THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
FRANCIS -WILSON
)
CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS, JTAT 75.
from the last Photograph, taken iy
CHARLES WATKINS.
THE LIFE
07
CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS
CHIEFLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
SELECTIONS FROM HIS CORRESPONDENCE AND SPEECHES
EDITED BY
CHARLES DICKENS
in
VOL. I.
MACMILLAN AND CO.
1879
The Right of Translation is reserved.
College
Library
PN
v.l
PREFACE.
IN preparing for the press the autobiographical chapters
which were left by the late CHARLES MATHEWS, and in
selecting from among the very large mass of his papers
and letters such documents as I thought would best
illustrate his life, I have kept one object steadily in view.
It has been my endeavour throughout to discover, from
the indications left by himself, on what lines he would
probably have constructed the work had he lived to
complete it, and especially, where it was at all possible,
to allow him to tell his own story, in his own way, and
in his own words. With but very few exceptions every
letter or paper included or quoted in these volumes was
.found in the box marked "Materials for the book,"
which was entrusted to my care by CHARLES MATHEWS'S
family after his death.
CHARLES DICKENS.
May, 1879.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
CHAPTEK I.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY AN APOLOGY FOR THE LIFE OF CHARLES
JAMES MATHEWS. 1803-1819.
Mathews's apology pro vita sua Determination to write his life
Diaries Character of Mrs. Mathews the elder Mathews's
"birth at Liverpool A question of noses Mr. and Mrs.
Mathews return to London Twig Hall The little
parson Preparatory schools A whipping and the Duke
of Sussex Sent to Merchant Taylors' School A breakfast
at the Mansion House, and a masquerade at Covent Garden
Difficulties with Dr. Cherry, and removal to Dr. Charles
Richardson's private school at Clapham A happy
schoolboy and judicious master SchoolfelloAvs First
theatrical experiences An amateur prompter .
CHAPTER II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY PUGIN'S PUPIL, 1819-1823.
Mathews leaves school A pattern pupil Choice of a pro-
fession John Xash and Augustus Pugin A student
of architecture Ivy Cottage A visit to Paris First
vi CONTEXTS.
appearance on any stage An amateur performance at the
English Opera House Bill of the play An accident and
a brilliant success Advice of the elder MatheAvs
Anecdotes illustrative of his character A proposal from
Lord Blcssington Visit to Ireland Mountjoy Forest . 36
CHAPTER III.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1823.
Kindness of Pugin and Soane The journey to Ireland Lord
Blessington's building projects Suggestion of a foreign
tour Gratefully accepted by Mathews and his father
First appearance as Jeremy Diddler .... 65
CHAPTER IV.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY FIRST VISIT TO ITALY, 1823-1824.
The journey Travelling companions Crossing the Simplon
Precautions against cold In search of a dinner at Milan
Difficulties en route Italian country quarters Lord
Blessington's dilemma -- Amateur fresco painting at
Borghetto The Pope's nuncio Arrival at Naples The
Palazzo Belvedere Lady Blessington, Count D'Orsay, and
Miss Power The saloon at the Belvedere Mathews as
an imitator The peasant, the improvisatore, and the
priest The tarantella Lord Blessington's fear of
catching cold Pompeii and Pnestum Good company at
the Belvedere Dr. Quin, Dr. Madden, and Sir William
Gell An Italian count at Epsom Dr. Madden's character
of Mathews A summer storm Difficulty between
CONTENTS. vii
Mathews and Count D'Orsay Intervention of Madden
and Lord Blessington Diplomacy and a reconciliation . 77
CHAPTER V.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824.
Lord Blessington reports progress to the elder Mathews His
character of Charles Masquerading at the Belvedere
Letter from the elder Mathews Count Boruwlaski
"Little" Knight The visit to Ptestum A letter from
the crater of Vesuvius The visitors' book The Irishman
and the brigand Illness of Miss Power More imitations
Domestic life at the Belvedere Pedestrian excursions
Mathews among the peasants A question of money
Generosity of Mathews's parents News from Naples
Count D'Orsay to Mathews 121
CHAPTER VI.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN WALES, 1824-1826.
Return to London At work in Parliament Street First love
Miss Purves Intimacy with Sir John Soane His
domestic troubles The Welsh Iron and Coal Mining
Company Mathews engaged as architect Removes to
Wales Mr. Verbeke and Mr. John Gray An odd
invitation to lunch Cupid His description of the
journey to Wales Mathews in the hunting field
"Cader Idris " and "Jenny Jones" John Parry
Difficulties with the Coal and Iron Company A little
bill John Wilks and the ^Egis Insurance Company-
Return to London . .... 166
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826.
PAGE
Letter from the elder Mathews Letter to Miss Purves
Difficulties of the Welsh language Mines of Coed
Talwn The natives and native produce John Gray's
requirements, visitors, and live stock A " numerous "
director Mathews as a song writer " The Mad Arith-
metician " Lord Blessington at Bangor Another song
Mrs. Mathews and Miss Purves Separation A visit to
Abbotsford Sir Walter Scott In the library "The
whole house a romance by the author of ' Waverley ' "
Coaching in 1826 Magnesia lozenges Mathews as an
author - Encouraging critical notices The Chester
Theatre Mr. and Mrs. Decamp Business troubles The
dishonoured bill Mathews determines never to put his-
name to another bill Gray's attempt at excuses Mrs.
Mathews speaks her mind . . . . . .195
CHAPTER VIII.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY SECOND VISIT TO ITALY, 1827.
Nash the architect Mathews in business A disappointment
Mathews the dramatist Tired of inactivity Proposal
for a professional tour in Italy James D'Egville
Departure from London A journal in verse In Switzer-
land Arrival in Milan " Our Girls " A mysterious
ornament The badge of the Megatherion Club Artistic
studies Mathews and D'Egville exhibit at the Academy
of Brera Flattering' notice Eirst night of 11 Pirata
CONTENTS.
Mathews and D'Egville receive their diplomas from the
Academy Departure for Venice . 252
CHAPTER IX.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1827.
A financial statement The elder Mathews in reply A ball
at Milan Peculiar arrangements in the refreshment
room Palace at Monza Balbianello The Villa Arionata
Theatres in Italy Bellini Vetturino to Venice . .272
CHAPTER X.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY SECOND VISIT TO ITALY (continued},
1827-1828.
A year in Venice Venetian society The Three Graces Life
in Venice Evening receptions The Gaffe Florian Pre-
parations for admission as members of the Belle Arti
An expedition to Capo d'Istria Pola Locomotive diffi-
culties Disappearance of the Port of Pola In pawn at
Pola D'Egville in search of supplies A happy turn of
fate Visit to Peroi A colony of Greeks " The
prettiest house and that which contained the prettiest
girls" Mathews one of the family Unsophisticated
nature Mathews dresses for the part The fairy glass
Village life Dinner at Peroi A siesta Spiridion
A modern Arcadia Thoughts of home Back again at
Qapo d'Istria A calm Land at last Venice once
more 290
APPENDIX.
Translations of French correspondence with Count D'Orsay . 310
VOL. I. A*
LIST OF PLATES TO VOLUME I.
CHAELES JAMES MATHEWS, ^Etat 75. From the last
Photograph taken "by CHARLES W ATKINS.
Frontispiece.
11 THE LITTLE PARSOK" From the Original Drawing by
DE WILDE, in the possession of J. L. TOOLE, Esq.
To face page 12.
THE LIFE
OF
CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS.
CHAPTER I.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE LIFE OF CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS.
1803-1819.
GIBBON, the historian, was said to have had no nose at
all, only an apology for one, and Gibber calls his auto-
biography, in the same sense, an " Apology " for his life,
not deeming the work sufficiently complete to bear its
more extended meaning. But it is not with this signifi-
cation that I offer an apology for mine : I give it in its
literal and simple acceptation, for, if ever any man's
life needed an apology, mine is the one. I have flown
in the face of the world and its prejudices have fol-
lowed my own course through good and evil in my
own way have set at defiance what are generally
denominated the laws of propriety and have for-
feited all claim to what is called by the world
respectability. I have been put down for a reckless,
VOL. I. B
2 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
extravagant, devil-may-care fellow, without principle or
feeling; and though I have been fortunate enough
to retain popularity through all my difficulties, and
in spite of these universally believed failings, I
cannot shut my eyes to the conviction that I have
merely enjoyed the same sort of sympathy with that
granted to the scapegrace Charles Surface, and that
amusement at my audacity has been in great measure
the* secret of the constant support and indulgence I
have been favoured with. Now, I have a much better
opinion of myself than the world at large entertains,
and I am bold enough or perhaps vain enough to
think that when I have told my own story, and have
laid bare all the various motives and moving accidents
that have swayed me in my career, it will be found I
have not been such a bad fellow after all ; and though
a total disregard of the opinion of the world has
certainly pervaded every action of my life, that dis-
regard has only extended to what I chose to consider
prejudices of society, and has never proceeded from
callousness as to conduct resulting from want of honour
or feeling. That I have laughed, and still laugh, at the
poor, timid, conventional notions of a large portion of my
fellow-men I confess, but I have the highest respect for
all that is really good and worthy of admiration, and
never have I for a moment lost sight of what I have con-
sidered essential to the position of a gentleman. It will
be found, perhaps, as we proceed, that my notions on this
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
subject are peculiar, and probably will not be accepted
by the world. This I can't help ; but at any rate, in
duty to myself, I ani anxious to state my case plainly,
and have my character, such as it is, clearly understood.
I have grinned through all my trials, and have allowed
no one to witness those moments of depression and
agony that I have suffered in private. With a light
heart, a good digestion, a cheerful mind, excellent health,
and an independent spirit, I have been able to cope with
all the small ills of life that are so often magnified into
irretrievable misfortunes, and preserve my equilibrium in
the midst of the many social earthquakes, which, had I
been a "serious man," and "highly respectable," would
most probably have driven me to despair.
Before arranging my materials in a sufficiently con-
densed form to meet the public eye, I now begin the
more formidable task of committing to paper all and
everything my memory furnishes me with every detail
of my life, as though it were the life of someone else,
assisted by printed extracts, and illustrated by corre-
spondence, so as to furnish a store from which to select
what may be considered by others worthy of ultimate
adoption. In short, I shall first collect my facts, and
register my observations for myself, before attempting
to make them worthy of presenting to others.
Oh that I had had the time and patience to keep a
diary ! What a world of trouble it would have saved
me, and what endless odd details and incidents, now
B 2
4 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
forgotten, I should have been able to record ! Harley
kept one for some forty years. I have seen three
volumes, all regularly bound and lettered. They con-
tain a most interesting account of what he had for
dinner each day, and what he paid for coach-hire, and
not a word of anything else. I doubt whether their
publication would interest the public of the present
day. I find that I, too, commenced a journal regularly
on the first of January every year, and invariably broke
down after a few weeks, then resumed, and finally
dropped it altogether. My intentions were good but
my perseverance faulty.
My mother was a careful preserver of letters and
hoarder of documents, and not a line I ever wrote to
her, or a scrap of criticism referring to me, has been
destroyed. I, in my turn, stored away hundreds of
hers, and have, therefore, an overwhelming collection of
dates and memoranda to select from. Indeed, I much
regret that I cannot publish her letters in full, for they
are in many respects admirable, some of them I may
say models in their way. I was always my mother's
boy, and her life was devoted to my moral and intel-
lectual cultivation. She was a great reader, and made
extracts from every book she read. Some fifty or sixty
quarto volumes of manuscript attest her taste and
industry. She was sincerely religious, but with the
most cheerful mind ; alive to humour, and was ready to
join in any harmless amusement that offered, and I was
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
most fortunate in possessing at all times a delightful
companion as well as a tenderly affectionate parent.
The first chapter of a book is frequently a matter of
some difficulty, and various are the ways adopted to
interest the reader at starting. Luckily, this does not
apply to the first chapter of an autobiography, and I
have no hesitation in deciding on the proper commence-
ment of my work. I boldly begin with the most
important, if not the most interesting, incident of my
life, viz. my birth. I can't have a better beginning
than that. No man can have a better beginning than
that. It is the most innocent transaction I was ever
mixed up with ; and though, had it never taken place,
it would have saved a good deal of worry and trouble
to myself and others, I feel that it is, perhaps, the
only thing that I can remember which really needs no
apology.
I was born on the 26th of December, 1803 on wha
is vulgarly called " Boxing Night." I came into the
world with the pantomimes, in a laughing season, and
my first cry, if it could have been understood, was, I
have no doubt : " Here we are ! " The spot selected
for my first appearance was a nice little house, in
a nice little street, in Liverpool, contiguous to the
theatre where my father and mother were at that
time fulfilling their first provincial engagement after
their first season in London. It was called then,
as now, Basnett Street. But how has that nice little
6 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
house in that nice little street degenerated ! I have
watched it for years. I have seen it turned into a
shop a grocer's with a large gold teapot for a sign ;
into a shoemaker's, with Noah's ark for a symbol, though
what shoemakers can have to do with Noah's ark, the
last place where shoes could possibly be wanted, I never
could conceive. I have seen it a registry office for
servants, a potato store, a lawyer's office, a toy shop, a
milliner's, and it has undergone twenty other meta-
morphoses, all equally fatal to its romance.
As soon as my wishes could be clearly ascertained,
which I endeavoured to make known by curiously-
varied fits of squalling, indicative of the disgust I felt at
the ignominious locality forced upon me for my birth, I
was conveyed to York, which should, in fact, have been
my native place, if common justice had been done me ;
and there the interesting ceremony of my christening
took place, at St. Helen's Church, where, in the month
of March previously, my father and mother had been
married. This was my first gala day in life, and I have
been informed that I was in high spirits upon the occa-
sion. How often, in after years, have I looked from the
windows of Harker's Hotel upon the picturesque little
church in front of it, and while sipping my wine, gazed
upon the spot where I took my first taste of water !
It seems that I had two narrow escapes at this early
period of my existence. On the very night I was born
the play of " Paul and Virginia " was to have been acted
i.] AUTOBIOGEAPHY.
at the Liverpool Theatre, in which piece my mother was
to have played Virginia, and the idea was seriously
entertained of giving me the name of Paul in honour of
the occasion. I am truly grateful to have escaped this
infliction. The name of William was next almost
decided on, in remembrance of my father's favourite
brother, who had recently died at Barbadoes ; but
luckily that never-to-be-sufficiently-thanked Methodist
preacher, my dear old grandfather, prevented my having
the horrid abbreviation of " Billy " attached to me for
life ; and, in obedience to his wish that I should bear
either his own name or that of my father, it was resolved
to give me the advantage of both, and I was christened
" Charles James " accordingly. It appears that, in
addition to my grandfather's name, his profession was
also to be given to me, and I was "promised to the
Church." The good old gentleman, however, pleased as
he was at the idea, very properly stipulated that I
should not be forced to enter upon such a profession
unwillingly, and his saying with reference to it has been
often repeated to me : " Kemember," said he, " that a
man may be a good man without being a clergyman,
but to force him to be a clergyman might tend to make
him a bad man," which I think a very liberal speech for
a Methodist parson.
These highly important details will, no doubt, be
read with the keenest interest ; and as my personal
appearance at the earliest age is a matter of equal
8 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
importance, I cannot do better than give the following
letter from my friend Richard Lane on the subject :
. 19, 1860.
DEAR CHARLIE,
" We had a delightful chat with your mother about
you last night. The enclosed may not be new to you, but
it is well worth your notice, if only to introduce Charles
Young. She amused us immensely by her manner of
telling it. She knows nothing of my sending it. I
dictated it to Emily while at work to-day, and I think
it is as nearly as possible verbatim.
" ' What a peculiar nose Charles Young had ! As
we were very intimate with him, even before Charles
was born, I was constantly jesting with him about the
said nose. When an interesting prospect was open to
me, he said one day : " Take care ! I warn you, if you set
your mind on this nose of mine, that baby will be born
with a hook." His habit was to ask at the door: " How's
Narny ? " as the expected time drew near. When
Charles arrived (although it was not before he was due)
he was the very smallest and funniest little thing that
was ever seen ; rarely smiled from the first, and seemed
perfectly easy and self-possessed. I had been told to
prepare for a very minute baby (appearances not giving
warrant to any great expectation), and the clothes were
therefore far below the average size, but they were so
ridiculously large, that they hung upon him like a sack ;
L] AUTOBIOGEAPHY. 9
he was therefore wrapped in wadding, and put into a
basket by the fire, while his first outfit was prepared by
cutting up one of his father's soft white neckcloths,
which was tacked together, and snipped at the edges in
imitation of ruffles. There he lay on his back in perfect
comfort, with both his tiny hands lifted up as high as
he could, the fingers incessantly wriggling as they
peeped out of the frilled cuffs.
" ' When Miss Grimani (who was then the fiancee and
afterwards the wife of Charles Young) saw the baby, she
remarked upon his ridiculous knowing little face, and he
looked from one to the other as if he would say : " I'm
quite comfortable ; I don't see what there is to laugh at.
I believe I was expected. I am not a seven mouths'
child, or anything of that sort ; you'll find me quite
perfect and satisfactory ; only leave me alone, I want to
go to sleep."
" 'All this time the immediate object of amusement
was the nose. There, exactly in the right place, was the
most absurd little protuberance, not bigger than a good-
sized pea, and certainly not deserving the name of nose.
Miss Grimani remarked upon this, and when I told her
there was a good story upon that subject, she left me in
great delight to play a trick upon Charles Young. In
reply to his question : " How's Narny ? " she gravely said :
" She is going on very well, but she has the most ridicu-
lous little baby, and, only fancy, with a Roman nose ! "
"Don't tell me so ! " roared out Young, who went into
10 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
fits of laugliter, danced round the room, and told Miss
Grimani of the warnings he had given the mother ; said
he should insist upon seeing it, and that he would kill
it, or eat it, or do something desperate. When he was
allowed, after much preparation, to see the child, and
discovered the hoax that had been played upon him, he
made such a noise in the room that he was turned out
bodily by the nurse.
" ' Now, the fact is, that Master Charles did not
develop a nose to speak of until he was five years old.' '
In the spring of the following year my father re-
turned to London, having accepted a renewed engage-
ment for himself and wife for three summer seasons, with
Colrnan at the Haymarket the "little Haymarket," as
it was always lovingly called and for five winter
seasons at Drury Lane, then under the management of
Kichard Brinsley Sheridan, and in a short time my
education began to assume colossal proportions at Colney
Hatch, where they then lived, and I "eat niy terms," as
it is classically denominated that is, learnt my ABC
by the ingenious means of gingerbread letters, which I
was allowed to devour on correctly naming them, and
thus I was tempted literally to "read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest."
My father's nickname in his early days had been, in
allusion to his very thin figure, " Stick " rather an
ominous appellation for an actor I was therefore, as
i.] ATJTOBIOGEAPHY. 11
a natural consequence, dubbed " Twig ; " and as the
cottage had been taken mainly for my health, it was
honoured by the .distinguished title of Twig Hall. It
was a mere nutshell, nothing more a real "cottage,"
not a " cottage of gentility," pronounced, upon the
authority of the poet, to have been so dear to the
devil, whose favourite vice was " pride, that apes
humility "- but a little rural snuggery, and became the
resort of many witty and accomplished people, who
there threw off their town manners, and gave way to
the merriness of their hearts. Of course I was too
young to enjoy their wit, but I appreciated their gaiety ;
and who knows how much this early association with
pleasant people may have helped to give a cheerful tone
to the rest of my existence ? It has been said that "just
a3 the twig is bent the tree's inclined," and I certainly
must have got a twist or two, here at starting, likely to
influence the direction of my subsequent growth. With
George Colman, Theodore Hook, James and Horace
Smith the authors of the " Rejected Addresses "
Dubois, Liston, Charles Young, Charles Kemble, the
beautiful and accomplished Harriet Mellon, afterwards
Duchess of St. Albans, and many other such celebrities
of the day for playmates, it would have been a marvel if
I had not been a little tinged with the colour of their
minds, and led by their example to take a joyous view
of life.
Besides the familiar sobriquet of " Twig," I was
12 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
almost as generally spoken of as the "little parson/' and,
as an appropriate birthday offering, one of our waggish
friends presented to me a complete little parson's suit
of black old-fashioned square- cut coat, long flapped
waistcoat, knee-breeches, worsted stockings, shoes, and
buckles, white bands, &c. attired in which I was lifted
on the dining-table to drink the healths of the " tom-
pany." The drawing of me in my clerical costume by
Dewilde bears the date of June, 1807, which would
make my age at that time just three years and a half,
which I fancy may be safely taken as my earliest
appearance in character.
In due time I rose to the dignity of a preparatory
school, and at six years of age I was entered at Miss
Swal well's " Juvenile Academy " at Hackney, where,
according to the Christmas account now before me for
the first three-quarters' " board and tuition," ending
December 25, 1810, I appear to have been already
qualifying for an Admirable Crichton music, dancing,
fencing, broadsword, French, writing, military exercises,
gun (" pop," I presume, accidentally omitted) being
included among the various items.
An examination of this account of Miss Swalwell's
throws an interesting light upon my position at that
period.
My health appears to have been good ; only 4s. 6d.
for " domestic medicine " in three-quarters of a year.
I don't know whether a black dose and a whipping are
"THE LITTLE PARSON"
from the original drawing ly De Wilde
in the possession of
J.L.TOOLE ESQ.
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 13
included in this item. My muscular developments
seem to have been satisfactory, 3s. 9cl. being charged for
"buttons, tape, &c." no doubt, wrenched off or burst
asunder in the course of my athletic sports ; while the
enormous outlay in "repairs of boots and shoes," speaks
well for my personal activity.
My literary tastes cannot be correctly ascertained,
seeing that they are clubbed under the general title of
"books, 4s.;" though "spelling-book, Is. 6d." and
" testament, 2s.," are distinctly set forth as probable
guarantees for the respectability of the " Juvenile
Academy." "Mrs. Barbauld's hymns, Is. Gd.," was,
perhaps, a pardonable weakness, and " seat at chapel,
4s. 6d.," an amiable extravagance; but Is. per quarter
for " public charity," I must always think an uncalled-
for ostentation, especially as it was put down in the bill,
and not paid for by myself. My "private charity" is
not alluded to, being of course, and very properly, only
known to myself; but I trust I parted with my occa-
sional halfpenny, when distressing circumstances required
it, with becoming alacrity and satisfaction.
A gratifying assurance that early intemperance was
not among my many failings, is gathered from the
charge of " wine, 4s. 6d.," for a period of nine months.
And even that indulgence was atoned for, by a similar
sum having been expended upon " seat at chapel." But,
I regret to say, there is one awkward fact which cannot
be got over or excused ; 5s. 4d. is charged for " broken
14 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
windows," which, though confirming the impression
that I was the fortunate possessor of good health and
buoyant spirits, was an early sign of imprudence and
want of caution in money matters, seeing that my
income, at that time, was limited to threepence per
week pocket-money, and I had no right to indulge in
luxuries without reasonable hope of paying for them.
On my accession to the honours of the "Juvenile
Academy," Twig Hall was given up, and another cottage,
but one of more pretension, was purchased from General
Bradshaw at Fulham, and as Hackney was found an
inconvenient distance for the continuance of my scho-
lastic duties, I was transferred to Miss Batsford's
" Seminary," close to our new home.
Nothing particularly remarkable occurred during my
period of probation at Miss Batsford's. Oh yes ! one
little incident I have never forgotten.
Some tender-hearted mother called at the school one
clay, and left a message that, as her son some miscreant
in petticoats had grossly misconducted himself while at
home on the previous Sunday afternoon, she desired he
might be severely whipped at an early hour on the
Monday morning. As no name was left, and I had
been home on the day before, the conclusion was arrived
at that I had been " too lively," and I had to endure the
indignity of the birch rod in expiation.
Had I been a Byron, I might have brooded over the
disgrace for ever, and another " Childe Harold " might
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 15
have been the result ; but I was not so ; I only cried
till I was tired, and pocketed the affront. The error
was soon discovered, and I became doubly endeared to
all around me from the accident.
Accompanying my father and mother to Major Scott
Waring's, at Peterborough House, shortly after, I met,
for the first time, the Duke of Sussex, whose heart I won
by suddenly calling out, with childish naivetd : " Oh
ma ! look at that fat duke ! How funnily he shuffles his
cards ! "
The story of my woes was related to him, and he
never forgot it to his dying day. No matter when or
where I had the honour of meeting him in after years,
he never failed to call out, good-humouredly : " Well,
Charles, have you been whipped lately ? What ? "
In course of time I was removed to Merchant Taylors'
School, in the City of London, where my father had been
educated before me. This was the first real event of my
life.
Through the influence of my father's friend Sir
John Silvester, then Recorder, I was placed on the
foundation, and was received as a boarder into the
family of the Rev. Mr. Cherry, the head-master.
In obedience to the promise made at my christening,
I was destined for a clergyman, and, as the initiatory
step towards that profession, became a fag cleaned
three or four pairs of boots every morning, washed the
1G LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
tea-things, and did duty as warming-pan to my young
master, by lying in his bed on cold nights till he required
it, and then being turned into my own.
Here Latin, Greek, and Hebrew were daily ad-
ministered in large doses, while my native English was
left to be picked up as best it might in the cloisters,
which formed our playground, and in the streets of the
City ; where, between school hours, I might now have
been seen wandering, without my hat, like the little
ragamuffin I was, or running up Suffolk Lane on a dark
night, in my bedgo\vn, to buy candles, in my capacity of
fag, after having been lowered from the bedroom window
in a sheet, to the delight of the little tyrant, my master.
One bright light illumined this dark epoch. Alder-
man Scholey, the newly-elected Lord Mayor, having
been a Merchant Taylors' boy, invited the whole school
to a banquet at the Mansion House a public breakfast,
w r here we all, with clean faces, and in our Sunday
clothes, did him the honour to repair.
A letter of mine has survived, which gives a graphic
description of the occasion, and shows that I at least,
for one, did due honour to the good cheer provided.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" I returned home very safe on Sunday
night. The dresser took me to school on Sunday
night, and I dreamt of going to the Mansion House ;
and when morning came we all went into school
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 17
and said lessons before we went to the Mansion
House, and then a monitor and a prompter went at
the head of each form, and then we entered. Whe'"
showed our tickets when we went in, and the Lord
Mayor and the Lady Mayoress bowed to us, and then
we bowed to him, and he asked us all how we did.
I have enclosed the ticket in the letter. The Lord
Mayor's son showed us into all the rooms in the Mansion
House. We saw the state bed and all the state rooms
in the Mansion House, and then we went to breakfast.
There where very good things. I eat viz., a bit of fowl,
a pear, an apple, half a jelly, a role, five glasses of negus,
half a tumbler of ale, and three cups of coffee, and a
glass of water.
"I went to see Miss Laforest, and she said she'd
heard of my going to the play on Saturday night, and
she asked me if you where coming to town. I told her
I did not know.
" I remain, your dutiful Son,
"C. MATHEWS."
During the holidays, when at] Merchant Taylors', a
benefit was announced at Covent Garden Theatre (by
whom given I now forget), the great attraction of which
was to be a masquerade on the stage, including various
amusements of singing and dancing, a balloon ascending
to the ceiling, and showering bonbons among the
* The original spelling is preserved.
VOL. I.
18 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
audience, a supper, and other temptations. Tickets
of invitation were sent to Mr., Mrs., and Master
Mathews ; the latter of course only meant as a joke.
But not so did Master Mathews regard it, and in spite
of all remonstrances, he not only firmly asserted his
right to accept the invitation, but declared his intention
of going in character. This was at first merely laughed
at, but at last good-humouredly agreed to. The little
parson's dress was remembered, and was dragged from
its obscurity, patched and lengthened, for it was of
course too small ; and with the additions of a gold-
headed cane, a three-cornered hat, and a powdered wig
(the clerical bands being suppressed), I was transformed
into a little doctor. I was a great success, bustled
about, chattered with everybody, while feeling their
pulses, and, being a remarkably diminutive boy of my
age, looked like an animated doll to the audience in
that large theatre. They roared with laughter, and
applauded whenever I appeared. When the curtain
descended there was a tumultuous call for " The Doctor !
the Doctor !" and, pushed on by the stage manager
(albeit nothing loth), I strutted across the stage and
kissed my hand to the public with all the airs of an old
stager. Elated with my success, I stood at the wing in
anticipation of perhaps another call, when one of the
carpenters, to my great disgust, lifted me out of the
way, as if I had been one of the properties, saying :
"There, you're done with, be off!" This to the artist
i.] AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 19
who had been kissed by dozens of pretty actresses, and
applauded to the echo by a discriminating British
public ! This to the excited over-heated little Doctor,
who had been treated continually through the evening
by kind but inconsiderate admirers to glass after glass
of negus ! It was an outrage, but I was the weakest,
and had to yield to this Jack-in-office, and made rny
way to the supper-room. Here I was welcomed by
a bevy of beauties more kisses, more negus. I had
the good taste though, young as I was, to prefer the
caresses of the beautiful Maria Foote, who must have
been perfectly bewitching in her costume of Anne
Boleyn, and in her lap I quietly nestled, and soon fell
fast asleep.
How often have I since laughed with the amiable
Lady Harrington over the remembrance of that evening !
The early appreciation of her beauty and sweetness
of manner was never weakened during a subsequent
intimacy of nearly forty years.
My brilliant success on this memorable occasion
was, however, sadly marred, and terminated, I regret to
say, ignominiously. Overcome by the kisses or the
negus (probably the latter), I was found so hopelessly
locked in sleep that I was obliged to be carried home
on my father's shoulder, dead beat (a prejudiced police-
man might have said " drunk," adding : " What, again !
I know you !"), and shot on my bed, an exhausted
receiver. Thus ended my first public performance,
20 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the Colney Hatch effort having been only that of an
amateur.
Being a delicate boy, my health at length began to
break down under the severity of the fagging system,
while the amount of classical learning I imbibed was of
the slenderest possible kind. The fact is, I was a dunce.
There is no disguising the truth ; and had I been
removed, as in due course I should shortly have been, to
St. John's College, Oxford, where, as a foundation boy
from Merchant Taylors', I was entitled to a fellowship/"
I should inevitably have been plucked, like the goose
I represented.
And yet it appears, that by some means or other
(certainly not merit), I contrived to scramble up to the
fifth form, in spite of the dislike, which it was clear old
Cherry, the head-master, had taken to me.
The cause of the dislike was simple enough ; I was
" too lively " for him, and animal spirits were unpardon-
able things in his eyes. Of course they were ; how
could they be otherwise ? He weighed sixteen stone,
and had never, I fancy, heard a joke in his life. Had
he ever been a fag ? I should say not. Had he ever
been a boy ? I don't believe even that. But he had
flogged thousands, and looked upon them generally, and
me in particular, as his natural enemies. He knew I
* A scholarship or exhibition is probably meant.
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 21
ouorlit to be miserable ; I had woes enough to make me
O O
so, but I was abnormally, provokingly cheerful, and my
laugh irritated him. Luckily, I was always wanting
whipping, so he was able to work off his ill-humour
satisfactorily, without its striking in and endangering his
health. *
Fortunately for me, while one day engaged in a
game of cock-fighting (human cock-fighting an alle-
gorical representation of the real sport, which consisted
* As to young Mathews's " liveliness " and animal spirits, a letter
written by Major-General Ludlow from Yates Court, Mere worth,
Maidstone, may be quoted here :
" Beyond those of my own name at Merchant Taylors' I recall
chiefly Charles Mathews, Avho long sat by my side in the fifth form.
" He had a quiet way of amusing his schoolfellows and preventing
them learning their lessons, bringing upon them thereby very painful
consequences.
" I remember particularly his mimic portraiture of what he called
' The Battle of the Nile ; ' which he effected with ships cut out of
slips of paper, put facing each other with their keels within the leaves,
and at the extreme ends, of a dictionary held crosswise between his
knees with the back downwards.
" I am not sure that there was not an artistic arrangement of an
open, but rumpled, white pocket handkerchief, to represent leaves.
" To the prow of each man-of-war was tied a piece of thread, with
a loop at the other end to be fixed on a finger, and by means of the
loops upon the fingers of the hidden hands respectively, the vessels
were made to pass each other in order of battle ; the which was the
(inauspicious) moment for the guns to open.
" The ' bang ! bang ! ' too often vociferated by the gratified
lookers-on, brought down Dr. Cherry upon the delinquents, whereby
their patriotic ardour was probably damped for ever."
22 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
of a pitched battle between two boys in the characters
of cocks, hopping on one leg with their arms tightly
folded, and butting at each other till one was
knocked over), I was thrown with such force backwards
upon my head against the corner of the solid block
which acted as a form in the schoolroom, that I fainted,
and was carried to bed. A doctor was sent for, who
bound up my bleeding caput, and for some days I lay in
a critical position not in the least anxious for a too
speedy recovery, as I soon gathered that a flogging was
to be the reward of my outrageous levity.
As I have said, this was a fortunate incident for me,
as it led to a good result, for my mother happening to
call at this moment (mothers always do come at the
right moment), an angry colloquy took place, and plain
speaking was adopted on both sides.
I gather this from the fragment of a letter I have
found from my father to Mr. Cherry on the occasion.
The beginning, which is lost, was, I presume, in answer
to the charges brought against my ability and industry,
although I had been elevated to the fifth form, and
proceeds thus :
"There must be some rottenness in the state. In
the good old days of Mr. Bishop, I can assert, at all
events, and will aver, fearless of contradiction, that
such promotion could not have taken place. No boy
would have been admitted into the fifth if not properly
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 23
qualified. When that step was proposed, it would have
been the time to crush my fond hopes, and not leave it
till above a twelvemonth after, and then trust to a
chance moment to fall upon me with redoubled force.
You have had sufficient time to ascertain his qualifica-
tions ; and, by the manner in which you eased your
mind of a treasured load of complaints, it is evident it
must have been the effect of deliberation. It is prob-
able that, but for the accidental visit of Mrs. Mathews,
w r ho ought to have been sent for when a medical man
was deemed necessary, it might have been six months
more before you would have condescended to give me
the information. I will not attempt to argue the point
w r ith you as to the boy's capacity or incapacity although
I believe you do not deny him the former ; whether he
be a blockhead or a genius, it is equally my duty to
forward his prospects in life, and provide him with
education. For the mortification of parents under cir-
cumstances like ours, I should imagine you would feel ;
and I do not think it was amiable in you, sir, after
having drawn forth tears from a lady, to persevere in
making them flow afresh, rather than endeavour to
repress them. The violence you were betrayed into, as
I am informed, exceeded all bounds ; even an accident
was converted into an offence, and the remembrance of
forgiven grievances renewed to strengthen your cause
to prejudice a stranger and lacerate a mother's feelings.
This, I must ever think, was unnecessarily cruel. A
24 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
note of five lines to me would have answered every
purpose. It would be next to insanity to attempt an
opposition to your power, or to combat your prejudices ;
from all the evidence I have been able to collect on the
subject and I have taken some pains to obtain it I
must suspect that your personal dislike to the boy is
rooted. He is, therefore, from this moment, removed
from your sight. I shall never allow . him to return.
You are gratified; I am disappointed indeed woefully
disappointed. You are relieved from an object that,
while he dishonours himself, must necessarily attach
some reflection upon you to whose care he was confided,
and I am burthened with new anxieties. I truly hope,
sir, for your own sake, that you may feel as satisfied
with your having performed your duty, in endeavour-
ing to disgrace your pupil and endanger his future
prospects in life, as I do that I am performing mine
in removing him from the care of one who seems so
little disposed to treat with indulgence the follies of
childhood."
Thus ended for a time my father's views respecting
me. He began to suspect that I was of too volatile a
nature to render the prospect of a country curacy a
desideratum, and unwillingly abandoning all idea of
living to see me a dignitary of the Church, at once trans-
planted me to a private school at Clapham, where, under
the affectionate eye of dear Dr. Charles Richardson, the
i.] AUTOBIOGEAPHY. 25
distinguished lexicographer, and in the company of many
boys I knew especially the sons of Charles Kemble,
Charles Young, Liston, and Terry I found a more
congenial soil.
Here I took root at once, and my progress was
as delightful to my father as it was surprising to
myself.
There was nothing wonderful in this, when the
change in my treatment is considered. Instead of being
one of a flock of sheep (a black one), I was instantly
converted into an object, if not of interest, at any rate
of commiseration, and I was probably allowed indul-
gences that otherwise would not have fallen to my lot.
I was received as a parlour boarder, and admitted as one
of the family. Dear kind Mrs. Richardson and her
simple accomplished daughters made it a second home
to me, and I was at once in clover.
Dr. Richardson, too, was more like an affectionate
friend than a rigid schoolmaster, and we understood
each other in an instant. I was proud of his attention
to me, and he was gratified at finding that his endeavours
to rescue me from the ignominious future that had been
predicted were not thrown away.
He was fond of horse exercise, and I was allowed a
pony, and at five o'clock on summers' mornings we used
to sally forth together over the Surrey hills, enjoying
the early breezes on Wandsworth Common, Sydenham,
and Norwood, and getting back at eight to school and
2G LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
breakfast. The remembrance of these morning rides,
always accompanied by cheerful and not uninstructive
conversation, is still among the most delightful of my
boyish reminiscences, and certainly in no way interfered
with my studies ; on the contrary, while they improved
my health, they gave me fresh zest for the tasks assigned
me, and put me in good humour with myself and all
around me.
Who shall venture to say that any boy is an in-
corrigible dunce ? Is there any seed that will take root
in every soil ? Is the fault in the seed ? No ; it lies in
the ignorance of the sower. Find out the proper soil,
select the proper aspect, and the seed, which has before
shown no signs of fruition, will shoot forth at once, and
flower luxuriantly.
Who then shall say that a boy may not be treated
in a similar manner ? Who knows what uncongenial
elements may not surround him, and check his mental
growth ? Try it, at all events. Place him under other
influences, and his mind may expand and blossom
cheerfully under the more fostering aspects.
Such, at any rate, was my case. Not physically
strong enough to undergo the hardships I had to
undergo at Merchant Taylors', placed haphazard among
two hundred other boys, without any watchful eye to
mark my progress, or any guiding hand to direct me in
my studies, no anxious friend to lead me onwards by
encouraging words and gentle manners, I broke down,
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 27
for want of common sympathy and care. I had no vent
for my high spirits, nothing to vary the monotony of
fagging but mischief, no cheerful companionship
nothing but the boisterous pleasures which invariably
led to, and ended in, the birch rod and the displeasure
of my masters.
It is true I boarded in the house of Mr. Cherry, the
head-master, but I scarcely ever saw him out of school,
and I never remember to have heard his voice, except
when in anger ; while the lady who conducted his
establishment no doubt an estimable, kind, and just
woman in her own circle never for a moment allowed
it to be forgotten that she was the head-master's
daughter, and repelled all attempts at familiarity or
affection on the part of the children over whom she
ruled.
Among the many obligations I owe to Dr. Richard-
son, one of the deepest is that of first having my eyes
opened by him to the real enjoyment of the ancient
classics. It is one thing to translate Homer, Virgil,
and Horace correctly, but quite another to read and
relish them for their own sake. Boys of course get
through their daily lessons with more or less pleasure,
according to their greater or less capacity, but very few
are tempted to take up the authors they have been
plodding over all the morning as a painful task, and
think them a delightful amusement for their hours
of relaxation.
28 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
I remember one day in school hours I was clan-
destinely devouring, under the shadow of my desk-
cover, some light satirical work, I think it was " My
Pocket-Book," a lively squib of the day by Dubois, in
ridicule of Sir John Carr's popular quartos of travel in
Ireland, France, Holland, &c. Taken inflagrante delict o,
I was agreeably surprised at only receiving a slight
rebuke from the Doctor, suggesting a postponement of
the further reading of the book in hand till a more
appropriate moment.
During our early ride next morning he said : " I was
glad to find yesterday, though the time was ill-chosen,
that you occupied your leisure hours in skimming over
works of the kind you were reading, rather than the
vapid Minerva Press novels so much in vogue, or the
mischievous highly-flavoured tales boys are apt to get
hold of. It makes me hope that your taste is of a higher
order, and only wants directing, to open to you a new
and never-ending field of delight. Has it never struck
you that Horace, and Virgil, and Homer were written
for something better than affording schoolboys text-
books, and that the sole purpose of their authors has not
been attained when a certain number of verses per diem
have been successfully mastered by unwilling urchins,
who are too glad to throw them aside again as hated
objects, until forced to resume them as part of their
daily penance ? You have now mastered the difficulty
of putting Greek and Latin into readable English, but
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 29
you have not yet looked for your reward. Now is the
time to try and discover the beauties of the authors who
have caused you so much trouble and labour, to enjoy
and appreciate the charms of their versification, their
admirable selection of harmonious words and appropriate
epithets, the elegant simplicity of their style, and the
point and finish with which their ideas are expressed.
You have a treat before you you little dream of. Try
it, and see whether I am not right. You will tell me in
a little time that you have made Horace your com-
panion, and have fed upon the sweetness of Virgil and
the grandeur of Homer with a new sense of pleasure and
delight. The wishy-washy trash you now swallow will
pall upon your appetite, and you will crave more and
more for wholesome food. Homer and Virgil will speak
for themselves, but to understand Horace you will
require much study of the time in which he lived, and
of the manners he satirised, both of which are interest-
ing in the highest degree. Come to me when at fault,
and I daresay I shall be able to enlighten you as to his
meaning, and help you to relish the refinement of his
wit."
Dr. Richardson was then engaged on his great
English Dictionary, which was to be published in parts
in the " Encyclopaedia Metropolitans," then just started,
and to which Coleridge had contributed an admirable
essay on " Method," by way of preface.
A few of the more favoured boys were allowed to
30 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. . [CHAP.
assist in the preparation of the important work. I was
one so distinguished, and was thus delightfully intro-
duced to the study of Chaucer, Gower, Spenser, and all
the early -poets and historians, the honour of whose
acquaintance I had previously been denied, and I
imbibed a taste for that style of reading which I have
never lost ; and often among the worries of life, when
people have thought that I was closeted with my
difficulties, engaged, as perhaps I ought to have been,
with the battle of figures, I have taken down the tall
folio of Gower, or the huge quarto of "Piers Plowman's
Vision," and let the world go on without me.
My father having sold his cottage at Fulham, and
being so much away in the provinces, another little
rustic abode was taken for my mother, in the neighbour-
hood of my school, in order to be near me during
his long absences, and I passed my Sundays with
her.
One lovely summer's afternoon, after church, I had
strolled into a field at the back of the cottage, through
which, over a stile, led a narrow footpath, much used as a
lovers' walk. Lying upon the grass with a book in my
hand, I was enjoying the calm repose, when a couple
advanced who evidently did not belong to the usual
class of " Sunday outers." I at once recognised the hand-
some Harry Johnston, then the " leading man," as it is
technically termed, at Drury Lane, with a pretty young
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 31
actress of the name of Burton, whom I had often
admired behind the scenes."""
When I say " Burton," I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I withhold the real name from motives
of extreme delicacy, seeing that the young lady may
be still alive (aged, probably, about eighty), and this
allusion to her early indiscretion might possibly injure
her prospects in life.
Of course I took no notice of them, but continued
my reading. Harry Johnston, however, was playfully
inclined, and sauntered up to me with a smile upon
his handsome face and the young lady on his arm.
* Young Mathews was very fond of being taken "behind," and
one of his experiences in this line at Covent Garden resulted in the
following odd letter to Pawcett the actor :
"HONORED SIR,
" Last night I went behind the scenes with my Papa,
to see Mr. Liston in the character of Moll Flaggon, and held the
Book while Mr. Glasinton was away, and I found you guilty of
several mistakes, and I mentioned them to my Papa and Mamma, and
they said I had better tell you of them, and I thought so too, because
next time somebody in the front of the Theatre might have a book
too, and find you out, as I did, and then they will hiss you off, which
I should be sorry for. You said, ' no, no, no,' when you ought to have
said nothing ; and you said, ' I suppose,' at the beginning of a
sentence, where you ought to have said 'Ah;' and you said, 'I
believe,' where there was nothing to say. I only write these few lines
that you may remember another time.
" I remain, Sir,
" Your Eespectful Servant,
" C. J. MATHEWS.
" King's Road, July 1st, 1813."
32 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
" Well, my little man," said he, in a bantering tone,
" what have you got there ? Homer, I suppose, or
perhaps the Greek Testament ? That's a good boy."
" No," said I ; " it's only a novel."
"Bad Sunday reading, young gentleman."
" Oh," said I, " one may do worse things than read
novels on Sundays."
"That's true, my young friend. I see you are a
philosopher. And what's the novel you are so much
interested in ? "
" It is called the ' Ghost Seer,' " said I.
" Ah ha ! And who recommended you such rubbish
as that ? "
" Lord Byron," said I. " He speaks of it as one
of the best works of fiction he ever read."
" So you read Lord Byron too, do you ? "
" Oh yes," said I ; " don't you ? "
" Well, now and then ; but never on Sundays.
Then I always prefer Dr. Watts."
"That's more than I do."
" No," said he ; " you prefer ghost stories. But
what would you do if you saw the ghost of your
schoolmaster coming across the fields at this moment ? "
" Oh, I don't know," said I. " About the same that
IVJiss Burton would do if she saw Mrs. Harry Johnston
coming over the stile."
The effect was electrical. They looked at each other
for a moment without speaking.
i.] AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 33
At last the gentleman, trying to appear unem-
barrassed, said : " So you know me, do you, young
man ? "
" I didn't say so."
" No," said he, "but you "
The young lady at this moment, with more dis-
cretion than her companion, pulled his arm suddenly,
suggesting a retreat without further explanation.
"Good-bye, youngster," said the gentleman laughing;
" you don't mind telling me your own name, I suppose."
" Not at all," said I ; "I will tell you with pleasure
the next time we meet."
" Come along," said the young lady, with another
pull, and away they went, looking very foolish, and
no doubt completely puzzled.
It was some time before I happened to encounter
him again, when I was formally introduced to him by
my father as the " Ghost Seer."
"Ah ha!" said he, "the mystery is solved at last.
The young rascal ! He gave me a pretty lesson. I have
never chaffed a boy since."
My favourite companions were Julian Young and
John Kemble, sons of the distinguished tragedians
Charles Young and Charles Kemble. Very different
were they in character. John Mitchell Kemble was a
serious, studious, odd boy, of strong literary proclivities,
fond of solitude, and holding but little communion with
VOL. i. D
34 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the common herd, from whom he stood aloof, and who
regarded him with a degree of respect almost amounting
to awe. He devoted himself to the study of the early
English writers, and became one of the most accom-
plished Anglo-Saxon scholars of his day, rendering even
then essential assistance to Dr. Eichardson.
He established a little newspaper, called The Clapham
Chronicle, a sheet of about six inches square, printed by
himself from a diminutive hand -press, and aping the
style of the daily journals. I have a file of them still,
"edited by John Mitchell Kemble, printer, No. 1, Desk
Kow."
Through his father's interest he 'was appointed to
succeed him by the Lord Chamberlain, in the office of
Licenser of Plays, which post he held till his death.
Julian Young was the very reverse of John Kemble.
Full of fun, \vith great animal spirits and most affec-
tionate disposition, he was beloved by all, and was a
striking contrast to the little pedant who patronised
him, but shared in none of his sports. Julian has
himself published his reminiscences of the time when he
distinguished himself as my " horse," and I can con-
scientiously endorse his account, for his action was
grand, his paces splendid, and his mettle remarkable. I
only remember one instance of his breaking down. In
the ardour of the sport I once applied the lash a
little too vigorously, establishing what is technically
termed a " raw," when, forgetting his equine character,
i.] AUTOBIOGKAPHY. 35
lie burst into tears, and declared he would be my horse
no longer.
He has no doubt long given up this pastime ; and I
would not dare even to dream now of offering to drive the
Eev. Julian Young,* rector of Ilmington, the popular and
highly-esteemed clergyman though I believe he has still
" go " enough in him, if so inclined, to distance all
competitors on the road, as he unquestionably does in
the pulpit.
* The Eev. Julian Young died, while on a visit to his friend Lady
Burdett Coutts, on the 3rd of July, 1873.
CHAPTER II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY PUGIN's PUPIL, 1819-1823.
Foun years passed pleasantly away in this second home,
and the time arrived when my future profession was to
be decided on.*"" The matter being referred to me, I soon
* Charles turned out to be quite a pattern pupil at Dr.
Richardson's, and that gentleman wrote of him to Mrs. Mathews, on
half a sheet of a letter of the boy's to his mother, dated October 26,
1818, in the following eulogistic terms: "I have begged this little
scrap of Charles to say a few words, which I think will give an
addition to your rural enjoyments. Charles has conducted himself
during his stay with me these holidays in so exemplary a manner
that I have derived much gratification from his company, and I hope
that he has been able to tell you that he has spent his time not disa-
greeably, considering that school is still school. His improvement
continues to proceed in a manner that promises to make him a scholar
of such classical attainments, that, if his father should hereafter trans-
form him into a Cantab, he would, I have no doubt, be very honour-
ably ranked. His success with Euclid, though not so great as that of
some boys of steadier temperament, is still very encouraging, and his
perseverance is more meritorious than if he found less difficulty to
encounter. Altogether, you must allow me to add, that I contemplate
the present state of your son's education with pride and pleasure."
Of this letter Charles makes the following mention in writing to his
mother a month later : " Mr. Richardson called me into the study
(you may recollect that the study is his tribunal), and told me that
CHAP, ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 37
made my choice. From the first I was passionately
fond of drawing and mathematics, in which I had now
made considerable progress. Architectural subjects
especially took my fancy, and why I can scarcely say
- my ambition was to become an architect. I obtained
elementary books, and ultimately announced my desire
to follow that professiou. My father saw no objection,
and the matter was settled at once.
Indeed, I think he was greatly pleased at the selec-
tion I had made, for he saw his way in a moment.
lie was very much pleased with my behaviour ; that the reason why
he requested me to leave him room in my letter was more to acquaint
you with that than to explain to you about the letters. He then
proceeded to tell me, that he hoped I should take as much pains
and pleasure in the new books (Cicero, Herodotus, Horace, Xenophon,
&c.) which he had given me, as with those he had before given me.
Then he dismissed me, leaving me quite at rest. . ." Further on in the
same letter, the boy seems to take much the same view of himself as-
his master had expressed. "My uncle, in his letter to me, said : ' That
my uniform behaviour had been described in terms that reflected
great credit on my talents.' I don't like talents, 'tis a vile word. . . I
think he might have expressed it in other terms, for you must know
that my talents (not of silver or gold, but for laming) are very few,
and (though I say it, who shouldn't say it) I must have acquired all
the credit by my industry. Ah ! that is a much better word, and
better ' suited to the action.' "
The natural gratification of the elder Mathews and his wife is
pleasantly shown in the following letters :
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
" Briton Ferry, November 4, 1818.
" Enclosed, my dearest Charles, you will find a letter addressed to
Mr. Eichardson, in acknowledgment of his most welcome and kind
38 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Somewhere about the year 1797, when he was a
struggling actor on the Welsh circuit, he made the
acquaintance of Mr. Nash, the builder, at Swansea, who
was a great patron of the theatre, and occasionally
indulged in amateur performances himself. I have a
playbill in my possession, announcing him as Sir
Peter Teazle, and I have heard my father say that he
performed it admirably.
John Nash, the humble builder of Swansea, was now
the celebrated London architect in the zenith of his
expression of your good conduct in all respects during my absence,
and which you will believe has given me the most heartfelt delight.
Next to your moral good I am most anxious for your improvement as
a scholar, and this more for your own future comfort and self-satisfac-
tion than from any vanity of my own, in having a clever son ; your
prosperity and respectability through life depending so much upon
this great, though secondary advantage, which, when added to honour-
able feelings and conduct, will constitute some of your most solid
happiness, and recommend you to the world in general as a gentleman
and desirable companion. . . .
" I shall be happy to hear from you when you feel inclined, but
do not insist upon a letter if you feel at a loss for something to say.
Mr. Eichardson has set my mind so at rest, that I shall now enjoy
myself here with greater confidence about you than before. There-
fore write when you like to do ; continue to merit the praise you seem
so honourably to have obtained, and assure yourself of making me
your happy, as well as your affectionate mother,
MATHEWS."
CHARLES MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
MY DEAR CHARLES, " Brifcon Ferr ^' November *,
" I have been so hurried and fatigued for the last few days
that I have not had any opportunity of conveying to you the expres-
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 39
fame, and my father lost no time in calling upon him, to
ask his advice as to the best mode of forwarding my
architectural aspirations. The recognition was most
cordial ; and another acquaintance was brought to his
recollection by Mr. Nash, in the person of the late
Augustus Pugin, who had painted the scenes for the
little Welsh theatre of bygone times.
Mr. Pugin was a French gentleman of high family,
who, having fought a duel in Paris, which ended fatally,
had sought refuge in England, landed on the Welsh
coast, and having great talent as an artist, earned his
living for the time being by his pencil. Accident
sions of my delight, 'upon reading Mr. Kichardson's panegyric upon
you, which your mother sent me to Ireland. I assure you, my dear
boy, that words are inadequate to express how much gratification
those few lines afforded me, and possessing, as I have every reason
to believe you do, a feeling heart, it must be very sweet to you to
know that it has been in your power to bestow so much pleasure upon
your parents. It has ever been the height of my ambition to bestow
upon you the most solid and substantial fortune a father can bequeath
a son I mean a good education. The inclination you have lately
evinced to take advantage of the opportunities afforded you have
fully repaid me for my anxieties, and compensated in a high degree
for the disappointment created by your apparent neglect of them when
at Merchant Taylors' School, and the testimony of Mr. Richardson of
your late improvement has at once proclaimed the success of my plans
for your advancement in life, and affords me the most heartfelt satis-
faction. My prime object is to see you comfortably provided for, and
I hope your application to your studies will continue to back my
exertions for your welfare. May God bless you, and enable you to be
a comfort to me and your affectionate mother in our old age, is my
constant prayer."
40 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
having opened a new and most congenial career to him,
and having become a great favourite of and of much use
to Mr. Nash, he ultimately accompanied his patron to
London, and soon became the founder of a school of his
own creation, and one much needed and highly patro-
nised. Water-colour drawing was at that time in its
infancy, and architects flew to him to have their plans
and elevations put into correct perspective, and sur-
rounded with the well-executed and appropriate land-
scapes Pugin was so skilful in producing, and he had
now been for many years at the head of his profession as
an architectural draughtsman.
By Mr. Nash he was recommended as the man of all
others required to undertake my instruction. The early
friends fraternised, and all went upon wheels. A heavy
premium was paid for my initiation, and on the 4th of
May, 1819, I was installed in Pugin's office for a period
of four years as an articled pupil.
Here I first made the acquaintance of James Hervet
D'Egville, now a distinguished Member of the Institute of
Water-colour Painters, but then educating, like myself,
for an architect. He was the son of another esteemed
old friend of my father's, and our acquaintance soon
ripened into the strictest fellowship; we became constant
companions in and out of the office, studied together,
went to Italy together, and for upwards of fifty years,
though we have neither of us followed the profession
we were intended for, and have branched off in such
n.J PUGIN'S PUPIL. 41
opposite directions, we have retained a close and unin-
terrupted friendship.
Pugin and John Britton, the well-known archaeo-
logist, were closely associated, and much rivalry existed
between the pupils of the two offices. Britton was then
engaged in his splendid publication of " The Cathedrals
of England ; " and his right-hand man was George
Cattermole, who, like ourselves, ultimately burst his
trammels, and soon became remarkable by his original
genius as a water-colour painter, taking rank among the
brightest ornaments of his profession.
I now set to work to begin life in earnest. Every
day increased my love for the profession I had adopted.
I actually doted on the delightful science of architecture,
and pursued the acquirement of it with positive passion.
The consequence was, of course, soon apparent. I
began to show decided marks of proficiency, and I
persevered with all the ardour of a first and not
" unfortunate " attachment.
Pugin was a delightful instructor. In business
hours strict enough and firm enough to command
obedience and respect, at other times he was all
gaiety and good humour, making himself quite the
companion of his pupils, and joining in all their amuse-
ments with the ardour of a boy/""
* The association between Pugin and the young Mathews was an
agreeable one to master as well as to pupil. Pugin, writing to
Mrs. Mathews in March, 1823, says: "I have a great pleasure to
42 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
It was a singular fact that, though he had been
domesticated in England for some forty years, and spoke
English perfectly, as far as volubility was concerned, his
French accent and his French idioms were as marked as
if he had only recently arrived. If he talked in his
sleep he talked in French, and in computing money he
always mentally reduced the pounds and shillings into
francs before he could ascertain their exact value.
He was a charming artist, and produced his effects
by the most simple means, confining himself literally to
the use of the three colours, indigo, light red, and
yellow ochre. It would puzzle some of our modern
water-colour painters to find themselves thus limited.
My father was a devoted lover of the country, and
his tastes were decidedly cottagenous. Hitherto his
residences had been simple and unpretending ; but now,
with larger means, he was tempted into a larger venture,
and purchased the lease of a beautiful cottage ornee,
as it was called the real " cottage of gentility " at
Highgate, which was then as much in the country as if
it had been a hundred miles from town.
repeat that my pupil and friend Charles is now making rapid progress
in his profession, and I trust will continue to improve. In regard to
his pleasing and elegant manners I cannot praise him so much,
because it "became natural to him, having had all his life so good an
example at home." A very direct compliment, for which Pugin's
French nature would seem to be responsible.
ii.] PTJGIN'S PUPIL. 43
It was called Ivy Cottage, and was built in the
Tudor style, with much architectural pretension, and
was one of the earliest and most successful of Eobinson's
designs. It was situated in the midst of Lord Mans-
field's beautiful estate at Caen Wood, and surrounded
by lovely walks and drives, diversified by wood and
water in every direction.
Here my first essay as an architect was made, and
a large gallery for my father's theatrical pictures (now
in the Garrick Club) and a small Gothic library were
erected, from my designs and under my superin-
tendence.
At seven every morning I mounted my horse, and
rode into town to business, and at five returned to
dinner, and the two phases of the day were as distinct
as they were valuable. The mornings were devoted to
professional study, and the evenings passed in the society
of the wits and literary celebrities of the time, whom
it was my father's happiness always to have around
him. I had the advantage of constant intercourse with
men whose intellectual powers and social qualities have
charmed the world in various guises, almost all of
whom, alas ! have now passed away.
The old and always welcome guests of former
days, who used to give their cheering presence to Twig
Hall Colman, Hook, the Smiths, &c. &c. &c., were
still constant in their friendship, reinforced by such
illustrious additions as Coleridge the poet, who was
44 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
our neighbour and daily visitor, Sir Walter Scott the
great Sir Walter Lord Byron, Lord Alvanley, Moore,
Campbell, Charles Lamb, Leigh Hunt, and a host of
artists, authors, actors, and beaux esprits, whose con-
versation dazzled and whose intelligence elevated.
Is it wonderful that with such enchanting associa-
tions my mind should have been somewhat diverted
from the object of my studies, and that my pen should
have been occasionally in my hand as well as my
pencil, or that my future should be lighted up with
the glorious reflection of the past ?
The time at Pugin's was agreeably varied by con-
stant sketching excursions to York, Oxford, Windsor,
Winchester, Lincoln, Cambridge, Salisbury, and other
places of pictorial and architectural interest, in search of
examples for his popular publication called " Specimens
of Gothic Architecture." It was the first work that
had been attempted containing measured details for
practical purposes, and had a great success.
Then came the " Public Buildings of London," to
which I had the honour of contributing many drawings.
One of them, a section of St. Paul's, and my most
elaborate effort, had my name engraved below it, as
an especial distinction, of which I was highly proud.
It was the first time I had ever seen my name in print,
and I immediately grew an inch taller.
The Pavilion at Brighton was the next very popular
undertaking, and was most artistically executed, under
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 45
the personal superintendence of George the Fourth, for
whose especial pleasure it was designed.
But the crowning happiness had yet to come.
Business called Pugin to Paris, where he was engaged
to make a series of drawings for publication. This was
an event. His pupils all went with him, and there my
eyes were opened and my senses awakened to a thousand
new pleasures hitherto never dreamt of.
The days were occupied with work, making the
drawings which formed the principal objects of our
study, and the evenings in visiting the theatres.
Here was a new field of enjoyment, in which I
positively revelled. Those were the days when, in one
theatre the Varietes were to be found the combined
talents of Potier, Brunet, Vernet, Tiercelin, Odry,
Bosquier Gavaudin, Alcide Tousez, Lepeintre aine,
Mdlle. Flore, Jenny Vertpre, and a host of others,
who have become world celebrated. Perlet, too, and
Gonthier, Leontine Fay (afterwards Madame Volnys),
and De'jazet, just coming into bloom at the Theatre de
Madame, since known as the Gymnase, interpreting the
sparkling comedies of Scribe and Melesville ; Talma and
Duchesnois, Fleury, the two Baptistes, and Mdlle. Mars
at the " Franais " and for the first time the theatre
became an object of attraction to me. I was enchanted
with the grace, the nature, the fascination of these
masters of the dramatic art, and I felt a thrill of
pleasure of a kind until that moment never experienced.
46 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
How I should have stared if anyone had told me,
that some fifty years later I should myself be playing
in French at this very same Theatre des Varietes, to
a succession of houses as crowded and as enthusiastic
as were then assembled, attracted by the bright galaxy
of stars I have mentioned !
On my return to London, fired with a new mania,
I burned to indulge in humble imitation. A private
play was soon organised at the English Opera House
(the site of the present Lyceum), and I made my first
attempt upon the boards of a theatre.
The news of this intended performance soon got
wind, and the " private" play threatened to become almost
a public one. Applications for tickets poured in from
people of fashion and intellectual celebrities, and days
before the event came off not a corner was to be had.
Every available seat in boxes, pit, and gallery had been
seized upon, and an overflow was expected no extra-
ordinary circumstance, perhaps, as the tickets were all
given away. A brilliant and distinguished audience
was the consequence, and as the playbills say, " hundreds
were turned away from the doors." Lady Morgan, on
presenting herself somewhat late, exclaimed : " Why,
there's a greater rush here than to see Catalan! ! "
A slight contretemps nearly prevented my appear-
ance on the occasion.
Tomkison, the pianoforte maker, had sold to my
father, for my use, a handsome gray mare, called
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 47
Dairymaid, formerly a favourite hunter of Charles
Young's, from whom he had purchased her, and up to
a day or two previous to the evening in question she
had conducted herself with the strictest propriety ; but
unfortunately, while I was riding to town, with a
drawing-board under one arm and a bundle of playbills
under the other, the careless Dairymaid stumbled and
came upon her knees, pitching me heavily into the
road. I escaped, however, with only a sprained ankle,
but feared that I should be unable to take a part in
the approaching representation.
On hearing of the accident Young called upon
Tomkison, and reproached him with being the cause
of the disaster.
" Why, Tomkison, how could you sell that horse
to Charles Mathews ? You knew she wasn't sound
when you sold her."
"Pardon me, Mr. Young," said Tomkison, in his
most pompous manner, " I knew nothing of the sort."
" How can you say that ? Why, Tomkison, the mare
wasn't sound when I sold her to you."
11 More shame for you, Mr. Young," said Tomkison,
walking away in the most dignified manner.
Tompky, as he was familiarly called, was a favourite
study of Young's. His pomposity of demeanour and
grandiloquent expressions were constant sources of
amusement. He prided himself on being a great judge
of pictures, and had always some extraordinary master-
48 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
piece, which he had " picked up " in some extraordinary
manner. One day he pressed my father to look at a
"magnificent Gainsborough" he had recently "picked up."
"Are you sure it is a Gainsborough ?" said my father.
" My dear Mathews," said he, opening his eyes to
their greatest extent, and taking one step back in
offended amazement, "there can't be a question about
it, and a marvellous specimen of that splendid master.
Why do you venture to suggest so injurious a doubt ?"
" Why," said my father, " a gentleman I met on
board the boat crossing from Dublin to Holyhead told
me it was only a copy."
" A copy !" said Tompky, in great disgust, and with
ineffable contempt. " And, pray, may I ask," said he,
with the peculiar pomposity which distinguished him,
"may I take the great, the unwarrantable liberty of
inquiring what might be this learned gentleman's
name ? "
" He was a stranger to me," said my father, " but
he seemed to be an acquaintance of yours. He called
himself ' Buggins.'"
"Buggins! Buggins! I thought so!" adding with
great indignation : " Buggins be damned, he owes me
forty pounds !"
This was of course conclusive. Buggins was un-
questionably disqualified from giving an opinion.
Although suffering much pain from the untoward
accident, I was not to be persuaded to postpone the
ii.] PFGIN'S PUPIL. 49
performance. A small handbill was distributed amongst
the audience to explain the hobble I was in, but it turned
out unnecessary, for the excitement of the evening
dominated all other feelings, and I walked for the time
as well as ever.
" The public is respectfully informed that M. Perlet,
M. Emile, and Mr. C. J. Mathews having sprained their
ankle, throw themselves upon the ' usual indulgence '
of a generous British audience. They will put their best
foot foremost in order to prevent its turning out a lame
performance.""
* Mathews is here at fault as regards the actual wording of the
apology. The document, which included reference to further disaster
"beyond that described above, ran as follows :
THEATRE EOYAL, ENGLISH OPSEA HOUSE, STRAND.
Friday, April 26th, 1822.
The Ladies and Gentlemen who have honoured the Theatre with
a Visit, are most respectfully informed that MES. EDWIN" has
been very suddenly and seriously indisposed In this emergency
MRS. J. WEIPPART (formerly MISS I. STEVEXSOX) of this
Theatre, has kindly undertaken the part of Melesinda, in the Farce
called Mr. H. The Prologue intended to have been recited by
MRS. EDWIN, will be read by MR. H. himself who solicits the
customary indulgence.
As a conclusion to this complicated Apology, it is with sorrow
announced that M. PERLET, M. EMILE, and Mr. C. J. Mathews,
have had the misfortune of falling from their horse and sprained their
right ancle but it is anxiously hoped that as the actors intend to
put their best leg forward, the performance will not be considered a
lame one. .
VOL. I. E
50 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
I am enabled to give the playbill in full, thanks
to my friend E. L. Blanchard, who I believe possesses
the only copy of it extant, a collector of theatrical
memoranda some few years back having offered five
pounds for a copy, without being able to procure one.
THEATRE ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA HOUSE, STRAND.
(PARTICULARLY PRIVATE.)
This present Friday, April 26th, 1822, will be presented a Farce,
called
MR. H .
(N.B. This Piece was damned at Drury Lane Theatre.)
Mr. H . ... Captain Hill. Landlord . . . Mr. Gyles.
Belvil ... Mr. C. Byrne.
Melesinda ... Mrs. Edwin. Betty ... Mrs. Bryan.
Previous to which a Prologue will be spoken by Mrs. Edwin.
After the Farce (for the first time in this country, and now performing
with immense success in Paris), a French Petite Comedie, called
LE COMEDIEN D'ETAMPES.
(N.B. 'this Piece was never acted in London, and may very probably
be damned here.)
Dorival (le Comedien) M. Perlet.
(Positively for this night only, as he is engaged to play the same part
at Paris to-morrow evening.)
M. Macbou de Beaubuison Mr. J. D'Egville.
L. Dupre ... M. Giubilei. Baptiste ... Mr. W. Peake.
M. Corbin . . . Mr. 0. Byrne. Madeline . . . Madame Spittallier.
Immediately after which,
" A Lover's Confession," in the shape of a song by M. Eniile.
(From the Theatre de la Porte St. Martin, at Paris.)
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 51
To conclude with a Pathetic Drama, in one Act, called
THE SORROWS OF WERTHER.
(X.B. This Piece was damned at Covent Garden Theatre.)
Wcrther Mr. C. J. Mathews.
Schmidt (his friend) ... Mr. J. D'Egville. Albert ... Mr. Gyles.
Fritz ( Werther's servant) Mr. R. B. Peake.
Snap (Albert's servant) Mr. W. Peake.
Charlotte Mrs. Mathews.
Brothers and Sisters of Charlotte, by six Cherubims got for the
occasion.
ORCHESTRA.
Leader of the Band, Mr. Knight. Conductor, Mr. E. Knight.
Piano Forte, Mr. Knight, jun. Harpsichord, Master Knight (that was).
Clavecin, by the Father of the Knights (to come).
Yivat Rex ! Xo money returned (because none will be taken).
!|r On account of the above surprising novelty, not an ORDER can
possibly be admitted : but it is requested, that if such a thing
find its way to the front of the house, IT WILL BE KEPT.
I need scarcely explain that M. Perlet, M. Emile,
and Mr. C. J. Mathews were one and the same
person. The parts were played in imitation of thy great
originals, and my success was quite bewildering. My
personification of the French actors was pronounced
perfect, and an unmistakable compliment was paid to
my representation of Perlet in particular, both in
manner, voice, and appearance, by a visit from Paul
the French dancer, who had been among the spectators,
and who, being on intimate terms with Perlet, came
round to shake hands with his supposed friend. On
being informed of his mistake he was still incredulous,
E 2
52 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
and I had to admit him to my dressing-room to convince
him of his error. This was unpurchased criticism.*
The farce of "Mr. H.," with which the entertain-
ment commenced, was written by Charles Lamb, and a
witty prologue for this occasion was contributed by
James Smith, and admirably spoken by Mrs. Edwin.
The piece had been, why I can't say, unsuccessfully
produced some years before at Drury Lane. It was
very whimsical, and went off, as it is termed, " with
roars." The part of Mr. H. was certainly capitally
acted by Captain Hill, an amateur of long practice
at the Woolwich theatricals ; and the Landlord by
Mr. Gyles, an established favourite at the Kilkenny
theatricals. Mrs. Edwin, the charming actress of the
London theatres, and Mrs. Bryan, a first-rate soubrette,
completed the cast.
Indeed, Captain Hill's triumph was so great that it
induced him to embrace the stage as a profession. He
was Idng known as Benson Hill, and became a popular
actor and author.
The " Come'dien d'Etampes " followed, in which
I played Dorival, in imitation of Perlet, and as-
sumed three or four different characters. Macbou de
* " I had an opportunity of appreciating your most excellent imita-
tion of Perlet on Friday last," wrote the elder Mathews to Charles two
years after this performance. " I saw him in two pieces Blcco and
Maison en Loterie. Your likeness of his countenance is quite
surprising."
IL] PUGIX'S PUPIL. 53
Beaubuison was excellently played and sung by my
friend James D'Egville. The other characters were well
supported by Oscar Byrne, the well-known ballet-master,
and his brother Charles ; Giubilei, the equally well-
known bass singer, and Madame Spittallier, a piquante
little French actress.
The concluding piece was a parody on the " Sorrows
of Werther," written by John Poole, the author of
"Paul Pry." Like <: Mr. H." at Drury Lane, it had
been unsuccessful at Covent Garden, probably from the
original rhapsody of Goethe not being sufficiently known
to the general public ; and yet Liston and Mrs. Liston,
as Werther and Charlotte, must have been exquisitely
droll.
On this occasion I played Werther, which I think
must have been a very poor performance, though so
greatly praised, as amateur acting always is ; and my
mother played Charlotte, looking very pretty, and
acting charmingly.
The opening scene, with Charlotte cutting huge
slices of bread-and-butter for her six little brothers and
sisters, and Fritz hanging a dozen of Werther 's tear-
bedewed pocket-handkerchiefs, of all sizes and colours, on
a string to dry, was a ludicrous commencement. Fritz
was played with great humour by Eichard Peake the
dramatist. His brother William and Gyles were very
funny as Albert and Schnaps.
The pianoforte, which formed the full orchestra, was
54 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
presided at by Edward Knight, a most brilliant pro-
fessor, brother of J. P. Kniglit, the Royal Academician,
both sons of the popular London actor, known to the
public as " Little Knight."
The whole programme gave the greatest satisfaction ;
and little did I think, while playing the " Comedien
d'Etampes," that I should one day, on the very same
spot, play the same part in English to a paying public,
under the title of " He would be an Actor."
" Little did I think " is a phrase which every man
has to make use of frequently in the course of his life.
It occurs to me so perpetually that it becomes wearisome
to myself ; it applies to almost every event that ever
happened to me.
So pleased "was my father with my performance, that
he seriously urged me to adopt the stage as a profession ;
but I was true to my first love, and could not be per-
suaded to abandon architecture, to which I was heart
and soul devoted. It has often been asserted that my
father had a rooted objection to my becoming an actor,
and that I did so contrary to his wish. This was not the
case. He loved his profession as much as I loved mine.
He certainly had a horror of my having anything to do
with the theatre, unless possessed of such decided talent
as would ensure my taking a first position. . But from
the moment he felt satisfied in his own mind that I
showed sufficient promise to warrant the experiment, he
was most anxious that I should venture it. I however
ii.] PUGIX'S PUPIL. 55
resisted the- pressure ; and it was not till after his death
that circumstances induced nay, I may say forced me
to alter my determination.
My father was of a remarkably sensitive tempera-
ment, quick in his speech and manner, and his nerves
seemed hung on elastic wires, which the slightest touch
agitated.. The falling of a spoon on the sideboard, or
the jingling of glasses, would shake him to his founda-
tion. His irritability was excited by the veriest trifles,
while he would bear real misfortune with perfect philo-
sophy. And yet, in the midst of a frenzy of passion,
such was his keen sense of humour, that one touch of
the ridiculous, like a drop of oil on troubled water, would
restore his equanimity in a moment.
My pony having lost a shoe, I on one occasion bor-
rowed a very valuable thorough-bred horse of my father's
to take me to town. I put him up at livery as usual, in
the mews behind my office. In the course of the after-
noon, fancying a ride, my father called on me to point
out the stable. On reaching it, what was his disgust at
finding the horse standing, with all his mud upon him,
just as I had brought him in hours before ! In a
frenzy of rage, he laid about him.
" Where's Mr. Price ? where's the ostler ? Of all
the shameful, disgraceful things I ever met with ! A
valuable horse like this left without grooming! It's
enough to ruin him ! Where's Mr. Price ? Where's
the ostler ? "
56 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
But no one appeared upon whom he could wreak his
vengeance. At last an old woman showed her nose
over the staircase.
" Oh, here's Mrs. Price," said I.
" Very pretty indeed ! " resumed my father. " Here's
a horse, worth a hundred and fifty guineas, left in your
abominable stable for five hours, with all his dirt upon
him ! It's shameful you ought to be ashamed of
yourselves ! As sure as your name's Price, I'll bring
an action against you all, and make you pay
for it ! '"
And so on he went for another ten minutes, exhaust-
ing his passion in every invective he could think of, till
at last it died out for want of fuel, and he came to a
stop and paused for a reply, when the old lady, with a
sweet smile, mildly asked :
" Has anything happened, sir ? "
She w r as as deaf as a post, and hadn't heard a word.
His anger was gone in a minute, and, in a fit of laughter,
he bolted out of the stable.
His servant being ill, he had consented to allow his
brother, a timid youth from the country, to take his
place for a short time, and for that short time he was a
constant source of annoyance.
One morning, having .many letters to write, and
much study to get through, he called him into the
room.
" Now, Edward "
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 57
" Yes, sir."
"Don't don't say 'Yes, sir,' before you know what
I'm going to say."
" No, sir."
" ' No, sir ' that's as bad. Now mind, I hold you
responsible "
" Yes, sir ; certainly, sir."
"What for?"
" I don't know, sir."
" Then wait till you do. Now mind, I say, you
mustn't let an individual within these doors to-day.
You understand ? "
" Yes, sir, in course not an individual."
" I hold you responsible."
"Yes, sir. In course, sir."
About an hour afterwards, when in the heart of his
study, a loud ring at the bell bespoke visitors, and to
his dismay the door was thrown open, and in walked a
bevy of chattering neighbours. With a complacent
smile, the ill-feted Edward announced " Mrs. Gathercrop
and the Miss Gathercrops," people who were sure to lose
him his whole morning. Wild with rage, he showed the
unlucky imp, by the most expressive grimaces, that he
had made a gross mistake.
A little while after, while entertaining these chat-
terers and wishing them anywhere else, another loud
ring announced another interruption. Rather glad this
time at the chance of someone to share his torment, he
58 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
waited expectantly, but no one appeared. Edward was
summoned.
"Well! who was that ?"
" Please, sir, it was Mr. Coleridge."
"Oh," said Mrs. Gathercrop, "Mr. Coleridge the
poet ! How lucky, to be sure ! "
"Well, where is he?"
" Please, sir, he's gone."
" Gone ? why didn't you show him in ? "
"Why, please, sir, I didn't like."
" Didn't like ! what do you mean ? "
" Please, sir, you looked so savage at me when I let
in these."
There was nothing but a laugh left for it. When
o o
they were gone, my father, whose good humour was
restored by the whimsicality of the incident, summoned
the terrified Edward again.
" Now, my good boy," said he kindly, " I am not
angry with you, so don't be frightened, but tell me
honestly, why did you let in those people ? Didn't I
tell you that not an individual was to be admitted ? "
" Yes, sir ; but, please, sir, I thought you never could
call such a nice lady as that an ' individual.' "
"Good boy," said my father, "there's sixpence for you."
He had a gardener and farm-servant he doted on,
for the very reason that many people would have
discharged him. His blunders and his simplicity were
perfectly refreshing. He was a regular Somersetshire
ii.] PUGIN'S PUPIL. 59
boor ; and many a lesson my father got from his delicious
dialect and manner. He used actually to send him to
the play to enjoy his account of it the next morning.
On the first occasion he came up, hat in hand, and said :
" Please, measter, mon I tak my fun wi' me ? "
" Your fan ? " said my father, thinking it rather an
odd request.
" I'll tak her wi' a string." He meant his dog.
On visiting the farmyard one day, to his horror my
father found the door of the rabbit-hutch wide open and
the hutch empty.
" Where's Hargrcave ? "
"Here I be, measter."
" Where are the rabbits ? "
" Nay, I dwoant knaw. I canna see nout an em noa
whar."
" Not see them ? what do you mean ? "
" Wlioi, when I coom deaun this marnin', I feaund t'
door open loike, just as you sees un neaw. I think rats
maun a' killed un."
" Rats ! nonsense. They couldn't open the door and
swallow rabbits ten times larger than themselves, man !
It's all your carelessness, sir ; you must have left the
hutch open last night."
"Nay, do 'ee think so?"
"Think so ? I'm sure so. A pretty fellow you must
be. It's disgraceful neglect. You wouldn't have left
the door open if they had been your own rabbits."
60 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CIIAP.
" Nay," said Hargreave, with a cunning leer on his
face, "nay, that I wouldn't,"
The candour of the avowal was too much for iny
father, and away he ran.
At the expiration of my articles with Pugin, the
time arrived to enter an architect's office, and acquire
the practical part of the profession ; and Mr. Nash
renewed the offer he had made to receive me, but a
circumstance occurred which completely altered all
previous arrangements.
Lord Blessington, an old friend of my father, was on
the point of starting for Mount] oy Forest, his seat in
Ireland, and, among other improvements he contem-
plated there, he was bent upon the erection of a castle
on his Tyrone estate. Accidentally looking over the
plans and drawings I had executed in the course of my
study, and approving the gallery and library I had built
at home, he conceived the idea of my proceeding to
Ireland, surveying the estate, and furnishing plans and
estimates for his new house, and in a few days my father
received the following letter :
"Mountjoy Forest, August 2, 1823.
" MY DEAR MATHEWS,
" I am determined to build a house here next
spring, and I should like to give your son an opportunity
of making his debut as an architect.
O
ii.] PUGIX'S PUPIL. Gl
" If you like the idea, send him off forthwith to
Liverpool or Holyhead, from, which places steamers go,
and by the Deny mail he will be here (with resting a
day in Dublin) in five days ; but he must lose no time
in setting off. . I will bring him back in my carriage.
" Kemember me most kindly to Mrs. Mathews,
" And believe me,
" Ever yours truly,
" BLESSINGTON.
" I saw Captain Saunders at Stratford, and he is to
show me the spot on my return.
" I suppose it would be utterly useless my asking
you to come with Charles ; but if you wish to spend a
week in one of the most beautiful spots in Ireland, eat
the best venison, Highland mutton and rabbits, and
drink the best claret in Ireland, this is the place ; and
you would be received with undivided applause, and I
would give you some comical dresses for your kit.
" Yours,
"B."
My father jumped at the idea, and I jumped twice
as high as my father, for my heart bounded as well as
my heels.
A journey to the north of Ireland in those days was
rather a different affair to what it is now. In the first
place, I had to wait a couple of days before I could start
G2 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEAVS. [CHAP.
at all, the mail being full, and there was again the same
check in Dublin. This last delay, however, I did not
regret, as Catalani was singing there ; and I had the
gratification of seeing and hearing her, and her personal
beauty, her exquisite voice, and marvellous execution
have never been forgotten. Indeed, I think, whether
justly or not I cannot say, that she was superior to all
the singers who have appeared from that day to this.""
On arriving by mail at Omagh, I found I had to
take a postchaise to Mountjoy Forest. Lord Blessington
was absent for a day or two at Korrich, and I had the
house to myself, with full range of the domain till he
returned. Guns, fishing-rods, horses, books were at my
disposal, and with lovely scenery and fine weather, what
more could I desire ?
He soon made his appearance, and we commenced at
once our grand project, and revelled in the delightful
occupation of building castles in the air.
For a couple of months I led a charmed life ; the
pleasant task of surveying and planning my fairy palace
was not the only resource I had. Stag-hunting, rabbit-
shooting, fishing, and sight-seeing formed not the least
part of the severe duties I had to perform. Fifty
* " Yet though Catalani is so delightful, and overwhelms you with
beautiful passages, she now and then conies out with such a hideous
howl, which is so diabolically scientific, that it really makes you
shudder," is a modification of this criticism, which appears in a letter
from Matliews to his mother, dated August 17, 1823.
ii.] PUGIX'S PUPIL. 63
different plans were furnished, and fifty different altera-
tions were suggested, till the time ran away, and we
were not much further advanced than when we started.
Lord Blessington was absorbed in his grand idea, and
went mad over the details. Suggestion upon suggestion
and alteration upon alteration succeeded each other
hour by hour ; but, nothing daunted, I followed all his
caprices with patience and good humour, and even
derived amusement from his flights of fancy.
I was shrewd enough to discover very soon that my
chief charm lay in my acquiescence with his whims, and
patience with his vacillations. He had already been
furnished with plans, on a very magnificent scale, for a
castle by Wyatt, and not a suggestion permitted, not an
opinion allowed him the architect's word was law.
This did not suit him at all.
The fact is, lie wanted to design the mansion and
suggest all the arrangements, and only required some-
one to put his ideas in shape, make the necessary
specifications, and carry out the practical details. I was
just the person for him ardent as himself, and rather
delighting in, than objecting to the constant exercise for
ingenuity his exuberant conceptions afforded me, and
we laboured capitally together.
At last, after much deliberation, and twenty changes
of opinion, we got so far as to select an appropriate site,
and actually to mark out the ground-plan to the proper
scale, digging up the turf at the chosen spot ; and this
G4 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP. 11.
-
turned out to be all that ever was destined to be done
towards the realisation of our dreams.
We then returned to town, and heartily sorry I was
that the fun was over.
In allusion to this circumstance, Dr. Madden says :
"His lordship abandoned the idea of building, and
returned re infecta to London. His lordship's powers of
volition were so singularly weak, that he rarely was
enabled to bring any matter whatever to an accomplish-
ment which he willed or undertook."
But Dr. Madden was wrong at any rate in this
instance. So far from abandoning the idea of building,
Lord Blessington invited me to accompany him to
Naples, where he had left his family some weeks before,
in order that I might, under his own eye, complete the
plans and prepare the working drawings necessary to
carry out his favourite project. That he was unable
ultimately to bring the matter to an accomplishment is
true, but the impossibility arose from want of funds, and
not from want of will, as he never to the last gave up
the hope of some day achieving his desire.
CHAPTER III.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1823.
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"March llth, 1823.
" MY DEAR FATHER,
" My mother lias been so exceedingly greedy of
news that she has completely forestalled me, and not left
me an item to retail to you, consequently I have not one
single interesting particular to relate ; nevertheless, I
cannot resist writing to you once more before you return,
though, according to the laws of good breeding, you do
not deserve it, as you never sent me any answer to my
first.
" You will not be surprised I daresay when I tell
you how delighted I shall be, and with what pleasure I
look forward to the expiration of my four years at
Pugin's, though, to do them justice, they have for a long
time past been uniformly kind to me. There is a new
work of his upon the point of appearing, in which there
are several plates with my name to them : this is very
friendly on his part, since it is a rule among artists never
to allow the names of their pupils to be attached to their
works until their engagements or apprenticeships have
VOL. I. F
G6 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
expired. Of course all plans for my future occupation
will be left till you come home, though I have a little
scheme to suggest which I am in great hopes you will
approve of.
" I have seen a great deal of Mr. Soane, and
experienced great kindness and attention from him.
He took me with him one day to the bank a great
part of which he has built and explained to me
all the difficulties he had to contend with in the con-
struction. He also gave me permission to make any
drawings there that I pleased a very great favour and
very seldom granted to anyone. He has just finished
a new entrance to the House of Lords, which is univer-
sally admired, and has drawn down eulogiums upon him
from everybody.
" The bare mention of your return home, in your last
letter, has given myself and my mother the most un-
i
bounded joy ; besides the delight of again seeing you
after so long an absence, / have additional reason for
hoping that it will be ' speedy and soon/ as I have
arranged among the rest of the rejoicings and fetes, on
your arrival, that another private play, better executed
than the last, shall be got up for your amusement (and
mine) at the English Opera, which Mr. Arnold has again
offered to me gratis ; and I am sure that you will agree
with my mother and me that there can be no harm in
an annual amusement of the kind, if not allowed to
interfere with more serious studies.
in.] COERESPOXDEXCE, 1823. G7
" Mr. Elmes, the architect, has just published a life
of Sir C. Wren, a very large quarto work, very highly
spoken of, and of great interest, in which he mentions
my name as having communicated some interesting
inte]ligence, and speaks of me as 'a promising young
architect.' When he pointed it out to me I told him
that I not only promised but performed. You may,
perhaps, have heard the joke before, but 'it made a
great laugh at the time.'
" I have now only time to mention that Tiny has lost
her coat, and Poll her spirits, the bullfinches their notes,
and Hargreave his dialect, the garden its beauty, Lion
his content, and Hector his love of being tied up. To
all these I have only to add that my mother and I have
lost all our love and affection for you and all anxiety to
see you again, while I remain,,
" Your undutiful Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Dublin, 12th August, 1823.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" As I had so little time for writing my two first
letters I could only give you the general heads of my
journey, and therefore must now give you the little
interesting incidents which always take place on so long
a journey. ... I had an Irish gentleman in the berth
under me (for I was of higher birth than any of them),
F 2
68 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
who made ine laugh the whole time, in spite of my
illness. ' I thought I should have died at him/ He
never moved from his bed, but constantly interrogated
the steward as to our progress. The instant day-
light appeared, he began. ' Stewart ! ' ' Sir ! ' ' Are
we in Doblin Bay yet ? ' ' No, sir ; not yet in sight of
Holyhead ! ' 'Oh blod an' 'ouns ! ' In five minutes
more : ' Stewart, are we at Donlary ? ' ' Not at
Holyhead yet, sir ! ' ' Oh blod an' 'ouns ! ' ' Stewart,
do you think we shall be at Donlary by two o'clock ? '
'No', sir; I'm afraid not before eight.' 'Oh blod an'
'ouns.' Some such question every five minutes, and in-
variably the same answer. As soon as I arrived in
Dublin I went to Elder's house, which is in the same
street as my hotel. On inquiring if he was within, they
told me he was ; but on searching, they discovered that
he was just gone out, probably to the theatre. I asked
if he sat up late ? they said, 'yes.' Then replied I with
infinite promptitude, 'I'll call on him after the play/
(N.B. THEY were a man-servant, a woman, and a little
boy, who all opened the door to me.) After the play I
called. 'Is Mr. Elder returned?' 'No, sir/ 'Don't
you expect him then to-night ? ' ' No, sir ; not till
Wednesday/ ' Wednesday ! ! ' ' Yes, sir ; he has been
out of town this three weeks/ Wasn't this charmino- ?
o
I then went to Mr. Willis, who was shut up and gone to
bed. I entered the theatre just in time to hear
Mad. Catalani sing ' Non piu andrcd ' and ' God Save
in.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823. 69
the King.' She sang ' Non piu ' much better than I do
now, or should ever be able to do. I, therefore, from
this moment, give it up to her. I tried to get into
Morrison's, but the hotel was quite full ; so I went to
the ' Waterford,' which was highly recommended ; and
of all the horrible places I ever was in, it is the worst.
One towel, no water for the teeth, no soap, no snuffers, no
extinguisher, no northun ; three blankets, two sheets,
and a counterpane on the bed bed a sack of potatoes.
No window in the house had been opened for a month at
least. When I went there after the play, I found all my
luggage still in the hall where I had left it. When I
said I was going to bed, a male chambermaid appeared
with a candle, and another male with a warming-pan.
'Jack, take the gentleman's luggage up.' 'Take it
yourself ; sure you're strong enough.' 'I shan't.' 'Well,
then lave it ! ' ' Well, gentlemen,' said I, ' I suppose I
must carry it myself.' ' No, sir ; it'll be all right just now;
asy, honey, take up the gentleman's pork-mantel;' and
after a great deal of this sort of gentlemanlike argument,
they did me the favour to share it between them. . . .
" Your most affectionate Son,
" CHAELES J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
" Mountjoy Forest, Omagli, Aug. 25.
" MY DEAR FATHEK,
" No one knows what he can do till he tries.
When I set off from London, I had not the slightest
70 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
idea that I was capable of executing what I have clone
since. I find everything come as naturally as if I had
been building all my life. When I first went to Paris,
I had not imagined that I was master of three French
words ; but, when I tried, I found I could speak tolerably
well. Since I wrote last, I have surveyed the ground
surve3 7 ing I never learnt till now and made plans for
the house, which Lord Blesinton* highly approves of.
He has determined to begin building next summer, when
Lady Blesinton is coming over here. I don't know
whether he has written to you yet, but if he has not
you will hear soon, to try and gain you over to his
wish, which is as follows : As nothing can be done till
Lady B. approves of the drawings, and as he has room
in his carriage, he wishes to take me with him to Naples
and from thence to Eome, where she is at present, and
there, after her approval, I can make all my necessary
workmen's drawings at his chateau. Now though I
should very much like this plan, of course, I hope you
will not imagine that I should now be so childish as to
O
be disappointed at a refusal. You cannot doubt but
that I should be delighted at seeing Eome, particularly
under such advantageous circumstances ; but still, though
I could make a great many sketches of views and
architecture which might form my taste in a great
* The Earl of Blessington's name is frequently spelt thus in the
letters which Mathews had preserved. Indeed, in one instance at
least, Lady Blessington signs herself " M. Blesinton."
in.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823. 71
degree, yet I do not consider that I could make that
great improvement which is only to be derived from
deep study of the buildings, and accurate measurements
taken in concert with another architect. So far I
honestly confess, that if I should go now, it would be
more a trip of pleasure except with regard to the
drawings for this house than of study, and though it
would doubtless be of great use to have seen and sketched
the finest buildings in the world, and would give me a
greater taste and scope for designing, yet it would still
be necessary at some future time, when I had acquired
more scientific knowledge in an architect's office, to go
there again in company with some young architect to
examine and measure in the most exact manner every
building of consequence and beauty. There is one thing,
however, that might be of essential service to me, viz.
the introduction, through Lord Blesinton, to the chief
nobility and literati resident at Borne. These persons
I hear Lord B. constantly speak of, and describe as
frequently at his house at Kome, and also at Venice.
I need not say that introductions of this kind are of
immense service, particularly to an architect, in places
like Kome, Naples, or Venice. But I have now stated
everything that occurs to me, for and against ; it is now
for you to determine as you think most wise and con-
venient, and as my mother also will most wish. I only
wish you to understand that however you may arrange,
/ shall consider that the best, and shall not be at all
72 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
disappointed at not going. . . . Believe me, my dear
father,
" Your affectionate Son,
" CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Mountjoy Forest, August 31st, 1823.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" I was particularly uneasy at hearing of your
distress about my last letter, because I know that you
will have waited the same time before you receive this.
However, all I can say is this, that I really have not had
it in my power this week to write, for the whole time
has been devoted to our house. I have set out the
plan on the ground and raised stones to the height of
six feet all round the building, in order to judge of the
effect from the lower windows. When this was done, to
my great mortification, I was not able to get a view of
a certain piece of river arid stone bridge, which I had
calculated upon, for, owing to a wind^that the water
took, it was lost by the effect of perspective. However,
all difficulties are instantly removed here, and I am
going to set them to work to turn the course of the
river, by which means we shall get the most beautiful
view imaginable. On the other side we have a
mountain which is very much in our way, so orders
are given to shave it all away. A whole plantation is
already cut down ; and a large bare mountain, very
in.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823. 73
disagreeable to have 'always staring us in the face, is to
be planted with firs and larch all over, for which purpose
one hundred and fifty thousand are already removed
from the nursery to the spot. Are not these grand
doings ?
" I am delighted to find that you and my father are
in so happy a disposition towards the proposed tour, and
if my last letter had the effect of persuasion, I think this
must decide you, for, since I wrote, I have had a longer
and more detailed explanation from his lordship. We
go first to Naples, where Lady Blesinton I believe I
told you now is. They are there particularly intimate
with a Mons. Artaud, the governor of the Academy and
Museum, who proceeds with them to Rome, and who
knows every inch of stone-work in the city, and who has
examined, measured, and drawn all the buildings. He
is acquainted with all the architects and men of science
in Eome, and will give me, on Lord Blesinton's account,
every advantage. At Rome they take a house, and, as
Lady B. is particularly fond of it, they intend remaining
there six weeks ! Here is time enough to do wonders,
when instructed in the proper manner to set about it.
They are also intimate with Denon and Lord Byron,
both of whom we should see a great deal of. Added to
all this Lord Blesinton has a vessel of his own, in which
he intends crossing over to Greece ! visiting Ionia and
Magna Graecia and so on to Athens ! There's an oppor-
tunity which I really think ought not to be lost. He
74 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
mentioned a great many other advantages which he
must explain when he sees you, for I was so bewildered
with the great names of Italy and Greece, Rome and
Athens, Temples of Minerva and Colosseums, Venetian
gondoliers, rialtos, and burning mountains, that I could
not attend to more commonplace subjects. However,
I'll leave this subject, or I should fill up my whole letter
with it.
" I never was more astonished than at hearing of my
father's reappearance. I had not heard of it before, for
we see no English paper here. I am delighted to hear
of the success, but am ' a little damned mad ' at not
being able to see him. I hope he will not injure his
American entertainment by it. I have also made my
reappearance. I opened last night here in Jeremy
Diddler and Dr. Last, with immense success. Fain-
would, Charles Gardiner ; Sam, Lord Blesinton. It
was done for the amusement of the children, and had
more than the desired effect. I made up capital
dresses for both parts, and particularly hit them in
Dr. Last.
" A gentleman here was invited to a large house in
the neighbourhood and was offered a bed. He undressed
himself in his dressing-room, put out his candle, and
entered his bedroom. But after groping round and
round the room for some time he could not find any
bed, and, there being no bell, he laid himself down on
the rug and slept till morning. On awaking he discovered
IIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823. 75
that there was a most beautiful bed in the middle of the
room.
" With best love to Papa,
" Your truly affectionate Son,
"CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
CHARLES MATHEWS TO THE EARL OF BLESSINGTOX.
"Highgate, Sept. 2, 1823.
" MY LOUD,
" The recovery of a long character and the daily
attendance at the rehearsals of it, has prevented an
earlier acknowledgment of your lordship's kind letter,
to which your speedy return to town precludes the
necessity of a long reply. I was also apprehensive
that my letter might arrive at Mount] oy about the
time fixed for the departure from thence. Indeed,
indeed, my lord, I cannot find language to convey
the high sense I have of the honour and friend-
ship you have conferred on me in the person of Charles,
nor of the gratification I feel that you deem him worthy
of the proposed distinction of residing with Lady Bles-.
sington and yourself during the winter. If I paused
for one moment in giving my assent to so obviously
advantageous a proposal, it was purely from regard to a
fond mother's feelings at parting from her son for so
long a period ; but I find her willing, and am anxious
to waive all selfish consideration in order to give him the
whole advantage of your lordship's invaluable friendship,
76 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP. in.
and, regardless of aught else, to ensure his welfare in
your continued kind feeling towards him. With all
thankfulness for so unexpected and great proof of it,
she yields up Charles to your lordship's and Lady
Blessington's entire direction ; well assured and satisfied
that under such auspices and associations he must
acquire much, and improve in all things that can ensure
him present delight and lasting honour. May he, my
lord, as fully deserve the distinction he now experiences
in your good opinion and personal notice, as I know he
is sensible of its value and just in his appreciation of
his good fortune in having obtained it.
" As I am so soon to have the pleasure of seeing you,
my lord, I shall reserve all further testimony of the
warm feelings of gratitude you have excited until we
meet, when you will find me what I have always been,
and ever must remain,
"Your Lordship's most obliged and faithful Servant,
" C. MATHEWS.
"My wife begs me to add her most respectful
regards to your lordship and to Lady B. when you
write to Italy. She would have written a postscript
to this but for a slight return of her late complaint in
her head.
" Will your lordship do us the favour' to give our
affectionate regards to Charles ? "
CHAPTER IV.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY FIRST VISIT TO ITALY, 1823-1824.
ON the receipt of Lord Blessington's invitation, my father
looked at my mother, and rny mother looked at my father,
then both looked at me, and I looked at them both, and I
believe the tears stood in all our eyes. To send me away,
and for a whole year, too I, who had never crept from
under the parental wing was a startling idea. But all
considerations vanished before that of my welfare, and
at length consent was joyfully and gratefully given.
As for me, I walked on air. Italy ! Could it really
be ? The land of my dreams ! I could hardly believe
my senses. A few days only were allowed for prepara-
tion, which was all the better, as our minds were too
fully occupied with the necessary details of the expedi-
tion to dwell upon the pain of separation. But the
moment at last actually arrived, and, on the twenty-first
of September, 1823, eyes were wiped, and handkerchiefs
waved, as, comfortably ensconced in the well-laden
travelling-carriage, four post-horses rattled us away from
St. James's Square.
78 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
A voluminous diary, rigidly kept, furnishes an
ample account of our progress. It contains a tre-
mendously elaborate description of the scenery, and all
objects of interest on the road, with historical notes
attached, forming a book of reference worthy of Murray
himself. But, of course, the first impressions of a lad
just beginning life are not worth recording, especially
through lands now so familiar to all, and about which
the ubiquitous Murray has since exhausted every possible
form of expression. Besides, it would take as long to
describe the journey as it did to perform it.
Lord Blessington loved his ease, and had no notion
of hurry, so that I had ample opportunity for seeing all
that was worth seeing, and I need scarcely say that my
eyes were like saucers, and my ears as wide open as that
of Dionysius.
Sir Charles Sutton, a most agreeable, w^ell- informed
companion, accompanied ITS, and he and I rambled
for hours together, exploring all the places of interest
we stopped at. Lord Blessington was not a walker, was
a hater of sight-seeing, and, moreover, a late riser,
breakfasting in bed, and reading his book or newspaper
there till late in the day, so we saw little of him except
when travelling, or at meal-time.
A few extracts from my journal, omitting raptures
and descriptions of places, will give an idea of the
pleasant style of travelling of the pre -railroad days,
before the terms "fast" and "go-ahead" were invented,
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 79
when the world studied its comfort and enjoyment on a
tour more than the mere " doing " foreign countries in
droves, with a haste that puts the traveller on about a
par with an intelligent portmanteau.
For business, by all means a railway train for a
commercial traveller, a godsend ; but for pleasure, a
luxurious carriage with four horses, the leisure to enjoy
the picturesque, and stop wherever a tempting spot
invites, and, above all, free from the horrors of a table-
d'hote. Better really see and appreciate quietly and
thoroughly whatever is worthy of notice, than fly like
lightning past places of interest, as though they never
existed.
" Did you go to Rome ? "
" Rome ? Did we, mamma ? Oh yes, I re-
member now. It was the place where we saw that
old beggar woman with the child, on the steps of a
church."
This is hardly an exaggeration of the recollections
some travellers carry away.
Sept. 21. Left London. Dined with Mr. Tegart at
Eltham, and slept at Sittingbourne.
Sept. 22. Started early for Dover. Reached Calais
at four, and slept at Boulogne.
Sept. 23. Dined at Abbeville, and slept at Gran-
villiers.
Sept. 24. Dined at Beauvais, and, proceeding along
80 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the old, dull, monotonous, paved avenues, reached Paris
at six.
Sept. 25. A day's rest in Paris.
Sept. 2G. Left at twelve o'clock, with six horses,
and slept at Fontainebleau. Explored at leisure the
Chateau and Forest.
Sept. 27.- Slept at Auxerre.
Sept. 28. Off early. At Dole a facetious barber has
over his door : " Demain on rase pour rien." The poor
peasants arrive to claim his promise, but of course
"demain" never comes. If we could read the "Hoclie
mihi, eras tibi " of the tombstone in the same way, what
a comfort it would be ! But Death is a barber who
never jokes ; and when he shaves, it is so effectually
that the customer never troubles him again. Slept at
Poligny.
Sept. 30. Pouring with rain. Crossed the Jura,
and arrived at Geneva, Stopped at Secheron, a fashion-
able bad inn, about a mile out of the town, but delight-
fully situated on the brink of the lake. Here, to our
great astonishment and pleasure, we found the Speaker
of the House of Commons, the Hon. Manners Sutton,
and Mrs. Home Purves (afterwards Lord and Lady
Canterbury), with their children and governesses, who
had arrived the day before. After doing them the
honour to eat part of their excellent dinner, we went to
bed, all of us tolerably fatigued.
Nov. 1. How charming was the view that presented
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 81
itself this morning on waking 1 The sparkling azure
lake, with the sun playing upon it, and the superb
mountains surrounding it ; Mont Blanc peeping from
behind the snowy points in the distance, relieved upon
the blue sky, and the town of Geneva on our right,
formed one glare of light altogether dazzling.
Nov. 2. To-day Sir Charles and I sallied forth to
explore the town to see the house where Rousseau was
born, and pay a visit to Ferney, the former residence of
Voltaire, situated about two miles from Geneva. There
is very little to induce persons to take the trouble of
seeing it, except the Englishman's satisfaction of saying-
he has seen it. The bedroom is said to be exactly in the
same state as when its master occupied it. Over the
bed is a bad crayon drawing of Le Kain, on his right
Frederick the Great, on his left Madame de Chatelet,
Voltaire's mistress both wretched daubs. Opposite the
fireplace is a plain monument of black marble, with
these inscriptions : " Mon esprit est partout, et mon
coeur est igi ; " " Mes manes sont consoles, puisque mon
cosur est au milieu de vous ; " both of which are
rendered unmeaning, from the vase which contained the
heart having been, for some reason or other, removed.
Nov. 3. This morning it was determined we should
again begin our journey ; but an arrangement was
suggested which gave great pleasure to all that
Mrs. Purves and the Speaker should accompany us to
Naples, on a visit to Lady Blessington; owing to
vor. i. a
82 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
which our departure was deferred till the following
morning.
In the meantime all our inquiries were directed
towards the manner of passing the Simplon ; of carrying
provisions for said passage, and arming ourselves against
the extreme cold we were to meet with. Sheepskins,
worsted, lambswool, umbrellas, shawls, handkerchiefs,
and every description of preventive that could possibly
be suggested was in requisition.
How ludicrous it sounds nowadays, when a railway
over Mont Cenis and a tunnel under it have opened
the doors of Italy to every shopkeeper with a handbag
and a few pounds in his pocket when Cook's excur-
sionists swarm in every capital of Europe, thousands
of fools rushing cheaply in where formerly only moneyed
angels dared to tread to hear of the awful hazard
of life and limb, task of peril and adventure, it was
considered to cross the Alps fifty years ago !
Everyone had his history to relate of the horrors
of the extreme frigidity. One gentleman, who merely
withdrew his hand from his glove to remove an icicle
from his nose, had his fingers so benumbed as to be
unable to replace them; and, in short, had we been
starting for a voyage to the north pole, more preparations
could not have been made.
Nov. 4. Everything being at last arranged, we
found to our sorrow that the Due de Montebello was
to start before us with three carriages, forcing another
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 83
delay - r for if the Due de Montebello monopolised all
the post-horses the Earl of Blessington and his party
must go without, which, with four heavy carriages,
would ha.ve been no easy matter. One day longer,
then, we must stay, and to-morrow was again positively
fixed.
Nov. 5. At last, on Sunday morning, at half-past
five, we were once more in motion. In the course of
the night a great fall of snow had entirely covered the
Jura mountains, and the sun, which had just risen,
shone with all its brightness upon them. Nothing
half so magnificent can be conceived. The whole of
the immense chain of the Jura, at first suffused with
the most delicate roseate tints, suddenly became one
mass of solid gold. It was a sight never to be forgotten.
Slept at St. Maurice.
Nov. 6. Left St. Maurice at four o'clock. Slept
at Sion.
Nov. 7. Before daybreak we set forth on the most
interesting day's journey we had yet met with ; to cross
the Simplon.
Being determined that my faculties should not be
benumbed and rendered useless by the intense cold,
I prepared myself before starting with the following
articles of dress : Two pairs of stockings, a pair of snow-
shoes over my boots, a pair of gaiters, two pairs of
trowsers, two shirts, two waistcoats, a woollen comforter
over my chin, a coat, a great- coat, a cloak, a nightcap,
G 2
84 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEW%. [CHAP.
a travelling cap, and a pair of skin gloves, resembling
a couple of young unlicked bear cubs. With this
wardrobe on me I thought myself tolerably secure from
at least a part of the cold ; and so in the end it proved,
for while ascending the mountain on the box of the
carriage I was ready to melt with the heat ; but I
comforted myself with knowing, that, once arrived
at the summit, the excessive cold would make amends
for my present sufferings. But, alas ! it only became
worse and worse ; that is, warmer and warmer, till,
when at last we reached the highest point, and were
in the midst of snow and ice, my only hope vanished ;
the sun burst out in all his glory, continued to fry
for the rest of the day, and reduced me to a state of
absolute liquefaction.
" Non fidatevi all' Alchimista povero, o al medico
ammalato" or to a hosier's advice when you cross the
Simplon. Slept at Baveno, on the banks of the Lago
Maggiore.
Nov. 8. After a beautiful day's journey along its
banks, between five and six o'clock we entered Milan.
We found that the Speaker and Mrs. Purves, who had
arrived some time before us, were gone for a stroll
through the town, and had ordered dinner at seven
o'clock. Now, as I wished to go to the play, I
determined, instead of waiting for them, to go and
dine at some restaurateur's near the theatre, in order
to be ready. Having taken a valet-de-place to interpret
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 85
and show me the way to the Tea"tro Ke (I knowing
neither the city nor the language), I walked through
the piazza before the cathedral, and in a small side
street he pointed it out, and close to it a little door,
which he said was the restaurateur's, where I could
dine very well, and where he believed they spoke
French. So saying he left me to my fate, and I
entered a dirty dark little room, full of porters playing
dominoes and smoking. I passed on, however, to
find the salle-a-manger, and arrived in a smoky hot
kitchen, with cooks and scullions not in the most
elegant deshabille. I now began to inquire where I
was to dine, but with all the French, broken English,
dog Latin, and bad Italian I could muster I could
make none of them understand what I meant, and
only gathered, from the pantomime of the head-cook,
that I must eat in the kitchen. My situation appeared
forlorn, and I would willingly have made my escape
if I could have done so with a good grace and without
a suspicious appearance ; but that being impossible, I
sat down to the filthy table with a cheerful face, before
a cloth, evidently an old servant in the family, and
seldom troubled with water.
I now thought that as I could not make them
comprehend a word I said, my best chance of dinner
was to go out and buy an Italian phrase book. It
was a bright idea, and by dint of signs and repetition
of the word " libraio " the intelligent chef at last
86 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
ordered his scullion to show me the way to a book-
seller's.
This was a point gained, and quickly returning
with my book of dialogues, I opened it in triumph,
when, to my disgust, I discovered that the stupid
bookseller, misunderstanding my broken Italian, had
given me a selection of dialogues from Moliere, Fenelon,
&c. &c., on comic, moral, and religious subjects.
Eeturning to the shop, I at last really obtained what
I wanted, and once more I considered myself in safety.
Then came the cruellest cut of all. Armed with my
battery of phrases, and sallying forth, certain of victory,
what were my confusion and dismay at finding the
cooks, scullions, and waiters quite as ignorant of Italian
as of French, and that I had found my way into a German
kitchen.
I could not help laughing at my situation, provoked
and hungry as I was, and determined to get through it
as well as I could. I set to work once more, and
sketched an egg, a chicken, and a mutton-chop, with
clever representations of pears, figs, and grapes.
This plan succeeded beyond my hopes. The land-
lord seemed to understand perfectly, but insisted upon
my beginning with a large tureen of vegetable soup, full
of grease and garlic. This I manfully resisted, to his
great annoyance, but it really was too much for friend-
ship. Next came my mutton-chop, black on one side
and red on the other, swimming in bad butter. I made
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 87
an attempt towards it, that I might not hurt the cook's
feelings, but found it impracticable. With it he brought
a plate of parmesan, which I, taking for salt, began to
eat with my chop, and thus completely overturned the
gravity of the scullions, who, I verily believe, thought
me stark mad. A large flask of sour wine took the
place of the vinegar, which was the only thing on the
table that was sweet.
Having made but a very poor dinner of parmesan
cheese and bread and butter, I called out very loud,
" Paga, paga ! " which the cunning Germans understood
well enough, for the spokesman instantly gave me, as he
thought, full information on the subject in ten thousand
inharmonious words, out of which I did not recognise one;
but guessing their substance and object, I put down a
five-franc piece, thinking that would cover my expenses,
and to my no small astonishment received in change
four francs ten sous in silver and five sous in copper,
having dined for the sum of five sous. The remaining
o o
five I liberally gave the waiter, who, 'with elegant
solemnity, bowed me out.
Nov. 9. Left Milan at four in the afternoon, havino-
' O
parted company with the Speaker and Mrs. Purves, on
account of the difficulty of obtaining horses for so
large a party. It was also found absolutely necessary
to buy another carriage here, in order to lighten Lord
Blessing-ton's heavy family-coach from some of its
luggage. Travelling all night, we passed over the
88 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Bochetta, one of the highest Alps, and arrived about nine
in the morning at Genoa,
Nov. 10. At three o'clock we started again, and
reached Chiavari to sleep.
Nov. 11. Much rain had fallen for some days
before we reached Genoa, and the floods had carried
away several bridges on the route we had to take.
Torrents fell as we left Chiavari, by no means propitious
for our journey to Spezia, part of the road to that place
lying through the bed of a river, which after rains
generally became impassable. Away we went, however,
along a good road lined with hedges of aloes, with
groves of vines, cypresses, and olives no doubt an
enchanting drive in fine weather.
On the way we fell in with Lord Hay warden, who
had left Spezia that morning at half-past four. It
was five in the evening; when we met him, he havino-
o * o
accomplished in that time a distance of seven
miles.
He advised us by no means to proceed, the more
particularly as he had seen a carriage with ladies, which
had been sticking in the river for four hours with ten
horses to assist them, unable to move. But we were in
for it, and go on we must. He wished us well through
it, and continued his course.
We had not parted from him five minutes before we
arrived at a small stream, so swollen by the floods, that
we were obliged to hire about twenty labourers to drag
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 89
us through it and push the carriages up to the top of
the hill.
Towards evening we reached Borghetto, and found
the river bed through which we were to pass a raging
torrent.
Here then we must stay till the flood subsides, of
which at present there does not seem the slightest
probability. Pazienza !
Nov. 12. Of all the horrible, detestable, unsavoury
places that ever were seen this was the worst. The
very essence of everything disgusting ! The streets
filthy to an excess, and the chief part of the inhabitants
consisting of large black pigs. The wretched hut, called
inn, was almost without furniture, and wholly without
sashes to the windows, the apertures through which
light was admitted being only made to close with rough
wooden shutters.
Four bare walls formed our sitting-room, but without
any fastening to the door, so that we were constantly
intruded upon by any stray pigs that chanced to be
passing by. Here we were forced to take up our abode,
while the rain poured in torrents, preventing the possi-
bility of putting our noses out for an instant.
The bed-room was about ten feet square, and con-
tained three beds. This we gave up to Milord, bringing
two of the beds into the salle-a-manger, which, in the
end, turned out the more comfortable room of the two, for
unluckily, the public staircase, leading to the kitchen
90 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
above us, was exactly over Lord Blessingtou's Led, and
the tramp was uniformly kept up the whole night, so
that he never was allowed to slumber for a moment.
I shall never forget the appearance of his room. It
was the acme of misery, and yet with a comic side to it.
A small truck-bed in a little alcove at the farther end,
over which was the staircase, whose creaking boards com-
pletely banished sleep ; Lord Blessington, in a large
flannel night-cap, with a travelling-shawl over his
shoulders, sitting up in bed, with his books and
drawings strewed around him, his breakfast by his
side, served in the silver accessories of his travelling
kit ; a poor little rickety table, set out with all the
profusion of costly plate and cut-glass bottles of his
emptied dressing-case, with brocaded dressing-gowns on
the broken-backed chairs, and imperials piled on im-
perials, almost reaching the ceiling, and actually filling
the room. It was a splendid subject for a picture.
I must do him the justice to say he bore his situa-
tion manfully. Luckily, the walls of the sitting-room
had been recently whitewashed ; and as it was impossible
to move out on account of the positive inundation, we
amused ourselves with exhibiting our pictorial talents,
leaving works there that will seldom be equalled. Lord
Blessington's genius lay among men and horses, and
mine in architecture ; and the large frescoes we executed,
if they still exist, will attest our industry. I covered
one wall with a grand cartoon of the great temple at
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 91
Paestum, and he decorated the other with a life-size
portrait of Napoleon on horseback, surrounded by his
generals, both fine specimens of the respective masters,
and no doubt long the pride of Borghetto.
This evening, as we were sitting in all the pomp of
woe, the door opened in an indecisive manner, and in
walked an old fat man, half tipsy, very tall and very
dirty, and with apparently half the village at his heels,
bowing in the most profound manner. We all imme-
diately concluded that it was the parson of the parish
come to ask charity, and Lord Blessington had even got
his hand in his pocket to act upon the idea, when, after
a great deal of hesitation and embarrassment, the old
man blundered out as well as he was able, between
Italian, French, and Portuguese, apparently understand-
ing neither, that he was the Pope's Nunzio, and only
wanted his vetturino's carriage put up in the wretched
crazy shed, called our "remise." The thing was quite
impossible, as we tried to impress upon him, but he
insisted upon its practicability, and would have it that
it was only the impertinence of our courier that made
the difficulty. When, however, he found that he could
not carry his point, he backed himself out of the room,
bowing to us in the most obsequious manner, but
shaking his fist at the courier, vowing vengeance against
him on his arrival at Rome, and explaining that, " at
Borghetto he was only a man, but at Rome he was the
Pope's Nunzio."
92 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Nov. 13. A piece of luck this morning put us
en route once more. The Governor of Genoa by good
fortune happened to arrive here from Spezia, and finding
that an English peer was detained at this wretched
place, sent his compliments to say that the sedan chairs,
which had brought him, were at our service, and the
inspector of the roads to accompany us and clear away
all difficulties. Sir Charles and I went to return him
Lord Blessington's thanks, and found him a most charm-
ing elegant "old man in regimentals." He received us
in the most friendly manner, and afterwards called at our
inn. Upon seeing our fresco paintings he assured us that
we should not find anything comparable to them through-
out Italy, and I feel convinced myself that we never shall.
At twelve o'clock we left Borghetto on horseback,
with our luggage in the sedans, the carriages being out
of the question, and proceeded along the most diabolical
pass that ever was seen, continually wading through
torrents, descending and ascending rocks, crossing
streams, and the rain pitilessly pelting, without a
minute's respite, the whole day.
At Spezia, however, we at last arrived, very wet
and hungry, and making a hearty dinner, enjoyed our-
selves thoroughly in a very comfortable hotel.
What words can adequately describe the Paradise
to which I was introduced at Naples ! The Palazzo
Belvedere, situated about a mile and a half from the
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 93
town on the heights of Vomero, overlooking the city,
and the beautiful turquoise-coloured bay dotted with
latine sails, with Vesuvius on the left, the island of
Capri on the right, and the lovely coast of Sorrento
stretched out in front, presented an enchanting scene.
The house was the perfection of an Italian palace, with
its exquisite frescoes, marble arcades, and succession of
terraces one beneath the other, adorned with hanging
groves of orange trees and pomegranates, shaking their
odours among festoons of vines and luxuriant creepers,
affording agreeable shade from the noontide sun, made
brighter by the brilliant parterres of glowing flowers,
while refreshing fountains plashed in every direction
among statues and vases innumerable. I was naturally
entranced, and commenced a new existence.
Lady Blessington, then in her zenith, and certainly
one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most
fascinating women of her time, formed the centre figure
in the little family group assembled within its precincts.
Count D'Orsay, then a youth of nineteen, was the
next object of attraction, and I have no hesitation in
asserting was the beau ideal of manly dignity and grace.
He had not yet assumed the marked peculiarities of
dress and deportment which the sophistications of
London life subsequently developed. He was the model
of all that could be conceived of noble demeanour and
youthful candour ; handsome beyond all question ;
accomplished to the last degree ; highly educated, and
94 LIFE OF CHA11LES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
of great literary acquirements ; with a gaiety of heart and
cheerfulness of mind that spread happiness on all around
him. His conversation was brilliant and engaging, as
well as clever and instructive. He was, moreover, the
best fencer, dancer, swimmer, runner, dresser ; the best
shot, the best horseman, the best draughtsman of his
age. Possessed of every attribute that could render his
society desirable, I am sure I do not go too far in
pronouncing him the perfection of a youthful nobleman.
Then came Miss Power, Lady Blessington's younger
sister, somewhat demure in aspect, of quiet and retiring
manners, contrasting sweetly with the more dazzling
qualities which sparkled around her. Lady Blessington
has been described as a peach blossom, and Miss Power
as a primrose by her side.
This formed the family party, and I soon found
it as fully devoted to mental cultivation and the
prosecution of literary pursuits, as to the more natural
occupations of pleasure and enjoyment.
The house was the rendezvous of all the literati of
the place, and the point of attraction of all the English
visitors of distinction who were so frequently passing
through it. Sir William Gell, Dr. Millingen (the
celebrated numismatist), the Abbd Campbell, Keppel
Craven, Mathias (the author of the " Pursuits of Lite-
rature," and whose Italian poetry was distinguished
for its elegance and purity), Sir William Drummond,
Lord Byron, were residents in the neighbourhood, and
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 95
with them the elite of Italian society, the wits and
learned men in every department, made the Palazzo
Belvedere the centre of intellectual association.
In one corner of the large saloon stood Lady
Blesshifrton's table, laden with books and writings
O O *
Count D'Orsay's in another, equally adorned with
literary and artistic litter. Miss Power's and mine
completed the arrangement, while Lord Blessington
strolled and chatted from one to the other, and then
dived into his own sanctum, where he divided his time
between fresh architectural schemes for his castle in the
air, and the novel of " De Vavasour," on which he was
busily engaged.
In this agreeable company I visited all the anti-
quities and classical sites with which the neighbourhood
abounds, and no means were neglected to make these
visits profitable. The day before their execution every
authority, ancient and modern, that could throw a
light upon the subject, was consulted, and notes col-
lected to illustrate the object of inquiry. Sir William
Gell was our sheet-anchor on these occasions, who
knew every nook and corner by heart, with its associa-
tions and traditions ; and the knowledge and instruction
derived from this mode of practical study was complete.
In the cool of the evenings we all repaired to a
charming loggia overlooking the bay, and here a suc-
cession of amusements, springing out of the fun and
fancy of the moment, passed away the moonlight hours.
96 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Visitors poured in in endless variety, and the charms of
music and playful wit were brought into action.
I had soon picked up many imitations of Neapolitan
manners and peculiarities, and gave frequent dressed
representations of the characters I had collected, while
not a week passed but I had added one or two
Neapolitan songs, which given in the grotesque dialect
of the peasantry, and with guitar accompaniment, were
always welcome contributions.
One of the most popular personages among the
many out-of-door candidates for favour was a little old
fellow, who used to station himself on the Mole every
afternoon, reciting and expounding the beauties of
Ariosto in the Neapolitan dialect to an entranced crowd
of fishermen and lazzaroni, who sat upon the ground
and on baskets and benches in a circle round him,
perfectly enthralled with the romantic adventures of
Kinaldo, and other knights errant and persecuted
damsels conjured up by the poet. This was one of
my most successful assumptions, and was frequently
"redernanded."
Another remarkable character was a priest, who at
the corner of the Piazza del Castello preached, not only to
the populace but to the better classes, in the impassioned
style peculiar to his nation ; not in the Neapolitan dialect,
but in the purity of the Italian language, and with the
polished eloquence of inspired oratory ; employing all the
dramatic resources of passionate gesture and powerful
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 97
facial expression, displayed by these masters of de-
clamation, in their endeavour to enchain the hearts and
minds of their auditors.
1 had a correct dress made, and with the long
streaming black hair and small square cap, I managed
to present a close copy of the original ; while, aided
by a real and most exciting sermon which I actually
heard him preach, I produced a marvellous impression,
especially on my Italian auditors, who listened to it
seriously, regarding it simply as a specimen of fine
oratory, and not for a moment receiving it as an ex-
position of the outrageous exaggeration and unworthy
pantomimical effect it was meant to expose.
Many years afterwards, long before I dreamt of
going upon the stage, old Jack Bannister, on hearing
this sermon, declared that " tragedy was evidently my
forte." I don't think he was right ; if he was, I have
still to find it out. Who knows but I may have a fine
future before me yet !
During the twelvemonth I remained a guest at the
Palazzo Belvedere, I rummaged every corner of Naples
and its environs, wandered on foot among the mountains
with my sketch-book, and lived among the peasants,
joining in their pursuits, dancing the Tarantella under
vine-covered pergolas by moonlight, and picking up
songs and stories in abundance.
No one who has not witnessed it can form a notion
of the gaiety and inspiring mirth of the Tarantella.
VOL. i. H
98 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Begun sometimes in the early morning of a festa by one
couple of dancers, male and female, and relieved by
others, who take their places when the first pair are
tired out, and so on without remission till after night-
fall. The dance is accompanied by guitar, castanet,
and songs improvised for the occasion, the singers
relieving each other, like the dancers, when tired or
exhausted in invention, fresh candidates supplying
fresh words of their own to the same air in endless
variety, amidst the shouts and applause of the assembled
multitude.
Ah ! those were halcyon days, never to be forgotten.
I seem to live them over again, while recording them ;
and all the trivial incidents connected with them present
themselves to my mind, after fifty years, as vividly as
at the moment they happened.
Lord Blessington was very susceptible of cold, and
had a horror of a " thorough draught." He was able,
D'Orsay used to declare, to detect a current of air caused
by the key being left crossways in the keyhole of a
door.
On one of our exploring expeditions, we were
examining the ruins of some old Roman villas at Baise.
The foundations extended for some distance into the
bay, and the remaining portions of the w T alls, intersecting
each other, rose about two or three feet above the level
of the water. As I skipped backwards and forwards
over the broken remains, Lord Blessington more than
iv.] FIKST VISIT TO ITALY. 99
once called out, to my great surprise, " Take care, take
care ! For heaven's sake mind what you are about ;
you'll be in the water to a certainty ! " exhibiting a
degree of solicitude quite unlike his usual inappreciation
of danger, either to himself or others. After one or two
repetitions of his alarm, Lady Blessington, losing
patience, exclaimed : " Do let the boy alone, Blessington.
If he does fall in the water, what can it signify ?
you know he swims like a fish."
" Yes, yes," said his lordship, " that's all very well,
but I shall catch my death driving home in the carriage
with him."
Among the many valuable acquaintances I made at
Naples, one of the most important to me was that of
Samuel Angell, the accomplished architect, who was
then on a professional tour. He had just returned from
Sicily, where, with his friend Harris, he had been
fortunate enough to discover some very interesting-
sculptures while excavating at Girgenti.
With him and a most amusing literary companion,
Mr. Atkinson, whom he called his " historian," I spent
three weeks at Pompeii, drawing and measuring every-
thing of interest a most agreeable and profitable sojourn.
There was then no " Hotel Diornede " on the spot, and
the nearest place we could find to take up our quarters
was above a mile off, at a wretched "locanda" or rather
" osteria," at Torre dell Aununziata. A walk through
cotton fields every morning brought us by break of day
H 2
100 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
to Pompeii, where we fully employed our time till Ave
Maria; eating the dinner we took with us under the
convenient shelter of some ruined arch, and walking
back at dusk to our frugal supper and early bed.
One little insignificant thing in the midst of the
o o
wonders of this wonderful place has always remained in
my memory. It has been generally passed over, probably
unnoticed by many, at any rate I have never heard anyone
allude to it. On the walls of the corridor leading to the
principal entrance to the amphitheatre the " pit-door,"
as we should call it were all sorts of names and words,
the rough sketch of a soldier and other fancies, scratched
with nails or knives by the people waiting for admission.
I don't know why this should have made such an im-
pression on me, but it seemed to take me among the
people of two thousand years ago, scribbling their names
and those of their sweethearts, for all the world like the
pittites of the present day at Astley's or the Victoria.
Another pilgrimage with my friend Angell and our
indispensable " historian " was to Psestum, where we
remained a week or ten days, studying and measuring
the magnificent temples. If the "locanda" at Torre
dell Annunziata was a wretched abode, what was our
habitation here ? The solitary house of the place a
hovel without glass to the windows, through which the
smoke from the kitchen escaped, and with nothing to
eat but musty maccaroni with rancid " caggia cavallo "
(a horrible cheese made from goats' milk), the " piece
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 101
de resistance " being what was called a " frittura," but
what it was made of it was impossible to discover ; it
might have been anything, but at all events was better
than nothing, for we managed to exist upon it, washed
down as it was w T ith a delicious bottle of ink, called the
"Vino di Paese." The meal would not have suited the
Sybarites who once peopled the locality, but what then ?
We were young and enthusiastic, and enjoyed ourselves
more than we have frequently done since at The Star
and Garter at Richmond, or The Trafalgar at Greenwich.
I paid a second visit to Psestum shortly afterwards
in very different style, with the Blessingtons and Lord
Morpeth (the late Lord Carlisle), who was one of the most
amiable and agreeable guests we had during my resi-
dence at the Palazzo Belvedere. This was a delightful
excursion in every way. Lord Morpeth had written a
prize poem upon the ruins of Psestum, and there, on the
spot, after a sumptuous lunch in the Temple of Neptune,,
we had the pleasure of hearing him recite it amidst the
glorious ruins it celebrated.
In his company we also visited Capua, Beneventum,
Caserta, and other places of interest, and profited greatly
by his society everywhere.
Lady Blessington, in her Italian diary, thus alludes
to the trip : " We returned to Salerno ; the strangers
who joined our party at Paestum being no less delighted
than surprised by the extraordinary facility or felicity
with which Mr. Charles Mathews personated different
102 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
mendicants who had assailed us for alms on our route in
the morning, and of whom he gave such perfect imita-
tions in the evening, that some of the party who had
previously bestowed their charity reproached the sup-
posed beggar for again demanding it on the same day."
Out of the many distinguished people it was my
ood fortune to be associated with, there were three who
o *
were my especial favourites, and with whom I kept up
constant companionship the ever genial Dr. Quiii/" who,
up to this day, more than fifty years (but what are fifty
years to either of us !) has preserved his faculty of
imparting cheerfulness to all his friends by his inex-
haustible flow of fun and good humour, while by his
skill and science he has alleviated their bodily sufferings ;
the witty, lively Dr. Madden, at that time as full of
animal spirits as of mental acquirements, and who was
my fidus Achates upon all occasions ; and dear old, kind,
gay Sir William Gell, who while wheeling himself about
the room in his chair, for he was unable to walk a
step without help, alternately kept his friends on the
broad grin with his whimsical sallies and droll anecdotes,
and instructed them from the stores of his wonderful
archaeological knowledge and practical experience, always
as pleased and ready to impart his instructive informa-
tion as they were to receive it at one moment playing
on a rough Greek double flute to his dog (who was an
* Dr. Quin survived Mathews only a few months, and died in
November, 1878.
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 103
accomplished singer) with as much gravity as if really
accompanying a celebrated virtuoso, and the next
turning over his endless portfolios, and illustrating their
treasures by viva voce comments. His talent for rapid
sketching was remarkable, and the accuracy with which
he could put upon paper from memory anything he had
casually seen was most extraordinary, his drawings
bearing minute comparison afterwards with the objects
themselves. I have a rough sketch of his from memory,
while describing the strange bas-reliefs discovered by
Angell and Harris at Girgenti, which he had only
seen once for a few moments, as perfect as if carefully
drawn with the sculptures before him. His hand was as
big as a leg of mutton and covered with chalkstones,
and yet he could handle a pencil or a reed-pen with the
greatest delicacy and precision. His elegant work 011
Pompeii was the first, and has remained the best that has
been published.
Gigi Pereira, only son of Count Giuseppe Pereira,
was a young Sicilian, and one of the handsomest
men I ever saw. He was, I believe, a cousin of
Prince Butera and Prince Lardaria. His father was
immensely rich, had long resided in England, and
had sent his son to Eton. He was a wild youth,
and squandered his father's money in every conceivable
way, and at the death of the old count ran through the
fortune he had inherited in an incredible short space of
time. After losing thousands upon English race-courses,
104 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEAVS. [CHAP.
he had finished up his career at rouge-et-noir and rou-
lette, and had returned to his native Sicily without a
sou. When I first met him at Naples, he was as full
of fun and frolic as if he had just won a fortune instead
of lost one, and talked about his escapades with the
greatest gusto. Over the gate of his palazzo, two miles
from Palermo, he had inscribed in gold letters the cele-
brated despatch of Frangois I. : " Tout est perdu fors
rhonneiir." I suggested that a more appropriate inscrip-
tion under the circumstances would be, " Rien ne va
plus" which alteration he swore he would adopt, and
was quite capable of doing. He told me that on his
last day at Epsom he had lost an awful sum to an
American, and confessed to him candidly that he could
not pay. The American of course thought he was
joking, but replied seriously : " Oh, you can't pay, can't
you ? Well, we shall see. But I tell you this if you
present yourself at Tattersall's on Monday without the
money I shoot you at sight. What do you say to that ?"
" Nothing," said Gigi ; " but that it would be more
convenient to me if, instead of at sight, you could make
it at three or six months."
Nearly fifty years later I read this reply quoted in a
letter to a London paper as having just been made in
Paris. As Puff says : " Two people happened to think
of the same thing, only Gigi, like Shakespeare, used it
first."
Dr. Madden, in his "Life of Lady Blessington,"
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 105
refers to our acquaintance in such flattering language
that I cannot resist the temptation of inserting it here.
In courts of justice, evidence to character is always
received, and I don't know why I should debar myself
from the criminal's privilege :
" When I made the acquaintance of Charles Mathews,
at Naples, he was scarcely twenty years of age. He
sketched admirably, made a study of his profession, was
full of humour, vivacity, and drollery, but gentlemanlike
withal ; marvellously mercurial, always in motion, and
his mind ever as actively engaged as his body. But,
with all his buoyancy of spirits, and in the very height
of his drollery and merriment in the society of Belvedere
Palace, where all the elite of foreign society were wont
to congregate, he never forgot himself for a moment, or,
by the extraordinary vivacity of his humour, his sudden
sallies of sportiveness in the way of epigrams, im-
promptus, witticisms, all sorts of grotesque antics, and
ridiculous pranks and gambols gave offence to any
human being. He was certainly one of the most steady,
well-conducted, sprightly persons of his age, one of the
most innocently amusing and legitimately entertaining
young men in society I ever met with. His talents as
a draughtsman were far above mediocrity. In archi-
tectural drawings he excelled. A sketch of his, of the
exterior of the Belvedere Palace, displaying the colon-
nade and verandah of the front facing the Bay of
Naples, possesses considerable merit and interest for all
106 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
acquainted with the place and the people who gave
celebrity to it. He displayed peculiar cleverness in
catching the salient points and outre characteristics of
remarkable Neapolitan personages who figured in the
courts, as story-tellers on the Molo, as Policinello in the
Theatre of San Carlino, as cantatrici on the boards of
San Carlo, and as street preachers, holding forth in the
evening, on stools and rickety tables, to the lazzaroni,
on the pier at Naples. Of his talent for composing vers
de society, burlesque poetry, and epigrams, the frequenters
of the Villa Belvedere, in 1824 and 1825, must have a
lively recollection. Special specimens of these were
given me in the former year, in Naples, by Mr. Mathews.
In that year an occurrence took place, of an unpleasant
nature, between Mathews and D'Orsay, which was at-
tended with some grave results. I will only observe, in
reference to the subject, that I consented to interfere in
this misunderstanding, with a determination, if possible,
to bring it to a peaceful issue, and that I contemplated
then the possibility of another result to a misunderstand-
ing, that became a subject of such an explanation, very
differently to the way in which I now regard it ; believing,
as I do now, that the last recourse to pistols or swords
in a controversy between parties who disagree in their
opinions of one another, and give expression to their
opinions inconsiderately, and angrily, and offensively,
for the vindication of their sentiments, or from an appre-
hension of what others may think of them, is neither an
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 107
evidence of the highest wisdom, the truest courage, nor
the firmest belief in Christianity itself."
The " occurrence of an unpleasant nature " between
D'Orsay and myself to which Dr. Madden alludes, was
the only cloud that darkened the bright period of my
visit. It was a summer storm, and cleared the air, not
only for the moment, but for ever after. It was occa-
sioned by one of those unaccountable outbreaks that
defy explanation ; so unlike anything that I had ever
seen before, and which I never saw repeated, that I can
only look back upon it as a bit of temporary madness.
Count D'Orsay and I had been, from the first
moment of our acquaintance, I may say without ex-
aggeration, bosom friends. We were about the same
age, and our daily occupations were in common. Fen-
cing, pistol-shooting, swimming, riding, drawing, reading,
all were shared together. It is true that in everything
I felt myself more like his pupil than his equal ; but this
modesty on my side never for a moment drew from him
the slightest manifestation of the superiority he could not
but be aware that he possessed. Our good understand-
ing, however, was doomed to be interrupted, and though
happily only for a time, for the time matters were made
excessively disagreeable.
One morning, after breakfast, Lord Blessmgton pro-
posed a sail to Castellamare in the Bolivar, a yacht he
had bought from Lord Byron, and of which he was very
proud. Now the fact was that these perpetual sailings
108 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEAVS. [CHAP.
bored us all dreadfully Lord Blessing-ton, I verily
believe, as much as anyone else ; at any rate, he never
seemed to relish the sport without company, and, like
many yachting men, would put up } faute de mieux, with
companions on board that he would not tolerate for five
minutes on shore.
It was an awfully hot day, with scarcely a breath of
wind ; and though his " skipper," the enthusiastic
Captain Smith, assured us that we should have a de-
lightful run across the bay, we had no faith. As a
" delightful run across the bay " had more than once
resulted in our being becalmed for three or four hours on
our return, leaving us half dead with heat and ennui,
the proposition was not met with the alacrity it merited.
The ladies were " afraid of the heat," and D'Orsay
simply declined the infliction, so his lordship retired to
his room in high dudgeon, but not to be deterred from
his day's yachting.
Greatly put out by the objection of Lady Blessington
and her sister to accompany him, and by D'Orsay 's flat
refusal to be bored out of his life, he fell back upon my
society as a dernier ressort. But even I unfortunately
was ready with an excuse had a sketch, which I was
very anxious to make, and, unless he absolutely desired
it, had rather not lose the opportunity.
" As you please," said he. "I only hope you will
really carry out your intention ; for even your friend
Count D'Orsay says that you carry your sketch-book
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 109
with you everywhere, but that you never bring back
anything in it."
Piqued at this remark, I turned on my heel and
made no reply, leaving his lordship to his day's sail
alone.
In the afternoon the rest of the party started for a
drive. We were all four a little glum, I fancied, on the
occasion, and I have since surmised that Lady Bles-
sington had been lecturing D'Orsay for his selfishness
and want of courtesy in not acceding to Lord Blessing-
ton's wishes. For this, or some other reason, he was
evidently out of humour, and we drove on for some time
in silence. At last, at an unlucky moment, and probably
with too great a degree of bitterness, for I was still
smarting under the injustice of the accusation which had
been brought against me, I broke ground :
" I have to thank you, Count D'Orsay, for the high
character you have given me to Lord Blessington, with
regard to my diligence."
" Comment ! " said the Count.
I saw the fire flashing in his eyes, and changed my
tone : " I should have been more gratified had you men-
tioned to me, instead of to his lordship, anything you
might have "
"Vous etes un mauvais blagueur, par Dieu, la plus
grande bete et blagueur que j'ai jamais rencontre, et la
premiere fois que vous me parlez comme a, je vous
casserai la tete et je vous jetterai par la fenetre."
110 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Such words as these, before two ladies and the
servants, I did not conceive were answerable, and
remained silent. Lady Blessington, in order to end the
affair, said : " Count D'Orsay, I beg you to remember I
am present, and that such language is not exactly what
I should have expected before me."
"Pardieu," said the Count, and, I regret to say,
proceeded to lengths in reply to her ladyship passing
all I had believed possible. After walking in the garden
with Lady Blessington a short time, we entered the
house, and each retired to his own room. In my room
I received the following note from the Count :
"Si vous aviez une idee du monde, vous sauriez
qu'il est indispensable d'y connoitre sa place ; ainsi done
c'est une chose qu'avant tout vous devriez apprenclre.
Vous vous eviteriez par ce moyen la peine d'apprendre
que Tamitie qu'on a pour vous n'est pas une excuse
pour prendre un ton qu'on est oblige de rabaisser,
surtout lorsqu'il s'adresse a une personne qui n'oublie
pas ce qu'il est.
" Avec un ton comme il faut vous eussiez appris
qu'en conversation avec milady devant milord, nous fimes
1'observation que vous aviez laisse echapper 1'occasion de
faire des esquisses a Capree, et qui plus est, qu'il etoit
dommage que vous ne pratiquiez pas davantage le
dessin. Si dans ces mots vous trouvez de quoi etre
offense, je ne m'y connais plus, et comme ces mots
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. Ill
n'avoient et(5 dits qu'en conversation par milady a moi,
j'etois loin de pcnser que vous en seriez fache. An
surplus, sur aucun point, vous n'avez le droit de prendre
un air d'arrogance en me reprochant mes paroles sur un
ton inconvenant. Vous m'avez mis dans la cruelle neces-
site de vous remettre trop fortement a votre place, mais
vous auriez tout evite, en sacbant a qui vous parliez."*
This note I thought best to leave unanswered till the
morning, fearing that I might, from the feeling of the
moment, act against my sober judgment. In the
morning I despatched the note in answer, which I
received back again enclosed in an envelope, with the
letter that follows mine.
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO COUNT D'ORSAY.*
" ler Aoiit, 1824.
" MONSIEUR LE COMTE,
" J'ai dormi et rdflechi sur votre lettre et sur les
paroles dont vous m'avez honore hier, et comme il me
semble que ni la noblesse ni la force superieure vous
donne le droit de m'insulter aussi fortement devant des
dames, et surtout devant des domestiques, j'espere que
vous ne me refuserez pas la satisfaction que je me trouve
force a vous demander.
" Monsieur le Comte, j'ai 1'honneur d'etre,
" Votre serviteur,
"C. J. M."
* See Appendix.
112 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
COUXT D'ORSAY TO CHARLES j. MATHEWS.*
"Votre lettre prouve encore le pen de cormoissance
que vous avez du monde, car vous saurez qu'on ne finit
pas une lettre sur un ton aussi leger, et comme j'espere
que toute cette querelle sera bonne a quelque chose,
profitez deja de cet avis.
" Pour la satisfaction que vous desirez, je vous la
donnerai tant qu'il vous plaira. Designez le lieu, les
armes, enfin tout ce que vous croirez le plus convenable
a votre satisfaction personnelle. Je vous renvoie votre
lettre parcequ'elle n'est pas sur un ton qui m'engage a la
garder.
J'ai 1'honneur de vous saluer,
" CTE. D'ORSAY."
I immediately set off for Naples on receipt of this
letter, to the house of Mr. Madden, who promised,
before I made known the affair, or mentioned any
names, to act as my second on the occasion. I then
stated the circumstances, and he advised me, in order
that nothing might be suspected by the rest of the
family, to return to Belvedere, while he conducted the
business. On arriving, I found this precaution useless,
for, in my absence, Count D'Orsay had written to
Lord B. to ask him to become his second. This Lord B.
informed me of, saying, of course, that he could have
* See Appendix.
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 113
nothing of the sort to do with two of his guests, and all
he could feel was sorrow that the occurrence should
have taken place. Finding the object of my return
frustrated, and thinking it not quite agreeable to sit at
table with the Count, I determined to stay in town till
the affair was concluded. Almost as soon as I got there,
I received the following note from Lord Blessing-ton :
" Sunday.
"My DEAR MATHEWS,
" I considered it proper to state to Count
D'Orsay, that I could not take any part in the very
disagreeable affair that has taken place, except that of a
mediator. I assured Count D'Orsay that you had no
intention of speaking to him in an improper tone, or
questioning him in an impetuous or disrespectful manner.
The Count had imagined the contrary, and meant to
express that if you did not change your tone towards
him, that he would have recourse to violence ; for the
use of any words beyond the expression of such inten-
tions he says as follows: 'Si j'ai employe plus de
paroles qu'il e'toit suffisant pour lui exprimer mes
intentions j'en suis facheV The Count says also: 'Je
n'ai pas eu 1'idee de le rebaisser dans ses propres yeux.'
The Count acknowledges to me his regret for the
quarrel and the violence of his temper. That violence
has not yet sufficiently subsided to make him perceive
fully to what improper lengths his violence has carried
him ; but as you declared to me that you had no
VOL. I. I
114 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
intention of speaking improperly, and the Count declares
he spoke from misconception, and is sorry for language
used in anger, and without intention of lowering you in
your personal esteem, I should wish you to speak further
on the subject to your friend before you take any steps
which must make -the breach wider. Having consulted
Mr. Madden, I am sure he will give you the best advice,
and you can this evening let me know his sentiments.
"I cannot conclude without repeating that you were
highly to blame in speaking on the subject at all,
however deeply I regret the consequences that have
arisen from your ill-timed and injudicious appeal.
" I wish I had sufficient influence over the Count to
persuade him to say everything consoling to you, but
his having denied the intention of wounding your
feelings must be so far satisfactory, and 'evil words
hurt only the speaker.'
" Believe me, yours very sincerely,
" BLESSINGTON.
"Excuse the haste of this scrawl; you may guess
why I hasten it."
Having handed this letter over to Madden, he told
me that the note was all very well for Lord Blessington
to write, but that he could not receive it as anything
regular from the Count, and that he did not consider
my honour would be satisfied by it ; as therefore, he did
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 115
not imagine that it at all interfered with a letter he
had written to the Count, he despatched the following
instantly to him :
B. R. MADDEN TO COUXT D'ORSAT.
" Naples, August, 1824.
" MONSIEUR LE COMTE,
" On a subject of importance, I can hardly
trust to my bad French ; I therefore have recourse
to the only language I can distinctly make myself
understood in.
" If I felt less embarrassed in addressing you on the
subject of a late unhappy misunderstanding between
you and Mr. Mathews, I should hope to be able to
convince you that the character of an officious man
cannot be more disagreeable in your eyes than it is in
mine, and that I have undertaken the office of mediator
on the present occasion (though not without reluctance)
not less from my friendship for Mr. M. than from my
high respect for you. I should have done so indeed,
even had I not stood committed to Mr. M. by promise,
before I was acquainted with the name of his antagonist,
when I considered that the expose to a stranger of this
misunderstanding might be prevented by the inter-
ference of a mutual acquaintance.
"Pardon me, Monsieur le Comte, if I presume to
offer a few words in the way of counsel and observation.
i 2
116 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
I have too high an opinion of your understanding to
fear you will be offended by receiving them when
honestly given, even from an humbler individual than
myself.
" I can very well conceive some momentary annoy-
ance (the cause of which might not be apparent to
Mr. M.) extorting from you those expressions, which
no gentleman should hear in the presence of a lady,
although, in a cooler moment, in all probability, by you
forgotten or regretted. I can very well understand, in
your observation about Mr. M.'s neglect with respect to
drawing, &c., the friendliness of your intentions, but
permit me to add, if what followed had been sup-
pressed, the feelings of Mr. M. had been spared a severe
trial.
" Depend upon it, Monsieur le Comte, that persons
of inferior rank are ever tremblingly alive even to an
imaginary slight or insult from a superior ; and when
you reflect that the epithets that stand for limits of
separation between noble and plebeian are but arbitrary
distinctions between man and man, you will best consult
the nobility of your nature by practising the honourable
condescension of a brave man, by making a trifling
atonement for a hasty injury.
" It is with a full knowledge of your manly spirit
that I demand an acknowledgment, on the part of
Mr. M., of your having been betrayed by anger into
those hasty expressions, which only those who do not
iv.] FIKST VISIT TO ITALY. 117
know you could think of attributing to intentional
incivility.
" I have the honour to be, Monsieur le Comte, with
the highest respect,
"Your obedient, humble Servant,
"K. R. MADDEN."
Madden's letter I thought very coolly written, and
if anything could brino; the Count to a sense of his beino-
/ O O 5
wrong, it was that ; though, to own the truth, I con-
sidered him. of so hot and violent a temper, and so
accustomed to swords and pistols from his quarrels in
his regiment, that I was perfectly prepared for the event.
In the evening came his answer, as follows :
"MoN CHER MR. MADDEN,
" Je suis tres loin d'etre fache' que Mr. Mathews
vous ait choisi pour son temoin, ma seule crainte eut ete
qu'ii en choisit un autre.
"Je suis aussi tres loin d'etre offense d'un de vos
avis. Lorsque j'estime quelqu'un, son opinion est
toujours bien recue.
" L'affaire, comme vous savez, est tres simple dans le
principe. On me fit la question si Mathews avait dessine
a Capree ; je dis que non, mais qu'il emportoit toujours
ses crayons et son album pour ne rien faire que cela
etoit dommage avec ses grandes dispositions. Lord
Blessington n'a pas eu le courage de lui representer sans
118 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
y meler mon nom, et Matliews a pris la chose avec moi
sur un ton si haut que j'ai etc* oblige de le rabaisser,
apres lui avoir exprime que ce n'etoit que par interet
pour lui que j'avois fait cette representation. II a
continue' sur le meme ton ; je lui dis alors que la
premiere fois qu'il prendroit un ton scmblable avec moi
je le jetterois hors de la voiture et lui casserois la tete. Je
vous re'pete mot pour mot cette altercation. La seule
difference que j'ai fait entre lui et un autre, c'est que
je n'ai fait que dire, ce que j'aurois fait certainement
vis-a-vis d'un autre qui prendroit ce ton avec moi. Si j'ai
accompagne' mon projet d'avenir de mots offensants et
inconvenants, j'en suis aussif&che pour lui que pour moi,
car c'est me manquer a moi-meme que d'user des mots
trop violents.
" Pour votre observation sur la difference des rangs,
elle est inutile, car jamais je n'attaclie d'importance au
rang qui se trouve souvent compromis par tant de betes.
Je juge les personnes pour ce qu'elles sont, sans m'iuformer
que c'e'toient leurs ancetres, et si mon superieur eut
employe la meme maniere de me reprocher qu'a pris
Matliews, j'aurois surement fait ce que je n'ai fait que
dire a, Mathews, qui j'aime beaucoup trop pour le
rabaiseer a ses propres yeux. II seroit ridicule a moi
de ne pas avouer que j'ai tort de lui avoir dit des
paroles trop fortes, mais en meme temps je ne veux pas
nier mes paroles, c'est-a-dire, mon projet de voiture,
&c. Si Matliews veut satisfaction, je lui donnerai
iv.] FIRST VISIT TO ITALY. 119
tant qu'il lui plaira, tout en lui sacliant bon gre de vous
avoir choisi pour son temoin.
" Cette affaire est aussi desagreahle pour vous que
pour nous tous, mais au moins elle n'alt^rera pas Taniitie
de votre tout devoue,
CTE. D'ORSAY."*
This cleverly worded note Madden handed to me,
and I returned it to him without a word. I was deter-
mined that I would leave everything to Madden, who I
was convinced would not compromise me in any way.
When he had read it again, he wrote a fitting answer to
the Count, the copy of which has been lost.
In the evening, Madden advised me to return to the
Belvedere, and give my hand to Count D'Orsay. After
thanking him for his friendship I went home, but finding
the letter had not been delivered then, I waited in my
room till twelve o'clock, when, seeing that there was no
chance of the Count's getting it till morning, I went to
bed.
Next morning I went as usual to the drawing-
room, and, in a few minutes, the Count came in. I
rose and gave him my hand, which he received very
cordially, and said : " J'espere, mon . cher Mathews,
que vous etes satisfait. Je suis bien fache' pour ce que
je vous ai dit, mais j'etais'en colere et " Mon cher
Comte," said I, " n'en parlous plus, je vous en prie, je
* See Appendix.
120 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP. iv.
1'ai tout-a-fait oublieV' He then put his arm round my
neck, and I felt as happy at the noble manner in which
he acknowledged his fault, as at the reconciliation.
The morning of the 4th of August having gone on as
usual, I entered the drawing-room, where Lady B. was
lying on the sofa very unwell. Miss Power was there and
Count D'Orsay near her. As I entered, I perceived the
Count in tears, and as I approached, he said to me :
" Mon cher Mathews, je vous demande encore l>ien
pardon, devant milady, pour ce que je vous ai dit 1'autre
jour, et je vous prie seulement une chose, c'est que vous
1'oublierez tout-a-fait. Vous me le promettez, n'est ce
pas ? " I was quite affected at his manner, and assured
him over and over again,, that it had long been banished
from my thoughts.
Thus ended this unhappy business, for which no one
could be more sorry than myself, though I am quite
convinced that Count D'Orsay, whenever he reflected
upon it, will have perfectly exculpated me from the
charge of having taken one step beyond what was neces-
sary, or what he would himself have done under similar
circumstances.
CHAPTER Y.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824.
THE EARL OF BLESSIXGTOX TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"Palazzo Belvedere, Vomero, Dec. 22, 1823.
" MY DEAR MATHEWS,
" Short life to this dirty clay, although it is the
shortest, for it is a dirty day, and we had twins, resem-
bling it, i.e. one day after the other, translated for the
benefit of Mrs. M., who has not been in Ireland.
" Firstly, I must mention that I promised to write
for Charles until his return, and indisposition as well as
the necessity of answering Irish letters prevented my
doing so by Friday's post.
" I have, however, taken advantage of a letter to
the Due de Gruiche and begged him to forward yours
through the Count de Polignac, ambassador in London.
" Secondly, I must acknowledge the pleasure I
received from reading your amusing, travelled letter.
" Having said thus much it behoves me, dramatic
sir, to give you some account of the youth you consigned
to my care. His health has, generally speaking, been
122 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
extremely good. He had a slight attack at Milan after
partaking of the Devil's Kagout, dressed by a German
mixer of eatables.
" He had another slight attack here, but went to bed
when we went to dinner, but returned to the charge
when he heard we were going to supper. That short
attack I attributed to his bad living while at Pompeii, so
that his mother may be satisfied that his general health
is improving. Of his employ at Pompeii he has in-
formed you, and he is now at Psestum with the same
party. We have had some bad weather since he left us,
but as he has probably established his head quarters at
Salerno, he can go on with his architectural operations.
I am very sure he will one day be very eminent. His
drawing is beautiful, and he is extremely accurate.
" I think from his appearance and manners that he
has been very happy both on the road and since his
arrival. Our companion, Sir Charles Sutton, who is now
at Malta, has taken a strong liking to him, and Count
D'Orsay says he is an amiable gar$on.
" There is only one thing which has occurred since
our arrival which would throw a gloom over his
visions, and which I therefore have not informed
him of.
" I discovered that Lady B. did not like our plan,
and so without arguing the topic I determined upon
abandoning it. Knowing also how difficult if not im-
possible it is to do anything which everybody likes, I de-
v.] COEEESPONDENTCE, 1823-1824. 123
termined to make a residence out of my present cottage
which everybody dislikes.
" Foreseeing this impediment before my departure, I
gave orders to build two rooms with three over them, in
which I paid no attention to architectural decoration,
and next year I shall pull down the remaining part of
the thatch and stick up some more rooms. Now I know
this will not please either my wife or Mr. Norman, nor
your son, but I am encouraged in it by considering that
I have laid out on the cottage several thousand pounds,
that I have there between built and building nineteen
rooms and a stable, dairies, larders, &c. I do not say any-
thing to Charles, for sufficient to the day is the evil thereof,
and when he sees what I have done and what I mean to
do and will take a share in the last dying stroke, I am.
at his service. Keep this unto yourself. The balance
to Charles must be that he has seen Ireland and out of
Ireland rose France and Italy, nay more, for his wishes
of not returning until a later period than May will be
realised, for after leaving Rome we purpose visiting
Sicily, Malta, the Ionian Isles, Venice, the Tyrol, the
Rhine, Brussels, and home. I really think it will be of
the greatest service to him, for he has an inquiring mind,
and after all there is nothing so useful as leaving home
when the mind is imbued with virtuous principles.
This is happily for him his case, and with virtue for the
basis, and honour and gentlemanly feelings to direct and
aid talent, he has also, which is a blessing to you both,
124 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the most sincere love, admiration, and regard for his
mother and you.
" When you are in low spirits think of that and it
will revive you. Think also that he is with those who
cherish for you both the sincerest friendship, esteem,
and regard. With Lady B's. affectionate regards to
Mrs. M., add mine in the warmest and most respectful
manner.
" I remain, your sincere Friend,
" BLESSIXGTOX.
" C. M. is making very great progress in Italian, is
very tractable, attentive to good manners, obliging, good-
humoured, cheerful, and amusing."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Belvedere, January 16th, 1824.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" Your few lines enclosed in Lady Blessington's
letter arrived on Friday last, our twelfth day, and gave
me fresh spirits for the whole evening, and also to our
dear friends. The night went off much better than I
could have expected, considering that there was no
previous arrangement. Lady Blessington was dressed
as an old lady in an embroidered silk gown, a cap,
and a quantity of curls in front, powdered. I never
in my life saw anything so perfectly beautiful. I
would have given a hundred pounds for you to have
v.] COKKESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 125
seen her. You never saw such a darling as she was,
altogether. Miss Power was dressed in a pair of my
white trousers, buff waistcoat, and blue frock coat, with
beard, mustachoes, royal, eyebrows made with cork,
and was introduced as a young Spanish gentleman.
Her appearance was quite complete. I was disguised as a
nice old doctor, in imitation of my father's head
in ' Old Pillage,' bald and powdered, with black net
breeches, white silk stockings, and large buckles. I
never did anything so well to my own fancy ; I sang
' One Hundred Years Ago/ and a little extempore song
in character which had great effect. Next as a quaker
with song, and lastly, as a sailor with black face and
hands, and powdered hair and eyebrows. You never
saw so good a figure. Altogether, we never passed a
more agreeable evening. ... I still am, my dear
mother,
"Your most affectionate Son,
" C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MBS. MATHEWS.
" Belvedere, January 22nd, 1824.
"MY DEAR MOTHER,
" I have received all your welcome letters up to
December 12th, from Barham, which arrived yesterday,
and gave me great pleasure to hear of my father's
success. I was a long time unsettled on account of not
getting them ; but now I am under a regular range of
126 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
fire, receiving them without fail every week. I am
afraid that during the last month mine have not been
quite so exact ; but circumstances so occurred that it
was quite impossible to avoid it, being unable to send
anything from Pompeii or Psestum ; indeed, the possi-
bility of writing or of doing anything else was totally
precluded at the latter place, for I suppose no poor
victims ever underwent what we did there. When we
arrived, after visiting the most magnificent and imposing
remains in the world, we began to look about for
quarters, and, finding that the nearest villages were
three, six, and twelve miles off which would have been
a very inconvenient distance for us who wished to be
always on the spot we examined the few huts that are
erected near the temples, one of which is dignified by
the name of locanda, or inn, but immediately pro-
nounced them all impossible. We then proceeded up
the mountains to Capeccio, the nearest village, but
found it nearly as wretched as the huts below. We
learnt, however, that there was here a rich Franciscan
convent, where the be-beds were go-good and the monks
li-live well, but upon stating our case and requesting
permission to be received there for a week we were
positively refused. 'Why,' said I to the dirty bald-
pated superior, ' we were allowed rooms at the Bene-
dictine convent at Cava, without any difficulty ! '
'Ay,' said he in return, 'the Benedictines are fools
enough to practise charity, we don't.' Thus buffeted about
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 127
we were obliged to turn to the miserable locanda below,
and spent a week there as agreeably as it is possible to
be conceived, though in this instance it is much easier
to be described. Our room was about ten feet square,
whitewashed, without glass or shutters to the large
holes that served at the same time for windows and
chimneys, the smoke having no other mode of escape
than through our sitting - room. The door had no
fastening whatever, so that we were continually
intruded upon during our meals by the large black
pigs and young buffaloes who formed part of the family
circle in the adjoining chamber. Our delicate fare con-
sisted of pig baked with the bristles on, buffaloes'
hearts, and cheese made from their milk, with occa-
sionally a starved tough old cock filled with garlic and
fennel, and surrounded by boiled chestnuts; vtmesourrerr
than ivarges, and water, which assists in causing the
malaria at Psestum, or Pest-o, as the Italians more
properly pronounce it ; some black beans boiled by way
of coffee, and of which they are very fond, with some
disgustingly-flavoured macaroni and black bread, was our
luxurious breakfast. No beds whatever, and for a whole
week I never took off" my clothes, but laid down in them,
wrapped in my cloak and covered with dirty sacks. As
the water, bad as it was, was very scarce, we could only
wash our face and hands, then only partially, every
other day. Our eyes were all red with the smoke that
continually surrounded us. After the second day of
128 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
sun, the rain began to pour in torrents and lasted out
the week, frequently confining us to our miserable hole,
without the power of drawing or amusing ourselves but
by singing with our eyes shut and segars in our mouths,
for this accomplishment of smoking is absolutely neces-
sary to keep off any bad effects of the air, which is
always in some degree prevalent before and after sunset,
though not dreaded as in the months of June, July,
and August. Knives were never heard of in these back
settlements, and it was with great difficulty we could
procure even a fork, which, being of iron and rather a
classical form, I have brought off as a relic. To make
short of a long history for it might be a great deal
longer we were as happy as we possibly could be in our
miserable state ; at the same time, to own the truth, I
cannot say I was at all sorry to return to Belvedere.
However, the beauty of the temples far outweighed the
scale of our griefs, for nothing that remains in any part of
the world are so grand and so perfect. I have measured
them all in the most exact manner, and have made
several sketches of them. You have no idea how much
more I have done in the way of my profession than I
intended to do. I have been constantly employed in it
ever since I arrived. Our Italian gets on excellently.
I can converse with the greatest ease and fluency, and
ask for almost everything I want, for I have been
studying on Dufief 's plan, which I am convinced is the
best of all.
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 129
" I have made a most valuable acquaintance here, I
believe I told you, of Sir William Gell ; Keppel Craven
is also here and a very agreeable man. Did I tell you
of Lord Arthur Hill's having been here, a friend of my
father's, at Cambray ? I am most probably going in three
weeks hence to Metapontum, in Calabria, where are
remains of some Doric temples that have never yet been
drawn by any architects. Lord B. has determined to
stay here two months longer, and there is great talk of
going into Egypt, as Lady B. has a very great desire to
see the Pyramids.. She wishes to know what would be
your opinion about my going too. I tell her I am
sure that wherever I go with her you will be perfectly
satisfied. Have I not said right ? Also in your next
letter will you say that whatever Lord Blessington may
advance in the way of money you will approve of ? for
though of what was mentioned to him not half is yet
expended, yet of course, as our stay is lengthened, it
must in time diminish. You may depend upon my being
as economical as possible, though it is absurd to suppose
there is no way of spending anything here. They all
desire their kindest love to you and my father, to whom,
of course, my best love. Count D'Orsay is rather piqued
at your saying nothing about him in your last letters,
and desires me to send his love. I tell him that if you
were to hear him speak English which he does in
the prettiest manner that you could not refrain
from kissing him. I hope you are enjoying your-
YOL. I. K
130 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
selves at this season, as we are here, with all sorts
of fun.
" Believe me, my dearest Mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS.
"P.S. The Delphin Classics I wish of all things to
be continued from Mr. Hunter, St. Paul's Churchyard.
If that Pausanias of which you spoke is still to be had,
pray buy it instantly, as I find here what its real value
is. I am very uneasy about my print of Trajan's Column,
which, in the hurry of starting, was left at my stables in
Tottenham Court Road (Mine's). Pray send directly
about it. My dear mother, adieu. Love to all that you
know I love."
CHAKLES J. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"Crater of Vesuvius ! ! ! Jan. 23, 1824.
" MY DEAR FATHER,
" I flatter myself I have chosen a situation
sufficiently piquant to write you a letter. Here I am
on that mountain, the talk and wonder of the world,
the terror of thousands ! not merely on it, but posi-
tively in the crater ! in it ! ! ! surrounded with smoke
and fire ! standing on ashes, cinders, brimstone, and
sulphur ! ! How little are the people I look down upon
at this moment ! they are like the Spanish fleet, they
v.] COKEESPONDEI^CE, 1823-1824. 131
cannot be seen ; the king and all the royal family, all
the pomp of the world is lost ; all its vices, virtues,
pleasures, pains, are forgotten. How truly may life be
compared to a broomstick ! Now is the time, if ever
it can arrive, that Seven Dials, and even Islington, is
forgotten ! Now are the Tottenham, Olympic, and
Eoyalty Theatres despised ! What a scene of horror is
around me ! Fields of desolation, burning torrents, smoke,
liquid fire, and every implement of destruction ! . . .
I can no more ; I am overwhelmed with the magnificence
of my own imagination, I sink under the terrors in-
vented and embodied by my own poetical mind. Imme-
diately below me is an extinguished crater, into which
three years ago a Frenchman precipitated himself. He
remained three days at a little hermitage on the
mountain, and wrote some notes to his friends in Naples.
His object, he said, was to collect stones and various
specimens of lava, for the Eoyal Museum at Paris. On
the third day he went out as usual to collect and
examine the volcanic matter on the mountain, and on
approaching this crater then in action desired the
guide to fetch him a particular stone at a little dis-
tance off, but on the instant of his turning his back,
he threw himself headlong into the burning crater.
The guide instantly ran to the spot, but only in time to
see him thrown up, and immediately reduced to a cinder.
His reason he left among his papers. He said he had
long been disgusted with the world and had determined
K 2
132 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
to destroy himself, but that the last blow had been given
him by a young lady, to whom he was much attached,
having married in his absence, and contrary to her vows
of fidelity to himself.
"About halfway up the mountain is a hermitage,
where we take some refreshment on our journey, which is
necessary enough, for the labour is very great to arrive at
the summit, walking on cinders, and each step that is taken
brings the sufferer a yard lower than he was before. In
the hermitage is an album, as usual in all show places,
for fools to write nonsense in. I only found two bits
worth copying. Les voild :
" ' John Hallett of the Port of Poole, England, whent
to Mount Vesuvius on the 20 of Oct. 1823, and I wood
Recomend aney person that go ther to take a bottle of
wine with them, for it his a dry place and verrey bad
rode.'
" ' 1823. I have witnessed the famous mountain of
Vesuvius in Italy, and likewise the Wicklow mountains
in Ireland which I prefer, they talk of the lava in a
Palaver I little understand, and as for the crater, give
me a drop of the swait Cratur of Dublin in preference.
JAMES O'CONNOR.'
" I write as you may suppose in high spirits, and
conclude with saying that though you and your spouse
are only my distant relations, that I shall always be
entirely yours,
" CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 133
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
" January 28th, 1824.
"MY DEAR CHARLES,
"After sealing the enclosed, I felt I had not
sent so direct a request to Lord Blessington as, per-
haps, may be comfortable to you, in case any addition
should be requisite to your wishes or wants, beyond
the sum he so kindly undertook to supply you with
when you left England. Present, therefore, our most
particular and respectful regards to his lordship, and
say that he will add to the obligations already so
freely conferred, if he will furnish you with whatever
you find necessary and prudent to require during your
happy sojourn with him, and this part of his goodness
to you we can and will repay with more solid means
than mere thanks, when we are so happy as to see him
once more. Neither your father nor myself wish to
restrict you, my dearest Charles, in anything that can
afford you present gratification or future pleasure, and
you will see your bounds, which you must not alto-
gether measure by our will to make you happy, but
by your own usual discretion, which we know from
experience how to rely upon. Therefore, my dearest
boy, make yourself quite easy, and get what your
prudent wishes prompt. You must be assailed with
numerous temptations to spend money, and we do not
expect that you should pass everyone by, neither
should we wish you to do so.
134 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
" I must hasten to close this, as it is near the post
hour.
"Adieu, therefore, and may Heaven bless and pre-
serve you, my dear, dear Charles.
"A, M."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO CHAELES MATHEWS.
" Belvedere, February 6th, 1824.
"MY DEAR FATHER,
" I have been waiting now more than a fort-
night without receiving a letter from home, which I
can't understand, as I know you are all so particular
in writing. I hope, however, to-morrow, to receive
one. We have all been rather dull this week, and
have not set foot out of doors, on account of a severe
and dangerous illness, which still confines Miss Power
to her bed. It is an inward complaint which she has
had for years without noticing, and has now come to
a crisis. Within the last three days she has had on
sixty leeches. I hope she is fast recovering.
"Though I have not been out much this week, I
think I shall amuse you by an extract from a letter
that has been lent me to read, and which I cannot
resist sending you. An Irishman, a few days ago,
was walking on the Mole a fashionable promenade
near the sea rather late in the evening, and was
robbed of his watch and money by an Italian, upon
which he writes the following letter to Sir Henry
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 135
Lushington, English Consul at Naples, to recover his
property :
" ' SIR,
" 'As the authority of Naples, and as Consul,
I call on your protection, being an English, that is to
say, an Irish subject, and being moreover robbed t'other
evening of my watch and also of my money, without
any provocation in the world. So without any more
bother, I must be after telling you of the whole story,
for unless you are tould about it, how can you com-
prihind it ? As I said before, I am an English lieu-
tenant, and was born in Ireland was your honour
ever in Ballymahan ? Well, sir, it isn't there, but one
side of it, where I live when I am at home. So I got
up one morning early, with my new pair of brogues
and braheens, and walked into a ship to see the Con-
tinent. I need not tell you how squamish I was ;
Mr. Quin (oh, bad luck to him) he can tell you all
about my disorder, but don't b'lieve a word of him,
your honour ; so I got into a mal de poste and walked
over France, and found myself at Naples, and t'other
evening I walks down to the Mole, where all the stone
steps are (bad luck to them, it was there I was robbed
and murdered). Oh, 'twas on a Friday, of all days
in the year, and if I was to die to morrow, I'll never
forget it, Mr. Lushington ; when up comes a gentleman
in a big jock coat, and looking straight in my face
136 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
as if he knew me all iny life, he bawled out (and his
voice was none of the sweetest) : " Vostro dennaro."
" Upon my word, sir," says I, " and to be sure, sir, you
have the advantage of me, you're a foreigner, I see
by your English ; but my name is not Gennaro, but
Patrick Healy at your sarvice." So he laid hould on
my breast and spoke more softly, saying : " Signior
Patzienza " Signior Pat Shenesy, who the devil
could he mean by Pat Shenesy ? " 'Pon my soul, sir,"
says I, "I know no more about him than the child
unborn;" for the spalpeen frowned, and he had two
large eyebrows for all the world like the Lord Chan-
cellor, only he looked more like a gentleman ; so with
that his choler rose, and my collar rose for he took
me by the cape of the coat, and I felt his fingers
getting tighter and tighter, remarkably near my wind-
pipe, till I was quite suffocated and speechless, as I
tould him, but it was all in vane. Did your honour
ever hear Lord Castlereagh speak, before he left us
in that ungentlemanly way ? Well, sir, this son of a
gun. just talking as much of what no one could under-
stand for what could any man mean by " Cacciatevi ? "
it's more than I can tell you, Mr. Lushington ; but I
know one thing, I once read a book called Shakspear,
and it said as how one Mr. J. Falstaff knew a kino-'s
o
son by instinct and, by Jasus, by instinct I put my
hand into my breeches pocket, and by so doing I put
my foot in it, for the fellow cried " Bravo ! " and from
v.] COEKESPONDEXCE, 1823-1824. 137
that moment that he told me he was a bravo, I knew
it was all over with me. I took out my purse, and
he takes out my dollars, and, looking into the bottom
of it, he says : " Poco, poco." "Oh, poke into it," says I,
" as much as you like, but the devil a testher more you'll
find," and with that he looked at me reproachfully, as
if he wanted something else, and put a great big pen-
knife within an inch of my body, but all to no use, for
there was no more. Then he gives me back my purse
all full of emptiness. " Ecco" he says, holding it up to
me ; and "Where the blazes," says I, "am I to find the
echo, when you haven't left me a single copper to
make a jingle on a tomb- stone ?" Pray, sir, was you
or Mrs. Lushington ever robbed with a penknife to
your bodies ? If you was, you may think what an Irish
stew I was in while I stood prostrate before him, and how
the cold sweat came boiling from my veins ; but, how-
ever, instead of putting his penknife into my interior, he
put it into his own pocket, and I was nigh telling him
what a nate noggin of potcheen we should have together,
if ever I met the gentleman in Ireland, when oh, by
the Lord, it was too bad ! the rascal spied a bit of my
watch hanging out that is to say, the chain of it and
without even having the manners to say, " By your leave,
Mr. Healy," by the powers he fobbed it. Oh, there
never was a better going till it was gone. So you see,
Mr. Lushington, I was fairly robbed of all my personal
property, and yet the greedy thief was not contented
138 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
with my all, for the last word he said was "Partite"
"What other part," says I, " are you talking about, when
you have got the whole ? " So I ran away, and he ran
before me, and I ran after him, and getting behind him
I caught fast hold of his arms, but he pointed to the pen-
knife, and I shook him off with a great deal to do, and
few there are who would have acted with the same
presence of mind and courage. I wasn't rash, but cool
and determined that is, determined not to risk my
precious body on so base an occasion; but the villain
was afterwards taken up without giving myself any
pains in the world, and my watch has been bandied
about from one robber to another till it got into the
hands of the police, which God send it a safe deliverance
under the auspices of your honour, who I am sure will
make them shell out in no time. So with my best com-
pliments to Mrs. Lushington and all the family, I am,
" ' Your humble Servant to command,
" 'PADDY HEALY.'
" Every word of this is genuine, and I think capital.
I am at this moment engaged on a large drawing of
Paestum, the wonder of the learned and curious. Every-
body is delighted with it, which of course gives me the
greatest pleasure, and therefore shall take the liberty of
hinting that I am, with best love to my mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
" CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 139
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Belvedere, February 13, 1824.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" I have been in the greatest anxiety for the last
three weeks at not having received any letter from you,
for, knowing your exactness in general, I supposed that
something must have happened. Yesterday, however,
to my great delight, three of yours, Jan. 1st, 12th, 22nd,
arrived and quieted my mind, though it is amazingly
provoking that, in spite of your exactitude, I am to be
constantly harassed by the irregularity of a stupid
Neapolitan Government. Nothing can be worse than
the post-office of Naples. Lord Blessington has lately
received a letter which, from their neglect, has been
lying there since last March. I was thrown into the
greatest confusion, and rendered almost delirious, by
your dating one of your letters December 12th, instead
of January 12th ; though, after much puzzling, my
sagacity rectified the error, not but that in future I
should decidedly advise you to adopt the plan of more
carefully selecting the month.
"This week has little interest from out-of-door
events, for, from poor Shiver's illness, we are naturally
caged for a time, which circumstance I am rather glad
of, as it gives me an opportunity of working at my
Psestum drawings. We have all been very amusing for
140 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
lier sake, as the doctors have prescribed warm baths and
laughing. The evening before last I dressed myself ' en
docteur,' and arrived to prescribe for and see her. After
sitting down and talking for some time, I desired to be
excused for a moment, and took the nurse aside to ask
her some questions in private. Nothing could be better
than it was. The old woman answered every question
in the most minute manner, and consulted me upon
several subjects, not having the slightest suspicion of
the farce we were playing upon her. Upon my again
entering the room Count D'Orsay took her out to ask
her what the doctor had said, and then sent her in again
to ask some other question. In her absence I had taken
off my wig and sat down as myself. Her astonishment
was the most amusing thing in the world. She searched
all round the room, and would not be convinced till I
put on my wig again and spoke to her. The day after
we had some persons to dinner, viz. Sir William Gell,
Keppel Craven, Prince Lardaria, Count Lieven, and a
Mr. Williams. Count Lieven is a handsome dashing
young man, with moustachios, and son of Count Lieven,
the Russian Ambassador. Prince Lardaria is a Sicilian
nobleman, and is very intimate with Richard Wilson,
and has often been at Bildeston. After dining with
them I went up ' by particular desire of several persons
of distinction/ and dressed myself as doctor again, and
sent down word that I had visited Miss Power, and
should be happy to pay my respects to her ladyship.
v.] CORRESPONDENCE*, 1823-1824. 141
Upon entering, they all rose, and a chair was placed for
me amongst them in the drawing-room. After talking
of my patient, the climate of Italy, &c., I was asked for
the little song I had made the other day, alluding to
' One Hundred Years Ago/ which I sung, and, after
some more conversation, and many unintelligible anec-
dotes and jokes, I took my leave, undiscovered by the
strangers. When I returned, as myself, they all began
to tell me of the * old bore ' that had been with them,
and Count D'Orsay begged me to give them my imita-
tion of the old pump's manner of singing. I sang the
same song over again, precisely the same, and the imita-
tion was pronounced good by all but the Prince, who
wasn't quite satisfied with it, as he said ' it didn't give
him the idea of so old a man,' to his great confusion
afterwards, when he was told that it was the same
person. The next morning I arranged my hair and put
on moustachios, changing my dress and manner, and
arrived at breakfast as Count Lieven. If you had seen
Lady Blessington's elegant curtsy to me you would
have died. You must suppose how much I was changed
when I tell you that Count Lieven is a very handsome
young man ! Miss Power had not seen him for a year,
and yet took me for him the instant I entered her
bedroom, quite ashamed that he should have been
allowed to enter. . . .
" Give my love to my dear father, and to the Listons,
Phipps, E's, L's, F's, G's, A's, and to the whole alphabet
142 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
of my friends ; but believe me that of them all my
sincerest love is for U.
" Your affectionate Son,
"CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
CHARLES MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
"Kentish Town, February 27th, 1824.
" MY DEAR CHARLES,
" I assure you that this is a great favour, and I
hope you will appreciate it. I am obliged to write
the greater part of the day and study until two in
the morning, and, therefore, you may suppose that
letter- writing is not exactly a relaxation from writing
and copying matter intended for other people's amuse-
ment. I cannot attempt to describe to you the hap-
piness you have bestowed upon me by your very
delightful letters. In the midst of all my troubles
and anxieties and they have been great I have
looked forward to the Thursday night that was to
bring me four pages of consolation, with greatest
avidity, and I am sure it will make you happy to
hear I have never been disappointed. If it be a
happiness to make others happy, you ought to con-
sider yourself a lucky mortal for you have bestowed
upon your mother and me all that we have enjoyed
in your absence. Murray, the bookseller, dined with
me lately, and Sir J. Carr happened to be talking
about Pompeii, and I read your letter written from
v.] COREESPOXDENCE, 1823-1824. 143
thence ; and Murray was so pleased that he said you
ought to publish or rather said he should like to
publish such letters, just as they were written, for
the charm was that they were written without the
trammels that a publisher usually writes under. Is
not that a feather in thy cap, my son ? By-the-bye,
if The Chronicle should travel out to Naples, and
Lord B. should see it, and mentions a paragraph in
it, I will prepare you with an explanation. Hill was
dining with me last Thursday when your letter arrived,
and I read it to him. It contained the account of the
death of the unfortunate valet, who was so near being
buried alive, To my great amazement I heard that
thy account was published in The Chronicle two days
afterwards. A letter from an ingenious young artist,
&c. Lord B. and Lady B., &c. This was wrong, but
there's no harm in it ; still, his lordship might be
annoyed if he saw it. If he does, explain how it
happened. Pooh, pooh, my dear sir, he knows the
o-thor. If he does not see it, mum. He shan't happen
to know anything again. In return for your amusing
Irish letter, which I rather suspect has been heightened
by certain wags at Naples, I shall copy a pretty bit
addressed to you from that dear little miniature of
man Boruwlaski. *
* Count Boruwlaski, a famous dwarf in those days, was on intimate
terms at Ivy Cottage. Mrs. Mathews gives the following description
of him in her life of her husband : " Mr. Mathews was exceedingly
H4 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
" ' MY DEAR FRIEND,
" ' I was very much pleased to hear that you had
set out with Lord Blessington and his amiable lady to
visit Italy. You will, I am sure, be highly delighted in
your travels through that charming country, with its
great variety of beautiful scenery, and with their ad-
mirable works of the greatest artists in architecture,
sculpture, and paintings, for which it is so justly
famous. There you will gaze the images of many
pagan goddesses, and females renowned for their
beauty. To also called as Isis, the wife of Osiris,
worshipped by the Egyptians, and conjectured by
Plutarch to be the same with the goddess Minerva,
Venus, Diana, the lovely Helen, and many others.
You will, at the same time, enjoy the peculiar hap-
piness of being in the company of a living beauty,
partial to that interesting dwarf, Count Joseph Boruwlaski. He had
first seen him at York, where this amiable and accomplished creature
was forced by his necessities to undergo the wretchedness of public
exhibition. From the first moment of their meeting they conceived a
mutual regard for each other. The Count was quick to perceive that
his visitor, unlike the ' general,' regarded him as a gentleman, forced
out of his natural position by all-subduing circumstance, and one, though
' out of suits with fortune,' not necessarily debased on that account.
In a few years after they met again at Liverpool under similar circum-
stances ; and in 1805 the Count came to London, and was invited occa-
sionally to visit us. This elegant and fascinating person was the delight
of all who ever knew him ; full of accomplishments and good sense,
playful as an infant, and altogether the most charming of companions."
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 145
whom you may compare with these, and who will be
found to excel them all, for never in my life, in my
various wandering through the world, did I witness
charms equal to those possessed by Lady Blessington.
My dear friend, write me and believe your truly most
affectionate
" ' JOSEPH BORUWLASKI.'
" This has been done, evidently, with such pains that
it is not at all funny; but there are two or three meta-
phorical passages in the letter to your mother that
nearly occasioned me a convulsive fit. I have not
room, and therefore have sent those passages to Lord
Blessington. I must tell you a little bit of little
Knight. He was travelling in Lancashire with four
large trunks, with *E. Knight, T.E.D.L.,' on each. He
gave sixpence to a guard who unloaded them. The
guard surveyed him and his trunks, looked at the
direction, and exclaimed : ' T.R.D.L. ! You are no more
a T.R.D.L. than I am.'
" Ever affectionately yours,
"C. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Palazzo Belvedere, Naples, March llth, 1824.
"MY DEAR MOTHER,
" In snubbing me for my love of writing on exterior
subjects, or rather my not mentioning those of our in-
YOL. I. I-
146 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
terior, you are not aware of what you desire. All our
occupations nearly are external, our indoor employments
are always the same, and therefore uninteresting in the
description. But since you are determined to be made
acquainted with our domesticities I shall give you one
day.
" In the morning we generally rise from our beds,
couches, floors, or whatever we happen to have been
reposing upon the night before, and those who have
morning-gowns and slippers put them on as soon as they
are up. We then commence the ceremony of washing,
which is longer or shorter in its duration, according to
the taste of the persons who use it. You will be glad
to know that from the moment Lady Blessington awakes
she takes exactly one hour and a half to the time she
makes her appearance, when we usually breakfast ; this
prescience is remarkably agreeable, as we can always
calculate thus upon the probable time of our break-
fasting ; there is sometimes a difference of five or six
minutes, but seldom more. This meal taking place
latish in the day, I always have a premature breakfast in
my own room the instant I am up, which prevents my
feeling that hunger so natural to the human frame from
long fasting. After our collation, if it be fine, we set
off to see sights, walks, palaces, monasteries, views,
galleries of pictures, antiquities, and all that sort of
thing ; if rainy, we set to our drawing, writing, reading,
billiards, fencing, and everything in the world. At
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 147
dinner we generally contrive to lay in a stock of viands
that may last us through the evening, and sometimes
succeed. After dinner, as well as several times in the
course of the day, we go up arid pay a visit to poor
'Prim-rose/ who, it is supposed, will be allowed to
walk a little in the course of two or three months more.
Should we leave before that she must go home by sea, as
the motion of a carriage would certainly much injure her.
" In the evening each person arranges himself (and
herself) at his table and follows his own concerns till
about ten o'clock, when we sometimes play whist, some-
times talk, and are always delightful ! About half-past
eleven we retire with our flat candlesticks in our hands,
after wishing each other the compliments of the season
and health to wear it out. Thursdays usually, and
Sundays, the Italian master comes, though for the
present we have dropped him.
"MORE PARTICULARS.
"At dinner Lady B. takes the head of the table,
Lord B. on her left, Count D'Orsay on her right, and I
at the bottom. We have generally for the first service
a joint and five entrees ; for the second, a roti and five
entrees, including sweet things. The name of our
present cook is Eaffelle, and a very good one when he
likes.
" This is the nature of our day in the house. Almost
all the interest of Naples, and indeed of all Italy, is
L 2
148 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
among the wonderful curiosities with which every city
and its environs is overstocked.
" I am more and more anxious to know the result of
my father's entertainment. With best love to him,
believe me, my dear mother,
" Your affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS.
" P.S. Lord B. always cuts his own hair with a
pair of scissors 111"
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Belvedere, May Cth, 1824.
U MY DEAU MOTHER,
" Since last week we have had the regular Italian
weather, though till now it has occasionally been stormy
and bad. The month of March is the worst in the year,
and April little better, but May, I think, must be the
most delightful of the whole twelve, as the flies and
mosquitoes have not yet begun to bite, and there is
generally a refreshing wind. I have enjoyed myself
most particularly this week, and in a manner you little
think of, for, wonderful to relate, I have taken to walk-
ing, for the first time in my life, and enjoy it more than
any other mode of travelling. On Monday last I got
up at four o'clock, and strapping on my knapsack (a
most convenient little one that Lord B. gave me for
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 149
Pompeii) I set off in full costume, with my collar on my
shoulders open and cool, my linen gaiters and travelling
cap, and gaily trudged on to Pozzuoli. There I made
a sketch of the Temple of Serapis, which having finished,
and without being bored with the attentions of a cicerone,
I wandered about among the ancient tombs and palaces,
of which there are so many remains at this interesting
place, and then crossed the Solfatara, three miles of an
extinguished volcano, walking on sulphur and brimstone
still smoking, and then reached the Lake of Agnano, by
whose shining and refreshing mirror I eat my bread and
cheese and hard eggs, which I carried in my wallet, and
enjoyed the glorious and matchless views under the cool
shade of an olive tree. From hence I crossed gardens
and orchards full of orange and lemon trees, from whose
boughs I plucked as I pleased, and crossed from one
mountain to another till I climbed the magnificent rock
by which I arrived at Belvedere as the sun was setting,
just in time to dress for dinner. You cannot imagine
how delightful this ramble was, altogether about eighteen
miles, not meeting a single soul except the peasants,
whose good-humoured countenances are always delightful.
Whenever I passed through private orchards, there being
no hedges, I saluted the farmers and thanked them for
their obliging courtesy in allowing me such delicious
rambles. This salute invariably ended with an invi-
tation to taste their wine, and on entering the cottage
(dirty enough) cakes were produced and excellent country
150 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
wine pledged round, the wives and daughters singing
and dancing the Tarantella all the time. This, by-the-
bye, is the national dance, and is said to be that which
cures the bite of the tarantula. The gaiety of these
simple people is extraordinary. At parting and following
my road, a bunch of flowers is presented and the rosy
cheeks of the girls, which I accepted and kissed with
pleasure, though to say the truth some of them smelt
fervidly of garlic. Nothing can be more delightful than
these walks. Yesterday I again shouldered my knap-
sack, and set out on a longer and more difficult pil-
grimage. I walked first to Castellamare, on the
opposite side of the bay, a large town, built upon the
remains of the ancient Stabia, which was destroyed at
the same time as Pompeii, and which possesses the most
magnificent view of Vesuvius and Naples and all the
bay and islands. Here I was attacked on all sides by
men with donkeys, who insisted upon my taking a guide
and a mule over the mountains, but I was determined
to go alone and was resolute in refusing their proffered
services. They told me I should lose myself, but that
was the very thing I wanted to do, for I said at home
before I started, that they were not to expect me till
they saw me, intending if necessary, or if struck with
any nice place, to sleep wherever I took the fancy. I
therefore started to cross the mountains, over which
there is no road, it being a coast where no one ever
thinks of travelling, and is entirely inhabited by peasants
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 151
and farmers, aiid losing myself in the most romantic
groves of oranges and olives, pines and chestnuts, over-
hanging the sea, beheld the most picturesque and the
most lovely views in the world. When I found a spring,
of which there are many, of clear water, I took out my
frugal meal, and in my glass made ix^self soda-water
with the powders I took care to bring, eating my bread
and cheese and eggs with more delight than I ever eat
the most delicious dish in the world. Arrived at
Sorrento, I saw the house where Tasso was born, and
several remains of temples, and there reposed for an
hour during the heat of the mid-day sun. After my
siesta, I continued my journey through these romantic
spots till I arrived at the very point of the coast where,
finding I had still time to reach home the same day, I
embarked in a little boat and sailed over the glassy
ocean with a gentle breeze, and again reached Naples at
sunset, having walked more than thirty- two miles, over
a most mountainous coast. The peasants here were the
same gay beings as those of this side, and still more
simple, and quite as hospitable. I danced the Tarantella
with them all, and laughed with them as merry as any
of them. There is not one that does not play the guitar,
and they amused me with a thousand little characteristic
airs. They are always in love with my handkerchiefs,
and try all their eloquence to get one, but had I complied
with them I should not have had one left' by this time.
" I find even now nothing fixed upon as to our
152 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
starting, and therefore you may still write on here to the
care of Mr. Price. If you have written to Eome I shall
get it here the same. Lord Dudley is here and many
other pleasant people. Lord Dudley desires to be
remembered to you, and so does Mr. Archibald
Macdonald.
" With my best love to my father, believe me always,
my dear mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
" CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"June 10th, 1824, Palazzo Belvedere,
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" The day before yesterday I received your letter
of May 14th, in answer to mine from Eome. I am
delighted beyond measure at your prudent resolution of
writing on in spite of my injunction, as by this means I
shall receive your news regularly.
" I think there is not a shadow of doubt but that we
shall stay here till September ; indeed I may almost say
so with certainty, since the approaching heats render
travelling quite out of the question. All the English
who were at Naples left it a month ago in order to
arrive in the North of Italy for the summer. "We are
most happy in Belvedere, for, during the hot months,
it is the only breathing place that can be found. The
v.] COEEESPOXDEXCE, 1823-1824. 153
sea air is always fresh, aud the terraces always cool,
admitting of most enchanting walks by the light of the
moon ; indeed nothing can equal these terraces over-
looking the bay, and perfumed with the exquisite
fragrance of the flowers below. An Italian moonlight
also differs materially from ours in England from the
total absence of all fog, or damp mists ; not even the
slightest dew is perceptible. Not a breath of air is
stirring or a sound of any kind to be heard except the
exquisite melody of our darling nightingales, who, from
the groves above which we stand and in which we are
enveloped, burst forth at short intervals with all that
brilliancy and richness so often celebrated, but, in such
perfection, so seldom heard. Belvedere, at this hour, is
elevated into the very highest heaven of poetry. Every
moonlight scene that ever was described is here realised
and surpassed. The glorious combination of sea,
mountain, and island, under the soothing gentle light
of the chaste Diana, is viewed with a feeling of reverent
admiration that absolutely inspires the soul with an
unearthly delight. The perfect clearness with which
every object is visible is quite inconceivable. In the
midst of the glistening reflection of the pale light on the
glassy surface of the sea, is frequently seen the small
white sail of the fishing boat gliding in silence through
the calm water, or the shining gondola enjoying the
heavenly scene, training after it a long line of silvery
brightness, and sometimes the subdued sounds of their
154 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
distant music falling upon the ear. It is really enchant-
ing, and each night, with various effects of light, I enjoy
it from the terrace, which adjoins my bedroom, when all
the rest of the house are quietly asleep. Here I literally
sit for hours in my morning-gown, without the least
desire to sleep, watching with delighted eye the fire-
flies, their golden wings glistening as they chase each
other from place to place, and sometimes quite illumi-
nating by their numbers the deep purple shade of the
garden.
" But my head runs on moonlight and heavenly sights
when I ought to be engaged about base earthly things.
I speak of silver light distributed by the moon, and
wings stamped with golden brightness, when the only
silver and gold I have anything to do with is stamped
with the head of old Ferdinand and distributed by his
Government. Here then I descend from moons, nightin-
gales, and flowers, to pounds, shillings, and pence.
" To come at once smack to the point without flinch-
ing, I have spent, from the day I left London up to the
present (prepare yourself for the shock) four hundred
and thirty-nine ducats, which make seventy-four pounds
sterling, and am on the point of spending more. It
certainly does appear an immense sum, and yet it is
entirely gone in things absolutely necessary. I do assure
you that this is the only thing that renders my stay
here uncomfortable, for everything goes well and as I
wish it, but the money that I spend appears so enormous
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 155
that I really fear to receive your answer to this letter,
though I have kept some sort of account of my expenses
for you to see. And now that I have disclosed to you
the only point about which I am the least uneasy, I
shall close my letter and wait patiently for your advice
about what I am to do, only observing that though it
may be more than you expected, it must not be set
down to my extravagance or want of care, for I repeat,
I have not spent a single dollar unnecessarily. With
best love to my dear father, believe me, my dear mother,
" Ever your most affectionate Son,
"CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS."
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
" Ivy Cottage, Kentish Town, June 23, 1824.
"My DEAR CHARLES,
"Your letter arrived yesterday, and certainly
gave me a pang, which I have struggled with some
success to overcome, and shall endeavour to reconcile
myself to ; though to hear that your journey is post-
poned for so long a time at the moment I flattered
myself you were performing it, is a disappointment.
But, my dearest Charles, dismiss from your mind,
I entreat, all uneasiness about your expenditure.
You are too rational and considerate to overstep very
much the bounds given you, and in all reasonable
wishes we are anxious as well as willing to indulge
156 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
you ; so get what you ivant, and even what you please
above your actual wants. You are so good, that I am
not afraid to leave you to your own judgment, and am
convinced that I shall find no reason to regret the latitude
I give you. Your father joins me in this feeling most
heartily, be assured, and, therefore, do not suffer your
mind to be agitated about a little money. It is, I repeat
it, our wish that you take advantage of all the delights
that are virtuously within your reach, as well as profes-
sional advantages, and we would not damp our permis-
sion to this end by a grudging parsimony. While dear
Lady Blesinton condescends to act towards you in my
place as you so gratefully and fondly acknowledge to
me she does you cannot err. Indeed little, compara-
tively, as I have known of her, I feel implicit reliance
upon the advice she would give you. Indeed I have
(without a choice, as it seems, by good fortune) resigned
to her that influence which I have hitherto exerted only
in my own person that right which I should be
jealously unhappy to give over to any other being living.
This may seem unnatural, considering the many intimate
friends I have ; but Lady Blesinton I conceive pos-
sesses every requisite to form the mind and conduct of
those about her, and not only these, but an alacrity of
will which few can boast. Do as she requires, and I
shall think what you do right. I truly and sincerely
love her as well as admire her. I never think of her
without a glow of the warmest affection, and would
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 157
give much to be near enough to tell her so. Present my
faithful and fond love to her, and say that upon frequent
consideration of the subject, I would not have resigned
you to the guidance of any other female I know, though
I warmly love many of my friends. I write in such
haste that I cannot say all I wish or in the manner I
wish, but you must supply all deficiencies in expressing
to our beloved Lady B. my sentiments towards her.
Your father waits impatiently for my letter to take to
town, and I must hastily conclude with a repetition
of my injunction that you will not cloud present
comfort by fear of our dissatisfaction respecting the
means of contributing to it. Lord and Lady Blesinton
do so much that we are rather tenacious on our part, and
desirous to contribute to your happiness with them. So
' lay out, good Bardolph,' and fear not. You have sense,
and we will not be ungenerous. So be happy ; get what
you require, and doubt not the will where the ability
exists ; neither the affection, my dear Charles, of your
approving and fondly attached parents.
" Heaven guard you, prays your Friend and Mother,
"A. M."
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
"My DEAR CHARLES,
"I hasten to relieve your mind by replying
to your anxious letter, received last night, with a
158 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
reiterated assurance of our wish that you should be
provided with all necessary means during your stay
abroad. We have such perfect reliance on your
affection and integrity towards us in all things, that
we cannot feel a doubt respecting your prudence in
pecuniary matters. If you were at home, money would
be requisite, and where you are, I can feel satisfied
that it is even more so. Go on, therefore, with the
same anxiety not to overstep propriety in this respect,
and you need be under no fears of our censure. What
you want you must have, and this we render you
cheerfully, with allowance for some little indulgences
in the way of expenditure which the temptations you
may meet with abroad may induce you to yield to
in the way of purchases. In short, my dear Charles,
from the past you are fully adequate to judge and
regulate the future. You know (prudence always con-
sidered) that we are not inclined to be churls to you,
and therefore be happy; remember that though we
cannot dictate or wish undue consequence in your
manner of sustaining your situation, yet we cannot
but be anxious for your respectability, and ready with
our means to ensure that part of it which is dependent
upon us. Again I say, be happy and confident in our
affection in all things, and in return, my beloved
Charles, let us be assured of your entire ingenuous-
ness with us in every affair relative to your interests
in life, as on the present occasion. It is all we ask,
v.] COKKESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 159
and not more, I trust, than you owe, and will freely
pay, to such devoted affection as that we have ever
shown you ; it is, moreover, what you owe to God for
His infinite goodness to you in giving you such ad-
vantages as you have received so early in life, and
the friends He has given you. With the capacity to
make just use of the good you profess in so many ways,
remember, my dear Charles, remember that candour
must form part of your motto, it is one of the best
qualities you can boast, and without that great virtue
many others may be useless to you. . . .
"I am, dear Charles,
" Your loving Mother,
"A. M."
COUNT D'ORSAY TO CHARLES j. MATHEWS.*
"Capo de Monte, DcJcembre, 1824.
" MON CHER CHAELES,
" II est inutile que je vous rdpete combien nous
vous avons regrette", vous vous en doutez bien. Au
surplus, qu'il vous sufnt de savoir qu'il y a un grand
vide a votre place que personne ne peut remplir.
" Depuis votre depart Naples est a-peu-pres le
memo, a 1'exception que 1'ardeur des curieux est un
peu calme par 1'horrible evenernent arrive* a Psestum.
Vous aurez sans doute appris par les journaux que
Mr. ct Madame Hunt y ont e"te assassines. Bientot Ton
* See Appendix.
160 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
sera oblige d'avoir une escorte pour aller a Pompeii.
II n'y a que les artistes qui sout a 1'abri de ces attaques,
car les brigands savent qu'ils sont arme's de pied en cap,
canifs, compas, &c. Enfin, malgre ces armes, je suis
content de vous voir de retour de Psestum, car votre
maison ne me faisoit pas 1'effet d'etre bien assure'e. Dans
ce moment il y a a Naples le peintre du cabinet de
S. M. le Roi de Prusse ; cela ne veut pas dire grand
chose. Mais, malgre' cela, cet liomme est arrive gonfle
de prevention, et enfle' de presomption. Le brave Gell,
protecteur - general des humbugs, s'est era oblige de
1'adopter. II nous 1'a pre'sente' ainsi que ces dessins.
Cette homme a passd deux mois dans 1'interieur du
Musee de Portici, et a caique" toutes les peintures, et
malgre son grand desir de les manquer, cela lui etoit
impossible, car rien n'est aussi facile que de calquer avec
du papier de soie. Eh bien, Gell est enthousiasme ; il
pretend que c'est un prophete qui arrive dans ce pays
pour sauver les arts, et si certainement 1'homme etoit
reellement superieur, il diroit, Oh, nasty boy. Vous voyez
que Sir Willy est toujours de meme. La description de
votre voyage nous a beaucoup amuses, et si j'ai un
conseil a vous donner pour imiter un preTet franais,
c'est de faire tout ce qu'il y a de plus ridicule. Vous etes
oien sur de ne pas manquer le role.
"J'oubliois de vous parler du Capitaine S." /r qui est
encore plus bete si cela dtoit possible. II a dans ce moment
* Captain Smith of the Bolivar.
v.] COKKESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 161
une peine de coeur depuis que je lui ai dit que ces cheveux
etoient de la premiere qualite pour faire un coussia.
En outre, il a une peine de jambes en se rappelant
que vous courez mieux que lui. II n'y a pas deux
jours qu'il me rappellait que vous dtiez plus jeune que
lui, qui e"toit la seule raison.
" Strangways est parti pour Sniyrne, Baily est ici,
et va probablement le suivre; je suppose qu'il le ren-
eontrera en Turquie. Dans tous les cas il trouveroit sa
tete au-dessus de la porte du serail du Grand Seigneur,
ear dans ce pays ils vous coupent la tete sans grande
eerernonie.
" Nous parlons souvent de vous, et plus sou vent nous
pensons a vous, et si vous n'etes pas un ingrat vous
devez faire de meme.
"Adieu, mon cher Charles ; ecrivez moi, car je vous
assure que I'amitie' que je vous porte est trop sincere
pour la laisser passer sous silence.
"For ever your devoted,
" COMTE D'ORSAY."
COUNT D'ORSAY TO CHARLES j. MATHEWS.*
" February 25.
"God bless our souls, my dear Matthias, S 1
is gone, et se trouve probablement deja sur cette
route de Kent (d'heureuse memoire). Son depart nous
* See Appendix. t Captain Smith.
VOL. I. M
162 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
a tous attriste's pour un quart d'heure car il avoit
assaisonne' son adieu d'une abondance de larmes qu'il avoit
conserv^ dans son reservoir pour cette heureuse circon-
stance. Enfin il est parti le coeur gros et les poches pleines.
Nous lui avons tous fait un cadeau, et j'ai ddcide' Lord
Blessington a lui donner cet infortune' cachet marin
que Smith a reu avec autant de plaisir que le com-
mandement d'une fre'gate de secoude classe. Nous avons
tous la meme sensation qu'un malade auquel on a retire
son emplatre.
" Je vous conseille de craindre plus les faux pas de
votre jument grise (si elle vit encore et par consequent si
elle tombe encore) que ceux que vous pretendez faire
dans la langue franchise. Votre lettre etoit trop bien,
pour ne pas continuer, et vous savez combien nous vous
aimons et que 1'absence ne diminue rien. Ainsi de temps
en temps envoy ez une epitre frangaise. Elle sera tres
bien regu.
" JG suis fach4 d'etre oblige de vous parler d'un sujet
tres triste, mais il faut que vous sacliiez qu'Elisabeth
vient de manquer la robe rouge de sweet Mary. A
dater de ce moment la guerre civile a ete declare, et ce
n'est qu'en sacrifiant Elisabeth pour reprendre Vincenza
que les hostilite's ont cesse'es. Vous voyez done que Mary
se porte mieux, puisqu'il s'agit de combat de robes
rouges, &c. J'oubliois de vous dire qu'il est definitive-
ment connu que Vincenza porte perruque : Mary en a eu
la preuve en main dans un combat singulier. Je vous
v.] COKRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 1G3
donne ces petits ddtails pour que vous n'oubliez pas si
vite notre intdrieur de famille. Ne parlez pas de cela a
personne, car sweet Mary seroit tres fachee. II paroit
que Williams et Blayney conservent partout leurs traits
caractdristiques ; je pense que le dernier regardoit
Polichinel pour savoir s'il etoit plus ridicule que lui.
J'ai re9U une lettre de Millmgen qui souffle a Paris plus
que jamais, et je pense que ses voisins 1'ont fait deloger,
a cause de son soufflement pulmonique, car il a e'te
obligd d'aller du bruit de Paris, oil son asthme sera con-
fondu avec les voitures que passent continuellement, Rue
Neuve des Petits Champs, ou il loge maintenant. Je
crains que ce cher antiquaire ne casse ses vieux os, et
surtout s'il apprend qu'il y a une conspiration forme'e
contre lui par un jeune teme'raire qui arrive sur 1'horizon
pour prouver que tout ce que James a dent ne signifie
rien. Vous pensez bien sans doute que Gell protege cet
homme, mais malgre' tout, je pense que Millmgen sortira
victorieux de sa lutte e'trusque. Et quoiqu'il soit d'un
petit calibre, ses boulets feront plus de breches que les
bombes des autres qui dclatent sans rien dedans. Au
surplus, s'il meurt, je le ferai reduire en cendres et
mettre dans notre lacrymatoire e'trusque. II y a plus de
places qu'il n'en faut, et c'est re'ellement un tombeau digne
d'un maigre antiquaire. J'espere que vous n'avez pas
oublie un complimenteur (cela veut dire un flatteur
fran9ais) son nom est Durand que vous avez vu au
Belvedere, bien decide" a ne jamais quitter celle qui fait
M 2
164 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
son bonheur, qui le console -de tous ses pe'che's et le
de'dommage de tous ses chagrins dans ce monde ici-bas
c'est-a-dire sa collection. Eh bien, M. Durarid n'a rien
eu de plus presse" en arrivant a Paris que de le vendre an
Roi de France, pour une somme bien capable de le con-
soler d'une perte si chere a sorutriste coeur. Le voila done
veuf et d4cid6 a dpouser des momies, car il va se donner
dans cette branche d'instruction, ou pour mieux dire, de
commerce.
" B B and Co. ont fait banqueroute.
Adieu me'dailles, cigarres, et autres agre'ments de socie'te.
L'Abb6 perd par cette faillitte 700 guinees, mais il
est bien de'cide' de les regagner par une route quel-
conque. Medici visera son passeport et Circelle le
contresignera. P pretend que c'est un grand com-
fort que de ne pas faire banqueroute. D'abord il n'a
jamais eu grand e idde de la maison B , il pense tres
pen de F , et encore moins de Rothschild, mais en
revanche il pense beaucoup de D et de P .
Dans ce moment M. G se fait faire des pantalons,
probablement sur le modele des miens, mais c'est un
coup de politique pour prouver aux tailleurs de la ville
que sa maison tient bon. Malgre* que M ne met
jamais le pied dans le bureau il me 1'a encore certifie sur
parole d'honneur la plus sacree, foi de gentilhomme de
Jersey et autres lieux, on a decouvert dans Pompeii des
choses que nous devons aller voir quand cette fureur
d'e'trangers sera calmee vous concevez qu'il est inutile
v.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1823-1824. 165
d'aller a Pompeii pour voir tons les associe's de Day
and Martin, et de Barclay Perkins. Vous n'avez pas
d'idee de la figure des Anglais qui sont dans ce moment
a Naples : ce sont reallement les Anglais pour rire. Je
vous assure que si le Baron Stiiltz, de Clifford Street,
arrivait dans ce moment il ferait une grande figure parmi
ceux-ci.
" Je commence a m'apercevoir qu'il me reste juste la
place de vous souhaiter beaucoup d'instruction et de plaisir
dans le bureau ou vous allez entrer. Enfin, mon cher
Charles, si tout le bonheur que je vous souliaite vous
arrive vous ne pouvez manquer d'etre heureux. Lady
B - vous envoye un million d'amities. Lord B
eternue dans ce moment, sans cela je suis persuade^
qu'il vous enverroit au moins 1,500 choses aiinables.
Pour Mary, elle vous dit tant de choses que je n'ai
plus assez de place de les mettre. Pour moi, je vous
assure de mon amitie inalterable et vous prie de prd-
senter mes hommages a Madame votre mere et mes
compts. a votre pere. Lady B se rappelle au
souvenir de votre mere, qu'elle aime de tout son cceur.
"Adieu, et pour toujours votre
" Tres devoue,
"D'ORSAY."
CHAPTER VI.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN WALES, 1824-1826.
ON my return to London I took chambers in Parliament
Street, engaged a clerk, and set to work busily on the
working-drawings and specifications of the, at last,
completed design for the Mount] oy house.
My leisure time was entirely spent at St. James's
Square, with Mrs. Purves and her charming family,
Lady Blessington having lent her house during her
absence abroad to her sister. I had a bed there
whenever I required it, and became as much domesti-
cated as though I had been one of her own children.
Louisa Purves, her eldest daughter, had grown up
to be a lovely girl of fifteen, sylphlike in form, delicate
in feature, and sensitive as a flower, but bright and
full of intellect, with every feminine attribute that could
charm and captivate the heart, and at once became
the one thought of my life. For two or three years
we were always together, and looked upon each other
as brother and sister ; studied together, read Italian,
and took our music lessons together, and except when
circumstances separated us for short periods, during
CHAP, vi.] IX WALES, 1824-1826. 167
which we corresponded regularly, we were never out
of each other's society. At the play, at the opera,
at home, we sat together, hand linked in hand, absorbed
in each other. Mrs. Purves, with cruel kindness,
only laughed at our romantic attachment, treating us
as children ; and having perfect confidence in us, took
delight in witnessing our mutual affection. She ought
to have known that between a sweet lovable girl,
just budding into womanhood, and an enthusiastic lad
of one-and-twenty, such unrestrained intercourse, pure
as it was, could not be other than dangerous in the
extreme.
How was it all to end ? I never gave myself the
trouble to inquire, nor did Louisa. We were happy,
and never gave a thought to the future. That I could
ever make her my wife was out of the question, nor
did the idea even enter my head ; but this Paul and
Virginia state of existence could not last for ever.
The " brother and sister " business is generally a
fallacy, and platonic attachments between pretty girls
and sprightly youths are dangerous experiments, and
seldom indulged in with impunity. In our case no
harm ensued. We were luckily innocent and well-
principled, and I may venture to say that our long and
close association was not only tender and affectionate,
but mutually advantageous, morally and intellectually.
It was not till long after, when the time arrived
for her " coming out," that the idyll came to an end
168 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
and the sad blow of separation fell. It was a mortal
agony to both of us, and for some time I was a victim
a prey to utter despair. Amidst the pleasures of a
first London season Louisa was soon reconciled to the
state of affairs, and though we met frequently, as usual,
there was no longer the inseparable companionship of
the past, and in a short time one of the most beautiful
women in London became the wife of John Fairlie.
Thus ended my first attachment, and for years I
lived upon the " sweet and bitter " recollection.
The late Sir John Soane was a great friend to me
at this time. I don't know how I contrived to in-
gratiate myself into the old gentleman's good graces,
for he was by no means easy of access, but he took
quite a fancy to me, and gave me unceasing proofs of
his good-will. I had free admission at all times to
his marvellous gallery, the free run of his portfolios
and splendid library, and accompanied him constantly
to inspect the works of the new buildings he was
erecting at the Bank of England ; being allowed to
make sketches of the details of construction, and profit
by the valuable information he was always ready to
impart. I need not say that his kind attention to me
was of the greatest service in every way. He was a
most singular old man, and I was remarkably fortunate
in obtaining his friendship.
"While roaming at will over his beautiful and
singularly designed house, admirably illustrating the
vi.] IX WALES, 1824-1826. 1G9
means by which, on a very small scale, great effects
could be produced by taste and skill, I discovered a
" blue chamber." That there is a skeleton in every
house may be true, but it is not always visible to
the naked eye of a stranger; here, however, it stood
in all its deformity in the broad light of day.
George Soane, Sir John's son, was of a literary
turn, and wrote for the newspapers. He was, in fact,
what is called a " press man." He was also the author
of several successful dramatic pieces, "The Innkeeper's
Daughter," &c. &c. But he had, for some reason,
quarrelled with his father, and cruelly attacked him
in his professional character, ridiculed his lectures,
denounced his style, and wrote the most severe
criticisms upon his architectural works ; thus stabbing
him in his most vital part. These printed attacks,
carefully pasted on one large sheet, were hung up over
the chimney-piece in his bed-room, facing his bed,
framed and glazed and surrounded by a broad black
border, with the following inscription in large letters :
" Death-blows given to his mother by George Soane."
The sight of this ghastly record always made me
shudder, and one morning, while sitting by the old
gentleman's bedside as he took his breakfast, I ventured
to expostulate with him on the sad spectacle before
me, and urged him to remove this constant reminder
of his wrongs, and remonstrated with him upon the
impropriety of keeping alive vindictive feelings, which,
170 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
if left to time, might gradually become extinct. But
I soon found I was in the wrong box, for he put me
to my place in a moment with a burst of ungovernable
passion, and I took care never again to recur to a
subject which it was the height of presumption in me
to have approached at all.
The project which had been interrupted by my
trip to Italy was now again entertained, and my
entrance into the office of Mr. Nash was once more
determined on, but it so happened it was not yet to be ;
for before his answer arrived I had been offered and had
accepted the important position of architect to the
" Welsh Iron and Coal Mining Company," at Coed
Talwn, North Wales. I had scarcely arrived at the
scene of action when his letter came, but of course
too late to be of service, and the matter was again
deferred.
The " Welsh Iron and Coal " was one of the many
companies conjured into life by the magic wand of
the celebrated (notorious ?) John Wilks not the John
Wilkes of No. 45, but the John Wilks of forty-five
bubble companies producing a rage for speculation in
London almost equal to the famous South Sea Bubble
of years gone by.
The " Welsh Iron and Coal," however, was a genuine
concern, and has endured even to the present moment.
The genial kind-hearted John Gray, the worshipful
master of the " Inverness Lodge of Free and Accepted
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 171
Masons," of which I was an unworthy brother, was
elected to the responsible post of resident director.
He was a Northumberland man, and had had much
experience in collieries at Newcastle-upon-Tyue, though
he had latterly been in good practice as a physician in
London. He was a gentleman, mixed in good society,
and had been, I believe, a fast goer in his time, running
through a fine fortune with the usual ease. The post of
resident director suited him exactly, as with com-
paratively little to do, and that of a commanding nature,
he could follow all the pursuits of a country gentleman,
and hunt, shoot, fish, and drive about, as though he
were lord of the manor. I believe it was through his
interest that I obtained my nomination, and elated with
the prospect, I set to work on my plans and estimates
at once.
About a hundred miners' cottages were to be erected,
an inn, a chapel, a bridge, a house for the resident
director in fact, a little town. My plans were ap-
proved of and ultimately adopted ; the most remarkable
part of the business being that the buildings are all
standing yet,* presenting lasting mementoes of my
inefficiency.
The director's house of course could not be designed
until I had surveyed the site for its erection, having to
adapt the materials of an old country seat belonging
to the Heartsheath estate, formerly the property of
Colonel Wardell ; and it being determined that I should
172 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
accompany Mr. Gray on a visit of inspection, we
started together in his carriage for the scene of action.
My father accompanied us on the trip. He was anxious
to assure himself that the Company, in which he had
been persuaded to take shares, had really a local habi-
tation, as well as a name, which was more than many
similar schemes at the time could boast of.
At the inn at Wrexham we fell in for the first time
with Mr. Verbeke, Wilks's partner and associate, who
introduced himself to Gray without ceremony, and
accepted himself without invitation to the fourth seat in
his carriage, being bound like ourselves on a mission to
inspect the works at Coed Talwn.
Verbeke was one of the most extraordinary offhand
amusing men I ever met. Of imposing presence, re-
markably handsome, with most attractive and gentle-
manlike manners, always ready with joke and repartee,
he was a sort of Theodore Hook in his way, possessing
a sang-froid and an audacity worthy of the hero of a
farce. His eternal chatter and lively sallies beguiled
the road, and by the time w T e arrived at Heartsheath
we were as much at home with him as though we had
known him for years.
" Heartsheath " was the name of the half-ruined
shell of a house which was to be converted into the
residence of the resident director. It was beautifully
situated in the midst of a fine park, well ornamented
with wood and water. At about a quarter of a mile's
vi.] IX WALES, 1824-1826. 173
distance, and visible from the windows, stood Plas Teg,
a splendid old mansion in the Elizabethan style, built
by Inigo Jones and belonging to Mr. Charles Roper,
a jolly country gentleman, a magistrate and county
magnate, keeping the best table, the best horses, and
the best pack of harriers in Denbighshire.
Verbeke was delighted at the discovery, and hastened
to call upon his friend, " Charley Roper." In a short
time he returned with such a pressing invitation to lunch
at Plas Teg that it was impossible to refuse, the more
so as he urged upon Gray that it was policy to make
the acquaintance at once of a man so influential in the
neighbourhood ; and we all repaired to the proffered
hospitality.
We met with the most cordial reception from
Mr. and Mrs. Roper and their family, partook of a sub-
stantial lunch, and were entertained the whole time by
the unceasing rattle of the hilarious Verbeke. Not a
man was mentioned but was known to him, not a place
but he was familiar with ; and, in short, he succeeded
in making himself so agreeable that he was decidedly the
most popular person of the party.
In the course of conversation during a stroll round
the grounds, while he remained behind doing the amiable
and ingratiating himself with Mrs. Roper, my father
took the opportunity of thanking Mr. Roper for his
politeness.
" I am sure," said he, " we ought to be very
174 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEAVS. [CHAP.
grateful to your friend Mr. Verbeke for so charming
an introduction."
" My friend ! " said Eoper, much astonished ; " why,
I never saw the gentleman before. It was as your friend
that I welcomed him."
" Mine ! " said my father, " I never set eyes on him
till this morning. It is to Mr. Gray I. yield the honour
of his friendship."
" Not to me, my dear Mathews ; he was a perfect
stranger to me till he introduced himself at Wrexham."
A hearty laugh on all sides followed ; and the good-
natured Eoper was so tickled with the incident that he
got from us the promise that our discovery should not
be divulged, but that we should continue to amuse our-
selves quietly with the eccentricities of the oddity whose
acquaintance we had made in so singular a manner.
" I owe him a good turn at any rate," said he, " for
giving me the opportunity of receiving under my roof
such distinguished guests. But for his timely inter-
ference I might have been deprived of that pleasure,
and I cannot but heartily thank him."
Eoper told me afterwards that the matter was thus
skilfully brought about by Verbeke. After sending up
his card and being ushered into the drawing-room, he
apologised for intruding, as a stranger, but as the
promoter and one of the largest shareholders in the Coed
Talwn Mining Company, he thought it his duty to pay
his respects ; especially as he was sure Mr. Eoper would
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 175
never forgive him if lie failed to inform him that the
celebrated Charles Mathews, with his son, had arrived
from London on a day's visit to his new neighbour,
Mr. Gray, the appointed resident director of the
collieries, and that the chance of meeting that dis-
tinguished man might never occur again. If it would
afford any gratification to Mr. Eoper, he would have
much pleasure in bringing his friends over to Plas Teg
for a short call and introducing them ; an offer which
was gladly accepted by Eoper on condition that they
would do him the honour to lunch there. This Verbeke
" could not positively promise, but would do his best to
manage." I need not add, that, in spite of its great
difficulty, he was successful in his endeavour.
We returned to town much pleased with our trip,
and being anxious that my first essay should be suc-
cessful, I resolved to take up my abode entirely on the
spot, in the immediate vicinity of my operations, in order
to give my thorough personal superintendence to the
works I had undertaken, and in a short time I was ready
to start for my Welsh quarters.
The great difficulty was how to get my horse all
that distance.
" Cupid " was invaluable. A capital hunter, nearly
thoroughbred, and playful as a kitten. Why he was
called " Cupid " I never learnt ; he certainly was not
blind ; but we were inseparable companions, and steady
friends. He w r as my " trained steed." He would canter
176 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
after me round the large field in sight of the cottage, to
the delight of admiring friends, and let me jump on his
back, without saddle or bridle, and gallop him over
hurdles to the admiration of all beholders.
There were no comfortable railway horse-boxes in
those days ; and to transport a valuable horse two
hundred miles was really a formidable and hazardous
venture. At last I came to the determination to ride
him down myself, and accomplished the feat in three
days with perfect success, " Cupid " and his master
arriving at their destination as fresh and fit as if only
after a canter in Rotten Kow. Over sixty miles a day
was not bad travelling either for man or horse ; twenty
miles before breakfast, twenty miles before dinner, and
twenty miles before supper. I let no one touch him, but
groomed and fed him with my own hand before supping
myself, and put him comfortably in his bed for the night
before turning into my own. -
A copy of his letter to Jenny, one of his late stable
" pals " (why w r asn't she named Psyche ?) gives a lively
description of his journey.
"Mold.
" MY DEAR JENNY,
" Your thoughts have doubtless been on the
rack ever since I slipt my cable, but I have not
till this moment had any time to sift my ideas, so as
to give you an account of my trip, but I must now
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 177
put a spur upon my thoughts, and stir up my powers
to the task. You know that just after feed on Thursday
evening, as I was standing in a musing attitude, gently
picking my dessert from among my fragrant hay, with
a refreshing grassy feeling creeping over me, King
David gave me to understand, from sundry rubs and
hints, that my services were required by my young
master. "Well, I had had my feed and was content,
though I did think it rather too soon for digestion,
and willingly came to his call. I thought I was going
to town, as usual, as did you, but was somewhat startled
at the sight of a beautiful bit of Welsh flannel placed
under the saddle. ' Oh ho ! ' thought I, ' we are going
to the park, eh ? ' So I pricked up my ears, neighed,
and all that, to look parkish ; but to my surprise, on
reaching the end of the lane, I was turned to the left t
I thought perhaps this was done to show off, there
being some pretty girls opposite, so I just plunged
and reared a little, thinking to make myself agreeable
to my master, but two pretty sharp kicks at once
undeceived me, and I was forced to mount the hill.
' Somebody ill,' I then thought, and made haste to-
Mr. Killman's ; but no, farther still. ' A concert,
probably, at the Assembly Kooms.' Nothing of the
kind ; we passed them at a canter, and not till we
had quite left Highgate and reached Finchley did
the first conviction flash across me that I was going
a journey ! Heavens ! what a conflict of passions were
VOL. I. N
178 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
now roused ! How cruel to be torn away from friends
without one adieu one horse's kiss ! I thought of
you, Jenny ! I thought of the many pleasant evenings
we had passed together, licking each other's noses over
our stall-boards ! I fancied you left in your solitary
stall, which, like that in the song, 'serves for parlour,
and kitchen, and hall/ reflecting on the hollowness of
friendship. Oh Jenny, though parted from you I shall
ever wish you well. I shall rejoice in the horse-picious
event of your being led to the halter ! I shall be
present at your bridle. And when in the straw, happy
shall I be (as you have little female acquaintance) to
stand horse-godmother to your offspring. But it cannot
be ; we are parted, perhaps for ever ! "Well ! we must
look up a-loft, and hope for better times. Till death
am I yours, and should I first fall a victim to its
unrelenting currycomb and brush off, my manes shall
visit you ! Yes, Jenny, high-blooded as I am now,
bloodless will I come, and like a clothes-horse stand
before you, a picked saddle of mutton upon my back,
making your top-knot to stand on end like quills upon
the fretful porcupine. But a truce to these melancholy
ideas, and now for my journey. At Dunstable we slept
the first night, where they announced 'Entertainment
for man and horse.' I don't know how my master was
entertained, but I found it very dull work. Next night
we slept at Coventry sixty miles ! There, Jenny !
what do you think of that ? Mustn't I be as strong
vi.] IX WALES, 1824-1826. 179
as a man to do it ? At Coventry, to be sure, I was
wisped ! Oh, my friend ! such luxury ! Were I King
of England I couldn't be better rubbed down or done
up than I was. Talk about horsetlers ! I'll back my
master against a hundred of them ; he's a regular
will-o'-the-wisp. And then, such a supper ! To be
sure I did eat all the journey. I never cut my corn,
as you know, and my master aided my appetite by all
the beans in his power. I was very much disgusted
here by the conduct of the country-bred cobbish brutes,
without manners or anything to recommend them ;
poking their heads over my stall, and staring at me
while I was eating, and setting up a great horse-laugh
every minute ; lazy fellows, who had done no work,
yet wanted to come in for a share of my supper, just
because they hadn't had a bit in their mouths. How-
ever, I couldn't help laughing in my fetlock at their
impudence. At Shrewsbury slept next night (sixty-
two miles ! there's muscle !), where I was received
with great horsepitality. By-the-bye, on returning to
my stall after rubbing, and combing, and feet-washing,
I found a cow in my bed, pretending that she was
chewing the cud of sweet and bitter fancy ; but she
completely showed her cloven foot, for I found her
fancy was to chew some of my sweet and bitter hay.
On Sunday, at twelve, we got to Mold, and I may
say that I am as well as, if not better than when I
started. I have picked up an acquaintance with some
N 2
180 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
pleasantisli folks here ; one an agreeable young spark
enough, with some knowledge of London, and his friend,
rather heavy and sluggish, but sensible ; besides a sort
of hobbledehoy, whose character and manners are
hardly formed enough to say anything of ; his temper
seems good, and therefore it promises to be pleasant
enough down here.
" And now, my dear Jenny, for the present, adieu.
Pray take care of yourself, for the sake of your
friends ; and as money makes the mare go, eat away
and return the compliment let the mare make the
money go.
"With kind regards to Sir John and to our friend
Girth, should you see him,
"Believe me,
" Yours, ever unhaltered,
" CUPID.
^
" P.S. Could you manage to send down my body-
clothes ? for I find more attention is paid here to dress
than I expected."
Cupid soon became a celebrity, taking honourable
stand by the side of Duchess, Eoper's clever chestnut
mare, and his brother-in-law's spanking black horse. He
was at first a little bothered copping the stone walls and
breasting the punishing Welsh hills ; but in a short time
was as clever at his work as any rough-and-ready Welsh
vr.] IX WALES, 1824-1826. 181
pony, while at a brook lie was not to be excelled by
any horse in the county. Many a time, after a sixteen-
mile ride to cover, he was hunted with the Belgrave
hounds at Eaton Hall, and did himself honour in the
eyes of a fastidious field.
For more than a year my headquarters were held at
a quaint old Welsh farm at Pontblyddyn, about half a
mile across the meadows from Heartsheath, and all
progressed favourably. The beauties of North Wales
were in a different way as striking, and offered as much
charming subject for the pencil as Italy itself, and the
hospitable society of the neighbourhood made my sojourn
there exceedingly pleasant. Hunting and shooting,
fishing, sketching, and writing occupied my leisure
hours. I had already furnished much matter for my
father's " Entertainments," and having plenty of time on
niy hands I sent him up large contributions, in the
shape of songs and characters.
Ere many months had elapsed I had contracted the
closest intimacy with my kind and worthy friends,
Mr. and Mrs. Roper, and at last yielded to their
frequently repeated invitation to remove bag and
baggage to Plas Teg, where I was at once installed
as one of the family. This was indeed a delightful
change, and I fully appreciated it.
I speedily assumed the important position of second
whipper-in, and knew every hound by name and voice,
as well as if they were my own children. On the days
182 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
with the harriers I generally rode a big-headed old gray
hunter of Roper's and gave Cupid a rest, the old horse
literally teaching me my business.
Chatting over sporting matters after dinner one
day, Roper pointed out the advantage, in case of having
to cross a river, of dismounting and holding on the
pommel of the saddle, while the horse swam across,
thus relieving him from the weight of his rider. I
remembered the hint, and, looking upon the swimming
of rivers as usual everyday occurrences, when a short
time afterwards the hounds were running merrily up a
hill on the other side of a pretty wide stream, without a
moment's hesitation, and to the amazement and dismay
of everyone, I banged the old gray into the water.
Down we went, out of sight for a moment, but on
emerging I managed to dismount, according to directions,
and placing my hand upon the pommel, landed safely
on the other side, minus my hat, but all right in every
other respect, save and except the good ducking I
deserved, amidst the laughter of the much relieved
spectators, who had quietly trotted over the bridge,
which stood only a few hundred yards farther up the
river ; the very hounds, I believe, joining in the laugh,
having suddenly come to a check, rendering haste
of any kind unnecessary.
" What the devil made you do that ?" said Roper.
" Why, didn't you yourself instruct me how it was
to be done ?"
vi.] IX AVALES, 1824-1826. 183
"Yes, but I never thought you would be fool
enough to do it ! That idiot of an old horse, too, who
is old enough to know better ! The sooner you get
home and put yourself and a good jorum of hot brandy -
and- water between the blankets, the better, and another
time take my advice try the bridge."
Of course this was a standing joke against me ; and
as good jokes were somewhat scarce in the principality,
I never heard the last of it.
The old blind harpers, who were then so common in
North Wales, and have now become so scarce having
disappeared with the high beaver hats that were so
characteristic among the women were my especial
delight, and their grand old national music afforded
me constant pleasure. Why these old bards were all
blind I don't know, but it seemed an indispensable
portion of their profession.
During my sojourn at Plas Teg, we made a brilliant
equestrian expedition to Llangolleu. Dean Roper and
his daughter, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Roper, myself and the
respective grooms, formed an imposing cavalcade. After
a charming ramble up to Castle Dinas Bran we had
a jolly dinner at the hotel, and during the repast were
entertained by a venerable white-bearded Druid, one
of the most splendid specimens of his craft I ever
encountered. The old fellow was a noted artist, and
had a fine collection of all the most popular melodies,
and among them one I had never heard before. He
184 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
said it was some twenty years since he had first met
with it. It was called " Cader Idris ;" and I made him
play it over to me till I had learnt it correctly.
Elated with my discovery, for such it really seemed
to be none of my friends having heard it before any
more than myself I lost no time in putting words to
it, and the result was a great success.
At the picturesque farmhouse at Pontblyddyn, in
which I lived, was a pretty little Welsh dairymaid,
named Jenny Jones, and a simple ploughman, called
David Morgan. The ballad I then composed to my
newly-discovered national air, bearing the young lady's
name, has since made the interesting couple familiar
to London ears. They would perhaps be astonished to
know their history publicly recorded, and blush to find
it fame.
This, of course, was years before I had any idea of
going upon the stage, and I only mention it in connection
with the mortifying disenchantment that awaited me.
I had been singing my new ballad one evening, at
the house of some friends in London, to a tolerably large
party, when an old gentleman in a voluminous white
choker and a shiny suit of black, looking very like a
Methodist parson, came up to me with a very serious
face, to remonstrate with me, I feared, for the levity I
had been guilty of, and to my surprise said :
" My dear sir, allow me to express to you the great
gratification the perfect little ballad you have just sung
vi.] IX AVALES, 1824-1826. 185
has afforded me, arid to assure you that I appreciate the
honour you have done me in selecting for its illustration
an air of my humble composing."
With a look of ineffable pity, I answered the poor
maniac : "I am sorry, dear sir, to rob you of so pleasant
a delusion, but unfortunately the air is one I picked up
myself, years ago, among the Welsh mountains, and
is, I flatter myself, quite original, and hitherto
unknown."
" Pardon me, in my turn, dear sir," said the old
gentleman, smiling, " if I inform you that the air in
question was composed by me for the Eisteddfod in
1804, obtaining the prize at that festival. I named it
' Cader Idris,' and I shall have great pleasure in sending
you the music, published at the time, with my name
attached to it." ,
Patatras ! Down went my great antiquarian dis-
covery, and I was left desolate.
The old gentleman was John Parry, the Welsh com-
poser, and father of the illustrious John, whose genius
has delighted thousands ; and when, long afterwards, I
introduced the ballad of " Jenny Jones " in my piece of
" He would be an Actor," and it got to be whistled about
the streets, he presented me with a handsome silver cup,
with a complimentary inscription in most elegant Welsh,
in commemoration of the event.
But to return to business. Two thousand five
hundred pounds was the sum granted by the Company
186 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
to be expended on the house of the resident director;
but I soon discovered by the time I had carried out all
Gray's requirements, which included a handsome stone
lodge, an ornamental stone bridge, a solid staircase
of Bangor slate, in imitation of black marble, similar
to one he took a fancy to at Penrhyn Castle, and several
other little rather expensive nicknacks, the sum granted
would not more than half suffice for the purpose. On
this I immediately proceeded to town, and laid the
circumstances before the board of directors, requesting
further advice or a further grant of money.
In a few days a visiting committee of three, consist-
ing of John Wilks himself, and a couple of directors,
made their appearance at Heartsheath, and passed a
week examining the Coed Talwn works, living like
fighting cocks at Gray's expense. In vain I pressed for
an answer to my application, till, on the last evening of
their stay, I sent in a note to Mr. Wilks, insisting
on being informed what course I was to pursue, as I
declined to proceed with the work in the face of the
certainty of so far exceeding the original estimates. I
had evaded dining with the party, lest, in the midst of
the conviviality, I should not find a moment to obtain
the information I required.
As I expected, they were all as jolly and in as noisy
good-humour as could be wished, and on the back of
o
my note Wilks scribbled in pencil : "5,000 have been
granted for the completion of Heartsheath and its de-
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 187
pendencies, so make your mind easy, young shaver.
JOHN WILKS."
This was enough, and I carefully preserved the
valuable document in my pocket-book. It was lucky I
did so.
A similar piece of caution proved another fortunate
thing for me. Within a couple of yards of the kitchen
and offices to be erected stood a fine old tree, which
Gray insisted should not be removed. In vain I urged
that the roots, extending under the walls of the new
buildings, would render the foundations unsafe. " No
matter," he said; "it was a sacrilege to cut it down."
And so it was ; but it couldn't be helped. However, he
stuck to his point, and got both the builder and my
clerk of the works to back him in his opinion that no
danger was to be apprehended from it. " Very well,"
said I, " have your way ; but I make one condition.
You must acknowledge my protest in writing, and
exonerate me from all blame in the matter should
mischief occur."
Sure enough mischief did occur; and while the
mortar was still wet, a single stormy night did the
business, and caused a settlement, as I had predicted.
It turned out, I believe, ultimately, that it was about the
only settlement the builder was able to bring about,
though the Coed Talwn speculation had become shaky
enough for anything.
Thanks to the energy and determination of one man
188 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Mr. W. Clark the bubble companies were bursting
up in every direction, exposed by his indefatigable exer-
tions, and the "Welsh Iron and Coal" threatened to
follow suit. At any rate, confidence was destroyed, and
no more money forthcoming.
I was summoned, among other " delinquents " and
squanderers of the public money, before a general meet-
ing of the shareholders. I was accused of having grossly
exceeded my estimates, and my father was called upon
to disburse the amount in excess, to prevent the proceed-
ings which were threatened against me. At this meeting
I underwent a rioficl cross-examination, and had to submit
O *
to what is allegorically denominated a good " badgering "
from Mr. W. Clark.
How was it that, with only two thousand five
hundred pounds granted by the Company, and agreed to
in my estimates, I had wantonly expended nearly double
that amount ?
I simply replied, that subsequently five thousand
pounds was granted to complete the Heartsheath works,
out of which I had only spent four thousand six
hundred ; four hundred pounds less than the amount
granted.
" Granted by whom ? " said Mr. Clark.
" By the directors themselves, through their secretary,
Mr. John Wilks."
" I never gave any such latitude," said Wilks.
" Have you anything to show that I did ? "
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 189
"I have," said I, throwing the pencilled note across
the table. ' " 1 believe that is your handwriting. That
is my voucher."
This turned the scale triumphantly in my favour,
and got me out of that scrape.
My protest to Gray and his written certificate,
taking upon himself the blame of the settlement,
disposed of what was much more important to me,
the charge of incompetency. It was an early lesson
to me never to destroy documents, however trivial they
might be at the time, and I have found it most useful
to me through life.
I must mention one other little lesson I received
in connection with my Welsh business, and I have done.
I had occasion to go over to Liverpool with my
builder, to choose some marble chimney-pieces, and the
three we selected amounted to fifty pounds. But,
strange to say, the manufacturer took an odd fancy into
his head that he should prefer their being paid for on
delivery. He knew my builder very well, but, not
knowing anything about the Company, he. thought it
would perhaps be safer to make it a ready money
transaction. I think he was right.
"However, Mr. Davis," said he, "of course, your
bill at three months will be the same thing."
" Exactlv " said Mr. Davis : " that will be the same
/ *
thing ; " turning to me, " I'll draw the bill, which you
can accept in the name of the Company, and I can
190 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
send in the sum in my monthly account, so that it will
be paid before the bill conies due. That will be the
easiest way."
"Of course/' said I, "that will be the easiest way."
In fact, nothing could be easier ; for it did not take
me a minute to write my name across the bill, and
the thing was done. I said, as Warde the tragedian
used to say, when giving a bill in exchange for a cool
hundred, borrowed at sixty per cent., "Thank God,
that's paid." It was the easiest thing in the world.
Davis sent in his monthly account to the board,
as promised, but the unpleasant moment had arrived
when payments were not so prompt as usual, and a
most irregular and unprecedented thing happened
the bill was presented and dishonoured. I have known
this happen more than once since, but at that time I
had never conceived such an event possible. What
was still more remarkable was that proceedings were
taken against me, and that, in order to prevent further
mischief, my father had to pay the fifty pounds.
There and then I solemnly vowed that " never
again," under any circumstances, would I be tempted to
put my name to a bill. "Never again ! " How often is
that phrase used and abused by everybody, and I proved
no exception to the rule, for, later on, I broke through
my determination I may say even several times.
The following short correspondence will show the
sort of way in which my friend John Wilks transacted
vi.] IX WALES, 1824-182G. 191
business. Without previous intimation of any kind I
received from him this cool letter :
JOHN WILKS TO CHARLES J. MATIIEWS.
" 36, New Broad Street, Dec. 17, 1825.
" DEAR SIB,
" You are elected one of the surveyors of the
-ZEgis Fire and Dilapidation and English and Cambrian
Life Insurance Company, at a salary of 100 per annum,
besides travelling expenses ; and I beg you will pay to
me, at the temporary offices of this Company, 36, New
Broad Street, 50 on account of the shares you must
hold as a qualification.
" I remain, dear Sir,
"Your very obedient humble Servant,
" JOHN WILKS, Jun., Secretary."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO JOHN WILKS, JUN.
"Douglas Hotel, Edinburgh, Dec. 21, 1825.
" DEAR SIR,
" I cannot but be proud of the great honour
conferred upon me by the appointment you have been
kind enough to announce to me of surveyor to the
JEtgis Insurance Company, or insensible of the obligation
which I have no doubt you have placed me under to
you for the recommendation. The conditions attached
to it are, I confess, rather alarming, in the present state
192 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
of affairs in London ; and the prejudice existing against
all stock companies naturally makes me desirous to
have a complete understanding as to my responsibility
respecting the shares you say I must necessarily purchase
as my qualification. At all events I cannot comply with
your request until I have consulted with my father.
I shall see him by the time 1 can be favoured with
your answer. I know he has considerable uneasiness
about the shares he holds in the Welsh Iron and Coal
Company, which I have heard him say he thought one
of the best. He has been advised to forfeit those he
purchased in the Distillery, rather than pay further
deposits.
"Excuse me for saying that your letter is not
explicit upon the subject of the ^Egis, of which I
have never even heard. Pray inform me how many
shares I am compelled to purchase as my qualifica-
tion, and the extent of the sum I must lay out, and
for which I must be responsible.
" Dear Sir,
" Your obedient Servant,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
JOHX TVILKS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
"36, E"ew Broad Street, Dec. 28, 1825.
" DEAR SIR,
" I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter,
and to say, that in proposing you as surveyor of the
vi.] IN WALES, 1824-1826. 193
is Insurance Company I did it with a view to serving
you as a young man just starting in your profession,
and to whom I considered a situation of such importance
would have been acceptable ; but as that appears not to
be the case, I shall feel myself at liberty to dispose of
the appointment elsewhere, unless I receive a letter from
you by a very early post, saying that you are willing to
accept the situation on the terms mentioned in my
former letter.
" I remain, dear Sir,
" Yours very truly,
" JOHN WILKS, Jun."
Disgusted and mortified at the lame and impotent
conclusion of my great Welsh experience, I joyfully
abdicated my command at the conclusion of my contract,
and fell into the ranks again. The fact is, I had not
satisfied myself in any way. I felt that I had not the
requisite knowledge to undertake much beyond what I
was then doing, and what I was then doing was any-
thing but what my youthful fancy had pictured. Work-
men's cottages and village ale-houses were not congenial
to a mind filled with Italian images, and panting with
desire to execute works of Palladian grandeur ; and the
feeling that, should the opportunity arise, I was unequal
to cope with the practical machinery and intricate
calculations of estimates and specifications became so
alarmingly strong, that I determined to study hard for a
VOL. I. Q
194 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP. vi.
couple of years (as had originally been proposed before
my trip to Italy) with Mr. Nash, who, as the popular
architect of the day and the old friend of my father, was
the very person to forward my views ; and I took the
long-proffered stool at a desk in his office as meekly as
though 1 had not so lately been at the head of my two
hundred workmen, with the dignity of commander-in-
chief.
CHAPTER VII.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826.
CHARLES JIATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
"London, Saturday, April, 1825.
"MY DEAREST CHARLES,
" I write this from Mr. Nash's, in the gallery.
I have been so nicely had, for your sake. I wrote
him a note yesterday to beg he would see me for five
minutes to-day, and begged he would appoint his own
hour. What think ye ? what hour would you guess ?
Ten this morning to breakfast ! Well, I prepared for
this event like the king for his coronation, who moved
from Carlton House to the Speaker's. I moved to
Broderip's. I laid all my plans, bribed the servants to
watch me as I lay asleep, to see me out of bed, &c.,
and I actually arrived in Regent Street at the hour
appointed. Brown and t'other friend of yours break-
fasted. I found Nash more friendly than ever, if
possible. He assured me that he would do as much for
you as if you were his own son. In short, nothing
could be more flattering or agreeable. We, of course,
chatted upon the monument business. He intends to
o 2
196 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
erect a temple of the Doric order in one of the squares
as he terms them either at the top of his street, near
Piccadilly, or on the site of Carlton House. He as
nearly as could be proposed that your name should be
attached to this, to put you on and make you known,
and thinks you cannot begin too soon to draw your
plans for it. Is not this great ? I say glorious ! I
have been waiting here half an hour by second appoint-
ment to go with him to Mr. Arbuthnot, who has the
management of this sort of affairs ; I expect him every
moment, therefore shall be obliged to break off abruptly,
but thought you would be pleased to hear that I had
executed your commission, and with so much satis-
faction. I begin to be very impatient for your arrival.
I must think that they are acting very unjustly in
detaining you so long at the caprice of this London
surveyor. I think you should expostulate and point
out to them that your time is as valuable to you as the
' learned Theban's.' Pray exert your energies. We
are quite satisfied with your explanation, and your
feelings of ' duty,' &c., and are quite convinced that
your desire to come home is as strong as our wish to see
you, but yet your good-nature may be imposed on, and
I think it is. ...
" Your mother's love, and all that is kind from
" Yours ever affectionately,
" C. MATHEWS."
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 197
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MISS HOME PURVES.
" Bourn, N. Wales, Thursday, April 7, 1825.
" MY DEAR LLEWYZRE,
" Having at last some comparatively leisure time,
I fly on the wings of a goose to have the pleasure of
conversing with you on paper, tho' I am sorry in this
instance to have all the talk to myself. I sit down for
the purpose with some Welch mutton in one hand and a
"Welch rabbit in the other ; with a Welch pony staring
at me through the door and a goat through the window,
a Welch harp in the corner, St. David on the wall, a
Welch wig on my head, and a leek in my mouth. Thus
equipped, I cannot well fail of doing justice to my
subject. I shall not, however, write this letter in Welch,
because I am not quite sure of the spelling, otherwise,
with the exception of the pronunciation and reading,
I can get on pretty well, only I can't make out a word
they say to me, because they speak it so fast. Mr. Gray
is not so forward as I am, and can't yet pronounce
Llwrzstlythlrn. It is very difficult. I have already
loosened many of my teeth, and greatly checked the
growth of my hair, by the exertion. But, however,
' Nil desperandum,' as your favourite Chaucer says.
"The scene of my business lies in the mines and
collieries of Coed Talwn, which are exceedingly inte-
resting. Here are hundreds of men, as Eichmond says,
198 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
'advanced into the bowels of the land/ and working
great holes in all directions. If I were the earth I should
think it a great lore to have fellows continually digging
in my bowels. First of all, I must inform you that tho'
many people have seen pigs killed I have seen them made !
Aye, pigs of lead too, and what is still more strange, the
instant they are made they begin to run ! ! ! There are
some pigs of iron too, but none of them have curly tails.
There are plenty of engines at work always in the mines,
but they are quite different to those in London, for there
they are employed to put out fires, while here they are
used to make them. They are worked by steam,
on which account the workmen are continually in hot
water, otherwise, they are cheerful enough and always
singing of course in the minor key which astonishes
me, for I always thought there w T as scarcely anything
but blubber in Wales. The nearest town is Mold
Ironmould of course and so you see altho' not yet dead,
I have been underground and in Mold. Here, magis-
trates are appointed over the men, they are ordered to
study nothing but Blackstone and Coke, and what is
singular they never punish men for forging.
"We talk of getting up some plays here, and perhaps
the arrangements I have made may interest you. As the
object of the theatre will be to give employment to the
mines, I propose that no article shall be received that
does not come from thence. Thus we shall have a steel
curtain, which will be handsomer than glass. The
vii.] CORKESPOXDEXCE, 1 825-1 82G. 199
landscapes are to be of cast-iron, skies of slate, clouds
of coal, a freestone moon, and leaden wings. Actors in
the same manner and material. Thus our generals are
to be brass ; dandies, pewter ; lovers, fuel ; ladies, silver ;
landlords, gilt ; nabobs, japanned ; old women, pinch-
back ; authors, steel ; harlequins, quicksilver ; leaden
preachers, a copper captain, plated lawyers, and iron old
men. So that our generals are always running ; our
captains hot ; dandies cold ; lovers all on fire, and ladies
melting; landlords made to take in; nabobs coloured and
lined; old women back-biters; authors dull blades, neither
polished nor keen; harlequins with "the winged feet of
Mercury." Preachers formed from pig bores ; lawyers
subtle, and old men their clients, cast. The actors, you
see, are all men of metal, tho' from the rehearsal they
seem but poor. They hammer out the hard words too
much. I expected more from them I own, for I heard
that all Wales spouted amazingly. Our first pieces are
to be ' Cymbeline,' and the play is well ca^st, Posthunius
particularly. With Foote's farce of ' The Minor,' Mrs.
Cole by the clerk of the works ; followed by the
' Mayor of Garratt,' the Major by a miner. Our lamps
are gas, and music by steam, and the engines will be
played between the acts ; the miners will, of course, go
into the pit, that is if they choose to post the cole. Our
head is Gray, who is the very pink of perfection among
these black people, who think him deep read. He
appears to me to be rather green to leave town on such a
200 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
speculation, and will look blue if it should not succeed.
But he seems a lucky wight, and I hope will get plenty
of the yellow boys, nothing looking black at present but
the coals. Here he is then, abandoning the title of
Sur-geon Gray, to be a prince of sacks. Well, I hope he
will ' drive his pigs to a good market,' tho' the coal
scheme, I am sure, will all end in smoke. Everybody is
delighted at his taking the house except the peacocks,
who have been spreading sad tales about it, and the
ducks, who are determined to have nothing but quacks.
The house I propose to call Ironmongers' Hall, as its
foundation is upon iron and is therefore likely to stand
its ground. The materials must be drawn from the same
source as those of the theatre. It is to be roofed with
grey slates, and the weathercock is to be made from the
pigs I mentioned, so that we shall really have ' hog in a
high wind/ and I daresay the wind will always be
' sow-west by sow.' The dogs are to be warmed with
kennel coal ; the sleeping-rooms will be capital, as he
has plenty of beds of iron and sheets of tin. His clothes
will be ironed for nothing, but must be taken not to
steal them. His visitors are all to be select, and orders
are given that no calves or asses shall be taken into
Gray's. But I have room for no more nonsense, and I
fear I have quite tired you out, so God bless you, and
good-night. My very best love to all the dears and
pets, and pigs and ducks, and kits and chicks. I fear no
Italian and I now would be very much obliged to
vii.] COKRESPOKDEXCE, 1 825-1 82G. 201
you, if you would do me the favour to gratify me so far
as to believe me,
" Your most affectionate, true, and everlasting
"C. J. MATHEWS.
"P.S. This Bourn is not 'the bourn from which no
traveller returns/ as I hope to be home on Sunday at
the latest. ..."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, June 5th, 1825.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" Brother Right Worshipful Master Gray is
certainly gone mad. His doings since his arrival in
this place would establish his lunacy in any court in
Christendom. I must, as well as I can, give you some
account of the various little acts which constitute my
charge, and then leave you to judge for yourself, though
I fear they are so exceedingly numerous that I shall not
be able to recollect half the little touches which give the
great character to the whole.
" First of all, he has, like Lenitive, ' hung his hat
and wig upon a peg ' (without casting any reflection on
his successor), and is determined to enjoy his ' otium cum
dig-my-tatoes ' among the rural mines and collieries of
North Wales, sinking into the gentle country gentleman,
interesting himself in all the little ways of his tenants,
providing wives for the husbandmen, rakes for the
202 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
wives, stocking the girls with hoes, and teaching the
boys to sow, in short entering thoroughly into all
the concerns of their domestic economy. It is neces-
sary, imprimis, that I should just give a sketch of the
comforts of the house he is come to live in. I have
just demolished the whole of the offices, and have left
only five rooms altogether standing, two of which are
barely habitable, having no glass in the windows and no
etceteras whatever, and the other three, bare and not
habitable at all, consisting merely of walls and apertures
where the windows will, in process of time, be placed.
Into this skeleton of a house, containing literally but
two really liveable rooms, does he remove himself, his
little son, his coachman, groom, butler, and livery boy,
his cook, coachman's wife, and housemaid, nine 'precious
souls and all agog/ bringing with them two carriage
horses and two dogs, without any convenience of any
kind to lodge them in. As soon as he arrives he goes to
Chester, and returns with two cows and a calf, two
grown porkers, a sow and ten little ones, making as you
may suppose a precious litter. These are to have houses
built for them immediately; C. J. M. architect to the
colony. I thought him rather premature in this addition
to his family (I don't allude to the pigs), when next day
he arrives from Wrexham with fourteen chickens, twelve
ducks and a drake, sixteen pigeons, and a cat ; said
live-stock to be also well housed; said C. J. M. architect.
With these a proportionable quantity of hay for the
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 203
cows, corn for the horses, paunches for the dogs, bran
for the pigs, chalk to whiten the calves, barley for the
chicks and ducks, peas for the pigeons, and meat for the
Christians. Where they were stowed I know not, but
there they are (I am sorry to say), all alive and thriving.
Next day our provident Brother buys a young hunter
from his friend Mr. Roper, and returns from Mold, with
a horse and cart, a churn, divers and sundry pots and
pans, a spit, ten fishing-rods, and a double-barrelled gun,
hiring a dairymaid (without any character) by the way,
and wishes a cart-shed to be erected by the next morning,
and lodging arranged for said dairymaid C. J. M.
architect in the capacious family-residence, which like
the lodging-houses, is ' unfurnished with every other con-
venience.' But I really cannot do justice to his pur-
chases, they are too numerous to be lodged in the
storehouse of any one person's memory. So I must
turn to matters of equal importance. The first novelty
is the arrival of Mr. Smith, his secretary, on a visit, and
the intelligence by letter from his sister, that she is
charmed at his invitation, and will certainly not delay
more than a month in availing herself of his kindness,
and will bring with her his little girl to spend the
summer months, who is to be christened here in July.
.Three to begin. To-morrow he goes to Liverpool to meet
Mrs. Kershaw and Mrs. Wilks, who are come from
London expressly to see Coed Talwn Park, making five.
A letter this morning expresses the acquiescence of
204 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Messrs. Wilks, Kershaw, Barrett, and Peter Moore, to
join his fishing party on the 8th = nine. A note from
Mr. Eussell, member for Newcastle, who is somewhere
in the neighbourhood for a few days, and will just run
over = ten. Potter Macquean, another member, can only
(unluckily) spare a few days = eleven ; and to crown all,
the chances are in favour of a ' run down ' from Verbeke,
closing with glory this imperial dozen of surprised
worthies, who no doubt expect every comfort and
delicacy of the season in the ' new house ' of the Right
Worshipful Master of the Royal Inverness Lodge. Now
for his more serious occupations. First, he has just
received his ' dedimus/ which means he is made a magis-
trate of the county ! he has the command of a troop in
the Flintshire militia, is in treaty for a pack of hounds
and capacious farm ; is about to establish a Masonic
lodge in Mold, and to-day offered to bet that in less than
two years he should hold his seat in Parliament ! To
w y ind up all, and though last not least, he is (by his own
delighted confession) director of twenty-two companies,
surgeon to four or five ; resident director (with three
hundred shares) to the Welsh Iron and Coal, and share-
holder to the amount of nine thousand pounds in every
company in London ! ! ! and thus is the old saying
rendered quite impossible, for I defy anyone to 'judge
of such a man by his company.'
"Now I have completed all I can for the present
recollect of this multifarious man, who must be in two
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 205
places at once ' like a bird/ to attend to all his affairs,
and having got through this sheet, will get between two
others, the clock just striking midnight, and it being
high time all sober architects to Welsh companies should
be in bed, and so bon soir, bona sera, nose clauogh, and
good-night.
" Your ever impudent Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Saturday Night, Mold.
DEAR MOTHER,
" I had written you a song after dinner, but there
want two or three verses to complete it, describing my ad-
ventures since Wednesday night; and, as the post is about
to go out, I must send it you another time. I shall merely
say now that after sleeping on a bench at the George and
Blue Boar, I found Gray in the morning too sleepy to
start, for which reason (for I believe that to have been
the only one) he feigned business in the city until three
o'clock ; so I went to bed and snoozed very comfortably
till twelve. At three we started, and after travelling
all night, reached this place yesterday night at ten. We
did not stop a moment at Birmingham, or I would have
written from, thence. It poured with rain the whole
way, which made it very pleasant, as we had no dust.
We stopt at twelve on Thursday night at Oxford, to
206 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
take our tea, during which time I ran to Christchurch
and wrote these lines to John Fawcett :
FROM AN ACTIVE ARCHITECT TO A PASSIVE
STUDENT.
Starting from town at half-past three,
Stopping at Oxford to take tea,
My time I use in seeking you ;
So how d'ye do 1
But our four horses being to,
I quit tea, buttered toast, and you ;
For I must now to Chester fly,
And so good-bye.
" We had very pleasant companions all the way, one
of whom I smoked. ' Have you been to the exhibition ? '
said I. 'I have,' said he. ' A very good one/ said I.
'It is,' said he. ' Pray,' said I, ' did you ever by any
accident see a picture of Cooke, in " Shylock " ? ' 'I
have/ said he. ' Then I have you, by Jove/ said I ; 'you are
Mr. Phillips, the Academician.' ' I am/ said he. This
was odd, was it not ? I had never seen him before, but
I was sure he was an artist, by his asking at every stage
' if there was time to take a dish of tea ? ' and by seeing
T. P. and an exhibition catalogue in his hat.
" I have no more to say, and if I had I couldn't say
it, for I have not time. So here I am,
" Your dutiful Son to command,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
VIL] COEKESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 207
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Poutblyddyn, June llth, 1825.
" MY DEAR MOTHER,
" I received your letter from Gower Street with
the greatest pleasure, and now, having no time, will send
you the short song you ask me for. The reason why
I did not send it at the time was, that I really hardly
thought it worth the trouble.
" The ivhole party mentioned in my letter about
Gray, are all arrived, and finding the beds, fishing,
shooting, driving, &c., impracticable, have, set off to
Caermarthen on a trip, and taken their host with them.
His letter inviting you down arriving at the same time
as mine, was the finest thing that could happen in
confirmation of my statement.
" With love to Papa, and best regards to Hook and
B., I am,
" Yours ' in the natural bonds of affection/
"C. J. MATHEWS,
"A.T.T.W.I.A.C.M.C., &c. &c. &c."
A NEW CANZONET.
TUNE " Here we go \ip."
Dear mother, don't kick up a row,
For my not doing what I was told ;
But I'll not write from Birmingham now,
And why 1 why because I'm at Mold.
You'll stare I daresay when you knows
"What kept me in London so long,
208 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
And as I'm not given to prose,
I'll just turn it into a song.
Mr. Smith, as you know well enough,
"Was to take me to Holhorn to sup ;
But he wanted at nine to pack off,
Before I had time to pack up.
In his coach I'd a mind to make one,
Had he not wished so early to go ;
But he said he was anxious to run,
Because he'd the gout in his toe.
Says Hook, " let him follow his whim
While we stop and finish our tea,
You can leave Austin Friars to him,
And come to Blackfriars with me."
Says I, " "Well, I don't see the harm
Of posting to London with you ; "
So Hook and I went arm in arm, .
As hook and eye always should do.
Arrived at the George and Blue Boar,
"We kicked up a deuce of a din ;
A man peeped through the chink of the door,
But he swore he would not let us in.
Says I, " I'm come here for a snore."
Says he, " That I fear you can't do."
Says I, " Sure enough it's a bore,
But, by George, it was I that looked blue."
Said I, " I've a good mind to curse
But no, 'twill be better I think
At the fellow to jingle my purse,
And bring him again to the chink."
The purse I had not long to hold,
Says I, " The job's done, Mr. Hook,
He's a lad that'll look to the gold,
I can see by the guilt on his look."
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 209
" You shall quickly be George and Blue Boar'd,"
Says lie, " if you'll sleep as you are,
For you'll find that there's both bed and board,
If you'll sleep on a bench in the bar."
" Mr. Hook, then no more with these fools
Will I prate in this horrible drench ;
If you find nothing hard in the rules,
I shall find nothing hard in the bench."
In the morning I rapped at Gray's door,
At six as I promised to do.
" Gaffer Gray," said I, " why do you snore ?
And why does your nose look so blue 1 "
Said he, " Don't disturb me till nine,
As I don't think of starting to-day,
For the morn which I hoped would be fine
Like myself, has turned out Iron Grey."
It was settled to set off at three,
But we stopt on some beef to regale,
And at four I and good brother Gray
Set off in our habits of mail.
The fault you see wasn't with me,
And now I am come to a stand,
So with love to my honoured P.,
Believe me your son to command.
[These lines, in common with many others written by
Mathews at about this period, are in the style of the
Theodore Hook impromptus, which were so popular fifty
years ago. As a specimen of Mathews's talents as a
versifier later in life the following jeu d' esprit may
be given. It was published in " Routledge's Annual "
for 1867, and is reproduced here by permission of
Messrs. Koutledge & Sons.]
VOL. I. P
210 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
THE MAD ARITHMETICIAN.
I'm a mad arithmetician, and I live in Bedlam College,
And I'm death on calculation and experimental knowledge.
I've measured all the universe and summed up all creation,
And to benefit the world I now impart my information.
I've sounded with a plumb-bob ev'ry brood of little chickens,
And I've taken with a quadrant all the serials by Dickens ;
And, dividing by the census of the parish overseer,
I find the product just amounts to twenty pounds a year.
I've counted on my fingers all the little twinkling stars,
And I've potted down the comets and their tails in earthen jars ;
And subtracting thence the earthquakes which infest the Milky Way,
I find that their subscriptions all come due on quarter day.
I can tell how many singing birds can perch upon a tree,
Multiplying by the shipwrecks which occur each year at sea.
I can calculate the distance, by consulting with the moon,
From the lamp at Hyde Park Corner to the twenty-first of June.
I can tell the way Earl Eichmond pierced the bowels of the land,
By observing Dent's chronometer that's stuck up in the Strand.
I have measured with a five-foot rod, the Muses and the Graces,
And I've reckoned up the period between Eome and Epsom races.
I can tell by my thermometer the proper hour to rise ;
With my telescope, from Putney Bridge, I've seen the Bridge of Sighs.
By Dollond's best barometer, from error quite exempt,
I find newspaper strictures three degrees below contempt.
By using my theodolite I've levelled accusations
Against Meyerbeer's " Prophete," and against Cicero's " Orations."
I've dissected, with my microscope, the bones of Thomas Paine,
And I've galvanised with chloroform the late Sir Eichard Mayne.
I brought up with a stomach-pump two thousand puns of Byron's,
And I baked them in an oven for the use of Dr. Irons ;
And I melted in a crucible the works of Bulwer Lytton,
And they made a batter pudding for the Prince of Wales to sit on.
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 211
The light the sun gives ev'ry day's as light as any feather,
And the Tower guns are heavier than the heaviest of weather.
The "broadest joke is not so broad as any railway gauge,
One blade of grass is twice as green as any green old age.
A pint of beer I find's as long as half a pound of tea,
And giant Chang's as high as High Church principles can be.
A flash of lightning wears as well as twenty kegs of whiskey,
And Threadneedle Street exceeds in width a storm in the Bay of Biscay.
A penny ball of string's as bad as two attacks of measles,
And a quart of turtle soup costs more than ten Sir Peter Teazles.
A shower of rain's more numerous than twenty Leicester Squares,
Nine Welsh wigs ain't as musical as two Italian hairs.
Take half-a-dozen babies and divide them with your knife,
Throw in a niece, two uncles, carry one and add your wife ;
Then stir them well together let them simmer by the fire
And the dividend's as pleasing as a parent can desire.
One day while looking through my bars and gazing at the sky,
It struck me that a sermon must be heavier than a fly ;
So I caught a country clergyman and furnished him with wings,
And he buzzed as well as any fly and eat as many things.
I hauled up in my fishing-net a great railway contractor,
And I hung him on a gibbet with another malefactor ;
I then extracted all their steam exhausting their receivers
And I brought them back to reason by the aid of two retrievers.
I seized a pair of callipers and nipped a politician,
And I sweated him in blankets till I got him in condition ;
Then I rode him for the Derby, in my boots and leather breeches,
And the people said they liked his running better than his speeches.
There's nothing I can't do, within the province of humanity ;
I can sit out Phelps's " Manfred " not that that's a proof of sanity.
I quite believe in spirits though it does seem hard to me,
That I'm still confined in Bedlam, while the Davenports go free.
p 2
212 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Now tell me, you sane people, am I not a " Tree of Knowledge ? "
Don't I well deserve the epithet of " Pride of Bedlam College ! "
To teach mixed mathematics there, but grant me your commission,
And you'll thus repay the labours of the " Mad Arithmetician."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, Saturday Mght, 1825.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" I am just returned from a week's sojourn at
Flint, where I have becii viewing some slate quarries
and acting the man of business, and only now, on my
return, receive your letter of July 26th, together with a
packet of newspapers that will take me a fortnight to
read, a letter from Louisa, and one from Mr. Phipps. I
am very much annoyed at not being able to write to my
father in time, but you must let me know again when
he is stationary anywhere, that I may surprise him with
a line or two. Your reproach about writing is unkind,
for you know how completely my time is occupied the
whole of the week, and how difficult it is for me to get
any leisure even on Sundays, as those days are unluckily
the only ones which we can devote to examining the
accounts, surveying the buildings, arranging, &c. You
can have no idea of the really hard work that it is, and
of the number of things there are to think of for the dif-
ferent works. To-morrow fortnight I hope to put the
roof on my house, and have to-night twenty cottages
ready. Everything is going on quite right, and Mr.
Gray is away; so far, I have nothing to complain of.'
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 213
You ought not to scold me in any part of your letters,
because the space would be so much more agreeably
filled up with ' innocent prattle/ to amuse an exile in
his solitude. I am living in a region of matter-of-
fact, where a joke was never heard, and a pun is punish-
able by the laws. Pray bestow your charity. . You must
recollect, too, that all the little fun which floats occa-
sionally on the surface of my fancy must all be carefully
skimmed to pop into dear Louisa's letter, who would
not be content, like you, with ' interesting nothings/
relating to myself. It is necessary to keep her in good
humour and bear the postage cheerfully, by any little
nonsense which may hit me at the time; but you I am
sure of. I know that a dull letter will not make you
love me the less, and therefore I, perhaps ungenerously,
bestow all my tediousness upon you. Well, I will
promise to be a little more sociable for the future, if you
will, in return, give me a little more of yourself in your
letters. I have seen such amusing epistles of yours
upon all sorts of subjects nay, upon no subject at all
to all sorts of people, and yet I verily believe out of the
whole mass of your correspondence, while abroad and
here, I could not find a single 'bonne inotte or rapparty'
worth recording in history. So you see if you attack me
I shall turn upon you ; so you had better shake hands
and begin again. ' Blow me up and bully me ' about
the matter of my letters, and I may perhaps mend ; but
as to a greater frequency of writing, I really do say it
214 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
is impossible for an architect of eminence and great
practice, such as he of the Welsh Mining Company, to
write more than once a week upon unscientific subjects.
" I have been all the week in the most ckssical and
poetical mood that you can fancy, but am obliged to
return to a few dull realities now, which, though highly
unpoetical, and sudden death to the Muses, are, never-
theless, very well in their way. My CORDUROYS, then,
have more upon their hands than they can well perform,
and request an extra pair may be immediately sent from
Mr. Thingammy, opposite Exeter Change, and, as I am
quite done on both sides, let all my summer clothing
of every kind be sent with them, nicely packed with a
pair of boots and a pair of braces, and my black evening
trousers. Also, let David buy me some Punk from
any tobacconist, which is a kind of substance like
leather, for lighting the pipe, unknown in these savage
parts.
" Believe me, my dearest mother, though I do write
only once a week,
" Your truly affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Pontblyddyn, August 13, 1825.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" I sit down positively in a gale of wind that
almost rocks the old house like a pendulum. You have
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 215
no idea of the tremendous weather we have had for the
last week a series of most dreadful 'harricoes/ that
have done all kinds of mischief, and, in spite of the
vigilance of the police, the offenders have not yet been
taken into custody. Trees have been cleft in twain,
' chimblay pots ' thrown down, corn beat into the earth,
and, as luck would have it, the foundations for my
bridge just commenced. We have all been in a pretty
pickle, but, happily, everything is preserved. I have
had sad work with my bridge on account of the impos-
sibility of arriving at a solid bottom to build on. I
have been obliged to build upon piles, which is a great
extra expense, but is a most secure method ; so that
now I believe I am quite out of danger, and no longer
fear the fury of the contending elements.
" I have received a most characteristic letter from
Gaffer Gray, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, saying that he
shall be home on Tuesday next, and ' shall be accom-
panied by three or four ladies, and wishes to know how
many rooms will be ready to receive them. Tell me/
he proceeds, ' how all goes on, and whether the drawing-
room is ready to paper, as I have engaged a man for the
purpose next week.' Again: ' On Wednesday the billiard
table will arrive from London, with a man to put it up,
so I hope you will be quite prepared for it.' To show
you how amusing this is, it is only necessary for me to
add that there is yet no roof at all on the house. He
concludes : ' Tell Eoper I have bought a brood mare,
216 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
such a beauty ! ! ! and above all have the four rooms
ready.' Four ladies and a brood mare ! Verily our
cousin of Newcastle-upon-Tyne hath gone mad. We are
doing wonders here and astonishing the natives with
our celerity. I find that the busybodies in the neigh-
bourhood have given a year and a half for the comple-
tion of all our undertakings, and will, no doubt, be much
surprised at seeing them approaching to a close in
November. Early in September I hope to spend a week
with you at home, and I assure you I heartily long to
see you all once more. I have not written to my father
yet, but if you can say where he will be at the end of
next week, and will inform me whether Jonathan praises
or abuses England, I hope to send him a song of some
kind, though really the subject is dreadfully worked
upon. Is anything thought of for next year ? I should
much like to know what the subject is. ...
"With best love to my father, believe me, my
dearest mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
" C. J. MATHEWS."
CHABLES J. MATHEWS TO MISS HOME PURVES.
" Pontblyddyn, August Uth, 1825.
"MY DEAR LOUISE,
" How do you do ? Are you better ? Have you
got a house ? Will you write to me ? When do you go
out of town ? Is it to Tonbridge Wells ? Is Lord
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-182G. 217
Blcssington gone to Ireland ? Shall you write to me ?
What news of Mr. Stewart ? How is your mamma ?
When did you hear from America ? Won't you write
to me ? How does the Italian go on ? Do you continue
drawing ? Have you played my overture lately ?
Shan't you write to me ? How is Mrs. Baker ? Is
Lord Auckland returned ? Is Johnny gone to Eton ?
Can you write to me ? Have you heard from Italy ?
What was the meeting between Lord B. and Tiny ?
Have you been to Kentish Town ? Couldn't you write
to me ? How is the Speaker ? How did Lord B. like
Hook ? What did the Duke of Sussex say and do ?
Have you been to the play ? Mightn't you write to
me ? Is Mary quite well ? How are her birds ? Are
the parrots alive ? Does your godson thrive ? Oughtn't
you to write to me ? Do you begin to be hearty and
' charming well again ' ? Do you eat voraciously ? Do
you drink like a fish ? Do you sleep like a top ? Mayn't
you write to me ? What sort of weather have you ?
Have you seen B. lately ? Would you write to me ?
Did you dine at P.'s ? Have you been to Vauxhall ?
How is Maraschino ? WILL you write to me, and soon ?
Oh pray, dear young lady, write, ivright, right, rite ; do,
doo, dou ; pray, pra, prey doo.
In learning I'll soon be as good as niy betters,
I'm such a good boy that I long for my letters
My moods and my cases are soon understood,
For when in good case, I am then in good mood.
218 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
But my word's not worth Laving and no one will take it
Unless I have plenty of letters to make it.
Some conjuror's spell is now all that is wanted
To force you to write, then should I be enchanted,
You know very well I'm no conjuror, am 1 1
So forced I shall be to apply to your mammy.
What then you will say we shall very soon see
"When you find out that my case accusative be,
Come, send me some soon, without more interceding,
From spelling I then could proceed to the reading,
But now 'tis too true and I'm ready to swear it,
Whenever I'm vocative you're always caret.
"In answer to your desire of knowing the moral
and political sentiments of Welsh miners, I can merely
give you a few general ideas, for they are very reserved,
and shy of affording such information. It appears to
me then, from all I can gather on the subject, that they
have ever been considered a highly moral and deep-
thinking people ; firmly upholding the British laws, and
thinking that the hand of justice should be made of
iron ; showing a good example to their superiors in
preparing each day to ' kick the bucket,' and return to
their parent earth. They have been for many years
staunch supporters of the Pitt system, but since
Brougham has put it into their heads that they are as
good as their masters, they have been anxious to
establish a general level through the land, and the
Pittites seem going down very fast. Their literary
character does not stand high. Their writings in
general are short and pithy, as they seem to agree that
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 219
' brevity is the soul of wit/ and I have frequently seen
a name of fifteen syllables, to such an extent do they
carry it, expressed with ease by a couple of strokes of
the pen. A strong vein of irony runs through their
works, and though the spelling is not quite consonant
with our notions, you not unfrequently trace the keen
satire of Steele, occasionally interspersed with the lively
shafts of Coleman. If I can obtain any of their light
works I will send you a specimen, but in the meantime
I feel myself obliged (in desiring my best love to your
mamma, Mary and Pettings) to subscribe myself with
all due respect to your serene highness,
" Your ever truly affectionate
" CHARLES JAMES MATHEWS, A.W.M.C."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Pontblyddyn, August 21, 1825.
''My DEAR MOTHER,
" Viva, Viva ! ha, ha, ha ! All's right and
tight every way. But prudence, Mr. Thomas ; let me
begin regularly. I have received your three letters
punctually. The first, containing Peake's sketch, I was
delighted to get, as it is full time it should be begun
upon. I like the idea, vastly, and enter into most of
his hints, though some few I don't quite comprehend. I
will, however, write to him as soon as I can, and say my
say. I have already written two of the songs ! I will
220 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
send them to him first. Jonathan's song I have not yet
touched, but will send something or other for it to
Birmingham. On Thursday, at twelve o'clock, I received
the following : ' Oxford, Monday. Dear C. Mathews.
On account of the weather we gave up Bristol, and the
vessel does not touch at Swansea, which I mentioned to
your mother. We sleep to-night at Warwick, to-morrow
at Birmingham, and the next night at Llangollen, I
suppose. I don't know where Mold is, but I should be
glad to have a sight of you. Yours very sincerely, B.'
At the moment I received this he had of course started
from Llangollen ; but as I had long meditated a trip to
Bangor ferry, to see the new chain bridge, I thought
this an excellent opportunity, and by going there from
Mold, I should arrive before him. I instantly ordered
my horse and trotted off to St. Asaph, a very pretty
little place. I hadn't time to call on the Bishop, but
proceeded without delay to Conway, saw the castle,
en passant, beautiful scenery, mountains, &c., and
arrived at eight o'clock at Bangor, fifty-three miles, and
never in my life did I see so magnificent a thing as the
bridge. It is well worth a journey from London. His
lordship had passed two hours before, and as I was
within twenty-five miles of Holyhead, I determined to
leave my horse comfortable for the night, and proceed
there ; but owing to delays of all kinds, I did not arrive
till two in the morning. ' Is Lord B. here ? ' ' Yes,
sir.' ' That's all right,' said I. ' What time is he to be
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 221
called in the morning ? ' 'At four, sir.' After two
hours' sleep I got up, and asking for the room where he
was to breakfast, I entered, and found him asleep
in his cloak on the sofa. I thought I would astonish
him out of his sleep, and began : { Early one morn a
jolly brisk tar,' his favourite song. After getting through
a verse, he rose, and to my horror I discovered a
perfect stranger ! I instantly recollected that Comte
D'Orsay and his aide-de-camp were with him, and in
great confusion began: 'Pardon, monsieur, j'ai croye
CJUG c'etait milord, mille pardons, &c.' 'Ah,' said the
stranger yawning, ' I was sure you were a Frenchman,
sir, by your gaiety.' 'Mille pardons,' said I, and left the
room in the character of a Mounseer Malbrook. I then
went to Lord B.'s bedroom and knocked. ' Who's
there ? ' f Early one morn a jolly brisk tar.' ' By Jove,
it's Mathews,' said his lordship, who was delighted to
see me. I was introduced to Count D'Orsay"" and Mr.
Leon de Chimais and Charles Gardiner, breakfasted, and
saw them off in the steam-packet. At seven I started
again, but on arriving at Conway (in a pouring rain),
my horse would not cross the ferry, and I was obliged to
go ten miles round, and sleep at a little wretched Welch
ale-house at Machdra. Here, after rubbing down my
horse, myself, and bedding him up for the night, I
exchanged Stulz for the suit of the Methodist landlord.
Black coat with waist at my heels, flapped waistcoat and
* This was the elder Count D'Orsay.
222 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
knee breeches a most capital disguise. Upon asking
the girl if they had any books, she said : l Oh yes, sir,'
and with the greatest coolness brought me in a full-
grown Bible, and a ' Discourse on the Great Law of Con-
sideration.' To-day a letter has arrived from Mr. Barrett,
M.P., and one of the Mining Company, who, in con-
sequence of his satisfaction at what I am doing for
Mr. Gray, ' requests my opinion/ and desires me to
make him the plans for a house he means to build
directly in Yorkshire. So you see, as I said, one thing-
leads to another, actual business is better than the
honours of looking at a palace. Depend upon it, while
I have business of a good kind, and can establish a
reputation for myself, it would be leaving the substance
for the shadow to give it up, and building on a false
foundation. Had I no position of my own, Mr. Nash's
office would be highly valuable ; but refer to any architect
you please, Mr. Nash himself if you will, and they will
all confirm what I say. Mr. Nash, in short, himself
particularly said to me : ' As long as you have business
of your own, don't think of coming to me.' I shall lose
no time in getting the plans ready, and shall do all I can
to gain the approbation attendant upon planning designs.
I have received dear Louisa's letter.
" My dear Mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
"0. J. MATHEWS."
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 223
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"Pontblyddyn, Aug. 22, 1825.
"MY DEAR FATHER,
" I had intended to liave written you a long
letter to-day, but you must accept the will for the deed,
for I am so hurried now, as usual, that I shall not have
time. I shall, however, be home for a week or so
very soon after you are, that is, in the first or second
week in September. I send you the song you asked
of me, but I fear you will not find it what you expect.
I have not pleased myself, as the subject is so worn.
You may perhaps find one or two verses that will do,
and the number of them will shew that my ill success
has not been from want of will, but from a thick head,
with which I shall always remain,
" Your affectionate Son,
" C. J. MATHEWS.
" P.S. My only comfort is that the verses you sent
me are certainly worse.
JONATHAN'S SONG.
Dear uncle, I'm this poetry to you I guess inditing,
To let you know what London be at this here present writing.
The men are not so brave as we, the women are much bolder,
The city's much the same as ours but uglier and older.
224 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Cast iron, gas, and steam engines are too damned much the fashion,
Which puts the oil and watermen in a tarnation passion ;
They've found how to consume the smoke which chimneys once gave
vent to,
For as they never smoke themselves, their chimneys they'd prevent too.
They now no more "by retail wash with soapsuds and old women,
But steam the clothes in wholesale boilers big enough to swim in ;
And when I hear their dandy vans come rolling on behind me,
I think of home, so strongly they of Washing-tun remind me.
For ev'rything is done by steam in ev'ry situation
They cook their victuals, drive their gigs, and rule their navigation ;
The steamboats though, compared to ours, are most uncommon failures,
"While sailors all blow up the steam, the steam blows up the sailors.
London Bridge is taken down, and not before it wanted.
A proper clumsy thing it was, by ev'ryone is granted.
They brag so of their Cockney bridge and clumsy piles they've driv
for't,
But as to their fine coffer-dam a damn I wouldn't give for't.
The Lord Mayor hires a large glass coach, the aldermen come after,
"Who are twelve fat men in long gold chains, who serve as Butts for
laughter.
The Mansion House they sit in to condemn the trembling sinner,
And he is thought the greatest man who eats the greatest dinner.
And when at Brighton or at Deal they take their summer station,
They ven'son eat considerable to fill their corporation.
Then their rural walks they take in groves of Box and Myrtle,
And Coo and Bill all day like doves but all their doves are Turtle.
On Sundays in the Park are crowds of spry and active fellers,
And all like our Militia men with sticks and umberellers.
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 225
Both Beaux and Belles to show their shapes on prancing horses ride
Park,
For all is stare and show, in short it's any thing but Hide Park.
The river Thames is covered up with stones and bricks and mortar,
A river which compared with ours is but a pail of Avater,
New York's ad?m>able to behold, and all one's wonder rouses,
But London you can scarcely see, it's so chock full of houses.
This city's such a thriving place for pec- and speculation
That none of them can eat or drink without a calculation ;
Five times five is twenty-five, five times six is thirty,
Five times seven is thirty-five, five times eight is forty.
(Written with a crowquill dipt in blacking on a green-baize cloth.)
" Write me a line to acknowledge the receipt of this
before you leave Birmingham."
MES. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
" Mold, Nov. 9th, 1825.
" Your letter, my darling Charles, was delightful to
me, as most of your letters are. It was written in that
tone of mind that invariably conveys to me some of its
own cheerfulness. Your happiness is so essential to
mine that I can never feel independent of it. I am,
however, most anxious to be assured that you have
conquered those professional difficulties that some time
ago oppressed you, and I trust, my beloved Charles,
t
that you will take advantage of my present 'single-
mindedness ' to write every particular that you may find
pleasing and desirable to communicate. Recollect par-
ticipation is a relief to the person confiding and a
VOL. i. Q
22G LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
gratifying weight to the person selected to bear a share
of the burthen of one beloved. Have you had any
correspondence with the parties, and how near to some
conclusion is the business? Pray satisfy me, as I some-
times, when my dark hour is upon me, fear your mind
may be still anxious and uneasy.
" I dined on Monday in Berkeley Square. They are
all pretty well. The Speaker has been very ill, but came
in the evening tolerably recovered, yet I think not
sufficiently so to be from home. He inquired with
kindness after you. I delivered your message to Louisa.
Dear, dear Charles, tell me all your real feeling about
her, and I will with honesty advise and let you into the
real truth of my own. She is a sweet, lovely, lovable
girl, but I fear not stable in her attachments. Indeed,
few T girls of her age can be expected to be so, and she is
a dangerous companion, as I always felt, to a young
man of feeling and strong sensibility like yourself, whose
heart is likely to be the greatest sufferer. Heaven grant
that my excellent Charles may not be more seriously
interested than he ought in any young woman's regard,
where hers has had no trial. Indeed, my dearest Charles,
you cannot yet even place dependence upon yourself,
rational and consistent as you are beyond your years,
and God grant you prudence enough to refrain from any
serious attachment until your taste and opinions have a
more lasting quality than at present it is natural for
them to have. Early marriages invariably are more or
VIL] COEEESPOXDENCE, 1825-1826. 227
less unhappy, and seldom therefore are second marriages
so, because the parties are better disposed to make with
judgment their choice. This is- all dull, matter-of-fact
and commonplace, I own, but I must say something,
and the truth needs no better form. I am solicitous
about your happiness, my most beloved boy, and must
sometimes show it."
CHAKLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, Nov. 13, 1825.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" Not until Thursday did I receive the parcel, and
letter by the post at the same time, for the whole country
here is flooded, and I have not had communication with
Mold for some time, since when, what with snow, hail,
rain, wind, water, and business, I have not been able to
despatch a letter. The shirts, one of which I have on
at ' this present writing/ are articles in the latest fashion
and much approved. The European is indeed poor ;
even the articles you mention are of very slender merit
in my opinion. The other articles, I mean the corduroys,
are now ' such as gentle women do wear,' who are in the
habit of using such things, and answer the purpose well.
With regard to Pepys, I do not quite understand your
injunction. You say I must send him back in a week,
your letter being dated Friday, Nov. 4th. Now, as I do
not get the parcel till Thursday, 10th, the time left for
perusal is something like our book society's allowance;
Q 2
228 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
' some rainy afternoon/ which considering the extracts
you seem to hint at is rather scanty time for a large
tough quarto. I shall, therefore, take a clear week from
the time of its receipt, if I hear nothing to the contrary
from you.
" The works at Heartsheath are now measured up to
Oct. 29th, and are, as I expected, terrific. However, I
rather suspect the prices are not so low as they should
be, considering the price of labour and material in this
country, and therefore shall not be satisfied until I
engage a surveyor from Liverpool to come over and
value it for me. Notwithstanding the row that will no
doubt be made, I am not uneasy about it at least, not
so much so as I was some time back as I have no
doubt I shall be able to clear myself from half of the
blame. The point is this : when it was found necessary
to pull down double the quantity of old work that was
originally intended, someone should have written to
apprize the directors of what was intended. Now, had
I been employed by the directors personally, I should
doubtless have been the person upon whom this duty
devolved ; but as I am acting under one of these
directors who is stationary here, for the purpose of
inspecting the works and in daily correspondence with
the board in London, and this resident sanctioning the
extra work, surely it was for him to have acquainted the
rest with what had been done, and upon this point the
matter must rest. In another week, I rather think
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 229
Gray will be in London, when I hope something will
be determined. It is not impossible that, there or
thereabouts, I may also be there, as I wish to be present
at the debates. In the meantime, I shall not make
myself at all uneasy about the matter.
" I wish extremely to write to Lady Blessington, and
will see if I possibly can during the week. . . With regard
to Louisa, I can say nothing more than I have already
said. Do not for a moment think that I am unhappy or
dejected upon the subject, though it would be ridiculous
in me to say that all the love and affection that I have
so steadily borne towards her is totally extinguished
by her coldness. I cannot but be hurt at the sudden
loss of her affection, but, at the same time, nothing that
she can now ever do can obliterate the friendship which
I have ever entertained and ever shall towards her. If
we gradually sink into common acquaintances, which
seems fast approaching, I can only determine that I will
never again be guilty of anything more than common
civility to any of her sex, until the time arrives which is
very far off when by industry I may be enabled to sustain,
as I should wish, a wife chosen from among beings of
my own rank. As to Louisa, I declare upon my honour
I never indulged any other idea than that of the most
tender affection, nor did I ever think of aspiring even
in my mind to the possession of a person, whose family
would consider themselves degraded by such an asso-
ciation, or, to put it in less harsh terms, who had
230 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
formed plans of a more exalted nature for the welfare
of their darling child. Let her be as cold or unkind as
she can possibly be, it is now too late. I can never
cease to love her with fraternal affection. I conceive
her to be everything that a girl should be, and if some
portion of caprice is necessary to her nature, which I
had always endeavoured to persuade myself was merely
the prejudice of cynics, I console myself with kno wing-
that it is not her fault but my misfortune. If any
woman is allowed to be capricious, surely it must be
that one who has amiable qualities and beauty sufficient
to allow her her choice wherever she pleases. I can't
express what I mean, but you know my heart, and will
always believe me,
" Your truly affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHAELES J. MATHEWS.
"To Mold, Xov. 18, 1825.
" Your long letter was satisfactory at least I
will persuade myself so. You are a dear and excellent
being, and ought not to be trifled with by anyone, and,
to my heart and understanding, I find you equal, if not
superior, to everyone I have yet known. But we
will talk this over. I love Louisa, but it is with reserve ;
for she has more of the world about her calculations, I
fear, than I believed and is natural or desirable at her
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 231
age.'"" Everything is for the best; of this I am firmly
persuaded, arid it is not what we feel on present
occasions that can shake this belief. The future will
decide. You must expect, my dear Charles, from much
experience, frequent disappointments in respect to
certain expectations of character in those whose out-
ward seeming is fair, and as gold is itself tried only by
fire, so must our feelings and the feelings of others go
through an ordeal like that before we can separate the
dross from the most valuable substance. We are neither
good nor bad without some occasions to prove us one or
the other. No passive life can avail to make us satisfied
of merits they are not negative, but positive, and must
result from action. Louisa's mind and feelings are just
* Mrs. Mathews is not altogether just or strictly ingenuous in this
letter. Louisa Purves and Charles Mathews were undoubtedly parted
by the action of their respective mothers, Mrs. Purves looking for a
better match than Charles, and Mrs. Mathews being greatly opposed
to her son's marrying so young. Two letters from Miss Purves to
Mrs. Mathews, written in the spring of 1825, abundantly prove that
considerable pressure had been brought to bear upon her, and that
Mrs. Mathews was a party to the arrangement. In one letter the
young lady says : " I shall decidedly take your advice, and not show
low spirits, and this both from pride and because giving way now
when I am not very strong would very probably make me ill. There
is but one objection among the many advantages to be gained from
Charles not knowing that I have been spoken to." In the other letter,
a few days later, she adds, " I saw Charles to-day. The meeting was
less awkward than it would have been had he been aware that I had
been spoken to." " Spoken to " is a significant phrase.
232 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
coming into play. I think she is ambitious perhaps I
am wrong. In any case, so that she does not further
affect the happiness of one I esteem as well as love, I
am indifferent to her desires, and shall be content to
love her still for those qualities which doubtless she
possesses, and are estimable in themselves, although not
of a nature to suit with ' this her fair and outward
seeming.'
" Pray tell me when it is probable I may behold your
dear face once more, for I am again longing for you and
cannot wait long. I cannot describe to you, my own
darling boy, what I feel sometimes at your absence, and
how deeply it affects me in those moments of gloom
which will surprise me at the best of times. You have
so many years been the sunshine of my atmosphere, that
I languish for the want of your cheering influence. I
have now been long, very long, without you, and want
your renovating presence to make me feel that I am not
solitary, as I sometimes think myself, when, by long-
absence or silence, I think I possess less of your affection
than heretofore."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Edinburgh, December 30, 1825.
"MY DEAREST MOTHER,
"Although I really can hardly say what I have
been doing to prevent my writing to you before, now I
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 233
really have been in sucli a constant state of occupation
about something or other that I really have not been
able. However, I really think that part of my labours
will turn out not quite unavailing ; I mean with regard
to what I have written for the entertainment. My
father says he likes it very much, and has begun to
study the commencement up to the first song, which he
assures me is so well that he will not alter a word for
anybody. Peake's bits were received, and much
approved, with the exception of one scene in high life.
My father's confidence in us is a great encouragement to
us to proceed, and 1 hope on the whole it will turn out
successful.
" What do you think of our going to Abbotsford !
won't that be a treat ? We dined the other day with
Mr. Constable, and I there had the MS. Waverley
Novels in my hand ! I ! ! What do you think of
that, eh !
" My father wants to write a few lines, so I shall
give him up the rest of this, and shall write again
in the middle of the week. Remember me to Mr.
Broderip, and all them there people as axes after a body.
And believe me, my dearest mother,
" Your affectionate Son,
" C. J. MATHEWS,
" Aged 22 years."
234 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
CHAELES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, January 20, 1826.
" MY DEAREST MA,
" All things must have an end, and, therefore,
at last my routings, and tearings, and hurryings, and
flurryings have come to a stop, and here I am once
more quietly seated in my Ferme Ornee. My father,
being rather of a sedentary nature, contrived to send you
a line or two from Abbotsford, but I found it imprac-
ticable. It wasn't that I was so completely occupied all
the time, but I felt on the contrary a luxurious sort
of do-nothing-ness upon me from the moment I entered
the gates. It was a quiet sort of enjoyment, far more
delightful than any active pleasure, and I felt that I
could do nothing but do nothing. I tried to write a
bit of the entertainment, but I could make nothing of
it. I began a sketch, but gave it up before I had half
completed it. I tried to read, but could not fix my
attention. In short, I was fixed by some enchantment
within the walls of the library, without the power of
stirring from it. It is one of the most beautiful things
of the kind I ever saw. It is in imitation of those fine
old oak chambers that Sir Walter is so fond of describing
in his works, with a bold groined ceiling, also of oak,
very much enriched with carved pendants and bosses,
studded with ornaments and grotesque figures selected
from the Abbeys of Koslyn and Melrose. The bookcases
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 235
are in the same character and material, and I fancy
contain a pretty tolerable library. On the south side of
the room, is a very elegant oriel window, called oriel, of
course, on account of its situation, breaking the room
into one of those spacious and fanciful recesses that give
such character to the architecture of the time. In one
corner of the room I found several translations in French
and Italian of the Waverley Novels, with his name to
them. Next to this room, and separated by double
doors, is the small study to which no one is allowed
access but by his own desire. He took me into it, being
an architect, to show me his comforts, and there I saw a
mysterious sable black ebony bureau ! doubtless con-
taining the steam-engine, loom, water-wheels, or what-
ever machinery it may be with which he manufactures
the patent novels. I took particular notice of every-
thing in the room, and, if he had left me there, should
certainly have read all his notes. On the table and
about the floor lay several volumes of the Moniteur,
and other French journeanx, and pamphlets with which
he is assisting himself in his ' Life of Bonaparte ; ' at
least so I conjectured, for he did not himself say any-
thing about it. On the rug lay two thick sturdy MS.
quartos, with blotting paper peeping out of each ; and I
certainly would have given a shilling to have opened
them only for one moment, but I did not attempt it, as
I thought Sir Walter might think it rude, and I knew he
was not a man to receive money for it, so I reluctantly
236 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
abandoned the notion. Divided from the study by a
corridor is the hall, or armoury, which is his particular
hobby, and done under his own immediate direction,
which is all I need say to convince you of its being
quite perfect. All the rooms in the house, dining-room,
drawing-room, &c. &c., are equally perfect in their
peculiar styles. In short, all is enchantment where he
is, and the whole house is a ' Romance by the author of
"Waverley."'
" I have a good deal of commonplace discourse
which I must keep till Saturday, as it won't come in
with eclat by the side of Abbotsford. Ever, my
dearest ma,
" Your affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Jan. 20. " Pontblyddyn, sent Jan 21, 1826.
"My DEAR MOTHER,
" After your letter was despatched last night my
father's was brought me, having been detained two
days on account of the snow. It is dated ' Newcastle,
Saturday,' and begging me to write to him there before
he left, little thinking that I should only arrive here on
Tuesday night. I'm afraid he must have been very uneasy
at not hearing from me in answer, but as he is now at
home he will have read my yesterday's letter, which will
set all to rights. I will now give you a little bit of my
VIL] CORRESPONDEXCE, 1825-182G. 237
journey. On arriving at Selkirk from Abbotsford (five
miles in a very unsociable sociable, made of cane with
' interstices at the intersections ' to admit the wind) I
was taken out half frozen and put by the inn fire till the
mail came by. In an hour the mail arrived with room
for ' one outside/ which I delicately declined, although
the sun was shining in all its glory. I thought a night
outside was not the thing, not by no means, so I de-
termined to wait another hour till the heavy coach
should make its appearance. Upon my asking in a
faltering tone ' was there room ? ' the coachman told me
to my great surprise (though to outward view he was
like other people) that he had ' two insides.' ' This is
the coach for me,' thought I, ' we shall be sure to fare
well on the road with a man who has two insides;' so
into one of them I got and found myself not in his, but
in the coach's body. Away we went as fast as the snow
would let us, and as warm as could be (which was but
cold enough). Keeping ourselves as snug as we could,
I and three other ladies in the straw, we thought our-
selves very lucky in only having to shift coaches four
times before we reached Carlisle. None of them had
been aired, I am sure, nor slept in for some time, but
we were obliged to be our own warming-pans and keep
our feet on the opposite seat against the pan. About
two in the morning we reached Carlisle in a most deplor-
able condition, and w r ere shown into rooms without fires,
and, what is worse, without the capabilities for receiving
238 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
any. I never felt the cold so intense in the whole of my
life, and the other ladies said the same, though one of
them owned that she had seen sixty winters, and had
her head constantly covered with snow. The roofers
were obliged to stop at Langholm and give it up, but
the coachman and guard declared that as long as their
insides were full they could go on very well. In
the morning at four o'clock we were summoned from
our feathered no, horse-haired nests, into an iced coach
and horses like the discovery ships. Away we went
once more, the wheels cracking and cutting down the
ice ruts with a sort of ice-sickle all the way. We hadn't
gone above two miles before the lady who sat next ma-
said : ' Will you accept of a magnesia lozenge to correct
the acidity of your stomach?' I declined her polite offer,
but the other ladies accepted it, and all three sat correct-
ing their acidities for about three miles. There I began
to be interesting, for whether from the heat, or the cold,
or the want of nourishment, I communicated to them
my decided intention to faint, and begged them to con-
clude the affair as speedily as possible, which by dint of
correcting my acidity and rubbing my skin off with
lavender they most skillfully'" accomplished. Going out
of Preston, where by-the-bye the whole coach was thrown
into the greatest confusion from hearing that 'Miss
Foote was dining at The Black Bull/ we broke down
* A foot-note to this letter remarks : " You may send me back one
of these I's if you have no use for it, when you write again."
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 239
and had a pleasant lounge of an hour and a half out of
the coach in the snow till the spring was repaired. The
guard said it was owing to the badness of the roads, but
in my opinion it was owing to Miss Foote's dining at
The Black Bull. We had nearly taken the chill off
again, when at Ormskirk both doors were wrenched open
at once, the wind seizing the opportunity of rushing
through us all, and upon demanding what had happened,
two little urchins shrieked out : ' Do you want any
Ormskirk gingerbread ? ' We added some spice to their
gingerbread, and managed to arrive at Liverpool by ten
o'clock on Saturday night. There I was obliged to stop
for a surveyor, lay in bed all Sunday, spent all Monday
upon business, started on Tuesday morning, reached
Chester on Tuesday night, was detained on business all
Wednesday, and only got my father's letter in time
for to-morrow, this not being a post day. 'And so
now.'
"To-morrow Mr. Gray and I go to Liverpool about
this surveyor, return on Monday, on Wednesday get to
Shrewsbury, and on Thursday start for home, where I
shall stay a fortnight with my father's consent, being-
obliged once more (though for the last time) to return
here. You shall hear again before I start.
" Give my best love to my father, and believe me
ever, my dear mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
240 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, March 16, 1826.
" MY DEAREST MOTHER,
" Tlie accounts of the success of the entertain-
ment are very delightful, that is to say those of yourself,
my father, and Mr. Broderip. Those of the papers I
cannot say much for, as far as regards the paltry writers.
However, as long as my father finds the whole thing go
well and has good houses, I want no other criterion to
go by. My pleasure you may easily imagine to be
extreme, after sending a man to Chester on purpose
for my letters, in order that I might get them four hours
sooner than by allowing them to come on to Mold, by
a mistake of his the post left Chester before his arrival,
consequently I did not even get them so soon as usual
by an hour and a half. Well, the man who fetches
Mr. Roper's letters, knowing of the messenger I had
despatched to Chester, did not enquire for mine at the
post, but brought Mr. R.'s paper without any for me.
This was provoking enough, to say the least of it, but
now comes the most pleasing part. This paper, a three
days a week one and called The Evening Mail, gave
me great encouragement by the following incidental
phrases. ' Nothing is more terrible than fifth-rate, trite
jokes, far-fetched quibbles, and a perpetual, tantalizing
affectation of point which the writer is always aiming
at and never reaches.' ' The long affair with the eight
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 241
little children is almost as great a bore in the description
as it would be in the reality.' 'All the songs are bad
without exception.' 'The interlocutory dialogue as a
composition is paltry.' ' There is a great deal that is
horribly tedious,' &c. &c. &c. All this before your letter
assured me that all was right. I am as anxious now
to see it as I was before to hear of it, but I cannot set
off before Monday week at the soonest. Gray is at
length returned, and we commence operations if possible
on Monday next, which will last about a week. I rather
think I shall be obliged to go to Liverpool on Saturday,
in order to expedite the business, as there is the greatest
difficulty here with regard to surveyors.
" I have just heard from Gray what I consider a
clencher with regard to Elmes, and completely agrees
with the gentlemanly conduct I always gave him credit
for. Gray says that when in town, he showed my
sketch of his lodge to Elmes and told him that I was
then making him a design for two small cottages, &c.
Elmes didn't answer a word, listened to all he. said
with attention, and a day or two afterwards sent Gray
a couple of designs of his own, as a present. What
do you think of that for a respectable architect to the
yEgis Fire and Dilapidation Company ? Gray seems
extremely nattered by his attention, and I would not
for the world let him know in what light / consider
the favour.
"The military are still in Mold, and the rioters
VOL. I. R
242 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
are determined not yet to give up. They threaten
Gray with vengeance for bringing so many foreigners
into the country, and are determined to destroy Hearts-
heath. I wish they would. Give my best love to my
father and congratulate him on his success. If he's
content I must be, altho' The Herald thinks ' The Two-
penny Post ' the ' worst song he ever sang and unworthy
of him.' God bless the Regent and the Duke of York.
" Your most affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CIFAELES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Pontblyddyn, April 9, 182G.
"MY DEAREST MOTHEE,
" I have deferred writing until to-day in the vain
hope of having something settled to communicate re-
specting my return to dear home ; but, alas ! these men
of iron (I don't mean to call them pigs) are as un-
yielding as their own metal, and will not 'relinquish my
leg.' Their surveyor, I am sorry to say, is still only
expected, nor can I say exactly when he will arrive. I
should most decidedly have been off home venire cl
terre long ago, but that it has been put to my feelings
and generosity to remain until this learned Theban of
theirs comes, because my presence and assistance in
pointing out the old and new work, extras and etceteras,
may, and I hope will, dock the bill of eight or nine
hundred pounds, which is rather an object than other-
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 243
wise. Independent of which I feel that my character is
at stake if I allow the amounts to be paid which at
present are demanded, and in short I think it is my duty
to remain. I am sure, my dear mother, you will believe
me when I say that this protracted stay of mine is a
cause of the greatest uneasiness to me, both on my
father's and your account, knowing as I do your desire
to have me at home again, and on account of my
engagements, so long deferred, with Mr. Nash. Indeed,
the latter reason is even the strongest, because I am well
aware that you confident as you must be that my
anxiety to be with you is fully equal to your desire of
having me would be much more unhappy if I were to
commit any breach of- duty to arrive at what in that
case would be a source of no gratification to any of us.
Whereas with Mr. Nash it is different : he neither knows
nor cares what causes I may have for remaining, but
only judges of the length of time that has elapsed since
I promised to be with him. I would have written him
a line or two but that he might think the thing not
worth my troubling him with, and, therefore, I have
refrained. Now, if you think it wouldn't bore my
father some fine morning, to give Sir John a little gentle
exercise before dinner, and whisper a few words of ' soft
nonsense' in Mr. Nash's ear, why I only say, tant
onieux. I wish I were a moralizer. I could so compare
human life, you can't think. I have often thought of
writing a poem like Rogers, on the subject. How frail
K 2
244 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
are all human wishes ! how unsatisfiable are our desires !
Are we not completely the children of circumstances ?
We are indeed too much so.
Here lies the body of Betty Boden,
Who would have lived longer but she co'den ;
Oh Death ! you are he who will take us too fast,
And it was her bad leg that killed she at last.
(Wrexhani Churchyard, April 4th.)
"As I was at Chester on Thursday night, and the
theatre was open, I went with some friends to see it.
Miserable as usual. Decamp the worst of the worst,
and Mrs. Decamp taking the money at the doors. A
little bit during ' A Day after the Wedding ' I thought
exceedingly unsophisticated. After Miss Rock, as the
bride, had sung her song twice, Decamp, her husband,
went on, as I suppose is the custom, for I don't know
the piece, to find fault with the way in which she
executed the last part of it, and made her try it in
several ways. She at last declares she cannot sing it
better, and he insists that she must try, till at last a
man shouted from the gallery, in the most energetic
manner, and highly expressive of his pity for her :
' Damn you, can't you be easy with her ! '
"Hoping to get a letter from you to-night, and
hoping to be able to give you better accounts in a day
or two, I remain hoping,
" Your ever most affectionate hopeful Son,
"C. J. M."
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 245
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Pontblyddyn, April 30th, 182G.
" MY DEAREST MOTHER,
"Your letter on the subject of my ' crimes ' and
* offences ' arrived the day before yesterday, and I have
only waited until I had something settled to communi-
cate before I wrote in reply. Anyone to read your
letter would suppose that I was a malefactor of the
worst description, and had knowingly and intentionally
given the finishing stroke of ruin to myself and all my
family. I am sure whenever I hear the name of a bill I
shall turn pale with fright, and tremble at the recollection
of my guilty conduct. . No one would suppose, to look
at me, that I could have perpetrated so black a deed. I
really dread to go out of doors for fear I shall be pointed
out with horror by parents to their children as a regular
rawhead and bloody bones, as the frightful wretch who
' put his name to a bill.' But still it appears to me
that there remains some gleam of hope that the affair is
not quite so irrecoverable as it is represented. It
certainly does strike me, I may perhaps be too confident,
but it will suggest itself to me that as it is the first
' crime ' of this nature that I have committed, that I am
not yet quite incorrigible, that my ruin is not entirely
irretrievable. I cannot help imagining : I may be wrong,
but so it is: that from the manner in which the affair
has been treated, from the serious admonitions that I
246 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
have now so repeatedly received, the chances are that
the thing will never happen a second time, should this
one ' offence ' have not completely overwhelmed us with
ruin and blighted my future prospects entirely and for
ever. I cannot help rejoicing that my name happens
to be Charles instead of William, for I should be kept
in perpetual uneasiness and misery by the endearing
appellation of Bill. I have not been able to see Gray
since the arrival of your bill-et (not doux) but will make
another effort before I send this off. I had, however, a con-
versation with him upon the unfortunate circumstance a
day or two before, when he begged me to write to
Mr. Stephenson for the bill, as the money could not be
paid without having the bill as a receipt. The reason of
the money not having been paid when in London,
Mr. Gray tells me, is, that the bill was not at Mr.
Stephenson's, but that as soon as I receive it from
London the money shall be forthcoming. In other
cases a receipt is taken for a bill, but in this the bill
must be taken for a receipt. In short I hope and trust
that the whole business will end as it should do, and
that the frightful forebodings of repeated * crime' and
blasted prospects will be dispelled by the cheerful rays
of sincere repentance.
" I now come to what is to me of more moment than
all the bills in the world, because the simple explanation
from my father, you, Mr. Broderip, and Mr. Stepheuson,
of the consequences attendant upon bills would have
VIL] CORRESPONDENCE, 1 825-1 82G. 247
been quite enough to prevent my ever attempting it
again. I require no more persuading from it, but what
I am now upon is my return home. Your letter directed
to be returned if I had started, showing that you were
in hopes that I was at Stony Stratford at the least,
makes me fear to say how much longer it must be
deferred. Mr. Jones is just arrived from London, where
he has been chiefly on my account to see what they
really meant by the delay, the cause of which he finds
to have been the impossibility of finding anyone what-
ever who could undertake the task. The consequence
is, that the whole business is again thrown upon my
hands, which I cannot say in one sense I am at all sorry
for. In the first place it shews them that they are
obliged to take my advice, and in the second saves a
great additional expense. Now as I do consider that
my giving complete satisfaction to so large a body as
the Welsh company is a very great consideration as a
connection, and that the drawing down so many persons'
dissatisfaction would be even worse than ' putting my
name' to OXE bill, I hesitate not a moment in under-
taking anything which my interference could render
service to. The thing now depends then entirely on
myself, and therefore I can make the period of my return
certain. Now mind. In the first place, I have time to
consider on the Shakspeare monument, for which I have
made a sketch or two. Secondly, I shall be able to set
my public house, which I am building for Gray, in good
248 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
train. And thirdly, I shall be able to get quite free
from the Welsh company, which (I shall be wretched
till I get your reply) will, I hope, as much as possible,
reconcile you to the idea of my not leaving this place
until to-morrow (Monday) fortnight. I would not see
your face nor hear my father's disappointment expressed
for worlds. You must recollect that is fully as great to
myself as to you, and therefore make every allowance.
You may depend upon it, it will be better in the end.
I shall say no more upon the subject, for I cannot make
it a bit more palatable. All I can say is only making
better of the bad. And so I'll set up a loud laugh and
leave it. ...
" Give my best love to my father, write immediately,
and believe me ever, my dearest mother, though I have
put my name to a bill, your ever most affectionate
son, who is never going to put nis name to a bill
again,
" C. J. MATHEWS.
" P.S. / never mean to put my name to another
bill. I have just been over to Mr. Gray, who begs I will
give his best compliments to you, and say that while
you have been attacking him you ought to have been
thanking him, for he has delayed sending the money on
purpose to frighten me and deter me from ' putting my
name to a bill ' in future. He begs me to assure you
that he has taken all the responsibility of the bill upon
vii.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1825-1826. 249
himself, and that you are not to be any longer uneasy
about it. Not a bad story I think. ' Cunning Isaac.' '
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
"May 2, 1826, Home,
"Your letter, my dearest Charlie, is certainly a
settler. I have given it into your father's hand, who is
now reading it in the garden. He is just come in, and
not in the best humour. Your not returning is a subject
of great, great annoyance. He justly considers you are
losing golden opportunities for worthless considerations.
With regard to the bill it is a true bill that your
father finds no joke, the money having been really ab-
stracted from his banker's ; and if he wanted it ever so
much he has it not. He has wanted it. Therefore, my
dear Charles, however you may try to make a laugh of
the business, we laugh perforce, as it is vulgarly but
expressively called, on the wrong side of our mouths.
.... In short, it is a very shabby business, and your
father is extremely angry at the excuse, which has made
Mr. Gray's fault no worse by its utter want of plausibility.
He must think you and us all fools. Pray, my dear
Charles, induce him to replace the money immediately, or
I can see a rupture. In the next place on the subject
of money this is a tender period. The dissolution of
Parliament, threatening the close of the English Opera,
holds out a sad, sad loss ; I tremble at it, and have
250 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
other losses which I anticipate also. In short, your
protracted stay and other perplexing concerns harass my
mind much, and I hope you will not allow yourself one
hour beyond the terribly distant period named, away
from home. And here ends the subject, which if /
were inclined to treat jestingly, your father's serious
annoyance justly and reasonably felt would convert
my laugh into a cry. You are at that happy period of
life when, for want of knowing the responsibilities which
attend maturer age, you are unable to feel for them. Of
this be assured, if I write anxiously to you upon such
points, I have a twofold reason, which relates equally to
your ultimate welfare, through us, as to our own present
convenience ; and you may be satisfied that I withhold,
rather than exaggerate, the consequences and feelings
attending such circumstances, being desirous to en-
cumber your young mind as little as possible with
premature care. I expect a little party to-day ; am not
quite in cue for it, a continuation of cold plaguing me.
I am, of course, a little depressed at the disappointment
your letter brings, and I am aware that your gaiety is
more assumed than real. You w r ould kindly appear
unmoved by the harass we all severally feel on the
occasion of your prolonged stay partaking of it equally
only oblige me by writing oftener during the rest of
your stay, and believe me, my dearest Charlie,
" Your affectionate Mother,
"A. M.
vii.] COEKESPOXDENCE, 1825-1826. 251
"P.S. Let me assure you again and again, my
beloved Charles, that I never write in anger to you, or
with an intention (much less a wish) to distress you in
any way. So pray take my meaning right, and do not
let an ill- constructed phrase deceive you into a belief, or
even momentary suspicion, that I have any feeling but
that of devoted love and solicitude for you, my excel-
lent and dear boy. . . .
"Dear Charles, you may joke as much as you
please, but it is a shabby trick of Gray, and I hope you
will make him cash up before you come home. . . .
When the money is paid I will read your letter
over again and laugh for it would be very funny, if
the money were paid. But for all Mr. Gray cared,
you and I might both have been arrested, and if I had
not had money at Stephenson's, which I had not a
month before, you would have been arrested ; therefore
all your mother said was right. You cannot yet perceive
that it is a grievance you seem determined to be blind
that the money should have been paid in February
and this is May. Mr. Gray's excuses are very good
for you, but not for me."
CHAPTER VIII.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY SECOND VISIT TO ITALY, 1827.
IN Nash's office, at all events, I saw plenty of work,
and had my fair share of it. Nash was an extraordinary
man. With great ability and wonderful perseverance in
the face of every conceivable difficulty, he not only laid
out Regent Street and designed the Regent's Park, with
all its terraces and ornamental gardens, but carried
them through in an incredibly short space of time
mainly, of course, owing to my invaluable co-operation, I
having assisted in making out the works, drawings, and
perspective views of the buildings he designed. His
architectural talents were not of the highest order ; his
genius lying less in classical detail than in bold concep-
tion and general arrangement ; but the amount of work
he planned and executed is hardly to be believed. It is
true the material he employed favoured expedition.
If Nero's boast was that he found Rome brick and
left it marble, Nash's boast might have been that he
found London brick and left it stucco. Besides, he
never stopped at trifles, or bothered himself about minor
difficulties. If a column or a window was found on
CHAP, vni.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 253
being drawn from his measured sketch to be a foot or
two too much to the right or the left, he would say :
"Never mind, it won't be observed in the execution."
He would order a number of cast-iron columns, such as
those which originally were used for the Quadrant, but
were subsequently removed to give more light to the
street, and bring them into a dozen other designs,
saving thereby much trouble and expense, and he would
laughingly declare that "no one would know them
again." In the numerous country mansions, however
mostly of the castellated character that he erected, the
" comfortable " was always thoroughly considered and
" effect " most happily achieved ; while his great taste
and talent in landscape gardening enabled him not only
to select the most appropriate sites, but to " aid nature "
in embellishing them. His own house in Eegent Street
and his castle in Cowes, combining luxury and comfort,
were excellent specimens of his skill, and were the
perfection of domestic architecture. Killymoon, the
seat of Colonel Stewart, at Stewarts Town, in the North
of Ireland, is one of his most successful efforts on a
grand scale.
It was rather a droll state of things. I still retained
my office in Parliament Street and my clerk, and under-
took whatever small matters dropped in ; and to the
eyes of the world had all the appearance of an architect
in full practice, while I was quietly working away in
the humble capacity of clerk in the office of another.
254 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS.
Every morning before I occupied my stool at Nash's, I
prepared the daily work for my own clerk, and then
vanished .till four o'clock. He knew I was engaged in
some way out of doors, and whenever I happened to be
employed in the works at Buckingham Palace or the
Kegent's Park, I always made some excuse for sending
for him, that he might see the important avocations
which absorbed so much of my time.
One work of some magnitude was entrusted to me
during this period. I received a commission from the
son of an old friend, a solicitor in first-rate practice and
well-known in fashionable society, to prepare plans and
designs for an extensive West-end market, to be erected
at the bottom of Oxford Street, on the site occupied
then (and still) by Meux's brewery. The ground was,
I was informed, already purchased, and a large sum of
money ready to be expended. Delighted with the idea,
I went to work with a will, for the elevation was to be
ornamental as well as useful, and would form a striking
termination to Oxford Street ; sure, if well carried out, to
be an important feature, and shed lustre upon the archi-
tect. I will not dwell upon the details of this under-
taking ; the marchings and counter-marchings ; the visits
to the markets of Liverpool and Paris ; the hours spent
in the shambles of Leadenhall, and the sweet-smelling
purlieus of Billingsgate ; the meetings of committees ;
the attendance on boards ; the worry and turmoil I went
through ; but will merely say that my designs were
vm.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 255
accepted, and 1 was ordered to have the general plan
and elevation lithographed, for exhibition to the public
and for distribution among the committee and share-
holders. All went on well, and the working drawings
were getting forward, when on a sudden came a hitch,
then a block, then total stagnation ; the committee
dwindled ; the board dropped off; and at last the whole
scheme, like fifty other bubbles of that day, dissolved,
and like the baseless fabric of a vision, left not a wreck
behind.
This, by-the-bye, was not strictly true, for it left me
behind. I was the wreck, and while my friend, the
fashionable solicitor in high practice, walked off scathless
with his hands in his pockets (they had been for some
time in other people's), disappearing altogether not only
from this company but from every other, I was left to
pay the piper I mean the lithographer, for the printing
of my highly-successful accepted design. Two or three
more such successes would have ruined me.
My evenings were still my own, and they were
devoted to literary and dramatic pursuits. In conjunc-
tion 'with Richard Peake, the popular dramatist, I was
constantly employed in providing material for my father,
and on my own account contributing papers to the
magazines and annuals, and writing pieces for the
theatres, such as " Pong-wong," " Pyramus and Thisbe,"
"Truth," "My Wife's Mother," "The Wolf and the
Lamb," "The Court Jester," &c. &c.
256 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
At length I began to weary of this uncomfortable
state of things. Nash certainly had given me the run
of his office, and accepted, as a matter of course, all the
work I could do for him in return, but beyond an occa-
sional nod and a " How are you, youngster ? " I never
received a word of advice or instruction from him during
the twelve months I worked hard for him (for myself I
suppose he called it), and at last I grew tired of it.
The following letter to my father explained my
feelings and views, and suggested the plan I proposed to
be adopted to free myself from rny anomalous position :
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"Parliament Street, March 10th, 1827.
" MY DEAR FATHER,
" I have waited till your entertainment should
be fairly out before I ventured to engage your attention,
as I want as much of it as you can possibly grant me ;
and as I well know you cannot listen to long stories, I
have preferred writing upon the subject.
"I am certain you must see though not quite so
clearly, perhaps, as I do myself that, so far from
making any improvement, or gaining superior know-
ledge in my profession, from my present occupations, I
am leading an almost idle life. There is nothing at all
on at Mr. Nash's which can do me the slightest
O
good ; and as to himself, so far from giving me anything
VIIL] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 257
to do (independent of his having five proteges of his
own) he does not even know me by sight, or ever make
the slightest inquiry about me. You are at a great
expense for my chambers and clerk, which common
policy requires me to keep up for the sake of appear-
ances, and without a chance, I am certain, from the
usual course of things, of my getting any employment
for a year or two. The plain fact is, people will not
employ very young men ; and I must wait my time
patiently, as others of my profession do.
" Now, therefore, is the time to take advantage of the
connections I have formed, and the knowledge I have
gained abroad, and make my professional tour to Italy,
a step which of course you have long decided as neces-
sary at some period or other. Since my return from
Naples I have got all my notes in order, and made every
preparation for the tour, and may confidently say I shall
go with greater advantages than perhaps any young man
ever did. This Welsh business has the more impressed
the necessity upon my mind, by showing me how deficient
I am in that kind of knowledge which is only to be
acquired by the investigation of the buildings of Italy
and Greece. Should I once get involved in business, the
accomplishment of the tour would be rendered impos-
sible, as the regrets of too many architects can bear
witness. Now, I sacrifice nothing ; I break up no con-
nection ; I give up no business. I spend the time, which
would here be lost, with immense advantage to myself,
VOL. i. s
258 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
both with regard to the acquisition of knowledge and
the making myself a name, without a single counter-
balancing disadvantage, and a great diminution of ex-
penditure. Should any important work be proposed, in
which you, through your interest, could find an opening
for me, in my absence, one month will put me on my
road home again.
"You now are at an expense for my general outlay,
clerk and chambers included, of nearly 400 per annum,
besides my horse's keep and my own. The utmost ex-
penditure that can be required in Italy is 250. I have
undertaken, in the event of my going, two works, at the
request of Mr. Weale, the architectural bookseller, to be
published on my return, and I trust I shall do myself
credit by them.
" This plan has not been hastily conceived, for I have
long suffered great uneasiness of mind at the slight
shade the Welsh affair may have thrown over my profes-
sional character. I have talked frequently with my
mother upon the subject, and at length she seems in-
clined to waive all her own feelings at again parting
with me, being convinced, as I am, of the expediency
of the tour I meditate ; the more particularly, as
Mr. D'Egville has determined on pursuing this plan
with James immediately, who only waits for a com-
panion to join him whose studies are directed to the
same objects. The bare possibility of my accompanying
his son seems to give him additional anxiety for his
viii.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 259.
commencing the journey without delay. He approves
my mentioning his wish that we might go together,
when we might be mutually serviceable. You know his
talent, and I believe it would be of the greatest advan-
tage to me ; and Mr. Broderip, to whom I mentioned my
wishes on the evening I went to Scotland, will confirm
the absolute necessity, when I do go again to Italy, of
my having a companion of similar age and profession.
Indeed, this is quite technical.
" In my various conversations with Mr. D'Egville, it
has been judged possible and necessary that we start in
the first or second week in April. To this nothing is
wanting but your consent. My chambers will of course
be given up, and my clerk also. But of this, and all
else, I shall be happy to talk with you now that the ice
is broken, and the principal amount of my uneasiness is
revealed. My bane and antidote are both before you,
and I ardently hope, my dear father, you will see that
there is reason in my wishes, and advantage in realising
them. I am now, or never, at an age to know how to
take care of myself, both in a moral and worldly point
of view. Trust to my prudence, and believe that my
affection for yourself and my mother, and my constant
anxiety for your happiness, will ensure it upon all
occasions.
" Your affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
My proposition was entertained and approved. A
s 2
260 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
consultation was held with Mr. Nash and other com-
petent authorities as to the best course to be pursued.
Information was sought from every source, notes were
made, letters of introduction procured to the most
eminent professors in the various scientific academies
abroad, and with my friend D'Egville, an intelligent
and congenial companion, who had been my fellow-
student at Pugin's and my earliest chum, I prepared to
start once more, full of hope and pleasant anticipation,
for Italy, Greece, and Egypt.
On the 30th of April, 1827, with light hearts and
buoyant spirits, we left London on our grand tour.
I shall never forget the rapture with which we kicked
the English dust from our feet, and like a couple of
balloons, whose strings have just been cut, rose into
the heaven of independence, left the prosy earth
beneath us, and soared into the realms of illimitable
space.
We arrived at Dover at eight o'clock, having left
London at ten, for it was then a journey of ten hours
instead of two, and after dinner walked on the pier
by moonlight, talking over times past, present, and
to come ; discussing our various projects, and building
what seemed at the time castles in the air, but
which were destined not only to be realised but far
surpassed.
Here are a few lines I find penned before going
to bed that night. They form part of a journal in
VIIL] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 61
verse, I kept for my mother's amusement during my
first twelvemonth abroad.
Dover, Evening.
Why ! are my senses by a dream deceived,
Or has the parting really been achieved 1
For so impossible a thing it seems,
So like the fleeting incidents of dreams,
That hang me if I'm sure, it pu/zles so,
Whether I can believe in it or no.
What ! can my father really be content 1
And then my mother, can she, too, consent 1
To see me part, without a single soul
Of habits grave to govern or control ;
To know that two or three years, at the least,
Must I be absent, roving here and there,
As Fancy takes me to the south or east,
To Greece, or Italy, or God knows where ?
They who have now employed so many years
In tending o'er me with such anxious fears ;
Anticipating e'en my slightest wish,
Down to the cooking of a favourite dish ;
And can they let me go 1 My mother, too,
Whose more especially the task is who
From the first infant months of cross existence
Has nursed me to my present plump consistence ;
And even now, though grown too big to dandle,
Still gives advice to " take care of my candle,"
" Put the fireguard on," and " not read in bed ;"
Motherly scraps, which don't do to be read,
And e'en the saying which won't do in others,
Eeing the bland prerogative of mothers.
(Poor mothers ! after all the pains they've had,
I must confess myself it is too bad,
That we, the very objects of their cares,
Should take to laughing at them for their fears.
262 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
But so it is. As long as we are babies
"We all are good, and never quiz our mother,
But as we grow up we become such gabies,
"We must be laughing at one thing or other.
Not that there's any harm, I hope. Oh no !
I'd not grieve her to whom I owe my birth ;
Bather I'd jokes for evermore forego
Than hurt the being I love best on earth.
I merely give these small maternal traits,
To show her as deserving of all praise ;
Since, with such habits grafted on her nature,
To lose me thus, the sacrifice is greater.
Having explained which, I will finish this
In truth, inordinate parenthesis.)
Where was 1 1 And where am 1 1 Oh, at Dover,
With all the bitter pangs of parting over.
How strange it seems, how singular the plight,
A state made up of sorrow and delight.
I can't well laugh, but then I do not sigh,
For though I cannot laugh, I cannot cry !
And wherefore should I, when the point is gained,
And all my dearest wishes are attained 1
How many tedious years I've longed for this,
And pictured it the summit of all bliss !
All that the fondest fancy could suggest
Is realised at last, and I am blest ;
Blest in the thought that, all the slaving past,
I've readied the long sought liberty at last.
How often have we lain (my friend and I),
Talking the future over with a sigh ;
With Italy and Greece viewed in the light
Of fabled Paradises, too unearthly bright,
Too wondrous beautiful in seas and skies,
E'er to be seen by our apprentice eyes !
But now the scene is changed, the fetters drop,
And with them all the drudging of the " shop."
VIIL] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 263
We go, then, forth at last, hoth led "by Fame on,
And as to friendship Pythias and Damon.
Ye gods ! then, will ye never give us day ]
" My soul's in arms and eager for the fray."
After a few days in Paris, making purchases and
completing our sketching apparatus, selecting knapsacks,
and buying lots of things we wanted and lots of things
we didn't want, we secured our places outside the dilly
and started for Geneva, a journey then of five days.
At Les Rousses, a little town on the Jura mountains,
we left the diligence and our luggage to go by St. Cery,
and determined to walk to Geneva, in order to enjoy
the splendid views of the lake and the Pays du Vaud,
and were amply repaid for our toil; the view from
Gex especially surpassing all that can be imagined for
beauty and extent. We reached Geneva on a beautiful
bright Sunday evening. All the town was out in
holiday attire, and we were stared at in wonder, as
we sneaked through the public promenade, among the
gay throng, footsore, dusty, and exhausted, after our
fatiguing walk to the Hotel de la Balance, then the
principal inn, where, while waiting for dinner, we threw
ourselves, accoutred as we were, upon a couple of
benches, and fell asleep. At ten o'clock we awoke,
sleep having taken the place of hunger qui dort dine
and, leaving the repast untouched, we went straight
to bed.
In the morning we set out in search of a more
264 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
moderate lodging, the Hotel de la Balance being too
expensive, and Sechcron, where I had sojourned, en
prince, three years ago, with Lord Blessington, still
worse, when, by accident, we came upon a delicious
little rural inn, by the lake side, called the Hotel
de la Navigation, with wooden balconies looking on
the water, and as retired as if it were a private house.
We found nice large clean bedrooms and a spacious
airy sitting-room, and we at once took possession.
Here we remained for six weeks, and what a charming
time it was ! Boating, bathing, fishing, and sketching
all the morning ; guitar-playing, drawing, and writing
in the evening. Our days were never long enough.
Among other pleasures we made pedestrian tours
round and about the lake and its environs ; visiting
St. Saphorin, Morziet, and many out-of-the-way villages,
doing our twenty and five-and-twenty miles a day
with ease, pleasure, and profit ; for we drew and
measured several villas, and stored our portfolios with
lots of valuable tilings. At Lausanne we visited the
tomb of John Kemble, and while sketching in the
dark crypt of the Castle of Chillon heard an Englishman
ask the custode if we were prisoners.
One scorching hot morning on our first arrival, we
had taken one of the lumbering boats belonging to the
hotel, and, in spite of the baking sun, had rowed our-
selves out to the middle of the lake to enjoy a swim. I
happened to be undressed first ; and, eager for a header,
viii.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 265
I plunged into the water with the intention of a long
dive. But, oh ! ye gods ! I shall never forget it. It
was a bath of ice, and I was almost paralysed with the
shock. As quickly as I could manage it I was out of
the refrigerator again.
" How is it ? " said D'Egville. " Warm ? "
"Delicious," said I. "Milk, positive milk !" while
at the same time I was clambering as fast as I could up
the side of the boat.
" What are you coming out for ? " said he.
" I want another header," said I. " Let's see who
can dive longest."
" Very well ; here goes," and in he went with a
joyous shout.
In an instant I saw an arm with a clenched fist
at the end of it protruding from the surface of the
water, and in a second more a face appeared red as a
lobster.
"You blackguard!" he gasped; "I'm petrified.
It's pure ice. I'll pay you off for this."
" My dear fellow," said I, "you know all our enjoy-
ments were to be in common, and I didn't feel justified
in robbing you of your share on this occasion."
I lugged him into the boat, where we were too glad
to bask for the next hour, by which time, aided by a
pipe or two and some smart pulling, we contrived to
get all right again.
On the 10th of June we left Geneva for Milan, where
266 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
we set to work in earnest with the object of getting re-
ceived as members of the Academy of Brera. We were a
great deal in society, thanks to the letters of introduction
we had brought with us, and passed four delightful
months; for notwithstanding our hard work, and we really
did work very hard, we had plenty of time for enjoyment,
and most thoroughly did we avail ourselves of it. We
had a great many acquaintances, artistic and otherwise ;
and not the least agreeable among them were four very
sweet girls, whose constant company gave a charm to
our lives and enhanced all our pleasures. Keceived into
the closest intimacy by their family, we soon became
inseparable, and we almost lived in their house. The
mother adored us, the father esteemed us, and the
brother looked upon us as marvels of talent. No ex-
cursion was complete without "our girls," no ball per-
fect without our beloved partners. I will not pretend
to say that our long sojourn at Milan was not in a great
degree caused by their enchanting society.
By a singular joke we became rather remarkable
characters. During one of our walks while at Geneva,
D'Egville picked up a broken silver ornament, which,
without thought or intention of any kind, he fastened on
the black leather belt round his waist, which, in humble
imitation of Eobinson Crusoe, was made the receptacle
for pencils, knives, pistols, according to circumstances.
All eyes were attracted by it ; and, to keep up the ex-
citement, I had a similar ornament made for my
VIIL] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 267
belt, as if it were the distinguishing badge of some
society.
It was a great success, and at Milan especially the
effect was marvellous. We were everywhere looked upon
as distinguished foreigners. Growing more audacious,
we determined to keep up the joke, and for state occa-
sions had a facsimile of the ornament made in sold,
O '
which, on a black velvet band in place of the leather
belt, and over a white waistcoat, had a most remarkable
effect, and made us the observed of all observers.
At last, one evening at a grand ball at the Casino del
Nobili, to which we repaired in our characters of " dis-
tinguished foreigners/' our " order " produced much
excitement, and obtained for us the best partners in
the room. Prince Lardaria, to whom we were indebted
for the invitation, and whom I had frequently met at
Lord Blessington's both in London and at Naples, was
bursting with curiosity, and at last could stand it no
longer and opened fire. He had been a good deal in
England, and prided himself upon being thoroughly
acquainted with English habits and customs. After a
little desultory conversation and fidgeting around, he
remarked in an off-hand way, as if without any particular
interest, " I see you have your " pointing to the
mysterious ornament without daring to call it anything.
" I know it well. I have often -seen it, of course, in
London. I forget which cloob it belongs to. I think
it was ? " " You must remember it," said I, " the
268 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Megatherion. " " Ah ! exactly," said lie, " I remember ;
yes, yes, the Methagerion ; I remember it well," and off
he bundled to impart his information through the room
to the great satisfaction of everybody.
I have often wondered since that this piece of non-
sense did not draw down upon us the notice of the
police ; the very name of a " society " being unmusical
to Volscian ears. It would have served us right if we
had got into a scrape about it, for our folly richly
deserved punishment.
Towards the end of August three London friends
made their appearance, and we agreed to take a run over
to Como with them and pass a few days at Bellaggio.
No one can have passed up the lake however rapidly
without being struck above all other things with the
Villa Arconati, better known in the neighbourhood as
the Balbianello. Situated on the extreme point of a
little wooded promontory facing Bellaggio, it commands
the most lovely views both up and down the lake,
the three open arches of its elegant loggia being
strikingly visible from all points, and exciting universal
admiration.
Expressing a desire to visit it, we learnt that we
could do so without difficulty as it was to be let. While
rambling through the villa we inquired from simple
curiosity the rent, and on learning the particulars and
making our calculations, we found that dividing the
expenses among three (two of our friends were proceed-
VIIL] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 269
ing on their tour), the whole cost, including a purveyor
who undertook to provide our meals at a fixed sum per
day, a cook, boatman, man-servant, boatman's wife,
combining the offices of housemaid and washerwoman,
use of plate, linen, boat, billiard-table, and, in short,
everything one could desire, amounted to less than our
cost at a second-rate hotel at Milan.
We took this little paradise for a month, started off
to fetch our impedimenta, and on the 30th of August
found ourselves comfortably installed in our new
quarters.
Now, after a lapse of nearly fifty years, I look back
upon the month spent here as one of the most charming-
periods of my Italian existence. Amidst all the brilliant
and delicious scenes that preceded and followed it, it
stands apart, peculiar and picturesque.
It was a capital opportunity for preparing our draw-
ings for the Brera, as, with the exception of our friend,
and an occasional visit from " our girls," our time passed
without interruption of any kind. I was engaged on an
elaborate section of the church of S. Celso and a view of
Duomo D'Ossola, and D'Egville on an interior view of
S. Celso and an elevation of Santa Maria delle Grazie.
Thanks to our friend, Professor Albertolli, our drawings
were well placed in the exhibition, and we were over-
whelmed with compliments about them, with every hope
held out to us that we should receive our diplomas
forthwith.
270 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
In " Le Glorie dell' arti belle esposte nel Palazzo di
Brera, 1'anno 1827," our drawings are thus mentioned :
" Hervet d'Egville,
Matheus Carlo.
" Non defrauclereino dei dovtiti elogi due Inglesi archi-
tetti il Sig. James Hervet d'Egville e Carlo Matheus, i
quali si sono compiaciuti di decorare le nostre sale di
preziosi disegni, reppresentanti del primo una veduta
prospettica colorita all' acquarello di una parte del coro
della Chiesa de Nostra Signora presso S. Celso ; del
sccondo lo spaccato della cliiesa medesima, ed una veduta
scenografica parimente all' acquarello a colori della piazzi
di Domodossola trattata con molto brio e spiritosa
franchezza."*
After four months, pleasantly and profitably spent at
Milan, on the 31st of October we took our departure for
* A letter from D'Egville's father to Mrs. Mathews contains the
folloAving translation of this notice : " \\ r e must not omit to pay a well-
deserved tribute of praise to two young English architects, Messrs.
Giacomo D'Egville and Carlo Mathews, who have been kind enough
to decorate our rooms Avith two valuable designs, one of which, by
Mr. D'Egville, is a prospective view of part of the choir in the Church
of Kotre Dame, near San Celso, painted in water colours ; and the
other, by Mr. Mathews, is the front of the same church, and a sccno-
graphic view, also in water colours, of the square of Domo d'Ossola ;
both executed with great spirit, vigour, and freedom." The letter ends
with a message from D'Egville : " Mathews is very busy, as well as
myself, and in high spirits as usual."
viii.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY. 271
Venice. We had accomplished all we proposed received
our diplomas from the Academy, and made many valuable
acquaintances of all sorts, from whom we took letters of
introduction to other cities. On looking through a
journal kept at the time, I find innumerable details I
should like to preserve, but have so much before me that
I must omit them. One entry only I copy : " Oct. 27th.
Went to the opera ' II Pirata ' first night. By a young-
man of the name of Bellini, who conducted, and had to
bow his acknowledgments about a dozen times. Opera
very interesting, and very successful. Eubiui, Tamburiiii,
and Madame Meric Lalande, all admirable."
CHAPTER IX.
CORRESPONDENCE, 1827-
CHARLES J. 3IATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"Kentish Town, January 1st, 1827.
DEAR FATHER,
" As my mother seems to have the entire weight
not only of your affairs and her own upon her shoulders
but also that of mine, I think it but right to do what
I can to take from her load, and therefore determine
upon writing to you at the close of the year, in order
that we may have a regular understanding (that most
blessed of all things) with regard to my expenditure
for the next. Most people, I suppose, at the com-
mencement of a fresh year, make all sorts of fresh
determinations for the better regulation of the future,
which their experience may point out to them as
necessary; and I, among the rest, am most anxious
to establish a system of regularity. My mother and
myself have mutually felt that my expenses fall heavily
upon you of late, and you, doubtless, have thought
so too. It has, therefore, been my wish so to arrange
and reconcile those things which may appear unneces-
sary to you, but of whose necessity I am well and
CHAP, ix.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1827. 273
thoroughly convinced, that at the same time that my
plans shall be complied with by you, you may feel
satisfied with the terms upon which you found your
compliance.
" In the first place, then, I must explain, whether
or no you are aware of it, that my mother, in order
that I should habituate myself to the care of my own
concerns and the regulation of my own expenses, has,
since January, 1825, allowed me annually a sum paid
by quarterly instalments, which after a calculation
made by us from what she had paid the foregoing
years, for my clothes, professional books, instruments,
keep of horse in town, &c. &c. she considered as
liberally adequate to my present expenditure, amount-
ing to the yearly sum of 200.
"I am aware how impatient you are at the slow-
ness with which employment as an architect presents
itself, but I am not only satisfied that it is by no means
peculiar or unfavourable, but usual and inevitable in
this profession, and equally a matter of complaint
with many older and cleverer men than myself. It is
notorious that all the first architects, both of former
and present times, have entirely owed their first start
to accident. The point, then, is the expense incurred
by the chambers I have taken and my clerk's salary.
I am sure you will not like to see me continue them
without a speedy return arising from them, w r hile I
feel the absolute policy that requires their continuance.
VOL. T. T
274 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
It is, therefore, my wish to consider myself henceforth,
that is, from this day, your debtor for the year's
amount of what these chambers and said clerk incur,
and I will consider myself bound to remunerate all,
as fast as any sums resulting from my profession may
fall in, and continue to do so until the happy time
may come when I may be able to altogether relieve
you from such a burthen, as I am ready to acknow-
ledge myself, upon your means.
"The affair then, in conclusion, thus stands. In
addition to the 200 of last year, I had from my
mother a loan of 100 for my expenses in Wales,
which the Company will return me ; for though I do
not, nor ever did, expect to gain anything, except
practice, from them, I shall do as much as I ever
calculated upon, inasmuch as that practice has been
gained, and at their expense. This sum then I still
request to owe you until I am settled with them.
"My mother having deducted from my 200 the
20 that you paid to Crisp for me, I have myself
advanced him his entire salary 100, which with an
additional sum of 56 laid out for the residue of my
expenses in Wales, is requisite, in order that I may
begin the year free from all debt, and with the means
of ' carrying on the war.' Of course my personal
concerns have been superseded by these extra calls, and
therefore require their annual settlements.
"To conclude, once more, if you will allow my
ix.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1827. 275
mother to supply me with this amount in the course
of this month, it will set my mind at ease, who am
unused to the application for money I am unable to
pay, and will leave me your debtor not only in thanks
but in the sum of 156, which I shall of course rub
off as soon as possible. I remain, my dear father,
" Your ever affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
MRS. MATHEWS TO CHARLES MATHEWS.
"MY DEAREST CHARLES,
"On looking over what our dear Charlie has
written, I find that in his reckoning he has delicately
omitted the mention of the 80 left in your hands
from his share of the authorship of the ' Invitations.'
This /, however, think right to notice, as you would,
I know, wish to consider it, when he is thus incurring
a debt with you. So that if the present arrears are
paid up, as he requires, he can only be said to owe
you 76 up to the present moment. I am glad he
has so written, as I think it shows a proper reflection
upon his own situation, and no inconsiderable feeling
for yours. He is a dear, good fellow, and deserves all
our love, and every effort we can make for his sake.
I must not forget to add that in my rough estimate
last week of the sum you would require before March,
Charles's claims were included (at least, two-thirds of
Jiis claim). I hope to have a letter to-day from you,
T 2
276 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
which I shall enclose in this, if Charles returns from
town with it franked. God bless you.
"A. M."
CHARLES MATHEWS TO CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
" Leeds, January 4th, 1827.
"MY DEAR CHARLES,
" It is totally out of my power hurried about as
I am to write so long an answer as I wish and as your
letter deserves. I can but briefly say that it has given
me the greatest satisfaction, and, so far from feeling that
your demands 'have fallen heavily upon me/ I am
inclined to applaud your prudence and admire your regu-
larity. I do not conceive that you have required more
of me than it is my duty to bestow upon you, and be
assured, my dear boy, that I have only to look around
me to congratulate myself that I possess a son who has
so much consideration for his parents' feelings as you
have. The disappointment is on my side, that I have
not been able to do more for you than I have in a
pecuniary point of view. We have been extravagant
this last year, and, some of my money being so locked
up that I cannot touch it, has occasioned a temporary
want of supply, and, in the moment of annoyance, I
may have made some observations to your mother that
you allude to; but I know of nothing but the clerk
that I, on reflection, should have commented upon. I
did think that he was another child who might have
been dispensed with. As to my impatience at the slow-
ix.] COEEESPOKDE^CE, 1827. 277
ness of your advancement, 1 should be ashamed to
confess it in a moment of calm deliberation. I shall not
listen to anything like an arrangement of your being my
debtor for the year's amount of the chambers. Whatever
you require within reason that your mother sanctions and
my income can afford, I request you will look to me to
provide, and do not let your mind be hampered by any
such restriction and drawback to your comforts as the
accumulation of a debt to your own father would
naturally bring upon you. I am too much gratified by
your clear statement and anxiety to be economical to
entertain the slightest doubt of your prudence. The
whole is so candid and clear that you have bestowed
much more pleasure on me than you could possibly have
anticipated. The hundred pounds eighty of which I
believe (or more) I owe you you shall have ; but pray
wait until my return home, if not very inconvenient.
This will be about the 15th, and then and shortly after
I hope to be able to set your mind completely at ease as
to money matters.
" Give my love to your dear mother, and say that I
cannot properly write to her to-day. I get up very late,
and when I have to travel and act the same day, pay
bills, and suffer the cruel persecution of callers at an inn,
it is nearly impossible to write. I did not like to keep
you in suspense from Saturday till Monday morning, or
would willingly have postponed this reply. The most
savage horrors of winter surround me. I presume it is
278 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the same with you. A difference of above forty degrees in
twenty-four hours. We are here seven degrees below zero,
and snow falling in flakes. I am well notwithstanding,
though pinched up, though lame and itchy. ALL the
places are taken again for to-night. I have received both
your letters, and two papers. Paper by return directed
at Mr. J. P. Smith's, Leeds. Monday, Halifax ; but I
shall write on Saturday, from Wakefield. Was your letter
copied in a machine, or what was its peculiarity ? '"
" As to your mother's hand, I literally did not know
it at first. What did this mean ? ' I hope to have a
letter from you to-day, which I shall enclose in this, if
Charles returns from town with it franked. A. M/
Very mysterious and totally inexplicable. I hope she
did not mean to return my expected letter unopened.
God bless you, my dear Charles, and be assured of the
sincerity with which I say
" I am your affectionate Father,
"C. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
"Milan, July 15, 1827.
"MY DEAREST MOTHER,
" As I broke off rather abruptly in my last letter,
I think it but right to send you a few lines now that I
have some little leisure in comparison I mean to
* The manuscript letter looks more like a lithograph than any-
thing else.
ix. COEEESPONDEXCE, 1827. 279
devote to it. 1 am rather disappointed at not getting a
letter from you to-day as I expected, but I know the
chances are ten to one always against their just arrival,
so I will patiently wait till to-morrow. I went, last
night, to a grand party, at the ' Casino dei Negociante/
a very stylish affair here and greatly frequented. All
the merchants of the city have clubbed together and
built a very handsome palace, or casino, containing
splendid ball-rooms, billiard-rooms, cards, coffee, news-
papers, &c. &c. &c. There they assemble with their
wives and daughters, all in the greatest possible toilette,
to dance, hear music (vocal and instrumental), and talk
over the scandal of the town. It was a very brilliant
evening indeed. The first singers in Milan were there,
in a sort of orchestra in the centre of the gardens,
which are somewhat English, and illuminated through-
out, full of fountains, grottoes, caves, rivulets, and all
the delights which can be imagined, where the climate
allows ladies in white satin shoes to walk on the
grass at midnight. The dancing I confess I considered
as rather out of place, when the heat was so excessive
that the gentlemen could hardly bear their coats and
neckcloths on, and the ladies would willingly have
relinquished their stays. Nothing but waltzes all the
night, till I was really giddy and head-achey to death ;
but as the dancers were more like angels than women
an old comparison, but a true one my eyes were
riveted upon them without the possibility of withdrawing
280 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATIIEWS. [CHAP.
them. But, in the midst of all these elegancies and
pleasures, just listen to the romance of what follows.
After dancing with a very pretty girl, we, both heated
and tired, went into the refreshment room for some
lemonade or something to cool our raging thirsts and
agonized stomachs. After having devoured some juicy
Italian fruits in a most romantic saloon, opening into
the illuminated garden, calling to mind the palaces of
the East we were about to wing our way again, when
one of the fallen angels of this paradise called me some-
what peremptorily back. I asked what I had done and
what he wanted, upon which he laconically explained
himself by the expressive words, ' Twelve sous, signer ; '
and I positively discovered that it was necessary, in this
elegant society of Italian ladies and gentlemen, to which
we had been invited with so much good-will, to fork
out twelve sous for the nectar which we had uncon-
sciously poured down our parched throats. Does not
this speak highly of the delicacy of sentiment among the
Italians ? In a gentleman's private house to be obliged
to pay for what you eat and drink !
" This morning, being somewhat tormented by gnats
and fleas beyond our wont, we were up and dressed at
half-past three ; and, considering what we had best do
to amuse ourselves so early, we determined to set off to
Monza, the palace of the sovereign, ten miles from
Milan. No sooner said than done ; and so at six o'clock
we were breakfasting there. It is one of the finest
ix.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1827. 281
*
things we have seen, and well kept altogether. The
gardens and parks are in the English style, and very
extensive ; but in all foreign palaces and houses the
furniture is so miserably poor and thin that it takes
away very materially from the general effect. In
England I'll say even in Ivy Cottage there is not a
room but what is perfect as far as it goes. Lots of
chairs, tables, and cabinets, curtains and looking-glasses,
at any rate ; but here, even in this splendid palace, one
table and six small chairs are the utmost, I think, in the
most splendid apartments. What amuses me always is
to see the sleeping rooms and dressing rooms of the
occupants. Little meagre white beds, wooden common-
looking chairs, covered with a mean white dimity
cushion, and wash-hand basins which, when brimful of
water, would not cover the back of your hand. And
then the anterooms full of dusters, and brooms, and all
sorts of dirty things unfit for a palace or anywhere
else. The gardens, however, made up very much for
these inconsistencies, as indeed did the magnificence of
the state rooms of the chateau, and particularly the
beauty of the decorations on the ceiling and walls.
The Emperor, of course, seldom lives in it the case
with most of these palaces. . . .
" Give my best love to my dear father, and believe
me, my dearest mother,
" Your most affectionate Son,
"0. J. MATHEWS."
282 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Sept. 1st, 1827, Como, Villa Balbianello.
"Mr DEAREST MOTHER,
" What a time has elapsed since I have written
to you, and what a still greater time is it since I have
been blessed with the sight of your dear hand ; for in
consequence of such important changes in our move-
ments as I am about to relate, I have not yet received
any of the letters sent to Verona and from thence to
Pavia. . . . The first piece of news then is that Brera
or in other words the exhibition is open, and
D'Egville's drawing very well placed and much admired,
as indeed it ought to be, for independent of the pains it
has cost, it is a most beautiful drawing. I have chosen
to refuse permission that mine should be placed there
with it, but when I explain the reason you will see
I have acted wisely. His drawing is a view and coloured
as vigorously as any oil painting ; while my drawings
are all strictly architectural, such as plans, elevations,
and sections, which in the first place are never observed,
and in the second would be completely killed by the
vicinity of oil pictures. Thus I have contented myself
with the honour of being solicited by the professors
to exhibit and reserve my drawings for the grand day,
when our fate is to be decided. So much for that
subject. The next piece of news is that Elder has made
his appearance here, and given me most delightful
ix.] COEEESPONDEXCE, 1827. 283
accounts of home. He arrived just at the critical
moment of getting the drawings finished, and con-
sequently was obliged to wait a few days before we
could associate with such a butterfly as himself; but
the job once over, behold we all start together for the
Lake of Como. Of all the scenery I have ever seen,
this charms beyond all. Well, we made our tour on
the lake, and found the most splendid collection of
villas that can be imagined. You know our object
to be especially the observation of the villas in Italy,
and so we instantly made up our minds to make a
stay of two or three weeks at the least, and made an
inquiry about the best inns and well and so and
so one fine morning we the two architects and the
T. G., be it known that all travelling gentlemen are nick-
named so started to see the Villa Arionata. Nothing
can equal our astonishment and delight at the splendid
situation of this villa. Situated in the finest part of the
lake, commanding the most lovely views, the palace
itself most beautiful, and everything combining to make
it the most charming of all we had seen. Well, what
did w r e do ? ' Of course, two poor artists as you are, you
went away with sorrow from so enchanting a place.'
Not a bit of it so far from it, quite the reverse.
' Two poor artists as we are we took it for a month ! ! ! '
Do you open your eyes ? Do you think us mad ? Mad
or no, here we are. Elder immediately gave up his tour,
wrote off to Florence for his letters, and established
284 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
himself for the month with us ; we started for Milan to
get all the rest of our things in order to equip us as
' Barons of Arionati de Balbianello.' But I must men-
tion the manner in which we arranged the business so
quickly. Finding from the people who kept the palace
in order and showed it to visitors that it was to be let,
D'Egville immediately fixed upon it as the place of all
others in point of situation for his father, and we there-
fore crossed the lake again to the Palazzo Trotti to
inquire, more out of curiosity than anything else, upon
what terms the villa in question was to be let. The
Marquess Trotti instantly informed us that he required
one hundred and fifty lire a month, upon which we
as instantly took it, not for the fathers but for the sons.
I had intended frightening you by leaving you ignorant
of the value of the above sum of money, but I think it
is better to put you out of your anxiety at once. One
hundred and fifty lire then is exactly . . . 5 4s. English
money, for the month. What do you think of that ? Most
happy am I that we have Elder with us, to attest the truth
as well as to pay his share of the expenses, otherwise no
one could believe the thing possible. I tell you that we
have the most beautiful situation on the lake, an amazino*
* o
quantity of mountain, all our own, almost an island, the
house furnished, every kind of linen found, kitchen
utensils, beds, &c., fourteen rooms besides a billiard-room,
and hundreds of dressing-rooms and closets ; a boat and
boatman, a cook, a valet, and a gardener, and the
ix.] COKRESPOKDEXCE, 1827. 285
expenses of all this divided among three persons makes a
difference of two hundred francs French, or 8 English
in the month, in our expenditure. And on which side
lies the difference ? Let me once for all assure you of
the plain truth, that by taking this charming villa with
all its delightful appendages, we spend 8 less than we
pay at this moment at our secondary inn at Milan.
There's a romance for you ! ! ! Oh, that I could transport
you and my father here for the month, for transported
you would be, to enjoy this scene of enchantment !
However, as the season is too advanced, it is quite
out of the question to speak of it, but really I think
next summer there could be nothing more delightful
or easy for you to do, than to take it for a month
or two in the best part of the season. . . .
" Again must I break off, but this time depend upon
two letters LONG by the next post. Love to all.
" Your ever affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
CHARLES J. MATHEWS TO MRS. MATHEWS.
" Venice, Nov. 19th, 1827.
"MY DEAREST MOTHER,
" The date of this letter will explain the cause
in a great degree of the length of time that has elapsed
since my last. For many various reasons we judged
it best to come right on to Venice at once and make
o
286 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
that place our headquarters, in consequence of its
vicinity to Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, through
which places we passed quickly, merely giving our-
selves time to satisfy our curiosity a little at each.
At Verona with great joy I found four letters from
you, and among them the two so long missing. I
cannot tell you the delight with which I learnt the
news of .my father's freedom, and with even more
did I hear of his engagements just concluded with
Mr. Price, to whom I shall write speedily. Indeed I
should have done so long ago according to my promise
made to him before starting, in order to give him any
hints respecting pieces or performances I might fall in
with in Italy ; but really from the time of starting up
to the present moment I have not seen anything worth
noting respecting either one or the other ; for, operas
and singers excepted, there is positively nothing what-
ever. The theatre of marionettes at Milan that Mr s
Arnold so particularly advised me to visit, and from
which he took his idea of Guy Faux, is quite a child's
sort of amusement and exceedingly stupid. The me-
chanism is certainly well done ; but as all their pieces
are the same as those of the regular theatres, it is
certainly far preferable to see them acted by men and
women. The grand opera at Milan is most charming,
and indeed the second in Italy, yielding only to Naples.
The night before we came away a new opera was pro-
duced called the ' Pirate ' (nothing to do with Sir
ix.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1827. 287
Walter's), written by a young man of the name of
Bellini, a Sicilian, only five-ancl-twenty, but of most
astonishing genius. This was his first opera, and met
with most brilliant success. It was a most interesting
thing to be present at, as the composer is obliged to
preside in the orchestra the three first nights, and have
the satisfaction or horror of hearing his opera cheered
or damned. On this occasion it must have been most
gratifying, as the poor pale trembling composer was had
out and cheered ten or twelve times during the evening.
By-the-bye, there is a most curious notice stuck up in
all the principal theatres here saying : ' That any person
hissing, hooting, or making any disturbance will be in-
stantly put into the hands of the police.' ' Here's a
land of liberty, where a man mustn't larrup his own
nigger.' Well, it so happened that an Irishman only
a week ago in Milan, his name I could not learn, chose,
certainly with very bad taste, to hiss after a favourite
duet when everyone else was applauding violently. In
an instant the whole pit turned upon him, and upon
his continuing it out of bravado, the police quietly
walked into him, and in one hour from that time he
was sent out of Milan. Can you believe such a thing
as that ? I can swear to the truth of it, and show the
newspaper that contains the account of it.
" The journey from Milan here was exceedingly agree-
able, though tremendously tedious. We came by a
vetturino with two horses, who undertakes to bring
288 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
you and all your luggage, find and pay all your expenses
on the road, for a certain sum, which is only to be paid
on condition that he arrives to the time he promises, and
you are content with him throughout the journey, which
we certainly were. He gave us lots of time to see every-
thing we wished on the road, and took us to the first
inns, where we eat, drank, and slept like lords. We were
highly delighted with Brescia, Verona, and Vicenza. Not
so with Padua ; but the approach to Venice, as I believe
all agree, is the most beautiful sight that can be imagined.
We had the luck of getting in just as the sun was setting
upon the Lagoon, which has been so many thousand
times described by every traveller, whether he arrived at
that time or no, that I shall leave all reflections upon its
beauty to your ardent imagination. To be disappointed
with Venice is quite impossible, and what your learned
friends may mean by being surprised at our choosing it for
our winter quarters is quite inexplicable to me, since it is
not only notorious for being the best wintering place in
Italy, but also for being quite unendurable in the summer,
besides possessing more to interest us than any city
(Rome and Florence excepted) throughout Italy. . . .
" We were obliged to come away after all from Milan
without anything being done about our diploma ; but a
letter from Albertolli, received two or three days back,
contains the following cheering assurance : ' With regard
to proposing D'Egville and yourself as members of the
Academy, do not doubt but that at the very first sitting
ix.] CORRESPONDENCE, 1827. 289
you shall be proposed and most certainly instantly re-
ceived, as the Academicians esteem greatly the works
which you have exhibited in the Academy itself.'
I long for the certainty, and in the meantime we shall
set to work to obtain the same honours here. . . .
It is enough at present to say, that we are both in
excellent health and spirits, finding everything that
we can desire, and meeting everywhere, both from
artists and others, with most excessive marks of friend-
ship and regard, and now only want a letter from you
and the arrival of our case to complete our happiness.
With my fondest love to my dear father,
"Your ever most affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
VOL. I.
CHAPTER X.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY SECOND VISIT TO ITALY (continued],
1827-1828.
I WILL not say we stayed at Venice, we took root.
For nearly a twelvemonth (including a visit to Istria
and occasional trips to Friuli, Trieste, Padua, &c.) we
took up our quarters there, not leaving for Florence till
the following September. To give any adequate account
of this delightful year would be impossible, unless a
whole volume were devoted to it. We had charming
apartments on the Grand Canal, our gondola, our box
at the opera, a constant succession of balls, concerts,
ridottos, and receptions, the run of the best society,
Venetian and Austrian, noble and artistic, and, in short,
everything that could render life agreeable.
Venice was very gay at that time and the pleasant
houses open for visitors nightly were very numerous.
The three principal resorts were those of the three cele-
brated Countesses Michieli, Albrizzi, and Benzon, the
three Graces who, in their youth, are reported to have
danced round the tree of liberty in the Piazza in the
scantiest of attire. The Countess Michieli, the eldest of
CHAP, x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 291
the trio, was very deaf, but very clever and amusing ;
at home on every subject ; speaking French and English
with perfect ease and freedom. She was literary, and
had published several esteemed works, especially the
" Pompe e festi Veneziani," which had a very great
success in its day, and has remained a valuable piece
of Venetian history to this hour. Her house was gene-
rally thrown open about nine o'clock, and a very pleasant
party was always to be found there giochetti, charades,
forfeits, conversation, and an occasional dance.
The Countess Albrizzi's reception began a little later,
and was rather more stiff and particular swells, literati,
artists, nobles, courtly dames and courtly manners. She
also dabbled in literature. Canova's works, published
by Cicognara, contained descriptions by the Countess
Albrizzi, and other light works manifest a graceful
taste.
She was the youngest of the three Graces, and still
aspired to admiration, and was as careful in the preser-
vation of her few remaining charms as if her future
fortune were dependent upon her beauty. She was
certainly wonderfully well preserved.
At any hour of the night, and till any hour of the
morning, succeeded the most delightful reception of any in
Venice, that of the splendid old Countess Benzon. Here
all ranks repaired after the opera, after the balls, after
everything ; sure to find a brilliant assemblage, with the
heartiest, gayest, most insouciante of hostesses, and here
u 2
292 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
Lord Byron was a constant visitor. At the end of a
long and elegant saloon sat the Countess in state on her
sofa ; the ladies, seated in formidable array, forming a
long avenue in front of her, through which two dazzling
lines of female beauty, and braving the artillery of their
merry sparkling eyes, every fresh comer had to pass in
order to pay his respects and kiss the hand of the pre-
siding deity ; after which ceremony, and a little lively
chat with the Countess, a retreat could be effected and
attention devoted to the bevy of beauties assembled.
The Beuzon must have been a splendid woman in
her time ; tall and elegant in figure, with resplendent
complexion, sweet blue eyes, and an abundance of fair
hair, which she was still proud of displaying, with the
boast that it was " all her own." She certainly retained
a wonderful amount of fascination, coquettish as a girl
of nineteen, revelling in flattery, and receiving any
amount of recognition of her charms the more exag-
gerated the more welcome with a tap of her fan,
a gratified simper, and cry of "Hatto" and "Baron."
Her cavaliere, Rangoni, a dear old beau of some sixty
years, attended upon- her with all the devotion of a
youthful cicisbeo, and was languished upon and toyed
with by his divinity as though they were in the first
heyday of their youth.
Monotonous as it may be thought such meetings
would become, repeated as they were night after night
and year after year, they never seemed so. The party
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 293
was never entirely the same, and no evening was com-
plete without winding up at the Benzon's.
Other houses had their one night in the week only.
Such were those of the Countesses Vemir, Mocinigo, and
other names associated with and descended from the old
Doges, their illustrious ancestors.
The custom of receiving of an evening at understood
hours is, I think, very agreeable. Your mornings are
your own, and you are never afraid of your visits being
inopportune ; you know you are always welcome, and
the more the merrier. Indeed to get sight of some of
these ladies in the morning was a rarity. I don't think
I saw the Benzon half a dozen times by daylight the
whole time I was in Venice.
The best balls were certainly those of the Baron de
Thurn, the Austrian minister, to whom we had brought
letters of introduction, and through whom we were re-
ceived in the best Austrian society, at the Governor's,
at the Countess Wetzlar's and their set. Not an evening
passed without three or four brilliant balls, or concerts,
or reunions of some sort, in addition to the usual re-
ceptions ; so it will be readily imagined that our time
passed pleasantly enough.
The Caff 6 Florian in the Piazza was also a great
resource, especially in hot weather. If about three or
four in the morning sleep proved impossible, at Florian's
company was always to be found a dozen chatty fel-
lows, sipping sabayons, drinking iced coffee, and smoking
294 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
cigars in the moonlight ; the caife never closing till the
garish light of day appeared. When people went to
bed if they went to bed at all it is difficult to say.
They disappeared, certainly, for a short time in the
mornino-, but were never found missing in the afternoon.
O' "
Notwithstanding all these diversions we contrived
to do a deal of work drew and measured palaces and
churches made elaborate drawings of St. Mark's, the
Eialto, and the many picturesque subjects of the ex-
haustless city, and prepared for our admission as mem-
bers of the Belle Arti, where we hoped to obtain our
diplomas, as at Milan.
On the llth of June, after various delays from
various causes, we at length bid a most reluctant adieu
to Venice and its inhabitants, and after all the various
promises of writing, &c. &c., embarked in the steamboat
for Trieste on our wav to Pola. The following letters
/
will best describe our subsequent adventures.
"Capo D'Istria, June 8th, 1828.
" MY DEAREST MOTHER,
" With a desperate struggle we, at last, suddenly
broke from the cable which tied us so long to Venice,
that inexhaustible mine of precious gems, and here we
are in Istria. I have much wondered none of our many
sapient friends have not long since expressed to you and
my dear father their astonishment and regret at our
long sojourn in the City of Palaces. I am equally
x.J SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 295
pleased at finding my expectations unfounded, as it
saves me the trouble of a long explanation and defence
of our proceedings, and the more assures me of your
confidence in our judgment of what is proper for us.
I am aware that few architects have devoted much of
their time to that place, generally taking a hurried view
of it at the tail of their travels ; but I have never heard
any of them who did not regret their obligation to leave
it so soon. If we have spent more time upon it than
we are perhaps justified in, considering the short period
we have left for other places, at least we have been
employed upon almost untrodden ground, and have
reaped, I hope, the consequent advantages. If WQ have
been so long detained in that city, where another year
entire might be well bestowed, and to which I hope
some day to make another journey, I know not how we
shall tear ourselves from Florence and Rome, Naples
and Genoa, where we have a right to expect three
times as much to occupy us. However, trusting that
the future may fall out according to our expectations,
we can thus far rest perfectly contented with the past,
which is always one principal point gained.
" After all the parting adieus to our friends at
Venice, a few of whom we parted from with much
sorrow (and I must add, considering that we know
nearly everyone in the place, that is, everyone worth
knowing, there were but a few whose acquaintance we
should care much about renewing), we put ourselves
296 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHKWS. [CHAP.
and our baggage on board the steamboat for Trieste,
oo o
accompanied by a friend of ours a Mr. Taaffe, brother
to Lord Taaffe, who is Minister at Vienna, who deter-
mined to join our pedestrian excursion to Pola, and
after a beautiful night passage of ninety miles on the
' salt sea ocean/ arrived with the sun next morning in
the Bay of Trieste. Not wishing to lose a moment at
that place we instantly made inquiries as to the mode
of sending our luggage to Pola, intending to convey
ourselves there by foot ; but as 110 one could give us
any information about those savage parts, few having
heard of them and no one having been there, we took
their only advice, viz. : to start in a small boat for
Capo D'Istria, from whence the chance of baggage-
mules or some sort of car seemed to be practicable, and
accordingly, with a fair wind, we this evening arrived
at this miserable little hole, consisting of four or five
grass-grown streets and a couple of caffes, under the
shelter of the Town-hall and church, in the middle of
a wide desolate-looking Piazza. Up to this moment
our inquiries are anything but satisfactory as to our
further progress, the distance to Pola varying with each
person from fifty to ninety, and from twenty-two to a
hundred and ten miles. You would suppose we were
attempting to penetrate into the interior of Africa, to
judge from the amazement expressed by all at our wish
to prosecute such a journey, and on foot, too. We are
just also in the charming doubt of whether we shall
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALYCONTINUED. 297
be able to have our passports those curses, the most
tormenting that could have been hit upon to punish
erring man before ten or eleven o'clock to-morrow,
which is as much as to say, spend another day here ;
for to start in the heat of the day, we being neither
Shadrach, Meshach, nor Abednego, would be much the
same as taking a day's journey through a mammoth
fryingpan. In short, we shall be obliged to act like
prudent people and sleep upon it, trusting that in the
meantime things may be brought to a crisis. Taaffe,
who is not quite used to roughing it, begins to flag a
little in his enthusiasm ; and all those determinations
which people will make when comfortably at home, of
bread and cheese, a glass of water, and a bivouac in
the open fields, have gradually vanished from his recol-
lection as the reality gently made its appearance. The
fleas have already begun to show signs of activity, and
the gnats are in great profusion. I, however, do not
suffer so much from them as D'Egville, who is covered
from top to toe with their bites.
" I am very sleepy and tired with my journey and
all night work and shall be glad to throw myself upon
my ' humble pallet,' and so I wish you a very good
night, and hope the morrow will bring us a safe de-
liverance out of this melancholy place. With my
unceasing love to yourself and my dear father,
" Your affectionate Son,
"C. J. MATHEWS."
298 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
"Pola, June 18th, 1828.
" MY DEAREST MOTHER,
"It is useless tliat I make good resolutions, it
does not rest with me to keep them. I am at the
mercy of a set of barbarians now that I would never
have calculated upon. Obliged to bring my letter on
with me from Capo D'Istria, there being no post-office
at that place, I find myself nearly in the same pre-
dicament here, for, though there is an office, it is almost
a sinecure, since there are no people belonging to the
town but peasants and farmers, the greater part of
whom don't even know how to write, and, conse-
quently, there is but very little occasion for a post-
office. I begin to be exceedingly uneasy about the
means of sending my letters, as God knows when the
post may be able to start, depending entirely upon
a market-boat which comes and goes at irregular
periods from and to Trieste. However, my hopes and
disappointments are daily, and I, therefore, will not
despair. I must in the meantime acquaint you that
after a long pro and con with all sorts of people
at Capo D'Istria, the possibility of getting any con-
veyance for our luggage turned out to be beyond our
power, and consequently our foot journey was, with the
very greatest reluctance, abandoned. Nothing was left
us but to make the best of our way in the same small
boat that had conveyed us from Trieste, and hardly
large enough it was to contain us and our baggage.
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 299
However, the weather being very fine and the wind
favourable, we embarked ourselves and a few cold pro-
visions on board, and away we went. It is needless
to recount the dull work we had of it for seven-and-
twenty hours, with every now and then a calm, a
broiling sun, hotter than anything I ever felt anywhere,
which speedily deprived our noses of their skin, and
made our cheeks like pomegranates. ' Young we were
and sore,' without being afraid. Our only torment
began to be hunger and thirst, and some serious
thoughts were entertained of the obligation to eat one
of the sailors, who would have been anything but a
delicious morsel ; but it was luckily rendered needless
by our sudden arrival in what we supposed to be the
port of Pola, pitch dark and a calm. After about an
hour and a half's rowing round the said port, we had
the consolation of hearing one of the sailors appeal
most pathetically to Saint Anthony of Padua to know
what he had done with the town of Pola, which the
said sailor swore he had left in the port only a week
ago, but which, after a tedious row quite round the
bay, had evidently taken its departure. The deductions
from this experiment were evident and twofold, that
either the town had been mysteriously spirited away,
or that the sailor had mistaken some other bay for
the one he believed it. This last turned out to be
the case, and not till after nearly two hours' more
rowing did we pop upon the right, one, which we should
300 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
as certainly have passed in the dark, had not the
friendly bray of an ass directed our attention that way,
and suggested that there were more of them than the one
we heard ; and it turned out exactly as we imagined,
for upon a nearer approach we found the long-desired
town, as nicely hid as it is possible to be, and evading
detection even in the daytime. It wanted still two or
three hours till daylight, and those hours we w T ere
obliged to spend on board our boat, to our no small
annoyance, till the gentlemen at the Sanita, or Health
Office, felt inclined to get out of bed and examine our
passports. All the ceremonies at length being com-
pleted, we were conducted to the inn or hovel kept by
a Greek of the name of Cronopoli, with a pair of
rnustachoes enough for any two, when an attempt
at refreshment was made but by no means succeeded
in, not being provided for three such illustrious and
hungry guests. So, after an attempt to drink some
rank wine and eat some tunny-fish preserved in oil and
vinegar, and flavoured with sweet currants, we tumbled
into our beds to sleep as well as an army of gnats, flies,
fleas, bugs, arid earwigs would let us. I shall close this
in the hope of being able to send it either this evening
or to-morrow, being assured of a boat.
"Ever yours,
"C. J. M."
Through a mistake in our arrangements our remit-
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 301
tances had been directed from Venice to Trieste, and
the post being too uncertain to trust to, dependent
as it was entirely upon the arrival of chance boats,
D'Egville determined to start at once for one, perhaps
both, of those places, to recover the requisite money
and send it on to me at Pola, to release me from my
confinement, I being left as a material guarantee for
the amount of our bill.
"Pola, July 11,1828.
" MY DEAREST MOTHER,
" Here I am still, under the most charming, the
most delightful of all circumstances that can be
imagined. Alone, and without one farthing to bless my-
self with, in pawn as it were, without the power, for I
know not how long, of being redeemed. After waiting
beyond the time we had at first intended for the remit-
tance daily expected from D'Egville's father, my quarter's
money being naturally enough exhausted, having had to
serve for two instead of one for nearly three months, we
found that there was nothing left for us but one of two
things, either to live in banishment at Pola till my next
quarter's arrival, or for D'Egville to start for Venice and
draw upon Shielin for the requisite money, and send it
to me at Pola to release me from my confinement. This
last plan we of course adopted, and you may imagine
how melancholy I might be at seeing him start to leave
me for a fortnight at the least in this uninhabited savage
302 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
place. The matter will thus be easily arranged, but the
consequences I, with some of your foresight, can plainly
see to be these. That about the 1st of August, when
his second quarter ought to arrive instead of his first,
he will have to pay it all to Shielin in repayment of
what he has drawn now from him, and again shall we
be dependent upon my quarter. If Mr. D'Egville would
take example by you, my dearest mother, these things
could not happen, and the most provoking part is that
he sets down this sort of accidents to our imprudence,
when in fact the thing is as plain as can be that if the
money arrives at the end instead of at the beginning of
each quarter, instead of having it in advance to go
when and how it best suits us, it vanishes instantly to
pay off the debts that have accumulated, and we are as
badly off as before. However, it is not fair to harass
you about other people's affairs, so I'll say no more about
it. I have finished two drawings here, one of the Arch
and one of the Amphitheatre, two most beautiful sub-
jects, and I hope they will answer my purpose at the
Academy. To wring forth praise from D'Egville I assure
you is no such easy matter, and for the first time since
we started he declared that the outline of my Amphi-
theatre was beautiful. I was 'pretty considerable proud'
of this I can tell you, for c approbation from Sir Hubert
Stanley is praise indeed/ and I only hope the professors
at Venice may be of the same opinion. We have been
perfectly enchanted with Pola, both in point of situation
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 303
and of antiquities. The Amphitheatre is by far the
most beautiful I have seen, so lovely in situation, amidst
trees and mountains, and reflected in the Bay of Pola,
which is one of the most perfect in the world. The
temples and triumphal arch are also in good preservation,
and remarkably elegant in their proportions. The cos-
tume of the peasantry is very picturesque, and approaches
the Grecian. They speak the Sclavonian language, and
are a very fine race of people. In short, after all I am
better off here at Pola under the circumstances than I
should have been at any other place of its size, as I have
plenty of objects to amuse me and plenty for study ; it
is only the idea that I cannot move if I would that
excites a disagreeable feeling, and in addition the anxiety
I have about the non-receipt of your letters. I will not
say how long it is since I have seen your handwriting.
My only consolation is that the cause of my daily and
weekly disappointment is evidently anything but your
silence, for, though I left word at Venice that all letters
were to be forwarded to me here, the thing is more easily
said than done. How D'Egville is to send me the
money I know not, besides the passport, which being-
made out in both our names, he could not go without,
nor can I stir till he sends it back. Love to my dear
father.
" Ever your affectionate Son,
" 0. J. M."
304 LIFE OF CHAELES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
" Peroi, July 18, 1828.
"My DEAREST MOTHER,
" Here I am still in pawn, but by a turn of fate
enjoying myself mightily. Two days after my last letter
I went on a little trip on horseback with the lawyer of
Pola, a young German, to visit the neighbouring villages,
and I had a most delightful day. From Pola we went
to the Isle of Olives, not very far distant, where we
found the Sclavonian peasants celebrating a festival, and
after taking our share in the dancing and merriment for
a couple of hours, we continued our journey to Dignano,
a little village only celebrated from the remarkable dress
of the peasants. I was very much pleased indeed with
them. The women, amongst whom were some very
pretty girls, were dressed exactly in the style of the
old Venetian ladies, as we see them in old prints, and
had a most surprising effect as they stood in groups
about the town. My dear ' slight acquaintance ' finding
me so much delighted with these dresses, proposed ex-
tending our ride to Peroi, another small village at five
miles' distance, and one of the wonders of Istria, being
a small colony of Greeks, consisting of about sixty
families, all peasants, preserving its ancient religion,
costume, and manners, and speaking its original language,
in the midst of Italians, Istrians, and Sclavonians. I
jumped at the proposal, and was amply repaid for my
trouble. I never met with anything so elegant and so
picturesque as these people, the girls very handsome,
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 305
particularly tall and well made, and the men equally so.
The faces are strictly Greek, and the dress charming.
I had scarcely entered the place before I determined
upon removing there next day, it being only seven
miles from Pola, and accordingly picking out the
prettiest house, and that which contained the prettiest
girls, I told them my intentions, and gave them to
expect me the next day. It so happened that this
family was related to my landlord Cronopoli, at Pola,
also a Greek, which gave me greater facility in obtain-
ing this favour (for it is considered a great favour,
and one never granted to strangers) to take up my
abode amongst them. The day before yesterday I
arrived with my drawing materials, clothes, &c., and
here I am established. On rny arrival I explained that
I came to be one of the family and not to be treated as
a gentleman, and accordingly I proceeded with them into
the fields to help the cutting of barley, and to their
great delight dressed myself in their costume, which I
did also to my own great delight ; in short, I found
myself once more as among the Neapolitan peasantry,
happy amidst the innocent simplicity and real enjoy-
ments of unsophisticated nature. The perfect pleasure
I felt while dancing, singing, and playing with these
beautiful Greek girls I cannot tell you, enhanced by
the feeling that I had already usurped a small nook in
their hearts by having thus accommodated myself to
their manners. It was quite charming to see them
VOL. I. X
306 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. ' [CHAP.
gradually throwing off the reserve of the first day, and
beginning to regard me really as one of the family.
The pride they had in dressing me and taking me about
with them was great. I had good cause to wear out my
legs in dancing with them on the rough stones of the
village, for one after another engaged with me till I had
gone through the whole strino-. I then made a sketch
O O o
of one of them who had been married about a month, in
her bridal dress, a copy of which I gave her. At three
o'clock I am up and out with them 'in the fields, par-
taking of their food as well as their pursuits, the acme
of which consists in a couple of hard eggs and a bit of
brown bread ; not being quite able to accommodate my
stomach to the more ordinary fare of bread cooked in
oil and vinegar, and dreadfully fat bacon. Fancy me at
this moment writing to you, dressed in a white sort of
body and petticoat, richly worked in red, blue, and
yellow silk, an embroidered handkerchief on my head,
and red stockings bound with red sashes up to the knee,
and sheepskin sandals. . I wish Lewis were here to
make you a sketch of me, but in his room I am trying
a hand at it myself. It is growing dark, and I must
send this to Pola to-night, so good-bye for the present.
I fear my last letter cannot have had the luck of getting
off yet, but shall know to-night. Good-bye, my dearest
mother.
" Your ever affectionate
" C. J. M."
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 307
The next letter lias already been published by my
mother in her memoirs of my father, but it is absolutely
necessary to give it here according to its date, and as an
essential portion of my narrative.
"Peroi, July 25th, 1828.
" I have this moment received a letter from
D'Egville, enclosed in one from the banker at Trieste,
and sent off by a courier on purpose, which enables me
to quit my agreeable confinement for my banishment
has proved anything but detestable. Seeing no chance
of getting my letters off (both of which I find are still at
Pola) before I get to Trieste, I think it best to continue
writing till I am able to close my paper in the certainty
of despatching it. A few days more and I shall be again
in civilised parts, having engaged a vessel for the day
after to-morrow to convey me to Trieste. In the mean-
time I must continue my description of Peroi. You
have no idea of the little paradise that it is. I begin
quite to love the people and to fancy myself one of
them. I am called by them all ' Sukey ; ' isn't that a
sweet name ? So spelt and pronounced in England it is
anything but enchanting, but here the word is Greek,
and means ' my soul ' (vide Lord Byron), and is a term
of the greatest affection. What would I not give that
you could possess, through the means of some beneficent
fairy, the glass that I have read of in some child's book,
in which the possessor could behold at every moment of
x 2
308 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the day the absent person, and contemplate his occupa-
tions and situations. The first thing in the morning you
would look in the glass (as you no doubt do as it is),
and instead of beholding yourself in a laced night-cap
with sky-blue bandeau, you would see me (but you must
get up at three o'clock to do so) sitting on a stone bench,
surrounded by half-a-dozen pretty, innocent girls ; the
one adjusting my head and tying on my worsted hand-
kerchief, another lacing my sandals, and all occupied in
the decoration of their new-found toy. Near me you
would see others, with their beautiful black hair hanging
down to their waists, and undergoing the operation of
plaiting, till it takes the most beautiful classic form that
can be desired. Here and there, at intervals, are three
or four fine tall lads, with ample moustachios, trotting
to the fields on horseback, with large trusses of straw
before them, and saddle-bags hanging on each side, dis-
playing in their capacious gaping mouths (not the lads,
but the saddle-bags) the store of brown bread and wine
kegs for their banquet ; and a young foal ambling after her
aged mother, and now and then seizing her by her
swishy tail, and kicking from pure fun and frolic. Then
will pass by a little brown bare-legged boy, with a
flock of sheep, with here and there a reverend old ram,
decorated with bells and red ribbons a most pictu-
resque group, making dust enough to smother the whole
village.
"You will gaze for a moment in admiration of the
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 309
beauty of the lad ; his fine Greek face and large intel-
ligent eyes, dressed only in a sheepskin thrown most
gracefully over him, and confined with a crimson sash ;
a pair of sandals and a slouched hat defending his two
extremities, and a double pipe of rude form resounding
through the woods as he saunters after his family. A
short time after you will see the whole village in motion
girls, boys, old men and old women, and myself in the
midst of the throng, moving forward in procession, some
with pitchers on their heads, to begin the labour of the
day. You will hear, if your ears are good enough, the
choruses of villagers, very different from the compositions
of Bishop, arranged most harmoniously by themselves,
and sung most correctly in parts. The melody you will
hear some day imitated by me, as copied exactly from
themselves. During the interval of these choruses you
will probably but you must listen well hear a solo,
though of a somewhat more sprightly character, and in a
more comprehensible language, in a voice not unfamiliar
to you, and at the same time you will observe the
pleasure without humbug, and the approbation without
flattery, expressed upon the smiling countenances of the
rest of the party. An hour or two afterwards you,
perhaps, will take up the glass again fancy it's a looking-
glass, and so you can resume the scrutiny many times
through the day without much effort and you will see
the party dispersed in various groups over the landscape,
and under the shade of some old tree you will see me
310 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEAVS. [CHAP.
lying with a book in my hand most probably a Byron
or a Moore in the character of an Arcadian, casting
occasional affectionate looks towards my darling peasants
at their work, and now and then joined by a girl or two
from amongst them, who will sit by my side and pretend
to read my book with me till called by the rest to their
work again, and sometimes you will see them depart
don't be scandalised with their cheeks slightly coloured
lest their companions should have observed the chaste
salute as freely received as given. Then about the time
my father's trumpet announces his approach to the
breakfast-room while waiting for the arrival of his
smoking steak take a glance at me sitting as one of my
smiling circle, with a hard egg in each hand, a small
loaf of whiter bread than the rest, baked on purpose for
me and regarded as a chef-d'ceuvre in its kind, on my
knees, and a wooden bowl as white as snow before me
full of wine and water, to afford a tolerable easy passage
to my frugal fare ; while my companions, with appetites
scarcely credible, dispose of bucketful after bucketful of
bread made into soup by the addition of oil and vinegar,
till you begin to doubt whether the feat is performed by
elephants or peasants. What would Sir John Carr say
to see these girls eat ? He, who thinks the merry-
thought of a pigeon too much for a woman, would stare
to see a bucket of vinegar, bread, and oil disappear
between the rosy lips that he had just been kissing, and
see the languishing eyes of a lovely girl throwing aside
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 311
their jetty fringes to seek the bottom of a three-quart
pitcher, which, 'high poised in air/ travels from mouth
to mouth, emptied again and again into the elephantine
receptacles of these tender maidens, and, like the tower
of Pisa, threatening destruction to all around it in its
fall. The natural consequence of this light repast,
added to the heat of an Istrian sun, is a general inclina-
tion to sleep ; the girls most modestly seeking some
shady spot at a distance, somewhat remote from the
male part of the community. Then, for .a couple of
hours, you may put down your glass while we give our-
selves up to sweet slumbers, first, however, observing me
enjoying my privilege, as the pet of the party, of lying
on the best bit of green and pillowing my head upon
whichever lap I please, a privilege which even the men
of the party seem to think it quite right I should enjoy.
" We'll say now that it is one o'clock ; my father
has just started for town to attend an eleven o'clock
rehearsal at Drury, and you, after inspecting the cold
veal the pale ghost of yesterday's fillet, and a small
pan of shivering potatoes huddled together in a cold
perspiration in a corner of a white plate, to see if
an Irish stew or a mince may be produced from the
remnants, and having prepared everything for the day's
consumption, are just retired to your little boudoir to
do a little bit of reading and writing. Then, after a
look at the sketch of me by Lewis, you naturally wish
for one more glance at your fairy glass, and see me quietly
312 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
seated alone in my little alcove in my Greek cottage, re -
turned from the fields and occupied with my pen or pencil.
You now begin to think the whole description almost
too romantic to be true. You see a Greek gentleman in
a most picturesque costume sitting on a settee under an
elegant-shaped arcade, with a pipe in his mouth, as grave
as can be desired, occupied in serious pursuits, with a
beautiful boy of five years old standing at the table with
a little white embroidered tunic, confined by a cunis
or sash, a pair of stockings, something like those of
Scotland, halfway up his little legs, a little pair of
white sandals, and a scarlet cap with a feather in it
carefully cocked on his little head, cutting bits of paper
into moons and stars with a pair of English scissors.
You don't know which to look at. You are in love
with the child, and yet you cannot help looking at the
gentleman. You can't be deceived. In spite of the
dress, the moustachios, and the alcove, in spite of the
smell of tobacco, you still discover the features you are
in search of. You look over his shoulder and you see
a letter addressed to his dearest beloved mother, and
unthinkingly print a kiss upon the glass, which, sullied
by the attempt, hides from you the image you were
contemplating, and. as the steam which bathed it
gradually clears off again, you . fancy you see his eyes
wet with the tears of true affection, which, glistening
still for a moment, seem to indicate his grief at your
deception. But you are not deceived, for, though you
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 313
cannot see them, believe me the tears are not a few
which, in the midst of all his enjoyments, are sweetly
shed at the thought of the affectionate regrets which are
ever troubling the bosom of his mother. He sees her at
all hours of the day ; he sees his father soothing her
sorrow, and comforting her with the picture of their
son's happiness and well-doing, and reminding her of
the unabating love for them both w r hich accompanies
him wherever he may be. Though dressed as a Greek,
his heart is still English, and all his enjoyments in his
enchanting abode are in reference to the delight of
talking them over in his own darling cottage, calling to
mind the warmth of a southern sun by the side of a coal
fire, and finding a pleasure most exquisite in transferring
the kisses of his Greek girls upon the beloved lips of his
parents.
" But I have passed the boundary in the twinkling
of an eye and find myself far away from Peroi and all
its romance ; the very thought of my own real home has
destroyed in a moment the fairy spell of my enchant-
ment, and my marble alcove seems to want a covering
of thatch and a weathercock upon it. My little Spiri-
dion looks up in my face as if he observed an expression
upon it different from the one he is accustomed to, and
for a moment leaves his moons and stars as if to be
informed of the cause. Would that I could send the
little angel flying to you with my letter, and with the
power of conveying on his sweet little lips a portion of
314 LIFE OE CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
the pleasure in description that he and I enjoy together.
It is a happiness to look in his little innocent face, beam-
ing with affection reflected there from my own. Not
from my little innocent's face but from the fondness
which it manifestly shows towards him. I have made
a sketch of my pet, which, though it does not do him
justice enough, will convey something of his air.
" But I find my journal, which I intended to have
served for a week, has not even completed a day. My
subject has made me quite too gracious, and is not half
exhausted, so that your glass must be used another time
to finish the picture. I will leave you now for awhile,
as I would not have you take a glass too much ; as it
is, I fear when you get this large sheet, and have to
pay its increased postage, you will fancy you see double,
though I hope the pleasure of the draught will, in spite
of its next day consequences, induce you to drink again.
In the meantime I leave you ; to-morrow I will finish
the journal of to-day.
" C. J. M.
" Pola, July 27th, 1828.
"It is impossible for me, up to my eyes in packing
as I am D'Egville having left all the luggage on my
shoulders to sit down quietly to continue my descrip-
tion of Peroi, which must serve for a future occasion.
Suffice it to know that I have left it, and am in grand
preparation for my voyage. I start to-night at ten
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 315
o'clock ; the wind is propitious and two or three days
will restore me to the land of sophistication.
"Capo D'lstria, July 30tli.
''How vain are all the hopes and expectations of
this life, as Mr. Grant has long ago tried to impress
upon us from the pulpit. And yet, though we are
thoroughly convinced of the truth of the observation,
we cannot help fondly imagining that upon starting
with a fair wind on a voyage of only a day and a half,
that our arrival will be speedy in proportion to the
favour of the breeze. On Sunday evening, at midnight,
I left Pola, and for about a couple of hours we scudded
along as famously as could be wished, when all of a
sudden the wind ceased entirely, and in the morning
I having slept perfectly well upon the thought that we
were flying towards Venice I found myself still within
sight of the Bay of Pola. My chagrin was great, and
gradually increased into despair upon the information
being coolly given by the sailor, that there was no
chance of any change for the better that day. How-
ever, I waited patiently, in the hopes of a night breeze
\v r hich they assured me never failed, but which upon
this occasion, by some accident or other, disappointed
us, and another weary night I passed in my miserable
cabin. Next morning, finding the chances were greatly
in favour of our being still a day or two in the same
predicament, I determined upon being put ashore and
316 LIFE OF CHAKLES J. MATHEWS. [CHAP.
continuiDg my journey on foot, or by means of any
conveyance that might offer itself, and accordingly
started, with a few things in my knapsack, in the
heat of a midday sun, without the slightest hint at
a breath of air, to the nearest village.
" There they had never even heard of a vehicle of
any sort, and they might be Venetians from their total
ignorance of the utility of horses. Luckily, however,
my legs were not yet rendered gouty by the rich sauces
and choice wines of Pola and Peroi, and I stepped out
manfully till nine o'clock at night, when I was heartily
glad to throw myself upon a comfortable bed at Pesino.
This morning, having had a lift of fifteen miles in a cart,
I continued my travels, and here I am, once more, at
Capo D'Istria, heartily tired, and glad to retire to niy
not feathered but straw' d nest.
" Capo D'Istria, August 3rd.
" Here I am still, and still the vessel with my
luggage not arrived ; you may suppose how charming
my stay has been here, my whole time passed upon
the Mole, with a pipe in my hand and a book in my
mouth, that is, vice versd. I have been engaged on the
look-out service, and, from this sample of its pleasures,
have no desire whatever to continue the profession.
Yesterday, my patience being worn out, I made an
excursion to see a famous cavern, fifteen miles off, and
spent rather an agreeable day in the country. Heaven
x.] SECOND VISIT TO ITALY CONTINUED. 317
knows when I shall leave this place, though something
like a favouring breeze seems to flatter me with the
hope that my crew must arrive to-morrow. If not,
I shall certainly start, if I walk all the way. I am
in much too great a fidget to write at length, and
particularly as the exhibition at Venice opens, most
provokingly, to-day. By a most wise and accidental
forethought of mine, I gave my drawings to D'Egville
to take with him, in case (little thinking it would so
ruefully be verified) that I might be detained beyond
the time. I am ready to jump into the sea from
vexation at not being there at the opening, but I
daresay 'all is for the best/ though I confess I am
almost inclined to doubt the justice of the adage in
this instance.
'' Capo D'Istria, August 4th.
" Last night, at length, my lagging vessel arrived
at about midnight ; and, would you believe it, after
all the warnings not to trust myself upon the salt sea
ocean, I am persuaded to put my precious person on
board again, believing their confident assertions that
the wind must last. The alternative being a long
land journey on foot, with a difference in distance of
more than a hundred and fifty miles ! ! My knapsack,
with a wardrobe like that of Mr. Dowlas, is already
on board, and I am about to follow. This paper has
followed me about most faithfully. I hope soon to
318 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHERS. [CHAP. x.
part from it, however, as I am tired of its company.
Though I may be in want of a bed here and there
on the road, I carry my own sheets.
"Venice! August 15th.
" Ah ! thank heaven, at last, here I am, once more
safely anchored ; and a precious voyage I have had of
it. I have nothing like time to describe it or to fill
this gigantic sheet, for I would not lose this occasion
of to-day's post to send off these tidings. Enough, that
here I am. Your letters are in my possession, what
the numbers are I don't quite know. All seems to be
right at the exhibition, of which you will be informed
instantly.
"C. J. M."
APPENDIX.
TRANSLATIONS OF FRENCH CORRESPONDENCE
WITH COUNT D'ORSAY.
I. (p. 110). If you had had any knowledge of the world, you
would have understood that it is indispensable to know one's place
in it that is a matter which, above all things, you ought to learn.
You would avoid by so doing the trouble of being taught that the
friendship which people have for you is no excuse for your taking a
tone which it is necessary to lower, especially when you address
a person who does not forget who he is. If you had taken a proper
tone, you would have learnt that in conversation with milady before
milord, we took occasion to remark that you had let slip the oppor-
tunity of making sketches at Capri, and further, that it was a pity
you did not devote more time to drawing. If you find anything
offensive in these words, I am at a loss as to their meaning, and as
they were only uttered in conversation by milady to me, I was far
from thinking they could annoy you. Further, and on another point,
you have no right to assume an arrogant air and an unbecoming
manner in reproaching me with what I said. You have placed me
under the cruel necessity of putting you in your proper place, but you
might have avoided it all if you had remembered to whom you were
speaking.
II. (p. 111). I have slept and thought over your letter and the
words with which you honoured me yesterday, and as it seems to me
that neither nobility nor superior strength give you any right to insult
me so grossly before ladies, and especially before servants, I hope you
will not refuse me that satisfaction which I feel constrained to demand
of you.
320 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
III. (p. 112). Your letter goes further to prove how little know-
ledge you have of the world. You should know that a letter ought
not to l>e so flippantly ended, and as I hope that some good may
come out of all this quarrel, profit by this piece of advice.
As to the satisfaction you desire, I will give you as much as you
please. N"ame the place and the weapons ; in fact, everything you
think most fitting for your personal satisfaction. I return your
letter, as its tone does not incline me to preserve it.
IV. (p. 117). I am very far from being sorry that Mr. Mathews
has chosen you for his second, my only fear having been that he
might choose somebody else. I am also far from being offended at
any of your remarks. When I esteem anyone, his opinion is always
welcome.
In principle the matter is, as you know, very simple. I was
asked if Mathews had drawn anything at Capri. I replied no, but
that he always carried his chalks and sketch-book to do nothing with,
and that, with his great abilities, it was a pity it should be so. Lord
Blessington had not sufficient courage to speak to him on the subject,
Avithout bringing in my name, and Mathews took the matter up with
me in so lofty a tone, that I was obliged to bring him to reason, after
explaining to him that my remarks had only been prompted by my
interest in him. He continued in the same manner, anci I then told
him that the first time he took the same tone with me, I would throw
him out of the carriage and break his head. I give you the qiiarrel
word for word. The only difference I made between him and anyone
else, was that I only said to him what I would actually have done to
any other person who had treated me in the same manner. If I
accompanied my threat with offensive and unbecoming language, I am
sorry, for his sake as well as for my own ; for I should be wanting in
self-respect if I used unduly violent language.
As to your remark about the difference of rank, it is useless, for I
never attach importance to rank which is so often compromised by so
many fools. I judge people for what they are, without enquiring
who their ancestors may have been, and if my superior had adopted
the same tone of reproach as Mathews did, I would assuredly have
done to him what I only said to Mathews, whom I love too much
to degrade in his own eyes. I feel it would be ridiculous not to
admit that I Avas wrong in using unnecessarily hard words, but at
APPENDIX. 321
the same tinio I do not wish to deny them such for instance as
my proposal to throw him out of the carriage. If Mathews wishes
satisfaction, I Avill give him as much as he likes, acknowledging at
the same time the goodwill he has shown in choosing you for his
second. This affair is as disagreeable for you as it is for all of us,
"but at least it will not alter the friendship of your devoted
COMTE D'ORSAY.
V. (p. 159). It is useless for me to repeat how much we have
regretted your absence, you can have no doubt of that. Let it be
enough for you to know that there is a great void in your place which
no one can fill.
Since your departure Naples has been pretty much the same, Avith
the exception that the ardour of the curious has been somewhat calmed
by the horrible occurrence at Ptestum. You will, no doubt, have seen
in the papers that Mr. and Mrs. Hunt were assassinated there. It
will soon be necessary to have an escort to go to Pompeii. It is only
the artists who are safe from these attacks, for the brigands know they
are armed cap-a-pie, penknives, compasses, &c. But notwithstanding
these weapons, I am glad to see you have returned from Psestum,
for I had an impression that you were not very safe. At this
moment there is in Naples the court painter of H.M. the King of
Prussia, which is not saying much. But, notwithstanding, the man
has arrived, swollen with pretension, and puffed up with presumption.
The good Gell, protector-general of humbugs, has found himself under
an obligation to take him up. He has introduced him to us, with his
drawings. The man has passed two months in the interior of the
museum at Portici and has copied all the paintings, and notwith-
standing his great desire to spoil them, he found it impossible,
for nothing is easier than to copy on tracing paper. Well, Gell is
enthusiastic, he declares that he is a prophet who has come into this
country to save the arts, while certainly, if the man had superior
merit, he would have said : " Oh, nasty boy." You see that Sir
Willy is always the same. The description of your journey has
greatly amused us, and if I were to give you any advice for an
imitation of a French prefet, it would be to do all the ridiculous things
you could. You would be sure not to fail in the part. I forgot to
tell you about Captain Smith, who is more stupid than ever if that
VOL. I. T
322 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
were possible. He has at present a heart-ache since I told him that
his hair is of the best quality for making a cushion. Besides that,
his legs trouble him when he remembers that you can run faster than
he. It was only two days ago that he reminded me that you were
the younger man, and that that was the only reason. Strangways has
left for Smyrna, Baily is here, and will probably follow him ; I
suppose he will meet him in Turkey. In any case he will find
his head over the gate of the seraglio of the Grand Signior, for in that
country they cut off your head without much ceremony. We talk of
you often, and think of you more often still, and if you are not
ungrateful, you ought to do the same.
Adieu, my dear Charles, Avrite to me, for I assure you that the
friendship I bear for you is too sincere to allow it to pass away
in silence.
VI. (p. 161). God bless our souls, my dear Matthias, S is
gone, and is probably already on that Kentish road (of happy
memory). His departure made us all sad for a quarter of an hour
for he had seasoned his farewell with an abundance of tears, which he
had kept in store for this happy circumstance. At last he is gone,
with a bursting heart and full pockets. We all made him a present
and I persuaded Lord Blessington to give him that unfortunate cachet
marin, which Smith received with as much pleasure as if it had
been the command of a second-class frigate. We all experience the
sensations of an invalid who has just been relieved of a plaster.
I advise you to be more afraid of the stumbles of your gray mare
(if she is still alive, and consequently if she still falls), than of those
which you say you make in the French language. Your letter was
too good for you not to go on, and you know how we love you, and
that absence diminishes nothing. So from time to time send us an
epistle in French. It will be well received.
I am sorry to be obliged to speak of a sad subject, but it is
necessary for you to know that Elisabeth has just spoilt sweet Mary's
red gown. From that moment civil war was declared, and it was
only by sacrificing Elisabeth to take Vincenza back, that hostilities
were stopped. You will see by this that Mary is better, now that
there is a question of battles about red gowns, &c. I had forgotten
to tell you that it is definitively known that Vincenza wears a wig ;
Mary had the proof of it in her hand in single combat. I give you
APPENDIX. 323
these little details in order that you may not forget our home life.
Don't mention it to anyone, for sweet Mary would be very angry.
Williams and Blayney seem to preserve their characteristic traits
everywhere, I think that the latter looked at Punch to ascertain if he
were more ridiculous than himself. I have received a letter from
Millingen, Avho is puffing and blowing in Paris worse than ever, and
I think his neighbours have made him move on account of his pul-
monary puffing, for he has been obliged to go from the noise of Paris ;
where his asthma might be confounded with the carts which pass
continually ; to the Eue Neuve des Petits Champs, Avhere he is lodging
now. I am afraid the dear antiquary will not live long, especially
when he learns that a conspiracy has been formed against him
by a bold youth, who has appeared on the horizon to prove that all
that James has Avritten means nothing. You will guess, no doubt,
that this man is a protege of Gell, but notwithstanding, I think
Millingeu will come victoriously out of the Etruscan struggle.
Although his calibre is small, his bullets will make larger breaches
than the shells of others which explode with nothing inside them.
However, if he dies, I shall have him reduced to ashes and put in
our Etruscan lachrymatory. There is more room in it than he will
want, and it is really a tomb worthy of a thin antiquary. I hope that
you have not forgotten a " complimenter " (which means a French
flatterer) his name is Durand whom you saw at Belvedere, very
decided never to part with that which made his happiness, which
consoled him for all his sins, and compensated him for all his troubles
in the world that is to say, his collection. Well, Mr. Durand, on
arriving in Paris, finds that the most important thing he has to do is
to sell it to the King of France, for a sum quite capable of consoling
him for a loss so dear to his sad heart. So now he is a widower with
his mind made up to marry mummies, for he is going to give himself
up to that branch of instruction, or, I should say, of commerce.
B B and Co. have failed. Farewell medals, cigars, and
other amenities of society ! The Abbe loses by this failure 700 guineas,
but he means to get them back some way or other. Medici will viser
his passport, and Circelle will countersign it. P declares that it
is a great comfort not to fail. In the first place he never had much
idea of B 's house, he thinks little of F , and still less of
Eothschild, but to make up for it he thinks a great deal of D
324 LIFE OF CHARLES J. MATHEWS.
and P . At the present moment M. G is having some trousers
made, probably on the model of mine ; "but it is a politic stroke to
show the tailors of the city that his firm is all right. Although
M never puts his foot inside the office, he has certified to in/j on
the most sacred Avord of honour of a gentleman of Jersey and other
places, that they have discovered in Pompeii things which we must
go and see when this furious rush of strangers is calmed down you
will understand that it is useless to go to Pompeii to see all the
partners of Day and Martin, and of Barclay Perkins. You have
110 idea of the appearance of the English who are now in Xaples ;
they are really laughing-stocks. I assure you that if Baron Stiiltz of
Clifford Street were to arrive now, he would cut a great figure among
them.
I begin to see that I have just room to wish you plenty of
instruction and pleasure in the office you are about to enter. Finally,
my dear Charles, if you have all the good fortune which I wish you,
you cannot fail to be happy. Lady B sends you a million
friendly messages. Lord B is sneezing just now, otherwise he
would, I am persuaded, send you at least 1,500 amiable things. As
for Mary, she says all manner of things which I have no more space
for. As for myself, I assure you of my unalterable friendship, and
beg you to present my respects to your mother, and my compliments
to your father. Lady B desires to be remembered to your
mother, whom she loves with all her heart.
Adieu, and for ever your
Very devoted
D'ORSAY.
END OF VOL. I.
CHABLBB DICKERS AND EVANS, CBYSTAL PALACE PBESS.
THB
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