own, using his
mother's linen press for keeping his specimens. Whilst
thus engaged he attended a course of lectures at the
Bristol Institution, and w^as thus brought into contact
with many men of culture and eminence. His talents
soon attracted attention, and ultimately on the retire-
ment of Samuel Stuchbury, Etheridge succeeded him
as curator of the institution. His ability at this period
may be gauged from the fact that for five years he
was Lecturer on Vegetable Physiology and Botany at
the Bristol Medical School.

In the fifties, through the medium of the Cotteswold
Field Club, he became acquainted with Sir Roderick
Murchison, who had just succeeded l)c la Bcche as
Director-General of the Geological Survey. This proved
the turning - point of his life, for Murchison was so
impressed with the knenvledge and cnerg\- (lispla}-ed by
Etheridge, that he soon after obtained for liiin a post under
Government as Assistant - Naturalist to ihe Geological
Survey. In this position he came into close touch with
the world-famous Huxley. Ultimat('l\- he was n])p()iiilc<|
Palaeontologist at the JJritisli MuMnni in i'"^'',',. in inMitioii

286 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

to which he aided Huxley by giving demonstrations in
palaeontology before the students at the Royal School of
Mines. Among honours that came to Etheridge during
his long life were the Wollaston Donation Fund in 1871,
and the Murchison Medal in 1880, and in the following
year he was made President of the Geological Society.
Beloved by all who knew him, he lived till his eighty-
fifth year.

That very able Bristol geologist, William Sanders,
must not be ignored. He was born in 1799, and
was by profession a corn merchant, but retired from
business to devote himself to scientific pursuits, to so
much purpose that he was successively elected F.G.S.
and F.R.S. Although he wrote little, few were better
acquainted with the geology of the Bristol district. The
great work of his life identified with his name is his
Geological Map of the Bristol Coalfield on a scale of
four inches to the mile, which took him over twenty
years to complete. It covers an area of 720 square
miles. The civic museum is indebted to him for much
of its early success and development, for he was for
years its honorary curator. His death took place in 1875.

A word, too, must be said of John Samuel Miiller,
the father of the famous painter, W. J. Miiller. He
was by birth a Prussian of scientific attainments,
who settled here in the early years of the last
century, married a Bristol lady, and became the first
Curator of the Museum of the Bristol Institution.
The remarkable collection of Encrinites in our civic
museum, probably one of the best in the kingdom, was
formed by him. Few museums out of London have a
richer geological collection — note the inferior oolite of
Dundry and the green sand from Blackdown, the latter

W. J. BRODERIP AND MRS. SARAH LEE. 287

considered extremely rich. Many eminent scientists have
worked through it, including De la Beche, Sir Richard
Owen, Thomas Huxley, and Louis Agassiz, who was
specially delighted when he visited the museum.

The celebrated Dr. Buckland, when attending the
Bristol Meeting of the British Association in 1836,
remarked that it was in this neighbourhood he had
learned much of his geological alphabet. The rocks
of our city were his geological school, " they stared
}'ou in the face, wooed you, and said, ' Pray be a
geologist,' "

The well-known author of Zoological Recvcatiuns,
W, J. Broderip, F.R,S., was born at Bristol, and \\ent
to Seyer's school. His articles in Knighfs Cyclopcsdia
are considered models of scientific exactness and popular
attraction, and whilst they have instructed and delighted
thousands of readers, have won, too, the appreciation of
the most fastidious, who are slow to believe that the
solid and amusing have no necessary antagonism. In
conjunction with Sir Stamford Raffles, he helped to
found the Zoological Society of London, Few men
have more graphically described the habits of animals.

Mrs. Sarah Lee, a popular writer on natural history
subjects in her day, was close!}- connected with our
city, for her first husband was the famous traveller,
T. E, Bowdich, of Bristol. Accompanying him on his
second visit to Africa, she became acquainted with the
world-famous Cuvier, the naturalist, who received them
with the greatest kindness at Paris. In the early days
of her widowhood she revisited Paris, and saw much
of Cuvier, who gave her many tokens of his regard.
Ultimately she married Robert Lee,

She was a prolific writer, and among her numerous

288 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

works some \\ere really important, particularly her
Freshtvater Fishes of Great Britain, illustrated by herself
and published in 1828. The value of the illustrations
was enhanced from the fact that the fishes represented
in it were actually caught for the purpose, and Mrs. Lee
painted them on the spot before death had tarnished
their colours. The work is now very rare, and a copy
in 1887 fetched £41.

Among early pioneers of natural science was the
famous Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society.
In 1767 he paid Bristol a visit via Westbury, whose
natural beauty particularly impressed him. Whilst here
he visited St. Vincent's Rocks and searched for botanical
specimens, and was charmed with the views of the river,
" winding between steep rocks, sometimes wooded and
sometimes bare, and most beautiful ; they would have
well repaid our walk had we had less success in our
botanical amusements."

Among those he visited whilst here was the Rev.
Alexander Catcott to see his collection of fossils — "spent
two hours with him looking them over, but perfectly
agreeable. His collection, though small, is certainly the
most amusing, possibly the best, as it is also the most
instructive, I have seen."

Catcott was the son of A. S. Catcott, master of the
Grammar School, and was born here in 1725. By his
friendship with Chatterton, and as one of the fathers
of geology, he is chiefly remembered to-day. He wrote
a Treatise on the Deluge, a portion of which Lyell con-
sidered "a very valuable contribution."

A distinguished scientist associated with our city was
Dr. W. B. Carpenter, physiologist and zoologist. He
was the eldest son of Lant Carpenter and the brother

DR. W. B. CARPENTER. 289

of Mary Carpenter, Born in 1813, he was educated at
his father's celebrated school, and there acquired the
foundation of classical and scientific knowledge.

Entering the Medical School, Bristol, for a short period,
he passed to the London University College, finally
entering the Medical School at Edinburgh. There he
commenced those researches in physiology which* after-
wards lifted him into well-won distinction. His papers
at this early period show that he took a broad and
catholic grasp of natural science. One of them attracted
the attention of Johannes Miiller, the first physiologist
of his time, who paid it the honour of inserting a trans-
lation of it in his Archives for 1840. But it was the
publication of his celebrated work, Principles of General
and Comparative Physiology , the first English book which
adequately dealt with the science of biology, that drew
the attention of the scientific world to its author,
W. B. Carpenter.

For some time he lectured on medical jurisprudence
and physiology at the Bristol Medical School. Removing
to London in 1844, he obtained the Fiillerian Professor-
ship of Physiology at the Royal Institution. This was
followed by many other valuable appointments, including
the Swiney Lectureship on Geolog)' at the British Museum,
and Examiner in Physiology at the London University.
Ultimately in 1856 he obtained the post of Registrar of
that College, and threw himself heart and soul into the
work of its development. Resigning in 1879, he iiad
conferred on him the distinction of C.B.

Among Carpenter's multifarious scientific labours was
his work on the Foraminifera. Marine zoology too was
a subject in which he was deepi\ interested, and in
conjunction with Professor Wyville Tlioms(»ii lie stu(h(tl

290 SCIENTIFIC ASSOClATlOiNS.

the crinoids near Belfast in 1868, and together they
explored the fauna and other f)henomena of the sea-
bottom between the North of Ireland and the Faroe
Islands. This was followed up In- other explorations,
and in the preparations for the Challenger expedition he
took a very active part. As a microscopist, Carpenter
takes 'high rank for his work. The Microscope and its
Revelations has gone through many editions ; this is
equally true of his other works, which have become
standard authorities. In the course of his study of
mental physiology, he invented the phrase "unconscious
cerebration of the brain." The industry, research, and
many-sidedness of this son of science were truly
remarkable.

Among honours bestowed upon him were the Royal
Medal of the Royal Society (1861), the Lyell Medal of
the Geological Society (1883), the LL.D. of Edinburgh
(1871), and last but not least the Presidency of the
British Association in 1872. His death occurred in
1885 as the result of an accident.

In Bristol was born, in 1819, his youngest brother,
Philip Pearsall Carpenter, who also received his education
here, first at his father's school and after at Bristol
College. He too attained distinction in natural science
as a conchologist. Graduating 'in London University,
he became a Presbyterian minister, and developed an
interest in various schemes of philanthropy. Having
learnt swimming, he taught numbers of poor lads the art.
Carpenter was a clever man, but eccentric, for on one
occasion, having had his home robbed, he published a
handbill describing his candlesticks, silver spoons, etc.,
informing the thieves that he had forgiven them, and
that if thev liked to call he would converse with them,

PHILIP PEARSALL CARPENTER. 291

and if they did not call they would have to meet him
at the Day of Judgment. The work of his life, how-
ever, came to him in a curious way, for walking one day
in the year 1855 down a street in Liverpool, .Carpenter
caught sight of some strange shells in a dealer's windo\\'.
On inquiry, he found they were part of a vast collection
made by a Belgian naturalist in California, who had died
and left them unsorted and unnamed. Carpenter bought
them up for £50. Their number may be gauged from
the fact that they weighed fourteen tons. To examine,
name, and classify this huge collection was from that
time the work of Carpenter's life. Through them he
was able to add 222 new species to the order of Mollusca.
A report on them occupies 209 pages of the British
Association Report for 1856. In 1865 Carpenter went
with his famil)' to Canada and there lived for the
remainder of his life, dying in 1877.

CHAPTER VI. {continued).

PART II.
MEDICAL AND SURGICAL.

James Cowles Prichard—John Addington Symonds — William
Budd : TyndalVs tribute to him — Richard Bright —
Henry Southey—John Bishop Estlin— Thomas Turner—
William Thornhill— William Herapath—John Nott—
Thomas Dover — Richard Smith : his generous gifts to
the city — W. T. Smith— James Greig Smith.

NE of a brilliant and remarkable band of men
who have shed lustre upon the medical annals
of Bristol was James Cowles Prichard, born at
Ross but connected nearly all his life with this city.
Here he first pursued his medical studies under Dr.
Pole. History and languages were his favourites, and in
acquiring the latter he showed remarkable aptitude, for
nothing delighted him more than to converse in their
own language with the various foreigners who visited
Bristol. On one occasion it is related he accosted a
Greek sailor in Romaic, and the man was so overcome
with delight that he caught the lad in his arms and
kissed him. Leaving Bristol, he studied for some time
at St. Thomas's Hospital, London, and thence proceeded
to Edinburgh, where he spent some years in hard study,
which terminated by a short course at Oxford. Returning
again to Bristol, he married a daughter of John

JAMliS CCJWLhS I'KICUAKI'. M l>

J. C. PRICHARD AND J. A. SYMONDS. 293

Prior Estlin, and became in 1812 physician to St. Peter's
Hospital, and the experience he gained there had a
remarkable influence on his study of pathology. The
year following he published the first edition of his great
^vork, Researches into the Physical History of Mankind.
He was one of the founders of the Bristol Institution.
In 1S45 the Government appointed him Commissioner
in Lunacy. Intellectual honours now fell thick upon
him, among others that of being elected F.R.S. Prior
to his entry into that field of study which he made
peculiarly his own, it had been almost entirelj^ neglected.

In addition to the great work to which all his re-
markable powers were applied, he published in iSiq a
treatise on Egyptian Mythology, a remarkable part of
which was his analysis of the remains of Egyptian
chronology. Bunsen, in his great work on Egypt,
eulogises Dr. Prichard as " one of the most acute and
learned investigators of his time." For many years he
lived at the Red Lodge, Park Row.

In writing of Prichard, the name of his lifelong friend,
Dr. John Addington Symonds, is inevitably suggested.
Born at Oxford, and, judging by results, steeped in the
underlying spirit of culture that pervades that great
seat of learning, he was for forty years a great in-
tellectual force in our city. At Edinburgh, where liis
training was received, he was distinguished for his un-
flinching devotion to the studies of his profession. A
lover of literature and art, combined with soundness of
judgment, logical precision, and great industry of re-
search, made him not only a distinguished physician,
but a man of large and liberal cuUnre. His urbanity
of manner and his originalit\- as a thinker, allied to the
beauty of his diction with whi( h he lulornrd the discus-

294 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

sions that occurred both at his own hospitable table
and those of his friends, made him a personal influence
of great weight in the city of his adoption. For
seventeen years he was physician to the General
Hospital. As a writer he was not voluminous, but his
essays contained in the Miscellanies edited by his gifted
son evince much deep and original thinking. At the
comparatively early age of sixty-two this distinguished
man died, leaving behind him the memor}' of a singularly
cultured and rare order of mind, allied to a geniality
which had made him a universal favourite.

One of the greatest men, however, not only in local
but in national medical annals, was \\'iiliam Budd,
who for many years was closely associated with Bristol.
He came here in 1842, and subsequently was appointed
physician to St. Peter's Hospital and the Infirmary. He
attained European distinction by his life work, devoted to
the study of typhoid fever. When Asiatic cholera broke
out in Bristol in 1866, it was through acting on the
measures advocated and carried out b}- Budd that its
ravages were checked and stamped out. How successful
those measures were is proved by the eloquent fact that
in 1849 the same disease carried off nearly 450 victims,
whilst in i8u6 only 29 succumbed. His studies of
contagious diseases had convinced him that in certain
forms prompt destruction of those affected was the only
real remedy; consequenth', when the terrible rinderpest
broke out in England in 1866, Budd strenuously advo-
cated a pole-axe and a pit of quicklime as the only
means of cure. So daring a method was at first ridiculed,
but time was on the side of Budd, and eventually his
advice was successfully adopted.

Tyndall, the distinguished scientist, pays an eloquent

WILLIAM BUDD AND RICHARD BRIGHT. 295

tribute to him, where he sa)-s : '" Dr. lUidd I hold to
have been a nian of the highest genius. There was no
physician in England who, during his hfetime, showed
anything like the penetration in the interpretation of
zymotic disease. For a great number of years he
conducted an uphill iight against the whole of his
medical colleagues, the only s\nipathy which he could
count upon during this depressing time being that of
the venerable Sir Thomas Watson. Over and over again
Sir Thomas Watson has spoken to me of William
Budd's priceless contributions to medical literature. His
doctrines are now everywhere victorious, each succeeding
discovery furnishing an illustration of his marvellous
prescience."

As a great sanitarian, Budd took the deepest interest
in the water supply of the city, deeming pure water
one of the surest means of preserving the public health,
and he considered Bristol's supply second to none in tlie
kingdom. He was not only one of the foremost phj'sicians
of his time, but an accomplished and cultured man, being
an excellent draughtsman and photographer, and well
versed in modern languages, which enabled him to
keep abreast of continental as well as English medical
literature. One who frequently dined at his table — Judge
O'Connor Morris — regarded him as one of the kindest
friends he had ever met, and greatly enjoyed his con-
versation, which he describes as "joycuis, animated, and
full of fun and intelligence." Having retired to C"le\-cd(tn
owing to a breakdown from overwork, Ik^ diid (Ikic
in 1880.

Richard 1 'right, the \\f)rld - famous discoverer of
Bright's disease, was born in I'lristol in i/^o, his
father jjciiig a merchant and a mi-mber of the baniJiig

296 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

company of Ames, Bright and Cave ; his eldest brother
represented Bristol in three Parliaments. His early
education he received under Doctors Estlin and
Carpenter, both famous names in Bristol history. After
studying at Edinburgh University, he accompanied
Sir Henry Holland and Sir George Mackenzie in their
journey through Iceland. Returning to England, he
commenced clinical hospital work at Gu\''s Hospital,
where he lived in the house of the resident physician
for two years. Ultimately he was elected assistant-
physician there, and rapidly gave proof of his remarkable
powers of observation and his tireless skill in the
investigation of disease, which led to his remarkable
discovery relating to the kidneys which has immortalised
his labours in the field of original research. It has
been well said of him that there has been no English
physician — perhaps it may be said none of any countr}'
— since the time of the great Harvey, who has effected
not only so great an advance in the knowledge of
particular diseases, but also so great a revolution in
medical habits of thought and methods of investigating
morbid phenomena and tracing the etiology of disease,
as Dr. Richard Bright.

In a record of some of the distinguished physicians
associated with our city the name of Henry H. Southey
deserves mention. He was the younger brother of the
poet, and was born in Bristol in 1783. After studying
surgery under the uncle of Harriet Martineau, he entered
the University of Edinburgh, where he acquired remark-
able facility in speaking the Latin tongue, frequently
conversing in it with his friends. He graduated M.D.
in 1806, and later on settled in London, where he
was appointed Licentiate of the College of Physicians ;

H. SOUTHEY AND J. B. ESTLIN. 297

in 1S12 he was elected Fellow, and finally in 1S25 he
became an F.R.S. In 1815 he was made ph\sician of
the Middlesex Hospital, and later he was hononred hv
the appointment of physician to George I\'. and physician
extraordinary to Queen Adelaide. In addition to this
he was Gresham professor of medicine from 1834 to 1865,
was the recipient of the D.C.L. in 1847, and delivered
the Harveian oration for that year. His death occurred
in 1865.

Few surgeons of Bristol ha\e won for themselves
a nobler reputation than John Bishop Estlin, born in
1785, the son of Dr. John Prior Estlin, the celebrated
schoolmaster of Bristol. Educated at his father's
school, he began his professional studies at the Bristol
Infirmary in 1804, and after studying both at Guy's
Hospital and at Edinburgh, he settled in his native
city. Early in his career he devoted himself chielly
to ophthalmic surgery; in the year 1822 he established
in Frogmore Street a dispensar}- for the treatment of
diseases of the eye. For the long period of thirty-six
years he managed that institution, und himself treated
no fewer than 52,000 cases; of these he kept notes,
and published many papers in the medical journals
concerning them. So great was his reputation, that
he was considered the foremost surgeon of his time
on diseases of the eye. In 1817 he married W'ahc r
Bagehot's aunt. He was one of the earliest to recognise
Jenner's great discover}' of vaccination as the preventa-
tive of small-pox. In fact, Estlin was ever in the van
of thcjse who worked for tin; amelioration of ))hysical
and social evils. A bust of this excellent man by lii->
distinguished fellow-citizen Baily is now in tlu' r)ristol
Art Gallery.

298 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

The celebrated surgeon Thomas Turner, born at
Truro in 1793, served his apprenticeship to Nehemiah
Duck, one of the surgeons to St. Peter's HospitaL
The work ^^•ith which his name is chiefly identiiied
was the founding in Manchester in 1825 of the tirst
real Provincial Medical School, the result of which has
amply demonstrated that the great provincial towns are
as capable of affording a first-class medical education
as London. Through him, too, the Royal School of
Jvledicine, Manchester, was amalgamated with Owens
College. A Turner medical prize commemorates his
services to that institution. He died in 187 j.

A surgeon of considerable distinction in his day,
William Thornhill, born at the beginning of the
eighteenth century, was educated in Bristol, and became
first surgeon to the Bristol Infirmary when opened in
1737. His daughter Anne was the mother of Sir
Nathaniel Wraxall. Thornhill was one of the earliest
English surgeons to adopt and improve the operation
of suprapubic lithotomy. His records show that he
was more successful than any of his contemporaries.
He was especially skilful in maternity cases. In
appearance he was handsome and possessed of polished
manners, and habitually wore an entire suit of black
velvet, and carried an elegant steel-handled rapier. He
died in 1755.

The distinguished toxicologist, \\'il!iam Herapath,
was also a native of Bristol, being the son of a maltster
of St. Philip's. Succeeding to his father's business, he
soon relinquished it, and devoted the whole of his time
to the study of chemistry. Ultimately he became
Professor of Chemistr}- and Toxicology to the Bristol
Medical School. In the famous local Burdock poisoning

JOHN NOTT AND THOMAS DOVER. 299

case by arsenic he was examined by the prosecution,
and acquired a great reputation by his analysis. As a
consequence he was retained as an expert in manv
other important criminal trials. He was one of the
founders of the Chemical Society, London. His eldest
son, ^^^illiam Bird Herapath, inherited his father's gifts,
and became also a distinguished toxicologist and was
made an F.R.S.

A medical man of considerable cclebrit\- in his day
was Dr. John Nott, who lived in Bristol and wrote a
treatise on the Hotwell water. He was, too, a classical
scholar, and is the author of many works, including the
editing of Decker's Gul's Horn Book and Wither's Poems.
His notes on the latter were castigated by Lamb, who
annotated them in turn with such comments as: "Thou

d fool ' " "Why not, Nott ? " "O eloquent in abuse!

Niggard where thou should'st praise, most negative
Nott."

A still more famous doctor was Thomas Dover, born
in the seventeenth century, whose powders ha\'c for
generations been held in great repute. He was a ])ris-
tolian, and, to his honour, was the first medical man
to give gratuitous service to the poor of our city. The
efficacy of his powders are vouched for by H. M. Stanley,
the great African explorer. In his work, How I Found
Livingstone, the intrepid explorer relates in his account
of the great Makata Swamp, a terrible marsh of thirty
miles in extent, through which he and his men plunged,
how he was attacked by acute dysentery, but ultimately
recovered through the judicious use of Doser's ])owikrs.
Dr. Thomas Dover, it will be remembered, was .second
in command with Captain Woodes Rogers in his
memorable voyage round tiie world.

500 SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATIONS.

A remarkable character, extremely well known in the
first half of the nineteenth century, was Richard Smith,
nephew of George Symes Catcott of Chatterton notoriety,,
and for nearly half a century surgeon at the Bristol
Infirmary. He was a great lover of literature and
the drama, and to him the cit}- is indebted for some
of the valuable Chatterton MSS. and the unique
collection of Bristol play-bills. Among these latter
(now in the Bristol Room of the Central Library) are
original autograph letters of David Garrick and his wife,,
written to Hannah More ; also the autograph of the
illustrious Sarah Siddons, and the playbill of the first
play ever acted on the boards of the old theatre, King
Street, Jlic Conscious Lovers. He was also an indefatigable
collector of gruesome relics. If there was a man hung
in the city, Mr. Richard Smith would be always in
attendance to secure if possible the bod}- of the unfortu-
nate criminal for anatomical purposes. Among the Bristol
books in the Central Library is one, presented by Smith,
containing an actual piece of the gibbet and fragments of
the irons of a murderer named Mahony, who was impli-
cated in the tragic murder of Sir John D. Goodere and
executed April 17th, 1741. And in the remarkable collection
of relics which Mr. Richard Smith formed, and now
in the museum of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which
he founded, is a book bound in the actual skin of a
murderer named Horwood. The bookbinder's account
for this runs as follows : — " Bristol, June, 1828. Richard
Smith, Esq., Dr. to H. H. Essex. To binding, in the
skin of John Horwood, a variety of papers, &c., relating
to him, the same being lettered on each side of the book —
'Cutis vera Johannis Horwood,' £1 10 o." In addition
to his generous gift of Chatterton MSS. (S:c., to the city,.

W. T. SMITH AND JAMES GREIG SMITH. 30t

he ga\e nearl}- all the fine specimens of the excessively
rare Brislington copper-lustre ware in the " Bristol Room"
of the Art Gallery. Sir Henry Rawlinson, the world-
famous Assyriologist, was Richard Smith's nephew. This
eccentric and able surgeon died suddenh- in 1S43,
deeply regretted, and was buried with Masonic honours
in the north-east corner of Temple Churchyard. His
portrait in oils has recently been presented to the Art
Gallery.

In Bristol was born the well-known obstetrician,
W. T. Smith, who \\a3 educated at the Bristol Medical
School, where he became prosector. Later in life he
was on the editorial staff of Tlic Lancet. His Manual
of Obstetrics is the standard work on the subject, and
he largely helped to found the London Obstetrical
Society.

In 1897 the local profession sustained a great loss
in the death of that original investigator, James Grcig
Smith. The bent of his studies was devoted to the
subject of abdominal surgery, ^^•hich won him a well-
nigh European reputation. His published work on this
subject is a standard one, and has passed through
six editions. From 1876 till his lamented death, at
the age of forty-three, he resided in Ih'istol.

In closing this section, it would be invidious in a
work dealing with the past to mention present-day names ;
suffice it to say that the representatives of the healing
art in Bristol well maintain its splendid local traditions.

ilitary Associations.

CHAPTER VII.

The bi'ofhen Lawrence : their early life in Clifton — Sir
William Draper : cenotaph and obelisk erected by him —
L.W. G. Vea—SirC. P. B. Walker— Philip Goldncy—
Lady Sarah Lennox and Colonel Napier : death of the
latter in Clifton — Sir Abraham Roberts and his son. Lord
Roberts — Sir Samford Whittingham — Sir fohn Stuart —
Visit of Duke of Wellington to Bristol — Richard Elton
— Sir William Penn : his naval services under the
CommoincealtJi — George Tohin — W. E. Metford.

^^N the long bead-roll of famous heroes who have
illumined the glorious annals of the English-
speaking race, and who in particular lia\e won
deathless fame in the history of our great Indian Empire,
none have a nobler or more stainless record than the hero
of Lucknow, Sir Henry Lawrence, and his equally great
brother, Lord John Lawrence, who became \'iceroy of
India. Tennyson has enshrined in his soul-stirring ballad,
The Defence of Lucknow, the splendid heroism of Sir
Henry, where he says : —

'"Never surrender, I charge you, but every man

die at his post ! '
Voice of the dead whom we loved, our Lawrence

the best of the brave :
Cold were his brows when we kissed him — we laid

him that night in his grave."

What nobler epitaj)h could \)v. gi\en liini than that wlm li
he desired might be written on his tomb: —

" Here lies Henry Lawrencf, wlio tried (o <lo his dii'y."
301

306 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

It must not be forgotten, too, that these famous
brothers were not only great soldiers, but great adminis-
trators. The success of our arms in quelling the terrible
Mutiny was largely due to the splendid administrative
power exerted over the Punjab, a province in size as
large as France, by Lord John Lawrence, which stemmed
the blood-red tide of revolt, and earned for him the noble
name of " Saviour of India." The mottoes they adopted
were indicative of their character : " Be ready," of the
hero of the Punjab : *' Never give in,"' that of Sir Henry
of Lucknow.

These illustrious men were the sons of Colonel
Alexander Lawrence, and spent some of their earhest
3-ears at No. 2 Bellevue, Clifton Hill (a tablet m.arks
the house). Whilst living there they attended Cough's
academy, in College Green, their dail}- walk to school
being across Brandon Hill. During their school daj's
here Henrj' quarrelled with the usual school bully,
and challenged him to fight on Brandon Hill. Early
one morning, therefore, John was awakened by his
brother getting up, and on asking where he was
going, the repl}' was: "To Brandon Hill, to fight
Thomas" (the bully). Accordingly they both went,
but Thomas was too chicken-hearted to appear, and
had in consequence to eat humble pie in the school.
The rigorous discipline of that school in College Green
(common to all schools of the period), is a thing to
mar\el at in the light of the kindlier and gentler
methods of to-day. Lord John Lawrence in after life,
on being asked if he had ever been flogged, " Yes,"
he replied grimly, "ever\- day of m\' school life except
once, and then I was flogged tA\-ice."

None understood better the native populations of

LORD JOHN LAWRENCE.

SIR WILLIAM DRAPER. 307

India than the}-, and it was Lord John Lawrence who
made possible the most successful experiment in the
art of civilising turbulent millions which history presents,
the control of the Punjab. Had the remarkable fore-
cast of Sir Henry of Lucknow, written in 1843, relating
to the Delhi catastrophe, been heeded, the unutterable
horrors of the Mutiny might have been a\-erted. He
lies buried in the land he loved and served so well,
and his great brother, the Viceroy, is interred in
Westminster Abbey. The latter's funeral sermon, by
Dean Stanley, ended with the memorable words :
•' Farewell, great pro-consul of our English Christian
Empire ! "

At Manilla Hall, long since demolished, which
stood near Christ Church, Clifton, formerly lived a
great soldier, born and educated here, who rendered
signal service to his country b}- the capture of Manilla,
the capital of the Philippines — Sir William Draper, one
of Clive's fighting colonels. He was an officer in the
East India Company's service, and whilst in ill-health
visited the Philippines, and with the keen eye of a
military man saw the importance of tlieir acquisition
and their utter defencelessness against a possible enemy.
Filled with the value of such a prize to England, he
forthwith journeyed here and stated his views to the
authorities. The time was propitious, for England was
at that period on the \'erge of war w ith Sj^ain ; conse-
quently his proposals were acceded to, and secret orders
were given him to capture Manilla. After organising
a suf^cient force for his ))urpose, and getting ihcm to
the scene of action — a work of many months he at
length appeared before Manilla. At the time a fierce
monsoon was blowing, and the Spaniards congratu-

308 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

luted themselves that the God of battles was fighting
in fheir favour by threatening to overwhelm Draper's
fleet. He, however, succeeded in landing his forces, and
.after much fierce fighting forced the Spaniards to sur-
render, the Union Jack was run up, and Spain had
lost one of her choicest colonial possessions. In con-
sideration that Draper would prevent his men looting
the city, the Archbishop of Manilla arranged to pay
four million dollars. Through the weakness of the
home Government, however, the victory proved to be
a barren one, and on his return his reward was little
beyond receiving the thanks of Parliament for his
services ; for at the Peace of Paris the four million
dollars were not exacted) and, moreover, the islands
were once more handed back to Spain, an impotent
ending to so glorious a victory. It was no doubt in
recognition of his gallantry that Bristol conferred on
him three years later (1766) the freedom of the city.

In honour of this great event of his life, Draper,
when residing at Manilla Hall, \\hich he is thought to
have built, raised a cenotaph in its grounds to those
who took part in that achievement, at the same time
raising an obelisk to his friend Pitt, Earl of Chatham.
These remained there till the year 1880, when the
property underwent several changes, and the memorials
were in danger of being destroyed. Fortunately, however.
Dr. John Beddoe, F.R.S., was enabled to arrest their
destruction, and was, too, the means of their being
re-erected near their original site, viz. on the Clifton
Down, opposite Christ Church.

Although Sir William Draper came under the lash
of that master of invective, Junius, he must have bjen
as admirable a man as lie was a distinguished soldier,

SIR WILLIAM DRAPER.

L. W. G. YEA. 309

or Pitt would never, in his speech on American taxation
in January, 1766, have described him as " a gentleman
whose noble and generous spirit would do credit to the
proudest grandee of the country." He died at Bath
in 1787.

A splendid type of the British soldier was that dis-
tinguished officer L. W. G. Yea. He was born in Park
Row in 1808, was the eldest son of Sir Walter Yea,
and received his education at Eton. He early showed
the metal he was made of by pitting himself, when
threatened, against a big boy of sixteen and winning b}-
sheer pluck. In 1825 he was commissioned an ensign
in the 37th Foot. Step by step he rose to the position
of lieutenant -colonel, and in the year 1854 was in
command of the Royal Fusiliers at the Crimea. At the
Battle of Alma his regiment showed conspicuous daring,
holding their own against more than double their
number w^hen the rest of the brigade had fallen back,
this result being due to the splendid leadership of Yea.
At Inkerman, too, he was mentioned in the despatches,
and was made brevet-colonel. During that terrible
Crimean campaign his care of his men was all that
could be desired. They were the first to have hospital
huts, and when other regiments were in need of every
comfort and almost of every necessity, he had foreseen
and provided for the wants of his own. At the risk,
too, of his life he never missed a turn of duty in the
trenches.

Later he had command of a brigade of the light
division, and in the assault of the Redan on the i8th
of June, 1855, he led the column directed against the
left face. In leading a storming party, they had a
quarter of a mile of open ground to cross under such

310 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

a shower of grape as the oldest soldiers had never
witnessed. Yea succeeded in getting across with the
wreck of his party, but paid the price with his Hfe.
Lord Raglan in his despatch said : " Colonel Yea was
not only distinguished for his gallantry, but he exercised
his control over the Royal Fusiliers in such a manner
as to win the affection of the soldiers." It is said Yea
bore a strong resemblance to the great Napoleon, and
once went to a ball at Bath in that character.

Another distinguished officer who took part in the
Crimea was Sir Charles P. B. Walker, who was born
at Redland, and was the eldest son of Charles Ludlow
Walker, J. P. and D.L. Entering the army as ensign
in the 33rd Foot in 1836, he became lieutenant in June,
1839, and captain in December, 1846. After seeing
service in various parts of the empire, he exchanged, in
1849, into the 7th Dragoon Guards. He was present at
the battles of Alma, Balaclava, and Inkerman, and was
mentioned in despatches. He also took part in the naval
attack on Sebastopol, when he acted as aide-de-camp to
Lord George Paulet on board the Bellerophon. He was
given the medal for naval services, as well as the Crimean
medal with four clasps. Ultimately he was appointed
assistant - quartermaster - general in Ireland, and on
December 7th, 1858, was made lieutenant-colonel of the
2nd Dragoon Guards. With that regiment he took part
in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, and was again
mentioned in the despatches. After this he saw service
in China, was present in several actions, and was once
more mentioned in the despatches ; he received the
medal with two clasps, and was made a C.B. After
his retirement on half pay he filled among other offices
that of military attache to the Embassy at Berlin, which

I^HILIP GOLDNEY. 3li

he held for twelve years. He was also present at the
scene of action in the Austro- Prussian War of 1866 and
the Franco-German Wixr of 1870-1. Finally he was
promoted major-general and lieutenant-general succes-
sively, his last appointment being that of Inspector-
General of Military Education.

A gallant soldier connected with our city was Philip
Goldney, son of Thomas Goldney, of Goldney House,
Clifton. He was born in Bristol in 1802, and entering
the army, went as a cadet to India in the service of the
East India Company. He soon received a commission,
and was promoted successively to lieutenant and brevet-
captain. For some years he was engaged in subduing the
predatory tribes, and in learning the native languages and
Persian. He translated various parts of the Bible into
the vernaculars. In 1844, as captain of the 4th Native
Infantry, he was sent to Scinde, then just annexed. His
regiment having mutinied, Goldney pluckily attacked
one of the ringleaders and successfully reduced his men
to obedienc-^ Later he took part in the expedition to
the Truckee Hills. His mastery of Persian resulted
in his being ordered to accompany the Ameer Ali
Morad, whose fidelity was doubted by Napier. The
expedition was entirely successful, and on returning to
Scinde, the wild district of Baluchistan was placed under
his control. His influence over the ferocious inhabitants
of the district was indeed remarkable ; he organised a
body of police, and employed the population by cutting
canals, thereby greatly adding to the area under cultiva-
tion. Promotion followed promotion, till at length he
was appointed to a brigade, and iriade one of five
commissioners trj gox'crn the (ountry i>l Oudh (Hi its
annexation, being placed in ciiarge of I'ai/abaii.

312 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

When the Mutiny broke out he was one of the first
to apprehend its gravity and far-reaching significance.
Faihng in his apphcation to Sir Henry Lawrence for a
small number of European troops, he removed to another
part of his division, which was (to use his own words)
"a most important and most dangerous position." In
spite, however, of all his exertions in fortifying and
provisioning the place, the troops under him at length
mutinied ; yet he was so much like4, that one of their
leaders sent a strong force to protect him and conduct
him to a place of safety. Owing to the condition that
no one else was to accompany him, he refused the offer,
and in trying to promote the escape of his companions
he perished.

To Clifton came for her husband's health, at the
beginning of July, 1804, the beautiful and fascinating
Lady Sarah Lennox, the mother of the illustrious
Napiers, who was at one time the object of George Ill's
affections. Dazzhng as the position as his consort
would, have been, there is little doubt that she followed
the wiser destiny by marrying the man of her heart,
Colonel George Napier, a distinguished soldier, whose
faultless figure and magnificent proportions — he stood
6 ft. 2 in. in height — combined with a reputation for
being one of the handsomest men in the British army
brought about her heart's surrender. Here they stayed
for some months, at 14 Prince's Buildings, in the vain
hope that the air of Clifton would arrest the consumption
which had fastened on Colonel Napier., Prior to this
they had visited Clifton in 1792, coming over to Bristol
from Dublin by ship. The enormous difference between
now and then in regard to travelling is illustrated by
the statement that "they arrived after eight days' sail."

COLONEL NAPIER AND SIR A, ROBERTS. 313

The later visit failed to arrest the fell disease, and on
October 13th, 1804, Colonel Napier breathed his last at
Clifton, and was buried in the "God's acre" of Redland
Green Chapel, in the portico of which is a marble
memorial tablet recording his services to his country.
Adored by her dauntless sons, Lady Sarah survived
him till 1826, when she died in London at the age
of eighty-eight. Sir Joshua Reynolds has given to later
generations the portrait of this beautiful and remarkable
woman.

Closely associated, with Bristol is one of England's
greatest generals, for in Clifton, at 25 Royal York
Crescent, lived for many years Sir Abraham Roberts,
father of Field- Marshal Lord Roberts, the hero of Kanda-
har. Sir Abraham Roberts, like his famous son, won
his spurs in India. He was born in 1784, and in 1804
joined the East India Company's service, where he
served with distinction under Lord Lake and others. In
appreciation of his services, in 1828 the then Governor-
General, Lord Amherst, presented him with a piece
of plate. Serving with marked ability, he rose step
by step to the position of brigadier-general in the first
Afghan war. He foresaw the disasters of 1841-2, and
had his advice been followed they might have been
averted. He was in command from 1852 to 1854 in
the Peshawar division, where his able abilities obtained
recognition from the Indian Government. In the service
of his country he spent over fifty )cars, and was the
recipient of many orders and decorations, among others
the K.C.B. and the G.C.B. being confeired ujjon him:
He died at the above residence in 1873, and a tablet
unveiled by his famous son marks the house.

A great soldier connected with I'listol was Sir

;jl4 MILJTARV ASSOCIATIONS.

Samford Whittingham, born here in 1772, and educated
with a \ icw to following the law. His inclination
towards a military career proved too strong, however,
and after his father's death in ;8oi he entered the
army, and became an ensign in Januar}-, 1803 ; a month
later he purchased a lieutenancy and was appointed to
the 1st Life Guards. Earlier in life he had spent a short
time in Spain, and had acquired a knowledge of the
language. This accomj^jlishment brought about his intro-
duction to Pitt, who realised the value of it and at once
sent him off on a secret commission to the Peninsula.
During his absence from England he was promoted captain
of the 2oth Foot. So satisfactoril}- did he discharge his com-
mission that on returning to England he was complimented
by Pitt, and was transferred to the command of the 13th
Light Dragoons. In 1806 he sailed from Portsmouth on
foreign service as deputy-quartermaster-general of the
forces under Brigadier-General Robert Craufurd, and
subsequently became aide-de-camp to General White-
locke, and took part in the disastrous attack on Buenos
Ayres. At the court martial of Whitelocke he was called
as witness as having been on the general's staff, and in
a position of much delicacy he conducted himself with
discretion.

Shortly after he joined, by permission of the home
authorities, a force of Spaniards under Castanos against
the French. He took part with distinction in the
victory of Baylen, and for his services was made a
colonel in the Spanish army. Recovering from an attack
of fever, he joined in iSog the Arm}- Corps of the
Duke of Albuquerque in La Mancha, under whom he
rendered such conspicuous service that he was made
brigadier-general. So eminent, indeed, were his services,

SIR SAMFORD WHITTINGHA^r. 315

that iu August of that 3'ear lie was raised to the rank
of major-general, and subsequently was given the entire
command of the Spanish cavalry, which he reorganised
on British lines. In 181 1, at the Battle of Barrosa, he
kept in check the French corps of cavalry and infantry
which attempted to turn the Barrosa heights on the
seaward side. Two years later he was again promoted
as inspector-general of both cavalry and infantry troops of
his division. Whittingham was one of those forming the
escort of King Ferdinand \'II. in his progress to Madrid
in 1814, and was the recipient of a snuff-box from him.

Wellingcon thought so highly of his services that
he wrote from Madrid to the Duke of York : " He has
served most zealously and gallanth' from the commence-
ment of the war in the Peninsula, and I have ev^ery
reason to be satisfied with his conduct in every situation
in which he has been placed." In consequence of this
eulogy, on Whittingham's return to England he was
appointed aide-de-camp to the Prince Regent. Later,
in May, 1815, he was made Companion of the Order
of the Bath and was knighted. Returning once more
to Spain, King Ferdinand bestowed upon him the Grand
Cross of the Order of San Ferdinand©, and in 1819
he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Dominica.
Subsequently he saw much service in India, and was
made Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath,
and received the thanks of Parliament for his distin-
guished services. Finally, after filling several posts of
distinction with credit, he was given, in i8jg, the
command of the Madras Army, but had hardly arrived
there to take up his duties when he died suddenly in
January, 1841. He was buried with military honours
at Fort George.

316 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

At Clifton lived in the early years of the last century
a most distinguished military officer, Sir John Stuart,
Count of Maida. So remarkable and brilliant were his
services in the wars with the French that the thanks
of both Houses of Parliament were awarded him, com-
bined with a pension of ;^i,ooo a year for life. He
died in 1815, and lies interred in Bristol Cathedral.

On July 27th, 1816, the Duke of Wellington paid a
state visit to Bristol to receive the freedom of the city,
and was entertained sumptuously at the Merchant's Hall.
While passing through College Green a soldier pressed
through the crowd, and at the door of the carriage begged
permission to shake hands with Wellington, a privilege he
claimed from having been his companion in arms. " A
hard day you and me had of it, your honour, this day seven
years ? " " Where was that, my lad ? " "At Talavera,
your honour." "Ah! I had quite forgotten it was the
27th of July," said his Grace. "And to what regiment
did you belong?" asked the Duke. "To the 3rd,"
replied the soldier. " And why are you absent from
it ?" "See what has happened to my arm, your honour."
He had lost it at the battle. The Duke thereupon put his
hand into his pocket and presented his humble comrade
with a pound note.

In Bristol was born a distinguished servant of the
Commonwealth, Richard Elton. He attained to the
rank of governor- general in the Commonwealth army,
and was an authorit}' on military matters, writing a
work entitled A Compleat Body of the Art of Military,

In this same centur}-, in 1621, was born in Bristol the
famous father of a still more famous son, the founder
of Pennsyh-ania (see p. 381). This was none other than
Admiral Sir William Penn, son of Giles Penn, a merchant

SIR WILLIAM PENN. 317

and sea captain of Bristol trading to the Mediterranean.
Penn early followed the profession of his father, and after
a short period in the king's service he engaged with the
Commonwealth, and was placed in command of a ship
of twentv-eight guns. In 1651 in the Centurion he was
sent on a cruising search to intercept and destroy Prince
Rupert and his followers between the Azores and Cadiz.
Reports having come to hand that Rupert's ships were
lost and his fleet entirely broken up, he sailed once
more for England, landing at Falmouth, and putting
his foot on shore for the first time for twelve months.

At the outbreak of our war with the Dutch, he was
appointed vice-admiral under the great Blake in May,
1652, and in 1653 he held the same post, being at
the battle off Portland on February i8th of that year,
and in command of the Blue Squadron he was enabled
to render splendid assistance to Blake, and, indeed,
turned the tide of victor}-. All through our engagements
with the Dutch he conducted himself with intelligence
and courage, and contributed no mean share to the
victories of June and July, 1653. He was rewarded
for his services by the gift of a gold chain of the value
of ;{^ioo, together with the large medal, whilst on
December 2nd of that year he was appointed one of
the generals of the fleet to act with Blake. Later at
the Restoration he got into the good graces of Charles
II., and was knighted. Retiring a few years after, he
died in 1670, and was buried in the church of St. Mary
Redcliff, where portions of his armour and the tattered
remains of his flags can still be seen.

A gallant seaman connected with our cil}- in more
recent times was George Tobin, brother of tiic (h-amatist,
who entered the navy in 17S0. At one jxiiod of his

15 A

318 MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS.

career he just missed being appointed third lieutenant
of the Agamemnon, under Captain Nelson (afterwards the
immortal hero of Trafalgar), owing to his being away
from England at the time. Nelson through his wife
was connected with the Tobins. Writing four years
later, Nelson said : " The time is past for doing anything
for him. Had he been with me, he would long since
have been a captain, and I should have liked it, as being
most exceedingly pleased with him." Subsequently
Tobin was made captain of the Princess Charlotte, frigate,
and in her off Tobago captured, after a gallant fight,
the corvette Cyane. The final stage of his professional
career terminated in his being appointed rear-admiral.

In closing this chapter, it is not without interest to know
that the joint inventor of the famous Lee-Metford rifle,
William Ellis Metford, resided at Elm Lane, Redland, for
over twenty years. Born at Taunton, he adopted the pro-
fession of engineer, and took part in the construction of the
old Bristol and Exeter line under the supervision of the
world-famous Isambard Kingdom Brunei. In 1857-8 he
obtained an important appointment in India on the
East India Railway. Arriving at Monghyr, he found
that the Mutiny had just broken out, and at once set
to work and rendered splendid service in organising
the defence of the town. His health through his
strenuous exertions collapsed, and he returned to England.
From early youth he had been interested in rifle shoot-
ing, for his father had established a rifle range near his
home at Taunton. Metford's studies of rifle mechanism
extended over manj' years. An explosive bullet invented
by him was adopted by the Government in 1863 ; he was
the inventor of the shallow grooving and its increasing
spiral twist, and the hardened cylindrical bullet. He pro-

WILLIAM ELLIS METFORD. 319

duced his first match rifle in 1865, and his first breech-
loading rifle in 187 1 ; this became the principal weapon
for long-range shooting at Wimbledon, and was the rifle
with which for many years most of the long-range prizes
were won. From 1877 onwards the record of the Metford
rifle was a series of unbroken triumph. Conjointly with
the American inventor, J. P. Lee, Metford subsequently
produced the famous small arm, the Lee-Metford rifle,
which for many years has been universally used in the
British army. Metford died at Redland in 1899.

Political Associations.

CHAPTER VIII.

Eduiund Burhc : letter to his sister; friendships in Bristol;
quotations from sonic of his speeches — Sir John Cam
Hobhonse (Lord Broughton) — Henry Hohhoiise — Sir
Stephen Cave — F. H. F. Berkeley — Samuel Morley —
Benjamin Disraeli s Connection with Bristol — Sir John
Bowring — Sir Theophilus Shepstonc — Sir Samuel
Morton Peto — Handel Cossham — Sir Samuel Romilly —
Jean Paul Marat.

MONG those political!}' associated with our city

the great and noble personality of Edmund

Burke is easily first. From 1774 to 1780 he

represented Bristol in Parliament,* and it is a blot on

our civic annals that we failed to be worthy of the

honour of that imperishable association. His election

for our city was obtained after an extremely hard-fought

fight, as the following letter to his sister, Mrs. French,

indicates : —

" Bristol,

November 2nd, 1774.^

My dear Sister, — ... I know it will give you both
pleasure to hear that, after having been elected for
Malton in Yorkshire, several respectable people of this
City invited me to stand a Candidate here, and that
-I am elected by a Majority of 251, after one of the
longest and warmest contests that has been remembered.

• For a detailed account of Burke's election for Bristol, see Mr.
G. E. Weare's work.

t The original letter is in the Bristol Art Gallery.
.323

524 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

The party that has lost the Election threatens a Petition *
but I am satisfied they have no solid ground to proceed
upon. The election has lasted a month. . . . This
event has given us all great satisfaction, and will give,
I trust, a great deal to you. This is the second City in
the Kingdom ; and to be invited and chosen for it without
any request of mine, at no expense to myself, but with
much charge and trouble to many public - spirited
Gentlemen, is an honour to which we ought not to be
insensible. . . ."

During the election Burke was the guest of Joseph
Smith, at ig Queen Square (on the site of the present
Docks Office), a leading merchant, and with Harford
and Champion one of Burke's warmest friends and
supporters. It was, it will be remembered, to Mrs.
Smith that Burke presented the magnificent service of
Bristol china executed by Champion, in recognition of
their hospitality. Among those who entertained him
during his stay were Thomas Farr, of Blaise Castle^
Henbur}', and Richard Champion, who also had a
residence at which Burke occasionally slept in that village.
The dining-room window, which commanded a charming
view, was Burke's favourite seat, and in honour of his
distinguished visitor Champion named it Burke's Window.
At John Noble's house. Queen Square, he also spent some
of his evenings, and to Hannah More's in Park Street
he was a frequent visitor ; she was previously acquainted
with him through the Reynolds's. In consequence of
his many speeches Burke lost his voice through hoarse-
ness, which induced Hannah More to send him a wreath
of flowers, with the following couplet : —

"Great Edmund's hoarse, they say, the reason's clear,
Could Attic lungs respire Bceotian air ? "

EDMUND BURKE.

EDMUND BURKE. 325

She rendered Burke valued assistance with her pen
during the election by repelling attacks made upon
him. \\'hen his election was secured, the sisters More
sent him a cockade adorned with m}-rtle, bay, and laurel,
enriched with silver tassels, which he wore on being
" chaired." At the close of the election Burke was
entertained at the famous Bush Inn by his supporters,
and on November 12th, 1774, the freedom of the city
was conferred upon him.

The late Lord Acton said of Burke's Bristol election
speeches that they were " an epoch in constitutional
history. Burke there laid down for ever the law of
the relations between members and constituencies."
Speaking of Burke's intellectual greatness, the same
authority states that "systems of scientific thought
have been built up by famous scholars on the fragments
that fell from his table," whilst a great American
statesman has said, in reference to the Bristol election,
that " Burke legislated from those hustings." The
high-souled principles that animated the whole of his
political life were never more clearly indicated than in
his connection with our city. Writing to one of his
prominent Bristol supporters, in the course of a letter
defending his action in Parliament, he nobly said :
" I do not desire to sit in Parliament for any other
end than that of promoting the common happiness of
all those who are in any degree subjected to our
legislative authority' ; and all together in one common tie
of civil interest and constitutional freedom, every
denomination of men amongst us. . . ."

In reviewing the circumstances that led to the
severance of Burke's conm.ftion with Ihistol, we are
forced to the conclusion that they are as honourable to

326 POLITICAL .ASSOCIATIONS.

him as they are dishonourable to Bristoh His was no
time-serving spirit, as may be gathered from the following
extract : " I did not obey your instructions. No, I con-
formed to the instructions of truth and nature, and
maintained your interests against your opinions with a
constancy that became me. A representative worthy of
you ought to be a person of stability. ... I know
tiiat }-ou chose me, along with others, to be a pillar of the
State, and not a weathercock on the top of the edifice,
exalted for my levity and versatility, and of no use
but to indicate the shiftings of every fashionable gale."
With few exceptions, his constituents in Bristol took
sordid, narrow and ignoble viev>s of the duties of their
parliamentary representative, so that it is not to be
wondered at that Burke, legislating not for a day but
for all time, was soon at variance with them.

Replying to one of the many trivial charges made
against him, that of his infrequent visits to his con-
stituency, he nobly wrote : " I live at an hundred miles
distance from Bristol. ... A visit to Bristol is always
a sort of canvass, else it would do more harm than
good. . . . My canvass to you was not on the change,
nor in the county meetings, nor in the clubs of this
city. It was in the House of Commons ; it was at the
Custom House ; it was at the council ; it was at the
Treasury ; it was at the Admiralty. I canvassed you
through your affairs, and not your persons."

Perhaps more than anything else his championship
of the American colonies, in which he was at one with
the great Chatham himself, caused the rupture with
Bristol, then sunk in the depths of commercialism.
Well might he have been justified in using the bitter
words attributed to him b}- one of his biographers on

SIR JOHN CAM HOBHOUSE.

his rejection : " Do not talk to nie of a ^^erchant — a
Merchant is the same in every part of the world — his
gold his God, his invoice his country, his ledger his
bible, his desk his altar, the Exchange his church, and
he has faith in none but his banker." It was in his
memorable farewell speech delivered at the old Guild-
hall that he uttered the imperishable phrase, " \Miat
shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue."

A famous family long connected with our city is that
of Hobhouse, one of the most distinguished of v\hom
was Sir John Cam Hobhouse (Lord Broughton), author
of the Historical Notes to Byron's Fourth Canto of Childe
Harold, who was born at Redland in 1786. As a boy
he attended Ur. Estlin's famous school at tlie top of
St. Michael's Hill. He was afterwards educated at West-
minster and Trinity College, Cambridge, when he became
the close and intimate friend of Lord Byron, with whom
he travelled a great deal on the Continent. In 1815
he acted as best man at Byron's wedding, whilst in
September, 1822, he met him for the last time at Pisa.
Byron on parting touchingly said, " Hobhouse, you
should never have come, or you should never go." On
Byron's death he acted as one of his executors and pro\'(i'd
his will, and it was on his advice that Byron's memoirs,
which had been given to Tom Moore, were destroyed.
Entering the House of Commons in 1820, Hobhouse threw
himself into his parliamentary duties with great energy.
Becoming Secretary for War in i8j2, he instituted valuable
reforms, after which he became Secretary f<jr Ireland. In
1835 he unsuccessfully contested Bristol, but afterwards
sat for Nottingham and Harwich. He v.as President of
the Board of Control from 1835 to 1841, and again from
18.16 to 1851. He was present at (hicen Victoria's first

328 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Council, and has left an interesting account of his first inter-
view with Her Majesty. He was a good classical scholar,
and is the author of many works. He died in June, 1869.

Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, the father of Sir J. C.
Hobhouse, was born in Bristol in 1757, the son of a
merchant, and educated at the Grammar School. After
studying at Oxford, he was called to the Bar in 1781.
He unsuccessfully contested his native city in 1796, but
was in 1797 returned for Bletchingley, Surrey. He
subsequently sat for the boroughs of Grampound and
Hirdon. In 1801 he took office under Addington as
Secretary to the Board of Control, and in 1805 he became
Chairman of the Committee of \\^ays and Means in the
House of Commons. In addition to his political offices,
he filled the presidential chair of the Bath and West and
Southern Counties' Society from 1805 to 1817, a bust of
him by Chantrey being executed for tne Society. He
was created a baronet in 1812, and died in 1831.

A distinguished member of this family was the Rt.
Hon. Henry Hobhouse, a cousin of Sir J. C. Hobhouse,
born at Clifton in 1776, who, after being successively at
Eton and Oxford, was called to the Bar in 1801, and was
appointed solicitor to H.M. Customs in 1806 and solicitor
to the Treasury in 1812. In 1819 the responsible office
of Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Home
Department was given him. Having been created P.C.
and D.C.L., he retired, in 1827, on a pension of ;^iooo a
year, but retained the office of Keeper of the State
Papers, which had also been bestowed upon him, till his
death. In connection with them, he did much valuable
work by putting their arrangement on a permanent basis.
He became Chairman of Somerset Quarter Sessions, and
died at Hadspen House, Somerset, in 1854.

HON. F. H. F. BERKELEY

SIR S. CAVE AND F. H. F. BERKELEY. 329

An eminent member of a well-known Bristol
family was Sir Stephen Cave, born in 1820 at Clifton,
the son of Daniel Cave, and educated at Harrow and
Oxford. In 1846 he was called to the Bar, and com-
menced his career by going on the Western Circuit.
Entering Parliament as a Conservative for Shoreham,
he retained his seat till his death. Among offices he
filled during his political career were those of Paymaster-
General, Vice - President of the Board of Trade, and
member of the Privy Council. In 1875 he was sent
on a special mission to Egypt by Beaconsfield to report
on the financial condition of that country. For his
services, on his return he was made a G.C.B. Sir
Stephen Cave was also a fellow of many learned societies,
and was director of both the Bank of England and
the London Dock Company. He died in 1880.

Among those who have represented Bristol in Parlia-
ment with some distinction the names of the Hon. F. H. F.
Berkeley and Samuel Morley cannot be ignored. The former
was the son of the fifth Earl of Berkeley, and represented
Bristol for thirty-two years, being first elected in 1837.
On entering the House he became a great champion
of voting by Ballot, for which he strenuously fought
during a period of twenty years, though only once in
those long years did he secure a majority, viz. in 18O2,
when the Ayes were eighty-three and the Noes were
fifty. Notwithstanding, however, his lack of success, he
took his failures with great cheerfulness, and his speeches
were always enjoyed by the House, being full of wit and
humour. He went to his grave in the firm belief that
the Ballot was bound to come, and come it did, onl\-
two years after his death, in 1872.

Samuel Morley, the multi-millionaire, reprtsciitcd

330 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Bristol for many years in conjunction with Mr. Lewis
Fry, from 1868 till 1885, when he retired. Being from
youth deeply religious, he was enabled by his great
wealth to take a ^■ery hel[)ful part in the religions,
social, and philanthropic work of his time. He was a
staunch follower of W. E. Gladstone, and was the means
of reducing the price of the Daily News to a penny. A
baronetcy was offered him, which he refused. It has
been said that he gave away during his lifetime as much
as £20,000 to £30,000 per annum to assist objects in
which he was interested. At his death in 1886 nearly
a hvmdred associations were represented at his funeral.
A statue of him near Bristol Bridge, executed by
the well-known sculptor, Mr. J. Havard Thomas, a
Hristolian, commemorates his connection with our
city.

An extremely interesting association with the great
Disraeli lies in the fact that the Viscountess of Beacons-
held's first marriage took place at Clifton. It appears
that whilst living there with her mother (who was the
sister of Sir James Viney, and had married an army
surgeon), Miss Evans, NNhen about nineteen, met at a ball
Mr. Wvndham Lewis, of Green Meadow, near Cardiff,
a man of wealth and position, and shortly afterwards
married him. The Bristol Mirror of December 30th, 1815,
records this her first marriage in the following terms :
" Friday, at Clifton, Wyndham Lewis, Esq., of Green
Meadow, near Cardiff, to Mar}' Anne, only daughter
of the late John Evans, Esq., of Bramford Speke,
Devon." On consulting the marriage register at Clifton
Church it was found that the actual date of the marriage
was December 22nd. How, after the death of her first
husband in 1838 she married Disraeli, and was in every

DISRAELI AND SIR JOHX BOWRING. 331

sense the best of \\i\-es, consoling him in defeat and
cheering him on to victory, is well known to all who have
studied the life of one who broke his birth's invidious
bar, and from a la\\yer's office attained the supreme
goal of his ambition — the Premiership. It was an
imspeakable delight to him that its possession enabled
him to confer upon her a patent of nobility. When
she died, he said that his heart was buried in her tomb
at Hughenden. The preface to one of his earliest
novels is one of many proofs of his appreciation of her
devotion : "I \\ould inscribe this work to one whose
noble spirit and gentle nature ever prompt her to
sympathise with the suffering ; to one whose sweet voice
has often encouraged, and whose taste and judgment
ha\e ever guided, its pages : the most severe of critics,
but— a perfect Wife!"

Linked in association with Bristol are two famous
men who achieved distinction in watching the interests
of England in the far-off outposts of empire — Sir John
Bowring and Sir Theophilus Shepstone. The former, who
has already received a short notice in an earlier portion of
this book (p. 170), was born at Exeter, and was one of the
most versatile men of the last century. He was educated at
Lant Carpenter's school. Great George Street, and doubly
linjced himself to our city when in i860 he married
the daughter of Thomas Castle, of Clifton. Commercial
pursuits occupied the first few years of his life, during
which he laid the foundati(jn of his skill in accjuiring
languages of which he later became so great a master.
Subsequently he travelled a great deal and devotetl
himself to literature, becoming joint editor of the
Westminster Revicie. In 1830, after repeated imitations,
he visited Sir Walter .Scott at Abbotsforcl, and he said.

332 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

" Nothing could exceed the kindness with which he
welcomed me. I found him writing the Waverley
Novels." Bowring describes Scott's house as " a sort
of baronial abode, the servants being numerous, the
house splendid, and the rooms decorated with rich
works of art and remains of antiquity, contributions
from every part of the world." He says, " The variety
of his conversation is stupendous, his dress that of a
substantial farmer." Among literary works which Bowring
published was his Specimens of Russian Poets, in recognition
of which the Czar, Alexander I., presented him with a
diamond ring. Becoming overwhelmed with financial
disaster, he sought and obtained a Government appoint-
ment. His first task was to examine and report on the
public accounts of France. So satisfactorily was this
duty performed that he was commissioned to inspect the
accounts of the United Kingdom. His report brought
about a complete change in the English Exchequer.

Bowring was one of the earliest to be associated with
Cobden in the repeal of the Corn Laws. In 1841 he
was elected M.P. for Bolton. To him, in conjunction
with the late Prince Consort, w-e owe the first, and
unfortunately the only step, towards a decimal coinage —
the issue of the florin. So valuable were his political
exertions, that the electors of Blackburn, Kirkcaldy, and
Kilmarnock respectively presented him with services of
plate. Ultimately he was sent on diplomatic service to
China, filling the post successively of Plenipotentiary to
China and the united offices of Governor, Commander-
in-Chief, and Vice - Admiral of Hong - Kong and its
dependencies. As a diplomatist, he scored a great
success in concluding a treaty of commerce with Siam,
although there had already been many unsuccessful

SIR J. BOWRING AND SIR T. SHEPSTONE. 333

attempts both by America and England to do so.
His attitude in 1856 involved him in hostilities with
the Chinese Government, and votes of censure on his
conduct were moved in both Houses of Parliament.
Lord Palmerston, however, warmly defended him, and
though in consequence there was an appeal to the
countr}', the Government w^as again triumphantly re-
turned, whilst the chief movers against Sir John Bowring
lost their seats. So bitter was the feeling of the Chinese
mandarins towards England during the hostilities of 1857,
that they put a price on his head and nearly poisoned
him and his family with arsenicated bread. After a
tenure of office attended with great personal danger and
difficulties, he resigned in 1859.

Speaking of his old master, Bowring said : " I owe
Dr. Carpenter a boundless debt. . . . How lovingly,
how untiredly he laboured for the improvement of his
pupils." He died at his birthplace in 1872.

Sir Theophilus Shepstone, the eminent South African
statesman, was born at Westbury-on-Trym in 1817, his
father being the Rev. William Shepstone. Three years
after his birth the whole family emigrated to the Cape,
where Theophilus was educated. He early acquired great
command of the native dialects, and became interpreter
of the Kaffir languages at Capetown, serving too on the
expedition against the Kaffirs on the Governor's stafi'.
In 1839 he was appointed British resident among the
'Tslambi, Congo, and Fingo tribes. By successive steps
he rose to be Secretary ff)r Nati\'e Affairs, and a
member of the lixecutive and Legislative Councils.
In this position he proved himself a strong man, and
deprecated the haste of those who desired to do away
with native custonis. His policy on tlie whole was a

334 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

successful one. In 1872 he was sent into Zululand to
arrange for the peaceful succession of Cetewayo, and
on behalf of the Enghsh Government crowned him as
king, and obtained his fealty to Great Britain. At the
conference on South African affairs held in London in
1876, he represented Natal. It was he who in 1877, on
April 1 8th, rode with a small staff into the Transvaal
and annexed it to the British Crown, and was appointed
its Administrator. Though he had retired from public
service, he was induced in 1884 to replace Cetewayo
in the administration of Zululand. Shepstone's power
over the native populations was simply remarkable, and
he used it with great wisdom. They called him their
"Father," or from his prowess in hunting, " Somsteu."
He was for years a close friend of Bishop Colenso.
His death occurred in 1893.

The great railway contractor, Sir Samuel Morton Peto,
represented Bristol from 1865 to 1868. During his
parliamentary career he did some extremely useful work.
Among other things he was the means of getting the
Act of 1850 bearing his name passed, which simplified
the titles by which religious bodies could hold propert}'.
He was a man, too, of great public spirit, generously
guaranteeing £50,000 to start the great exhibition of
185 1. During the Crimean War he suggested to Lord
Palmerston the construction of a railwa}^ between Bala-
clava and the entrenchments, a distance of thirty-nine
miles. This his firm carried out at the bare cost of the
scheme to the Government, and it proved of great service.
In recognition, a baronetcy was conferred on him. In 1866,
owing to financial panic, his firm suspended payment,
though its assets exceeded its liabilities by a million
pounds. This event brought about his resignation as

IIAXDEL COSSHAM AND SIR S. ROMILLY. 335

Bristol's representative. Both Disraeli and Gladstone
paid tributes to his character, the latter referring to him
as " a man who has attained a high position in this
countr\' by the exercise of rare talents, and who has
adorned that position by his great virtues."

A word, too, must be said respecting the exceedingly
popular representative of East Bristol, the late Handel
Cossham, a Radical of Radicals. He was a man of the
people, being the son of a Thornbur}- carpenter, and
was educated in an atmosphere of Liberalism and
Nonconformity. His name of Handel was given him
b}- reason of his father's intense appreciation of the
author of the Messiah. Entering Yate Colliery in 1845
as clerk, Handel worked his way up till at length he
became the greatest colliery proprietor in the neigh-
bourhood of Bristol. In 1882 he was chosen Mayor
of Bath, the '' Oueen City of the West," an office he
filled twice. After being defeated elsewhere as a
parliamentar\- candidate, he put up for Bristol East in
1885, and was triumpharutly returned wath a majority
of 2,264. One of his maxims conceived early in life
was, as he said, to do "all the good I can, to all the
people I can, in every place I can, throughout life." It
has been said that he was the original of the well-known
novel, John Halifax, Gentleman. He died suddenly in the
House of Commons on April 23rd, 1890, and was buried
at Avondale Cemetery on the 28th in the presence of a
vast concourse of people who assembled to pay him
respect. The procession of mourners took nearly an
hour to pass a given point.

In closing this chapter alhisiou nuist be mailc to
two other remarkable men who ;ire slightly' linked with
Bristol. These, the exact opposite of each other, were

836 POLITICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

Sir Samuel Romilly and Jean Paul Marat, one of the
infamous human tigers of the French Revolution.
Romilly, in 1812, unsuccessfully contested Bristol, his
defeat being largely due to the unblushing corruption
and the slave-holding interests of his rivals. His was a
personality which, as we have been eloquently told by the
Right Hon. Augustine Birrell, " stands out in the frieze
of our parliamentary history like the figure of Apollo
among the herd of satyrs and goats."

In regard to Marat, in December, 1787, the local
society for the relief of poor insolvent debtors secured
the release from Newgate of a Frenchman calling himself
F. C. M. G. Maratt Amiatt, who had practised in several
English towns as a teacher and quack doctor, and had
finally been imprisoned in Bristol for debt. After he had
disappeared it was ascertained he was no less a person
than Jean Paul Marat, whose bloodthirsty career was
cut short a few years later by the knife of Charlotte
Corday.

Assyriologists & Travellers

CHAPTER IX.

Sir Henry Rawlinson — Claudius James Rich — Henry Sii)in-
burne — Sir Samuel Baker — T. E. Bowdich.

lONNECTED with Bristol was the great Assyrio-
logist, Sir Henry Rawhnson, whose mother's
sister married the eccentric but famous surgeon,
Richard Smith. He went to school under Dr. Pocock,
during which period he lived with his aunt. This is not
the place to dwell upon his cuneiform studies and
discoveries, but their importance may be judged when
it is said that his decipherment of the Persian
cuneiform inscription at Behistun was only paralleled in
importance by Young and Champollion's reading of the
Rosetta Stone.

Sir Henry was very fond of animals, and among
those he tamed was a leopard called Fahad, which
he ultimately brought to England and presented to the
Zoological Gardens at Clifton. When in Bristol subse-
quently on visits he would often go to the gardens for
the especial purpose of seeing his old pet. Entering the
den, he would call out "Fahad! Fahad!" and immedi-
ately the faithful animal would recognise his old master
and come forward in its cage with [irickcd cars and
pleased countenance, and then roll on {\\r lloor ;iii(l
push his head against the bars. Once when lie was
patting and rubbing its head the keeper called out in

;539

340 ASSYRIOLOGISTS AND TRAVELLERS.

great alarm, "Sir, sir, what are you doing? Take your
hand out of the cage, the animal's very savage, and
will bite you ! " " Do you think so ? " said Rawlinson.
"No, I don't think he will bite Die. Will you, Fahad ? "
And the beast answered with a loud purr. In 1850
Rawlinson's mother was residing at Westbury-on-Trym.

Another famous Orientalist connected with our city
was Claudius James Rich, who was educated in Bristol,
and early attracted the attention of Robert Hall, the
famous divine, by his extraordinary linguistic attain-
ments. The distinguished Babylonian authority, Sir
Austen Layard, whose grandfather was dean of the
cathedral, paid a generous tribute to Rich's researches
W'hen he said : " The most accurate and careful descrip-
tion of Babylon is that of Mr. Rich, to whom I shall
have frequent occasion to refer, and whose valuable
Memoirs on the site of the city were my text-book during
my investigations at Babylon." The very first cuneiform
inscriptions to reach Europe came through Rich. His
collections, acquired by the British Museum authorities,
consist of about nine hundred volumes of manuscripts
in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and are highly
valued.

In Mr. Rogers's recent work on Babylon and Assyria
he pays a fine tribute to the value of Rich's work, in
the course of which he says : " The impulse which
Claudius James Rich gave to Babylonian and Assyrian
study has never yet lost its effect. . . . None who had
preceded him had excelled him in inspirational power
. . . and none had equalled him in the collecting of
definite information concerning the ruins of Babylon.
His quickening and informing influence worked wonders
in his immediate successors."

C. J. RICH AND H. SWINBURNE. 3.41

The following anecdote is related of his early youth.
When he was about fifteen years of age he was taking
an evening walk on Kingsdown, Bristol, when he met
a Turk, and being desirous of ascertaining whether his
pronunciation of Arabic was sufficiently correct to be
understood by a native, he addressed him in that
language. The Turk, after expressing surprise at being
so accosted, told him he was a merchant, but having
been shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland, he was then
in distress. It is needless to add that Mr. Rich con-
tributed to his relief. Some years after, whilst on a
voyage to Constantinople, a vessel was observed bearing
towards that in which he was, and it was thought to
be an Algerine corsair. Resistance was therefore deter-
mined upon ; however, on her near approach, she proved
to be a Turkish merchantman. Mr. Rich and some
others having gone on board, one of the Turks, who was
richly dressed, excited Mr. Rich's particular attention
by looking steadfastly at him for some time. At length
he accosted him, saying, "Sir, I know you." "And I,"
replied Rich, " have seen you before." It was none
other than the very Turk he had accosted on Kingsdown,
Bristol.

In Bristol was born in 1743 Henry Swinburne,
the son of Sir John Swinburne. After studying in
France and Italy, he devoted especial attention to
literature and art. On the death of his eldest brother
he became possessed of means and leisure to travel.
Subsequently he went to Spain, and wrote his experi-
ences there. Travels Through Spain, which was illustrated
with accurate and excellent drawings taken on the spot
and published in 1779. It was reprinted in two volumes
in 1787. Swinburne was the first to make known in

16 A

342 ASSYRIOLOGISTS AND TRAVELLERS.

England the arts and monuments of the ancient inhabi-
tants of Spain. Gibbon has honoured the work by
frequently citing it in his famous Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire. Later he and his family travelled in the
two Sicilies for over a year. As Catholics and lovers of
art, they were well received by the literati. The* result
of his travels was embodied in two volumes. During
Swinburne's life he made many distinguished friendships^
among others the King and Queen of Austria and the
beautiful and hapless Marie Antoinette, through whom
he obtained " a grant of all the uncultivated lands in
the Island of St. \^incent," worth ^^30,000. This,
however, he was glad subsequently to sell for a fourth of
that sum. In 1796 he was sent on a political mission
to France, and later, in 1801, he obtained a lucrative
post in the newly-ceded settlement of Trinidad, and was
also appointed commissioner to hand over the Danish
West India Islands to a representative of Denmark.
So well did he acquit himself of the duty that the
British merchants made him a handsome gift, and the
King of Denmark presented his widow with £2,000.
He died at Trinidad of sunstroke in 1803.

Sir Samuel Baker, the intrepid hunter, traveller, and
discoverer of the Albert Nyanza, the source of the Nile,
came of an old Bristol family, who had large possessions
in the West Indies. His grandfather on the paternal
side. Captain Valentine Baker, especially distinguished
himself in 1782, for, having taken out Letters of
Marque, he equipped the Cccsar, a sloop of eighteen
guns, with which he engaged in a very gallant fight
with a French frigate of thirty-two guns. After a
severe engagement, the frigate struck to her plucky
little antagonist. Unfortunately, owing to her boats

SIR SAMUEL BAKER AND T. E. BOWDICH. 343

having been shot away, the Ccesar was unable to take
possession of her prize, which was thus enabled to
escape. However, she was captured on the following
day by an English frigate and taken to Portsmouth.
To that port Baker had sailed after the engagement
to be refitted, and it is said that when the French
commander saw at close quarters the small size of
the ship to which he had struck, he became so
mortified that he committed suicide. The gallantry of
Baker was recognised by the merchants of Bristol, who
presented him with a silver vase bearing the inscription :
" Presented to Captain Valentine Baker by the merchants
and insurers of Bristol for gallantly defending the ship
Ccesar against a French sloop of war greatly superior
in force to his own ship, and beating her off, June 27th,
1782." Sir Samuel Baker, whose home was at High-
nam Court, Gloucestershire, when he married in 1843,
drove to Clifton in a coach and four with his bride to
spend the honeymoon.

A native of Bristol was T. E. Bowdich, the celebrated
African traveller, born in 179 1. His father was a
merchant of Bristol, and he received a portion of his
education at the Grammar School. After following his
father's trade for a brief period he relinquished it
through the influence of his uncle, Mr. Hope Smith,
Governor-in-Chief of the settlements belonging to the
African Company, who obtained for him a writership
under it. In 1815 he was appointed by the Company to
conduct a mission to Ashantee, but later, being considered
too young, he was superseded in the command. Kowever,
in the face of great danger and difficulty, the weakness of
his chief compelled him, in order to save their lives, again
to take the lead. r>\- his diplomatic skill and coolness

344 ASSYRIOLOGISTS AND TRAVELLERS.

in the face of danger, when the fate of all those com-
prising the mission hung in the balance, he succeeded
in a most difficult negotiation, viz. in arranging a treaty
with the King of Ashantee, which promised peace to the
British settlements on the Gold Coast.

Bowdich was the first to penetrate into the interior
of Africa. His valuable work on that mission, published
in i8ig, considered the best after Bruce's, excited great
interest, as recalling the Arabian Nights, of a land and
people of warlike and barbaric splendour. Little of
real reward, however, was his for the great and difficult
services he had rendered the African Company.
Returning to England, and feeling his deficiency in
mathematics, physical science and natural history, he
went to Paris to perfect himself in those studies, and
his progress was so rapid that he soon after gained
the Cambridge prize of ;£"i,ooo for a discovery which
entirely depended on a knowledge of mathematics.
The leading savants of France, including Humbolt and
Cuvier, gave him a generous reception, and a public
eloge was pronounced on him by the Institute. Whilst
on the threshold of a great career, Bowdich died abroad
of fever at the early age of thirty-three.

Reli^ous Associations.

BISHOP BUTLER

CHAPTER X.

PART I.
DISTINGUISHED CHURCHMEN.

Bishop Will/stall's good work in Bristol — Bristol and ]Vy cliff
— William Tyndale and Hugh Latimer — Paul Bushe —
Tobias Matthew — Richard Hakluyt— Bishop TJiomas —
Richard Toivgood — Bishops Trelawncy and Lake, two
of the famous "seven'' — Bishop Robinson — Bishop
Smalridge — Thomas Seeker, Archbishop of Canterbury —
Joseph Butler: his claims to remembrance — Rev. A. S.
Catcott — Bishop War burton — Thomas Newton — Josiah
Tucker — W. Lort Mansel — John Kaye — Bishop Ellicott
— Archbishop Whnteley and Bishop Hinds — Henry Becke
— Sydney Smith, Prebendary of Bristol — Samuel Lee —
C. P. Eden — Dr. Pusey preaching in Bristol — Henry
Moseley — Bishop Monk — Edicard G irdlestone — J oh n
Pilkington N orris.

*N looking down the dim corridors of time, the
personahty of that saintly Wulfstan, Bishop of
Worcester in the eleventh century, attracts atten-
tion. The work which is imperishably associated with
his name is that of putting down the detestable practice
of kidnapping men and women and selling them
as slaves to the Irish. I-'or months this good man
laboured and ministered to put a stop to this in-
human traffic, and at length with entire success, even
though the Concpieror himself had failed.

.347

348 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

No city in our land did more to kindle that new era
of religious enlightenment, that was, alas ! too often
punctuated by the persecution of fire and faggot, than
Bristol. Though no actual record of the " morning
star " of the Reformation having personally visited Bristol
can be found, yet, being prebend of Aust, it is highly
probable that he did so. His (Wycliff' s) disciple and
friend, John Purvey, however, came here and ministered
after his beloved master's death in 1384. He found Bristol
in entire sympathy with his work and aims, and it was
no doubt here that he finished his great work, that ot
rervdsing Wycliff's translation of the Bible — an epoch-
making book. At the Bristol Baptist College there
are two extremely interesting relics of Wycliff — a portion
of his garment and a fragment of his pulpit.

To Bristol came Tyndale, or Tindal, the immortal
translator of the New Testament. Of local birth, he
was at that time tutor to the children of Sir John
Walsh, at Sodbury, Gloucestershire. His duties in
that capacity were so light that they left him ample
leisure to devote to preaching in the surrounding villages,
and at Bristol to the crowds which assembled on College
Green. Speaking to one who opposed his teaching in
Gloucestershire, he uttered that memorable sentence : " If
God spare my life, ere many years I will cause the boy
that driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures
than thou dost." The copy of Tyndale's bible in the
Bristol Baptist College is referred to further on.

Among Reformation heroes, the name of honest Hugh
Latimer must not be forgotten. In our ancient city his
voice was often heard lifted against the sin of idolatry.
In 1534 he preached in Lent at the Dominican Priory,
Rosemary Street (now in the possession of the Society

OLD CITY LIP>KARV. KIXC; STREET.

LATIMER, BUSHE, MATTHEW, HAKLUYT. 349

of Friends). He perished at the stake at Oxford, and
at that terrible moment his dauntless soul rose high
within him as he adjured his fellow-martyr in those
deathless words : " Be of good comfort, Master Ridley ;
we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace,
in England, as I trust shall never be put out." It is
interesting to note that on that mournful occasion he
was attired in a gown of Bristol frieze, the colour of
which was probably red, as Bristol red was a noted local
manufacture, rivalling that of Lincoln green.

By the royal favour of Henry VIII., whose chaplain he
had been, Paul Bushe became Bristol's first bishop. He
was born in Somerset, of "honest and sufficient parents."
He studied and took his degree at Oxford, and was one
of the celebrated poets of that University. From having
been originally a friar of the English Order of Austin
Friars, he ultimately became provincial of that Order.
Having married, on the accession of Mary in 1553, he
incurred her displeasure, and was forced to resign the
See and retire to Winterbourne, Gloucestershire, where
he died. He was buried in Bristol cathedral.

A distinguished prelate to be ever held in grateful
remembrance by Bristolians is Tobias Matthew, Arch-
bishop of York, who was born on old Bristol Bridge. To
him and another local worthy, named Robert Redwood,
we are indebted for the foundation of the first free
library in this city, to which both of them gave a large
number of books. Their autographs are still to be seen
in many of the works at the Municipal Central Library.

Few historic names are better known than that of
Richard Hakluyt. This remarkable man, whose I'oyaf^ns
have deservedly won him world-wide fame — a work which
a great historic writer has justly termed "the prose epic

350 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

of the English nation " — was appointed a prebendary in
Bristol cathedral in 1586, and held it for thirty years.
His stall in the cathedral was No. i, the same held by
the late Canon Ainger.

In Bristol was born in 1613 William Thomas, Bishop
of St. David's and Worcester successively, the son of a
Bristol linen draper. He was a staunch Protestant and
a lovable and extremely good man, winning the affection
of those with whom he came into close contact. So
hospitable and benevolent was he, that " the poor of
the neighbourhood " [of Worcester] " were daily fed at his
door," and he was large-hearted enough to contribute
liberally to the support of the Huguenots who had
taken refuge in this country. He died in 1689.

Allusion, too, must be made to one who lived and
suffered here during the stirring and troublous times of
the great Civil War, Richard Towgood. He was
originally master of the Cathedral School, and was suc-
cessively Vicar of All Saints' and St. Nicholas churches.
He ultimately became chaplain to Charles I. In 1645
he was sequestered from his living " for his great
dissatisfaction to the Parliament." On several occasions
he was imprisoned, under unusually severe conditions,
and at length was ordered to be shot, but with great
difficulty was reprieved. At the Restoration he returned
to St. Nicholas, at the earnest request of his old
parishioners there, and in 1667 King Charles II. made
him Dean of Bristol. After an eventful life, he died in
peace in the eighty-ninth year of his age, and lies buried
in Bristol cathedral.

Among famous ecclesiastical rulers of Bristol's See,
Bishop Trelawney, one of the noble "seven," contemporary
of good Bishop Ken of Wells, is not the least. Macaulay

BISHOPS TRELAWNY AND LAKE. 3nl

in his history quotes in reference to him the well-known
and stirring lines —

" And shall Trelawney die ?
And shall Trelawney die ?
Then thirty thousand Cornish boys
Will know the reason why."

Mr. John Latimer, however, than whom no better authority
on Bristol's history exists, has given grave reason to
doubt the application of the lines to the event in question ;
rather does his evidence point to an event in the life of an
earlier Trelawney. Bishop Trelawney's life is remarkable
for two things — jfirst, the uncompromising vigour with
which he resented any encroachment on his episcopal
authority ; second!}-, his severity towards his daughter
in forcing her into a distasteful and loveless marriage. In
the register of St. Augustine's Church there is an entry
(March 20th, 1687) of his daughter's baptism, performed
by the good Bishop Ken of hymn-composing fame.

Another of the famous "seven" was bishop here in the
person of John Lake. His career is best epitomised by
himself in saying that " he thanked God he never much
knew what fear v.-as when he was once satisfied of the
goodness of his cause." ■When piebend at ^'ork he
faced the rabble of apprentices who invaded the sanctity
of the cathedral on Shrove Tuesday, sa}ing Ik; "had
faced death in the field of battle too often to dread
martyrdom." This was j)erfcctl3' true, for he served
fcjur years with Charles I. as a volunteer. He greatly
pleased James IL during tlic Monmouth Rebellion by
leaving London and hastening to Bristol to keep order
there during that eventful time. As a reward he was
appointed to Chichester.

In 1710 John Robinson was a])i>ointi(i I'.isliop of

352 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

Bristol. His fame rests on political and diplomatic
grounds rather than theological. He rendered England
good service when, mainly through his instrumentality,
the Utrecht Treaty of 17 13 was brought about. By it
France ceded to England Newfoundland, Nova Scotia,
and Hudson's Bay.

Smalridge, the esteemed friend of Addison, became
bishop here in 1714, his appointment being extremely
popular. When Addison took the Hot well waters in
1 7 18 he stayed with Smalridge, and wTiting from Bristol
to his friend Swift, under date October ist, 1718, says:
"The greatest pleasure I have met with for some months
is the conversation of my old friend Dr. Smalridge, who
is to me the most candid and agreeable of all bishops.
We have often talked of you." That he was highly
esteemed by his contemporaries is very evident, for
Steele, in The Tatler, spoke of him as " abounding in
that sort of virtue and knowledge which makes religion
beautiful." His sermons, too, were highly esteemed by
Johnson.

The famous Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Seeker,
became Bishop of Bristol in 1735. He was the lifelong
friend of the great Butler, and never lost an opportunity
to advance the interests of his friend. It was whilst they
were schoolmates at Tewkesbury that Seeker conveyed
to the post office at Gloucester the celebrated anonymous
letter of Butler addressed to Doctor Samuel Clark, and
which the latter writer appended to his Attributes. Seeker
had the honour of crowning George III. The celebrated
Duchess of Marlborough held him in such high esteem
for his understanding and integrity that she made him
one of her executors, and informed him that she had
left him in her will ^^2,000. Thereupon he rebuked her

BISHOP BUTLER. 353

for bequeathing her wealth to people who were not her
relations, and especiall}- blamed her for leaving anything
to himself. Although his freedom of speech anno}'ed
her, and the subject was never again alluded to, he found
at her death she was better than her word, for she lett
him ;^2,50o. He was a man of princely benevolence, and
was ever on the side of enlightenment and large-hearted
charity.

If there is one who dwells, like some bright, par-
ticular star, apart from the long line of bishops who,
from Bushe downwards, have swayed the destinies of
the See of Bristol, then must be given the name of the
illustrious Joseph Butler, author of the greatest theological
work of perhaps any age, the Analogy of Religion. He
was Bishop of Bristol for the space of twelve years.
Whilst here he spent large sums in improving the palace.
This was the more to his credit, as the Bristol bishopric
was the poorest in England in regard to its revenue. In
1739 he had an interview with the famous John Wesley,
then at the outset of his remarkable life and labours.
Butler requested Wesley not to preach any more in his
diocese, but with this the latter refused to comply.

Whilst residing in Bristol, Butler had the singular habit
ot walking for hours in the garden of the palace at
night, and upon one occasion asked his chaplain, Josiah
Tucker, afterwards Dean of Gloucester, why public
bodies might not go mad as well as individuals, adding
that nothing else could account for most of the trans-
actions of history. So benevolent was he, that after
his translation to Durham, being on one occasion applied
to for a subscription, he asked his steward how much
money there was in the house. " Five hundred pounds,"
was the reply, upon which the I>ishop bestowed the

35i RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

whole upon the appHcant, saying that it was a shame
for a bishop to have so much. His health failing, he
came to take the Hotwell waters in 1752, and from here
he journeyed to Bath, where he died. His remains were
interred in the cathedral, and a monument is erected there
to his memory, on which is written an admirable epitaph
by Southey. It may be recalled that W. E. Gladstone
devoted the closing years of his life to editing a new
edition of Butler's works ; also that when forwarding a
liberal donation to the Bristol Bishopric Fund, which
had his most cordial support, he especially mentioned
in his letter to the archdeacon his desire "to render a
tribute, however small, of g.ratitude, as well as admira-
tion, to the illustrious memory of Bishop Butler, whose
episcopal career was chiefly passed at Bristol." Butler
will be for ever remembered as a patient seeker after truth
and the deepest religious moralist of his time.

The Rev. A. S. Catcott, the father of Alexander and
George Symes Catcott, was for many years master of
the Grammar School and Rector of St. Stephen's. He
was considered a fine pulpit orator, and Wesley testifies
to his piety. Dr. Thomas Fry, President of St. John's
College, Oxford, and Richard Woodward, Bishop of
Cloyne, were among his pupils.

Bishop Warburton, the intimate friend of Pope, the
author of the Divine Legation of Moses, was Dean of
Bristol in 1757. His introduction through Pope to Ralph
Allen, of Bath, was the turning-point in his career, for
he ultimately married Allen's favourite niece. Soon after
he was appointed he attended a levee at Court, writing
of which to a friend he says: "A buffoon lord-in-waiting
(you may guess whom I mean) was very busy marshalling
the circle ; and he said to me without ceremony, ' Move

NEWTON, TUCKER AND MANSEL. 355

forward ; you clog up the doorway.' I replied, ' Did
nobody clog up the King's doorstep more than I there
would be room for all honest men.' "

For over twenty years Thomas Newton was Bishop
of Bristol, and is chiefly remembered now by his Disser-
tations on the Prophecies and his edition of Milton's
Paradise Lost, which ran into many editions. Whilst
bishop here he incurred the enmity of the unfortunate
genius Chatterton, and was the recipient from him of
one of the most scathing letters ever written (the
original letter forms one of the many literary treasures
at the Bristol Art Gallery).

A clerical figure who wielded considerable influence
in local affairs and was in every way a strong personality
was Dean Josiah Tucker, who filled at one period the
office of chaplain to Bishop Butler. Subsequently he
became Rector of St. Stephen's, and in 1750 issued a
remarkable Essay on Trade, the principles contained
in it being far in advance of those of his time. He
advocated the throwing open of English ports, the
removal of numberless vexatious and oppressive re-
strictions, and the sweeping away of monopolies,
duties, etc., which impeded the trade and commerce
of the country — in a word, he anticipated many of
the ideas contained in Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations
in a remarkable way. In 1758 he was made Dean of
Gloucester, but retained his rectorship here.

Bristol has been remarkable for having been con-
nected with the great v/its of the church, for in
addition to its association with Sydney Smith and
Archbishop Whately, the witty bishop, W. Lort Manscl,
was appointed here in 1808. His jests and epigrams
gained him a great reputation, many of which are

356 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

enshrined in Notes and Queries. Rogers the poet wished
that someone would collect his epigrams, as being
remarkably neat and clever.

John Kaye was bishop in 1820. He was a fine
scholar who won the rare distinction of Senior Wrangler
and Senior Chancellor's Medallist of his year — a dis-
tinction only twice won before. He subsequently became
master of his college. When translated to Lincoln from
Bristol he did splendid work ; more than two hundred
parsonages were built or rendered habitable. As a writer,
many of his works became widely read, notably his
Ecclesiastical History of the Second and Third Centuries,
which reached a fifth edition in 1845. He was a sound
Churchman, and no prelate stood higher at his death
in the esteem of the English Church.

Not the least of the many ecclesiastical rulers of our
city was Charles John Ellicott, who became in 1863
Bishop of the united Sees of Gloucester and Bristol, and
in that capacity was connected with our church life for
the long period of thirty-four years. During his tenure of
office he endeared himself to all classes of the community
by the Christian graces of wisdom, charity, moderation,
and simplicity of life. As a finished Biblical scholar he
has left his mark on the religious history of his time in his
Hulsean Lectures and his works on the New Testament,
to which latter he was one of the principal Revisers.
A permanent memorial to this good bishop's memory is
the beautiful reredos in Bristol cathedral, erected by his
many friends in affectionate recognition of his labours
here. His death occurred in 1905 at the great age of
eighty-four.

In Bristol, too, went to school the famous Archbishop
of Dublin, Richard Whately, and Bishop Hinds, the father

HENRY BEEKE AND SYDNEY SMYTH. 357

of the former having been prebendary at the cathedral
in 1793.

Among Deans of Bristol, Henry Beeke holds an
honoured place. He was chiefly remarkable for being
an authorit}' on matters of finance. So wide was his
reputation, that the then Chancellor of the Exxhequer
was guided by his advice. It is even said that Pitt
was indebted to him for the original suggestion of the
Income Tax. His chief work, Observations on iJie
Produce of the hicome Tax, etc., was eulogised by
McCulloch as affording " the best example of the
successful application of statistical reasoning to finance
that had then appeared." An illustration of his care
in money matters is related in the life of the famous
Bristol artist, Miiller. Having to pay him £25 for
a picture, he handed him the money in bank-notes,
which Miiller modestly conveyed to his pocket without
counting. Upon this the Dean said : " You are a very
young man, Mr. William, and will, I trust, excuse an old
friend like me remarking, that when you receive money
it is always better to count it and see that it is right
before writing a receipt for it." Acting on this advice,
Miiller found to his surprise that the Dean had given
him £^0 instead of £2^. Imagining the good Dean
had made a mistake, he handed back one of the notes ;
the Dean only smiled, and begged him to retain it,
saying that it was intentional, and that the picture was
well worth the increased sum.

The witty and famous Sydney Smith was appointed
prebendary here in 1828. A story is told that on his
arrival he foimd that the verger, who had just ictircd fiom
office, was in affluent circumstances, which occasioned liu'
remark of the witty canon that he had " ncxer before so

358 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

fully realised the truth of that passage in the Psalms,
' I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.' "

Writing, soon after his arrival, to Lady Holland,
he says : " An extremely comfortable prebendal house ;
seven stall stables and room for four carriages, so that I
can hold all your cortege when you come ; looks to the
south, and is perfectly snug and parsonic ; masts of
West Indiamen seen from the windows." Again, writing
to a friend, he says : "At Bristol, on the 5th of Novem-
ber" (1828), "I gave the Mayor and Corporation (the
most Protestant Mayor and Corporation in England)
such a dose of toleration as shall last them for many
a year." This sermon occasioned an immense sensa-
tion, and the cathedral, which when he arrived to take
up his duties used to be almost deserted, became, when-
ever he preached, filled to suffocation.

Truly Bristol cathedral is honoured by numbering
among its prebendaries the witty canon of St. Paul's,
who, it has well been said, " stands before the English
world as a figure to be proud of, a man of whose
private and public life we can never know too much
of: charming at home and brilliant abroad, using his
intellectual weapons with all his might in accordance
with his conscience and without counting the
cost."

This inestimable man, whose wdt was as harmless
as summer lightning, Tom Moore epitomises in the
following : —

"Rare Sydney! thrice honour'd the stall where he sits,
And be his every honour he deigneth to climb at !
Had England a hierarchy form'd of all wits,

Whom, but Sydney, would England proclaim as its
primate ? "

SAMUEL LEE AND C. P. EDEX. 359

Among distinguished canons of the cathedral, the
profound hnguist. Samuel Lee, appointed in 183 1,
cannot be passed over. His powers in that direction
were devoted to Biblical publications, shown in his
scholarly editions of the Old and New Testaments in
S3'riac, of the Psalter and Gospels in Arabic and Coptic,
of Genesis and the New Testament in Persian, and of
the latter in Hindustani. His grammar of the Hebrew
language went through many editions. His knowledge of
languages was very extensive, and he is said to have
been a master of no fewer than eighteen.

A famous member of the Tractarians connected with
Bristol was C. P. Eden, born at \\'hitehall, St. George,
in 1807. He was a collateral descendant of the great
William Waynflete, Chancellor of England, and founder
of Magdalen College, Oxford. Eden's father was curate
of St. George's Church, and was a man of considerable
culture. After attending school in Bristol till the age of
fourteen, Eden ultimately at eighteen entered Oxford.
He was truh- fortunate, for he at once came under
the influence of a group of remarkable scholars
among whom were Keble, Newman, P'roude, Denison,
Church, etc. Eden took full advantage of his good
fortune, and won his way by becoming successi\-eh-
Fellow and Dean of his college. His sterling worth
impressed itself upon all with whom he came in contact.
His contribution to the celebrated Tracts for the Times
is No. 32. But it is as \\\\. and parisli jjricst that he
will be best remembered ; in the latter capacit}' he is
enshrined in Dean Burgon's Twelve Good Men as " The
Earnest Parish Priest." It was largely through Eden
that the justly-admired inscription to the great P>ishop
Butler l)y Southcy was left unaltered. Dr. Sauiud Lee,

3H0 KKLIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

canon in residence, having criticised (sic) it severely,

would have altered it had it not been for Eden's

intervention.

Not the least interesting among these associations is

that of the great Tractarian, Dr. Pusey, who preached in

Bristol, both at St. James's and Clifton churches. Whilst

in Clifton he stayed at 3 Royal York Crescent. At that

time Julian's concerts were all the fashion, vdiich gave

rise to the following epigram : —

"The world of fashion dances through the night,
And polka reigns the Queen of candle light;
And then the world of fashion dons its pattens,
And clatters through the mud to early matins.
Julien and Pusey each the world amuses :
The night is Julien's, and the morning Pusey's."

At St. James's Church his sermon created a sensation
by its obscurity, though the church was crowded to the
doors, there being scarcely standing room. It was a
time of bitter antagonism between the "High" and
the " Low," and the walls of the city were placarded
with " No Popery " and " No Puseyism." Pusey
himself was warned that his life would be in danger,
and a large body of police were requisitioned to guard
him from molestation. Pusey's daughters went to school
in Clifton, and one of them died there in 1845.

The celebrated mathematician, Henry Moseley, was
canon here in 1S53. It is on his formulas that the
dynamical stabilities of all ships of war have since
been calculated.

Bishop Monk, who was Macaulay's old tutor, was
connected episcopaliy with Bristol for nearly twenty
years, but his best claim to distinction is that of
having written one of the finest biographies in the
language, Ths Life of Bentley.

E. GIRDLESTONE AND J. P. NORRIS. 3

A canon of our cathedral who deserves mention is
Edward Girdlestone, who was \'icar of Saint Nicholas
with Saint Leonard's in 1855. His chief claims to
remembrance are the public efforts he put forth on
behalf of the agricultural labourer, which gained him
the title of the "Agricultural Labourer's Friend." In
their behalf he was truly indefatigable. He was the
means of an extraordinary exodus from the West
country of upwards of six hundred families from districts
where work was scarce and poorly paid to the pros-
perous North. He died on December 4th, 1884, and
he deserves to be held in gratitude for his disinterested
exertions for the betterment of a class who are entitled
to more help and sympathy than they usually receive.

In celebration of the completion of labourers' cottages
on his estate at Sandringham, King Edward VII. (then
Prince of Wales), being impressed with the value of the
information given by the Canon as to the condition of the
homes of the agricultural labourers before the Royal
Commission on the Dwellings of the Poor, invited him
to preach a sermon at Sandringham Church. This he did
on November 16th, 1884, and this was the last service he
ever conducted, for during the journey he contracted an
illness to which he soon succumbed.

The honoured name of Archdeacon John Pilkington
Norris should not be omitted. He was one of the
earliest to initiate steps for forming l^ristol into a
separate Sec, and was one of the noblest donors towards
the great work of the cathedral's restoration, giving to
that object no less a sum then £"11,500. By the irony
of fate, he died a few days after his ajipnintmcnt to
the Deanery of Chichester.

CHAPTER X. (continued).

PART II.
DISTINGUISHED NONCONFORMISTS.

Vitality of Bristol's religious life — Benjamin Beddome — John
Collett Ryland, his son John Ryland, and grandson
Jonathan E. Ryland — Robert Hall : pastor at Broadmead
Chapel; his great oratorical powers — John Foster — Joshua
Marshman — William Knibh — T. S. Baynes — John
Howard Hinton — Dr. Andrew Gifford : his bequest to
Bristol Baptist College of Tyndale's Bible — Other valuable
treasures in Baptist College — George Whitefield -.preaching
in Bristol and at Kingswood ; founds Penn Street
Tabernacle — John Wesley : comes to Bristol at the request
of Whitefield; his marvellous powers; early labours
in Bristol; open-air services; narrow escape; Southey's
relations with him; American Ordinations; visit to
Knowle prison; death in London — Charles Wesley's
residence in Bristol — Dr. Adam Clarke — The Society
of Friends — George Fox — William Penn — Robert
Vaughan — " Little Parson Harris " — Urijah Recs
Thomas.

)EW cities have touched the national hfe at so
many and varied points as Bristol, whether it be
in commerce, art, science, literature, or religion.
In each and all the city has been in the van of human
progress. This vitality of the religious life has been
well shown on the Nonconformist side. Long before
Methodism was cradled in our midst, the pioneers of

362

B. BEDDOME AND J. COLLETT RYLAND. 363

the great Baptist community were rooted here, working
nd suffering with a single eye to their Master's glory.
Eternal honour to those vanguards of Nonconformity !
The following is a brief list of some of their distinguished
successors.

The first of these, Benjamin Beddome, born in 1717,
was trained in Bristol for the Baptist ministry. As a hymn-
writer, his fame is universal. For fifty-five years he was
the beloved pastor of Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucester-
shire. He died in 1795, deeply regretted for his urbane
character and charitable generosity to the poor.

The next to be associated with the city was John
Collett Ryland. He was the son of a Gloucestershire
farmer, and was born in 1723, his mother being a col-
lateral descendant of John Colet, the Dean of St. Paul's,
and the friend of the famous Erasmus. He was baptised
in 1741 by Benjamin Beddome. As he showed con-
siderable intellectual promise, he was sent to the
academy of Bernard Foskett, to prepare for the ministr}'.
After being trained, he was appointed to the Baptist
Church at Warwick. There he started a school in St.
Mary's parsonage house, rented of the rector. Dr. Tate,
who, being remonstrated with for harbouring a Dissenter,
pertinently retorted that he had brought the man as near
the church as he could, though he could not force him
to enter it. Later, Ryland went to Northampton as
pastor and schoolmaster. His school there became highly
successful, and many of his pupils attained eminence,
among these being Samuel Ikigster, the famous printer
of Bibles. Ryland's chief claim to remembrance lies in
the fact that he did more than any man of his time to
promote polite learning amongst Dissenters.

On July 2nd, 1784, at sunrise, he delivered the address

364 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

over the grave of the great benefactor to Bristol Baptist
College, Dr. Andrew Gifford. This oration, though pub-
lished at the time, has since been twice reprinted. His
preaching was able, original, and racy in the extreme.
Robert Hall, who was his pupil, says : " In the power of
memory, imagination, and expression I have never yet
seen any man to be compared with him. I should despair
of conveying to the mind of one who had never heard
him an adequate idea of the majesty and force of his
elocution." Outside his ministerial and scholastic work
he had a passionate love of natural history. As illus-
trating this, one autumn morning he called up the whole
of the scholars to see the departure of the swallows that
had clustered in surprising numbers on the roof of the
school ere they migrated. Among his peculiarities was
that of a voice so powerful in its tone that it has been
compared to the roaring of the sea; He died in 1792.

His son, John Ryland, born in 1753, became, too, one
of the most distinguished of the Baptist ministry. At
five years of age he was already acquainted with Hebrew,
and at nine knew Greek, whilst at fifteen he was qualified
to assist in his father's school. Ultimately, in December,
1793, he became pastor at Broadmead Chapel, combining
with this the onerous position of president of the Baptist
College, Bristol. These positions he ably filled till the
day of his death. He was, too, one of the founders of
the Baptist Missionary Society, and acted as its secretary
from 1815 till 1825. Ryland was a fine scholar, his
reading being most extensive and various. He was also
a profound Orientalist. By his great intellectual attain-
ments and uprightness of character, he possessed great
influence over his Baptist brethren. He was also
popular as a hymn- writer, for in 1862 nearly one hundred

i 'V -

•^>^-
■n^.

ROllKKT HAIJ

J. E. RYLAND AND ROBERT HALL. 365

of his hymns were pubhshed. Juhan, the authority on
hymnology, says there are several of his hymns in
constant use to-day. His lamented death occurred in
1825. The great Robert Hall succeeded him at Broad-
mead, and preached his memorial sermon.

Jonathan Edwards Ryland, son of the above, was
born at Bristol, where he spent his earliest years, being
educated at the Baptist College, over which his father
presided. Later in life he became mathematical and
classical tutor at Mill Hill College. Subsequently he
again resided in Bristol, but linall}^ went to Northampton,
where he spent the remainder of his life. He early
devoted himself to literature, some of his earliest com-
positions being inserted in The Visitor, published in Bristol
in 1823. He wrote, too, for the Baptist Magazine, and
edited for a year or two the Eclectic Review. Among
his literary activities was a memoir of Dr. Kitto, of
Cyclopcsdia of Biblical Literature fame. He also con-
tributed many articles to the Encyclopedia Britaniiica
and wrote numerous works, including the editing of
John Foster's Life and Correspondence. Among his
many friends here in Bristol was Professor F. W.
Newman (brother of the famous Cardinal, and little
inferior to him in intellectual ability), who was at that
time a member of Broadmead Chapel, and one of the
College Committee.

With Bristol the name of Robert Hall, one of
the most eloquent pulpit divines of modern times is
imperishably associated. He was born near Leicester
in 1764, and at fifteen years of age entered the Bristol
Baptist College. After spending three years there,
he went to Aberdeen to further his studies, where he
was the fellow-student of Sir James Mackintosh. They

17 A

366 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

became the closest of friends, and were both passionately
fond of the classics, being dubbed by their fellow-students
Plato and Herodotus. Each admired the gifts and
qualities of the other. Mackintosh said "he was
fascinated by the brilliancy and acumen of Hall, and
awestruck by the transparency of his conduct and the
purity of his principles."' Whilst Hall was equally
eulogistic in regard to Mackintosh : " His memory retains
everything ; his mind is a spacious repository hung round
with beautiful images, and when he desires one he has
nothing to do but reach up his hand to a peg and take
it down."

On leaving Aberdeen, Hall became co-pastor at
Broadmead Chapel, and also assisted as classical tutor at
the Baptist College. Even in those early days the chapel
was crowded to the doors to hear him. After spending
five years here, he received and accepted an invitation
to Cambridge. The scenery of Cambridge was his pet
aversion, and he was fond of contrasting it with Bristol,
to the former's disadvantage. " Were you ever at Bristol,
sir ? " he once remarked. " There is scenery, sir —
scenery worth looking upon, and worth thinking of!"
Apropos of Cambridge, he said, " Outside the college
precincts there is not a tree for a man to hang himself
upon when he is weary of the barrenness of the place."
A gentleman thereupon reminded him that there were
some trees at Grandchester, whereupon he crushingly
retorted, " Yes, sir ; I recollect — willows, I believe, sir ;
Nature hanging out signals of distress ! "

Hall's flights of oratory were at times remarkable.
For instance, his sermon delivered at Bristol on the
proposed invasion of this country by Napoleon was
spoken of by Pitt, one of his greatest admirers, as

ROBERT HALL AND JOHN FOSTER. 367-

being the " finest words spoken since the days of
Demosthenes." /\nd on another occasion, Pitt alluded
to a sermon preached October 19th, 1803, as " fully
equal in genuine eloquence to any passage of the
same length that can be selected from either ancient
or modern orators." Foster said of him, "All he does
and savs is instinct with power." Some have gone so
far in their admiration as to say that Hall's splendid
Apology for the Freedom of the P/ess and for General
Liberty deserves to rank with the Areopagitica of Milton.
In 1825 he succeeded Dr. Ryland at Broadmead Chapel,
but his pastorate- was of short duration, for in 183 1 this
greatly-gifted man died of an incurable internal disease,
to the irreparable loss of his church and friends.

Among Baptists of distinction few are more widely
known than the famous essayist, John Foster. He
was trained at Bristol Baptist College. After ministering
in other parts of England, he returned to the neighbour-
hood of Bristol, and at Downend he took charge of
a small congregation, where he remained four years.
In the year 1806 his essays were published, and were
immediately crowned with success, so much so that
their reception induced him to resign his pastorate.
In the following year he became a contributor to the
Eclectic Review, and soon became one of its chief
writers, contributing to it nearly two hundred articles.
In the year 1817 he again resumed the pastorate of
his old congregation at Downend. There he wrote
and published in 1820 his great essay on Popular
Ignorance. The year after he removed to Stajilclon,
and in 1822 he delivered a course of lectures at
Broadmead Chapel, subsequent!}' published i-n two
volumes. Oratory, however, was not his forte, as he

368 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

himself was the first to admit ; consequently on the
appointment of Robert Hall to Broadmead Chapel, Foster
regarded his lecturing there to be " altogetlier super-
fluous, and even bordering on impertinent." It was as
a writer he shone. He possessed searching discernment
of every kind in dealing with moral falsity and w^eakness,
the dark and subtle windings of which he tracks with
unerring and dogged sagacity, and exposes either with
easy irony or with keen and scathing satire niodified
by sorrowful contempt. Old and worn thoughts
passing through the crucible of his mind acquired a
brilliant lustre, as he put them in new and striking
lights. He died in 1843, and lies buried in the chapel
ground at Downend.

That great missionary and Oriental scholar, Joshua
Marshman, was originally a master at Broadmead School.
Sent out by the Baptist Missionary Society to their
establishment at Serampore, he studied with great
success the Bengali, Sanscrit, and Chinese languages.
Among his works he wrote a Chinese Grammar,
translated and edited the works of Confucius, and was
associated with his distinguished brother missionary,
Carey, in the production of the Sanscrit Grammar and
Bengali- English Dictionary. He became, too, the
pioneer of journalism in the East, having, in conjunction
with his son, established in 1818 the first newspaper
ever printed in an Eastern language. In that year
also he started the publication of The Friend of India.
In addition to this, at the same period, he planned
the Missionary College for the instruction of Asiatic
Christians and other youth in Eastern literature and
European science, which was built at a cost of
£15,000. Among the devoted band of great missiojiaries

W. KXIBB, T. S. BAYNES, J. H. HIXTOX. 369

to our Indian Empire few have worked more nobly
than Joshua Marshman.

Another distinguished Baptist missionary, \\'illiam
Knibb, born in 1803, dwelt in Bristol for many years.
He was baptised b}- Dr. Ryland, and admitted a member
of Broadmead Chapel on March 7th, 1822. As a
missionary he was highly successful in Jamaica.
Returning to England just as the Reform Bill had
passed, his first exclamation on hearing the news was,
" Now I '11 have slavery down," and at once threw
himself with intense energy into the work of the
Abolitionists. On reaching Jamaica once more, he
died at his post in 1845 of a malignant fever that
carried him off in four days. He had laboured there
for twenty-one years.

At the Bristol Baptist College was trained for
the ministry one of the greatest editors of modern
times, T. S. Baynes, the editor of the Encydopccdia
Britannica, ninth edition, and the son of a Baptist
minister at Wellington, Somerset, his mother being a
Bristolian. However, after leaving Bristol for further
training at the University of xAberdeen, he abandoned
his intention of entering the ministry, and devoted him-
self to literature and other studies. To the Encyclopcedia
Britannica he contributed the remarkable and masterly
article on Shakespeare, considered by competent authori-
ties matchless. Even the great Shakespearean scholar,
Halliwell Phillips, sj)eaks of having "devoured Baynes's
splendid essay." Higher praise than this would be
superfluous.

Amongst celebrated Baptists, John Howard Hinton
cannot be ignored. Born in 1791, he was trained at
the Bristol P)ai)tist College. I'or many years he ably

370 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

filled the post of secretary to the Baptist Union
which owed in times of weakness its very existence to
his strenuous exertions. He gained considerable repute
as a writer, one of his best works being the History
oj the United States. His many works evidence a wide
and varied intellectual activity. On retiring from the
ministry in 1868 he resided in Bristol for the remainder
of his life; his death occurred on December 17th, 1873,
and he was buried in Arno's \^ale Cemetery. His son,
James Hinton, acquired great fame for his philosophical
and surgical discoveries, and was a remarkable and
original thinker.

Had space allowed, some other local Baptist ^^'orthies
might have been dealt with — Doctors Gotch and Culross,
for example, both of whom filled with distinction the
position of President of the Bristol Baptist College,
Dr. Gotch, it will be remembered, was honoured by a
place on the Revision Committee that dealt with the
revised version of the Scriptures.

Dr. Andrew Gifford, the son and grandson of a
Bristol Baptist, by reason of his noble benefaction to
the Bristol Baptist College, will be ever held in grateful
remembrance. Some of its ^choicest treasures were
bequeathed by him in 1784, including the unique and
priceless octavo New Testament translated directl}- from
the Greek by William Tyndale and published in 1525
— -the only perfect copy known to exist in the whole
world. Originally purchased for Lord Oxford, founder
of the Harleian Library, by one of his collectors — John
T^Iurrey — it was esteemed so valuable by his lordship that
he forthwith settled on him an annuity of -£^20. Curious
to say, on his lordship's library coming into the market
at his death, through some extraordinary mistake of the

DR. A. GIFFORD AND GEO. WHITEFIELD. 371

auctioneer, it was disposed of to a bookseller named
Osborne for a trii^ing sum, and he, equally ignorant,
marked it at fifteen shillings, for which price the well-
known bibliographer Ames bought it. At the sale of
Ames' books it was bought by John White, who in May,
1776, sold it for twenty guineas to Dr. Gifford. This trans-
lation of the New Testament was finished in the reign of
Henry VUL, and the whole impression, as is supposed
(this copy excepted), was purchased by Tunstall, Bishop
of London, and burnt at St. Paul's Cross. That it is the
veritable first edition is sufficiently proved by T3'ndale's
own address to the reader, in which he says : " Them that
are learned Christenly, I beseche for as moche as I am
sure ad my conscience beareth me recorde, that of a
pure entent, singilly and faythfully I have interpreted itt "
[the Gospel] " as farre forth as God gave me the gyfte of
knowledge ad understondynge, so that the rudnes off
the worke nowe at the first tyme offende them not : but
that they consyder howe that I had no man to counterfet,
nether was holpe with englysshe of eny that had inter-
preted the same, or soche lyke thlge I the Scripture
before tyme."

Among other literary rarities in the Bristol Baptist
College are the fine collection of early printed English
Bibles, William Caxton's Mirroiir of the World, first edition
of Milton's Paradise Lost, and last, but not least, the
veritable Concordance used by the immortal dreamt-r of
Bedford, bearing his autograph of ownership — " John
Bunyan, his Book."

Imperishably associated with our city arc the W(uld-
famous revivalists, George Whitefield and the brothers
Wesley — John and Charles. Close indeed is Whiteficld's
association with Bristol, for his father was a wine

RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

merchant here and his mother was a Bristolian. Prior to
George's birth they removed to Gloucester and kept the
Bell Inn, where he was born. Twenty-two years after
that event, in 1737, he came to Bristol to bid farewell to
his relatives ere sailing for Georgia. His reputation as a
preacher had preceded him, and several of the pulpits of
our city's churches were placed at his disposal, among
others St. John's, St. Philip and Jacob, the Mayor's Chapel,
St. Stephen's, and St. Mary Redcliff. At the latter he
" preached to such a congregation as his eyes had never
yet seen." Speaking of his farewell sermon, he said :
" But when I came to tell them it might be that they
would see my face no more, high and low, young and
old, burst into such a flood of tears as I have never seen
before ; drops fell from their eyes like rain, or rather
gushed out like water. Multitudes followed me home
weeping."

It was after his return from Georgia that he became
the evangelist to the brutal and degraded collier popula-
tion of Kingswood, and on one memorable Saturday in
February, 1739, he repaired to a place called Hanham
Mount, and addressed a small gathering of about a
hundred impelled there by curiosity. On the following
day he preached to crowded congregations in St.
Werburgh's and St. Mary Redcliff. In the teeth of
ecclesiastical hostility he again visited Kingswood a day
or two afterwards, where he had two thousand eager
listeners, and again two days later, when the audience
was double that number. He had eloquent proof of the
effect of his ministrations " by seeing the white gutters
made by their tears which plentifully fell down their
black cheeks as they came out of the coal-pits." At
subsequent services so great were the numbers that came

JOHN WESLEY.

GEO. WHITEFIELD AND JOHN WESLEY. 373

to hear him that it was not unusual for him to address
twenty thousand.

Like Wesley he was miserably persecuted — sometimes
the butt of slanderous tongues, at others mobbed, ducked
and stoned. Alluding to which Cowper declared : —

" He loved the world that hated him ; the tear
That dropped upon his Bible was sincere.
Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,
His only answer was a blameless life. . . ."

It was due to Whitefield that the Wesleys commenced
their immortal labours in Bristol, for when he left for
America he appealed to them to continue the work.

In the year 1753 Whitefield laid the foundation-stone
of the Tabernacle in Penn Street, towards which his
admirer, the celebrated Earl of Chesterfield, contributed
twenty .guineas. Of this chapel Whitefield remarks:
" It was not half large enough ; would the place contain
them. I believe nearly as many would attend as in
London." In that building ministered Rowland Hill
and the father of the celebrated author of Political
Justice, William Godwin, whose daughter married Shelley
the poet. He (the elder Godwin) published a volume
of sermons delivered there.

On June 17th, 1703, was born at Epworth, Lincoln-
shire, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, and the
most remarkable religious force of the eighteenth century.

If one would know the life of the people of that
period, few better authorities can be consulted than
the Journal of this great itinerant preacher, in which
is mirrored the "very age and body of the time, his
form and pressure." If we study his labours both
of mind and body we are forced to the conclusion
that the power displayed was little short of tiie

374 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

marvellous. For forty years, during each one of which
he travelled thousands of miles, he preached in Great
Britain the cause of Christ. An eminent living man
of letters* has said truly: "No man lived nearer
the centre than John Wesley, neither Clive, nor Pitt,
nor Johnson. You can't cut him out of our national
life. No single figure iniiuenced so many minds, no
single voice touched so many hearts. No other man
did such a life's work for England."

Bristolians glory in the fact that the name and
fame of Wesley is imperishably connected with this
ancient city. In Bristol he founded the first of his
chapels. In his Journal, under date May gth, 1739
(the year of his first appearance in Bristol), he writes :
" We took possession of a piece of ground, near St.
James' churchyard, in the Horsefair, where . it was
designed to build a room, large enough to contain both
the societies of Nicholas and Baldwin Streets, and such
of their acquaintance as might desire to be present with
them, at such time as the Scripture was expounded : and
on Saturday, 12th, the first stone was laid, with the ^•oice
of prayer and thanksgiving." Thus humbly began one of
the most powerful religious organisations the world has
known, and whose existence to-day is a living and
enduring monument to that great and strenuous religious
personality. To this small chapel two rooms were
ultimately added in which Wesley and his preachers
could lodge, described by Wesley as "a little room,
where I speak to the persons who come to me, and
a garret, in which a bed is placed for me." Having
been accused of extravagance in the furnishing of his
room, he says : " How ? Why, with a piece of green
* The Right Hon. Augustine Birrell.

JOHN WESLEY. 375

cloth nailed to the desk ; two sconces for eight
candles each in the middle ; and — nay, I know no
more. Now which of these can be spared I know
not, neither would I desire for more adornment or
less." Scattered through the four volumes of John
Wesley's Journal are countless allusions and entries
relating to Bristol.

Wesley's first appearance in Bristol was on March
=3ist, 1739, having been urged to come by Whitetield,
who was leaving England for America. The absence
of " decency and order " in Whitefield's ministrations
struck Wesley very much on coming here, so that he
had difficulty in reconciling himself to the " strange
way of preaching in the fields." An illustration of
that form of preaching was given him on the following
day, when Whitefield held three open-air services and
preached a farewell sermon in a private room, the way
to which was so packed with people that to gain
admittance he had to mount a ladder and climb over
the roof of an adjoining house.

Wesley's first service was held in Nicholas Street,
and his first open-air service was held at the beginning
of April, when he spoke from a slight eminence near
the city to about three thousand people. Among
various places he preached at during that first year
was Baptist Mills, where he spoke to two thousand
persons. About this time, being disturbed in his
preaching by mob violence, the rioters, by order of
the mayor, were arrested, and, being tried at Quarter
Sessions, " they began to excuse themselves by saying
many things about me. But the mayor cut them all
short, saying, 'What Mr. Wesley is is nothing to you.
I will keep the peace. 1 will liave no rioting in tills

376 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

city."" Calling at the Newgate at this period, he
was informed that several of the poor wretches desired
to speak to him, but that an express order had just
been received from Alderman Becher that they should
not. " I cite Alderman Becher to answer for these
souls at the judgment seat of Christ," was Wesley's
solemn protest.

Under date January 22nd, 1747, he relates an
adventure that went very near terminating his career.
"About half an hour after twelve I took horse for Wick,
where I had appointed to preach at three. I was riding
by the wall, through St. Nicholas Gate, (my horse having
been brought to the house where I dined) just as a cart
turned short from St. Nicholas Street, and came swiftly
down the hill; there was just room to pass between
the wheel of it and the wall, but that space was taken
up by the carman. I called to him to go back, or
I must ride over him ; but the man, as if deaf, walked
straight forward. This obliged me to hold back my
horse ; in the meantime the shaft of the cart came
full against his shoulder, with such a shock as beat
him to the ground. He shot me forward over his head,
as an arrow out of a bow, where I lay, with my arms
and legs, I know not how, stretched out in a line close
to the wall ; the wheel ran by, close to my side, but only
dirted my clothes ; I found no flutter of spirit, but
the same composure as if I had been sitting in my
study. When the cart was gone I rose ; abundance
of people gathered round, till a gentleman desired me
to step into his shop. After cleaning myself a little,
I took horse again, and was at Wick by the appointed
time."

On one of his many visits to Bristol, in the year

JOHN WESLEY. 377

1758, he went to the cathedral to hear Handel's
masterpiece, the Messiah, and remarks, " I doubt if
that congregation was ever so serious at a sermon as
they were during this performance." Wesley was well
acquainted with Bristol churches, and had preached in
several of them, and on two occasions conducted the
marriage service at Temple and Bedminster parish
churches. On Sunday, October 6th, 1782, he preached
at the former church " between our own morning and
evening service ; and now I found out how to speak
here so as to be heard b}' everyone : direct your voice
to the middle of the pillar fronting the pulpit." Referring
to his having preached at old Clifton Church, he says :
*' Seeing many of the rich at CHfton Church, my heart
was much pained for them, and was earnestly desirous
that some of them might ' enter into the kingdom of
heaven.'" His presence there in May, 1739, was due to
his supplying the place of the vicar, who was dying.
The poet Southey relates a charming incident in regard
to Wesley when he (Southey) was a child, which probably
occurred at Southey's home in W'ine Street. He says :
" On running downstairs before him with a beautiful
little sister of my own, whose ringlets were floating over
her shoulders, he" (Wesley) "overtook us on the landing,
when he took my sister in his arms and kissed her.
Placing her on her feet again, he then put his hand
upon my head and blessed me, and," said Southey with
his eyes full of tears and his voice treuibhug with
emotion, "I feel as though I had the blessing of that
good man upon me at this present moment."

Wesley often stayed when in Bristol with J<-'hn
Castelman, surgeon, of No. 6 Dighton Street, and here in
1784, with the help of Dr. Coke and James Creightou, he

378 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

ordained Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey for
service as presbyters in the newly-founded United States
of America. By milHons of Methodists in America this
momentous act is regarded as the estabhshment of their
church. Charles Wesley was strongly opposed to his
brother in this matter ; for he saw, what John failed to
recognise, that this was an act of separation from the
Established Church, — that ordinations for x\merica would
soon be followed by ordinations at home. Events have
proved him to be right, and the independent position of
the Weslevan Methodist Church to-day is a direct con-
sequence of the scene enacted a hundred and twenty-
two years ago in that house in Dighton Street.

So numerous and frequent were John Wesley's visits
to Bristol, that every part of it was well known to him.
He speaks of climbing up to Kingsdown to visit a
sick man ; Bedminster, where he preached in " the
Paddock"; the Lamb Inn, West Street, and Gloucester
Lane ; Stokes Croft ; Hotwells, where he took the waters
and lived in one of the houses in the Colonnade ; Clifton,
where he visited the grounds of Goldney House to see
the famous grotto ; and at Granby Hill is the Granby
House still standing \\here, at her desire, he visited the
widow of Governor Johnstone, formerly Governor of
West Florida. Knowle, too, he knew, and St. Philip's
Marsh. Of the former, he relates in his Journal
October 15th, 1759 : " I walked up to Knowle, a mile
from Bristol, to see the French prisoners. Above eleven
hundred of them, we were informed, were confined in that
little place, without anything to lie upon but a'^little dirty
straw, or anything to cover them but a few foul thin rags,
either by day or night, so that they died like rotten sheep.
I was much affected, and preached in the evening on

JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY. 379

Exod. xxiii. g, ' Thon shalt not oppress a stranger ; for ye
know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in
the land of Egypt,' Eighteen pounds were contributed
immediatel}', which were made up four-and-twenty the
next day. With this we bought hnen and woollen cloth,
which were made up into waistcoats and breeches ; some
dozen of stockings were added : all which were carefully
distributed where there was the greatest want."' Speaking
of his ministerial labours in Bristol, he says, under date
August 4th, 1771 : " We had above six hundred and fifty
communicants at Bristol. In the afternoon I preached in
St. James's Barton, to a huge multitude, and all were still
as night." Referring to his work at Kingswood, he says,
on the occasion of a visit there in 1784 : " I preached at
Kingswood under the shade of trees I had planted
forty years before." On August 29th, 1790, in King
Square, he preached in Bristol for the last time. This
great and noble founder of the Wesleyan Church died
in London in the 88th year of his age. Among his
latest words spoken was the name of Bristol. His
friends having prayed for him, he said : " There is no
need of more ; when at Bristol my words were —

'I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me.' "

Thus passed away one of the noblest Christian
warriors the world has known, whose name and work
will be imperishably associated with Bristol history.

Charles Wesley, of hymn-writing fame, was from
the first associated with the work of his great brother.
Perhaps, taking quantity with quality into consideration,
he was the greatest hymn-writer that ever lived. His
well-known hymn " Jesu, Lover of my Soul " is said to
have been inspired by the charming incident of a little

S80 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

bird seeking refuge in his bosom during a storm. Dr.
James Martineau said "that after the Scriptures the
Wesley Hymn-book appears to me the grandest instru-
ment of popular religious culture that Christendom ever
produced."

In 1749 he came and settled in Bristol at Charles
Street, St. James's Barton. There he resided over
twenty years. Many of his children were born there,
some of whom died and are interred in St. James's
Churchyard. John Wesley invariably lodged with him
there on his numerous visits to Bristol, and King Square,
near Charles Street (then known as the New Square),
was a favourite preaching-place of his.

One of the most distinguished of the Wesley converts
was Dr. Adam Clarke, who came to Bristol from Birming-
ham in 1782, reaching here one evening at 8 p.m., and
lodging for the night at the Lamb Inn, West Street. In
the morning he walked to the school at Kingswood, which
Wesley had founded, and he has graphically related his
unhappy reception and experience there — a school that had
its counterpart in Dotheboys Hall of Dickens celebrity.
Wesley was absent in Cornwall when Clarke arrived, but
on his return the latter came into Broadmead to interview
him. Wesley saw him in his study over the chapel
(still existing) and received him with kindness, and
forthwith appointed him as preacher to Bradford. As
a preacher Adam Clarke proved remarkably popular,
and rose to distinction in the Wesleyan body, for
thrice he filled the Presidential Chair. Notwithstanding
his ministerial labours, he was a most assiduous scholar,
and was made LL.D. of Aberdeen University, besides
being a fellow of several learned societies. His great
won was his Bible Commentarv.

GEORGE FOX.

THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 381

For nearly three centuries the Society of f'riends have
been associated with all that is best in the religious and
social life of our city ; numerically small in size, but
in influence very powerful even to-day. As the
champions of religious and social freedom, they have ever
been in the van of human progress. Their history is
gemmed by world-famous names. In science they have
produced that remarkable man Thomas Young, the dis-
coverer of the undulatory theory of light ; on the social
side Elizabeth Fry, Joseph Lancaster and Joseph Sturge ;
and in politics John Bright ; to say nothing of George
Fox, their founder, and William Penn, the great coloniser.
These are names which would ennoble any religious
body.

George Fox first came to Bristol in 1656, and was
ultimately married to that remarkable woman Margaret
Fell, widow of Judge Fell, on October i8th, i66g, in
Broadmead Chapel. No man at that period strove
more to rise above the religious intolerance and fanaticism
of his age into the pure regions of eternal truth. Fox
has been eloquently described as being " a daring spirit,
yet of matchless patience ; the courage which could brave
violence, yet the gentleness which could disarm hostility
and win prejudice by mild persuasion."

In 1695 his great co-religionist, William Penn, the
founder of Pennsylvania, was married on January 5th,
1696, at the Friend's Meeting House, in the I*"rlar}', to
Hannah Callowhill, a Bristolian. It was during his
residence here in 1697 and 1698 that it is thought he
planned the building of the streets adjoining the Meeting
House, viz. Philadelphia, Penn, HoUistcr and rallowhill
streets. The mother of Penn's wife was the daughter of
Dennis Hollister, on whose ground those streets were

382 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

built. Still in possession of the Friends in Bristol is
the actual lease for a 3'ear of Pennsylvania, granted by
William Penn and his son preparatory to the mortgage
on which several Friends of Bristol and other places
advanced them in 1708 the sum of ;^6,6oo. It w^as also
during Penn's residence in Bristol that he secured James
Logan as his secretary, who accompanied him to Phila-
delphia and ultimately became its Chief Justice and
Governor. Positive proof that he was in Bristol in
1698 is afforded by the fact that his work, Defence of a
Paper entituled " Gospel Truths," &c., is dated " Bristol
the 23rd of the .7th month, i6g8." A copy of this
rare work is in the Bristol collection of the city.

In closing these biographical cameos of great Non-
conformists a word or two must be said of three person-
alities who have given distinction to the Congregational
body, so ably and strongly represented in our city's
religious life. The most famous of these was Robert
Vaughan, D.D., who was born here in 1795 of poor
parentage, and in early life worked as a carpenter. Over-
coming the obstacles of his lowly birth by sheer force of
ability, he ultimately became Professor of History in
University College, London, and later Principal of the
Lancashire Independent College. He founded and held
for many years the position of Editor of the British
Quarterly Review. So distinguished were his services
to Nonconformity, that Mr. Samuel Morley presented
him in 1866, on behalf of a large body of prominent
Dissenters, with a cheque for ;£'3,ooo. Vaughan was
a man of striking personality and great platform power,
which created expectations rarely disappointed. He
was the author of many works and articles, and was
an authority on the life and works of W3'cliff. His

" LITTLE PARSON HARRIS," U. R. THOMAS. 383

soil, R. A. Vaiighan, was the distinguished author of
that remarkable work Hours icitli the Mystics.

A famous member of the Bristol Itinerant Society was
" Little Parson Harris," whose preaching in the adjacent
villages of Bristol was very acceptable, the chapels being
mvariably crowded to hear him. He was called the Boy
Preacher. In 1823 he entered the Independent College
at Hoxton, and after completing his studies became the
minister of the Congregational Church of Epsom, where
he achieved a reputation both for the excellence of his
matter and the eloquence of its delivery. He possessed,
too, considerable literar}- gifts, and won in 1835 a hundred
guineas for the best essay on covetousness, of which,
when published the following year, more than a hundred
thousand copies were sold. In 1837 he was appointed
to the Theological Chair at Cheshunt College, and in
1852 he filled the Presidential Chair of the Congregational
Union. Into his theological teaching he infused a broad
and tolerant spirit of humanity. His death occurred in
1856.

Reference may also be made to one recently removed
from his loved work in Bristol whose memory will ever be
green and who was a fine type of all that i§ best in
Nonconformity, viz. the Rev. Urijah Rees Thomas. As
the first pastor of Redland Park Church, the greater
portion of his life was spent chiefly in promoting religious
and social good. ■ From 1874 he was a member of the old
Bristol School Board, and served successively as Vice-
Chairman and Chairman of that l)()dy, holding the latter
office at his death. No greater or kindlier personality ever
presided over its deliberations, and the deep interest he
took in the child life of our city earned for him the title
of " the children's friend." Hon<jurcd and respected l)y

384 RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS.

all religious denominations of our city he passed away
in igoi to the deep regret of thousands who knew and
appreciated his sterling worth. A memorial in the shape
of a fountain and clock was erected in 1904 on the
Blackboy Hill to commemorate his distinguished services
to the city of his adoption.

^^^1_, S^ic^i^^

Philantliropic and Social
Associations.

xr« irf

CHAPTER XI.

PHILANTHROPIC ASSOCIATIONS.

Edward Colston : his various Bristol charities ; foundation of
Colston School ; death and burial — Richard Reynolds —
John Whitson — Jolin Carr — Thomas White — John
Howard : Burke's estimate of him — Thomas Clarkson —
Mary Carpenter ; eloquent tributes to her memory ; Jier
association with Frances Power Cobbc — Rajah Ram-
Mohun Roy — Sir Francis Freeling — John Loudon
McAdam's residence in Bristol — George Miiller's great
work.

*N dealing with those who have justly and nobly
made Bristol famous as a city of " splendid
charities," it is not intended to survey the whole
of these, but rather briefly to draw attention to those
individuals whose princely gifts have for all time conse-
crated their names and memories in the annals of our
city.

One of the best of Bristol's historians has said,
" John Kyrle is not more ' the man of Ross ' than
Edward Colston is ' the man of Bristol.' " Truly his
name and works are an imperishable memory. He was
born in Bristol November 2nd,* 1636, in Temple Street,
and was the son of an eminent merchant named William
Colston. Following in his father's footsteps, he became

* His birthday being kept up on November 13th is due to the
alteration made in the calendar.

.387

388 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

a merchant, his trading being chiefly with the West
Indies. His crest, the dolphin, is attributed to the story
told that one of his vessels springing a leak, a dolphin
wedged itself in the hole and so saved the ship.

A man of great wealth and princely munificence, he
lived chiefly in London, and only occasionally visited
Bristol, though for a short time he represented her in
Parliament. He was never married, and to those curious
on the subject his beautiful reply was : " Every widow
is my wife and every orphan is my child." Among his
many benefactions to his native city is the splendid alms-
house with chapel attached on St. Michael's Hill, founded
by him in i6gi for the "abiding-place" of twenty-four
aged persons (twelve of each sex). Writing to the
Merchant Venturers, in 1695, to whom was entrusted
the management of it, he says : " The almshouse on
St. Michael's Hill wants some men to fill it ; if you or
anybody know of any persons that are fit to go into it,
I would gladly have them put in. They should be such
that have lived in some sort of decency ; but that a more
especial regard should be had that none be admitted that
are drunkards, nor of vicious life." This letter indicates
the general prudent oversight with which all his bene-
factions were administered. He also helped to found
and endow the Merchants' Almshouse, King Street, in
addition to his many other benefactions.

The most popular institution, however, associated
with his name is Colston School, long since removed
to Stapleton, which formerly occupied the site of
Colston Hall, and was founded by him and opened in
July, 1 7 10, when a special service took place at the
cathedral to mark the event. It provided accommoda-
tion for a hundred boys, and cost its donor ^^ 40,000.

EDWARD COLSTON. 389

Each boy was provided " with a suit of clothes, cap,
tand, shirt, stockings, shoes, buckles and porringer."
The costume they wore was identical with that \\-orn by the
boys of Queen Elizabeth's Hospital to-day. A characteristic
anecdote is told that a poor widow waited on Colston
pleading that her only son might be admitted to the
school. Her request being granted, in gratitude she
declared she would pray that Heaven's blessings might
descend on him, and that when her son grew up she
-would teach him to thank his benefactor. "No!" was the
mild reproof, "we do not thank the clouds for rain, nor
the sun for light, but we thank God, who made both the
clouds and the sun." Among the scholars who attended.
that school was Bristol's greatest genius, Chatterton.

Dying in 1721, in his eighty-fifth year, at his seat
at Mortlake, Surrey, Colston's body was brought to Bristol
by road in a hearse with six horses, attended by eight
horsemen and three mourning coaches, with six horses
to each, the funeral procession taking nearly ten days
to reach Bristol. Here with great state he was interred
at midnight in All Saints' Church. The bells of our
city tolled for sixteen hours on the eventful day. An
effigy to his pious and immortal memory was executed
by the famous sculptor Rysbrach and placed in All
Saints' Church. A beautiful custom still exists of
placing a nosegay of flowers in the bosom of this
effigy of Colston every Sunday, an eloquent token
that "the ashes of the good and just smell sweet,
and blossom in the dust." His recorded benefactions
amount to over ^70,000, besides the many sums given
in secret. A tardy tribute of gratitude to this noble
and great benefactor to his native city was paid in
1895, when a statue was erected to him in Colston

i8a

390 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

Avenue. Of the philanthropic societies which have been
founded in his memory, the three principal, the Dolphin,,
the Anchor, and the Grateful, meet annually on November
13th, when thousands of pounds are collected for
charitable purposes, for which Colston in his lifetime
did so much.

Next to Colston must come the honoured but
largely-forgotten name of the great Quaker philanthropist,
Richard Reynolds. Born in Corn Street in 1735, the
son of an iron merchant, he adopted his father's pro-
fession, and upon his marriage with the daughter of Abram
Darby, became partner in that famous firm, whose great
iron works were situated in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire.
Upon the death of his father-in-law Reynolds took over
the entire control of the works, then the most important
of their kind in England. By his business energy and
sagacity he developed the works in every way, and
amassed subsequently a great fortune. In the year 1804
he settled in Bristol and devoted his wealth to deeds
of unostentatious charity, giving away at least ,^10,000
a }'ear. So extensive were his benefactions through-
out his residence in Bristol, that he employed four
almoners to distribute them to the poor and de-
serving. During his lifetime he is estimated to have
given away quite ^^200,000, exclusive of gifts not included
in his private accounts. He died in 1816 at Cheltenham,
and his remains were brought to Bristol for interment
in the Friends burial-ground in Quakers' Friars, Rosemary
Street. With the exception of Miiller's funeral, no more
affecting ceremony was ever witnessed in our city. The
great concourse who attended from feelings of gratitude,
affection and respect represented all sections of the
community.

ALDERMAN JOHN WHITSON. 391

A memorable and princely merchant of Bristol was
Alderman John Whitson, founder of the Red Maids'
School. Migrating from his birthplace in the Forest
of Dean, and after receiving some education here, he
was apprenticed in 1570 to Nicholas Cutt, a wine
merchant. On the authority of John Aubrey, the Wilts
antiquary, we learn that Whitson was a handsome young"
fellow, and after Cutt's death his widow took a fancy
to him, and calling him into the wine cellar one
day bade him broach the best butt in it for her. This
was a prelude to their marriage, which soon afterwards
took place. At her death he married the beautiful
daughter of an alderman of London. By her he had
a daughter, who inherited her mother's beauty, for she
was accounted the " flower of Bristol." In all he was
a much married man, for he wedded three wives, the
last being the grandmother of John Aubrey. " He kept,"
says Aubrey, "a noble house and did entertain the peers
and great persons that visited the city, and was charitable
in breeding up poor scholars." The residence of Whitson
was at the corner of Nicholas Street, now occupied b}-
Stuckey"s Bank. In civic affairs he ever took a very
prominent part, and was the most influential citizen of
his day. He \\as our times elected one of the Members
of Parliament for Bristol, and there by his unflinching
courage in expressing his opinion on political questions
affecting the interests of our city full}' justified the
wisdom of his election. Owing to the unworthincss of
his relatives, the bulk of his property was bequeathed
for benevolent purposes to the city, chief of which was
the foundation of the Red Maids' School for the main-
tenance and training of forty girls, daughters of freemen,
"to go and be apparelled in red cloth."

392 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

A school of which any city might be proud, Queen
Elizabeth's Hospital, was founded by John Carr, a
wealthy soap boiler of our city, having works both
here and in London. Dying in 1586, he left the major
portion of his property to found a hospital on the
pattern of Christ's Hospital, London. It has been
humorously remarked that the boys there should have
a good Hebrew foundation, seeing that the site of the
school was a Jewish burial-ground.

The generous founder of Zion College, London,
Dr. Thomas White, was a native of Bristol, having been
born in Temple parish. There, in 1613, he charitably
endowed an hospital for the poor which still exists,
the title of which is " The Ancient Brother, the Brethren
and Sisters of the Temple Hospital." At his death he
bequeathed further sums for mending the roads round
Bristol and in giving marriage portions of ;^io each to
four honest maidens, etc. Dr. Thomas White filled
several lucrative offices in the Church, by which his
wealth was acquired. He was an eminent preacher,
and became prebendary of St. Paul's, canon of Christ
Church, Oxford, and a canon of Windsor.

In February, 1774, the dauntless John Hov^^ard, the
great prison reformer, came to Bristol. The need of his
labours in English prisons, to say nothing of those
abroad, is proved by abundant contemporary testimony
to the terrible insanitary condition of those human
dunghills. At the Lent Assizes in Taunton in 1730 some
prisoners who were brought thither from the notorious
gaol of Ilchester infected the court, and Lord Chief
Baron Pengelly, Sir James Sheppard, John Pigot, sheriff,
and some hundreds besides died of gaol fever.

The Newgate prison (formerly standing opposite

JOHN HOWARD AND THOMAS CLARKSON. 30;',

the " Cat and Wheel," Narrow Wine Street), con-
tained at the period of his visit thirty-eight felons
and fifty-eight debtors, the rooms dirty, and the air
offensive from open sewers. There was no bedding,
insufficient water, and the only food two pennyworth of
bread per head daily. Howard afterwards paid several
visits, and in 1787 described Newgate as being "white
without and foul within." On his labours Burke pro-
nounced the following noble eulogy : " He visited all
Europe, not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces, nor
the stateliest of temples, not to make accurate measure-
ments of the remains of ancient grandeur, nor to form a
scale of the curiosities of modern art ; not to collect
medals, nor to collect manuscripts ; but to dive into the
depths of dungeons ; to plunge into the infection of
hospitals, to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain ; to
take the gauge and dimensions of misery, depression, and
contempt : to remember the forgotten, to attend to the
neglected, to visit the forsaken, and to compare and
collate the distresses of all men in all countries."

Howard's great fellow - labourer in the cause of
suffering humanity, Thomas Clarkson, came to J-Jristol
in June, 1787, and commenced his first labours.
Riding into the city on horseback, he says: "Turning a
corner \\ithin about a mile of the city, at about eight in
the evening, I came within sight of it. The weather
was rather hazy, which occasioned it to look of unusual
dimensions. The bells of some of the churches were
then ringing. The sound of them did not strike me till
I turned the corner before mentioned, when it came
upon me at once. It filled me almost direct!}- with a
melancholy for which I could not account. I bc^gan
now to tremble for the first time at the arduous task
m

394 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

I had undertaken of attempting to subvert one of the
branches of the commerce of the great place which was
before me." It was from the landlord of the " Seven
Stars," Temple, that Clarkson derived much valuable
information and assistance in getting up evidence against
the abominable traffic in human flesh. Three or four
slave vessels were at that very time preparing for their
voyages, and through this man he was enabled to visit
the haunts of the seamen who manned those \-essels,
and he revealed too the malpractices used in gathering
their crews.

One of the noblest women of the nineteenth century
was Mary Carpenter, whose life and work are imperishably
associated with our city. Born at Exeter, she was the
eldest of Dr. Lant Carpenter's children. From her ten-
derest years her father exercised a marked influence on
her whole life ; w^hat that influence was has been eloquently
placed on record by Dr. James I\Iartineau and Sir John
Bowring, who were scholars at Dr. Carpenter's school in
Great George Street. The opening of Mary Carpenter's
work came in the year 1833, when the distinguished
Indian reformer, the Rajah Ram-]\Iohun Roy, and Joseph
Tuckerman, the Boston philanthropist, visited the
Carpenters and induced in her a sympathy towards the
condition of Indian women and the uncared-for gutter
urchins who tend to feed the criminal classes of
this country. Her life work is admirably epitomised
in Dr. Martineau's inscription written on her monu-
ment in Bristol Cathedral: "Sacred to the memory
of Mary Carpenter foremost among the founders
of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in this citv and
realm. Neither the claims of private duty, nor the tastes
of a cultured mind, could withdraw her compassionate

MARY CARPENTER, FRANCES P. COBBE. 395

eye from the uncared for children of the streets. Loving
them while yet unlovely, she so formed them to the fair
and good as to inspire others with her faith and hope,
and thus led the way to a national system of moral
rescue and preventive discipline. Taking also to heart
the grevious lot of Oriental women, in the last decade of
her life, she went four times to India, and awakened an
active interest in their education and training for serious
duties. No human ill escaped her pity, nor cast down her
trust : with true self-sacrifice she followed in the train
of Christ, to seek and to save that which was lost, and
bring it home to the Father in heaven. Desiring to
extend her work of piety and love, many ^^•ho honoured
her have instituted in her name some homes for the
homeless young, and now complete their tribute of
affection by erecting this memorial." When she died on
June 14th, 1877, she had seen nearly all accomplished
for which she had so long nobly laboured. Ptinch bore
■eloquent tribute to her memory in the following lines —

" 'Twas she first drew our city waifs and strays
Within the tending of the Christian fold,
With looks of love for the averted gaze

Of a world prompt to scourge and shrill to scoUl.

" From seeds she sowed — in season mattered not,
Or out ; for good all seasons are the same —
Sprang new appliances, of love begot.

Lost lives to save, and errant souls reclaim."

A fellow-labourer here with this noble woman was
the late Frances Power Cobbe, one of the advanced
women who by her fearless advocacy, both by tongue
and pen, did much in her lifetime to ameliorate the
condition of her sex. She was the author of Inindrcds
of articles and many works, including Danvinism in

396 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

Morals, The Peak of Darien, Claims of Women, etc. She
was intimate with all the intellectual men and women
of her time, being on terms of friendship with Tennyson
and Browning. The former on one occasion when she
had lunched with him, said at parting: "Good-bye, Miss
Cobbe ; fight the good fight. Go on ! fight the good
fight." The Married Women's Property Act and the Act
for the judicial separation of a wife from a brutal
husband were largely brought about through her labours.
Not less ardently did she strive for the abolition of
vivisection. A chapter of her Autobiography is devoted
to her Bristol association with the work of her noble
friend, Mary Carpenter.

The distinguished Indian reformer, Rajah Ram-Mohun
Roy,'to whom allusion has been made, was much attached
to the Carpenters, and when he came to England in 1833
said that Lant Carpenter was the man he most desired to
meet. Sad to relate, he died soon after his arrival in
Bristol, and was buried first in the grounds of Miss Castle
at Stapleton Grove ; later, however, his remains werey
exhumed and re-interred in Arno's Vale Cemetery, the
Oriental form and richness of his tomb there being always
an object of attention and interest to visitors. On the
fiftieth anniversary of his death, September 27th, 1883,
the great Eastern scholar. Max Miiller, came to Bristol
and delivered an address on his life and labours.

From the purely social side the name of Sir Francis
Freeling, the postal reformer, born on Redcliff Hill in
1764, deserves remembrance. He commenced his career
in the Bristol Post Office. When in 1785 the system of
mail coaches was introduced, he was appointed to assist
Palmer in carrying it out. Later he entered the London
General Office, where step by step he rose to the highest

Frank Hulincs, Pholu.

GEORGE MULLER.

SIR F. FREELING AND J. L. McADAM. 397

position, that of secretary, A eulogy \vas passed on his
administration by no less a person than the famous
Duke of \\'ellington, who in the House of Lords said
that " the Post Office under his management had been
better administered than any Post Office in Europe,
or any part of the world." He was made a baronet
in 1828. A monument to his memory is in Redcliff
Church.

Among the social benefactors of mankind John
Loudon McAdam, from whom the term '* macadamised "
is derived, has deservedly won a place in the world's
gratitude. In the year 1805 he took up his residence
in Bristol, and became a freeman of the city on paying
a fine of thirty-eight guineas. After many practical
experiments involving the travelling over 30,000 miles
of roads in the United Kingdom, and at a cost to
himself of several thousand pounds, he at length invented
and perfected the system of road-making which bears
his name. In 1815 he was appointed general surveyor
of roads belonging to the Bristol Turnpike Trust, and
under his system the Bristol roads became a pattern for
the road authorities of the world. The need of his
system was amply demonstrated in a letter which
appeared in the Monthly Magazine for 1804: "The usual
method of making or mending roads," said the writer,
" consists in breaking stones out of the neighbouring
quarries into masses not less than the common brick
and spreading them over the line of the road. It may
be conceived with what pain and difficulty a poor horse
drags a carriage over such a track." To the honour of
the House of Commons, they rightly regarded McAdam
as a great benefactor to his countr)-, and made him a
grant of ;;^io,ooo and the offer of a knighthood, the latter

.398 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

of which he decHned. He resided whilst in Bristol both
in Park Street and Berkeley Square.

In an age so sharply divided on spiritual matters as
our own, when, too, rampant agnosticism and infidelity
are ceaselessly warring against the truth of the inspiration
of the Scriptures, it is refreshing to turn away from these
elements of religious strife to the modern apostle of a
living and childlike faith, whose peculiar counterpart
seems now non-existent — the noble and inspiring life and
work of George Miiller. This, one of the world's truest
and grandest philanthropists, whose enduring monument
is his great orphanages on Ashley Down, was the son of a
Prussian exciseman, and was born in 1805. In 1829 he
migrated to England, and in the year following he had
become pastor of a small congregation at Teignmouth at
the modest salary of ;^55 a year. During this same year
he married the sister of a dentist in Exeter. It was
towards the close of this same year that he adopted the
great principle that henceforth ruled the actions of his
long life of ninety-two years, viz. that of entire trust in
God for all his temporal wants, as well as in spiritual
things, the outcome of which was that he absolutely
refused any salary ; nor would he permit pew rents, but a
box for freewill offerings of his congregation was placed
at the door of the chapel.

Two years later he came to Bristol, in 1832, and from
that time forward his life was spent here. Soon after
arriving he started the marvellous work with which his
name will be imperishably associated — the care of the
orphans, modelled on the work of Francke, his countrv-
man, at Halle. Beginning in Wilson Street, St. Paul's,
with a few children, year by year the numbers grew, and
finding further expansion there out of the question, he

GEORGE MULLER. ^99

made the matter a subject of earnest prayer, and in faith
sought Divine guidance, the outcome of which was that
he secured land on Ashlev Down, and one after another
those colossal homes have been erected to the number of
five, at an outlay of no less than ;;rii5,ooo, not a penny
of which was asked for. They house over two thousand
children, who are fed, clothed, and educated at an expen-
diture of something like ^26,000 a }'ear. Where the
financial support comes from for the up-keep of this
unique and world -famed institution is best revealed in
Miiller's own Narrative of the Lord's Dealings with George
Miiller. The remarkable manner in which the land was
acquired on which two of those Homes stand is so charac-
teristic of Miiller's belief in Divine guidance that it is worth
relating :•■• " Mr. Miiller had been making inquiries respect-
ing the purchase of land much nearer Bristol, tlie prices
asked being not less than ;^iooo per acre, when he heard
that the land upon which the Orphan Houses Nos. i
and 2 stand was for sale, the price being ;^200 per acre.
He therefore called at the house of the owner, and was
informed that he was not at home, but that he could be
seen at his place of business in the city. Mr. Muller went
there, and was informed that he had left a few minutes
before, and that he would find him at home. Most men
would have gone off to the owner's house at once ; but
Mr. Muller stopped and reflected, ' Peradventure the Lord,
having allowed nie to miss the owner twice in so short a
time, has a purpose that I should not sec him to-day : and
lest I should be going before the Lord in the matter, I
will wait till the morning.' Accordingly he waited and
went the next morning, when he found the owner at home;

* The following account is taken from Pierson's George Miiller oj
Bristol.

400 PHILANTHROPIC AND SOCIAL.

and on being ushered into his sitting-room, he said : 'Ah,
Mr. Miiller, I know what you have come to see me about.
You want to buy my land at Ashley Down. I had a
dream last night, and I saw you come in to purchase the
land, for which I have been asking ;;^200 per acre ; but
the Lord told me not to charge you more than ;£'i20 per
acre, and therefore if 3'ou are willing to buy at that price
the matter is settled.' And within ten minutes the
contract was signed. ' Thus,' Mr. Miiller pointed out, ' by
being careful to foil ozc the Lord, instesid oi going before His
leading, I was permitted to purchase the land for ^80 per
acre less than I should have paid if I had gone to the
owner the evening before.' "

In 1838 the Biography of George Whitefield inspired
him with the evangelising spirit, and after he had
passed his seventieth birthday he went forth on a world-
wide mission preaching the gospel. During his long
stewardship this great and good man dispensed gifts he
had received to the enormous amount of ;£■!, 500,000, and
during his lifetime, too, he distributed nearly 300,000
copies of the Scriptures. So modest was he, that it was
with the greatest difficulty and after repeated refusals that
he allowed his portrait to be taken, when he was nearly
eighty. The governing principle of his whole life was in
his own words " the exemplifying how much may be
accomplished by prayer and faith." He died on March
loth, i8g8, and was buried in Arno's Vale Cemetery.
The day of his funeral was a memorable one in our city.
No sovereign of earth ever went to his rest amid such a
profound demonstration of love and esteem as attended
that of the great Christian philanthropist, George Miiller.

INDEX.

Acton, Lord, Tribute to Edmund Burke'

325
Actors, Remarkable amateur, in Bristol,

266
Addison, Joseph, 47, 352
African Trade, Beginning of, 12
Ainger, Alfred, 174, 197
Albert, Prince, 35

Aldworth, Alderman Thomas, 14, 15
Aldworth, Robert, 15
Alison, Sir Archibald, 141
American Methodist Church founded, 378
Anecdotes —

Robert Sturmy and the Genoese, 5
Sir Robert Cann and Dudley North,

20
C. J. Harford and Maddox (acrobat),

23
Chatterton and his desire for fame, 58
Macaulay and the donkey cart, 95
Coleridge and the opium habit, 132
James Maitineau and George

Borrow, 167
W. J. Miiller and the stranger artist,

203
Hogarth and Simmons, 208
Bird's Picture, " Tiie Death of Eli,"

209
Petlier and Oliver Goldsmith, 222
The City Chambei lain and Vandyke's

" Ean of Pembroke," 231
Chailes Macklin at Dublin Theatre,

250
Incidents connected with William

Powell's death, 252
John llippisley and James (Juin, 253
Macieady's last appearance in

Bristol, 260
Sir Henry Rawlinson and the

leopard, 339
Claudius James Rich and the Turk,

341
Bishop Warburton and the King's

levte, 354
Dean Heeke and W. J. Miiller, 357
Rev. Sydney Smith and the verger,

357
Rev. Robert Hall and Cambridge, 366
Tyndall's New Testament, 370
Whiiefield and the Kiiigswood

colliers, 3-2
Mayor of Bristol and John Wesley,

375
John Wesley and Southey, 377
Charle- Wesley's "Jesu, lover of.niy

soul," 379
" Angel Gabriel " (ship), 25
Angel. Mrs., ami f;liatterlon, 80, Hi
Arrowsinith, J. W., 196, 197
Art Gallery, Biistol, 231
Artists, " Hrisiol School " of, 220
Athcnittim, The, i6j
Aubiey, John, 391
Ayala, Pedro de, 8

Bagehot, Waller, 161
Bahama Islanii'^, 28
Bdily, li. H., 1)^, 136, 2o(), 207
Baker, Sir Samuel, 342

Bancroft, George, 14

Banks, Sir Joseph, 288

Baptist College, Bristol, Literary and

Artistic Treasures in, 232, 371
Baplist Mills, Brass Works at, 31
Barbauld, Mrs. (quoted), 89, 120
Barham, Rev. R. H. (" Ingoldsby "), 1O4,

165
Barker, .Andrew, 12, 13
Barrett, William, 60, 63, 81, iSo
Bayne, Martin, 262
Baynes, T. S., 369
Beaconslield, Viscountess, 330, 331
" Bear " (ship), 13
Becher, .\ldernian Michael, 233
Beckford, Lord Mayor, 80
Beddoe, Dr. John, 30S
Beddoes, Dr. Tnomas, no, iiS, 119, 142,

2G9, 270, 273-275,278, 279
Beddoes, Thomas Lovell, 119, 120
Beddome, Rev. Benjamin, 363
Beeke, Henry (Dean), 357
Belzoni, G. H.. 24
Berkeley, Hon. V. H. F., 329
Besant, Sir Walter, 193
Biggs, N., 126
Bird, Kdward, 209, 210
Birrell, Right Hon. Augustine, 162, 336, 374
Black, William, 194, 195
Blake, William, 54, 224
Blanket family, 6
Blatchford, Rev. A. N., 183
Blore Kdward, 224, 223
Bone, Henry, 230
Borrow, George, 167
Bowdich, T. E., 287, 343
Bowring, Sir John, 167, 170, 331—333
Branwhite, Charles, 219, 220
Branwhite, Nathan, 219
Brett, J. W, 282, 283
Brislington, New, 47

Bright, Dr. Richaid, 295,296
Bright, Henry, 120
Bristol-
Centre of intellectual life, 43
Foundation of her greatness, 3
Afayor of and John Wesley, 375
Reformation in, 348
" Second city in the kingdom," 35
Wealth and Status of in seventeenth
cenmry, 19

Bristol China, 227 — 230

Bristol Diamonds, 45, 46

Bristol Milk, 40

Bristol Museum, 285— 287

Bristol Red, 349

Broderip, W. J., 142, 181, 287

BroMie, Charlotte, 137

Biooklicld, .Mrs., 148, 149

Broughton, Loid, 327

Broughlon, Rev. Thomas, 239

Brown, T. E., 148

]{i owning, Robert, 119, 145, 168

Brunei, I. K., 32, 33, 35

Buckingham, Duke of, 24

Buckland, Dr., 287

Bndd, Dr. William, 173, 294, 295

Bunyan, John, liis Concordance, 371

Bnignin, llt-nry, Co

Bnike, Kdniund, 87,228, 229 323— J27.393

401

402

INDEX.

Burnet, George, loo

Burney, Fanny, 87, 186

Burns, Robert, Poem on his death by

Coleridge, 118
Bush Inn, igo, 210, 325
Bushe, Paul (Bishop), 349
Butler, Joseph (Bishop), 353, 354
Byron, Lady, 147
Byron, Lord, 103, 147, 190, 327

Cabots, The, 7—10

Cabot Tower, 8

Cadell, Thomas, 49

Called Back, 196, 197

Callender, W. R., 29

Camden Society, The, 41, 43

Campbell, Dr. John (quoted), 8

Campion Court, 192

Canary Islands, Risks of trading with

the, 13
Cann, Sir Robert, 20, 21
Canning, Elizabeth, 256, 257
Canning, George, 103, 256, 257
Canynges, William, 5, 6, 57
Carlyle, Thomas, 137, 149, 150
Carpenter, Dr. Lant, 167, 333
Carpenter, Mary, 147, 394, 395
Carpenter, P. P., 290
Carpenter, W. B., 283, 288—290
Carr, John, 392
Cary, John, 21, 22
Castle, Thomas, 170
Catcott, Rev. A. S., 60, 67, 70, 288, 354
Catcott, G., 116, 117
Catcott, G. S., 60, 62, 68, 70
Cathedral, Bristol, 51, 143, 170
Cave, Sir Stephen, 329
Caxton, William, 43,371
Caxtons, The, 191

Champion, Richard, 214, 227 — 230, 324
Charles I. and Colonisation Schemes

14, 17
Charlton, Andrew, 17

Chatterton, Monody on, by Coleridge, 109
Chatterton, Thomas, 53—84, 251, 300, 355
Chaucer, Geoffrey (quoted), 42
Chesney, Dora, 198
Chesterfield, Earl of, 373
Child of Bristoici, The, 41
Child, William, 237
China, Bristol, 227 — 230
Church, Dean, 161
City School, 392
Clarke, Dr. Adam, 380
Clarkson, Thomas, 393, 394
Clayfield, Michael, 67, 68
Clifton, Celebrities connected with —

Banks, Sir Joseph, 288

Barham, Rev. R. H. (" Ingoldsby "),
164, 165

Beddoes, Tliomasand T. L., 118, 119

Black, William, 194, 195

Bowring, Sir John, 170

Brown, T. E., 14S

Burney, Fanny, 186

Carlyle, Thomas, I49,'I50

Combe, William, 175

Crabbe, George, 146

Davy, Sir Humphry, 118

De Qiiincey, Thomas, 129

Dobell, Sydney, 147, 148

Draper, Mrs. (Sterne's " Eliza"), 143

Draper, Sir William, 307 — 309

Edgeworth, Maria, 141, 142

Elton, C. I., 149

Elton, Sir Charles, 148

Elwin, Whitwell, 179

Goldney, Philip, 311, 312

Green, Mrs., 254

Hallani, Henry, 166

Hesketh, Lady, 143

Hichens, Robert, 198

Jowett, Benjamin, 153

Kingsley, Charles, 187

Landor, W. S., 133

Lawrence, Lord John and Sir Henry,
305 et seq.

Lean, Vincent Stuckey, 172

Lee, Harriett and Sophia, 187, 259

Macaulay, Lord. 93

Marshall, Mrs. Emma, 197

Martineau, Harriett, 169

Maurice, Rev. F. D., 162, 163

Mitford, Miss Mary, 170

More, Hannah, 97

Morris, Judge O'Connor, 173

Nairne, Lady, 145

Pearsall, R. L., 239

Pope, Alexander, 48, 49

Robinson, Crabb, 170

Roget, Peter, 118

Rossetti family, 148

Ruskin, John, 150

Sharpies family, 233, 234

Sortain, Rev. Joseph, 165

Sterling, John, 149

Symonds, Dr. and J. A., 151, 152, 293

Tennyson, Lord Alfred, 147

Thrale, Mrs. (Piozzi), 149

Wedgwood, Thomas, 118

Winkvvorth, Catherine and Susannah,
171

Yearsley, Ann, 97
Cloth Mart, Bristol, 6
Coalfield, Bristol, Sanders' Map of, 286
Cobbe, Frances Power, 167 395, 396
Cole, Thomas, 17
Coleman, George, 140
Coleridge, Hartley, no, 129
Coleridge, Mrs., 124

Coleridge, S. T., 63, 83, 96, 100—106,
108 — 118, 120 — 132, 135, 138, 221, 235,
256, 272, 274—279
College Street, Lodgings of Coleridge

and Southey in, 103
Collins, Samuel, 219
Colston, Edward, 222, 387 — 390
Colston, William, 15, 24
Columbus, 10
Combe, William, 175 — 177
Commerce, Bristol, 3 et seq.
Conscious Lovers, The, 246, 251
" Constaniine " (shipj, 29
Consort, The Prince, 35
Conway, Hugh (F. J. Fargus), 195 — 197
Cook,T. H., 177, 178
Cookworthy, William, 227, 228, 230
Cooper, Samuel, 232
Cornford, Cope, 198
Cossham, Handel, 335
Cote House, Westbury-on-Trym, 112,207
Cottle, Amos, 103, 127
Cottle, Joseph, 47, 96, 99, 100, 102 — 104,

107, 108, 114 — 117, 122, 123, 125, I27j,

129—132. 134 — 136, 139, 170, 2;6, 278
"Council for New England, The," :6
Cowper, William, 143, 205, 373
Cox, David, 202. 216
Crabbe, Rev. George, 146
Cromwell, Oliver, Miniature of, 232
Crosse, Andrew, 181, 282
Cross, High, 46
Cumberland, George, 224
Cunard, Sir Samuel, 34
Cunningham, Allan, 135, 209
Cunningham, Dr. W. (quoted) 10

INDEX.

403

Dagge, Abel, 50

Dampier, William, 26

Danby, Francis, 212, 213, 217

Danby, J. F., 213

Danby, Thos., 213

Darby, Abraham, 31

Darby, Mary, 254 — 256

Dart, Miss, 207

Davy, Sir Humphry, 112, 118, 125, 126,

13S, 255, 269 — 280
Defoe, Daniel, 4, 27, 30, 184, 185
De Morgan. Augustus, 281, 282
Denmark, King of, 5
De Quincey, 96, 114, 124, 129, 130
Dickens, Charles, 146, 190, 261, 266
" Discoverer " (ship), 14
Disraeli, Benjamin, 213, 229, 330
Dix, W. Chatterton, 170
Dobell. Sydney, 147, 148
Dodd. \V. J., 257
Dover, Dr. Thomas, 2;, 299
Dowden, Prof. E., 139
Downs, Clifton, Description of, by W,

Black, 194, 195
Doyle, Sir Conan, 198
Draper, Mrs., 143
Draper, Sir William, 307 — 309
Duflerin, Nfarquis of, 8
"Duke of London " (ship), 28
" Duke " and " Duchess '' (ships), 26 — 28
Dyer, George, 127

"Eagle" (ship), 24

Eagles, Rev. John, 181, 210, 220, 221, 224

Eagles, Thomas, 188, 189

East Lvnne, 192, 193

Eden, Rev. C. P., 359

Edgeworth, Anna, 142, 271, 272

Edgeworth, Maria, 141, 274

Edward III., Bristol in time of, 4

Edwards, Amelia B , 193

Elbridge, Giles, 24

EUicott, Charles John (Bishop), 356

Elton, C. I., 149

Elton, Richard, 316

Elton, Sir Charles, 148

Elvey, Sir G. J., 242

Elwin, Whitwell, 179

Estlin, Dr. John Prior, 120, 293, 297

Estlin, John Bishop, 120, 162, 170, 297

Estlin, Miss, 120, 168, 169

Etheridge, Robert, 285, 286

Evans, John, 182

Evans, William, 218

Evelina, 186

Evelyn, John, 44

Fair, St. James's, 6, 22, 23

Fall 0/ Robespierre, The, loi, 102

Falstafl, Sir John, 42

FarguR, F. J. (Hugh Conway), 195—197

Farr, Thomas, 324

Fine Arts Academy, 233, 234

Finzel, Conrad, 36

FlaxiTian, John, 206

Flemish W cavers, 6

For Faith or Ficeilom, 193

Forman, II. Buxton, 54, 55

Forsytli, Capt., 29

Fosbrooke, William, 264

Foster, Rev. John, 367

Fowler, Jolin, 44

Fox, George, 381

Freeliiig, Sir Francis, 396, 397

Freeman, E A., 96

Freemasons' Hall, 206

pricker, The Sisters, 102, 104

" Friend of India" founded, 368

Friends, Society of, 381, 382

Fripp, A. D., 216, 217

Fripp, C. E., 216

Fripp, G. A., 215, 216

Frobisher, Martin, 13

Fry, Albert, 153

Fry, Dr., 82

Fry, Francis, 172, 229

Fuller, Thomas, 12, 19

Furse, C. W., 225

Gainsborough, Thomas, 232

Gardiner, John, 58

Garrick, David, 8; — 90, 246 — 248, 251

Gay, John, 251

George, William, 83

Gifford, Dr. .Andrew, 232, 364, 370

Gilbert, Davies, 272, 273

Giitvra De^li Ahitten, Story 0/ (poem),.

by J. A. Symcnds, 154 — 161
Girdlestone, Rev. Edward, 361
Gladstone, W. E,, 89, 163, 335
Godwin, E. W., 225, 226
Godwin, William, 187, 255, 373
Goldney, Philip, 311, 312
Goldsmith, Oliver, 222
Gorges, Sir Ferdiiiando, 14 — 17
Gosse, Ednmnd, 119
Gotch, Dr., 370
Grain, Corney, 241, 242
Grammar School, Bristol, 11
Granger, Rev. James, 18
Gray, Thomas, 51

" Great Britain " (steamship), 35, 170, 265
"Great House," Redclifi Street, 6
"Great House," St. Augustine's Back, 17
"Great Western" (steamship), 31 — 33, 14&
Great \\ esiern Railway, Birth of, 31, 32
Green, Mrs. J. R., (quoted) 5
Grocyn, William, 43
Gryffitlis, John, 42
Guayaquil, 27
Gulliver's Travels, 185
Gutch, J. M., 128
Guy, John, 15
Guy, Philip, 15

Hakluyt, Richard, 11, 13, 349, 350

Hall, Rev. Robert, 191,340, 364, 365 — 367

Hallam, Arthur, 166

Hallam, Henry, 166

Hallam, Miss, 254

Hancock, Robert, 221

Handel, G. F., 239

" Harris, Little Parson,'' 383

Harris, Rene, 242

Harrison, Frederick, 153

Harrisse, Henry, 10

Hare, Miss, 162

Haiford, C. J., 23

Harford, J. S., 172

Harwood, Philip, 178

Hazlitt, William, 114, 121, 122

Henderson, John, 100

Henley, W. K., 148

" Hem ictta Maria " (ship), 17

Henry IV., 4

Henry \'\l., 7

Henry VIII., lOj 11, 12

Herapatli, William, 298, 299

Herapath, W. B., 299

Hesketh, I.ady, 143

Hichens, Robert, 198

High Cross, 46

Minds, Samuel (Bishop), 336

Hintoii, Jolm Howard, 369

404

INDEX.

Hippisley, Jane, 254

Hippisley. John, 253

Hobhouse family, 327, 328

Hogarth, William, 208, 209

Holland, Charles, 252

Holland, Lady, 35S

" Honour of Bristol, The " (ballad), 25

Hooke, Humphrey, 15, 17, 24

Horton's Illuitrative Gatheytngs, Miss P.,

241
Hotwells, Described by Pope, 48, 49
Hotwell Water, Export of, 30
Houghton, Lord, 151, 197
Howard, John, 392
Hudson, Dr. Charles Thomas, 284
Hume. David, 47
Humphry Clinker, 185, 186

Inchbald, E'izabeth, 257

" Ingoldsby " (Rev. R. H. Barham), 164,

165
Ironware, First cast in Bristol, 31
Irving, Sir Henry, 264 — 266

Jack's Courtship, 194

Jackson, Miles, 17

Jackson, Samuel, 217

Jackson, S. P., 217, 218

James I., 16

James, Capt. Thomas, 17, 18

Jay, John, H

Johnson, Dr., 47, 51, 53, 87—89, 149, 248

Journal of Llewellyn Penrose, Seaman,

188-190
Jowett, Benjamin, 153, 168
Juan Fernandez, Island of, 26, 185

Kater, Henry, 280, 281

Kaye, John (tjishop), 356

Kemble, Fanny, 249

Kenyon, John, 144, 145 181, 282

King, John, 218, 219

King, Thomas, 254

Kingsley, Charles, 163, 1S7

Kingsvveston, 24

Kington, J. B., 179

Knibb, William, 369

Knight, Profe^isor, 113 (note)

Knight, Rev. W., 151, 187

Knight, Sir John, 20

Knowle, John Wesley at, 378, 379

Lacy, Walter, 265

Lake, John (Bishop), 351

Lamb, Charles, 109, 114, 122, 127, 128,149,

174, 221, 258, 299
Lamb, Mary, 121
Lambert, John, 59, 68, 79
Landor, Walter Savage, 132 — 134, 136, 139,

145. 148, UQ, 185
Langland, William, 41
Lardner, Dr., 33
Latimer, Hugh, 348, 349
Latimer, John, 25, 50, 182, 183, 351
Lawrence, Lord John and Sir Henry,

305—307
Lawrence, Sir Thos., 205, 206, 212, 232,

248, 249
Layard, Sir Austen, 340
Lean, Vincent Stuckey, 172
Lee, Harriett, 187, 259
Lee, Mrs. Sarah, 287,288
Lee, Rev. Samuel, 359, 360
Lee, Sophia, 239

Leech, Joseph, 180

Lee-.Metford Rifle, 318, 319

Leigh Court pictures, 232

Lennox, Lady Sarah, 312, 313
I Leslie, C. R., 130
i Lewis, Wyndham, 330
I Library, Centjal, 109, 172, 233

Library, King Street, 105, 115, 116, 141

Life of Nelson, by Soutliey, 134

Lindsay's History of Merchant Shipping
(quoted), 8

Lloyd, Charles, iid, hi, 122, 123

Locke, John, 22, 46

Lo^an, James Chief Justice, 382

LoEiijfellow, H. W., 146, 147

Lonsdale, William, 284, 285

Lord .Mayoi 's Chapel, 170

Lovell, Robert, 100

Lucas, Samuel, 177, 192, 193

Lydgate, John, 41

L\rical Ballads, ^7, 94, 114, 123, 124

Lytton, Lord, 191, 261

Macaulay, Lord, 21, 91 — 96, 177, 179

Macaulay, Selina, 91, 92

Macaulay, Zacchary, 92

Mackintosh, Sir James, 365, 36G

Macklin, Charles, 249, 250

Macready, W. C, 260, 261

Maddox, Mr., 23

Madrigal Society, Bristol, 239 — 240

Maine (New England), 17

Malmesbury, William of, 4

Malpas, Thomas, 84

Manilla Hail, 307, 30S

Mansel, W. Lort ( i.ishop), 35";

Marat, Jean Paul, 336

Marlborough, Duchess of, 352

Marriott, Charles, 198

Marshall, Emma, 197

Marshman, Dr. Joshua, 368

Martineau, Dr. James, 120, 167 — 169, 394

Martineau, Harriett, 169

" Mary of Guildford" (ship), 11

Mason, A. E. W., 198

Mason, William, 51

Mathews, E. R. Norris, 115

" Matthew" (ship), 7

Matthew, Tobias (.Archbishop), 349

Maurice, Rev. F. D., 162 — 164, 174

May, John, 279

Mayor's Kalemiar, 43

McAdam, John Loudon, 3^7

Merchant Venturers' Society, 16, 24

Metford, William Ellis, 318, 319

Millar, Andrew, 49

Miller, Michael, 47

Milles, Dean, 63, 67

Mills, Selina, 91 — 93

Milton, John, Parailise Lost, 371

Mitford, Mary, 86, 170

Monk, J. H. (Bishop), 94, 360

Montagu, Mis., 87

Moore, Thomss, 358

More, Hannah, 85 — 98, 130, 173, 247, 248,

252, 324, 325
Morgans, Friends of Coleridge, 132
Moriey, Samuel, 330, 382
Monnuti Chronicle, no
Morocco, Trade with, 12
Morris, Judge O'Connor, 173, 174, 295
Moseley, Rev. Henry, 360
Mtiller, George, 36, 398, 399, 400
Miiller, J. S., 286

Miiller, W. J., 201—205, 216, 220, 357
Murchison, Sir Roderick, 285
Museum, Bristol, 285 — 287
Myrrour of Dames, The, 43

INDEX.

405

Nairne, Lady, 145

Napier, Col. George, 312, 313

Narraway, Mr., 207

Nasmyth, James, 34

Nelson. Lord, 207, 318

New England, 13 — 18

Newfoundland, 7, 15, 16

Newgate, 376, 392

Newman, Francis, 174

New Testament, Tyndale's rare transla-
tion, 34S, 370

Newton, Mrs. (sister of Chatterton), 136

Newton, Thomas (Bishop), 355

Xicholis Gate, St., Wesley's adventure
at, 376

Nicholls, J. F., 182

Nineveh Marbles in Art Gallery, 233

Noble, John, 324

Norris,John Pilkington(.\rchdeacon), 361

North, Christopher, 124

North, Dudley, 20, 21

North, Roger, 21

North-West Passage, 10, 11, 13, 17

Norton, Tliomas, 4G

Norton, William, 43

Nott, Dr. John, 299

Osborn, Sir George, 141

Paganini, 242

Pantisocratic scheme, too, loi

Pasqualigo, Lorenzo, 9

Pass, A. C, 84

Paterson, William, 19

Patterson, William, 33, 35

Pearsall, Robert Lucas, 239, 240

Pebody, Charles, 180

Pembroke, Earl of, Picture of, 231

Penn, Admiral Sir William, 316, 317

Penn, William, 381, 382

Penrose. Llcn'cltyn, Journal of , 188—190

Pepys, Samuel, 45, 46, 237

" Perdita," 86, 2';4— 256

Pether, William, 221, 222

Peto, Sir S. M., 334

Phillips, Henrv, 240, 241

Philli|)s. J. O. ilalliwell, 246, 369

Phillijis, Thos., 59, 63

Phillips, W. L., 241
Pickhick Papers, The, 190, 191
Piers Plo-LL'man, 41

Pinney, John, 113

Piozzi, Mrs., 149

Pirate, The, 186

Pitt, William (Earl of Chatham), 308, 309

Pitt, William (Jr.), 176, 314, 367

PlinisoU, Samuel, 36

Pneumatic Institute, 118, 269 — 280

Pocock, Isaac, 215, 259

Pocock. Nicholas, 214, 215

Poe, Edgar Allan, 139, 188

Ponton, Mungo, 231

Poole, Paul Falconer, 2jo, 211

Poole, Thomas, 109, iii, 117

Poor Law Union, IJristol, 22

Pope, Alexander, 47—49

Pophain, Lord Chief Justice, 14

Porter, Dr. W. O., 223

Porter, Jane, 186

Porter, Sir Robert Ker, 222—224

Powell, William, 251, 252

Prichard, Dr. James Cowlcs, 151, 162,
292, 293

Priestley, Joseph, 274, 275

" Prince Frederick " (sliip), 28

Pring, Martin, 13—15

Pritchard, Mrs., 254

Privateering, 24 — 29

Prout, J. S., 220

Pryce, George, 182

Punch's lines on Mary Carpenter, 395

Purchas's Pilgrims, quoted, 13

Purvey, John, 348

Pusey, Dr. E. B., 360

Pyne, J. B., 201, 213, 214

Quakers, 381, 382

Quantocks, The, 113

Queen Elizabeth's Hospital (City School),

392
Quick, John, 257
Quiller-Couch, A. T., 194
Quin, James, 250, 253

" Ragged Staff " (ship), 13
Railway, Great Western, 31, 32
Ram-Mohun Roy, Rajah, 396, 398
Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 233, 301, 339, 340
Redcliff Church, 6, 8, 56, 104, 170, 194
Red Lodge, Purchased by Lady Byron,

147
Red Maids School, Founder of, 391
Redmond, Thomas, 219
Redwood, Robert, 349
Reed, Alfred, 242
Reed, Mrs. German, 241, 242
Reed, Thomas German, 241
Reynolds, Richard, 31, 390
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 87, 205, 21;, 22if

232, 313
Ricart, Robert, 43
Rich, Claudius James, 340, 341
Richard the KedcUss. 41
Rignold, William, 264
Riots, Bristol, 146, 161, 187, 188
Roberts, Lord, 313
Roberts, Sir Abraham, 313
Robinson, Crabb, 145, 170, 176
Robinson Crusoe, 27, 46, 185
Robinson, John (Bishop), 351
Robinson, Mary, 86, 254—256
Rodney Stone, lyS
Rogers, Capt. Woodes, 26—28, 185
Roget, Dr. Peter, 118
Romilly, Sir Samuel, 336
Rossetti, Danle Gabriel, 148
Rowley Poems, 63—67
Rummer Tavern, 108
Ruskin, John, 150, 151
Russell, Clark, 194
Ryland, John, 364
Ryland, Jonathan Edwards, 365
Ryland, Rev. John Collett, 363, 364

St. James's I'air, G, 22, 23

St. Peter s Church, 50

Saintsbury, George, 119

" Samson " (ship), 11

Sanders, William, 286

Savage, Richarti, 50, 238

Scott, Hell, 211

Scott, Sir Waiter, 138, 186, 209, 225, 331

Sea lights, 25, 29

" Sea Forest House," 15

Seeker, Thomas (Archbishop), 352

Sedgwick, Amy, 264

Selkirk, Alexander, 27, iHi

Seyer, Kev. Samuel, 144, 180, iHi, 222

Shakespeare, William, 245

Sharpies, Mrs. F:llen. 233, 231

Shelley, P. B., 137. M5

Shepstone, Sir Thcophilup, 313

Sheridan, R. I!., 259, 260

406

INDEX.

She Stoops to Conquer, 252

Shirelianipton, 43

Shoe Lane Workhouse, 82

Siddons, Sarah, 96, 205, 245, 248, 249

Simmons, John, 208

Slave Trade, 26

Smalridne, George (Bishop), 46, 352

Smith, James Greig, 301

Smith, Joseph, 229, 324

Smith, Rev. Sydney, 221, 357, 358

Smith, Richard, 300

Smith, VV. T., 301

Soap Manufacture in Bristol, 19

Sortain, Rev. Joseph, 165, 166

Southey, Dr. H. H., 296, 297

Southey,- Robert, 96, too— 105, 107, in—
113, 115, :i7, n8, 125, 131— 139, 145, 147,
148, 221, 272, 274, 276, 279, 354, 377

Spanish Armada, The (quoted), 94, 95

" Speedwell " (ship), 14

Splendid Spur, The, 194

Spycer's Hall, Welsh Back, 5

Stanley, Dean, 307

Stationers' Company, 43, 50

Stephen, Sir Leslie, 187

Sterling, John, 149 --151, 162

Stevenson. R. L., 138, 153, igi, 192

Stokes, Sir George, 282

Stradling, Sir John, 44

Stiaiii^e Adventures of a House-boat,
Downs described in, 194, 195

Stuart, Sir John (Count of Maida), 316

Sturmy, Robert, 5

Sugar Trade, 29, 44

Sullivan, Barry, 262, 263

Suspension Bridge, Clifton, 32

Swete, Dr., 161

Swinburne, A. C, 120

Swinburne, Henry, 341

Syer, John, 225

Symonds, Dr. John Addington, 151, 293

Symonds, John Addington, 138, 151 — 161

Tarleton, Colonel, 255

Taylor, John (historian), S3, 1S2

Taylor, John (publisher), 46

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 123, 147, 163,

164, 166, 168, 261, 305, 396
Tennyson, Frederick, 147
Thackeray, W. M., 138, 165, 166, 208, 209,

Thelwall, John, no
Thistlethwaite, James, 63
Thomas, J. Havard, 330
Thomas, j\Irs. Herbert, 207
Thomas, Rev. Urijah Rees, 383, 384
Thomas, William (Bishop), 350
Thornbury, G. VV., 178, 179
Thorne, Nicholas, 11, I2
Thorne, Robert, 10 — 12
Thornhill, William, 298
Thwaites, G. H. K., 2S3, 284
Times, The, 134, 149, 176, 177, 178, 193
Tintern: Lines -..critten rtiore, by Words-
worth, 123
Tobacco Trade, Bristol, 20
Tobin, George, 317, 318
Tobin, James, 124
Tobin, John, 258, 272, 274
Towgood, Richard, 350
" Tracts for the Times," 359
Treasure Island, igi, 192
Treiawney, Jonathan (Bishop), 350
Trollope, Frances, 1S8
Tucker, Josiah (Dean), 355
Tuckerman, Joseph, 391.
Turner, J. M. VV., 207

Turner, Thomas, 298

Tyndale, William, 348, 370

Tyndale, William (copy of his New

Testament), 172, 370
Tyndall, John, 294, 295

University College, Bristol, 153, 171
Utrecht, Treaty of, 352

Vandyke, Peter, 221
Vandyke, Sir Anthony, 231
Vaughan, Dr. Robert, 382
" Victoire " (ship), 29
Virginia, 13—16

Wade, Josiah, 130, 131
Walker, Sir C. P. B., 310
Walpole, Horace, 61, 62, 8g
Warburton, William (Bishop), 354
Watchman, The, Publication of, 103, 108,

109
Watt, Gregory, 270
Watts, Dr. Isaac, 51
Watts-Dunton, Theodore, S3
Waverley Novels, 187
Weare, G. E. (note), 323
Weatherly, F. E., 265
Wedgwood, Josiah (The Potter), 228
Wedgwood, The Brothers, 112, 118, iig,

122, 270, 274
Wellington, Duke of, 315, 316, 397
Wesley, Charles, 51, 23S, 378, 379, 380
Wesley, Charles (jun.), 238, 239
Wesley, John, 238, 353, 373—379
Wesley, Samuel, 238
Westbury-on-Trym, in, 112, 193
Westbury-on-Trym, College of, 6, 42
Whately, Richard (Archbishop), 356
"What shadows we are, and what

shadows we pursue," origin of, 327
Whistler, J. A. McNeill, 226, 266
White, Dr. Thomas, 392
White, Kirke, 136
" White Lion" Inn, 166, 205
White, Sir George, 84
Whitelield, George, 371 — 373, 375
Whitehead, William, 254
Whitson, Alderman John, 14, 391
Whittingham, Sir S^mford, 313—315
Wilberforce, William, 172
Willis, H. Brittan, 214
Wine Trade, Bristol, 29
Winkworth, Catherine, 171
Winkvvorth, Susannah, 171
Winterstoke, Lord, 231
Wood, Anthony (quoted), 44
Worboise, E. J., Iy2
Wordsworth, Dorothy, 114, 115, 123, 124,

I2e
Wordsworth, William, 114, 115, 122 — 126,

221, 277
Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel, 140, 141
Wulfstan, Bishop, 347
Wycliff, John, 348
Wyrcestre (Botoner), William, 42

Yarranton, Andrew, ig

Yea, L. W. G., 309, 310

Yearsley, Ann, 96, 97, 142

Young, Sarah (mother of Chatterton), 84

Young, Thomas, 43

Zangwill, Israel, igS

Zion College, London, Founder of, 392

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