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THE  LIFE  OF  EDWARD  BULWER 

FIRST  LORD  LYTTON 


MACMILLAN  AND  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •  BOMBAY  •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK  •  BOSTON  •  CHICAGO 
DALLAS  •  SAN    FRANCISCO 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


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*~L   crd  .-£   ///tr 


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1869 


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CONTENTS 
BOOK  IV 

LITERARY 
ELEVEN  YEARS  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1841-1852 
CHAPTER  I 

PACK 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS,  HEALTH  AND  HABITS,  1836-1845         3 

CHAPTER  II 

ZANONI  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES,   1842  .  .       30 

CHAPTER   III 
LITERARY  WORK,   1842-1846  .  .  .       51 

CHAPTER  IV 

CHEQUERED  YEARS,  1846-1850          .  .  .  -77 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V 

PAGE 

THE  GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART,   1851  .  .130 

CHAPTER   VI 

POLITICAL  CONVERSION,   1841-1852.  .  .  .14.9 


BOOK   V 

POLITICAL 
RETURN  TO  PARLIAMENT 

1852-1866 

CHAPTER   I 

M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE,   1852-1854          .  .  .     181 

CHAPTER   II 

THE  CRIMEAN  WAR,   1854-1855        ....     204 

CHAPTER  III 

ACTIVITIES  IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT,   1855-1858  .     242 

CHAPTER    IV 

THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS,   1836-1858     .  .  .     262 

vi 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   V 


PAGE 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  THE  COLONIES,   1858-1859  .     280 

CHAPTER   VI 

POLITICAL  REFORM,  1859-1867          .  .  .  .     307 

CHAPTER   VII 

PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT  FROM  POLITICS,   1859-1866  .     324 


BOOK   VI 

LITERARY  AND  PERSONAL 
LAST  YEARS 

1867-1873 

CHAPTER    I 

FATHER  AND  SON      .  .  .  .  .  -375 

CHAPTER   II 

OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS  .  .  .  •     4J7 

CHAPTER   III 

PEACEFUL  YEARS,   1867-1870  ....     440 

CHAPTER   IV 

LAST  LITERARY  WORK,   1870-1872  ....     460 

vii 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 

PAGE 

WESTMINSTER  ABBEY,   1873    .  .  .  .  -483 

CHAPTER  VI 
SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT    .....     492 

APPENDICES 

I.  LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL  .  .  .     5°7 

II.  BIBLIOGRAPHY     .  .  .  .  .  •     527 

III.  LIST  OF  RESIDENCES        .  .  .  .  -53° 

INDEX  .  .533 


vin 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

FACE    PAGE 

Lord  Lytton,  sketched  from  memory  by  E.  M.  Ward,  R.A., 

Knebworth,  Aug.  18,  1869      .  .  .         Frontispiece 

Emily  Bulwer-Lytton,  circa  1847,  from  a  water-colour  draw- 
ing at  Knebworth  .  .  .  .  .102 

Fascimile  of  a  page  of  the  MS.  of  The  Caxtons         .  .106 

Sir  E.  Bulwer-Lytton,  Bart.,  in  his  Library,  1850,  from  a 

painting  by  Daniel  Maclise,  R.A.,  at  Knebworth  .        130 

Knebworth   House,  from   a   lithograph   by   F.  W.  Hulme, 

published  in  1847         .....       248 

Robert  Lytton,  aet.  20,  from  a  drawing  by  Charles  Martin 
made  at  Washington  in  1851,  and  now  in  the  possession 
of  the  Earl  of  Lytton  .....  382 

Lord  Lytton  in  his  Study,  from  a  painting  by  E.  M.  Ward, 

R.A.,  at  Knebworth     .....       440 


IX 


BOOK  IV 

LITERARY 
ELEVEN  YEARS   OUT   OF   PARLIAMENT 

1841-1852 

Literature  became  to  him  as  art  to  the  artist — as  mistress  to  the 
lover — an  engrossing  and  passionate  delight.  He  loved  it  as  a  pro- 
fession— he  devoted  to  its  pursuits  and  honours  his  youth,  cares, 
dreams — his  mind  and  his  heart  and  his  soul. 

Ernest  Maltravers. 


VOL.  II 


CHAPTER   I 

PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS,  HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1836-1845 

His  heart  was  too  solitary.  He  lived  without  the  sweet  household 
ties.  The  connections  and  amities  he  formed  excited  for  a  moment,  but 
possessed  no  charm  to  comfort  or  to  soothe. 

The  wear  and  tear  of  the  brain — the  absorbing  passion  for  knowledge 
which  day  and  night  kept  all  his  faculties  in  a  stretch,  made  strange  havoc 
with  a  constitution  naturally  strong. 

Ernest  Maltra.<vers. 

THE  preceding  book  carried  the  story  of  Edward    l83<5. 
Bulwer's  public  life,  as    author   and    politician,  ^T-  33- 
from    the    date    when    his    autobiography    ends 
down  to  the  year  1 840.     Having  now  arrived  at 
the  period  when  he  passes  from  early  manhood 
into   middle   life — the  period  when   he  himself 
began   to  review  his  career  and  make  autobio- 
graphical   notes,   it   may    be   well   to   devote    a 
chapter    to    a    few    details   of  a   more   personal 
character. 

To  take  up  the  thread  of  his  personal  life  it 
will  be  necessary  to  go  back  to  1836 — the  year 
of  his  separation  from  his  wife.  In  the  mental 
distress  which  he  suffered  then,  and  in  the  suc- 
ceeding years,  when  his  wife  began  to  pursue  him 
with  publications  of  a  libellous  character,  Bulwer 

3 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

1836.  had  at  least  one  friend  from  whom  he  never 
.  33.  failed  to  receive  sympathy  and  consolation.  This 
friend  was  Lady  Blessington.  Her  admiration  of 
his  writings  was  perhaps  too  generous  for  her  to 
serve  him  as  a  helpful  critic,  but  in  all  the 
troubles  and  difficulties  of  his  private  life  the 
genuine  affection  of  so  intelligent  and  experi- 
enced a  woman  of  the  world,  gave  him  the 
greatest  possible  support. 

The  following  letters,  selected  from  many 
which  passed  between  them  on  this  subject, 
will  serve  to  illustrate  the  cordiality  of  their 
relations  : — 

Lady  Blessington  to  Edward  Bulwer. 

{End  of  April  or  beginning  of  May,  1836.] 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — I  have  thought  of  you  often 
during  the  last  weeks,  and  not  unfrequently  of  Mrs. 
Bulwer.  I  pity  her  exceedingly,  because  to  understand 
her  wrong  -  headedness,  one  must  be  Irish.  If  you 
belonged  to  that  country  you  would  feel  as  I  do  the 
difficulty  of  conquering  the  violence  inherent  to  all 
who  owe  their  birth  to  it,  a  violence  originating  in 
imagination  so  excitable  and  temper  so  irascible,  that 
poor  Reason  can  but  rarely  govern  its  victims.  You 
cold  English  cannot  excuse  the  faults  of  us  hot-headed 
Irish,  but  we  have  many  victims  to  atone  for  them. 
Still,  I  admit,  that  though  I  should  like  an  Irishwoman 
for  my  mother  or  sister,  for  Irishwomen  are  naturally 
chaste,  I  should  be  afraid  to  have  one  for  my  wife, 
because  they  are  all  cursed  with  fiery  tempers.  I  have 
seasoned  mine  down  since  I  have  become  old,  but  when 
young  I  was  most,  most  impetuous. 

4 


LADY  BLESSINGTON 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Lady  Elessington. 

How  kind  in  you,  my  dearest  and  most  considerate  1836. 
of  friends  to  write  to  me  in  a  strain  that  you  knew  Jvr.  33. 
must  be  so  acceptable.  Mrs.  Bulwer  may  deserve  pity, 
but  she  has  worn  out  and  trod  away  all  such  moss 
and  herbage  from  my  heart,  though  it  took  a  long 
time.  However,  I  am  glad  that  she  goes  out  and 
amuses  herself.  I  think  there  is  a  difference  between 
violence  of  feeling  and  violence  of  temper,  a  pas- 
sionate heart  and  a  furious  head  ;  that  you  may  have 
had  the  first  I  will  not  doubt.  I  give  up  to  you  the 
feeling  and  the  heart.  But  permit  me  to  remain  a 
sceptic  as  to  the  head  and  the  temper.  Be  sure  that 
I  shall  not  forget  your  invitation  for  the  8th  of  May. 

For  my  feelings,  they  are  like  those  of  a  man 
who  has  been  upon  precipices,  and  amidst  storms,  and 
pursued  by  tormenting  imps  for  a  long  night.  In  his 
despair  he  jumps  down  a  rock,  and  the  spell  vanishes. 
He  is  bruised,  sore,  lacerated  by  the  shock,  but  he  is 
still  grateful  for  the  release.  I  desire  no  wound  to 
Mrs.  B.  I  would  yet  do  all  I  can  to  leave  her  harmless, 
and  I  should  feel  this  desire  yet  stronger  if  her  friends 
had  not  thought  it  due  to  her  to  vilify  me.  But  all 
this  will  pass  away,  even  from  my  own  memory  ; 
and  as  peace  returns  to  my  Ark  it  will  bring  the  olive 
bough  of  my  forgiveness  to  all  others. — Most  afftly. 
&  gratefully  yrs., 

K.  L.  B. 

Lady  Blessington  to  Edward  Bulwer. 

Thursday,  June  1 6,  1836. 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — It  is  because  I  know  how 
shattered  your  nerves  are  (and  no  wonder),  and  how 
much  your  health  must  consequently  suffer,  that  I 
wished  you  to  enjoy  a  fair  day's  quiet  and  fresh  air. 

5 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

1836.  Had  I  not  both  to  offer  you,  I  should  positively  have 
JEr.  33.  advised  you  to  go  to  some  retired  and  quiet  Inn,  as 
I  know  you  require  air,  and  solitude,  to  recover  from 
the  depression  recent  events  have  occasioned.  Be 
assured  I  understand  your  feelings  too  well  to  allow 
you  to  be  intruded  on  with  me.  You  shall  have  a 
quiet  room  free  from  all  interruption,  breakfast  alone, 
nay,  dine  alone,  if  you  do  not  feel  equal  to  our 
society,  and  the  garden  to  yourself.  You  shall  have 
your  writing  table  and  ingress  and  egress  to  the  garden 
without  meeting  a  soul.  Only  fancy  yourself  at  an  Inn, 
and  not  on  a  visit,  and  be  assured  a  few  days  of  quiet 
and  fresh  air  will  do  more  to  recover  your  enfeebled 
health  and  depressed  spirits  than  any  other  remedy. 
Neither  Alfred  nor  I  will  expect  you  to  make  the  agree- 
able, or  fatigue  you  with  attentions  which,  under  your 
present  feelings,  would  be,  I  know,  insupportable. 
Only  consider  Gore  House  an  Inn  kept  by  a  landlady 
that  attends  to  the  comfort  of  her  guests,  but  does  not 
wish  to  intrude  on  them,  and  come  to  it  when  you  like. 

If  it  be  any  consolation  to  you  to  know  that  there 
is  one  heart  that  truly  and  warmly  feels  for  the  pangs 
inflicted  on  yours,  then  be  assured  that  mine  does.  I 
have  met  unkindness  and  ingratitude  from  some  near 
and  once  dear  to  me,  and  for  years  the  wounds  inflicted 
could  not  and  would  not  heal.  Judge  then  how  well 
I  can  understand  your  feelings,  and  how  well  I  know 
the  utter  uselessness  of  commonplace  consolations. 

All  that  you  say  or  write  to  me  shall  be  sacred, 
for  I  am  too  proud  for  you  to  let  others  know  what 
they  could  not  understand,  namely,  that  the  fine 
sensibility  that  belongs  to  genius  gives  poignancy  to 
every  disappointment  of  the  affections,  and  makes 
what  appears  trifling  to  others,  misery  to  the  so 
fatally  gifted. — Ever  your  affte.  and  devoted  friend, 

M.  BLESSINGTON. 


CONSOLATIONS  OF  FRIENDSHIP 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Lady  Elessington. 

KNEBWORTH,  Oct.  20,  1836. 

MY    DEAREST    FRIEND — Pray  indulge    me  with    a    1836. 
line  to  let  me  know  how  you  are.     I  cannot  bear  the  ^T.  33. 
idea  of  your  over-fatiguing  yourself,  and  it  seems  to 
me  as  if  the  action  of  the  mind  had  completely  fallen 
on   the   nerves.      I    know  what    those   nervous   com- 
plaints are  when  produced  by  study.     You  must  guard 
against   them  at  the   outset,  and  for    Heaven's  sake, 
don't  do  anything  for  the  present.     Lay  your  mind  on 
the  shelf. 

My  dearest  Lady  Blessington,  there  is  hardly  any 
person  in  the  world  I  esteem  and  regard  so  much  as 
yourself,  or  for  whom  I  feel  so  grateful  and  warm 
an  interest,  and  to  prove  this  to  you,  however  humbly, 
would  be  a  delightful  vent  to  my  sentiments. 

I  left  London  rather  suddenly  for  an  appointment 
with  Lord  Melbourne  upon  a  matter  of  some  importance, 
and  thence  came  here.  The  scene  of  one's  childhood 
is  the  true  moral  bath  of  youth.  One  laves  away  years 
and  cares  in  its  quiet. 

Dear  D'Orsay !  Only  think,  there  is  a  family  here  (one 
of  whom  was  always  with  Mrs.  B.  in  her  latter  days  of 
melancholy  irritations,  and  who  now  corresponds  with 
her)  who,  I  understand,  have  got  it  into  their  heads 
that  D'Orsay  had  some  influence  over  me  in  my  separa- 
tion. D'Orsay,  with  whom  from  that  day  to  this  I  have 
never  spoken  on  the  subject !  I  shall  manage  to  dispel 
that  notion,  but  I  will  not  renew  my  tiresome  invitation 
to  him  at  present,  lest  it  should  seem  to  give  colour  to 
a  notion  which  might  expose  him  to  figure  in  Mrs.  B.'s 
meditated  book.  It  would  be  too  severe  a  penance  in 
return  for  passing  some  dull  days  here  to  be  subjected 
to  a  malice  so  unmerited.  I  had  looked  forward  with 
so  much  pleasure  to  seeing  him  and  felt  so  much  his 

7 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

1836.  kindness  in  thinking  of  what  must  have  been  a  great 
£T.  33.  bore  to  one  so  brilliant,  that  I  feel  this  privation  and 
persecution  sensibly.  But  whatever  Mrs.  B.  may  do 
against  me,  I  cannot  bear  the  notion  that  she  should 
wound  me  through  my  friends.  God  bless  you, 
my  dearest  friend. — Most  affecty.  &  faithfully  yrs., 

E.  L.  B. 


Lady  Blessing  ton  to  Edward  Bulwer. 

GORE  HOUSE, 
Sunday  Evg., 
Oct.  23,  1836. 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — The  kindness  of  your  letter 
melted  me  to  tears,  not  that  I  am  unused  to  kindness, 
for  I  have  much  to  be  grateful  for,  but  that  yours  is  so 
thoughtful,  so  delicate,  so  like  yourself,  that  it  affected 
me  more  than  a  thousand  acts  of  friendship  from  others. 
The  first  day  I  ever  saw  you,  I  told  Alfred  that  I  would 
resign  all  my  pretensions  to  physiognomy  if  yours  was 
not  the  noblest  and  kindest  nature  that  ever  animated  a 
human  form.  This  opinion  every  year's  knowledge  of 
you  has  confirmed,  and  I  do  assure  you  I  have  thought 
better  of  mankind  ever  since  I  have  known  you. 

Alfred  desires  me  to  offer  you  his  most  cordial 
regards.  He  feels  the  kindness  of  your  motives,  and 
is  indignant  that  anyone  could  judge  you  so  falsely  as 
to  imagine  that  you  could  be  influenced  by  any  human 
being  on  such  a  point  as  the  one  in  question,  in  which 
your  delicacy  and  dignity  would  alike  preclude  those 
even  who  most  esteem  you  from  hazarding  an  opinion. 
Mrs.  B.,  be  assured,  is  the  dupe  of  persons  envious  of 
your  fame,  who  use  her  as  an  instrument  to  assail 
you.  Unhappily,  she  has  not  had  prudence  enough  to 
foil  such  enemies,  enemies  still  more  injurious  to  her 
true  interests  and  happiness  than  to  yours. 

8 


GHOSTS  OF  THE  PAST 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Lady  Blessing  ton. 

MARGATE, 
Oct.  3rd,  1837. 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — Many  thanks  for  your  most  l837- 
kind  and  flattering  critique  on  Maltravers.  I  am  ^T-  34- 
charmed  by  your  approbation,  and  hope  the  second 
series  may  please  you  as  well.  I  have  been  whiling 
away  the  time  here  with  nothing  much  better  than  the 
mere  enjoyment  of  a  smooth  sea  and  fair  sky,  which  a 
little  remind  me  of  my  beloved  Naples.  Margate  and 
Naples — what  association  1  After  all,  a  very  little  could 
suffice  to  make  us  happy,  were  it  not  for  our  own 
desires  to  be  happier  still.  If  we  could  but  reduce  our- 
selves to  mechanism,  we  could  be  contented.  Certainly, 
I  think  as  we  grow  older,  we  grow  more  cheerful,  ex- 
ternals please  us  more  ;  and  were  it  not  for  those  dead 
passions  which  we  call  Memories,  and  which  have  ghosts 
no  exorcism  can  lay,  we  might  walk  on  soberly  to  the 
future,  and  dispense  with  excitement  by  the  way.  But 
for  me,  I  cannot  long  be  alone  with  the  Past.  I  must 
ever  be  busied  with  little  anxieties  created  for  myself, 
in  order  to  escape  from  the  terrible  stillness  within. 
Hence  an  industry  and  restlessness  not  really  natural  to 
me.  Once  I  was  idleness  itself.  I  hate  my  mhler^  but 
I  go  on  with  it,  and  still  fancy,  like  the  tradesman 
behind  his  counter,  that  the  day  will  come  when  I  may 
be  happy  and  retire.  Vain  hope  !  but  it  helps  to  steal 
the  ground  from  under  us,  and  bring  us  nearer  to  the 
Grave.  If  we  cannot  stop  time,  it  is  something  to  shoe 
him  with  felt  and  prevent  his  steps  from  creaking. 

The  subject  of  his  domestic  trouble  mentioned 
in  these  letters  is  also  referred  to  at  the  beginning 
of  a  diary  of  his  daily  thoughts  and  occupations, 
which  Bulwer  began  to  write  in  1838.  Un- 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

1838.    fortunately,  this  was  only  kept  up  from  the  22nd 
35-  of  May  till  the  4th  of  June,  and  therefore  affords 
the  briefest  possible  record  of  his  personal  life. 
It  is  nevertheless  an  interesting  revelation  of  his 
inner  thoughts  at  this  time. 

"  I  begin  this  journal,"  he  says,  "  in  a  critical  and 
anxious  period  of  life.  On  one  side  there  is  much  that 
is  bright  and  prosperous,  but  doubt,  care,  and  even 
terror  on  the  reverse.  I  am  in  the  prime  of  life  ;  I 
have  made  a  name  ;  I  have  but  few  rivals  in  literary 
reputation.  I  have  mastered,  especially  during  this 
session,  the  most  arduous  difficulties  in  a  political  career. 
I  have  won  a  not  inconsiderable  station  in  Parliament. 
This  is  one  side  of  the  medal.  On  the  other,  I  am 
uncertain  whether  I  can  keep  my  position  in  letters. 
My  foes  are  numerous,  and  the  public,  I  fear,  will  get 
weary  of  my  name.  But  that  thought  vexes  me  not. 
Again,  my  worldly  prospects  are  clouded  and  uncertain. 
Neither  does  that  thought  vex  me.  Again,  my  health 
is  precarious ;  my  constitution,  always  delicate,  has 
upon  it  incessant  demands  of  labour  and  excitement ; 
London  does  not  agree  with  me  ;  Parliament  fatigues 
and  exhausts  me.  I  may  die  before  I  have  fulfilled  my 
destinies  or  unfolded  half  my  powers.  I  may  die 
before  I  have  realised  a  fortune  necessary  for  the  claims 
of  those  most  dear  to  me.  I  may  die  before  I  have 
raised  in  my  behalf  the  charitable  and  just  judgments 
of  the  world  against  the  calumnies  and  falsehoods 
which  the  woman  who  slept  upon  my  bosom  will 
engrave  upon  my  tomb.  But  this,  too,  is  no  very 
haunting  thought.  No,  the  grief  and  the  fear  that 
gnaw  me,  that  darken  the  day,  and  sour  enjoyment, 
honours  and  hopes,  are  in  the  conduct  of  the  mother  of 
my  children.  Passions  that  never  listen  to  reason,  a 


10 


PRIVATE  JOURNAL 

crafty  and  deliberate  malignity  are  ever  at  work  against  1838. 
me.  I  tremble  every  day  lest  my  domestic  sores  should  ^T.  35. 
be  dragged  still  more  into  light,  and  all  that  is  most 
sacred  in  men's  hearths  and  homes  exposed  to  all  that 
is  most  galling  in  public  gossip.  True,  I  can  defend 
myself,  but  my  defence  is  against  the  bearer  of  my 
name,  the  mother  of  my  children.  Heaven  knows 
what  I  have  borne  and  how  forborne,  what  sacrifices  I 
made  in  marriage,  what  indulgences  I  showed  after- 
wards, how  often  I  forgave  before  I  was  stung  into 
separation,  and  how  anxiously  even  then  I  desired  to 
secure  peace  of  mind  and  an  unspotted  name  to  my 
bitterest  foe.  My  return  has  been  slander  industriously 
circulated,  secrets  indecently  exposed,  letters  of  the 
most  solemn  privacy  treacherously  revealed,  garbled 
and  glossed  to  make  love  itself  bear  the  designs  of 
hate." 

The  journal  continues  with  a  daily  record  of 
engagements,  literary  and  political  labours,  and 
personal  incidents.  One  entry  is  interesting  in  the 
light  of  recent  developments  in  shipbuilding  : — 

Drove  to  Limehouse  to  see  the  largest  steam 
vessel  yet  built.  Glad  old  England  has  the  start  of 
America.  Crowds  of  people.  Got  into  the  vessel  and 
went  a  little  way  up  the  river.  Miss  Landon  and  her 
affianced  on  board.  Poor  dear  girl,  I  pity  her. 

The  following  day  he  describes  a  dinner  at 
Frederick  Byng's  : — 

Moore  most  charming,  full  of  anecdote  and  flowing 
with  wit  like  a  fountain  with  wine.  Fonblanque  there 
—the  English  wit  versus  the  Irish — dry,  sharp,  pungent. 
When  with  good  talkers  I  like  listening.  I  have  no 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

1838.  impulse  to  shine  in  salons,  tho'  now  and  then  I  have 
Mr.  35.  my  vein.  Fonblanque  most  eulogistic  of  my  speech.1 
Took  Shell  to  the  House.  He,  too,  most  encomiastic. 
He  says  Stanley  declares  the  Government  would  do 
anything  for  me  if  I  would  suggest  what.  No,  I  will 
wait  till  my  fruit  is  riper.  I  will  not  be  a  subordinate. 
Besides,  I  don't  quite  agree  with  these  men.  The 
House  immensely  full.  Two  nights  occupied  about 
a  polling  booth  in  Roxburghshire !  Noble  party 
question !  Delaying  tithes  in  Ireland,  Municipal 
Corporations,  the  lives  and  properties  of  thousands  in 
the  West  Indies  for  a  polling  booth  in  Hawick  ;  and 
then  they  wonder  that  I  dislike  Parliament.  Divided 
at  half  past  12.  Home.  Proofs  for  Chronicle?  Bed. 

The  following  entry  may  perhaps  be  given  as 
an  illustration  of  his  occupations  : — 

Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thursday,  four  days 
I  have  omitted  from  the  register — either  too  idle  or  too 
busy.  I  have  sent  a  short  review  to  The  Edinburgh  ; 
have  read  correspondence  of  the  Duchess  of  Marlboro'  ; 
her  bitter  experience  saddens  yet  pleases  ;  she  knew  the 
world  of  public  men  ;  have  played  with  a  few  Greek 
books  and  read  a  charming  French  novel — Riche  et 
Pauvre.  In  the  world,  crowds  of  engagements  as 
usual.  Saw  the  young  Queen  at  the  Duke  of  Sussex's. 
What  grace  she  has,  what  fairy  royalty  ;  in  a  rose 
coloured  dress  she  seemed  the  rose  herself,  Queen  of 
the  flowers.  Saw  Kean  in  Othello,  external  vigour 
great,  no  metaphysics  in  conception. 

Friday ',  June  ist.  Showers  and  gloom.  In  vain  I 
strive  to  write.  I  am  unsettled.  Abused  in  The  Times 
for  my  defence  of  the  Negroes  in  a  phrase  reflecting  on 

1  On  the  Emancipation  of  the  W.  Indian  Slaves. 

2  The  Monthly  Chronicle  which  he  was  editing  at  that  time. 

12 


THE  POETRY  OF  DRESS 

"  mysteries   at   the   Albany."     Mrs.    B.'s    calumnious    1838. 
falsehood  again  !     How  great  a  lie  that  was,  confessed  &T.  35. 
to   be   so   in   her   own   writing — yet   can    it   ever   be 
contradicted  ?     Well,  well,  I  shall  go  out  and  shake  off 
the  nightmare.     Dined  with  my  Mother — went  thence 
to  Lady  Osborne's,  who  asked  me  if  I  had  not  origin- 
ally been  shy,  and  fancied  she  saw  a  struggle  between 
my  real  nature  and  my  artificial  career. 

The  last  entry  which  I  shall  quote  is  of 
interest  for  its  reference  to  the  dandyism  of  the 
day  : — 

Went  to  Holland  House.  Lady  Cowper l  there  in 
widow's  weeds,  still  handsome  and  very  intelligent  and 
interesting.  She  is  associated  with  my  first  beaux  jours, 
the  early  tickets  for  Almacks  and  my  first  fine  lady 
love.  Lady  Holland  asked  if  Boz  was  presentable,  and 
became  the  condescending  with  a  man  of  genius,  a 
thing  not  to  be  forgiven  ;  so  I  growled  and  snapped. 
Talked  by  the  window  of  the  long  library  looking  on 
the  moonlight  of  sentiment  and  politics — dreams  both. 
A  few  years  hence  and  from  the  same  place  will  be 
talked  the  same  matters,  as  if  our  hearts  had  never 
beat.  Drove  thence  to  Babbage's2  all  the  world  and 
his  wife.  Lady  Osborne  curious  touching  the  shyness 
and  the  dandyism.  As  for  both,  both  are  natural. 
God  gave  my  soul  an  exterior  abode,  and  the  very 
fact  that  there  is  a  soul  within  the  shell,  makes  me 
think  the  shell  not  to  be  neglected.  There  is  a  poetry 
in  dress.  All  our  great  ancestors  who  were  gentlemen 
had  something  of  the  Beau — Aristotle  as  well  as 
Alcibiades.  A  Greek  was  an  exquisite  for  excellence. 
So  again  the  Romans,  and  so  the  Elizabethan  heroes, 

1  Afterwards  Lady  Palmerston. 

2  Charles   Babbage   (1792-1871),    the   mathematician,   author   of  the 
famous  "  calculating  machine." 

13 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1838-1843.  Raleigh,  Sidney,  etc.  Look  to  their  portraits.  I  have 
.  35-40.  it  in  my  Norman  blood.  The  Normans  were  the 
gentlemen  of  the  world.  As  for  conceit  in  manner  or 
conversation,  of  that  they  acquit  me.  Let  them  fall 
foul  of  the  garb  if  they  will.  Like  the  camel-driver,  I 
give  up  my  clothes  to  the  camel,  let  him  trample  on 
them  and  fancy  he  crushes  me.1 

This  journal,  although  it  covers  a  very  short 
space  of  time,  serves  to  throw  some  light  upon 
the  manner  in  which  its  author's  time  was 
occupied,  and  the  hours  which  he  devoted  to 
serious  literary  work.  Throughout  his  life  his 
industry  was  incessant.  His  published  works 
alone  afford  sufficient  evidence  of  this  fact,  but 
his  note-books  and  private  correspondence  show 
that  he  was  also  a  voluminous  reader  and  letter 
writer.  Moreover,  the  number  of  incomplete 
works  —  novels,  essays,  plays,  poems  and  unde- 
livered speeches,  which  are  to  be  found  among 
his  papers — are  almost  as  numerous  as  those 
which  were  completed  and  published. 

Bulwer  hardly  seems  to  have  been  conscious 
himself  of  the  amount  of  time  which  was  con- 
sumed in  these  labours,  if  one  may  judge  from 
his  own  account  of  his  methods  of  work  con- 
tained in  a  speech  which  he  delivered  to  a  boys' 
school  in  1854  : — 

"  Many  persons,"  he  said,  "  seeing  me  so  much 
engaged  in  active  life,  and  as  much  about  the  world  as 
if  I  had  never  been  a  student,  have  said  to  me  '  When 

1  See  Ernest  Malfravers,  Book  vi.,  chap,  v.,  p.  250,  Knebworth  Edition. 


ADVICE  TO  SCHOOLBOYS 

do  you  get  the  time  to  write  all  your  books?     How  1838-1843. 
on  earth  do  you  contrive  to  do  so  much  work?'     I  JEr.  35-40. 
shall  perhaps  surprise  you  by  the  answer  I  make.     The 
answer  is  this — '  I  contrive  to  do  so  much,  by  never 
doing  too  much  at  a  time.' 

"  A  man,  to  get  through  work  well,  must  not  over- 
work himself — or  if  he  do  too  much  to-day,  the 
reaction  of  fatigue  will  come,  and  he  will  be  obliged 
to  do  little  to-morrow.  Now,  since  I  began  really  and 
earnestly  to  study,  which  was  not  till  I  had  left  college 
and  was  actually  in  the  world,  I  may  perhaps  say  that 
I  have  gone  through  as  large  a  course  of  general 
reading  as  most  men  of  my  time.  I  have  travelled 
much,  I  have  mixed  much  in  politics  and  in  the.  various 
business  of  life,  and  in  addition  to  this,  I  have  published 
somewhere  above  sixty  volumes,  some  upon  subjects 
requiring  much  special  research.  And  what  time  do 
you  think,  as  a  general  rule,  I  have  devoted  to  study — 
to  reading  and  writing?  Not  more  than  three  hours 
a  day,  and  when  Parliament  is  sitting,  not  always 
that.  But  then,  during  those  hours  I  have  given 
my  whole  attention  to  what  I  was  about.  Thus,  you 
see  it  does  not  require  so  very  much  time  at  a 
stretch  to  get  through  a  considerable  amount  of 
brain  work,  but  it  requires  application  regularly  and 
daily  continued.  If  you  pour  once  a  week  a  whole 
bucketful  of  water  on  a  stone,  you  leave  no  impres- 
sion behind.  But  if  you  continually  let  fall  a  drop 
on  the  stone,  the  proverb  tells  you  that  you  wear  a 
hole  in  it  at  last. 

"  When  a  certain  political  adventurer  who  had  made 
his  way  through  all  the  prisons  of  Europe  was  asked 
how  he  managed  it,  he  said  : — *  A  very  small  file  will  eat 
through  iron  bars,  if  you  file  an  hour  or  two  every  night' ; 
and  so,  in  the  stern  dungeons  of  mortal  ignorance, 
file  at  the  bars — steadily  when  alone  ;  and  no  prison 

15 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1838-1843.  can    detain    you   long   from    escape   into   free  air   and 
JE.-T.  35-40.  celestial  light." 

This  was  excellent  advice  to  give  to  a  boys' 
school,  but  although  it  professes  to  be  based 
upon  personal  experience,  it  is  entirely  at  variance 
with  the  facts  of  his  own  life  as  revealed  by 
other  evidence.  It  is  true  that  he  worked 
continuously  and  not  by  fits  and  starts  ;  true  also 
that  during  his  hours  of  study  he  gave  his  whole 
attention  to  what  he  was  about ;  but  it  is  certainly 
not  true  that  he  never  worked  more  than  three 
hours  a  day,  or  that  he  never  overworked  him- 
self. At  many  periods  of  his  life  he  must  have 
worked  almost  day  and  night  for  weeks  together. 
By  no  other  means  could  he  have  accomplished 
what  he  did.  I  have  already  recorded  that  his 
two  most  important  dramatic  works,  Richelieu 
and  The  Lady  of  Lyons,  were  written  in  little 
over  a  fortnight  each,  and  the  novel  of  Harold 
was  completed  in  less  than  a  month.  He  was 
frequently  engaged  upon  two  novels  simul- 
taneously,1 and,  apart  from  his  literary  and 
political  work,  his  life  was  as  fully  occupied  as 
that  of  most  people  with  social  engagements, 
reading,  foreign  travel,  and  recreations. 

His  chief  form  of  physical  exercise  was  riding. 
Wherever  he  happened  to  be  living,  he  nearly 
always  managed  to  keep  a  horse,  and  his  daily 
rides  or  walks  did  much  to  counteract  the  strain 
on  his  health  created  by  excessive  brain  work. 

1  Eugene   Aram  and    Godolphin,    Lucretia    and    The    Caxtons,  Kenelm 
Chillingly  and  The  Parisians,  were  written  simultaneously. 

16 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

Of  his  personal  appearance  I  ought,  perhaps,  1838-1843. 
to  say  something.  The  portraits  reproduced  in  &T.  35-40. 
these  volumes  will  give  a  general  idea  of  his 
physiognomy.  As  a  young  man  he  was  clean 
shaven  except  for  the  side-whiskers,  so  character- 
istic of  that  period  ;  between  1840  and  1855  he 
had  a  moustache  as  well  as  the  whiskers  ;  after 
1855  he  grew  a  small  imperial,  and  from  1865 
to  the  end  of  his  life  he  allowed  his  beard  to 
grow  in  full.  In  his  youth  he  was  most 
extravagantly  dressed  in  the  gaudiest  fashions  of 
the  dandy  of  that  day  ;  later  in  life  he  grew  less 
careful  of  his  appearance.  The  mornings  he 
would  spend  in  dressing-gown  and  slippers, 
either  at  work  in  his  study,  or  wandering  in 
profound  reverie,  like  a  sleep-walker.  At 
luncheon-time  he  would  appear  well-groomed 
and  affable. 

My  mother  has  thus  described  her  recollec- 
tion of  him  : — 

He  was  of  middle  height,  about  5  feet  10,  I 
should  think  ;  but  a  very  tall  .hat  and  a  habit  of  throw- 
ing back  his  head  made  him  appear  taller.  His  hair 
and  beard  were  dyed  a  reddish-brown.  He  had  pierc- 
ing eyes,  and  a  large,  generous  mouth,  which  opened 
wide  when  he  laughed,  and  showed  large  and  very  white 
teeth.  His  feet  and  hands  were  small  and  well-shaped, 
the  fingers  long  and  expressive.  He  hardly  spoke  at 
breakfast-time  and  was  very  alarming.  After  a  short 
time  he  would  throw  his  tea  into  a  glass  and  carry  it  off 
to  his  study,  where  he  remained  for  the  rest  of  the 
morning.  At  luncheon- time  he  reappeared,  and  was 
then  very  sociable.  He  liked  in  the  early  afternoon  to 

VOL.  ii  17  c 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1838-1843.  drive  round  the  county  in  a  large  open  barouche.  He 
JE.T.  35-40.  would  talk  generally  at  dinner,  and  in  the  evening  liked 
to  have  singing  and  music.  When  with  a  few  friends 
he  would  make  his  musical  box  play,  or  sit  down  to  a 
game  of  cards,  which  he  played  with  skill.  He  used  a 
great  deal  of  gesture  in  speaking,  both  in  private  con- 
versation and  also  on  the  platform.  He  was  much  con- 
cerned about  the  choice  of  names  for  the  children,  and 
insisted  that  the  characters  should  suit  the  names.  He 
wrote  to  me  about  the  different  qualities  of  milk  for 
babies,  and  thought  that  a  wet  nurse  should  be  Irish. 

My  mother  has  also  told  me  of  the  awe 
which  he  inspired  in  her  eldest  boy,  who  used 
to  exclaim  with  relief  when  he  left  the  room, 
"  Man  gone  !  " 

But  all  this  belongs  rather  to  the  end  of  his 
life,  for  my  mother's  acquaintance  with  him  only 
began  in  1864 — the  year  of  her  marriage. 

So  far  as  I  am  able  to  gather  from  various 
sources,  Bulwer  used  to  work  regularly  from 
breakfast  to  luncheon,  and  begin  again  after 
dinner,  often  working  late  into  the  night.  One 
who  knew  him  intimately  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  life,  says  of  him  : — 

He  never  varied  in  his  habits.  Every  morning  he 
wrote  up  till  12  or  I,  then  dressed  and  went  out  and 
wrote  again  in  the  evening  till  12,  i,  or  2. 

Throughout  his  life  he  was  an  inveterate 
smoker. 

"  A  pipe,"  he  says,  in  Night  and  Morning,  "  it  is  a 
great  soother — a  pleasant  comforter.  Blue  devils  fly 

18 


MOTHER'S  DEATH 

before  its  honest  breath.     It  ripens  the  brain  ;  it  opens    1843. 
the  heart ;  and  the  man  who  smokes,  thinks  like  a  sage  &T.  40. 
and  acts  like  a  Samaritan." 

His  smoking  habits  are  thus  described  by 
Dr.  Garret  of  Hastings,  who  attended  him 
occasionally  in  his  later  years  : — 

After  breakfast  the  pipe  was  brought  into  requisition 
in  his  sitting-room,  a  weapon,  or  instrument,  some  six 
or  seven  feet  in  length.1  Observing,  as  I  invariably 
did,  a  large  quantity  of  Latakia  tobacco  spread  out  on 
his  mantel-piece,  I  said  one  day  : — "  You  appear  to 
me,  Sir  Edward,  to  smoke  a  great  deal ; "  to  which  he 
replied,  in  his  usual  cheerful,  good-humoured  way, 
"Well,  indeed,  I  do  not.  I  take  a  few  whiffs,  and 
then  I  put  my  pipe  down."  Not  being  exactly  satisfied 
with  this  denunciation,  I  took  the  freedom  of  inquiring 
of  his  valet  how  much  tobacco  his  master  really 
consumed.  He  informed  me  that  Sir  Edward  usually 
smoked  from  eight  to  ten  ounces  of  tobacco  in  a  week, 
"  and,"  said  he,  "  I  always  place  seven  cigars  on  the 
little  table  beside  Sir  Edward's  bed,  and  when  I  go  into 
his  room  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  (for  being 
rather  deaf  the  servant's  footsteps  were  not  readily 
heard),  if  I  see  two  cigars  left  I  awake  him,  and  take 
his  orders  ;  if  I  find  that  he  has  smoked  them  all,  I  let 
him  lie  another  hour." 

To  the  continued  strain  imposed  upon  his 
health  by  his  intellectual  labour,  was  added 
in  1843  tne  burden  of  a  great  sorrow.  On 
December  19  of  this  year  his  mother  died,  and 
for  a  time  he  was  quite  prostrated  by  the  sorrow 
of  this  bereavement.  To  his  mother  he  had 

1  See  illustration  on  p.  440. 
19 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1843.  been  united  by  the  closest  ties  of  sympathy  and 
40.  affection  from  his  earliest  childhood.  Only 
once  had  any  serious  disagreement  arisen  to  mar 
the  perfect  harmony  of  their  relations,  and  the 
bitterness  caused  by  his  marriage  had  long  since 
been  forgotten.  The  love  and  reverence  which 
he  had  felt  for  her,  and  the  sincerity  with  which 
he  mourned  her  death,  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  letters  : — 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Lady  Elessington. 

I  feel  deeply  and  from  my  heart  your  kind  letter. 
Hereafter  it  may  console  me,  now  nothing  can.  Every 
hour  deepens  the  conviction  of  my  loss.  No  one  else 
knew  my  mother  as  I  did,  and  I  never  till  now  knew 
half  her  great  qualities  and  noble  heart.  In  her  I  have 
lost  a  thousand  ties  in  one.  It  was  almost  the  great 
affection  of  my  life.  Her  weary  death-bed  was  sad 
beyond  words,  and  yet  it  was  no  disease  from  which 
one  can  say  "  Happy  are  those  released."  She  was  so 
young  of  heart  and  mind,  so  full  of  energy  and  will. 
The  soul  seemed  to  live  on  when  the  body  was  a 
shadow.  All  about  her  was  so  high-hearted  even  in 
suffering  and  death.  Hitherto  I  have  had  one  shelter 
in  this  dreary  world — it  is  now  gone  for  ever.  Nothing 
that  reminds  me  I  have  ever  been  young  is  left.  Every 
hour  that  poor  face  is  before  me.  In  vain  I  had 
preparation  ;  to  the  last  I  clung  to  hope.  After  they 
said  she  was  dead  I  felt  her  hand  press  mine.  I  have 
but  one  comfort,  such  as  it  is,  that  I  am  comfortless. 
I  should  loathe  myself  if  I  grieved  less.  I  believe  and 
I  hope  that  that  grief  will  last ;  it  is  the  last  earthly 
link  between  us.  I  would  not  break  it  for  all  the  joys 
or  triumphs  I  dreamed  of  at  sixteen.  People  now-a- 

20 


LETTERS  TO  FRIENDS 

days  seldom  mourn  for  parents,  they  think  it  natural    1843. 
the  old  should   die.      But  between  me  and  the  dead  ^ET.  4.0. 
there  was  so  much  more  than  between  parent  and  son 
generally,  and  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  associate  so 
much  elasticity  and    freshness   with   the    idea  of  age. 
God  bless  you  for  your  kind  word  in  season. — Your 
affte.  friend, 

E.  L.  B. 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Lady  Osborne. 

All  that  I  have  met  in  the  world  of  sympathy, 
generosity,  and  faithful  friendship,  is  identified  with 
the  name  of  Mother.  The  thought  of  that  loss  seems 
to  me  like  the  taking  away  of  the  candle  from  a  child 
who  is  terrified  at  the  dark.  It  is  a  protection  and  a 
safety  gone,  a  dreary  solitude  begun  ;  and  all  we  have 
left  is  to  wish  the  night  were  gone  and  the  morrow 
come. 

Edward  Bulwer  to  Mrs.  Hall.1 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  HALL — Believe  me  grateful  for 
your  kind  sympathy  and  condolence,  and  sincerely 
grieved  to  hear  you  anticipate  an  affliction  similar  to  my 
own — an  affliction  for  which  no  preparation  prepares — 
which  is  never  known  in  its  vast  irreparable  extent  till 
all  is  over.  Do  not  talk  to  me  of  that  hateful,  bitter 
thing  called  Literature,  the  vying  with  little  men  which 
shall  be  calumniated  the  most.  No  generous  mind 
ever  cared  for  the  brawls  and  broils  of  reputation,  but 
as  their  result  pleased  some  other.  Who  can  take — 
not  laurels  (nowadays  there  are  no  such  things) — third 
editions  and  Quarterly  Reviews  to  the  grave?  From 
my  head  the  great  shelter-roof  of  life  is  gone.  It  may 

1  Anna  Maria  Hall  (1800-1881),  the  wife  of  Mr.  S.  C.  Hall  and  the 
authoress  of  many  once-popular  novels. 

21 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1844.  be  mine  to  succour  others — the  sole  being  who  succoured 
J&T.  41.  me  is  no  more.  The  tie  that  is  rent  was  not  the 
common  one,  holy  as  it  always  is,  between  child  and 
parent.  In  that  tie  were  enwoven  half  the  links  that 
make  life  endurable.  My  mother  proud  of  me  !  No, 
I  was  proud  of  her.  All  I  have  gained,  all  I  have,  were 
hers — education,  knowledge,  the  little  good,  the  little 
talent,  that  may  be  mine,  all  are  but  feeble  emanations 
from  the  most  powerful  mind,  the  greatest  heart,  I  ever 
knew.  No  one  understood  her  as  I  did,  and  in  the 
bitterest  moments  of  my  grief  I  have  felt  that  I  never 
mourned  her  enough,  a  mourning,  nevertheless,  that  my 
heart  will  wear  till  it  cease  to  beat.  God  grant  that  your 
own  fears  may  not  be  realised,  and  that  you  may  be  long 
spared  the  anguish  for  which,  in  me,  fortitude  is  a  vain 
pretence  and  comfort  a  hollow  word. — Yours  faithfully, 

E.  B.  LYTTON. 

HERTFORD  STREET, 

Monday. 

This  additional  burden  produced  in  1844  a 
complete  breakdown  in  health.  The  causes  of 
this  illness  and  the  manner  in  which  he  recovered 
from  it,  Bulwer  has  recorded  in  an  article  (after- 
wards published  as  a  pamphlet)  entitled  Con- 
fessions of  a  Water  Patient^  which  he  contributed 
to  The  New  Monthly  Magazine  (then  under  Mr. 
Harrison  Ainsworth's  editorship)  in  1845  : — 

I  have  been  a  workman  in  my  day.  I  began 
to  write  and  to  toil,  and  to  win  some  kind  of  a 
name,  which  I  had  the  ambition  to  improve,  while  yet 
little  more  than  a  boy.  With  a  strong  love  for  study 
of  books — with  yet  greater  desire  to  accomplish  myself 
in  the  knowledge  of  men,  for  sixteen  years  I  can  con- 

22 


BREAKDOWN  IN  HEALTH 

ceive  no  life  to  have  been  more  filled  by  occupation  1844-1845. 

than  mine.     What  time  was  not  given   to  action  was  ^ET.  41-42. 

given  to  study  ;    what    time  not   given  to  study,  to 

action — labour  in  both  !     To  a  constitution  naturally 

far  from  strong,  I  allowed  no  pause  nor  respite.     The 

wear  and  tear  went  on  without  intermission — the  whirl 

of  the  wheel  never  ceased. 

Sometimes,  indeed,  thoroughly  overpowered  and 
exhausted,  I  sought  for  escape.  The  physicians  said, 
"  Travel,"  and  I  travelled.  "  Go  into  the  country," 
and  I  went.  But  at  such  attempts  at  repose  all  my 
ailments  gathered  round  me — made  themselves  far 
more  palpable  and  felt.  I  had  no  resource  but  to  fly 
from  myself — to  fly  into  the  other  world  of  books,  or 
thought,  or  reverie — to  live  in  some  state  of  being  less 
painful  than  my  own.  As  long  as  I  was  always  at 
work  it  seemed  that  I  had  no  leisure  to  be  ill.  Quiet 
was  my  hell. 

At  length  the  frame  thus  long  neglected,  patched  up 
for  a  while  by  drugs  and  doctors,  put  off  and  trifled 
with  as  an  intrusive  dun,  like  a  dun  who  is  in  his 
rights — brought  in  its  arrears,  crushing  and  terrible, 
accumulated  through  long  years.  Worn  out  and 
wasted,  the  constitution  seemed  wholly  inadequate  to 
meet  the  demand. 

The  exhaustion  of  toil  and  study  had  been  completed 
by  great  anxiety  and  grief.  I  had  watched  with  alternate 
hope  and  fear  the  lingering  and  mournful  death-bed  of 
my  nearest  relation  and  dearest  friend — of  the  person 
around  whom  was  entwined  the  strongest  affection  my 
life  had  known — and  when  all  was  over,  I  seemed 
scarcely  to  live  myself. 

At  this  time,  about  the  January  of  1844,  I  was 
thoroughly  shattered.  The  least  attempt  at  exercise 
exhausted  me.  The  nerves  gave  way  at  the  most 
ordinary  excitement,  a  chronic  irritation  of  that  vast 

23 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1844-1845.  surface  we  call  the  mucous  membrane,  which  had  defied 
JET.  41-42.  for  years  all  medical  skill,  rendered  me  continually 
liable  to  acute  attacks,  which  from  their  repetition,  and 
the  increased  feebleness  of  my  frame,  might  at  any  time 
be  fatal.  Though  free  from  any  organic  disease  of  the 
heart,  its  action  was  morbidly  restless  and  painful. 
My  sleep  was  without  refreshment.  At  morning  I 
rose  more  weary  than  I  laid  down  to  rest. 

Without  fatiguing  you  and  your  readers  further 
with  the  longa  cohors  of  my  complaints,  I  pass  on  to 
record  my  struggle  to  resist  them.  I  have  always  had 
a  great  belief  in  the  power  of  WILL.  What  a  man 
determines  to  do — that  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  the 
hundred  I  hold  that  he  succeeds  in  doing.  I  determined 
to  have  some  insight  into  a  knowledge  I  had  never 
attained  since  manhood — the  knowledge  of  health. 

After  describing  the  failure  of  all  his  attempts 
to  recover  his  health  by  attention  to  diet,  exercise, 
early  hours,  and  suspension  from  study,  he  men- 
tions the  interest  aroused  in  him  by  reading 
an  account  of  the  "  Water  Cure "  practised  by 
Priessnitz  at  Grafenberg  in  Austrian  Silesia.  He 
at  once  resolved  to  try  the  cure  ;  but  in  his  feeble 
state  of  health  felt  quite  unequal  to  a  journey 
to  Germany.  The  difficulty  was  removed 
by  the  discovery  that  the  same  system  was 
being  practised  by  Dr.  Wilson  at  a  hydropathic 
establishment  at  Malvern  ;  and  thither  he  went 
for  a  nine  weeks  course  of  treatment,  which 
completely  restored  him  to  health. 

For  an  account  of  the  cure,  and  the  almost 
magical  transformation  which  it  effected  in  his 
health,  I  must  refer  the  reader  to  the  pamphlet 

24 


itself,  which  is  published  in  his  collected  works  ; 1  1844-1845. 
but  I  cannot  resist  giving  a  few  quotations  here  ^T-  4I~42- 
as  illustrations  of  the  fact  that,  on  the  subject  with 
which  the  pamphlet  deals,  Bulwer  was  a  pioneer 
much  in  advance  of  his  time.  In  the  days  when 
bleeding  and  drugs  were  the  usual  remedies 
prescribed  by  doctors  for  human  maladies,  he 
discovered  for  himself,  and  in  the  teeth  of  pro- 
fessional opposition,  the  salutary  effect  of  living 
nearer  to  nature,  which  forms  the  basis  of  most 
of  the  modern  reforms  in  the  study  of  health 
and  the  treatment  of  disease  : — 

I  resolved  then  to  betake  myself  to  Malvern.  On 
my  way  through  town  I  paused,  in  the  innocence  of  my 
heart,  to  inquire  of  some  of  the  faculty  if  they  thought 
the  water-cure  would  suit  my  case.  With  one  excep- 
tion, they  were  unanimous  in  the  vehemence  of  their 
denunciations. 

Granting  even  that  in  some  cases,  especially  of 
rheumatism,  hydropathy  had  produced  a  cure,  to  my 
complaints  it  was  worse  than  inapplicable — it  was 
highly  dangerous — it  would  probably  be  fatal.  I  had 
not  stamina  for  the  treatment — it  would  fix  chronic 
ailments  into  organic  disease — surely  it  would  be  much 
better  to  try  what  I  had  not  yet  tried. 

What  had  I  not  yet  tried  ?  A  course  of  prussic 
acid  !  Nothing  was  better  for  gastrite  irritation,  which 
was  no  doubt  the  main  cause  of  my  suffering.  If, 
however,  I  were  obstinately  bent  upon  so  mad  an 
experiment,  Doctor  Wilson  was  the  last  person  I 
should  go  to.  I  was  not  deterred  by  all  these  in- 
timidations, nor  seduced  by  the  salubrious  allurements 

1  Pamphlets    ana    Sketches.       Knebworth     Edition,     1875.       Messrs. 
Routledge  &  Son. 

25 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1844-1845.  of  the  prussic  acid  under  its  scientific  appellation  of 
Mr.  41-42.  hydrocyanic. 

A  little  reflection  taught  me  that  the  members  of  a 
learned  profession  are  naturally  the  very  persons  least 
disposed  to  favour  innovation  upon  the  practices  which 
custom  and  prescription  have  rendered  sacred  in  their 
eyes.  A  lawyer  is  not  the  person  to  consult  upon  bold 
reforms  in  jurisprudence.  A  physician  can  scarcely  be 
expected  to  own  that  a  Silesian  peasant  will  cure  with 
water  the  diseases  which  resist  an  armament  of  phials. 
And  with  regard  to  the  peculiar  objections  to  Doctor 
Wilson,  I  had  read  in  his  own  pamphlet  attacks  upon 
the  orthodox  practice  sufficient  to  account  for — perhaps 
to  justify — the  disposition  to  depreciate  him  in  return. 

Still  my  friends  were  anxious  and  fearful  ;  to  please 
them  I  continued  to  inquire,  though  not  of  physicians, 
but  of  patients.  I  sought  out  some  of  those  who  had 
gone  through  the  process.  I  sifted  some  of  the  cases 
of  cure  cited  by  Doctor  Wilson.  I  found  the  account 
of  the  patients  so  encouraging,  the  cases  quoted  so 
authentic,  that  I  grew  impatient  of  the  delay.  I 
threw  physic  to  the  dogs,  and  went  to  Malvern. 

The  remedy  is  not  desperate  ;  it  is  simpler,  I  do  not 
say  than  any  dose,  but  than  any  course  of  medicine — 
it  is  infinitely  more  agreeable — it  admits  no  remedies 
for  the  complaints  which  are  inimical  to  the  constitution. 
It  bequeaths  none  of  the  maladies  consequent  on  blue 
pill  and  mercury,  on  purgatives  and  drastics,  on  iodine 
and  aconite,  on  leeches  and  the  lancet.  If  it  cures 
your  complaint,  it  will  assuredly  strengthen  your  whole 
frame  ;  if  it  fails  to  cure  your  complaint,  it  can  scarcely 
fail  to  improve  your  general  system. 

When  I  now  see  some  tender  mother  coddling  and 
physicking,  and  preserving  from  every  breath  of  air, 

26 


RESULTS  OF  THE  CURE 

and  swaddling  in  flannels,  her  pallid  little  ones,  I  long  1844-1845. 
to  pounce  upon  the  callow  brood,  and   bear  them  to  Mr.  41-42. 
the  hills   of   Malvern,   and   the  diamond  fountain   of 
St.  Anne's.     With  what  rosy  faces  and  robust  limbs  I 
promise  they   shall    return.      Alas !     I    promise   and 
preach  in  vain — the  family  apothecary  is  against  me, 
and  the  progeny  are  doomed  to  rhubarb  and  the  rickets. 

Let  him  who  has  to  go  through  severe  bodily 
fatigue  try  first  whatever — wine,  spirits,  porter,  beer — 
he  may  conceive  most  generous  and  supporting  ;  let 
him  then  go  through  the  same  toil  with  no  draughts 
but  from  the  crystal  lymph,  and  if  he  does  not  ac- 
knowledge that  there  is  no  beverage  which  man 
concocts  so  strengthening  and  animating  as  that  which 
God  pours  forth  to  all  the  children  of  nature,  I  throw 
up  my  brief. 

And  now,  to  sum  up — I  desire  in  no  way  to  over- 
colour  my  own  case  ;  I  do  not  say  that  when  I  first 
went  to  the  water-cure  I  was  afflicted  with  any  disease 
immediately  menacing  to  life — I  say  only  that  I  was 
in  that  prolonged  and  chronic  state  of  ill-health  which 
made  life  at  the  best  extremely  precarious.  I  do  not 
say  that  I  had  any  malady  which  the  faculty  could 
pronounce  incurable.  I  say  only  that  the  most  eminent 
men  of  the  faculty  had  failed  to  cure  me.  I  do  not 
even  now  affect  to  boast  of  a  perfect  and  complete 
deliverance  from  all  my  ailments.  I  cannot  declare 
that  a  constitution  naturally  delicate  has  been  rendered 
Herculean,  or  that  the  wear  and  tear  of  a  whole 
manhood  have  been  thoroughly  repaired. 

What  might  have  been  the  case  had  I  not  taken  the 
cure  at  intervals,  had  I  remained  at  it  steadily  for  six 
or  eight  months  without  interruption,  I  cannot  do  more 
than  conjecture  ;  but  so  strong  is  my  belief  that  the 

27 


HEALTH  AND  HABITS 

1844-1845.  result  would  have  been  completely  successful,  that  I 
&T.  41-42.  promise  myself,  whenever  I   can  spare  the  leisure,  a 
long  renewal  of  the  system. 

These  admissions  made,  what  have  I  gained  mean- 
while to  justify  my  eulogies  and  my  gratitude  ? — an  im- 
mense accumulation  of  the  capital  of  health.  Formerly, 
it  was  my  favourite  and  querulous  question  to  those 
who  saw  much  of  me,  "  Did  you  ever  know  me  twelve 
hours  without  pain  or  illness  ? "  Now,  instead  of 
these  being  my  constant  companions,  they  are  but  my 
occasional  visitors.  I  compare  my  old  state  and  my 
present  to  the  poverty  of  a  man  who  has  a  shilling  in 
his  pocket,  and  whose  poverty  is  therefore  a  struggle 
for  life,  with  the  occasional  distresses  of  a  man  of 
£5000  a  year,  who  sees  but  an  appendage  endangered, 
or  a  luxury  abridged. 

To  such,  who  will  so  far  attach  value  to  my 
authority,  that  they  will  acknowledge,  at  least,  I  am 
no  interested  witness,  for  I  have  no  institution  to 
establish,  no  profession  to  build  up  ;  I  have  no  eye  to 
fees  ;  my  calling  is  but  that  of  an  observer — as  an 
observer  only  do  I  speak,  it  may  be  with  enthusiasm, 
but  enthusiasm  built  on  experience  and  prompted  by 
sympathy  ;  to  such,  then,  as  may  listen  to  me,  I  give 
this  recommendation  :  pause  if  you  please,  inquire  if 
you  will,  but  do  not  consult  your  doctor.  I  have  no 
doubt  he  is  a  most  honest,  excellent  man,  but  you 
cannot  expect  a  doctor  of  drugs  to  say  other  than  that 
doctors  of  water  are  but  quacks. 

Since  that  day  the  number  of  doctors  who, 
because  they  have  departed  somewhat  from  old 
traditions,  are  contemptuously  dismissed  by  the 
medical  world  as  cranks  or  quacks,  has  largely 

28 


THE  STUDY  OF  HEALTH 

increased,  and  consequently  much  of  the  argument  1844-1845. 
contained  in  this  pamphlet  is  now  generally  JEr.  41-42. 
accepted.  Though  reliance  upon  drugs  is  still 
prevalent  both  among  doctors  and  their  patients, 
yet  the  value  of  fresh  air,  simple  diet,  temperate 
habits,  and  physical  exercises,  is  now  recognised 
to  a  degree  undreamt  of  in  1845.  The  open- 
air  treatment  for  consumption,  the  teaching  of 
Dr.  Haig  on  diet,  the  manual  treatment  of  the 
Swedish  doctors  for  every  variety  of  complaint, 
the  provision  of  baths  in  even  the  poorest  homes, 
the  attention  devoted  to  physical  training  in  the 
National  Schools — all  these  things  are  familiar  to 
the  present  generation  ;  and  the  study  of  health  is 
beginning  to  be  recognised  as  the  duty  of  every 
individual  instead  of  merely  the  profession  of  a 
few.  In  the  period  covered  by  this  biography, 
however,  such  ideas  were  completely  unknown, 
and  nothing  has  struck  me  more,  in  the  many 
letters  which  I  have  had  to  read,  than  the  ever- 
recurring  allusions  to  ill-health,  and  the  amazing 
treatment  prescribed  for  it,  which  appears  to-day 
even  worse  than  the  maladies  themselves.  The 
remedy  recommended  in  this  pamphlet  must 
have  appeared  to  the  generation  for  which  it 
was  written  as  strange  and  unconvincing  as  the 
advice  given  by  the  Hebrew  prophet  to  the 
Syrian  leper,  to  dip  three  times  in  Jordan  and 
be  clean. 


CHAPTER    II 

ZANONI   AND    OCCULT    STUDIES 

1842 

Of  all  the  weaknesses  which  little  men  rail  against,  there  is  none  that 
they  are  more  apt  to  ridicule  than  the  tendency  to  believe.  And  of  all 
the  signs  of  a  corrupt  heart  and  a  feeble  head,  the  tendency  of  incredulity 
is  the  surest.  Real  philosophy  seeks  rather  to  solve  than  to  deny. 

Zanoni. 

1842.  WITH  the  object  of  keeping  together  the  more 
T.  39.  personal  incidents  recorded  in  the  last  chapter,  I 
have  omitted  to  mention  the  literary  work  on 
which  Bulwer  was  engaged  since  1840.  The 
period  of  his  retirement  from  active  political 
life  was  in  some  respects  the  richest  period  of 
his  literary  career.  He  reached  at  this  time 
the  summit  of  his  attainment  in  no  fewer  than 
three  of  the  varied  directions  in  which  he 
employed  his  literary  faculties.  In  purely 
imaginative  and  romantic  composition  he  pro- 
duced what  he  regarded  as  his  masterpieces, 
in  Zanoni  (1842)  and  King  Arthur  (1848), 
the  one  in  prose,  the  other  in  verse  ;  to  his 
historical  romances  he  added  The  Last  of  the 
Barons  (1843)  anc^  Harold  (1848),  whilst  in 
The  Caxtons  (1849)  anc*  ^fy  Novel  (1853)  he 

3° 


"NIGHT  AND  MORNING" 

struck  out  an  entirely  new  line,  and  these  two    1842. 
books   are  probably  the  best   and  most  durable  &r.  39. 
of  all  his  works. 

After  the  production  of  Money  in  1840, 
Bulwer  returned  once  more  to  the  domain  of 
fiction.  In  January  1 841  he  published  Night  and 
Morning^  a  melodramatic  story  of  adventure  in  his 
most  flamboyant  style.  I  remember  the  breathless 
interest  which  this  book  excited  in  me  when  I 
first  read  it  as  a  boy,  and  the  description  of  the 
discovery  of  the  gang  of  coiners  and  the  death 
of  Gautrey  their  leader,  still  remains  one  of  the 
most  vivid  impressions  which  I  received  when 
first  reading  my  grandfather's  works.  The 
sensational  character  of  the  story,  however,  and 
the  extravagance  of  its  style,  make  it  more 
difficult  of  appreciation  by  a  later  generation. 
Though  few  will  now  be  found  to  attach  much 
value  to  this  novel,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  it  elicited  a  strong  tribute  of  praise  from 
Macaulay  : — 

"  I  cannot  end,"  he  wrote,  in  a  letter  to  the  author, 
"  without  telling  you  with  how  much  pleasure  and 
interest  I  have  just  read  one  of  your  books,  which  I 
did  not  read,  I  scarcely  know  why,  at  the  time  when 
it  first  appeared — Night  and  Morning.  It  moved  my 
feelings  more  than  anything  you  have  written,  and  more 
than  a  man  of  forty-three,  who  has  been  much  tossed 
about  the  world,  is  easily  moved  by  works  of  the 


imagination. 


In  the  following  year  was  published  the  first 
of    the    important    works    of    Bulwer's    extra- 
si 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.  parliamentary  period.  Zanoni^  his  first  mystic 
ET.  39.  novel,  though  not  completed  till  the  beginning 
of  1842,  was  conceived  several  years  earlier.  In 
1835  his  reading  had  included  some  mediaeval 
treatises  upon  astrology  and  the  so-called  "  occult 
sciences  "  ;  and  while  his  mind  was  occupied  with 
these  studies,  the  character  of  Mejnour  and  the 
main  outlines  of  the  story  of  Zanoni  were  inspired 
by  a  dream.  The  ideas  thus  received  were  first 
embodied  in  an  unfinished  sketch  of  the  sub- 
sequent novel,  and  contributed  to  The  Monthly 
Chronicle  in  1838  under  the  title  of  Zicci.  In 
no  letters  do  I  find  any  reference  to  the  original 
dream,  nor  to  the  author's  ideas  at  the  time  he 
was  writing  Zanoni.  The  first  mention  of  the 
book  occurs  in  the  following  letters  to  John 
Forster  : — 

Edward  Eulwer  to  John  Forster. 

CRAVEN  COTTAGE,  FULHAM, 
Feb.  12,  1842. 

It  is  an  age,  my  dear  Forster,  since  I  have  seen  or 
heard  of  you,  wherefore  I  write,  fearing  lest  you  might 
have  strayed  into  one  of  those  huge  folios  and  dis- 
appeared for  ever  from  the  outer  world.  I  know  by 
experience  that  those  wizard  old  books  are  full  of 
holes  and  pitfalls.  I  myself  once  fell  into  one  and 
remained  there  45  days  and  3  hours  without  food, 
crying  for  help  as  loud  as  I  could,  but  nobody  came. 
You  may  believe  that  or  not,  just  as  you  please,  but 
it's  true  ! 

I  have  been  taken  up  with  my  children  for  the  last 
two  or  three  weeks,  and  have  anxiously  left  Teddy  at 

32 


LETTERS  ON  "ZANONI" 

what    seems   to   me    an  excellent    school.       I   go   to    1842. 
Knebworth.      When  I  return  shall  I  have  "  cakes  and  -&T.  39. 
ale  ? " 

I  saw  Macready  in  all  the  pomp  of  an  overflowing 
house,  a  most  successful  afterpiece,  a  most  triumphant 
opera,  and  a  most  gorgeous  private  box.  But  in  his 
pomp  was  sadness  !  He  sighed  at  congratulations  and 
complained  of  the  harassments  of  greatness,  and  the 
uncertainty  of  success.  Unhappy  Man !  When  he 
gets  a  million,  he  will  have  arrived  at  the  summit  of 
his  sorrows. 

I  had  thought  at  one  time  of  a  comic  subject  for 
him,  but  I  feel  that  it  would  be  almost  an  insult  to  talk 
of  comedy  while  his  melancholy  overflows  with  his 
houses.  By  and  by,  if  ever  thinning  boxes  lighten  his 
heart — nous  verrons  ! 

You  will  receive  Zanoni  next  week.  I  don't  know 
whether  you  will  like  it.  But  it  is  wonderful,  read  in 
the  proper  spirit — nothing  like  it  in  the  language.  If 
you  want  to  spite  me,  and  convince  the  world  of  Mr. 
Pelham's  modesty,  publish  that  opinion  as  fresh  from 
himself. 

Can  you  tell  me  where  I  can  get  the  fullest 
particulars  of  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick — temp  :  Edw. 
IV.  ?  Has  one  of  the  modern  compilers  arranged  the 
various  authorities  into  a  readable  whole — any  life  of 
him  ?  But  no !  I  suppose  in  order  to  spite  me. 

Letters  to  Knebworth  will  find  me  and  will,  I  hope, 
report  of  your  progress  thro'  the  Great  History  and 
your  escape  from  the  folios. — Adieu,  Yrs.  ever, 

E.  L.  B. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  shall  be  at  Fulham  next  week 
and  shall  be  happy  to  fix  a  day  then  to  take  a  chop 
VOL.  n  33  D 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.  with  you,  and  if  your  avocations  permit,  to  see 
ET.  39.  Gisippus.  I  cannot  go  the  first  night,  and  the  second 
is  always  flat.  But  I  hope  the  third.  Your  anticipa- 
tions of  Zanoni  from  my  fond  report,  are  little  likely 
to  be  gratified.  I  do  not  fancy  that  anyone  will  see 
him  with  the  eyes  of  the  author.  It  is  not  till  the  last 
page  that  its  merits  as  a  whole,  in  conception,  can  be 
seen  ;  and  even  then  few  will  detect  them.  It  shoots  too 
much  over  the  heads  of  people  to  hit  the  popular  taste. 
But  it  has  given  me  a  vent  for  what  I  long  wished  to 
symbolise  and  typify,  and  so  I  am  grateful  to  it. 

I  am  thinking  of  turning  into  a  fiction  what  I  once 
meant  for  a  drama — had  Macready  been  less  over- 
stocked with  gravities,  viz.  : — the  Last  of  the  Barons, 
Warwick,  the  King  maker.  The  time  is  full  of  philo- 
sophical movement,  and  I  think  I  shall  give  a  new 
reading  of  Richard  the  Third's  crimes  and  character — 
new,  but  I  hope  not  untrue. 

Can  you  recommend  me  any  books  of  that  time  for 
manners  and  costume  ?  agst.  we  meet. 

You  say  nothing  of  your  History.  When  appears 
it? — Yours  most  truly, 

E.  L.  B. 

KNEBWORTH,  Saturday. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — With  regard  to  Zanoni ,  your 
lengthened  criticism  is  most  kind,  and  holds  a  flattering 
medium  between  the  praises  of  the  Literary  Gazette, 
which,  no  doubt,  arise  from  partiality,  and  the  dis- 
paragement of  the  Athenaeum.  I  am  probably  the 
only  one  who  can  see  that  my  prophecy  was  right,  that 
you  don't  very  deeply  like  or  thoroughly  comprehend 
its  puzzles.  How  can  I  expect  that  there  is  any  man, 
however  friendly,  who  will  see  Zanoni  with  the  eyes  of 

34 


LETTERS  FROM  MISS  MARTINEAU 

the  author,  or  agree  with  him  in  believing  it  to  be  the    1842. 
loftiest  conception  in  English  prose  fiction  !     Moreover,  JEr.  39. 
I  see,  O  Forster  brother,  that  thou  art  enamoured  of 
Mrs.    Mervale,  and   truly  with   her    filbert   nails   and 
aquiline   nose  she  deserves  all  thy  passion.      A  finer 
woman    never   trod !     Joking    apart,  you   have   gone 
quite  as  far  as  would  have  been  judicious,  seeing  that 
Zanoni   will  be  no  favourite  with    that  largest  of  all 
asses — the   English    Public. — Adieu.     Thine  ever  and 
truly, 

E.  L.  B. 

C.  C.,  Monday. 

A  more  serious  correspondence  on  the  subject 
of  this  book  took  place  between  the  author  and 
Miss  Harriet  Martineau  : — 

Miss  H.  Martineau  to  Edward  Bulwer. 

TYNEMOUTH, 
July  2nd,  1842. 

DEAR  SIR — No  one  makes  war  upon,  or  hates  more 
vehemently  than  I  do,  the  ordinary  flatteries  of  literary 
life ;  but  heart-felt  thanks,  coming  from  a  sick- 
room, are  not  flattery.  I  think,  too,  that  while  ready 
enough  to  acknowledge  other  sorts  of  obligation,  we 
are  apt  to  be  too  slow  in  avowing  our  debt  to  those 
who  render  us  the  highest  service  of  all,  in  giving  us 
noble  ideas,  and  rousing  our  best  emotions.  So  I 
thank  you  for  Zanoni.  I  write  before  the  surprise  this 
book  has  given  me  is  well  over  ;  but  I  am  certain  that 
the  thankfulness  will  not  pass  away  with  the  novelty. 

I  say  "  surprise  " — not  only  because  all  the  reviews 
I  have  seen  seem  perfectly  insensible  to  the  very  nature 
of  the  book,  unaware,  even,  that  it  contains  any  doctrine 
— but  because,  though  not  one  of  the  least  admiring 

35 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1 842.  readers  of  your  former  works,  I  own  I  did  not  anticipate 
Er.  39.  from  you  a  gift  so  inestimable  as  this  book.  I  did  not 
expect  to  meet,  in  our  own  language,  in  this  year  /42, 
a  book  worthy  of  Schiller's  meditations,  and  such  as 
his  disciples  can  joyfully  take  to  their  hearts.  You  will 
not  be  offended  at  the  plain  truth  of  this  avowal.  The 
event  proves  that  I  did  you  injustice.  If,  for  some  long 
time  to  come,  you  find  the  world  preferring  your 
earlier  works,  or  a  hundred  reading  St.  Leon,  for  one 
that  takes  new  life  from  Zanoni,  you  will  be  satisfied 
with  the  earnest  of  recompense  you  must  already  have 
had — certain  moments  and  hours  spent  in  conceiving 
and  working  out  such  a  problem  of  sacred  philosophy. 
Nor  will  it,  I  trust,  be  either  a  brief  or  trifling  satisfac- 
tion to  see  some  who  think  now  that  they  have  read  it 
awakening  to  its  full  reality  ;  and  some  few  more  who 
appreciate  it  now  growing  more  attached  to  it  continually, 
as  one  does  to  old  friends,  whose  truth  is  more  and 
more  fully  brought  out  by  time.  Without  specifying 
to  yourself  very  clearly  wherein  particularly  my  personal 
obligation  for  it  lies,  I  assure  you  I  deeply  felt  it ;  and 
you  will  not  despise  my  thanks,  if,  as  I  believe,  no  one  of 
us  who  has  undergone  the  toils  of  genuine  authorship 
is  above  the  need  of  sympathy,  or  too  proud  to  bear 
to  be  thanked,  though  mere  praise  may  be  dispensed 
with. 

Pray  do  not  think  of  answering  this.  I  know  your 
avocations  are  out  of  all  proportion  to  your  leisure,  and 
it  is  for  my  own  sake  that  I  write. — Believe  me,  very 
sincerely, 

HARRIET  MARTINEAU. 

You  will  smile  at  my  being  so  many  months  behind 
the  world.  Our  village  here  is  still  half  a  century  in 
the  rear. 


LETTERS  FROM  MISS  MARTINEAU 

The  same  to  the  same. 

TYNEMOUTH, 
August  %tA,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — As  to  Zanoni.  It  has  much  1842. 
occupied  the  friends  about  me  since  I  first  read  it.  MT.  39. 
Seeing  that  they  were  not  habituated  to  the  sort  of 
contemplation  necessary  to  the  full  understanding  of 
the  book,  and  not  being  satisfied  that  they  should 
admire  it  only  for  its  portions,  missing  the  coherence,  I 
made  out,  partly  for  their  guidance,  partly  for  my  own 
pleasure,  a  very  brief  analysis — an  epitome  of  its  doctrine. 
This  was  after  a  hasty,  circulating-library  reading.  I 
have  since  read  it  leisurely,  with  increased  pleasure  and 
confidence  in  my  interpretation.  But  certain  of  my 
friends  would  like  to  test  it  by  your  own,  and  I  really 
do  rate  so  highly  the  importance  of  the  book  that  I 
should  be  glad  if  you  could  tell  me  that  there  exists 
anywhere — in  any  review  or  analysis  that  I  may  not 
have  seen — a  statement  of  your  doctrine  which  you 
yourself  would  not  object  to  endorse.  If  it  surprises 
you  that  your  full  meaning  should  not  appear  plain  to 
all  (I  confess  that  to  me  it  seems  perfectly  clear),  you 
will  remember  how  new  this  sort  of  poem  is  to  English 
readers,  who  are  not  conversant  with  the  German,  and 
to  whom  the  language  of  the  Ideal  region  may  be  more 
unfamiliar  than  its  thoughts. 

A  single  line  of  reference  to  any  interpretation  which 
you  can  authorise  may  so  much  deepen  the  impression 
of  your  book,  that  I  think  it  is  worth  while  to  trouble 
you  so  far.  The  noble  moral  of  the  whole,  no  one  can 
miss  ;  but  I  wish  that  the  steps  to  it  should  be  as  clear 
to  all  as  the  conclusion.  I  do  adore  Schiller,  and  have 
worshipped  him  from  my  girlhood.  I  shall  never  forget 
the  day  that  I  lighted  upon  Die  Kilnstler,  which  I  had 
never  heard  of,  but  which  I  took  care  that  all  my  world 

37 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.    should  presently  hear  of;  and  pleased  was  I  to  find  so 
ET.  39.  many  as  I  did  to  share  my  delight. — Believe  me,  very 
truly  yours, 

H.  MARTINEAU. 

Bulwer  appears  to  have  replied  to  this  letter 
in  some  such  sense  as  the  note  which  is  attached 
to  the  later  editions  of  Zanoni,  namely,  that  as  the 
book  was  not  an  allegory,  it  was  impossible  for 
the  author  to  supply  a  key  to  its  meaning — as 
well  expect  Goethe  to  explain  Faust,  or  Shake- 
speare Hamlet.  The  interpretation  of  such  books, 
and  the  meaning  which  they  express  beyond  their 
words,  it  is  for  each  reader  to  supply  according  to 
his  own  taste  and  temperament.  He  therefore 
asked  his  correspondent  to  supply  him  with  her 
own  version  of  the  mysteries  of  the  book.  To 
this  Miss  Martineau  replied  : — 

I  send  you  what  you  ask  for.  I  cannot  say  "  with 
pleasure,"  for  there  is  no  pleasure  in  sending  an  author 
such  a  mockery  of  his  work  ;  but  you  will  remember 
that  my  object  was  not  to  elaborate  your  whole  subject, 
but  to  supply  leading  hints  to  unpractised  readers.  I 
trust  you  to  tell  me  if  I  have  misinterpreted  you  in  any 
material  point.  I  own  the  argument  is,  on  the  whole, 
as  plain  to  me  as  that  a  map  of  Norfolk  is  meant  for 
Norfolk  and  not  Cornwall.  But  all  do  not  think  so  ; 
and  I  may  be  quite  wrong. 

Bulwer  thought  sufficiently  highly  of  Miss 
Martineau's  interpretation  of  Zanonito  print  it  as  a 
note  to  the  1853  edition  of  the  book,  although  the 
name  of  "  the  distinguished  writer  "  is  withheld. 

38 


CARLYLE'S  OPINION 

With  regard  to  the  old  bookseller  of  Covent    1842. 
Garden,  mentioned  in  the  introduction,  he  writes  JEr.  39. 
to  a  friend  :   "  Denby,  the  old  magic  bookseller 
in  Zanom,  was  a  reality.     He  is  dead." 

From  Thomas  Carlyle  he  received  the  follow- 
ing acknowledgment  of  the  book  : — 

5  CHEYNE  Row,  CHELSEA, 
23  Fety.,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — Yesternight  your  kind,  unexpected 
gift  was  handed  in  to  me,  and  received  with  hearty 
welcome.  As  my  wife  laid  instant  hold  of  the  book, 
and  still  busily  reads  in  it,  I  have  yet  got  but  a  few 
hasty  glances  and  snatches  here  and  there  ;  but  I  will  not 
delay  returning  many  cordial  thanks  for  so  distinguished 
a  mark  of  your  attention,  which  is  and  will  be  very 
valuable  to  me. 

By  various  indications  I  confidently  gather,  and- 
indeed  could  have  concluded  beforehand,  that  this  book, 
like  its  predecessors,  will  be  read  and  scanned  far  and 
wide  ;  that  it  will  be  a  liberating  voice  for  much  that 
lay  dumb  imprisoned  in  many  human  souls ;  that  it  will 
shake  old  deep-set  errors  looser  in  their  rootings,  and 
thro'  such  chinks  as  are  possible  let  in  light  on  dark 
places  very  greatly  in  need  of  light !  I  honour  much 
the  unwearied,  steadfast  perseverance  with  which  you 
prosecute  this  painfullest  but  also  noblest  of  human 
callings,  almost  the  summary  of  all  that  is  left  of  noble- 
ness in  human  callings  in  these  poor  days.  I  cordially 
wish  you  a  long  career,  and  a  more  and  more  victorious 
one,  and  am  always — With  many  thanks  and  regards, 
Yours  most  truly,  T  CARLYLE. 

Exactly  to  what  extent  Bulwer's  mind  was 
occupied  by  a  study  of  occult  subjects,  is  a  matter 

39 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.    on  which  different  opinions  have  been  expressed. 

T.  39.  Some  have  thought  that  his  "  magic  "  was  nothing 
more  than  author's  copy,  that  he  employed  the 
ideas  contained  in  Zanom,  A  Strange  Story^  The 
Haunted  and  the  Haunters^  and  The  Coming  Race, 
merely  for  the  sake  of  giving  his  readers  a  thrill — 
a  literary  device  of  very  questionable  taste,  and 
nothing  more.  Others  believe  that  these  books 
prove  their  author  to  have  been  a  spiritualist  and 
a  believer  in  the  supernatural.  I  have  even  been 
told  wild  stories  of  ridiculous  positions  into  which 
he  was  led  by  his  imagined  possessions  of  occult 
powers  ;  that  he  would  pass  through  a  room  full 
of  visitors  in  the  morning,  arrayed  in  a  dressing- 
gown,  believing  himself  to  be  invisible,  and  then 
appear  later  in  the  day  very  carefully  and  elabor- 
ately dressed,  and  greet  his  guests  as  if  meeting 
them  for  the  first  time.1 

I  believe  both  these  views  to  be  erroneous.  I 
have  ample  proof  that  his  study  of  occult  sub- 
jects was  serious  and  discriminating  ;  and  that 
traces  of  this  bent  of  his  mind  should  be  apparent 
in  his  books  is  natural  enough.  The  range  of  his 
writing  was  extremely  wideband  one  might  almost 
say  that  he  emptied  his  mind  into  his  books  as  fast 
as  he  filled  it.  A  careful  reader  of  all  his  writings 
would  probably  be  able  to  find  amongst  them  some 
expression  of  nearly  every  idea  which  his  mind 

1  I  can  well  imagine  how  such  a  story  originated.  It  was  a  habit  with 
Bulwer  to  spend  the  morning  in  his  dressing-gown  engaged  upon  literary 
work.  If,  during  that  time  he  had  chanced,  in  going  from  one  room  to 
another,  to  meet  one  of  his  guests,  it  is  extremely  likely  that,  either  absorbed 
in  reverie  or  from  shyness,  he  would  have  passed  him  by  unnoticed.  Out 
of  such  materials  a  good  story  would  soon  be  manufactured. 

40 


THE  STUDY  OF  "MAGIC" 

received.  He  certainly  did  not  study  magic  for  1842. 
the  sake  of  writing  about  it  ;  still  less  did  he  /ET.  39. 
write  about  it,  without  having  studied  it,  merely 
for  the  purpose  of  making  his  readers'  flesh  creep. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  have  found  amongst  his 
papers  a  sufficient  number  of  references  to  psychi- 
cal phenomena  to  satisfy  me  that  he  was  under  no 
illusions  regarding  them.  Spirit  rappings,  clair- 
voyance, astrology,  etc., — he  investigated  them 
all,  and  found  them  all  disappointingly  uncon- 
vincing and  unprofitable.  His  attitude  of  mind 
on  these  matters  appears  to  have  been  exactly  that 
of  the  members  of  the  Psychical  Research  Society 
of  the  present  day — anxious  to  learn  something 
that  would  extend  the  horizon  of  human  know- 
ledge and  experience,  yet  forced  to  confess  that 
nothing  which  he  had  witnessed  himself  really 
justified  any  definite  conclusions.  He  was  him- 
self a  member  of  the  Society  of  Rosicrucians 
and  Grand  Patron  of  the  Order.  As  this  was 
a  secret  Society,  it  is  not  surprising  that  among 
Bulwer's  papers  there  should  be  no  documents 
which  throw  any  light  on  his  connection  with 
it,  nor  any  mention  of  it  in  his  correspond- 
ence. I  am,  however,  indebted  to  Mr.  Har- 
grave  Jennings,  author  of  a  history  of  this 
order,1  for  the  following  letter,  which  he  re- 
ceived from  Bulwer  (then  Lord  Lytton)  in  1870, 
acknowledging  the  receipt  of  his  book  which 
had  just  been  published  : — 

1  The    Rosicrucians,    Their    Rites    and    Mysteries,    1870,    by    Hargrave 
Jennings. 

41 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

12  GROSVENOR  SQRE., 
July  3,  1870. 

1842.  DEAR  SIR — I  thank  you  sincerely  for  your  very 
T.  39.  flattering  letter,  and  for  the  deeply  interesting  work 
with  which  it  is  accompanied.  There  are  reasons  why 
I  cannot  enter  into  the  subject  of  the  "  Rosicrucian 
Brotherhood,"  a  Society  still  existing,  but  not  under 
any  name  by  which  it  can  be  recognised  by  those  without 
its  pale.  But  you  have  with  much  learning  and  much 
acuteness,  traced  its  connection  with  early  and 
symbolical  religions,  and  no  better  book  upon  such  a 
theme  has  been  written,  or  indeed  could  be  written, 
unless  a  member  of  the  Fraternity  were  to  break 
the  vow  which  enjoins  him  to  secrecy.  .  .  . 

Some  time  ago  a  sect  pretending  to  style  itself 
"  Rosicrucians  "  and  arrogating  full  knowledge  of  the 
mysteries  of  the  craft,  communicated  with  me,  and  in 
reply  I  sent  them  the  cipher  sign  of  the  "  Initiate " 
— not  one  of  them  could  construe  it. — Believe  me, 
Sincerely  your  obliged, 

LYTTON. 

The  following  references  to  psychic  phenomena 
are  selected  from  letters  written  at  various  dates 
during  his  life  : — 

Edward  Bulwer  to  his  Son. 

About  1853. 

I  have  had  the  American  rappers  and  Media  with  the 
spirit  world,  as  they  call  themselves,  here.  It  is  very 
curious,  and  if  there  be  a  trick,  it  is  hard  to  conceive  it. 
There  are  distinct  raps  given  to  a  table  at  which  they 
sit,  and  by  rapping  at  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  which 
the  supposed  spirits  select,  they  hold  distinct  dialogues, 
you  merely  thinking  or  writing  your  questions  on  slips 

42 


LETTERS  ON  THE  OCCULT 

of  paper   which   you   hold   concealed    in    your  hand.     1842. 
They  profess  to  be  spirits  of  the  dead,  but  I  much  ^Er.  39. 
doubt,  supposing  they  are  spirits  at  all,  whether  they  are 
not  rather  brownies  or  fairies.     They  are  never  to  be 
relied  on  for  accurate  answers,  tho'  sometimes  they  were 
wonderfully  so,  just  like  clairvoyants.      Altogether  it 
was  startling.     A  spirit  promised  to  communicate  with 
me  alone,  and  named  day  and  place,  but  never  did  so. 

It  does  not  inspire  awe,  but  rather  heightens  the 
spirits  and  produces  a  gay  humour. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

About  1853. 

I  have  been  interested  in  the  spirit  manifestations. 
They  are  astounding,  but  the  wonder  is  that  they  go 
so  far  and  no  farther.  To  judge  by  them,  even  the 
highest  departed  spirits  discovered  seem  to  have  made 
no  visible  progress — to  be  as  uncertain  and  contradict- 
ing as  ourselves  or  more  so — still  with  answers  at  times 
that  take  away  one's  breath  with  wonder.  There  is  no 
trick,  but  I  doubt  much  whether  all  be  more  than 
some  strange  clairvoyance  passing  from  one  human 
brain  to  another,  or  if  spirits,  something  analogous  to 
fairies  or  genii.  Emily 1  comes  often,  generally  most 
incoherent,  as  when,  poor  thing,  she  died,  but  I  asked 
her  the  last  name  she  thought  of,  and  she  answered 
Carl  Ritter.  No  Medium  can  know  that,  and  the 
question  was  only  put  in  thought.  Shakespeare  has 
come  to  me,  and  gave  me  most  thrilling  advice  as  to 
the  future  and  other  predictions.  Afterwards  he  came 
again  and  flatly  contradicted  himself;  yet  I  asked  him 
to  prove  that  he  was  a  good  spirit  sent  by  God,  by 
telling  me  the  closest  secret  I  have,  and  he  gave  it 
instantly  ! 

1  His  daughter,  who  died  in  184.8. 
43 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.  Still,  whatever  these  communicants  be,  as  yet  they 
JE.T.  39.  "  palter  with  us  in  a  double  sense,"  do  not  enlarge  our 
knowledge,  and  I  doubt  if  any  practical  end  can  be 
gained.  I  shall  now,  therefore,  in  all  probability  dismiss 
for  ever  these  researches.  Their  interest  is  too  absorb- 
ing for  human  life  and  true  wisdom.  I  have  been  look- 
ing, too,  into  astrology,  which  subject  I  know  not  what 
to  make  of,  but  incline  to  disbelieve  it.  I  have  also 
examined  into  the  old  sorcery,  divination  by  lot  (sors), 
and  have  read  all  the  works  on  it.  It  is  a  most  com- 
plicated science,  derived  from  lots  taken  apparently  by 
chance  akin  to  astrology,  and  like  astrology  as  yet  it 
leaves  me  dubious.  But  eno'  proves  that  there  are 
wonderful  phenomena  in  our  being  all  unknown  to 
existing  philosophy.  I  incline  to  believe  that  the 
future  is  not  predecreed  to  individuals,  and  that  is 
why  it  cannot  be  ascertained  ;  that  it  varies  from  week 
to  week  according  to  the  change  of  circumstance  and 
our  own  conduct,  Providence  working  out  the  same 
grand  results,  no  matter  what  we  do,  how  we  prosper 
or  how  we  suffer. 

But  all  is  dark.  I  keep  a  book  of  my  communica- 
tions and  researches — it  will  be  curious. — Adieu,  God 
bless  you,  Yrs.  ever  most  affly., 

E. 


To  Lord  W alp  ok. 

June  13,  1853. 

I  have  been  pursuing  science  into  strange  mysteries 
since  we  parted,  and  gone  far  into  a  spiritual  world, 
which  suffices  to  destroy  all  existing  metaphysics  and 
to  startle  the  strongest  reason.  Of  this  when  we  meet, 
O  poor  materialist ! 

44 


LETTERS  ON  THE  OCCULT 

To  Lady  Combermere. 

Oct.  3,  1854. 

DEAR  LADY  COMBERMERE — I  am  much  obliged  for  1842. 
your  correspondent's  interesting  communication,  which  JE-r.  39. 
I  return.  I  do  not  doubt  the  accuracy  of  the  state- 
ment contained  in  it.  But  I  see  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  phenomena  recorded,  strange  tho'  they  be, 
are  necessarily  occasioned  by  spirits  without  this  world  ; 
and  the  usual  retort  "  What  else  can  they  be  ?  "  seems 
to  be  a  very  childish  and  irrelative  question.  We  can 
only  answer  as  yet,  as  a  sensible  savage  would  answer 
of  communications  by  the  electric  telegraph — "  We 
don't  know  yet."  We  have  no  business  to  conclude 
that  whatever  we  can't  account  for  is  therefore  super- 
natural on  the  one  hand,  or  a  trick  on  the  other. 

But  if  these  mysterious  guidances  of  hand  and 
thought  did  come  from  external  agents,  spirits  or 
beings  of  material  tho'  invisible  form — such  as  animal- 
cules with  which  Creation  abounds,  I  should  not  come 
at  once  to  the  notion  that  they  were  the  bad  and  perilous 
demons  hostile  to  the  human  soul  which  the  old  monks 
too  rashly  derived  from  passages  in  Scripture,  ignor- 
antly  interpreted.  There  may  be  intermediate  beings 
of  mixed  nature,  not  deliberately  evil  nor  steadily 
benevolent, — capricious,  uncertain,  and  only  able  to  get 
at  crude  and  imperfect  rapport  with  humanity.  They 
may  amuse  themselves  with  taking  feigned  names 
and  sporting  with  mortal  credulity,  and  be  delusive 
and  erring  prompters  or  advisers  without  any  settled 
motive.  A  Mr.  Beaumont  about  200  years  ago  records 
two  visitations  that  he  supposed  he  had  from  spirits. 
They  appeared  to  him  in  numbers  ;  they  spoke  to  him 
and  made  music ;  they  haunted  him  for  months.  He 
asked  them  what  they  were — they  did  not  answer  that 
they  were  good  angels  or  bad,  but  beings  of  light  and 

45 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.    mixed  nature,  in  some  respects  superior  to  humanity, 

JET.  39.  in    others    not.      His   account   is   very   candid.      He 

allows  that  they  may  have  been  delusions.     He  got 

rid   of   them   at   last,   much   as  your   correspondent's 

informant  did. 

From  the  most  attentive  inquiry  I  can  give  to  the 
subject,  I  believe  that  these  communicants  whatever 
they  be,  whether  impressions  which  science  may 
hereafter  account  for  (as  I  think  most  probable),  or 
imperfect,  fragmentary  and  dreamlike  communications 
from  agencies,  distinct  from  humanity,  they  serve 
no  useful  purpose,  nor  will  conduce  to  any  higher 
knowledge.  They  may  be  very  injurious  to  ordinary 
understandings,  and  very  disappointing  to  the  highest. 
Nevertheless,  I  think  where  they  would  appear  to 
persons  of  powerful  will  and  moral  courage,  resolved 
calmly  to  investigate  their  nature  and  disregard  all  their 
promptings,  they  would  be  subjected  to  a  control  little 
dreamed  of  at  present,  and  might  thus  subserve  both 
to  an  increase  of  our  powers  over  nature  and  a  solution 
of  their  true  origin  and  essentials.  To  such  minds, 
however,  they  do  not  appear  to  be  conceded.  And 
their  usual  communications  are  made  either  to  sensi- 
tive and  timid  persons  whose  reason  they  disorder  ; 
or  to  calm  lethargic  persons  like  the  ordinary  Media, 
whom  they  don't  influence  at  all,  beyond  being  reflections 
and  echoes  of  the  phenomena  ;  or  lastly  to  inquirers  like 
Miss  Sidney's  informant,  of  fair  good  sense,  who  start 
at  the  first  false  or  threatening  announcements  conveyed 
to  them,  and  give  up  the  whole  research  just  when 
minds  of  more  iron  and  persevering  nature  would 
perhaps  command  and  subdue  the  agencies  to  practical 
purpose. 

I  write  vaguely  and  doubtfully,  for  the  subject  is 
vague  and  doubtful.  At  present  all  we  can  say  is 
that  independently  of  all  imposture,  which  nevertheless 

46 


LETTERS  ON  THE  OCCULT 

is  sometimes  admitted,  there  are  agencies  of  communica-  1 842. 
tion  which  no  philosophy  has  yet  solved,  but  which  JET.  39. 
bear  out  the  universal  and  immemorial  traditions  of 
mankind,  and  are  analogous  to  the  boasted  powers 
which  the  philosophical  magician  of  old  assumed  ;  and 
some  of  them,  such  as  the  later  Platonists — Agrippa, 
Albertus  Magnus,  &c. — with  a  degree  of  earnest  detail 
which  the  gravity  of  their  characters  and  their  general 
observation  of  science  and  nature  do  not  permit  candid 
inquirers  to  dismiss  as  invented  lies. — Believe  me  with 
all  consideration,  Yours  truly, 

E.  B.  LYTTON. 

To  John  Forster. 

Dec.  3,  1 86 1. 

My  DEAR  FORSTER — I  am  very  much  gratified  and 
in  much  relieved  by  your  kind  letter. 

In  regard  to  the  supernatural — what  I  really  wish 
to  imply  is  this — without  taking  up  mesmerism  and 
spirit  manifestation.  I  want  to  intimate  that  in  their 
recorded  marvels  which  are  attested  by  hundreds  and 
believed  by  many  thousands,  things  yet  more  incredible 
than  those  which  perplex  Fenwick1  are  related,  and 
philosophers  declining  thoroughly  to  probe  these  marvels, 
they  have  been  abandoned  for  the  most  part  to  persons 
who  know  little  or  nothing  of  philosophy  or  metaphysics, 
and  remain  insoluble. 

I  wish  to  make  philosophers  inquire  into  them  as  I 
think  Bacon,  Newton,  and  Davy  would  have  inquired. 
There  must  be  a  natural  cause  for  them — if  they  are 
not  purely  imposture.  Even  if  that  natural  cause  be 
the  admission  of  a  spirit  world  around  us,  which  is  the 
extreme  point.  But  if  so,  it  is  a  most  impartial 
revelation  in  Nature. 

1  In  A  Strange  Story. 
47 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.  I  do  believe  in  the  substance  of  what  used  to  be 
JET.  39.  called  Magic,  that  is,  I  believe  that  there  are  persons 
of  a  peculiar  temperament  who  can  effect  very  extra- 
ordinary things  not  accounted  for  satisfactorily  by 
any  existent  philosophy.  You  will  observe  that  the 
constitution  or  temperament  is  always  more  or  less  the 
same  in  these  magicians,  whether  they  are  clairvoyant 
or  media ;  the  wonders  are  produced  thro'  them  and 
cease  in  their  absence  or  inactivity.  In  their  con- 
stitution I  find  a  remarkable  agreement — it  is  only 
persons  who  are  highly  susceptible  of  electricity  who 
have  it,  and  their  power  is  influenced  according  as  the 
atmosphere  is  more  or  less  charged  with  electricity. 
This  all  Media  and  Mesmerists  will  acknowledge. 

But  here  we  get  a  commencement  for  philosophical 
inquiry.  Electricity  is  in  inanimate  objects  as  well  as 
animate  ;  hence  the  power  of  media  over  inanimate 
objects.  In  my  final  scene  I  suppose  an  atmosphere 
extremely  electrical — there  is  a  spontaneous  combustion 
in  the  bush,  the  soil  is  volcanic,  there  is  trembling  of 
the  earth.  I  observe  that  all  the  newest  phenomena  in 
spirit  manifestation  resemble  remarkably  in  character 
the  best  attested  phenomena  in  witchcraft.  For  instance, 
Hume  floats  in  the  air — this  was  said  of  the  old 
magicians.  Now  I  find  that  the  Seeress  of  Provorst 
whose  story  is  told  by  a  physician  and  a  very  learned 
man,  and  who  lived  in  a  state  of  catalepsy,  was  at  times 
so  light  that  her  body  floated  on  water  and  could  not 
be  kept  down  ;  that  she  would  also  rise  in  the  air 
as  if  she  would  fly  out  of  the  window.  There  again 
philosophy  is  on  its  own  ground.  There  is  a  cataleptic 
disease  in  which  abnormal  phenomena  occur.  But  all 
Media  and  clairvoyants  are  more  or  less  cataleptic. 
You  will  judge  by  these  remarks  of  my  own  idea. 
Abnormal  phenomena  may  solve  some  great  problems 
in  real  science.  Thus  common  reasoners  reject  a  good, 

48 


LETTERS  ON  THE  OCCULT 

well-authenticated  ghost    story  altogether.       But  real    1842. 
philosophers  delight   in  one ;  and  some  of  the  most  &T.  39. 
interesting    chapters   in    the   works   of  physicians   are 
upon  spectral  illusions   founded    on   these  very  ghost 
stories.    The  mystery  of  dreaming  is  the  vexed  question 
to  this  day  between  materialists  and  immaterialists. 

Spectral  phenomena  are  dreams  turned  inside  out. 
I  write  hastily,  but  this  is  so  much  the  substance  of 
what  I  think,  that  it  would  appear  in  my  supplementary 
chapter.  .  .  . 

To  Mr.  Benjamin  Coleman. 

1 5  ROYAL  CRESCENT,  BATH, 
Deer.  21,  [1863]. 

SIR — I  considered  my  letter  to  you  private,  and  am 
surprised  you  should  desire  to  make  any  part  of  it 
public.  But  you  would  misconceive  and  mistake  the 
whole  meaning  and  gist  of  that  letter,  if  you  were  to 
represent  it  "as  a  testimony  of  the  truth  of  the  so- 
called  spirit  manifestation,"  without  including  the  other 
opinions  as  to  such  phenomena  expressed  in  my  letter. 
To  prevent  misunderstandings,  these  are  my  views, 
succinctly  on  the  matter  ;  and  if  you  make  them  public 
at  all,  which  does  not  seem  to  me  called  for,  you  will 
express  them  in  my  words  : — "  I  volunteer  no  opinion 
as  to  the  phenomena  exhibited  by  professional 
exhibitors  receiving  money.  I  have  not  seen  them 
submitted  to  tests  required  by  persons  who  very 
naturally  believe  that  such  phenomena  are  produced 
by  conjuring,  trickery  or  imposture.  Some  of  the 
phenomena  produced,  where  the  person  called  a 
Medium  is  a  person  of  well-known  probity  and  honor, 
and  those  present  are  of  equally  high  character,  I  believe 
to  be  genuine.  All  such  phenomena,  when  submitted 
to  the  same  laws  of  rational  evidence  which  are  adopted 
VOL.  ii  49  E 


"ZANONI"  AND  OCCULT  STUDIES 

1842.  in  Courts  of  Law  as  scientific  investigation,  are  found 
T.  39.  to  disprove  the  wild  notion  that  they  are  produced  by 
the  spirits  of  the  dead  or  by  any  cause  whatever,  to  be 
called  spiritual  in  the  proper  meaning  of  the  word. 
Tho'  the  persons  producing  such  phenomena  may  not 
be  deceivers,  the  phenomena  are  eminently  deceptive  ; 
they  may  have  interest  to  a  physiologist  or  philosopher 
beyond  the  gratification  of  curiosity. 

"But  the  intellectual  results  of  any  careful  examina- 
tion of  them  are  so  poor  and  meagre,  and  they  so 
belong  to  abnormal  and  exceptional  physical  organisa- 
tion, that  the  man  who  is  best  fitted  to  investigate  their 
nature  would  probably  be  much  better  occupied  in 
other  pursuits  ;  and  the  credulous  and  indiscriminate 
temper  with  which  persons  even  of  good  education  and 
ability  gather  round  these  revivals  of  that  ancient 
magic  which  has  in  former  ages  duped  the  human  mind, 
is  likely  to  do  much  harm,  unsettle  rational  beliefs, 
engender  senseless  superstition ;  and  my  advice  to 
anyone  who  is  not  of  philosophical  mind  and  habits, 
would  be  to  trouble  his  head  as  little  as  possible  upon 
the  matter." 

Such  are  my  views,  and  if  you  like  to  make  them 
known  in  these  words,  you  are  welcome  to  do  so,  tho' 
I  have  no  wish  myself  to  publish  them. — Yours  ob., 

E.  B.  LYTTON. 


CHAPTER    III 

LITERARY  WORK 

1842-1846 

When  we  have  commenced  a  career,  what  step  is  there  till  the  grave  ? 
Where  is  the  definite  barrier  of  that  ambition  which,  like  the  Eastern  bird, 
seems  ever  on  the  wing,  and  never  rests  upon  the  earth  ?  Our  names  are 
not  settled  till  our  death  ;  the  ghosts  of  what  we  have  done  are  made  our 
haunting  monitors — our  scourging  avengers — if  ever  we  cease  to  do,  or  fall 
short  of  the  younger  past. 

Talk  not  of  freedom — there  is  no  such  thing  as  freedom  to  a  man  whose 
body  is  the  gaol,  whose  infirmities  are  the  racks  of  genius. 

Ernest  Maltrawen. 

AFTER  the  publication  of  Zanoni  there  was  no    1842. 
pause  in  Bulwer's  literary  output.     His  studies  of  .^ET.  39. 
the  French  Revolution,  amidst  the  scenes  of  which 
is  placed  the  latter  portion  of  that  novel,  led  him 
to  write   an    historical   essay   on    the    Reign   of 
Terror,    its     causes     and     effects,    which     was 
published    in   the    Foreign    Quarterly   Review  in 
July,  1842. 

On  the  subject  of  this  essay  he  wrote  to  John 
Forster,to  whom  it  had  been  submitted  in  proof : — 

CRAVEN  COTTAGE, 
June  i,  1842. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  am  glad  you  like  the  article. 
But  if  "  brilliant "  at  all,  it  is  so  not  from  style,  which 
is  singularly  plain,  especially  for  me,  addicted  as  I  am 


LITERARY  WORK 

1842.  to  that  which  you  so  eloquently  condemned  !  Its  effect 
&T.  39.  must  be  simply  from  some  truths  not  said  before.  I 
could  point  out  a  few  that  I  think  new  and  useful.  I 
meant  to  enlarge  a  little  on  the  results  or  benefits 
since  the  Revolution,  but  I  never  can  agree  that  the 
Revoln.  produced  them.  Nor  can  I  go  further  con- 
scientiously in  the  second  page  of  the  article.  As  to 
throwing  all  the  blame  of  the  Reign  of  Terror  on  the 
old  regime,  England  was  as  badly  governed  as  France, 
perhaps,  under  Charles  I.,  and  had  a  Civil  War — but  a 
war  of  men,  and  not  a  butcherdom  by  devils.  Why  ? 
Because  here  it  was  never  Mob  Rule  !  There  were  no 
ancient  regimes  to  justify  the  brutalities  of  our  Bristol 
mob  or  vindicate  the  Dutch  for  their  great  national 
crime,  the  murder  of  de  Wit.  There  were  no  ancient 
regimes  to  excuse  the  mobs  of  Corcyra  or  Jerusalem. 
In  the  latter,  the  moby  not  Pilate,  sacrificed  Jesus !  Mob 
Rule  will  always  be  vile  and  bloody,  and  as  such  it 
seems  to  me  it  should  be  exposed.  The  worst  thing 
of  English  Patriots  is  to  attempt  to  excuse  French 
Republicans.  So  I  think,  and,  therefore,  I  cannot  part 
with  what  seems  to  me  the  gist  and  pith  of  my  purpose. 
But  you  can  easily  put  an  editorial  note,  disclaiming  or 
qualifying  your  contributor's  dogmas.  This  I  should 
far  from  dislike,  especially  now  I  have  read  the  other 
French  article.  Before  I  looked  at  this  last,  I  had  meant 
strongly  to  urge  the  impolicy  of  two  French  political 
articles  in  one  number.  Now  I  have  a  scruple  in  doing 
so,  for  while  I  think  the  article  very  able,  I  wholly  dissent 
from  its  views.  But  if  anything  is  to  be  altered,  pray 
try  and  persuade  the  author  to  modify  his  censure  on 
Odilon  Barrot — the  man  acknowledged  by  all  factions 
to  be  the  most  lofty  character  in  the  French  Chamber. 
Good  Heavens,  who  would  mix  in  politics  if  that  spot- 
less and  noble  name  is  to  be  thus  slurred  and  sneered  at ! 
I  will  return  my  article  as  soon  as  I  get  the  MS.  You 

52 


"THE  LAST  OF  THE  BARONS" 

have,  I   trust,   received   ere  this  my  little   volume. —    1843. 
Yours  truly,  &T.  40. 

The  little  volume  here  referred  to  was  a  book 
of  poems  entitled  Eva  and  other  Poems,  which  was 
published  at  the  end  of  May,  1842.  Writing  to 
John  Forster  about  them,  he  says  : — 

These  poems  are  the  blossoms  of  a  branch  which  has 
grown  out  of  my  mind  since  the  tendency  of  the  plant 
towards  public  or  active  life  has  been  checked.  This 
stream  being  dammed  in  its  way  to  Fleet  Street,  has 
taken  its  rivulet  path  towards  "  fresh  fields  and  pastures 
new."  From  this  going  back  from  the  real  world,  in 
short,  come  somewhat  simultaneously  Zanoni  (a  kind 
of  poem)  and  this  little  volume. 

Bulwer's  next  literary  production  was  the 
historical  romance  The  Last  of  the  Barons, 
published  in  February,  1843  >  anc^  this  was 
followed  in  March,  1844,  by  a  translation  of 
Schiller  s  Poems  and  Ballads,  accompanied  by  a 
biographical  sketch  of  Schiller,  for  whom  he 
entertained  the  highest  possible  opinion,  ranking 
him  as  a  poet  above  Goethe. 

Of  The  Last  of  the  Barons  he  writes  to  Mrs. 
Thomson J  : — 

Many,  many  thanks  for  your  friendly  criticism,  which 
gave  me  real  and  uncommon  pleasure.  You,  who  have 
so  well  written  the  historical  fiction,  know  its  difficulties 
and  can  allow  for  them.  I  am  glad  you  like  Warwick 
at  last.  I  love  him  !  It  is  one  of  the  few  characters 
I  have  conceived  that  I  take  a  personal  affection  for 

1  Mrs.  Antony  Todd  Thomson  (1797-1862)  published  many  historical 
and  biographical  works,  sometimes  under  the  pseudonym  of  "  Grace 
Wharton." 

S3 


1 844,    — Alice  is  another. 
Er.  41.  about  her. 


LITERARY  WORK 

I  still  think  Sybil  a  bon 


-no  charm 


After  the  completion  of  these  works,  Bulwer 
appears  to  have  contemplated  a  retirement  from 
regular  authorship.  In  the  small  volume  of 
poems  he  speaks  fretfully  of  contemporary  critics, 
and  in  the  preface  to  The  Last  of  the  Barons  he 
announces  that  this  will  probably  be  his  last 
work  of  fiction.  His  mother's  death  and  the 
breakdown  in  his  health  already  referred  to,  no 
doubt,  strengthened  this  wish  for  a  cessation 
from  literary  work  ;  but  by  the  time  Dr.  Wilson 
of  Malvern  had  finished  with  him,  and  the  water 
cure  had  done  its  work,  he  was  able  to  return  to 
his  writing  with  redoubled  energy. 

Miss  Martineau,  with  whom  a  most  interesting 
correspondence  had  been  maintained  ever  since 
the  publication  of  Zanoni,  wrote  to  him  kindly 
in  January  1844,  after  hearing  of  his  mother's 
death  : — 

I  ordered  the  book  to  be  sent  to  you  because  I 
heard — not  merely  the  fact  of  your  loss,  but  that  you 
were  very  unhappy  ;  and  I  thought  I  would  take  the 
chance  of  anything  in  that  volume  being  acceptable  to 
your  present  feelings.  I  am  glad  now  that  I  ventured. 

And  I  am  glad  to  see  your  handwriting,  for  I  have 
had  some  sorrowful  thoughts  about  you  ;  and  when 
that  is  the  case,  one  is  thankful  to  know  anything  of  the 
mind  for  which  one  is  anxious.  I  may  know  little  of 
the  case,  and  I  may  judge  ill  from  what  you  have  told 
of  it ;  but  I  will  tell  you,  as  a  friend,  that  I  do  not 
understand,  and  do  not  like,  your  declaration  that  The 

54 


CONTEMPLATED  RETIREMENT 

Last  of  the  Barons  is  your  farewell  work  in  fiction —    1 844. 
attended    and    preceded,    as    that    declaration    is,    by  JE.T.  41. 
symptoms  of  discontent  with  society,  or  a  portion  of  it. 
But  for  these  symptoms,  I  should  suppose  that  you 
merely  preferred   some   other   equally   noble   path   in 
literature  ;  and  though  I  might  doubt,  I  should  have  no 
right  to  regret  till  I  saw  what  you  were  doing.     It  may 
yet  be  so,  and  if  so,  I  have  only  to  give  you  my  hearty 
good  wishes  and  blessing. 

And  if  you  had  not  previously  been  rising,  I  should 
not  have  seriously  cared — nor  if  you  were  a  dreamer, 
who  had  done  emptying  yourself  of  your  dreams.     But 
so  immeasurably  superior  as  Zanoni  and  The  Last  of  the 
Barons  were,  in  their  different  ways,  to  your  former 
works — so    magnificent    a    course    as    either    of*    them 
indicated  for  you,    your  stopping  short   is  a  painful 
mystery.     You  cannot  be  idle.     The  test  and  seal  of 
your  powers  is  your  wonderful  industry — together  with 
a  growing  freshness.     Putting  together  some  of  your 
words   in  your  prefaces,  with  the   facts  before  us,  I 
cannot  resist  the  fear  that  there  is  discontent  at  bottom. 
Now,  such  a  being  as  you  must  not  succumb  to  any 
discontent  whatever.     It  is  humbling  to  every  one  of  us 
to  conceive  of  your  being  in  the  least  put  out  of  your 
way  by  the  world — by  any  kind  or  degree  of  opinion. 
Do  you  not  feel  that  you  can  put  the  world  under  your 
feet  ?  and  do  you  not  mean  to  do  it  ?  And  in  your  case, 
so  different  from  that  of  the  poor  and  struggling  man, 
pining   to  get  a  hearing,  in  your  case  there  need  be 
no   defiance,  and    no   appeal   to   or   from    the  world. 
Independent  in  your  position,  sure  of  a  hearing,  and  in 
the  very  strength  of  your  powers,  what  is  to  prevent 
your  calmly  achieving  the  greatness  for  which  you  were 
indubitably  created  ?  I  believe  you  think  the  world  hard 
and  unjust  towards  you.     I  gather  this  from  yourself. 
But  what  if  it  be  ?     How  does  that  hinder  you  ?     You 

55 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.  have  no  leave  to  ask  to  be  great,  and  the  world  has  no 
/Ex.  41.  such  leave  to  give  or  withhold.  If  I  am  all  wrong  in 
this  train  of  observation,  so  much  the  better.  Whatever 
work  you  may  have  in  progress  will  correct  me,  and,  I 
am  sure,  gratify  me.  If  you  really  are  discouraged  and 
hesitating,  I  trust  you  have  some  brave  man  for  a  friend 
who  will  faithfully  stimulate  you  to  fulfil  the  responsi- 
bilities of  such  powers  as  yours. 

I  will  not  say  anything  about  being  impertinent  in 
speaking  thus.  You  have  given  a  sort  of  claim  upon 
you  to  all  who  sympathise  in  your  works  ;  and  from 
this  room  I  may  say  many  things,  relying  on  a  true 
construction,  which  could  not  be  so  plainly  said  any- 
where else. 

As  for  your  present  grief,  may  time  soften  it  by 
strengthening  and  not  loosening  the  tie  between  you 
and  her  whom  you  have  lost !  God  comfort  you ! — 
Believe  me,  faithfully  yours, 

H.  MARTINEAU. 

After  the  publication  of  the  Schiller  transla- 
tions she  wrote  again  : — 

TYNEMOUTH,  April  27,  1844. 

DEAR  SIR  EDWARD — Here  I  have  the  book  at  last, 
and  delicious  I  find  it.  It  has  kept  me  up  far  too  late 
the  last  two  nights,  so  that  I  was  afraid  to  look  at  my 
watch  ;  nor  shall  I  tell  my  doctor  to-day,  but  let  him 
theorise  as  to  why  I  am  so  tired. 

I  am  almost  afraid  to  do  more  than  thank  you — I 
have  so  profound  a  sense  of  the  worthlessness  of  my 
opinion  on  these  matters.  And  this  is  from  no  false 
humility,  but  for  sound  reasons.  Intellectual  pleasures 
are  so  frightfully  vivid  to  a  prisoner  whose  comfort  is 
incessantly  spoiled  by  perpetual  malaise,  that  discrimi- 
nation and  moderation  are  almost  impossible  ;  and 

56 


TRANSLATIONS  OF  SCHILLER 

besides,  I  am  nothing  of  a  reader,  and  so  disqualified  1844. 
for  criticism.  My  reading  all  through  my  life  has  been  &T.  41. 
adoration  of  a  few  authors.  Of  these,  Schiller  has 
been  almost  the  supreme  idol— was,  in  my  youth  ;  and 
the  old  intoxication  comes  upon  me  now,  even  exag- 
gerated by  the  contrast  of  my  present  circumstances. 
I  have  such  a  longing  to-day  to  get  at  my  own  transla- 
tions, if  I  did  but  know  where  they  were.  Some  were 
printed,  I  remember,  and  a  good  many  more  are 
scattered  about  somewhere — but  I  don't  know  where. 
I  should  like  to  compare  them  with  yours.  I  did 
expect,  with  you,  that  I  should  like  the  Life  better 
than  the  translation.  I  do  like  the  Life  extremely. 
To  me  it  is  beautiful — but  yet  the  rest  occupies  me 
more.  I  have  not  half  done  yet,  and  I  doubted  at  break- 
fast whether  I  should  cut  the  leaves  of  "  The  Artists  " 
at  all — it  used  to  seem  to  me  so  untranslatable,  except 
quite  literally,  to  a  friend  at  one's  elbow  ;  but  I  have 
read  it,  and  at  present  I  think  you  have  succeeded  quite 
wonderfully.  I  even  think  your  versification  there 
clearer  and  smoother  than  is  its  wont.  But  really  it 
raised  such  a  universal  throb,  that  all  criticism  is  out  of  the 
question  ;  yet  "  The  Ideal  "  (one  of  my  great  favourites) 
is  beautifully  done.  So  is  the."  Night  of  Song."  (By  the 
way,  I  always  took  the  image  to  be  the  gossamer — the 
"  tremulous  ladder.")  The  most  extraordinary  slip 
(as  I  take  it)  that  I  have  met  with  is  the  "  Partition  of 
the  Earth."  I  do  wish  you  would  do  that  again.  If 
ever  there  was  pathos  and  music,  deep  and  thrilling,  it 
is  in  that  piece  ;  and  look  at  your  last  stanza  of  it ! 
There  is  a  certain  cheerfulness  in  the  original,  in  the 
pictorial  part — but  surely  nothing  dactyllic  ;  and  the 
conclusion  is  of  a  solemn  pathos.  "  The  Assignation  "  is 
charmingly  done.  How  you  must  have  enjoyed  doing 
these !  I  have  always  thought  Schiller's  hours  of 
composition  must  have  been  some  of  the  divinest 

57 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.  experiences  on  earth  ;  and  we  taste  something  of  the 
.  41.  bliss  in  translating  him.  I  wonder  what  surprised  you 
in  my  pleasure  in  Zanoni  ?  I  rather  believe  there  is  no 
one  within  our  four  seas  more  peculiarly  disposed  to 
relish  the  subject  matter  of  your  distinguishing  tastes — 
though  our  notions  part  off  widely  enough  on  some 
points.  .  .  . 

Another  appreciative  critic  of  the  Schiller 
was  Thomas  Carlyle,  who  wrote  on  March  28, 
1844:— 

MY  DEAR  SIR — It  was  not  till  this  morning  that  I 
received  my  book  after  all.  I  called  yesterday  at 
Blackwood's  shop  ;  the  shopman  was  arraigned  ;  the 
sub-shopman,  and  finally  the  porter,  with  the  corpus 
delicte  before  him,  the  parcel  namely,  all  wrapped  and 
rightly  addressed  above  a  week  ago.  He,  scratching 
his  rough  head,  could  only  allege  "  that — that — he  was 
not  sure  of  finding  my  house  there."  He  should  have 
tried  !  The  Footguards  at  Waterloo,  getting  order  to 
fire,  were  not  sure  that  the  triggers  would  act,  but  they 
made  the  experiment. 

In  fine,  I  return  you  many  thanks  for  my  good 
book,  and  mean  to  enjoy  myself  upon  it  this  very 
evening. 

The  thing  I  said  about  humour  and  Schiller  needs 
many  modifications,  explanations,  and  lies  open  to 
canvassing  on  every  side.  I  believe  it  first  of  all  came 
to  me  from  Jean  Paul,  who,  for  his  own  benefit,  has 
said  many  things  about  humour,  with  depth  enough, 
but  often  not  with  precision  enough.  Laughter  and 
tears  (if  they  are  true,  but  often  enough  they  are  both 
false]  seem  to  me  to  lie  very  near  together  in  all  men  ; 
and  for  avoiding  fanaticism,  Rousseauship,  &c.,  I  would 
have  them  go  on  pan  passu,  if  they  could. 

58 


LETTERS  FROM  CARLYLE 

You  will  do  me  a  real  pleasure  and  kindness  if  you    1844. 
call  here  any  day  and  talk  with  me  a  while.     I  am  at  &T.  41. 
home  generally  till  three,  accessible  to  anybody  between 
two  and  three,  and  to  you  at  all  hours.     A  mouthful 
of  rational  human  speech  is  certainly  the  very  elixir  of 
life  to  a  human  soul — and,  alas,  it  seems  to  be  a  very 
rare  possibility  for  mankind  in  these  epochs. 

With  many  kind  regards,  many  thanks  and  good 
wishes — I  remain  always,  Sincerely  yours, 

T.  CARLYLE. 

And  again  on  April  1 2  : — 

MY  DEAR  SIR — Last  night  your  servant  delivered 
me  the  book.  As  we  do  not  yet  meet  according  to  my 
hope,  I  feel  impelled  to  write  what  there  is  no  op- 
portunity of  speaking,  a  more  special  word  of  thanks 
for  my  Schiller,  which  is  more  properly  yours  and  the 
world's.  I  did  read  it  on  the  night  appointed,  and  with 
very  great  pleasure.  It  is  many  a  day  since  I  read  so 
glowing,  hearty,  and  altogether  vivid,  sympathetic,  and 
poetic  a  Biography  of  a  man — pity  that  we  have  not  a 
hundred  such  to  read  !  For  Biography,  I  imagine 
after  all,  is  the  real  summary  of  "Poetry,"  from  Homer's 
Odyssey  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  ;  the  grand  and 
truly  important  writings  we  have  are  all  "  Biographies  " 
spoken  or  sung !  Again,  I  wish  we  had  a  hundred 
such  done  in  as  good  a  way  as  this.  Many  thanks  to 
you,  in  my  own  name  and  that  of  a  multitude  of 
others. 

Since  you  heard  of  me  last  I  think  there  have  been 
but  two  exceptions  from  my  rule  as  to  three  o'clock  ; 
it  was  especially  unlucky  that  the  very  first  exception 
should  have  been  the  day  when  you  were  so  kind  as  to 
call  here.  At  Hertford  Street  my  luck  was  no  better — 
could  be  no  better,  so  late  am  I  always.  I  hope  there 
are  other  days  coming.  Non  omnes  ocdderunt  soles — 

59 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.    that  is  the  universal  Gospel  in  this  Place  of  Hope. — 
.  41.  I  remain,  with  many  thanks  and  kind  regards,  Yours 
always  truly, 

T.  CARLYLE. 

With  fwo  other  writers,  both  poets — one  at 
the  beginning  of  his  literary  career,  the  other  at 
its  close — Bulwer-Lytton l  had  some  correspond- 
ence in  1 844.  The  first  of  these  was  Coventry 
Patmore,  the  second  Thomas  Hood. 

Coventry  Patmore  had  just  published  a  volume 
of  Poems 2  for  which  Bulwer-Lytton  had  ex- 
pressed warm  appreciation,  and  the  following 
grateful  acknowledgment  was  the  result  : — 

DEAR  SIR — I  beg  to  offer  you  my  grateful  thanks 
for  what  I  feel  to  be  incomparably  the  most  satisfactory 
as  well  as  the  most  valuable  result  that  has  yet  occurred 
to  me  from  the  publication  of  my  first  efforts  in  verse. 

Your  letter  indicates  an  interest  in  my  little  volume 
which  will,  I  hope,  excuse  my  troubling  you  (in  justice 
to  myself)  with  a  few  words  touching  its  private 
history. 

The  poems  called  "  The  River,"  and  "  The  Wood- 
man's Daughter  "  were  completely  finished  more  than 
three  years  ago  (before  I  was  eighteen  years  old,  or  had 
given  a  single  thought  to  the  constructive  branch  of  the 
art  of  Poetry,  or  indeed  to  anything  but  the  mere 
execution  of  details).  This  will  sufficiently  explain  to 
you  the  want  of  any  predominating  idea  or  purpose  in 
the  two  first  poems.  I  was,  at  that  time,  totally  un- 
acquainted with  Tennyson,  or  with  any  other  of  the 

1  After  his  mother's  death,  and  in  accordance  with  the  terms  of  her 
will,  Bulwer  assumed  the  additional  surname  of  Lytton,  and  was  thereafter 
known  as  Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

2  Poems  (Moxon),  1844. 

60 


LETTER  FROM  COVENTRY  PATMORE 

poets  properly  to  be  called  of  the  present  day,  except    1844. 
Leigh  Hunt.     Next  to  the  poets,  contemporary  with,  JET.  41, 
or  immediately  succeeding,  Shakespeare,  my  favourites 
were  (and  still  are)  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth. 

There  followed  a  period  of  nearly  two  years  in  which 
I  wrote  nothing  at  all  in  verse,  but  in  that  time  I  read 
Tennyson  and  studied  some  of  Coleridge's  prose  meta- 
physical works.  Then  I  began  "  Lilian,"  and  when  it 
was  about  half  completed  I  met  with  the  misfortune  of 
a  publisher  volunteering  to  produce  at  his  own  risk  a 
volume  of  my  poems  as  soon  as  I  could  get  one  ready. 
So  "  Lilian  "  was  concluded  with  unwarrantable  haste, 
and  "  Sir  Hubert "  became  the  offspring  rather  of  the 
necessity  (which  Mr.  Moxon  urged)  of  filling  fifty 
pages  in  half  that  number  of  days  than  of  the  judgment 
which,  from  the  experience  I  had  gained,  ought  by 
rights  to  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  its  production, 
and  to  have  rendered  it  as  much  superior  as  I  fear  it  is 
now  inferior,  on  the  whole,  to  its  predecessors. 

Let  me,  before  I  conclude,  repeat  my  thanks  for  a 
letter  which,  had  it  emanated  from  a  much  less  dis- 
tinguished authority  than  it  does,  would  have  given  me 
unqualified  gratification,  by  reason  of  the  coincidence 
of  its  contents  with  that  knowledge  of  the  right  which 
is  always  inherent,  though  sometimes  almost  latent,  in 
the  mind  of  a  poet,  and  which  it  is  the  true  business  of 
criticism  to  render  "  objective "  and  practical.  My 
gratification  at  being  censored  and  applauded  by  you 
"  in  the  right  places  "  (I  particularly  allude,  as  regards 
the  latter,  to  your  remarks  on  Sec.  VI.  of  "  Sir  Hubert  "  ; 
all  other  critics  —  except  my  father,  who  Jong  ago 
spoke  of  it  as  you  have  done — having  left  unnoticed 
that  passage  which  I  have  always  held  to  be  the  best  in 
the  book)  is  not  a  little  enhanced  by  a  comparison  of 
your  letter  with  the  miserably  inefficient  notices  which 
have  hitherto  appeared  of  my  book  in  the  public  prints. 

61 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.    Not  that  they  have  not  praised  it  enough,  but  that  their 
T.  41.  praises  have  been  almost   always   in  the  wrong  places, 
and  generally  their  censures  too. 

In  the  hope  that  I  may  be  allowed  to  ask  the  favour 
and  the  benefit  of  your  criticisms  upon  any  future 
poems  I  may  attempt,  before  giving  them  to  the  world, 
— I  remain,  dear  Sir,  Your  obliged  servant, 

COVENTRY  K.  PATMORE. 

SOUTHAMPTON  ST.,  FITZROY  SQ., 
Aug.  ist.,  1844. 

His  correspondence  with  Hood  was  of  a 
more  tragic  nature.  This  delightful  writer,  in 
whom  humour  and  pathos  were  so  closely 
blended,  had  fallen  upon  evil  days.  In  1844  he 
was  in  great  poverty  and  completely  broken 
in  health.  Bulwer-Lytton  took  a  keen  interest 
in  his  affairs  and  sought  through  Mr.  F.  O. 
Ward,  Hood's  friend,  who  was  at  that  time 
carrying  on  his  Magazine  for  him,  to  relieve  his 
distress.  He  contributed  to  Hood's  Magazine, 
and  was  instrumental  in-  securing  for  him  a 
pension  from  Sir  Robert  Peel.  For  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  the  pension,  he  had  asked  for  a  list 
of  Hood's  works  to  submit  to  the  Prime 
Minister.  Mr.  Ward  sent  Hood's  letter  in 
reply,  adding  :  "  Do  not  be  deceived  by  his 
jocose  style.  He  made  jokes  on  the  Friday 
night,  when  he  said  *  I  shall  scramble  on  to  my 
birthday  (the  next  day)  and  no  more.'  I  was 
putting  a  mustard  poultice  round  him,  and  he 
said  :  £  Very  little  meat  to  so  much  mustard  ! ' 
Still  he  is  getting  better." 

62 


THOMAS  HOOD 

The    characteristic    letter    enclosed    was    as    1844. 
follows  : —  JEr.  41. 

VANBRUGH  HOUSE, 

Tuesday. 

MY  DEAR  WARD — I  send  you  the  best  list  I  can  of 
my  writings.  They  make  no  great  show  in  the 
catalogue.  Small  fruits  and  few,  towards  what  you 
will  call  my  literary  dessert.  You  must  trust,  I  fear,  to 
my  negative  merits.  For  example  : — That  I  have  not 
given  up  to  party  even  a  parfyciple  of  what  was  meant 
for  mankind,  womankind  or  children.  It  is  true  that  I 
may  be  said  to  have  favoured  liberal  principles,  but 
then,  they  were  so  liberaj  as  to  be  Catholic — common 
to  old,  young,  or  new  England.  The  worse  chance  of 
any  reward  from  powers  political,  who  do  not  patronise 
motley,  but  would  have  their  very  Harlequins  all  of 
one  colour — blue,  green,  or  orange ;  anything  but 
neutral  tint. 

I  have  not  devoted  any  comic  power  I  may  possess 
to  lays  of  indecency  or  ribaldry.  "  I  stooped  to  truth," 
as  Pope  stoopedly  says,  "  and  moralised  my  song." 

I  have  never  written  against  religion,  anything 
against  pseudo  Saints  and  Pharisees  notwithstanding  ; 
some  of  my  serious  views  were  expressed  in  an  Ode  to 
Rae  Wilson  in  the  Athene  urn. 

I  have  never  been  indicted  for  libel. 

I  have  never  been  called  out  for  personality. 

I  have  not  sought  pleasure  or  profit  in  satirising  or 
running  down  my  literary  contemporaries. 

I  have  never  stolen  from  them. 

I  have  never  written  anonymously  what  I  should 
object  to  own. 

I  have  never  countenanced,  by  my  practice,  the 
puffery,  quackery  and  trickery  of  modern  literature, 
even  when  publishing  for  years  on  my  own  account. 

63 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.         In  short,  though  I  may  not  have  reflected  any  very 
41.  great   honour  on  our   national   literature,    I  have  not 
disgraced  it,  all  which  has  been  an  infinite  comfort  to 
me  to  remember  when  lately  a  critical  illness  induced  a 
retrospective  review  of  my  literary  career. 

Now,  in  the  days  when  the  father  of  a  certain  friend 
of  ours  was   made  a  superannuated   Postman   in   his 
cradle   at  £70  a   year,  even  such    negative  merits  as 
mine  in  literature  might  have  deserved  a  pension  ;  but 
in  these  times  of  retrenchment  and  political  economy, 
towards   the  unpolitical,   I  sincerely  believe,  as  I  told 
you  before,  that  my  strongest  recommendation  would 
be  what  would  prevent  my  insuring  my  life,  but  aid  me 
in  purchasing  an  annuity — the  moral  certainty  that  I 
can  last  but  a  very  few  years.     That  is  indeed  the  sole 
consideration  that  could  induce  me  to  accept  anything 
of  the  kind,  as  it  might  enable  me  to  make  some  slight 
service  for  my  children,  whom  I  am  but  too  sure  to 
leave,  like  the  children  of  literary  men  in  general,  to  a 
double  lament  for  the  author  of  their  being,  and  for  his 
being  an  author.     Personally  I  am  not  very  sensitive 
on  the  score  of  poverty,  since  it  has  been  the  lot  of 
many  of  those  whose  names  I  most  do  venerate.     The 
reproach  clings  not  to  them,  but  to  the  country  they 
helped   to  glorify.     My  debts  and    difficulties   indeed 
cost  me  trouble  and  concern,  but  much  less  than  if  they 
had  been  the  results  of  stark  extravagance  or  vicious 
dissipation.     At  the  very  worst,  like  Timon,  "  unwisely, 
not  ignobly,  have  I  spent,"  and  even  that  to  a  small 
amount.     But,  like  Dogberry,  I  have  had  losses  and 
been  weighed  down  by  drawbacks  I  should  long  ago 
have  surmounted,    but   for   the  continued  misconduct 
and   treacheries  of  others  called  friends  and  relations. 
Only   it   provokes   and   vexes   me    that    my    position 
countenances   the   old    traditional    twaddle   about    the 
improvidence  of  authors,  their  want  of  business  habits, 

64 


THOMAS  HOOD 

ignorance  of  the  world,  &c.,  &c.  Men  can  hardly  be  1844. 
ignorant  in  particular  of  what  they  professedly  study  ;  ^Er.  41, 
and  as  to  business,  authors  know  their  own,  as  well  as 
your  mercantiles  or  traders,  and  perhaps  something  of 
accounts  besides.  That  they  do  not  thrive  like  those 
who  seek  for  money  and  nothing  else,  is  a  matter  of 
course  ;  nor  can  they  be  expected  to  prove  a  match  for 
those  whose  life-long  study  has  been  how  to  over-reach 
or  swindle.  Their  Flights  have  been  in  another 
direction  ;  their  contemplations  turned  towards  the 
beautiful,  the  just  and  the  good.  They  are  not  simply 
spooney  victims,  but  martyrs  to  their  own  code.  To 
cope  with  Bailys  and  Flights  one  must  be  not  merely 
literary  men,  but  literary  scamps,  rogues,  sharks, 
sharpers.  Authors  are  supposed  too  often  to  be  mere 
ninnies,  and  therefore  plucked  especially,  in  wit  men, 
but  in  simplicity,  mere  children.  A  vulgar  error. 
The  first  fellow  who  took  me  in,  victimised  also  no  few 
friends  in  trade,  bankers  and  bill-brokers.  To  my 
next  mishaps  I  was  no  party,  being  abroad,  and  the 
tricks  played  without  my  knowledge.  Baily,  a  book- 
seller, had  necessarily  long  odds  in  his  favour  against 
an  author,  by  the  force  of  position,  and  with  the  law  to 
help  him,  which,  whatever  may  be  said,  protects  the 
wrongdoer — witness  my  barren  verdict  and  yet  costly. 
Flight  you  know — a  practised  pettifogger  and  money- 
lender to  boot.  And  yet  after  all,  much  as  I  have 
suffered  from  it,  I  do  not  repent  my  good  opinion  of 
my  fellows.  There  is  a  faith  in  human  goodness,  to 
renounce  which  altogether  is,  in  its  kind,  an  impiety. 
It  is  a  total  loss  when  a  man  writes  up  over  his  heart 
"  No  trust ;  "  one  had  better  lose  a  few  hundreds  more, 
than  keep  such  a  pike.  For  my  own  part,  I  would 
rather  be  done  brown  a  little  than  go  black  for  fear 
of  it. 

I  have  entered  into  this  matter  partly  because  it  may 
VOL.  ii  65  F 


LITERARY  WORK 

1844.  seem  that  with  my  popularity  I  ought  to  have  done 
.  41.  better,  and  partly  because  I  am  jealous  of  the  honour 
of  authorship,  and  I  do  not  think  we  are  so  imprudent, 
unwise,  ignorant  of  the  world,  unbusinesslike,  &c.,  &c., 
&c.,  as  we  are  reported.  I  could  prove  that  on  the 
whole,  I  have  earned  more  than  I  have  spent,  and  but 
for  dead  robberies  should  be  a  living  Croesus — at  least 
for  a  poet. 

I  must  stop  to  save  the  post.  Come  as  soon  as  you 
can  and  let  us  have  a  palaver  on  things  in  general.  I 
am  getting  on  faster  in  health  than  in  writing  or 
drawing,  for  I  eat,  drink  and  sleep  well,  take  all  the  air 
I  can,  and  greedily,  as  a  man  may  well  do  who  gasped 
for  it  in  16  hour  spasms  a  week  or  two  ago.  I  am 
almost  spectre  enough  for  the  Phantom  Ship,  but  too 
weak  to  work  my  passage.  However,  I  will  not 
strike  ;  my  colours  (yellow  and  white)  must  be  hauled 
down  for  me.  Meanwhile,  I  fight  on  as  well  as  I  can 
— at  the  very  worst,  when  all  is  lost,  I  can  blow  up  the 
Magazine. — God  bless  you,  Yours  affectionately, 

THOS.  HOOD. 

Pray  convey  to  Sir  E.  B.  L.  my  deep  sense  of  his 
kindness — I  will  myself  as  soon  as  I  am  strong  enough 
for  it.  I  always  stood  up  for  the  good  feeling  of  the 
Bruderschaft  in  spite  of  the  old  calumnies  about  the 
irritable  genus,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.  Lo  !  the  proofs. 

To  Bulwer-Lytton  directly  he  expressed  his 
thanks  in  the  following  letter  : — 

DEVONSHIRE  LODGE,  NEW  FINCHLEY  ROAD, 

ST.  JOHN'S  WOOD, 

Saturday. 

DEAR  SIR — Many  thanks  for  your  very  kind  letter — 
confirming  me  in  an  opinion  at  which  you  shake  your 
head.  Nevertheless,  my  experience  tells  me  that  besides 

66 


THOMAS  HOOD 

liberal  appreciation  as  a  writer,  I  have  received  more    1844. 
kindness   from   authors   than   from   others,    including  &T.  41. 
relations.      Of  course,   the  poor  pen  and  ink  people 
have  their  common  share  of  human  envy,  hatred,  malice 
and  all  uncharitableness  —  not  more  perhaps.      Two 
tradesmen   who   can   hardly    spell   shall   exhibit   at   a 
vestry  meeting  as  much  bad  spirit  and  uncordial  com- 
pounds as  the  worst  of  us. 

But  the  immediate  purpose  of  the  present  writing 
is  to  inform  you  of  the  result  of  your  friendly  interest 
and  good  exertions  in  my  behalf.  A  letter  from  Lord 
F.  Egerton  encloses  the  quotation  from  one  by  Sir 
R.  Peel,  of  which  I  enclose  a  copy. 

The  arrangement  which  gives  me  the  option  of 
another  life  is  kind  and  considerate,  and  relieves  me 
from  a  very  painful  anxiety.  I  have,  of  course, 
accepted  it  cheerfully  and  gratefully. 

The  flattering  consideration  of  those  who  have  helped 
to  this  result  make  me  affluent  in  feeling.  For  your 
own  share  in  the  work,  pray  accept  again  the  heartfelt 
thanks  of,  dear  Sir — Your  very  obliged  and  grateful 

servant,  ^         TT 

THOS.  HOOD. 

In  another  letter,  thanking  Bulwer-Lytton  for 
his  contribution  to  his  Magazine,  he  said  : — 

It  is  difficult  to  express  how  highly  I  estimate  such 
a  token  of  your  great  kindness  and  consideration — the 
more  so  remembering  your  state  of  health  and  probable 
disinclination  to  literary  occupation,  with  which  my 
own  experience  made  me  sympathise  so  strongly  that 
several  times  I  have  been  on  the  point  of  writing  to 
request  you  to  dismiss  the  matter  altogether  from 
your  mind  till  a  fitter  season,  lest  the  mere  heat  of 
composition  and  the  feverishness  of  an  untimely  task 
should  mull  the  cold  water  cure. 

67 


LITERARY  WORK 

1845.  Pray  accept  my  most  heartfelt  thanks  for  this,  and  the 
T.  42.  great  interest  you  have  elsewhere  taken  in  my  behalf.  I 
can  accept  kindnesses  from  literary  men  as  from  relations, 
which  I  could  not  take  from  others  not  endeared  to  me 
by  admiration,  respect,  community  of  pursuit,  and  that 
mental  intimacy  which  far  transcends  a  mere  personal 
acquaintance,  and  makes  a  name  a  household  word. 

Though  the  pension  was  obtained,  it  came 
too  late  to  be  of  any  service,  and  the  corre- 
spondence ends  with  the  following  letter  from 
Mr.  Ward  :— 

12  CORK  STREET, 

BURLINGTON  GARDENS, 

Tuesday,  Feby.  \th,  1845. 

DEAR  SIR — Your  kindness  to  my  poor  friend,  Mr. 
Hood,  makes  me  feel  it  a  duty  to  convey  to  you  the 
melancholy  intelligence  that  he  is  dying l — violent 
hemorrhage,  extreme  emaciation  and  rapidly  increasing 
dropsy,  leave  no  longer  any  hope,  any  doubt  of  the 
event.  He  will  never  write  again — a  few  more  days  of 
misery,  and  all  is  done.  His  genius  remains  as  active 
and  unclouded  as  ever.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  suffer- 
ings he  still  longs  to  write,  if  we  would  let  him.  He 
sits  plotting  his  novel,  and  last  night  told  me  how 
he  intended  to  carry  the  story  on !  Yet  some 
instinctive,  awful  prescience  of  the  approaching  end 
seems  indicated  in  those  stanzas  beginning  "  Farewell 
Life  !  " — his  latest  composition.  Vague  forebodings, 
restless  alternation  of  despair  and  feverish  hope — the 
Death  flickerings  of  his  genius. 

Greater  poems  than  any  he  has  written  die  with 
him  —  appeals  on  behalf  of  humanity  that  would 
have  deeply  stirred  the  times  and  set  his  name  among 
the  more  illustrious  of  the  age.  It  is  all  over  now. 

1  Hood  lingered  on,  however,  until  the  3rd  of  May. 
68 


"THE  NEW  TIMON" 

He  dies  at  45,  in  the  prime  of  his  life,  in  the  height  of    1845. 
his  power,  hunted  and  harassed  to  his  grave  by  the  JEr.  42. 
fraud  and  rapacity  of  publishers. 

Meanwhile,  the  seal  is  about  being  set  to  the  warrant 
of  his  pension  !  Laissez  faire  !  laissez  passer !  Supply 
and  demand  !  What  matters  a  snapped  fibre,  a  crushed 
heart,  more  or  less  ?  His  own  folly  for  writing  poems  ! 
Why  not  do  as  we  do — sell  calico  to  the  Chinese — 10 
yards  stretched  into  12?  Then  he  would  have  lived 
rich — and  died  respectable. 

What  can  be  said  or  done  ?  It  is  too  late,  and  too 
dreadful.  There  is  nothing  to  say  or  do  now.  A  few 
grapes,  a  few  sponge  cakes — and  there  is  an  end  of  it. 
The  two  seals  will  be  set  at  once,  the  red  and  the  black. 
May  God  forgive  us  all  for  our  selfishness. — Yours, 

F.  O.  WARD. 

This  kindness  to  Hood  was  by  no  means  a  soli- 
tary instance  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  efforts  to  lighten 
the  struggles  of  fellow  authors.  Among  his  papers 
are  numerous  letters  from  literary  men,  gratefully 
acknowledging  the  assistance  they  have  received 
from  him  ;  and  his  attempt  to  establish  a  literary 
benefaction  on  a  more  general  and  organised 
basis  will  form  the  subject  of  a  later  chapter. 

At  the  end  of  1845  Bulwer-Lytton  wrote  a 
long  poem  called  The  New  Timon,  which  appeared 
anonymously  in  four  parts.  The  first  part  was 
published  on  December  23,  1845,  and  the  other 
three  parts  followed  in  rapid  succession  early  in 
1846.  The  poem  was  a  romantic  narrative  of 
life  in  London — a  novel  in  verse  ;  but  it  also 
contained,  wholly  unconnected  with  the  main 
story,  a  number  of  satirical  sketches  of  con- 

69 


LITERARY  WORK 

temporary  men  in  politics  and  literature,  which 
J&T.  42.  attracted  far  more  attention  than  the  poem  itself. 
These  portraits  are  the  only  passages  in  the 
book  which  have  survived  the  generation  for 
which  it  was  written.  Many  readers  at  the 
present  time  who  know  nothing  of  the  romantic 
adventures  of  "  Mervale "  and  "  Arden,"  still 
remember  The  New  Timon  for  the  lines,  so  often 
quoted,  which  describe  Lord  Stanley  (afterwards 
the  1 4th  Lord  Derby)  and  Lord  John  Russell : — 

One  after  one  the  Lords  of  time  advance, 

Here  Stanley  meets — how  Stanley  scorns,  the  glance  ! 

The  brilliant  chief,  irregularly  great, 

Frank,  haughty,  rash — the  Rupert  of  Debate  ! 

Nor  gout,  nor  toil,  his  freshness  can  destroy, 

And  Time  still  leaves  all  Eton  in  the  boy ; — 

First  in  the  class,  and  keenest  in  the  ring, 

He  saps  like  Gladstone,  and  he  fights  like  Spring  ! 

Next  cool,  and  all  unconscious  of  reproach, 
Comes  the  calm  "Johnny  who  upset  the  coach." 
How  formed  to  lead,  if  not  too  proud  to  please, 
His  fame  would  fire  you,  but  his  manners  freeze. 

But  see  our  statesman  when  the  steam  is  on, 
And  languid  Johnny  glows  to  glorious  John  ! 
When  Hampden's  thought,  by  Falkland's  muses  drest, 
Lights  the  pale  cheek,  and  swells  the  generous  breast ; 
When  the  pent  heat  expands  the  quickening  soul, 
And  foremost  in  the  race  the  wheels  of  genius  roll  ! 

Some  of  the  other  sketches,  however,  were  not 
so  good-natured,  and  a  contemporary  reviewer 
described  the  poem  as  written  "  with  a  degree  of 
rashness,  levity,  and  bad  taste  almost  inconceiv- 
able." One  of  the  passages  in  particular  involved 

70 


ATTACK  ON  TENNYSON 

Bulwer-Lytton  in  the  most  uncomfortable  position    1845. 
in  which  he  was  ever  placed  by    his   love    of  -&T.  42. 
anonymity  and  his  proclivity  to  satire.     Tenny- 
son was  referred  to  as  "  school-miss  Alfred,"  and 
attacked  in  the  following  lines  : — 

No  tawdry  grace  shall  womanize  my  pen  ! 
Even  in  love-song  man  should  write  for  men  ! 
Not  mine,  not  mine  (O  Muse  forbid  !)  the  boon 
Of  borrowed  notes,  the  mock  bird's  modish  tune, 
The  jingling  medley  of  purloin'd  conceits, 
Outbabying  Wordsworth,  and  outglittering  Keats, 
Where  all  the  airs  of  patchwork-pastoral  chime 
To  drowsy  ears  in  Tennysonian  rhyme  ! 

As  the  poetry  of  Tennyson  had  then  just 
found  general  acceptance,  this  extraordinary 
dictum  was  noticed  more  than  any  other  passage 
in  the  book ;  and  Bulwer-Lytton  evidently  became 
apprehensive  of  discovery.  His  friendship  with 
Mr.  Tennyson  d'Eyncourt  has  already  been 
mentioned,  and  on  a  visit  to  him  at  this  time  he 
rather  ostentatiously  expressed  his  admiration  of 
the  poet,  and  added,  "  How  much  I  should  like 
to  know  your  cousin  Alfred  !  " 1  In  a  note  in 
The  New  Timon,  criticising  the  pension  which 
Tennyson  had  received  from  the  Government, 
he  speaks  of  him  as  "  belonging  to  a  wealthy 
family,"  and  implies  that  he  was  in  flourishing 
circumstances,  although  he  knew  from  the 
d'Eyncourts  that  he  was  in  fact  extremely  poor. 
All  this  was,  no  doubt,  done  to  remove  any 
suspicion  regarding  the  authorship  of  the  satire. 

1  Alfred  Lord  Tennyson,  A  Memoir  by  His  Son,  vol.  i.  p.  244. 
71 


LITERARY  WORK 

1846.  In  Bulwer-Lytton's  case,  however,  anonymity 
.  43.  was  not  easily  preserved.  Tennyson  did  not  see 
the  poem  at  first,  but  the  passages  referring  to 
himself  were  anonymously  communicated  to  him 
in  a  newspaper.  He  seems  to  have  guessed,  or 
to  have  been  assured  by  Forster,  that  Bulwer- 
Lytton  was  the  author,  and  immediately  wrote 
in  reply  :  "  The  New  Timon  and  the  Poets," 
a  piece  of  great  satirical  merit,  which  has,  at 
Tennyson's  particular  desire,  never  been  reprinted 
among  his  works.  It  began  : — 

We  know  him,  out  of  Shakespeare's  art, 
And  those  fine  curses  which  he  spoke, — 

The  Old  Timon  with  his  noble  heart, 
That,  strongly  loathing,  greatly  broke. 

So  died  the  Old  ;  here  comes  the  New  ; 

Regard  him — a  familiar  face  ; 
I  thought  we  knew  him  !     What,  it's  you, — 

The  padded  man  that  wears  the  stays  ! 

Who  killed  the  girls  and  thrilled  the  boys 
With  dandy  pathos  when  you  wrote  ! 

O  Lion,  you  that  made  a  noise, 
And  shook  a  mane  en  papillotes  \ 

But  men  of  long-enduring  hopes, 

And  careless  what  the  hours  may  bring, 

Can  pardon  little  would-be  Popes, 

And  Brummels  when  they  try  to  sting. 

An  artist,  Sir,  should  rest  in  art, 

And  waive  a  little  of  his  claim  ; 
To  have  the  great  poetic  heart 

Is  more  than  all  poetic  fame. 

Tennyson  improvised  these  lines  to  relieve  his 

72 


A  STRANGE  DISCLAIMER 

own  feelings,  but  John  Forster,  to  whom  he  1846. 
showed  them,  insisted  on  sending  them  to  JET.  43. 
Punch,  where  they  were  printed  on  February  28, 
I846.1  Forster's  part  in  the  transaction,  as  a 
friend  of  both  parties,  is  curious.  But  he  may 
have  been  piqued  with  Bulwer-Lytton  for  not 
having  confided  his  secret  to  him,  and  perhaps 
thought  that  the  one  attack  deserved  the  other. 
That  Bulwer-Lytton  regarded  Forster  as  the  man 
most  likely  to  reveal  the  authorship  of  The  New 
Timon  is  evident  from  the  following  passage  in  a 
letter  he  wrote  to  him  on  his  way  to  Florence  on 
March  15,  1846,  perhaps,  when  the  circum- 
stances are  considered,  the  most  remarkable  letter 
in  his  whole  correspondence  : — 

I  have  to  complain  of  you.  I  have  not  seen  news- 
papers myself,  except  an  occasional  Galignani,  a  rare 
Times,  one  Daily  News,  and  the  two  Examiners,  you 
kindly  sent  me  ;  but  I  am  informed  by  my  letters  from 
town  that  there  is  a  report  put  out,  and  it  would  seem 
in  some  spiteful  way,  that  I  am  the  author  of  the 
Modern  Timon,  and  that  the  report  arose,  or  at  least 
took  its  sanction,  in  a  review  in  the  Examr.,  attributing 
it,  by  implication  or  hint,  to  me  ! — everyone  suppos- 
ing from  our  intimacy  that  the  reviewer  in  the  Examr. 
must  be  well  informed.  Now,  as  I  am  not  the  author, 
the  report  is  extremely  disagreeable  to  me,  without  dis- 
respect to  the  poem,  whatever  it  be,  good  or  bad,  and  I 
should  feel  very  much  obliged  to  you  to  repair,  as  far 
as  you  can,  the  wrong  you  have  done  me — indeed,  it 
does  seem  to  me  strange  that  such  a  charge  or  sugges- 

1  Tennyson  himself  said  of  them  :  "  They  were  too  bitter.     I  do  not 
think  I  should  ever  have  published  them."     Memoir  by  His  Son,  p.  245. 

73 


LITERARY  WORK 

1846.  tion  should  have  come  from  you.  I  am  not  in  the 
T.  43.  habit  of  writing  anonymously,  and  even  if  I  had  now 
done  so,  my  reasons  for  concealment  must  have  been 
so  grave  that  it  could  scarcely  be  a  friendly  act  to 
proclaim  what  I  had  intended  to  be  secret.  But  I  have 
nothing  to  do  with  the  poem,  one  way  or  the  other, 
and  have  sins  eno'  of  my  own  to  answer  for,  without 
taking  up  those  of  any  other,  who  may,  for  ought  I 
know,  catch  my  style  or  mannerisms — there  are  plenty 
who  have  done  so,  and  will  do  so  yet,  a  misfortune 
inevitable  to  every  writer  of  some  originality. 

You  have  my  decided  and  peremptory  authority 
accordingly  to  deny  the  report,  whether  it  honors  or 
asperses  me.  I  am  informed  at  the  same  time  that 
Douglas  Jerrold  and  the  Punch  clique  are  libelling  me 
in  that  publication,  in  every  way  most  personal  and 
offensive.  Why  I,  who  have  been  as  generally  kind 
and  good-natured  to  all  literary  men  whom  I  could 
help,  as  an  author  can  well  be  to  his  brethren,  who 
have  helped,  at  one  moment  or  another,  almost  every 
popular  writer  appearing  subsequently  to  myself — poet 
or  proseman,  from  Elliot  the  Corn  Law  bard  (whose 
opinions  I  abhorred)  and  Milnes,  whose  school  I  disliked 
— to  even  the  great  Boz,  who  certainly  never  needed 
my  good  word,  you  will  say,  but  who  had  all  the 
weight  that  the  most  earnest  and  active  eulogy  could 
give  him,  at  the  first  commencement  of  Pickwick, 
before  the  depth  beneath  its  humour  was  acknowledged 
— yea,  tho'  I  foresaw  and  foretold  that  he  of  all  men 
was  the  one  that  my  jealousy  might  best  be  aroused  by. 
Why,  I  say,  I  should  be  selected  so  constantly  and 
so  bitterly  for  the  stings  and  slanders  of  the  literary 
clique  professional,  I  know  not,  except  because  I  am  a 
gentleman,  and  because  I  have  been  good-natured.  I 
can't  help  being  the  first,  but  I  can  at  least  remedy 
the  second  ;  and  wits  as  these  persons  think  them- 

74 


THE  END  OF  THE  INCIDENT 

selves,  I  will  try  if  I   cannot  pay  them  off  in  their    1846. 
own  coin.     Therefore,  let  the  hunchback  look  to  his  JET.  43. 
own  hump  ! 

The  following  week,  in  the  issue  of  Punch  for 
March  7,  Tennyson  returned  to  the  subject 
with  an  "  After-thought,"  in  which  no  direct 
reference  was  made  to  The  New  Timon  but  "  the 
petty  fools  of  rhyme  "  were  fiercely  described  : — 

Who  hate  each  other  for  a  song, 

And  do  their  little  best  to  bite 
And  pinch  their  brothers  in  the  throng, 

And  scratch  the  very  dead  for  spite, 
And  strain  to  make  an  inch  of  room 

For  their  sweet  selves.  .  .  . 
.  .  .  Surely,  after  all, 

The  noblest  answer  unto  such 
Is  perfect  stillness  when  they  brawl. 

This  contribution,  like  its  predecessor,  was 
signed  "  Alcibiades." 

However  anxious  Bulwer-Lytton  may  have 
been  to  "  pay  off  in  their  own  coin  "  the  critics 
by  whom  he  was  assailed  in  the  press,  he  must 
have  realised  that  there  was  no  such  justification 
for  his  attack  upon  Tennyson,. which  had  only 
resulted  in  bringing  a  new  and  formidable  critic 
into  the  field  against  him.  Indeed,  the  more  he 
resented  the  hostility  which  his  own  writings 
encountered,  the  less  excuse  was  there  for  his 
unprovoked  attack  upon  a  distinguished  fellow 
author.  When,  therefore,  the  authorship  of  The 
New  Timon  was  acknowledged,  he  cut  out  altogether 
the  lines  referring  to  Tennyson.  The  poem  was 

75 


LITERARY  WORK 

1846.    already  in   its  second  edition   when  Tennyson's 

r.  43.  first  reply  appeared  ;  but  in  the  third,  and  in  all 

subsequent  reprints,  the  passage  was  so  completely 

expunged  that,  without  a  reference  to  the  original 

text,  it  is  impossible  to  conjecture  its  context. 


76 


CHAPTER    IV 

CHEQUERED    YEARS 

1846-1850 

He  had  based  his  experiments  upon  the  vast  masses  of  the  General 
Public.  He  had  called  the  People  of  his  own  and  other  countries  to  be  his 
audience  and  his  judges,  and  all  the  coteries  in  the  world  could  not  have 
injured  him.  He  was  like  the  member  for  an  immense  constituency  who 
may  offend  individuals  so  long  as  he  keep  his  footing  with  the  body  at 
large. 

Ernest  Maltraven. 

THE  discontent  and  discouragement  which  Miss  1846. 
Martineau  had  detected  in  some  of  Bulwer-  ^ET.  43. 
Lytton's  recent  publications,  and  for  which  she 
had  chided  him  in  so  friendly  and  encouraging  a 
tone,  was  evidently  only  a  passing  phase  due  to 
ill-health  ;  for  the  years  which  elapsed  between 
the  publication  of  The  Last  of  the  Barons  and  his 
return  to  political  life  produced  not  only  his  most 
ambitious  poetical  work,  but  also  two  novels 
in  an  entirely  new  strain,  which  bear  strong 
testimony  to  the  freshness  and  vigour  of  his 
creative  faculties. 

In  his  personal  and  private  life  this  period, 
though  freed  from  the  drudgery  and  acute  strain 
of  his  first  ten  years  of  authorship,  was  not  with- 
out its  struggles,  anxieties,  and  sorrows,  and  his 

77 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.  mind  was  still  far  removed  from  that  peace  and 
T.  43.  repose  which  he  coveted  so  ardently,  but  which 
he  never  obtained  until  the  last  years  of  his 
life.  The  years  1846  to  1850  were  on  the 
whole  rather  restless  years,  in  which  he  travelled 
much  in  search  of  health  and  change  of  occupa- 
tion, tried  twice  unsuccessfully  to  get  back  into 
Parliament,  was  pursued  remorselessly  by  the 
hostility  of  his  literary  critics,  and  suffered  much 
from  the  personal  sorrows  from  which  no  life  is 
wholly  free.  Almost  within  a  year  of  each  other 
he  lost  by  death  both  his  only  daughter  and  his 
best  woman  friend,  and  a  year  later  came  very 
near  to  losing  his  son  also.  The  general  im- 
pression left  by  a  survey  of  these  years  is  one  of 
struggle — struggle  persistently  and  on  the  whole 
successfully  maintained,  internally  with  weak- 
nesses both  of  constitution  and  character,  and 
externally  with  the  world  and  fortune.  It  will 
be  the  object  of  this  chapter  to  indicate  the 
circumstances  and  mental  condition  in  which 
some  of  his  very  best  literary  work  was  accom- 
plished. 

At  the  beginning  of  1846,  immediately  after 
the  publication  of  The  New  Timon,  Bulwer-Lytton 
revisited  Italy  at  a  time  when  the  inhabitants 
of  that  country  were  on  the  eve  of  their  first 
abortive  attempt  to  free  themselves  from  the 
domination  of  Austria  ;  and  already  at  that  time 
he  had  the  shrewdness  to  foresee  the  part  which 
the  kingdom  of  Piedmont  was  destined  to  play 
in  the  coming  struggle  : — 

78 


ITALY  REVISITED 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

NAPLES,  Jan.  26,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  can  no  longer  delay  thanking     1846. 
you  for  your  remembrance  of  the  absent  and  for  your  Mr.  43. 
exertions  about  the  play.1     I  have  laid  it  at  present  on 
the  shelf,  not  being  inclined  to  add  to  my  collection  of 
useless   MSS.,  or   to   swell  the  dread  account  of  the 
unacted  drama.     Whenever  I  can  learn  that  if  written 
it  will  be  accepted  by  the  manager  on  the  conditions 
stated,  or  acceptable  to  Macready,  I  will  return  to  and 
complete   it.     Meanwhile   the    dolce  far  niente   gains 
upon  me  as  I  breathe  the  relaxing  airs  of  Parthenope  and 
look  on  the  vacant  faces  of  this  lazy  population.     The 
weather  indeed  is  severe  for  Naples,  but  about  as  warm 
as  the  middle  of  a  fine  September  in  England.     My 
windows  look  on  the  matchless  bay,  and  my  ride  of 
yesterday  gave  one  the  view  of  the  old  Baias,  the  isle  of 
Nisita  on  which  stood  the  villa  of  Brutus,  the  site  of 
Cicero's  villa,  the  old  cape  of  Misenum,  the  peaks  of 
Procida,  and  the  still  Hellenic  island  of  Ischia.     In  the 
last  the  Greek  dress  is  worn  by  the  women  and  Greek 
words  abound.      I  explored  Pozzuoli  (six  miles  hence) 
formerly  the  great  commercial  city  of  Puteoli.     There 
still   remain  the  amphitheatre — the  dens  for  the  wild 
beasts    as  fresh  as  the  trapdoors  at   Astleys  and  the 
columns  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter  Serapis,  destroyed  by 
volcanic  eruption  and  inundation. 

What  amidst  these  scenes  stirs  in  the  mind  ? 
Nothing  but  a  dreary  contemplation.  How  be  active 
where  Death  coils  round  all  trace  of  the  activity  of  old  ? 
Yet  much  of  my  old  illusory  recollections  of  Italy  are 
disappointed  in  this  second  visit.  I  am  more  alive  than 

1  This  play,  I  think,  must  have  been  the  comedy  of  Darnley,  never 
completed,  but  adapted  for  the  stage  after  his  death  and  produced  by  Mr. 
(now  Sir)  John  Hare  at  the  Court  Theatre  in  1879. 

79 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.  I  was  to  the  creature  discomforts.  The  squalid  filth 
LT.  43.  and  petty  extortion  of  the  populace  fret  and  disgust  me. 
The  scarfskin  of  poetry  is  less  thick  on  my  temper  than 
I  suppose  it  was  at  six  or  seven  and  twenty.  The 
journey  was  most  fatiguing,  and  I  do  not  feel  yet  that 
I  am  repaid  for  it.  As  Johnson  said  of  the  Hebrides 
"  this  is  worth  seeing,  but  not  worth  going  to  see."  I 
fancy  this  will  be  my  last  visit  to  the  south. 

Peel's  return  is  just  what  I  (and  I  suppose  all) 
foresaw  when  the  first  surprise  was  over.  He  wished 
to  release  his  Cabinet  from  its  pledges  to  the  Agri- 
culturists, and  he  fancies  he  has  done  so  by  recreating  it. 
I  think  not — according  to  the  plain  tenets  of  men  of 
honour.  If  the  Corn  Laws  are  to  fall,  it  is  not  by  the 
hands  of  men  who  stirred  the  country  against  an  8/- 
duty.  Doubtless  Peel  cannot  propose  total  repeal.  I 
doubt  if  any  minister  could  carry  such  a  measure,  but 
another  bungling,  unsettling  change  smooths  the  way  to 
it.  In  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  it  seems  to  me  that 
the  real  consequences  have  been  wholly  overlooked  by 
both  Parties.  Those  consequences  lie  in  the  next  age. 
The  question  then  to  be  decided  is  whether  by  altering 
the  proportionate  labour  of  the  population,  whether  by 
augmenting  yet  more,  not  the  prosperity  of  commerce 
and  manufactures  alone,  but  the  masses  of  men  employed 
on  them,  you  have  not  altered  for  the  worse  the  staple 
character  and  spirit  of  the  people.  But  this  is  a  subject 
too  long  for  a  letter. 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Lady  Blessington. 

ROME,  Feb.  12,  1846. 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — According  to  the  promise  you 
were  kind  eno'  to  invite  from  me,  I  write  to  you  from 
my  wandering  camp  amidst  the  Hosts,  who  yearly 
invade  la  belle  Italie.  I  performed  rather  a  hurried 

80 


ROME  AND  NAPLES 

journey  to  Genoa  and  suffered  more  than  I  had  antici-  1846. 
pated  from  the  fatigue,  so  there  I  rested  and  sought  JEr.  43. 
to  recruit.  The  weather  was  cold  and  stormy,  only  at 
Nice  had  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  genial  sunshine.  With 
much  misgiving  I  committed  myself  to  the  abhorred 
powers  of  steam  at  Genoa  and  ultimately  refound  about 
two-thirds  of  my  dilapidated  self  at  Naples.  There 
indeed  the  air  was  soft  and  the  sky  blue,  and  the 
luxurious  sea  slept  calmly  as  ever  round  those  enchanting 
islands  and  in  the  arms  of  the  wondrous  Bay.  But  the 
old  charm  of  novelty  was  gone.  The  climate,  tho'  en- 
joyable, I  found  most  trying,  changing  every  two  hours, 
and  utterly  unsafe  for  the  early  walks  of  a  water  patient 
or  the  moonlight  rambles  of  a  romantic  traveller.  The 
society  ruined  by  the  English,  and  a  bad  set.  The  utter 
absence  of  intellectual  occupation  gave  one  the  spleen. 
So  I  fled  from  the  balls  and  the  treacherous  smiles  of 
the  climate,  and  travelled  by  slow  stages  to  Rome,  with 
some  longings  to  stay  at  Mola,  which  were  counteracted 
by  the  desire  to  read  the  newspapers  and  learn  Peel's 
programme  for  destroying  his  friends  the  farmers.  The 
only  interesting  person,  by  the  way,  I  met  with  at 
Naples,  was  the  Count  of  Syracuse,  the  King's  brother. 
For  he  is  born  with  the  curse  of  ability  (tho'  few 
discover  and  fewer  still  acknowledge  it),  and  has  been 
unfortunate  eno'  to  cultivate  his  mind  in  a  country  and  in 
a  rank  where  mind  has  no  career.  Thus  he  is  in  reality 
affected  with  the  ennui  which  fools  never  know,  and  clever 
men  only  dispel  by  active  exertions.  And  it  was  melan- 
choly to  see  one,  with  the  accomplishments  of  a  scholar  and 
the  views  of  a  statesman,  frittering  away  his  life  amongst 
idle  parasites,  and  seeking  to  amuse  himself  by  billiards 
and  lansquenet.  He  has  more  charming  manners 
than  I  ever  met  in  a  royal  person,  except  Charles  loth, 
with  a  dignity  that  only  evinces  itself  by  easy  sweetness. 
He  reminded  me  of  Schiller's  prince  in  The  Ghost-Seer. 

VOL.  II  8l  G 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.  And  now  I  am  at  Rome !  As  Naples  a  second 
Mr.  43.  time  disappointed  me,  so  Rome  (which  saddened  me 
before)  revisited  grows  on  me  daily.  I  only  wish  it 
were  not  the  Carnival  which  does  not  harmonise  with 
the  true  charm  of  the  place,  its  atmosphere  of  art  and 
repose.  I  pass  my  time  quietly  eno',  with  lazy  walks 
in  the  morning,  and  the  Galleries  in  the  afternoon.  In 
the  evening  I  smoke  my  cigar  in  the  Forum  or  on  the 
Pincian  hill,  guessing  where  Nero  lies  buried  ; — Nero, 
who  in  spite  of  his  crimes  (probably  exaggerated)  has 
left  so  gigantic  a  memory  in  Rome — a  memory  that 
meets  you  everywhere  ; — almost  the  only  Emperor  the 
people  recall.  He  must  have  had  force  and  genius  as 
well  as  brilliancy  and  magnificence  for  this  survival,  and 
he  died  so  young  ! 

I  am  now  moving  homewards.  This  stupendous 
treachery  of  Peel's  excites  my  gall,  and  recalls  my 
political  fervour.  I  long  again  to  be  in  public  life, 
though  the  old  illusions  are  dispelled.  However,  let 
politics  rest  for  the  present.  Pray  tell  me,  my  dearest 
friend,  how  you  are,  and  if  your  spirits  are  recovered 
from  the  sad  affliction  that  befell  you  shortly  before  I 
left  England.1  My  best  address  now  will  be  Poste 
Restante,  Marseilles.  I  expect  to  leave  this  for  Pisa 
next  week.  Hence  to  Marseilles  and  slowly  back  thro' 
the  south  of  France. 

With  kindest  regards  to  D  'Orsay  and  my  best 
remembrances  to  your  nieces, — Ever  yrs.  most  aff., 

E.  B.  L. 


LYONS,  April  10,  1846. 

Your  note,   my  dearest    Friend,  reached    me  only 
yesterday,  as  I  did  not   come  by  Marseilles,  and  was 


1  The  death  of  her  sister. 
82 


STATE  OF  SARDINIA 

detained  longer  than  I  had  expected  in  different  towns  in     1 846. 
Italy.     I  crossed  from  Turin  (worth  seeing  and  little  ^Er.  43. 
more  than  that)  by  the   Mount  Cenis — bitterly  cold, 
and  in  the  midst  of  it  a  fall  of  snow — and  arrived  here, 
nipped  and  tired.     I  rest  a  day  and  then  proceed  to 
Paris   by  Fontainebleau  and  Versailles.     I   expect   to 
arrive    in    England    the    last  week  of  April.     I    am 
much   struck  with  Lyons.      There   are  few  cities  in 
Italy  to  compare  with  it  in  effect  of  size,   opulence 
and  progress. 

But  Italy  has  improved  since  I  was  there  last,  life  is 
more  astir  in  the  streets,  civilization  reflowing  to  its 
old  character.  Of  all  Italy,  however,  the  improvement 
is  most  visible  in  Sardinia.  There  the  foundations  of  a 
great  state  are  being  surely  and  firmly  laid.  The  king 
himself  approaches  to  a  great  man,  and  tho'  priest- 
ridden,  is  certainly  an  admirable  Governor  and  monarch. 
I  venture  to  predict  that  Sardinia  will  become  the 
leading  nation  of  Italy,  and  eventually  rise  to  a  first- 
rate  power  in  Europe.  It  is  the  only  state  with  new 
blood  in  its  veins.  It  has  youth,  not  old  age  attempting 
to  struggle  back  into  vigour  in  Medea's  caldron. 

I  have  been  indolently  employing  myself,  partly  on 
a  version  of  a  Greek  play,  partly  on  a  novel,  anxious  to 
keep  my  mind  distracted  from  the  political  field  which 
is  closed  to  me.  For  without  violent  opinions  on  the 
subject,  I  have  great  misgivings  as  to  the  effect  of 
Peel's  measures  on  the  real  happiness  and  safety  of 
England,  and  regard  the  question  as  one  in  which 
political  economy — mere  mercantile  loss  and  gain — has 
least  to  do.  High  social  considerations  are  bound  up 
in  it  ;  no  one  yet  has  said  what  I  want  said  on  the 
matter.  Nevertheless  I  was  much  delighted  with 
Disraeli's  very  able  and,  indeed,  remarkable  speech.  I 
am  so  pleased  to  see  his  progress  in  the  House,  which 
I  alone  predicted,  the  night  of  his  first  failure.  I 

83 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.    suppose  Lord  Geo.  Bentinck  is  leading  the  agriculturists. 

T.  43.  I  cannot  well  judge  from  Galignam  with  what  success. 

This  letter  has  remained  unfinished  till  to-day  the 
1 3th,  when  I  conclude  it  at  Joigny — more  and  more 
struck  with  the  improvement  of  France  as  I  pass  thro' 
the  country  slowly.  It  is  a  great  nation  indeed,  and 
to  my  mind  the  most  disagreeable  part  of  the  population, 
and  the  part  least  improved,  is  at  Paris.  To-morrow 
I  hope  to  see  Fontainebleau  once  more.  Adieu,  dearest 
friend. — Ever  &  most  affy.  yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

The  "  version  of  a  Greek  play  "  referred  to  in 
this  last  letter  was  an  adaptation  for  the  English 
stage  of  the  Oedipus  Tyrannus  of  Sophocles,  and 
the  novel  was  Lucretia,  or  the  Children  of  Night. 
Writing  to  Forster  from  Rome  on  February  4, 
he  says  of  the  former  : — 

In  a  fit  of  classical  fervour  I  have,  since  writing  to 
you,1  completed  what  I  had  long  meditated — a  drama 
on  the  Oedipus  Tyrannus^  with  the  choruses,  etc.  More 
than  this,  I  have  arranged  with  the  celebrated  Merca- 
dante,  the  composer,  for  the  music  to  the  choruses  and 
overture.  He  takes  to  it  con  amore  and  I  have  little 
doubt  that  his  music  will  be  very  grand  and  effective. 
Now,  can  you  arrange  to  sell  this  for  me  to  any  theatre 
where  Macready  performs  ?  I  am  convinced  that  it  is 
a  part  that  will  do  him  good.  It  always  was  the 
greatest  part  on  the  Greek  stage  ;  and  though  I  cannot 
flatter  myself  that  I  have  attained  to  the  poetry  of 
Sophocles,  I  think  that  I  have  improved  the  mere 
theatrical  effect  of  the  drama,  and  I  have  certainly 
brought  out  the  character  of  Oedipus  in  colours  more 

1  That  is  to  say  in  ten  days. 
84 


"OEDIPUS  TYRANNUS" 

adapted  for  a  modern  audience.     I  have  followed  the    1846. 
march  of  the  actual  plot  almost  exactly,  with  a  few  JEr.  43. 
touches  and  alterations  here  and  there,  but  I  have  not 
translated  the  dialogue.     I  have  rather  built  upon  it, 
also  upon  the  choruses.     As  a  poem  it  is  more  uniform 
and  sustained  than  anything  I  have  written. 

On  his  return  to  England  he  arranged  with 
Mr.  Phelps  for  the  production  of  this  play  at  the 
Sadler's  Wells  Theatre  at  Islington,  and  the  fact 
that  the  engagement  was  not  carried  out,  and 
the  play  was  never  produced,  was  due  to  circum- 
stances connected  with  its  companion  work,  the 
novel  of  Lucretia. 

Lucretia  was  completed  by  the  end  of  the 
year  1846  and  published  in  December.  It 
immediately  revived  the  old  attacks  on  the 
immoral  influence  of  the  author,  which  had 
previously  been  directed  against  Paul  Clifford, 
Eugene  Aram,  and  Night  and  Morning.  Bulwer- 
Lytton  was  intensely  sensitive  to  this  particular 
criticism,  and  he  could  never  suffer  it  to  remain 
unanswered  : — 

"  It  is  useless  to  argue  a  question  after  one  party  has 
decided  upon  it,"  he  wrote  to  Forster  after  the  publica- 
tion of  Night  and  Morning,  "  or  I  might  ask  if  you 
could  really  maintain  the  doctrine,  '  that  it  is  a  great 
fault  in  an  author  to  give  a  generous  principle  to 
atrocious  actions,'  and  arguing  thereon  that  it  is 
dangerous  and  immoral  to  excite  any  sympathy  for  or 
interest  in  a  criminal  ?  To  me  this  dogma  seems  to 
strike  down  at  a  blow  the  grandest  privileges  and  the 
greatest  masterpieces  of  Art.  What  crime  more  atrocious 

85 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846-1850.  than  the  assassination  of  a  meek  and  guiltless  woman? 
.  43-47.  Yet  it  was  the  glory  of  Shakespeare  to  give  the  most 
absorbing  interest  to  the  assassin  in  Othello.  What 
crime  baser  than  Macbeth's  ?  Shakespeare  ransacks 
earth  and  hell  to  keep  your  interest  in  Macbeth  to  the 
last.  Before  his  death  the  artist  stops  short  from  the 
very  action  to  make  the  heart  yearn  to  Macbeth  in  the 
pathos  which  he  places  on  his  lips.  I  have  before  me 
at  this  moment  a  poem  of  Schiller  which  Goethe  con- 
sidered the  most  artistic  of  his  poems  for  the  very 
reason  that  he  made  your  pity  and  sympathy  go  with 
the  perpetration  of  a  crime  from  which  Nature  revolts 
— infanticide.  And  all  this  is  true.  The  element  of 
the  highest  genius  is  not  among  the  village  gossips  of 
Miss  Austen  ;  it  is  in  crime  and  passion,  for  the  two  are 
linked  together.  It  is  the  art  of  that  genius  to  make 
you  distinguish  between  the  crime  and  the  criminal, 
and  in  proportion  as  your  soul  shudders  at  the  one, 
to  let  your  heart  beat  with  the  heart  of  the  other.  It 
is  not  immoral,  it  is  moral,  and  of  the  most  impressive 
and  epic  order  of  morals,  to  arouse  and  sustain  interest 
for  a  criminal.  It  is  immoral  when  you  commend  the 
crime,  and  this  last  from  the  first  page  of  Pelham  to  the 
finis  of  Night  and  Morning  I  have  never  done." 

Again,  after  the  publication  of  Lucretia,  he 
writes  : — 

I  see  it  presumed  that  the  object  of  Lucretia  was 
that  which  I  said  I  had  in  contemplation  before  the 
Wainewrights' J  lives  were  made  known  to  me,  viz.  : — 

1  The  character  of  Varney  in  Lucretia  is  based  upon  Thomas  Waine- 
wright,  and  that  of  Lucretia  Clavering  upon  his  wife.  The  following 
particulars  of  the  former  are  given  in  the  The  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography  •. — 

Thomas  Wainewright,  artist,  art  critic,  forger,  and  poisoner,  was  born 
at  Chiswick,  1794,  and  died  at  Hobart,  Tasmania,  1852.  He  contributed 
art  criticisms  to  The  London  Magazine  from  1820  to  1823.  He  exhibited 

86 


some    expositions   of    money   and    social    impatience,  1846-1850. 
whereas  I  expressly  imply   in  my  preface   that  I  was  ^T>  43-47. 
diverted  from  that  design  by  the  lives  of  those  two 
criminals,  and  that  it  was  only  incidentally  and  here 
and  there  that  I  could  carry  out  some  portions  of  that 
original    conception,  viz.  : — in  Wm.   Mainwaring,  for 
instance,    the   elder   Ardworth,    etc.       Owing    to    the 
omission  of  certain  passages  in  the  original  draft  of  the 
preface,  I   have  failed   to   make   myself  clear.     What, 
however,  I  intended  to  say  and  believe  I   have  said, 

pictures  at  the  Royal  Academy  from  1821  to  1825.  Under  pressure  of 
financial  distress  in  1826  he  forged,  in  the  name  of  his  trustees,  an  order 
upon  the  Bank  of  England  to  pay  him  a  moiety  of  the  capital  sum  to  the 
interest  alone  of  which  he  was  entitled. 

In  1828  he  and  his  wife  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  Mr.  George 
Griffiths  at  Linden  House.  Within  a  year  the  uncle  died  "suddenly," 
and  the  house  and  property  passed  to  Wainewright,  who  was  much  in 
debt  at  the  time.  In  1830  he  insured  the  life  of  his  half-sister,  Helen 
Abercromby,  for  £2000  and  £3000  in  two  separate  Insurance  Companies, 
for  a  short  period  of  2  to  3  years.  He  was  prevented  from  increasing 
the  amount  by  the  obstinacy  of  Helen's  mother,  who  died  suddenly  in 
August,  1830.  Wainewright  then  quadrupled  the  amounts,  and  at  the 
end  of  December  in  the  same  year  Helen  also  died  in  agonies,  the 
circumstances  of  her  death  being  exactly  similar  to  those  of  her  mother 
and  Mr.  Griffiths.  The  Insurance  Companies  refused  payment  on  account 
of  suspicious  circumstances,  and  Wainewright  left  the  country.  For  the 
next  6  years  his  life  was  a  blank  ;  but  during  this  time  he  was  imprisoned 
in  France  and  strychnine  was  found  upon  his  person.  In  1835  the  case 
which  he  had  brought  against  the  Insurance  Companies  was  tried  and 
decided  against  him. 

In  1837  he  returned  to  England  and  was  arrested  for  the  forgery  of 
1826.  He  pleaded  guilty  and  was  transported  for  life.  In  Newgate 
Wainewright  is  stated  to  have  acknowledged  poisoning  Helen  Abercromby. 

He  is  described  as  "an  over-dressed  young  man,  his  white  hands 
bespangled  with  rings,  with  an  undress  military  air  and  the  conversation 
of  a  smart,  lively,  heartless,  and  voluptuous  coxcomb." 

Besides  being  the  original  of  Varney  in  Lucretia,  his  story  was  also  the 
foundation  of  Dickens's  Hunted  Down. 

Amongst  Bulwer-Lytton's  correspondence  are  the  following  letters 
from  Mr.  Henry  P.  Smith  of  the  Eagle  Insurance  Office,  relative  to 
Wainewright  : — 

"May  19,  1846. 

"  I  will  collect  and  send  you  all  the  Wainewright  papers. 

"  There  is  no  record  of  the  forgery,  that  is,  of  the  offence  which  sent 

8? 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.  though  not  clearly  enough,  is  that  I  had  long  had  in 
43.  my  mind  an  exposition  of  certain  vices,  etc.  While 
occupied  with  these  ideas  I  became  acquainted  with  the 
lives  of  two  criminals  ;  it  was  through  their  cultivation 
that  I  thought  to  trace  the  phenomena  of  their  crimes. 
In  the  old  preface  I  argued  this  point ;  now  I  but  state 
it.  But  the  obvious  deduction  I  designed  was  that  the 
lives  of  these  criminals  and  the  analysis  of  their  peculiar 
cultivation  formed  the  staple  of  the  book,  having 
nothing  to  do  with  my  previous  design. 

I  then  stated  that  various  opportunities  for  elucidat- 

him  to  Australia,  because  my  duty  directed  my  enquiries  solely  to  the 
insurances — that  is  to  the  deaths. 

"  He  forged  five  powers  of  attorney  to  put  himself  into  possession  of 
the  capital  of  a  sum  in  which  he  had  a  life  interest,  and  was  allowed  by 
the  Bank  to  plead  guilty  to  the  second  plea — that  of  uttering  the  forged 
document — which  saved  his  life.  .  .  . 

"  You  are  perhaps  aware  that  Wainewright  was  a  writer,  a  contributor 
to  The  London  Magazine,  I  think,  under  the  name  of  James  Weathercock, 
and  that  he  edited  a  poem  of  Marlowe's,  which  edition  is  in  Forster's 
library.  In  these  works  your  skilful  glance  may  exercise  itself  in  detecting 
the  poison  among  the  flowers,  and  therefore  I  name  them  to  you." 

"May  26,  1846. 

"  On  making  a  further  search,  I  found  a  list  of  the  contents  of  the  forfeit 
trunks,  and  this  led  me  to  a  second  packet  of  papers  and  books  which  had 
escaped  my  first  enquiries.  I  send  them  to  you,  and  also  our  schedule 
made  on  the  strangely  assorted  cargo  coming  into  our  keeping.  (You 
will  see  your  own  Letter  to  a  Cabinet  Minister  was  retained  among  his 
later  treasures.)  It  will  show  the  books  which  the  combination  of  his 
necessities  and  his  tastes  had  left  to  him  amid  the  general  wreck.  The 
drawings  come  out  better  than  my  memory  had  traced  them  to  you. 

"  There  is  no  proof  of  the  nature  of  the  poison  used,  but  the  general 
medical  opinion  of  the  time  pronounced  it  to  be  strychnine.  .  .  .  Mr. 
Thompson  tells  me  that  W.  confessed  that  he  employed  strychnine  and 
morphine,  and  you  will  gather  more  of  his  history  from  the  additional 
briefs  and  their  notes,  now  sent  to  you." 

"May  2,  1849. 

"I  have  just  heard  that  Wainewright  died  recently  in  the  hospital  at 
Hobarton.  His  latter  days  in  the  sick  ward  were  employed,  I  am  told, 
in  blaspheming  to  the  pious  patients  and  in  terrifying  the  timid.  I  think 
that  he  never  lived  to  know  the  everlasting  fame  to  which  he  has  been 
damned  in  Lucretia." 

From  this  letter  it  would  appear  that  the  date  of  Wainewright's  death 
is  incorrectly  given  as  1852  in  The  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 


"LUCRETIA"  ATTACKED 

ing    that  original  design   (against   Mammon  and   im-    1846. 
patience)  still  incidentally  occurred,  viz.  : — in  the  history  ^)T.  43. 
of  W.   Mainwaring,  who  suffered    his  impatience    to 
destroy  him  in  the  midst  of  the  fairest  prospects,  in 
Ardworth's   reckless    indifference    to   money    (virtues 
being   ruined  in   the   spendthrift   as  well  as  vices   en- 
gendered in  the  miser).     In  contradistinction  to  these 
stands  Walter  Ardworth.     But  the  main  staple  of  the 
book  is  meant  to  be  the  analysis  of  certain  criminal 
natures. 

The  press,  as  far  as  I  have  seen  it,  sings  one  chorus 
of  attack  as  if  it  was  Jack  Sheppard  out-shepparded.  I 
can  say  nothing  more.  After  the  disgust  I  feel  at 
seeing  the  same  old  assaults  whatever  I  write, — never 
regarding  my  right,  acknowledged  elsewhere,  to  be 
judged  upon  canons  wholly  different  from  those 
brought  against  me — has  subsided,  I  shall  better  see 
what  is  just  or  unjust  in  the  manner  in  which  I  am 
treated.  No,  I  was  not  prepared  for  such  attacks.  I 
do  not  see  why  my  subject  should  provoke  it.  Surely 
great  crime  is  the  highest  province  of  fiction.  It  has 
always  been  so  considered  from  the  Greeks  to 
Shakespeare. 

To  Lady  Blessington  he  writes,  on  December 
24,  1846  : — 

I  am  extremely  grateful,  my  dearest  friend,  for 
your  kind  letter — so  evidently  meant  to  encourage  me 
amidst  the  storm  which  howls  around  my  little  boat. 
And  indeed  it  is  quite  a  patch  of  blue  sky,  serene  and 
cheering,  thro'  the  very  angry  atmosphere  which  greets 
me  elsewhere.  I  view  it  as  an  omen,  and  sure  I  am 
at  least,  that  the  blue  sky  will  endure,  long  after  the 
last  blast  has  howled  itself  away. 

Perhaps,  in  some  respects,  it  is  fortunate  that  I  have 

89 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1846.  had  so  little  favour  shown  to  me,  or  rather  so  much 
Er.  43.  hostility,  in  my  career.  If  I  had  once  been  greeted 
with  the  general  kindness  and  indulgent  smiles  that 
have  for  instance  rewarded  Dickens,  I  should  have  been 
fearful  of  a  contrast  in  the  future,  and  satisfied  at  so 
much  sunshine,  gathered  in  my  harvests  and  broken  up 
my  plough.  But  all  this  vituperation  goads  me  on. 
Who  can  keep  quiet  when  the  tarantula  bites  him  ? 

I  write  this  from  a  prison,  for  we  are  snowed  up 
all  round  ;  and  to  my  mind  the  country  is  dull  eno' 
in  the  winter,  without  this  addition  to  its  sombre 
repose.  But  I  shall  stay  as  long  as  I  can,  for  this  is 
the  time  when  the  poor  want  us  most.  My  principal 
excitement  is  a  lawsuit  referred  to  arbitration,  and 
which  I  am  sure  to  lose  ;  but  the  question  being  how 
much  or  how  little  I  shall  lose,  it  still  has  that  agreeable 
stimulant  which  ceases  when  we  know  the  worst,  write 
a  cheque  and  have  done  with  it.  I  suppose  this 
lawsuit  will  call  me  to  town  next  week,  but  am  not 
certain,  and  my  stay  will  be  short  if  it  does — not  so 
short  but  what  I  shall  call  on  you.  Meanwhile  I  send 
my  hearty  wishes  for  the  season. 

Adieu,  my  dearest  friend.  With  kindest  regards  to 
D'Orsay  and  best  remembrances  to  your  nieces — 
Believe  me,  Ever  yrs.  truly  &  gratefully, 

E.  B.  L. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  hostile  criticism 
raised  by  Lucretia,  was  to  convince  the  author 
that  it  would  be  inadvisable  to  produce  his 
dramatic  version  of  Oedipus  Tyrannus.  "  If  so 
much  indignation,"  he  said,  "  is  produced  by  the 
written  representation  of  crime  in  the  novel, 
what  will  be  said  of  the  actual  acted  representa- 
tion of  homicide  and  incest  on  the  stage  ?  "  The 

90 


"A  WORD  TO  THE  PUBLIC" 

play  was  withdrawn,  and  has  never  since  been    1847. 
either  published  or  acted.  ./Er.  44. 

The  second  result  was  to  induce  Bulwer- 
Lytton  to  publish  an  elaborate  defence  against 
the  charges  which  had  been  brought  against 
him  in  a  pamphlet  called  A  Word  to  the  Public 
(1847).  No  one  to-day  will  consider  that  such 
a  defence  was  called  for,  but  the  author  never 
seems  to  have  realised  that  his  critics  were  as 
little  influenced  by  such  vindications  as  he  was 
by  their  criticisms.  The  best  answer  to  all  such 
attacks  had  been  provided  by  Macaulay  four 
years  previously,  in  a  letter  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  Eva,  and  other  Poems. 

T.  B.  Macaulay  to  Edward  Bulwer. 

ALBANY,  June  24,  1842. 

DEAR  BULWER — I  was  unable  to  discover  your 
dwelling-place  in  either  red  book  or  blue  book,  and 
fancied  that  you  must  have  wandered  to  the  Pyrenees 
or  the  Apennines,  till  I  learned  yesterday  from  Lady 
Holland  that  you  were  at  Fulham.  I  write  therefore 
to  send  my  tardy  thanks  for  your  very  pleasing  and 
interesting  little  volume.  You  have  written  more 
brilliant  poetry,  but  none,  I  think,  which  moves  the 
feelings  so  much. 

If  I  regret  anything  in  the  volume,  it  is  that  you 
should,  in  the  last  piece,  have  uttered,  in  language 
certainly  very  energetic  and  beautiful,  complaints  which 
I  really  think  are  groundless.  It  has,  perhaps,  always 
been  too  much  the  habit  of  men  of  genius  to  attach 
more  importance  to  detraction  than  to  applause.  A 
single  hiss  gives  them  more  pain  than  the  acclamations 
of  a  whole  theatre  can  compensate.  But  surely  if  you 

91 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1847.  could  see  your  own  position  as  others  see  it,  you  have 
JE.T.  44.  no  reason  to  complain.  How  many  men  in  literary 
history  have  at  your  age  enjoyed  half  your  reputation  ? 
Who  that  ever  enjoyed  half  your  reputation  was  secure 
from  the  attacks  of  envious  dunces  ?  And  what  harm, 
in  the  long  run,  did  all  the  envy  of  all  the  dunces  in 
the  world  ever  do  to  any  man  of  real  merit  ?  What 
writer's  place  in  the  estimation  of  mankind  was  ever 
fixed  by  any  writings  except  his  own  ?  Who  would 
in  our  time  know  that  Dryden  and  Pope  ever  had  a 
single  enemy,  if  they  had  not  themselves  been  so 
injudicious  as  to  tell  us  so?  You  may  rely  on  this 
that  there  are  very  few  authors  living,  and  certainly 
not  one  of  your  detractors,  who  would  not  most  gladly 
take  all  your  literary  vexations  for  the  credit  of  having 
written  your  worst  work.  If,  however,  you  really 
wish  to  be  free  from  detraction,  I  can  very  easily  put 
you  in  the  way  of  being  so.  Bring  out  a  succession 
of  poems  as  bad  as  Mr.  Robert  Montgomery's  Luther^ 
and  of  prose  works  in  the  style  of  Mr.  Gleig's  Life  of 
Warren  Hastings^  and  I  will  undertake  that  in  a  few 
years  you  shall  have  completely  silenced  malevolence. 
To  think  that  you  will  ever  silence  it  while  you 
continue  to  write  what  is  immediately  reprinted  at 
Philadelphia,  Paris  and  Brussels,  would  be  absurd. — 
Ever  yours  truly,  T  B  MACAULAY. 

This  appreciation  and  sound  advice  was  re- 
peated after  the  publication  of  Lucretia. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

PAY  OFFICE, 
December  14,  1846. 

DEAR  SIR  EDWARD — On  returning  last  week  from 
the  country  I  found  Lucretia  on  my  table,  and  glad  I 
was  to  see  that  you  had  not  taken  leave  of  that  species 

92 


MACAULAY'S  APPRECIATION 

of  composition  for  which,  in  my  opinion,  you  are  most  1 847. 
eminently  qualified.  In  power  I  should  place  Lucretia  JEr.  44. 
very  high  among  your  works.  I  doubt  whether  it 
will  be  so  popular  as  some  of  them  for  this  reason,  that 
the  excitement  which  it  produces  sometimes  approaches, 
at  least  with  me,  to  positive  pain.  The  exhibition  of 
excessive  moral  depravity  united  with  high  intellect  in 
three  different  forms,  with  the  talents  of  the  great 
philosopher  in  Dalibard,  with  the  talents  of  the  great 
politician  and  ruler  in  Lucretia,  and  with  the  talents  of 
the  great  artist  in  Varney,  is  frightfully  gloomy.  It  is 
some  years  since  any  fiction  has  made  me  so  sad.  The 
effect  resembles  that  of  Poussin's  "  Massacre  of  the 
Innocents "  in  the  Lucca  Collection,  or  of  Salvator's 
"Prometheus"  in  the  Corsini  Palace.  It  is  real  suffering 
to  look,  and  yet  we  cannot  avert  our  eyes.  I  hope  that 
we  shall  not  wait  long  for  another  work  as  powerful  and 
more  cheerful.  Remember  your  favourite  Schiller: — 

Ernst  ist  die  Wahrheit ;  heiter  ist  die  Kunst. 

The  state  of  Ireland1  makes  us  sorrowful  enough 
without  the  help  of  your  Children  of  Night. — Ever 

y°urs  truly-  T.  B.  MACAULAY. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

ALBANY,  LONDON, 
February  20,  1847. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  EDWARD — I  ought  to  have  earlier 
thanked  you  for  your  Word  to  the  Public.  It  was  not 
needed  as  far  as  I  was  concerned.  For  though,  as  I 
honestly  told  you,  the  effect  of  your  last  work  on  me 

1  Great  distress  prevailed  in  Ireland  at  this  time,  owing  to  the  famine 
which  had  broken  out  there  in  the  previous  year.  The  distress  had  led  to 
an  alarming  increase  in  crimes  of  violence,  and  the  Coercion  Bill  which 
Sir  R.  Peel  proposed  for  dealing  with  the  situation  was  defeated  in  the 
House  of  Commons  in  June  1846,  and  led  to  the  resignation  of  his 
Government. 

93 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

l847-    was  like  the  effect  of  some  fine  Martyrdoms  which  I 
Mr.  44.  have  seen  in  Italy,   more  painful  than  a  great  artist 
should  try  to  produce,  I  utterly  detest  and  despise  that 
cry  of  immorality  which  was  raised  against  you. 

The  names  of  those  who  raised  it  I  do  not  know, 
but  I  cannot  doubt  that  they  wrote  under  the  influence 
of  personal  enmity.  Your  vindication  is  undoubtedly 
well  written  and  with  great  temper  and  dignity.  But 
I  am  not  sure  that  I  should  not  have  recommended 
silence  as  the  best  punishment  for  malignant  scurrility. 
— Very  truly  yours, 

T.  B.  MACAULAY. 

The  only  reason  why  I  have  thought  it 
worth  while  to  dwell  on  Bulwer-Lytton's 
extreme  sensitiveness  to  these  attacks,  which 
throughout  his  life  were  made  upon  his  motives, 
is  that  it  was  highly  characteristic  of  the  man, 
and  because  it  supplies  both  the  explanation  and 
the  cause  of  a  certain  absence  of  sympathy  and 
lovableness  in  his  character  noticeable  in  his 
relations  with  others.  It  is  often  the  case  that 
those  who  have  suffered  most  from  opposition 
and  misrepresentation  are  the  most  ready  to 
misunderstand  and  criticise  others  in  their  turn. 
An  enforced  attitude  of  self-defence  tends  to 
crush  out  the  more  generous  instincts  of  human 
nature,  and  to  foster  an  uncharitable  outlook 
upon  life.  We  are  all  susceptible  to  the  opinions 
of  others,  and  are  inclined  to  grow  according  to 
their  estimation  of  us.  Bulwer-Lytton  has  him- 
self handled  this  theme  in  his  essay  upon  The 
Efficacy  of  Praise?  and  in  his  own  life  he  suffered 

1  Caxtoniana.     Knebworth  Edition,  p.  196. 
94 


EFFECT  OF  CRITICISM 

much  from  the  persistency  with  which  both  1847. 
in  private  and  public  his  motives  and  actions  &T.  44. 
appeared  to  be  unfairly  judged.  His  letters  to  his 
mother  at  the  time  of  his  marriage  show  how 
bitterly  he  felt  her  failure  to  appreciate  the 
motives  which  led  him,  on  that  occasion,  to  act 
in  opposition  to  her  wishes.  In  his  estrange- 
ment from  his  wife  at  a  later  date,  it  was  her 
constant  refusal  to  appeal  to  what  was  best  in 
his  character,  her  repeated  provocation  of  all 
those  qualities  which  he  was  most  anxious  to 
suppress,  that  gave  him  the  greatest  pain  ;  and  in 
the  public  criticism  of  his  writings  it  was  the 
feeling  that  he  was  misjudged  and  maligned  as 
a  man,  rather  than  criticised  as  an  author,  which 
rankled  so  deeply. 

All  this  had  a  marked  influence  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  his  character.  I  do  not  say  that  it 
made  him  bitter  and  uncharitable,  but  it  en- 
couraged a  natural  moroseness  in  his  nature  and 
developed  a  habit  of  shrinking  from  contact  with 
society,  which  made  him  less  responsive  than  he 
would  otherwise  have  been  to  the  claims  of  sym- 
pathy and  affection.  "  The  lessons  of  adversity,"  he 
said,  in  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  "  are  not  always 
salutary — sometimes  they  soften  and  amend,  but  as 
often  they  indurate  and  pervert.  If  we  consider 
ourselves  more  harshly  treated  by  fate  than  those 
around  us,  and  do  not  acknowledge  in  our  own 
deeds  the  justice  of  the  severity,  we  become  too 
apt  to  deem  the  world  our  enemy,  to  case  our- 
selves in  defiance,  to  wrestle  against  our  softer 

95 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1847.    self,  and  to  indulge  the  darker  passions  which  are 
.  44.  so  easily  fermented  by  the  sense  of  injustice." 

In  addition  to  the  pamphlet  in  answer  to  the 
critics  of  Lucretia ,  the  year  1847  was  employed 
by  Bulwer-Lytton  in  preparing  a  collected  edition 
of  his  works,  which  was  brought  out  by  Colburn 
in  the  following  year,  and  in  writing  a  tragedy 
on  the  subject  of  Brutus.  This  play,  however, 
though  completed,  was  never  published.1  In  the 
spring  he  returned  to  the  water  cure  at  Malvern, 
and  in  the  summer  he  unsuccessfully  contested 
an  election  at  Lincoln.  In  the  autumn  he  went 
abroad  and  visited  Munich,  Gastein,  Frankfort, 
Dresden  and  Aix  la  Chapelle.  Macready  had 
asked  him  to  write  a  comedy,  and  he  told  Forster 
that  he  would  try  and  accomplish  this  during 
his  foreign  travels.  From  Gastein  he  writes 
on  September  14  : — 

I  have  had  something  like  the  real  feeling  of  health 
here  ;  and  indeed  since  I  left  my  mental  energy,  long 
half  dormant,  seems  to  revive.  Nevertheless,  though 
I  have  tried  hard  to  write  the  comedy,  I  have  not  been 
able.  It  baffles  me.  The  hearty  laugh  of  comedy  is 
not  natural  to  my  Muse.  Had  Macready  called  for 
tragedy  he  should  have  had  one  long  since. 

The  mental  energy  which  refused  to  be 
pressed  into  the  service  of  comedy,  was  directed 
instead  to  the  production  of  a  long  epic  poem 
on  King  Arthur,  about  which  he  writes  to 
Forster  on  November  7,  1847  : — 

1  It  was  produced  by  Mr.  Wilson  Barrett  at  the  Princess's  Theatre, 
London,  in  1885,  under  the  title  of  The  Household  Gods. 

96 


"KING  ARTHUR" 

My  whole  mind  is  absorbed  in  it.  An  heroic  poem  1847. 
in  from  12  to  20  books.  Ma  foi !  it  is  not  (good  or  &r.  44. 
bad)  a  plaything  experiment.  I  cannot,  as  you  suggest, 
publish  it  together  with  The  New  Timon  without  losing 
my  own  intensity  condensed  in  it.  I  own  that  I  look 
upon  this  as  the  grand  effort  of  my  literary  life,  the 
most  earnest  and  elaborate  appeal  that  I  can  make  to 
posterity  or  my  own  time.  You  may  judge,  therefore, 
of  the  anxiety  I  feel  that  it  should  come  out  under  the 
best  auspices,  and  ensure  the  fullest  possible  co-operation 
on  the  part  of  the  publisher.  I  have  made  up  my 
mind,  too,  as  to  its  appearance,  in  parts,  and  the  price 
not  to  exceed  I/-;  but  I  think  with  you  it  is  a  question 
whether  the  two  first  parts  may  not  come  out  together 
or  very  close  upon  each  other — on  the  plea  that  a  less 
quantity  does  not  fairly  open  the  poem.  I  am 
particularly  anxious  to  get  the  thing  out  as  soon  as 
possible — ist,  because  it  is  only  at  this  time  of  year  that 
poetry  is  read  ;  2ndly,  because  if  any  accident  should 
happen  to  Louis  Philippe,  I  consider  one  main  chance 
of  success  would  be  gone,  and  as  it  is  the  allusions 
appeal  to  feelings  now  fresh  and  soon  to  subside ; 
3rdly,  because  till  it  is  out  I  can  think  of  nothing  else. 

On  November  25,  he  writes  again  : — 

Arthur  (the  direst  of  his  adventures)  is  gone  to 
press  sub  auspice  Colburno — 2/6  will  be  the  cost  for 
two  books. 

The  poem  did  not  come  out,  however,  till  the 
following  year,  and  in  fact  exactly  coincided  with 
the  French  Revolution  of  1848  and  the  fall  of 
Louis  Philippe,  which  its  author  had  hoped  to 
avoid.  Of  this  event  he  writes  to  Forster  on 
March  i,  1848  :  — 

VOL.  II  97  H 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  MY  DEAR  FORSTER  —  What  a  bouleversement\  I 
r.  45.  content  myself  with  saying  that  all  which  I  prophesied 
has  come  to  pass.  I  enjoy  the  triumph  over  the  in- 
credulous donkeys  to  whom  I  have  (within  the  last 
twelve  months)  said  so  often  —  "  Louis  Philippe  must 
crush,  if  he  live  ;  if  not,  the  dynasty  is  gone.  It  can't 
last  two  years."  And  again  I  hazard  the  prophecy  : 
France,  if  she  keep  a  Republic,  must  go  to  war,  and 
into  that  war  sooner  or  later  England  must  be  dragged. 

I  suppose  you  don't  review  Arthur  this  week.  When 
you  do,  will  you  kindly  either  say  something  that  may 
claim  attention  (as  a  matter  still  of  interest)  to  the  L. 
Philippe  and  Guizot  passages,  or  else  pass  those  passages 
over  altogether.  Those  passages  ought  still  to  be  telling 
and  show  how  those  gentlemen  stood  before  their  fall. 
But  it  is  very  easy  for  a  hostile  criticism  to  throw  cold 
water  on  the  whole  four  books,  by  representing  these 
passages  as  a  more  leading  portion  than  they  are,  and 
treating  them  as  a  day  too  late  for  the  fair. 

Yet,  I  can't  say  one  has  chalked  one's  day  with  a 
white  stone  or  chosen  the  luckiest  moment  to  bring  out 
a  poem  !  The  very  day  of  a  revolution  !  and  that  poem, 
in  truth,  the  great  crowning  work  of  its  author's  life. 

Send  me  any  news,  if  there  be  any.  —  Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B. 


Four  days  later  he  writes  again  : 


March  5,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER  —  I  have  just  read  your  notice 
of  Arthur  in  The  Examiner,  and  believe  me,  I  feel 
deeply  grateful  for  it,  and  sincerely  affected  by  what  I 
consider  a  real  proof  of  the  friendship  I  have  so  often 
tasked.  I  feel  this  the  more,  because  I  know  how  many 
differences  of  taste  there  are  between  us  in  poetry  ;  and 
that  you  should  have  so  generously  said  all  you  could  in 

98 


REVOLUTION  IN  FRANCE 

praise,  and  nothing  in  censure,  gives  me  a  greater  grati-    1848. 
fication,  as  a  mark  of  kindness,  than  as  in  promotion  of  JEr.  45. 
a  cherished  wish.     You  know  how  much  store  I  set  on 
Arthur,  and  with  true  friendship  preferred  rather  to  see 
with  my  eyes  than  your  own.     Everything  said  must 
conduce  to  put  Arthur  in  the  most  favourable  light,  and 
my  most  fastidious  and  exacting  susceptibilities  on  the 
subject  have  been  met  in  the  friendliest  spirit — Qa  ne 
soublie  pas. 

You  are  quite  right  as  to  the  French  Revolution.  If 
this  new  Republic  does  but  succeed  even  partially  in  the 
principles  with  which  it  has  commenced,  it  will  be  the 
grandest  experiment  ever  yet  made.  Nay,  it  is  that 
already.  But  it  will  upset  sooner  or  later  every  dynasty 
in  Europe.  It  is  more  than  anti-monarchic,  more  than 
anti-aristocratic,  it  is  anti-middle  class,  it  is  the  vo-repov 
Trporepoz/,  the  people  themselves  turned  uppermost.  It 
is  what  agriculturists  call  ploughing  up  the  mother  earth. 

The  leading  article  in  The  Examiner  is  admirable, 
but  I  cannot  now  think  of  politics,  being  wholly  occu- 
pied with  the  pleasure  you  have  given  me. — Truly  & 
affectly.  yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

BRIGHTON,  Sunday. 

As  soon  as  King  Arthur  was  completed,  Bulwer- 
Lytton  set  to  work  upon  his  historical  novel  of 
Harold^  and  this  book  was  written  in  an  incredibly 
short  space  of  time.  It  was  completed  by  the 
spring  of  1848,  but  its  publication  was  delayed, 
owing  to  a  great  domestic  sorrow  which  came 
upon  him  at  this  time.  On  April  29,  1848,  his 
only  daughter,  Emily,  died  at  the  age  of  twenty 
in  particularly  tragic  circumstances. 

The  story  of  Emily  Lytton's  short  and  un- 

99 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1 848.  happy  life  affords  a  most  piteous  illustration  of  how 
.  45.  children  may  be  made  to  suffer  by  the  break-up  of 
their  home  through  the  quarrels  of  their  parents. 
In  1836,  at  the  time  of  the  separation  be- 
tween their  father  and  mother,  Emily  was  seven 
years  old,  and  her  brother  four.  From  that  day 
the  children  never  knew  the  meaning  of  the  word 
home ;  and  whatever  love  or  happiness  they  met 
with  in  their  childhood  they  owed  to  Miss  Greene, 
who  did  her  best,  in  very  difficult  circumstances,  to 
take  the  place  of  their  parents.  Unfortunately, 
owing  to  her  determination  to  take  no  sides  in 
this  quarrel  and  her  efforts  to  keep  the  children 
out  of  it,  Miss  Greene  was  never  wholly  trusted 
by  either  parent.  Thus,  while  the  children  were 
entrusted  to  her  care,  first  by  the  mother  and 
afterwards  by  the  father,  she  was  not  supported 
in  her  efforts  to  do  what  seemed  to  her  best  for 
their  health  or  their  education  ;  and  as  they  grew 
older  they  were  taken  out  of  her  hands. 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  Emily  was  sent  to  reside 
with  a  lady  in  Germany,  where  she  suffered  much 
from  ill-treatment  and  neglect.  While  there  she 
formed  a  romantic  attachment  to  a  young  German 
girl,  on  whom  she  lavished  all  the  love  and  confid- 
ence of  a  nature  starved  of  sympathy.  Her  love 
was  even  extended  to  this  friend's  brother,  whom 
she  engaged  herself  to  marry.  The  friendship 
ended  in  great  sorrow  and  disappointment,  when  she 
found  that  those  to  whom  she  had  given  her  love 
so  unstintingly  had  only  accepted  it  from  worldly 
motives  and  had  no  real  affection  for  herself. 


100 


EMILY  LYTTON 

The  disillusionment  preyed  upon  her  mind  and  1 848. 
permanently  injured  her  health.  A  spinal  com-  &T.  45. 
plaint  to  which  she  had  shown  some  tendency  in 
her  childhood  now  began  to  develop  seriously, 
but  received  no  attention.  Miss  Greene,  who 
did  not  fully  possess  Emily's  confidence  at  this 
time  but  guessed  from  the  tone  of  her  letters, 
which  were  carefully  supervised,  that  she  was  ill 
and  unhappy,  repeatedly  urged  Sir  Edward  to 
bring  his  daughter  home.  The  lady  with  whom 
Emily  was  staying,  however,  had  prejudiced  Sir 
Edward  against  Miss  Greene,  and  her  entreaties 
were  therefore  neglected.  Emily  was  left  in 
Germany  for  two  years  ;  and  when  at  the  end  of 
that  time  her  father  discovered  for  himself  her 
true  condition,  the  malady  from  which  she  was 
suffering  was  too  far  advanced  to  be  cured. 

On  her  return  to  England  she  was  sent  to  an 
English  school,  and  spent  her  holidays  with  her 
father  at  Knebworth.  In  these  circumstances  her 
life  was  intensely  lonely  and  forlorn.  Separated 
from  her  brother,  who  had  been  sent  to  school 
at  the  age  of  eight,  deprived  of  the  sympathy  and 
affection  of  Miss  Greene,  without  friends  of  her 
own  age,  her  position  in  her  father's  house  was 
destitute  of  all  the  influences  which  are  necessary 
to  the  happiness  of  a  young  girl.  From  time  to 
time  she  received  long  letters  from  her  mother,  full 
of  accusations  against  her  father  ;  and  the  recital  of 
these  reproaches  only  gave  her  a  morbid  terror  of 
both  her  parents.  In  the  spring  of  1848  she 
became  seriously  ill  of  typhus  fever  in  London, 


101 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  and  died  on  April  29.  Two  days  before  her 
ET.  45.  death  she  seemed  to  be  making  excellent  progress, 
and  the  doctors  had  reported  most  favourably  on 
her  condition.  That  evening  her  mother  arrived 
at  the  house  and  bribed  the  landlady  to  let  her  a 
spare  bedroom  on  the  upper  floor.  Whether 
Lady  Bulwer  -  Ly  tton  actually  entered  her 
daughter's  room,  or  whether  by  some  other  means 
Emily  was  made  aware  of  her  mother's  presence 
in  the  house,  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty, 
but  the  next  morning  she  was  delirious  and  never 
again  recovered  consciousness.  The  doctors  could 
offer  no  other  explanation  of  the  sudden  change  in 
her  condition,  and  her  tragic  death  became  an 
occasion  for  fresh  bitterness  and  reproaches  be- 
tween her  parents.  Sir  Edward  believed  that  his 
wife  had  entered  the  room,  and  that  her  presence 
had  frightened  Emily  into  the  high  state  of  fever 
which  ended  her  life.  Lady  Bulwer-Lytton 
accused  her  husband  of  having  allowed  his 
daughter  to  die  in  a  state  of  absolute  neglect  in  a 
London  lodging  without  proper  medical  attend- 
ance, and  even  contended  that  her  illness  was  due 
to  his  selfish  ill-treatment  of  her.  Thus  round 
the  death-bed  of  this  unfortunate  girl  was  revived 
all  the  miserable  controversy  which  had  over- 
shadowed her  life  and  embittered  her  childhood. 
"  She  is  dead,"  wrote  Sir  Edward  to  Forster, 
"dead  —  Emily,  my  child.  Pity  me.  I  am 
crushed  down.  I  cannot  see  you  yet.  So  sudden 
it  seems  a  dream." 

That  both  parents  had  loved  her  may  be  true  ; 


102 


: 


EMILY'S  DEATH 

but  neither  had  ever  shown  her  any  real  affection  1848. 
or  tenderness,  and  both  were  in  a  measure  re-  ^ET.  45. 
sponsible  for  the  unhappiness  of  her  short  life. 
The  sorrow  with  which  they  mourned  her  loss 
was  now  added  to  the  gall  of  their  own  em- 
bittered lives.  The  person,  however,  who 
missed  her  the  most,  and  who  mourned  her 
with  a  sorrow  untinged  by  remorse,  unclouded 
by  any  bitterness,  was  her  brother — the  com- 
panion of  her  childhood,  the  partner  of  her  joys 
and  sorrows.  He  knew  the  difficulties  of  her 
position,  for  he  had  shared  the  misfortunes  of 
their  divided  home.  These  difficulties  and  mis- 
fortunes he  had  now  to  face  alone,  and  with  this 
new  sorrow  in  his  heart.  In  the  years  to  come, 
as  will  be  shown  later,  he  played  his  part  man- 
fully, though  unsuccessfully,  in  the  struggle  to 
be  loyal  to  both  his  parents  and  to  induce  each 
to  do  justice  to  the  other.  Of  his  beloved  sister 
he  retained  through  life  the  tenderest  though 
the  saddest  memory. 

O  thou,  the  morning  star  of  my  dim  soul ! 

My  little  elfin  friend  from  Fairy-Land  ! 
Whose  memory  is  yet  innocent  of  the  whole 

Of  that  which  makes  me  doubly  need  thy  hand, 
Thy  guiding  hand  from  mine  so  soon  withdrawn  ! 

Here  where  I  find  so  little  like  to  thee. 

For  thou  wert  as  the  breath  of  dawn  to  me. 
Starry,  and  pure,  and  brief,  as  is  the  dawn.1 

As  at  other  times  in  his  life,  Bulwer-Lytton 
now  sought  distraction  from  his  private  sorrow 

1  "Little  Ella"  from  Clytemnestra,  and  other  Poems,  by  Owen  Meredith. 

103 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  in  increased  intellectual  labour.  His  immediate 
r.  45.  tasks  were  the  correction  of  the  proofs  of  Harold, 
which  was  published  in  June,  and  an  article  on 
Forster's  Life  of  Oliver  Goldsmith.  He  then  set 
to  work  upon  The  Caxtons,  which  had  already 
been  begun,  and  the  greater  part  of  which  had 
been  written  before  the  publication  of  Lucre tia. 
This  was  completed  in  the  following  February 
and  was  immediately  followed  by  My  Novel. 

Just  as  The  Last  days  of  Pompeii,  written  at  a 
time  of  great  depression,  bears  no  trace  of  the 
mental  perturbation  of  its  author,  so  the  works 
which  he  wrote  in  1848  and  1849  not  only  show 
no  signs  of  gloom,  but  are  the  lightest  and  happiest 
of  all  his  writings.  The  Caxtons  and  My  Novel 
represent  the  most  mature  work  of  Bulwer- 
Lytton's  genius.  They  are  a  complete  departure 
from  the  romantic  style  of  all  his  previous  works, 
and  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  phase  in  his 
writing — a  transition  from  the  representation 
of  passion  and  adventure  to  the  delineation  of 
character  and  the  study  of  life  in  more  normal 
surroundings.  The  atmosphere  in  these  books 
is  one  of  quiet  serenity,  the  humour  is  entirely 
free  from  satire,  and  the  characters  are  at  once 
life-like  and  sympathetic.  With  the  exception, 
perhaps,  of  Kenelm  Chillingly,  his  last,  these  are 
the  two  works  which  most  truly  represent  the 
atmosphere  of  his  own  age.  Though  at  the 
time  he  was  writing  them  he  had  not  yet  passed 
out  of  the  storms  and  struggles  in  which  the 
greater  part  of  his  life  was  spent,  his  mind  was 

104 


"THE  CAXTONS" 

already  beginning  to  anticipate  the  calm  and  re-    1848. 
pose  of  his  later  years.  &T.  45. 

On  the  subject  of  The  Caxtons  he  wrote  to  a 
friend  : — 

The  art  employed  in  The  Caxtons  is  a  very  simple 
one,  and  within  the  reach  of  all.  It  is  just  that  of 
creating  agreeable  emotions.  This,  too,  is  the  secret 
of  the  success  of  The  Lady  of  Lyons.  Now  to  do  this, 
we  have  only  to  abandon  attempts  at  many  subtle  and 
deep  emotions,  which  produce  uneasiness  and  pain,  and 
see  that  the  smile  is  without  sarcasm  and  the  tears 
without  bitterness.  That  is  one  branch  of  art  and 
rarely  fails  to  be  popular.  Of  course  there  are  many 
other  and  much  higher  branches  of  art,  in  the  cultivation 
of  which  popularity  may  be  very  doubtful.  But  one 
does  not  always  want  to  be  popular.  Many  a  poet, 
for  instance,  would  rather  be  a  Shelley  than  a  Cowper, 
or  even  a  Scott.  In  short,  art  is  so  very  various  and 
elastic,  that  each  man  can  make  it  fit  his  own  capacity 
and  sketch  it  to  his  own  purpose. 

The  Caxtons  was  published  anonymously,  and 
its  authorship  was  the  subject  of  much  speculation. 
The  following  letter,  received  by  the  publisher 
from  Mrs.  Southey,  is  of  interest  on  this  point  : — 

Feb.  24/49. 

Who  is  the  author  of  The  Caxtons?  and  as  some 
excuse  for  my  over-curious  question,  I  will  add  that 
in  reading  the  series  of  admirable  papers  still  in  course 
of  appearance  in  Maga,  I  have  been  so  struck  through- 
out with  the  similarity,  sentiment  and  style,  to  the 
writings  of  the  person  I  most  loved  and  honoured — 
the  author  of  The  Doctor — that,  but  for  my  knowledge 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  that  he  did  not  write  The  Caxtons,  and  but  for  a  passage 
JEr.  45.  here  and  there  which  he  would  not  have  written,  I 
should  have  exclaimed  over  and  over  again  "  This  is 
none  other  than  Robert  Southey's."  I  am  sure  the 
author  would  not  take  amiss  if  he  heard  it — this  avowal 
of  Robert  Southey's  widow. 

In  the  autumn  of  1848  Bulwer-Lytton  again 
had  recourse  to  the  water  cure,  not  in  England 
this  time,  but  in  Germany.  Amidst  the  political 
turmoil  then  raging  on  the  Continent,  he  writes 
calmly  to  Forster  of  his  experience  at  Dr.  Soust's 
hydropathic  establishment  at  Ems  : — 

COBLENTZ, 

Oct.  1 8,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — "Better  late  than  never" — a 
proverb,  by  the  way,  much  more  in  vogue  than  it 
deserves.  .  .  . 

How  could  I  write  before  ?  My  dear  fellow,  I  have 
been  in  one  continued  yet  varied  state  of  suffering  since 
we  parted.  I  arrived  at  Aix,  where  a  dashing,  bold- 
visaged  doctor  with  his  head  full  of  liberty  and  a 
National  cockade  on  his  hat,  swore  by  JEsculapius,  the 
Goddess  of  Reason,  that  he  would  make  me  quite  well 
in  a  fortnight.  I  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  be  per- 
formed upon  every  day  for  ten  minutes  by  a  great 
douche  of  iron  water,  and  I  should  have  a  constitution 
of  iron.  The  world,  he  said,  was  fast  mending,  and  I 
should  mend  as  fast  as  the  world !  How  resist  an 
eloquence  which  the  crisis  of  the  universe  seemed  to 
support  ?  If  the  constitution  of  an  Empire  would  be 
reformed  in  a  fortnight,  why  not  that  of  a  man  ?  The 
sequitur  was  convincing.  Me  <voilb  done,  under  the 
douche.  Alas  !  both  I  and  the  Germanic  population 
had  better  have  gone  on  in  the  state  of  chronic  suffer- 

106 


1848. 

T.  45. 


A  GERMAN  WATER  CURE 

ing.  About  the  end  of  the  fifth  day  I  was  in  the  state  1848. 
of  a  city  en  pleine  revolution  !  You  never  saw  any-  JEr.  45. 
thing  more  utterly  delabre.  The  head  and  the  stomach 
were  in  the  last  agonies  of  prostration.  If  my  head, 
indeed,  had  been  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  it  could  not 
have  been  more  difficult  to  find — Abiit^  evaslt^  erupit. 
And  the  stomach  ! — it  was  just  such  a  stomach  as  you 
might  suppose  Howell  and  James  to  possess  between 
them  in  the  second  week  of  a  Chartist  Revolution. 
In  fine,  being  then  convinced  that  iron  douches  are 
as  unsuited  to  weak  systems  as  other  preparations  of 
iron  are  to  debilitated  populations,  I  made  a  frantic 
rush  to  the  railway  and  found  myself  at  Coblentz. 

There  I  had  been  recommended  to  a  doctor. of  high 
repute,  especially  among  old  ladies — a  man  of  a  very 
different  idiosyncrasy,  mild,  bland,  insinuating,  slow, 
cautious,  and  (a  wonder  for  a  German)  Conservative. 
This  gentleman  was  all  for  the  festina  lente — the  slow 
and  sure.  And  he  kept  me  three  weeks  in  his  smooth 
paws,  upon  herb  tea.  At  the  end  of  that  time,  as  I 
could  scarcely  crawl,  he  thought  he  had  done  eno'  to 
check  the  movement  of  the  body  physical,  and  despatched 
me  to  Ems,  hard  by,  and  still  under  his  surveillance. 
His  name  is  Soiist.  It  ought  to  be  Souse,  for  that  is 
his  peculiar  modus  operandi.  Having  first  soused  me, 
internally,  with  the  herb  tea,  he  then  soused  me  ex- 
ternally in  the  mineral  baths.  And  my  whole  life  has 
been  one  souse  for  the  last  five  weeks. 

I  am  now  released  and  on  my  way  homeward,  with 
the  promise  that  somewhere  about  Xmas  I  shall  begin 
to  feel  the  effects  of  the  waters.  As  to  getting  any 
benefit  for  the  present,  every  hair  on  his  Conservative 
head  starts  at  an  expectation  so  unreasonable !  You 
would  think  you  heard  Peel  himself  when  some  one 
dolorously  complains  that  he  does  not  find  himself 
any  the  richer  for  his  Free  Trade  Tariff.  Impatient 

107 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  and  preposterous  man  !  Put  things  on  a  sound  principle 
r.  45.  and  then  wait — for  the  Millennium  !  Expect  then  to 
see  a  drowned  rat  (not  Peel,  for  his  fate  is  not  to  be 
drowned,  it  ought  to  be  quite  different,  but  your  un- 
fortunate friend)  somewhere  in  about  14  days.  And 
then  a  new  occupation  awaits  him.  I  am  ordered  to 
find  a  mild  climate  in  England  for  the  winter  !  Had 
it  been  the  philosopher's  stone,  I  should  not  have 
minded,  but  a  mild  climate  in  England  ! 

I  have  not  seen  any  papers  for  weeks,  save  a  few 
odd  Galignanis  that  I  picked  up  to-day,  which  hint  at 
an  expose1  of  Young's  as  destructive  to  the  Whigs,  and 
inform  me  of  Morpeth's  rise  to  the  Lords,  with  the 
additional  information,  it  is  true,  that  you  have  the 
agreeable  visit  of  the  cholera  in  London. 

Where  are  we  to  turn?  It  becomes  a  difficult 
matter  to  live  at  all !  Goldsmith,  I  trust,  continues  to 
go  on  flourishingly,  and  Prior,  I  take  it,  is  henceforth 
only  fit  for  the  posterior,  a  lamentable  vice  versa,  which 
I  don't  wonder  he  resented  !  A  propos  of  vice  versa, 
do  you  know  that  that  expression  is  a  barbarism  !  it 
ought  to  be  versa  vice.  You  have  no  idea  of  the  trans- 
port of  rage  that  that  received  inelegance  occasioned  to 
Parr.  He  wrote  on  it,  with  a  pen  of  thunder.  "  Vice 
versa  \  "  he  would  exclaim,  "  to  use  the  most  prosaic  of 
colloquialisms,  the  most  poetic  of  Latin  inversions — the 
adjective  follow  the  noun !  Good  God,  Sir,  is  there 
no  Latinity  left  in  England."  And  yet  you  see  vice 
versa  it  remains,  and  will  remain  till  Latin  becomes  a  live 
language  again  !  Such  is  the  obstinacy  of  human  error  ! 

Give  me  a  line  to  the  Athenaeum.  I  bring  with 
me  my  "  gold  son "  as  the  Germans  call  their  ugly 
little  boys — my  darling,  my  Arthur !  He  is  complete 
—twelve  books  high  !  Is  that  too  tall  to  get  into  any 
man's  library  ?  The  last  books  you  shall  like,  whether 
you  will  or  no.  Ancli  io  son  poeta !  Verily,  I  am 

1 08 


LORD  WALPOLE 

certain  of  it.     There,   perk  up  your  brows  between    1848. 
scorn  and  pity  and  don't  imitate  the  barbarous  wretch  &T.  45. 
who  cured  Boileau's  madman  of  an  insane  belief  that 
he  was  in  Paradise  !     Hear  not  the  cry  of  the  sensible 
unfortunate's  despair,  Mais  on  wCa  dt£  mon  Paradis. 

During  this  and  the  next  two  years,  Bulwer- 
Lytton  corresponded  frequently  with  Lord 
Walpole,1  and  some  of  his  letters  to  this  friend 
give  further  details  of  his  experiences  on  the 
Continent. 

His  opinion  of  Lord  Walpole  is  thus  recorded 
in  a  note  with  which  he  has  endorsed  this  corre- 
spondence : — "  Lord  Walpole,  now  Lord  Orford, 
a  brilliant  creature  thrown  away.  A  very  accom- 
plished scholar,  of  exquisite  manners  and  keen 
knowledge  of  the  world,  but  indolent,  pleasure- 
loving  and  selfish.  He  might  have  been  a  great 
diplomatist.  In  spite  of  all  his  faults,  lovable." 

The  letters  themselves  deal  chiefly  with 
matters  of  health,  doctors,  homeopathy,  and 
various  "  cures "  ;  but  many  of  them  contain 
allusions  to  political  events  and  the  gossip  of 
the  day.  The  following,  dated  October  24, 
1848,  is  written  from  Calais  on  his  way  back 
to  England  : — 

MY  DEAR  WALPOLE — Your  letter  did  reach  me — 
may  this  be  equally  fortunate  in  its  destination  ! 

How  a  letter  is  to  find  its  peaceful  way  thro'  so 
many  dangers,  is  a  matter  of  philosophical  anxiety. 
The  fact  that  while  all  other  institutions  are  resolving 
into  chaos,  the  Post  should  remain,  is  a  grand  proof  of 

1  Horatio  William,  4th  Earl  of  Orford  (1813-1894).     He  succeeded 
in  1858.     He  was  the  brother  of  Lady  Dorothy  Nevill. 

109 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1848.  the  practical  nature  of  that  civilization  which  you  so 
T  4.5.  profoundly  consider  to  be  symbolised  by  round  hats 
and  swallow-tailed  coats.  Thro'  the  din  of  arms,  over 
barricades,  cannon  and  ruined  thrones — safe  flies  a 
letter,  from  bag  to  bag  and  box  to  box.  How  many 
things  in  the  world  may  be  deranged  before  these  four 
sides  of  paper  pass  into  your  hands.  When  Madame 
de  Sevign£  exclaimed,  La  belle  chose  que  la  Posts, 
she  little  dreamt,  poor  woman,  that  it  was  the  only 
belle  chose  of  her  day  that  would  remain.  To  the 
best  of  my  recollection  Darius  was  the  first  who  estab- 
lished the  invention.  Praise  be  to  him  !  It  is  pleasant 
to  find  something  that  we  owe  to  those  unfortunate 
Persians.  Something  for  which  I  suspect  we  would 
give  up  a  good  half  of  what  the  Greeks  left  us.  The 
Post  or  Plato  !  Utrum  horum  mavis,  accipe.  Plato, 
I  fear,  would  have  a  bad  chance. 

After  a  lengthy  reference  to  the  treatment 
of  Dr.  Soust  at  Ems,  the  letter  concludes  as 
follows  : — 

What  did  Soiist  recommend  you  for  an  after  cure  ? 
On  me  he  has  inflicted  first,  a  great  bundle  of  herbs 
copia  narium,  diabolically  graveo/ens,  to  be  decocted 
into  what  he  facetiously  calls  "  tea  "  ;  2ndly,  a  powder 
of  acorns  for  breakfast,  which  he  no  less  wittily  de- 
nominates coffee !  3rd,  and  as  the  great  delicacy  of 
the  whole,  two  jars  of — guess?  Cods  fish  liver  oil  ! 
Two  tablespoonfuls  a  day.  These  agreeable  condiments, 
being  accompanied  and  fortified  in  their  uses  by  various 
external  applications  of  plaisters,  &c.,  and  a  mode  of 
life  ascetically  philosophical,  are  to  carry  me  over  that 
interval  of  vegetation  thro'  which  I  am  to  pass  until  I 
again  blossom  on  the  shores  of  the  Lakes  and  under 
the  eyes  of  Soust.  If  you  have  escaped  all  this,  ma 


ELECTION  AT  LEOMINSTER 

foi,  I  think  you  are  ill-treated  for  your  £22,  tho'  as  I     1849. 
paid  £24,  I  have  a  right  to  ^2  additional  physicking.      Mr.  46. 

I  write  this  en  route  for  England,  and  from  the 
historical  burgh  of  Calais.  Here  I  have  been  kept 
two  days,  from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  In  spite, 
however,  of  as  stiff  a  gale  as  would  have  made  another 
Ode  out  of  poor,  dear  Horace,  no  less  than  700  of  the 
National  Guard  of  Paris  shipped  themselves  yesterday 
for  England,  and  500  the  day  before.  What  Regent 
Street  will  say  to  them  all,  I  know  not — another  Norman 
invasion.  I  have  no  news  to  give  you,  and  before  you 
receive  this  all  the  news  of  to-day  will,  alas,  be  old ! 

In  his  search  for  "  a  mild  climate  in  England," 
Bulwer-Lytton  went  to  Brighton  at  the  end  of 
1848  and  to  Bournemouth  at  the  beginning  of 
1849.  In  the  interval  between  these  two  visits 
he  tried  unsuccessfully  to  get  elected  to  Parlia- 
ment for  Leominster.  The  circumstances  are 
thus  described  in  letters  to  Lord  Walpole  : — 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Lord  Walpole. 

I  received  your  letters,  my  dear  Walpole,  just  as  I 
was  launching  that  frail  bark  which  Sotlst  had  so  care- 
fully caulked  and  patched,  on  to  the  troubled  waters 
of  Leominster. 

Do  you  know  what  Leominster  is  ?  A  small  town 
in  Herefordshire,  which  returns  two  Members  to  Parlia- 
ment. The  question  is,  whether  it  will  return  me. 

This  venerable  constituency,  which  seems  in  about 
the  same  state  of  civilisation  as  it  was  when  Leofric, 
Earl  of  Coventry,  first  ruled  over  it,  was  recommended 
to  me  as  a  sure  seat — moderate  opinions  would  do  (a 
rare  blessing),  moderate  expense  (blessing  less  rare,  but 


in 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  almost  equally  as  precious),  little  trouble,  small  chance 
r.  46.  of  contest. 

Hurried  from  the  voluptuous  Baiae  of  Brighton, 
and  deceived  by  these  false  sirens,  I  went  to  Leominster, 
there  to  find  all  the  worry  of  a  neck  and  neck  contest ; 
Peel's  son,  my  opponent ;  a  constituency  that  won't 
promise  either  way,  that  expect  to  be  bought,  and  (damn 
their  impudence)  expect  one  to  be  as  much  a  Radical 
as  if  they  gave  one  their  votes  for  nothing.  Two 
weeks  have  I  wasted  on  this  thankless  soil,  and  here 
I  am  just  arrived  for  a  respite,  uncertain  whether  I 
shall  stand  or  not,  but  hoping  I  can  back  out  of  it. 

My  dear  fellow,  you  say  you  are  not  better.  Do 
you  deserve  to  be  better  ?  Have  you  been  sage — have 
you  attended  to  the  gastric  juices,  and  avoided  late  hours 
and  Mrs.  Venus  ?  You  know  what  Soust  says,  and,  as 
a  farmer,  I  know  one  can't  go  on  with  a  succession  of 
white  crops  for  ever.  You  must  stick  to  roots  or  a 
fallow.  Peste !  now !  it  is  but  a  winter,  and  then  in 
the  spring  you  will  bud  out  with  the  leaves  in  all  the 
vigour  of  renewed  virgindom.  Soyez  sage — soyez  sage. 
I  suspect  you  don't  know  what  it  is  to  lay  by  !  If  not, 
you  have  no  idea  how  the  rest  restores  youth  to  the 
feelings,  as  well  as  to  the  body — one  can  be  in  love 
again,  forget  that  one  was  blast,  forget  that  one  was 
deceived,  regain  "  the  golden  illusions  of  the  dawn," 
and  dream  of  serenades  and  pure  first  kisses  under  the 
moon.  Does  not  all  this  tempt  you?  Take  to  the 
great  book  I  told  you  of,  vent  the  passions  through 
the  thoughts,  develop  that  intellectual  you  that  God  has 
so  largely  given  you. 

There,  I  have  bored  and  lectured  you  enough.  But 
that  is  the  just  privilege  of  a  man  who  likes  and 
admires  you  as  cordially  as  I  do. 

What  times  we  live  in  and  how  carelessly  we  take 
them !  What  volumes  of  history,  huge  as  the  clouds 

112 


THE  RESULT  OF  THE  ELECTION 

of  a  volcano,  roll   round   us   every  moment,  yet  we    1849. 
breathe  the  air,  and  crop  the   flowers,  and  light   our  JEr.  46. 
cigars,  by  the  sulphurous  reeks !      What  will  be  the 
issue  of  things  in  France  ?     I  don't  believe  in  Louis 
Napoleon's  Imperial  prospects.     I  don't  think  he  can 
last  long  enough  for  that.     But  our  Funds  have  risen, 
and    I    say    thank    Heaven   for   that — as   I    had   just 
invested  in  the  3  per  cents  ! 

The  same  to  the  same. 

BOURNEMOUTH,  Feb.  18,  1849. 

This  place  is  lonely  as  a  desert,  scarce  a  nursery 
maid  or  a  baby — animals  usually  ubiquitous  in  England. 
And  for  amusements  a  library  with  about  50  old  novels 
in  a  glass  case,  The  Times,  The  Poole  Chronic ie,  and  a 
weighing  machine !  Fortunately,  I  am  inured  to 
solitude  and  dullness  ;  witness  the  resignation  I  mani- 
fested when  abandoned  to  the  donkeys  of  Ems. 

The  God  Mercury  who,  as  you  justly  observe, 
presides  over  elections,  deserted  me  at  Leominster. 
Plutus  offered  to  help  me  against  him,  but  I  spurned 
the  base  alliance,  and  tho'  you  may  say  the  grapes  are 
sour,  yet  I  own  I  was  not  sorry  to  escape  Parliament, 
•I  hope,  for  another  year — trusting  to  that  flatterer 
Sottst  that  I  shall  be  all  the  better  for  keeping,  and  that 
another  course  or  two  of  the  Ems  waters  is  necessary  to 
fit  me  for  the  strife  of  tongues. 

In  the  summer  of  1 849  Lady  Blessington  died 
in  Paris,  and  Bulwer-Lytton  thus  lost  the  great 
friend  of  his  middle  life.  Ever  since  he  made 
her  acquaintance  in  London  three  years  after  his 
marriage,  their  friendship  had  been  more  closely 
cemented  with  every  year.  In  all  the  events 
of  his  life  he  had  received  from  this  friend 

VOL.  II  113  I 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  the  greatest  encouragement  and  the  warmest  sym- 
-T.  46.  pathy.  None  had  rejoiced  more  generously  in  his 
triumphs,  or  cheered  and  comforted  him  more 
tenderly  in  his  trials.  That  which  he  missed  so 
often  in  others,  even  in  those  most  near  to  him,  he 
never  failed  to  find  in  her — an  understanding  heart. 
If  ever  any  shadow  came  between  them  it  was 
at  once  dispelled  by  the  first  explanation. 

This  friendship  was  one  of  Bulwer-Lytton's 
most  precious  possessions  for  nearly  twenty  years 
— precious,  not  only  for  the  affection  which  he 
received  through  it,  but  also  for  the  opportunity 
which  it  afforded  him  of  giving  his  best  in 
return.  Even  in  his  busiest  moments,  or  his 
hours  of  greatest  distress,  he  never  grudged  her 
a  moment  of  his  time.  However  overworked, 
however  worried,  he  always  made  a  point  of 
providing  some  contribution  to  her  Book  of 
Beauty,  or  one  of  the  other  annuals  which  she 
used  to  edit.  Her  demands  upon  him  in  this 
respect  were  frequent,  but  not  one  was  made  in 
vain.  In  the  last  few  years  they  had  rarely  met ; 
but  their  correspondence  continued  almost  up  to 
the  time  of  her  death. 

He  had  written  to  her  from  Bournemouth  on 
January  25,  1849,  in  reply  to  an  appreciative 
letter  from  her  on  his  poem  of  King  Arthur  : — 

I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  my  dearest  friend, 
for  your  kind  and  gracious  reception  of  Arthur.  It 
contains  so  much  of  my  more  spiritual  self,  whether 
in  the  more  scattered  and  outward  thoughts,  or  in  those 
views  of  life  which  constitute  its  interior  meanings, 

114 


THE  END  OF  A  LONG  FRIENDSHIP 

that  it  is  more  than  the  mere  author's  vanity,  it  is  the    1849. 
human  being's  self-love,  that  is  gratified  by  your  praise.  &T.  46. 

It  is  to  a  hard,  practical,  prosaic  world,  that  the  Fairy 
King  returns,  after  his  long  sojourn  in  the  Oblivious 
Lake  ;  and  if  he  may  yet  find  some  pale  reflection 
of  his  former  reign,  it  will  take  long  years  before  the 
incredulous  will  own  that  he  is  no  impostor.  The  singer 
believes  in  him,  and  is  contented  to  wait  for  the  converts. 

I  am  most  concerned  to  hear  you  have  been  so 
serious  a  loser  by  Mr.  Heath's *  death.  Had  you  not 
his  bills  on  giving  the  MSS.  and  are  they  not  still 
honoured  ?  or  do  his  executors  not  find  enough  effects 
to  discharge  his  debts  ?  But  I  trust  at  least  that  the 
annuals  themselves  will  be  continued  by  some  one. 
They  satisfy  an  elegant  want  of  so  large  a  part  of  the 
community  that  I  do  not  think  they  can  be  suffered  to 
drop,  and  I  sincerely  and  earnestly  hope  you  may  get 
satisfactory  terms  from  some  publisher  of  capital  and 
enterprise. 

I  was  sure  that  your  warm  heart  would  feel  much 
for  poor  Lord  Auckland's 2  sudden  and  startling  death. 
These  funeral  bells  make  the  only  music  of  life  that  is 
faithful  to  the  last,  more  and  more  frequent  as  we 
journey  on  ;  the  deafer  heart  ceases  to  hear  them,  and 
the  most  sensitive  must  accustom  itself  to  the  chime. 

I  spent  my  son's  holidays  at  Brighton,  and  now  he 
has  left  me  I  have  wandered  on  to  this  more  solitary 
spot,  where  the  air  is  milder,  tho'  I  am  not  sure  yet 
that  it  agrees  with  me.  I  do  not  forget  your  most 
kind  invitation,  and  hope  to  profit  by  it  when  my 
health  will  let  me.  At  present  I  shape  my  movements 
as  the  wand  of  my  physician  points,  and  as  the  winter 

1  Charles    Heath    (1785-1848),   an   engraver   who    speculated   in   the 
publication  of  fashionable  "  Annuals,"  and  who  survived  their  popularity. 

2  George  Eden,  ist  Earl  of  Auckland  (1784-1849),  Governor-General 
of  India. 

"5 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.    advances  to  that  colder  winter  which  we  call  spring,  I 
£r.  46.  shall  probably  wend  my  way  into  Devonshire. 

The  little  parcel  you  are  so  kind  as  to  name  would 
find  me  here,  but  perhaps  you  will  keep  it  as  a  hostage 
till  I  present  myself  at  your  palace  gates. 

With  love  to  D'Orsay  and  kind  regards  to  your 
nieces — Believe  me,  Ever  most  truly  &  afftly.  yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

In  April  1849,  a  financial  storm,  which  had 
long  been  gathering,  burst  upon  Lady  Blessington's 
head.  Debts  had  to  be  met,  and  there  was  no 
money  to  meet  them.  The  assistance  of  friends 
was  declined  ;  Gore  House  with  all  its  contents 
was  sold,  and  Lady  Blessington  and  D'Orsay 
retired  to  Paris.  Ruin  absolute  and  complete 
had  overtaken  them.  Though  there  was  no 
apparent  sign  of  serious  ill-health  when  Lady 
Blessington  arrived  in  Paris,  she  only  survived  a 
few  weeks  the  wreck  of  her  fortunes.  On  hear- 
ing of  her  financial  crash  Bulwer-Lytton  wrote 
to  her  on  April  21  : — 

I  cannot  say,  my  dear  Friend,  how  pained,  grieved, 
and  shocked  I  was  by  your  letter,  which  I  did  not 
receive  for  some  days,  as  I  was  making  some  country 
visits,  and  indeed  it  has  taken  me  some  time  to  reason 
myself  into  the  belief  that  your  removal  from  a  scene 
of  so  much  anxiety  and  struggle  will  be  best  for  your 
ultimate  peace  and  happiness.  I  shall  certainly  do  all 
I  can  for  the  sale — alas  the  word  ! — at  Gore  House, 
and  hope  it  will  realise  more  than  you  count  upon. 
Phillips  might  clear  something  by  allowing  the  house  to 
be  seen  a  week  before  by  persons  only  who  buy  the 
catalogue  ;  but,  of  course,  he  will  advise  you  for  the 

116 


DEATH  OF  LADY  BLESSINGTON 

best.     I  shall  be  very  anxious  to  hear  how  you  like    1849. 
Paris,  and  where  you  settle,  and  you  certainly  give  me  &T.  46. 
the  greatest  inducement  to  visit  it  when  I  can.     I  go 
into  Germany  to  the  baths  the  middle  of  May,  but  my 
continental    stjour    will   depend    much   on   Edward's 
health.     He  is  delicate  though  not  ill,  and  I  am  not 
quite  easy  about  him.     Pray  employ  me  in  anything 
I  can  do  to  be  useful  meanwhile. 

I  hope  D'Orsay  will  get  some  good  appointment  to 
his  taste  and  suitable  to  his  talents. 

I  only  passed  rapidly  through  London  on  my  way 
hither,  where  my  address  will  be  for  the  present.  I 
have  no  heart  left  to  write  about  anything  else  but 
yourself,  and  must  beg  you  heartily  to  let  me  know 
that  you  are  well  and  comfortable  as  soon  as  you  can 
find  leisure. — God  ever  bless  you,  my  dearest  friend, 
Yrs.  most  affectly.,  F  R  T 

Kindest  regards  to  Alfred  and  your  nieces. 

This  was  the  last  letter  which  she  received  from 
him.  At  the  sale  of  her  possessions  he  bought  for 
her  the  works  of  Byron  in  three  volumes,  with 
her  arms  on  the  binding  and  painted  landscapes 
on  the  leaves.  These  books  he  instructed  the 
auctioneer  to  send  to  her  ;  but  she  died  on  June  4 
before  receiving  this  last  tribute  of  his  affection. 
They  are  now  preserved  at  Knebworth,  as  a 
momento  of  a  truly  remarkable  and  gifted  woman. 

At  the  end  of  May,  as  indicated  in  his  last 
letter  to  Lady  Blessington,  Bulwer-Lytton  went 
abroad,  and  he  did  not  return  to  England  for  a 
whole  year.  He  travelled  about  Germany  for 
some  months,  took  his  son  to  a  school  at  Bonn, 
and  settled  at  Nice  in  October,  where  he 

117 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.    remained  until  June   1850.     Most  of  the  states 
Er.  46.  of  Europe   were  just   beginning,  to  settle  down 
again  from  the  violent  political  upheavals  of  the 
previous  year. 

In  France  the  Revolution  of  1848  had  over- 
thrown the  Government  of  Louis  Philippe  and 
his  Minister,  Guizot,  and  established  a  Republic 
under  the  presidency  of  Louis  Napoleon.     Re- 
volution and  Civil  War  in  Austria  had  led  to  the 
abdication   of  the   Emperor    Ferdinand  and  the 
accession  of  his  young  nephew,  Francis  Joseph, 
to    the  throne.     The   Hungarian    rebellion  had 
been   suppressed  by  the  end  of  the  summer  of 
1849,  and   Kossuth  and  his   fellow  exiles  from 
Hungary    were    being    accorded    a   most    sym- 
pathetic   welcome    in    England.      Among    the 
German  states  the  popular  insurrections  of  1848 
had  led  to  important  gains  for  the  constitutional 
cause  in  Prussia,  Bavaria,  and  Hanover  ;  but  else- 
where they  had  been  put  down  by  military  force, 
without  the  accomplishment  of  any  permanent 
results.     In  Italy  the  rising  in  the  north  against 
the  Austrian  occupation   had  completely  failed. 
All  hopes  of  Italian  independence  were  shattered 
for   the    moment   by    the    crushing    defeats    of 
Custozza    and    Novara.       Charles    Albert    had 
abdicated  in  March  1 849,  and  the  young  Victor 
Emanuel  was  now  King  of  Piedmont.     In  Rome 
the  papal  rule,  which  had  been  temporarily  over- 
thrown in  November  1848,  was  restored  in  1849, 
when  the  short-lived  Republic  of  Mazzini  and 
Garibaldi  was  finally  destroyed  by  the  troops  of 

118 


POLITICAL  UPHEAVALS  IN  EUROPE 

Louis  Napoleon,  the  newly  elected  President  of   1849. 
the  French  Republic.  &r.  46. 

Reference  to  these  events  is  made  in  some  of 
Bulwer-Lytton's  letters  at  this  time.  To  Forster 
he  writes  from  Ems  on  June  26,  1 849  : — 

The  world  goes  on  in  its  iniquities.  Rain  succeeds 
to  sunshine,  and  the  decrepit  spectre  of  Papacy  replaces 
the  brief,  grand  life  of  the  triumvirate.  Summer  is  fly- 
ing fast  from  earth  and  man's  heart,  and  with  the  fall 
of  the  leaf  Kossuth  may  be  what  Mazzini  is.  More 
and  more  do  we  see  that  our  only  realm  of  liberty  and 
improvement  is  in  our  own  individual  natures.  Hoc 
regnum  sibi  quisque  dat.  Do  you  not  grow  sick  of  build- 
ing bricks  without  straw  in  that  Babel  of  politics  week 
after  week  ?  As  for  me,  if  I  had  an  Examiner ',  I  should 
make  it  play  strange  tricks.  It  would  be  a  miracle  of 
seeming  inconsistency,  and  would  be  alternately  Demo- 
critus  or  Heraclitus,  according  as  it  wept  or  laughed 
at  the  follies  of  that  noisy  abstraction  called  the  People. 

From  Kreuznach  in  September  he  wrote 
to  Mr.  Baillie  -  Cochrane  (afterwards  Lord 
Lamington)  1  : — 

I  was  much  interested  in  your  account  of  Cabrera. 
It  is  the  liveliest  realisation  of  romance  when  we  find 
one  of  the  actual  heroes  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  the 
midst  of  our  modern  civilisation.  Cabrera  and  Garibaldi 
are  both  men  who  seem  to  stalk  out  of  history,  and  it 
must  be  as  strange  to  find  oneself  standing  face  to  face 
with  them  as  if  one  had  conjured  up  a  captain  who 

1  A.  D.  R.  W.  Cochrane-Baillie  (1816-1890),  first  Lord  Lamington, 
was  an  active  member  of  the  "  Young  England  "  party,  and  was  drawn 
as  "Buckhurst"  in  Coningsby.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  The 
Onvl.  In  early  life  he  was  known  as  Baillie-Cochrane,  his  father,  Sir 
Thomas  Cochrane,  having  adopted  the  surname  of  his  wife's  grandfather. 

119 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  had  fought  with  the  Cid,  or  an  enthusiast  who  had 
.  46.  dreamt  with  Rienzi.  Amidst  our  child's  play  between 
Radicalism  and  Conservatism  there  is  something  vast  and 
grand  in  those  earnest,  antiquated  types  of  the  rough 
originals  of  the  contest.  Republicanism  on  the  Rampart, 
and  Loyalty  on  the  war  horse.  Honour  to  both  say  I ! 

Later  in  the  year  he  writes  again: — 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

NICE,  Oct.  26. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  am  arrived  at  Nice  after  a 
long  and  fatiguing  journey,  which  I  did  not  much 
regret,  partly  because  I  again  saw  the  Lakes  Maggiore 
and  Como,  and  satisfied  myself  that  they  would  be  very 
disagreeable  places  of  residence,  and  it  is  always  well  to 
destroy  effeminate  illusions  ;  partly  because  my  delay  in 
Austrian  Lombardy  and  Piedmont  enabled  me  to  look 
a  little  practically  and  dispassionately  at  the  real  state  of 
affairs  in  those  battle  grounds  of  Italy.  There  can  be 
no  question  as  to  the  universal  and  almost  bold  detesta- 
tion of  Austrian  rule  in  Lombardy,  but  from  that  very 
detestation  arises  much  exaggeration.  Anecdotes  of 
cruelty  mentioned  to  me  with  lively  horror,  proceed, 
when  examined  close,  to  be  but  the  simplest  hardships 
incident  on  military  occupation.  Stories  of  venerable 
princes,  turned  out  of  their  homes,  their  palaces  pillaged, 
&c.,  proved  to  have  nothing  in  them  beyond  the 
necessary  and  very  quiet  billeting  of  half  a  dozen 
soldiers  in  some  situation  which  a  military  eye  deemed 
advisable.  The  Austrians  have  not,  in  fact,  behaved 
in  Italy  as  they  have  in  Hungary,  nor  can  one  dis- 
passionately enter  and  survey  Austrian  Lombardy  with- 
out being  greatly  struck  by  the  superiority  which  a 
country  only  can  secure  from  its  Government,  not  only 
over  the  greater  part  of  Italy,  but  over  Republican 

120 


THE  CONDITION  OF  ITALY 

Switzerland.     All  that  relates  to  agriculture,  to  town    1849. 
policy  and  police,  to  law  and  civilisation  and  progress,  JEr.  4.6. 
all  that  a  brute  tyranny  would  stop,  but  a  polished 
absolutism  cherish,  speaks  with  historical  force  in  favour 
of  this  hated  Austrian  domination. 

The  mass  of  the  people,  however,  are  not  yet  so 
cowed  as  is  represented,  and  would  be  ready  to  rise 
again  at  the  first  insurrectionary  standard — but  not  so 
the  nobles,  nor  the  property  classes  ;  most  of  these  latter 
were  neutral  before,  now  they  are  thoroughly  frightened, 
and  it  is  the  absence  of  any  strong,  ardent  patriotism 
ready  for  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  these  classes,  that 
would  render  abortive  any  sustained  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  Austrian  Italians. 

We  all  know  what  the  people  are  without  leaders  or 
with  only  such  leaders  as  lawyers  and  professional  men, 
literati,  &c.  This,  of  course,  does  not  apply  to  Venice, 
where  the  nobles  and  the  populace  loved,  thought  and 
fought  as  with  the  pulse  of  one  great  heart. 

In  Piedmont  there  is  great  bluster,  but  any  sensible 
well-informed  Piedmontese,  however  patriotic,  at  once 
despises  the  bluster  and  deplores  it.  1  arrived  at  Turin 
just  after  the  grand  funeral  procession  in  honour  of 
poor  Charles  Albert.  I  went  to  see  the  chapel,  still 
lighted  up  and  tricked  out,  wherein  his  bier  had  reposed. 
A  temporary  Gothic  fa$ade  had  been  erected,  wherein 
was  written  what  I  thus  verbally  translate  and  which 
seems  to  me  fine  : — "  Italians — who  ever  ye  be — enter 
and  pray  to  the  God  of  Warriors  and  of  Martyrs 
that  He  may  admit  to  His  glory  the  great  soul  of  that 
King — Carlo  Alberto — who  did  so  much  and  suffered 
so  much  to  obtain  for  Italy  the  supreme  good  of  nations 
— Independence." 

I  entered  the  chapel  with  the  crowd.  It  was 
decorated  as  in  boxes,  like  a  theatre,  ermine  and  velvet 
and  gold  fringe.  As  I  came  up  the  steps  to  the  gilded 

121 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  dome  in  which  the  King's  coffin  had  been  placed,  I  felt 
JET.  46.  a  thrill  and  tears  in  my  eyes.  But  turning  round,  I  saw 
the  Italian  congregation  cold  and  indifferent ;  only  at 
the  outskirts  one  or  two  old  peasants  praying — the  rest 
might  have  been  in  the  saloon  at  Covent  Garden. 
Nevertheless,  Charles  Albert  has  left  a  beloved  and 
honoured  name,  but  rather  with  civilians  than  the 
military.  They  lay  the  fault  of  their  defeat  on  his 
shoulders  ;  and  they,  too,  are  generally  disgusted  with 
war  and  have  had  "  their  bellies  full." 

There  seems  no  respect  for  the  Chamber  nor  the 
Constitution.  The  most  popular  newspapers,  those  that 
are  posted  on  columns  and  bought  by  the  operatives, 
are  anti-democratic.  There  is  a  general  feeling,  rather 
hinted  than  spoken  openly,  in  favour  of  retrogression 
rather  than  progress.  The  admirable  executive  of 
Charles  Albert  is  missed,  and  the  people  as  yet  don't 
care  three  straws  for  franchise  and  parliament. 

Along  and  tedious  journey  across  the  Col  di  Tenda(an 
Alpine  pass  I  had  not  yet  seen,  but  which,  though  little  tra- 
versed, comparatively,  has  details  of  more  bold  and  strik- 
ing beauty  than  either  the  St.  Gothard,  the  Simplon  or  the 
Mount  Cenis)  brought  me  here  last  night.  This  morning 
I  send  for  my  letters  and  find  none  from  you.  Monster  ! 

I  am  delighted  to  see  Macready  had  so  brilliant  a 
reception.  I  wish  it  might  induce  him  to  prolong  "  the 
leaving  of  it."  To-day  I  have  been  hunting  for  houses 
or  villas,  and  hope  in  a  few  days  to  be  settled  here  for 
the  winter  among  orange  groves  and  aloes.  The  air  is 
perfectly  languid  with  sweets  and  the  sea  calmer  than  the 
Thames  at  Richmond.  Can  nothing  tempt  you  ?  My 
house,  whatever  it  be,  will  have  rooms  to  spare,  and  here 
are  epicurean  attractions.  The  journey  through  France  is 
nothing  !  I  expect  very  agreeable  people  here  this  winter, 
so  that  if  you  can  come — but  you  won't !  Monster  again  ! 

I  see  that  Blackwood  has  brought  out  The  Caxtons, 

122 


LETTERS  TO  FORSTER 

with  what  success  I  know  not  yet.  My  only  letter  1849. 
thereon  is  one  from  Macaulay  whose  critical  eye  has  &r.  46. 
detected  a  sad  blunder  certainly  of  mine,  which  I  can't 
think  how  I  made — a  Roundhead  mob  is  somewhere  or 
other  called  a  malignant  mob,  an  epithet  of  course  only 
applicable  to  the  Cavaliers — very  like  Macaulay  to 
fasten  on  that  blunder !  I  don't  know  whether  I 
thanked  you  for  your  proposed  re-review  of  Pelham. 
Should  you  have  space  and  leisure  for  it,  perhaps  a  few 
short  extracts  of  any  expressions  or  similes,  or  individual 
lines  that  please  you  might  serve  to  help  it,  seeing  that 
with  most  of  the  reviews  extracts  are  spurned.  Colburn 
gives  a  pretty  good  account  of  its  progress  on  the  whole. 
I  am  very  much  better  as  yet,  and  hope  you  are  well 
and  thriving. — I  am,  Ever  yrs.  most  affy., 

E.  B.  L. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

NICE,  Nov.  loth,  1849. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — Your  two  letters  reached  me 
the  same  day.  A  thousand  thanks  'for  your  hearty 
mention  of  The  Caxtons,  which  gave  me  more  pleasure 
than  I  can  well  express.  I  suppose  there  is  a  great  deal 
in  Colley  Gibber's  theatrical  observation,  that  if  you  re- 
present villains  the  public  think  you  must  be  a  villain, 
if  amiable  characters,  they  give  you  some  credit  for 
amiability.  I  have  always  remarked  that  Macready 
does  not  like  your  up-hill  parts,  and  no  doubt  owes  a 
great  deal  of  the  esteem  which  accompanies  his  reputa- 
tion to  the  admirable  manner  in  which  he  expresses 
domestic  virtues,  whereas  if  he  had  played  nothing  but 
Shylocks  and  Richard  the  Thirds  the  English  would 
have  thought  the  Yankee  attempt  to  burn  him  natural, 
perhaps  excusable ! 

I  am  writing  to  you  as  if  from  the  garden  of 

123 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  Hesperides.  In  all  Italy  I  have  seen  nothing  to  my 
JEr.  46.  mind  like  the  environs  of  Nice.  They  have  a  variety 
denied  to  Naples  and  a  vegetation  that  equals  those  old 
poetic  haunts  of  the  Roman  voluptuaries.  The  palm 
tree  shadows  your  window,  the  aloe  hangs  over  your 
wall,  the  strange  shapes  of  the  cactus  divert  you  at 
your  threshold.  You  lose  your  way  mile  after  mile, 
amidst  orange  groves  and  forests  of  olive,  and  alleys 
of  arching  vine,  through  which,  as  you  ascend  some 
unfelt  hill  (unfelt,  because  your  senses  are  so  charmed), 
gleams  the  sea,  sparkling  in  sunlight. 

My  own  residence  is  a  little  apart  from  the  town, 
yet  near  enough  for  "  gaiety "  when  I  want  it.  I 
command  the  most  extensive  view  of  land  and  sea — 
breakfast  at  the  open  window,  gazing  on  the  butterflies, 
and  now  and  then  flying  from  the  wasps,  and  walk  out 
in  summer  trousers  and  silk  jacket,  with  an  umbrella — 
not  against  the  rains,  O  Londoner !  but  the  glare  of 
the  hot  November  sun  !  But  for  the  gnats  there  would 
be  no  amari  aliquid  in  this  media  fonte  leporum.  And 
a  capital  opera  box  twice  a  week  for  £8  the  season  !  of 
six  months !  I  wish  I  could  add  his  utere  mecum.  But 
your  Examiner  and  dinners  and  politics  and  expected 
Kossuths — ah,  miserable  man  ! 

I  am  reading  some  Latin  authors  I  have  never  read 
before  (except  in  shreds  and  fragments);  getting  fast 
through  Seneca's  prose  works.  By  Jove,  he  is  a  most 
Christian  writer !  I  admire  him  exceedingly,  though 
sometimes  he  proses  awfully  and  comes  out  with  the 
oddest  expressions.  What  do  you  think  he  calls 
Alexander  the  Great?  After  citing  one  of  the  anec- 
dotes usually  narrated  in  honour  of  that  distinguished 
Macedonian,  he  burst  forth  Tumidissimum  Animal. 
"  Swollenest  Animal !  "  I  laughed  for  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  I  thought  of  Alexander's  astonishment  if  anyone 
had  so  addressed  him  in  life.  I  have  pretty  nearly 

124 


NICE 

cleared  my  way  through  all  the  Minor  Latin  poets —  1849. 
Claudian,  exquisitely  lovable,  and  such  pretty  diction.  JEr.  46. 
Silius  Italicus — fine  bits — but  the  most  curious  of  all 
I  have  read  (or  rather  am  now  reading  for  the  first 
time)  is  the  Satyricon  of  Petronius.  What  a  light  it 
throws  upon  the  age,  what  a  glossary  to  Tacitus  !  The 
finest  gentleman  in  Nero's  Court — a  man  of  the  most 
scholarly  and  refined  taste,  no  doubt,  in  the  opinion  of 
his  age — stringing  together,  with  an  easy  humour  which 
reminds  one  of  Le  Sage,  the  most  horrible  depravities, 
one  after  the  other,  quite  as  things  of  course, 
specimens  of  the  manners  of  the  day.  After  reading 
that  book,  how  thankful  one  feels  to  the  stout  old  Gauls 
for  coming  and  sweeping  away  such  a  rot  of  civilisation. 
But  I  must  now  come  to  business.  You  put  last 
in  your  kind  wishes  for  my  literary  occupations,  the 
desire  that  I  should  write  another  Caxtonian  book ! 
My  dear  Forster,  that  is  already  in  great  forwardness, 
and  indeed  I  have  been  so  wrapt  in  it  that  I  put  aside 
all  letter  writing  till  I  could  come  to  the  end  of  Vol. 
I.  or  Part  5,  which  I  did  this  morning.  This  is  the 
reason  why  I  did  not  write  to  you  before.  I  take  the 
earliest  opportunity  after  my  confinement !  If  I  can 
but  make  it  end  well  I  think  it  will  be  the  chef-d 'ceuvre 
of  my  novels,  but  I  suspect  that  will  be  very  difficult. 
I  have  never  yet  ventured  so  boldly  on  humour.  But 
disagreeably  enough,  the  story  seems  to  require  a  tragic 
end,  after  a  purely  comic  conduct,  and  that  won't  do, 
though  as  yet  I  see  no  help  for  it ;  more  meo  I  lay  aside 
the  book  to  cool  on  it,  and  in  the  interim  am  ready  for 
Brutus,  and  will  try  my  hand  again  on  the  Sea  Captain. 
I  don't  expect  to  satisfy  myself  at  all  with  the  last,  but 
the  Brutus  could  be  very  easily  done,  as  you  suggest, 
if  1  could  have  the  play  again.  (I  have  no  copy.) 
Could  you  not  send  it  to  me  through  the  Foreign  Office 
to  the  care  of  La  Croix,  Consul,  Nice  ?  Fonblanque  is 

I25 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1849.  always  seeing  Stanley,  who  would  do  it.  In  that  case, 
.  46.  enclose  with  it  the  letters  you  have  for  me  and  Edward. 
If  I  had  it  for  a  week  I  could  finish  off  and  return  the 
third  act,  as  you  suggest.  But  there — you  must  con- 
sider well  before  you  entrust  it  to  the  stage.  The 
money  is  a  very  good  thing,  but  my  reputation,  Sir 
Knight,  think  of  that,  and  a  half  success  at  Sadler's 
Wells,  for  which,  I  suppose,  you  design  it,  would  be 
"a  heavy  blow  and  a  great  discouragement"  to  that 
frail  vested  interest. 

I  will  return  with  it  the  Poems  arranged  for  two 
vols. ;  and  if  I  can  do  the  Sea  Captain,  he  will  come  too. 

To  Lord  Walpole,  who  was  then  in  Rome, 
he  writes  towards  the  end  of  1 849  : — 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Lord  Walpole. 

You  interest  me  in  the  Romans  by  your  account  of 
their  good  conduct.  But  what  is  to  become  of  the 
Pope  ?  and  what  were  his  real  faults  ?  Did  he  reform 
too  much  or  not  enough  ?  or  was  he  really  in  that  state 
of  Society  when  a  man  ceases  to  be  more  than  a  foot- 
ball for  Fortune  to  kick  a  little  while  about  the  play- 
ground, and  then  leave  rolled  up  in  a  corner  ? 

I  don't  know  whether  I  envy  your  semi-military, 
semi-philosophical  amusements,  in  what  appear  now  to 
be  unmetaphorically  the  fumum  strepitumque  Romae.  I 
remember  that  Scipio  says  he  never  enjoyed  any  battle 
so  much  as  one  he  saw  merely  as  a  spectator  when  he 
was  on  a  visit  at  Carthage.  But  I  should  fancy  it 
rather  like  looking  on  at  whist,  which  always  makes 
me  more  fidgety  than  if  I  was  playing  myself.  Those 
Romans  seem,  however,  to  have  played  their  cards  so 
beautifully  that  I  fancy  you  must  have  been  giving 
them  a  hint — told  Garibaldi  when  to  trump  out,  and 

126 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  WALPOLE 

when  to  give  that  politic  trick  to  the  French.     Un-    1850. 
metaphorically,    the   sending    back   the   prisoners   was  ^ET.  47. 
exceedingly  wise. 

I  was  extremely  amused  by  your  philosophical 
regrets  that  the  cannon  balls  should  suspend  the 
excavations,  and  your  interest  in  the  feuds  of  the  three 
Savants  amidst  the  impia  proelia — auditumque  Medis 
Hesperiae  sonitum  ruinae.  It  is  the  best  practical  illustra- 
tion of  the  aesthetic  ethics  I  know  of — soaring  up  into 
the  regions  of  art  and  beauty  from  the  terrors  and 
crimes  of  this  vulgar  world  below. 

I  expect  to  hear  from  you  all  about  Garibaldi  and 
Mazzini.  I  am  at  present  quite  an  enthusiast  for  them. 
I  hope  you  will  not  disenchant  me.  But  in  all  Europe 
I  have  seen  nothing  so  heroic  and  with  so  good  a  cause  ; 
but,  alas  !  so  hopeless. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

NICE,  March  25,  1850. 

I  can't  say  how  grieved  I  am,  my  dear  Walpole,  to 
see  that  you  were  under  the  influence  of  those  demons 
called  blues  (why  blue,  I  wonder  ?)  when  you  wrote  to 
me,  and  I  fear  you  have  been  sadly  hipping  yourself  in 
that  city  which  more  than  all  others  seems  to  me  to 
require  a  mind  at  ease,  for  enjoyment.  For  there  is 
something  so  serene  and  still  in  all  that  belongs  to  the 
classical  world,  whether  its  literature,  its  art,  or  its 
architecture,  the  ghost-like  solemnity  of  its  remains, 
that  one  must  be  free  from  all  the  worry  of  this  actual 
positive  life  to  enter  into  its  tomb-like  ideal.  I  feel 
this  even  with  books.  I  was  at  peace  here  for  some 
time,  and  read  the  classics  with  pleasure  ;  things  have 
occurred  to  annoy  and  fidget  me,  and  lo,  Seneca  has 
grown  the  dullest  of  bores,  and  the  Elegiasts  (on  whom 
I  had  been  taking  notes  con  amore),  the  most  maudlin 

127 


CHEQUERED  YEARS 

1850.  and  insipid  of  triflers.  And  as  the  literature  there 
JE.T.  47.  appears  to  me,  so  must  Rome — that  great  book  of  stone 
— seem  to  you.  In  worry  one  must  have  the  calm  of 
living  nature,  or  the  distraction  of  the  positive  world. 
However,  this  goes  to  find  you  at  Milan  ;  and  though 
I  have  no  great  faith  in  the  charm  of  mere  travelling, 
I  heartily  hope  that  the  change  of  scene  and  bustle  of 
movement  will  have  done  you  great  good. 

You  make  me  very  proud  by  what  you  say  so  kindly 
as  to  my  scribbling,  and  the  associations  you  connect 
with  it.  I  am  a  believer  in  the  duality  of  the  mind — 
all  of  us  really  have  two  minds,  one  which  we  take  into 
the  world,  carry  into  the  clubs,  walk  the  streets  with, 
and  use  every  day — a  mind  which  contains  in  it  such 
portion  of  common  sense  as  Nature  is  pleased  to  give 
us,  together  with  a  large  number  of  sour,  cynical 
notions  that  our  experience  has  contrived  to  pick  up. 
This  is  the  mind  that  enables  us  to  make,  or  disposes 
us  to  squander  our  money — the  mind  that  says  worldly 
witticisms  and  does  sometimes  prudent  things,  some- 
times bad  actions,  is  rather  ashamed  to  be  good,  and 
makes  us  seem  either  wickeder  or  wiser  than  we  are. 
Then  there  is  another  mind  in  which  we  pack  up  such 
sentiments  as  the  world  has  not  spoiled,  our  poetical 
emotions,  our  conceptions  of  what  is  pure  or  heroic — 
a  mind  that  vanishes  altogether  when  we  walk  into 
Bond  Street,  and  are  mere  men  amongst  men ! 

Now  this  last-mentioned  mind  of  mine  delights  in 
the  country  (the  country  of  England) — the  green  lanes 
and  the  hawthorn  tree  ;  and  after  a  certain  time,  out 
peers  the  other  mind  and  says  "  Now,  it's  my  turn — 
you  waste  your  life  in  green  fields,  you  only  shave 
every  other  day.  Order  yourself  a  new  coat,  put  your 
poetry  and  your  conscience  into  its  pocket — go  to  town 
— play  at  whist — play  the  devil !  "  .  .  . 

The  real  secret  at  our  age  (if  I  may,  sinking  some 

128 


RETURN  TO  ENGLAND 

years'  difference,  indulge  in  that  plural)  would  be  the     1850. 
proper  arrangement  of  one's  life  into  something   like  &T.  47. 
orderly  method,  avoiding  the  passions,  but  not  the  affec- 
tions, getting  rid  of  false  excitements  and  the  necessity 
of  that  stimulant — change — whether  in  persons  or  things. 
In  short,  trying  to  concentre  one's  existence  so  that  one 
might  get  into  the  circle  the  enjoyments  most  to  our 
individual  tastes,  and  least  injurious  to  other  people. 

Moreover,  I  have  a  great  idea  that  one  ought  to 
play  at  life  as  one  does  at  backgammon,  and  cover  the 
blots  ;  if  one  must  do  a  bad  action,  look  about  to  find 
out  a  good  one,  and  so  make  ourselves  square.  For 
it's  a  strange  thing  that  though  many  of  our  worst 
afflictions  arise  from  our  most  generous  and  high- 
minded  intentions,  yet  I  find  that  those  afflictions  never 
make  us  regret  the  intentions  that  caused  them.  It  is 
a  great  thing  to  say,  "  Damn  it,  I  did  it  for  the  best." 

In  a  letter  to  Forster,  dated  May  20,  1850, 
Bulwer-Lytton  announces  his  intention  of  re- 
turning home,  and  adds  : — 

I  return  to  England  with  a  reluctant  spirit ;  hard 
stepmother  has  that  arida  nutrix  leonum  been  to  me. 
When  I  see  how  Whigs  and  Liberals  have  united  to 
thrust  me  from  Parliament,  and  critics  and  authorlings 
from  my  due  place  in  letters,  I  find  little  to  reconcile 
me  to  the  fogs  and  east  winds  of  the  White  Isle — little 
but  the  pleasure  of  greeting  such  friends  as  you,  who 
are  not  to  be  found  abroad. 

The  querulous  tone  of  these  words  repre- 
sented but  a  passing  mood.  Within  a  year  he  had 
again  resumed  an  active  interest  in  politics,  and 
soon  afterwards  won  for  himself  a  distinguished 
position  in  the  public  life  of  the  country. 

VOL.  II  129  K 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    GUILD    OF    LITERATURE    AND    ART 
1851 

It  takes  much  marble  to  build  the  sepulchre — how  little  of  lath  and 
plaster  would  have  repaired  the  garret  ! 

Night  and  Morning. 

Some  fortress  for  youth  in  the  battle  of  fame  ; 

Some  shelter  that  age  is  not  humbled  to  claim  ; 

Some  roof  from  the  storms  for  the  pilgrim  of  Knowledge — 

Not  unlike  what  our  ancestors  meant  by  a  college. 

Epilogue  to  Not  so  Bad  as  We  seem. 

1850.    BULWER-LYTTON  returned  to   England   in  June 
r.  47.  1850,  and  resumed  the  occupations  of  a  country 
squire    at    Knebworth.       He    wrote    to    Lord 
Walpole  from  there  on  August  1 1  : — 

My  time  at  present  is  occupied  in  repairing  farms, 
opening  schools,  etc.  There  are  two  things  in  life 
which  bring  a  man  in  connection  with  that  grave 
happiness  called  Duty.  One  is  a  fortunate  marriage, 
the  other  a  landed  property.  As  I  missed  the  one,  I 
am  pleased  to  see  that  the  other  compels  one,  nolens 
vokns,  to  rouse  oneself  from  one's  egoism,  and  to  one's 
amaze  act  for  other  people.  You  will  find  this  some 
day,  and  find  it  still  more,  perhaps,  in  being  also  a 
hereditary  legislator. 

I  often  think  over  the  wisdom  of  a  saying  of 
Goethe's,  "Nothing  keeps  the  mind  more  healthful 

130 


THEATRICALS  AT  KNEBWORTH 


than  having  something  in  common  with  the  mass  of    1850. 
mankind."     Property  and  politics  both  help  to  do  this,  ^Er,  47. 
whereas  literature  takes  one  away  from  it. 

In  the  autumn  he  arranged  a  great  theatrical 
performance  at  Knebworth,  in  which  Dickens 
took  a  very  prominent  part.  Three  private 
performances  were  given  of  Ben  Jonson's  Every 
Man  in  His  Humour,1  and  the  success  of  the 

1  The  amateur  cast  at  these  theatricals  was  as  follows  : — 
BEN  JONSON'S  COMEDY 

of 
EVERY    MAN    IN    HIS    HUMOUR. 


KNOWELL,  an  old  Gentleman     .         .         , 
EDWARD  KNOWELL,  his  Son 
BRAINWORM,  the  Father's  Man  . 
GEORGE  DOWNRIGHT,  a  plain  Squire  . 
WELLBRED,  his  Half-brother     .         .        . 
KITELY,  a  Merchant          .         ... 
CAPTAIN  BOBADIL,  a  Paul's  Man 
MASTER  STEPHEN,  a  Country  Gull    . 
MASTER  MATHEW,  the  Town  Gull  . 
THOMAS  CASH,  Kitely's  Cashier          .    .    . 
OLIVER  COB,  a  Water-bearer 
JUSTICE  CLEMENT,  an  old  merry  Magistrate 
ROGER  FORMAL,  his  Clerk 
DAME  KITELY,  Kitely's  Wife    .         .         . 
MISTRESS  BRIDGET,  his  Sister    . 
TIB,  Cob's  Wife         .         .         . '       . 


Mr.  Delm£  Radcliffe. 

Mr.  Henry  Hawkins. 

Mr.  Mark  Lemon. 

Mr.  Frank  Stone. 

Mr.  Henry  Hale. 

Mr.  John  Forster. 

Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 

Mr.  Douglas  Jerrold. 

Mr.  John  Leech. 

Mr.  Frederick  Dickens. 

Mr.  Augustus  Egg. 

The  Hon.  Eliot  Yorke,  M.P. 

Mr.  Phantom. 

Miss  Mary  Boyle. 

Miss  Hogarth. 

Mrs.  Charles  Dickens. 


The  Epilogue  by  Mr.  Delme'  Radcliffe. 


To  conclude  with  Mrs.  Inch  bald's  Farce, 
ANIMAL   MAGNETISM 


THE  DOCTOR    .  -""  .' 

LA  FLEUR. 

THE  MARQUESS  DE  LANCY 

JEFFREY     .        .        » 

CONSTANCE 

LISETTE 


.  Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 

.  Mr.  Mark  Lemon. 

.  Mr.  John  Leech. 

.  Mr.  Augustus  Egg. 

.  Miss  Hogarth. 

,         v .        .      '.,".  Miss  Mary  Boyle. 

Stage  Manager — Mr.  CHARLES  DICKENS. 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  undertaking  led  Dickens  to  suggest  that  a  re- 
.  48.  petition  of  such  an  entertainment  might  be  used 
to  further  a  scheme  in  which  the  two  authors 
were  deeply  interested.  The  object  of  this 
scheme  was  the  endowment  of  a  literary  guild 
to  serve  as  a  sort  of  College  and  Home  of  Rest 
in  the  country  for  authors  and  artists  who  were 
prevented  by  poverty  from  producing  really 
good  work. 

Bulwer-Lytton  had  known  in  his  own  life 
some  of  the  struggles  imposed  upon  an  author 
who  has  to  write  for  his  living,  and  he  had 
witnessed  many  painful  experiences  among  his  less 
fortunate  friends  in  the  literary  world.  One  such 
experience  had  impressed  itself  very  painfully 
on  his  mind  a  few  years  previously.  This  was 
the  tragic  death  of  Laman  Blanchard — the  most 
genial  and  lovable  personality  in  the  literary 
world  of  that  day.  Blanchard  was  one  of  those 
who  received  their  first  recognition  and  en- 
couragement from  Bulwer-Lytton  at  the  time 
he  was  editing  The  New  Monthly  Magazine  ;  and 
in  later  years  he  became  the  intimate  and  much- 
loved  friend  of  Dickens,  Thackeray,  Forster, 
Harrison  Ainsworth,  Douglas  Jerrold,  and  indeed 
of  most  of  the  successful  authors  of  the  day. 

Bulwer-Lytton  said  of  him  in  a  little  memoir 
which  he  wrote  after  his  death  for  the  benefit 
of  Blanchard's  family  : — 

To  most  of  those  who  have  mixed  generally  with 
the  men  who,  in  our  day,  have  chosen  literature  as  a 
profession,  the  name  of  Laman  Blanchard  brings 

132 


LAMAN  BLANCHARD 

recollections  of  peculiar  tenderness  and  regret.    Amidst    1851. 
a  career  which  the  keenness  of  anxious  rivalry  renders  JET.  48. 
a  sharp  probation  to  the  temper  and  the  affections — 
often  more  embittered  by  that  strife  of  party  of  which 
in    a   representative    constitution    few    men    of    letters 
escape  the  eager  passions  and  the  angry  prejudice — they 
recall  the  memory  of  a  competitor  without  envy,  a 
partizan   without   gall ;    firm    as    the    firmest    in   the 
maintenance  of  his  own  opinions  ;    but  gentle  as  the 
gentlest  in  the  judgment  he  passed  on  others. 

Who  among  our  London  brotherhood  of  letters 
does  not  miss  that  simple  cheerfulness,  that  inborn 
exquisite  urbanity,  that  childlike  readiness  to  be  pleased 
with  all,  that  happy  tendency  to  panegyrise  every  merit 
and  be  lenient  to  every  fault?  Who  does  not  recall 
that  acute  and  delicate  susceptibility,  so  easily  wounded 
and  therefore  so  careful  not  to  wound,  which  seemed 
to  infuse  a  certain  intellectual  fine  breeding  of  for- 
bearance and  sympathy  into  every  society  where  it 
insinuated  its  gentle  way  ?  Who  in  convivial  meetings 
does  not  miss,  and  will  not  miss  for  ever,  the  sweetness 
of  those  unpretending  talents,  the  earnestness  of  that 
honesty  which  seemed  unconscious,  it  was  worn  so 
lightly — the  mild  influence  of  that  exuberant  kindness 
which  softened  the  acrimony  of  young  disputants,  and 
reconciled  the  secret  animosities  of  jealous  rivals  ?  Yet 
few  men  had  experienced  more  to  sour  them  than 
Laman  Blanchard,  or  had  gone  more  resolutely  through 
the  author's  hardening  ordeal  of  narrow  circumstance, 
of  daily  labour,  and  of  that  disappointment  in  the 
higher  aims  of  ambition  which  must  almost  inevitably 
befall  those  who  attain  ideal  standards  of  excellence,  to 
be  reached  but  by  time  and  leisure,  and  who  are  yet 
condemned  to  draw  hourly  on  unmatured  resources 
for  the  practical  wants  of  life.  To  have  been  engaged 
from  boyhood  in  such  struggles,  and  to  have  preserved, 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  undiminished,  generous  admiration  for  those  more 
r.,48.  fortunate,  and  untiring  love  for  his  own  noble  yet 
thankless  calling — and  this  with  a  constitution  singularly 
finely  strung,  and  with  all  the  nervous  irritability  which 
usually  accompanies  the  indulgence  of  the  imagination 
— is  a  proof  of  the  rarest  kind  of  strength,  depending 
less  upon  a  power  purely  intellectual,  than  upon  the 
higher  and  more  beautiful  heroism  which  a  woman,  and 
such  men  alone  as  have  the  best  feelings  of  a  woman's 
nature,  take  from  instinctive  enthusiasm  for  what  is 
great,  and  uncalculating  faith  in  what  is  good." 

This  was  a  fine  tribute  from  one  literary  man 
to  another,  yet,  judging  from  the  degree  of 
affection  which  Blanchard  aroused  amongst  his 
very  varied  acquaintance,  it  was  not  overstated. 

Laman  Blanchard's  experience  of  the  hard- 
ships of  professional  literature,  and  of  the  trials 
of  the  literary  temperament,  was  typical  of  many 
others.  He  was  born  at  Great  Yarmouth, 
Norfolk,  on  May  15,  1803 — the  same  year  and 
the  same  month  as  Bulwer-Lytton  himself — 
the  son  of  a  painter  and  glazier  who  afterwards 
settled  in  Southwark.  The  boy  distinguished 
himself  at  St.  Olave's  School,  but  his  father 
could  not  afford  him  the  advantages  of  a 
university  education  ;  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen 
he  obtained  employment  in  the  office  of  Mr. 
Charles  Pearson,  a  proctor  in  Doctors'  Commons. 
At  this  age  he  had  already  begun  to  write  and 
publish  poetry,  both  lyrical  and  dramatic.  The 
drama  specially  attracted  him,  and  shortly 
afterwards,  abandoning  his  uncongenial  and 

134 


A  LIFE  OF  STRUGGLE 

unpromising  employment  in  the  proctor's  office,  1851. 
he  tried  his  fortunes  on  the  stage.  He  did  not  MT.  4 
succeed  as  an  actor,  but  he  owed  to  this  experi- 
ment the  friendship  of  Mr.  Buckstone,  the 
celebrated  comedian.  He  then  became  a  reader 
in  the  office  of  Messrs.  Bayliss  in  Fleet  Street, 
and  first  a  contributor,  afterwards  sub-editor  of 
The  Monthly  Magazine.  To  this  appointment 
was  added  the  editorship  of  another  literary 
journal  called  the  Belle  Assemblee.  From  the 
literary  he  passed  to  the  political  press,  and  was 
associated  in  the  editorship  of  The  True  Son,  The 
Constitutional,  and  other  papers  of  that  kind.  He 
also  directed  The  Court  yournal,  was  an  habitual 
contributor  to  AinswortKs  Magazine,  and  was 
employed  during  the  later  years  of  his  life  upon 
the  Examiner. 

In  1828,  when  he  was  twenty-five  years  old, 
he  had  published  Lyric  Offerings,  a  small  volume 
of  poems,  which  in  1832  he  sent  to  the  editor  of 
the  New  Monthly  Magazine.  "  I  was,"  says 
Bulwer-Lytton,  "  so  delighted  with  the  promise 
of  these  poems  that  I  reviewed  them  in  terms 
of  praise  which  maturer  reflection  does  not 
induce  me  to  qualify."  The  sudden  loss  of  the 
editorship  of  the  Courier  (owing  to  a  change  in 
the  proprietors  and  politics  of  that  journal) 
deprived  Blanchard  of  an  income  which  was  for 
him  considerable,  and  he  was  thrown  into  great 
pecuniary  difficulties,  having  by  this  time 
married  and  become  the  father  of  four  children. 
Bulwer-Lytton  endeavoured,  without  success,  to 

135 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  obtain  for  him  some  small  appointment  from 
T.  48.  the  Whigs  who  were  then  in  office.  His 
struggles  rapidly  grew  harder  and  his  health 
weaker.  Bulwer-Lytton,  who  had  several  times 
sent  him  anonymous  assistance  through  Forster, 
fearing  that  Blanchard's  affairs  were  not  going 
well,  offered  to  him  and  his  family,  rent  free, 
a  house  which  then  belonged  to  him  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  London.  But  Mrs.  Blanchard 
was  too  ill  to  be  moved.  Shortly  afterwards,  on 
December  16,  1844,  she  died.  Her  husband 
was  completely  prostrated  by  her  death.  Not 
only  his  health  but  his  mind  gave  way;  and  a 
few  weeks  later  he  died  in  circumstances  which 
are  thus  described  by  Bulwer-Lytton  in  the 
memoir  from  which  I  have  already  quoted  : — 

Towards  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Friday 
[February  14,  1845]  hysterics  came  on  with  great 
vehemence.  He  required  several  people  to  hold  him 
down.  On  the  visit  of  his  usual  medical  attendant  he 
recovered,  but  the  reaction  left  him  completely  exhausted. 
Towards  night  he  thought  he  could  sleep.  He  dismissed 
his  family  to  bed,  and  affectionately  bade  them  good- 
night. A  kind-hearted  woman,  who  had  attended  Mrs. 
Blanchard  in  her  last  illness,  now  officiated  as  nurse  to 
himself.  He  requested  her  to  remain  in  the  next  room, 
within  hearing  of  his  knock  on  the  wall  if  he  should 
want  her.  His  youngest  boy,  since  his  illness,  had  slept 
constantly  with  him.  The  nurse  had  not  retired  five 
minutes  before  she  heard  his  signal.  On  her  going  to 
him,  he  said,  "  You  had  better  not  leave  me  ;  I  feel  a 
strong  desire  to  throw  myself  out  of  the  window."  The 
poor  woman,  who  had  rather  consulted  her  heart  than 

136 


LAMAN  BLANCHARD'S  DEATH 

her  experience  in  the  office  she  had  undertaken,  lost  her  1851. 
presence  of  mind  in  the  alarm  these  words  occasioned.  ^Er.  4 
She  hurried  out  of  the  room  in  order  to  call  up  the 
eldest  son.  She  had  scarcely  reached  the  staircase  when 
she  heard  a  shriek  and  a  heavy  fall.  Hastening  back 
she  found  her  master  on  the  floor,  bathed  in  blood.  In 
the  interval  between  her  quitting  the  room  and  her  re- 
turn (scarce  a  minute)  the  unhappy  sufferer,  who  had 
in  vain  sought  protection  from  his  own  delirious 
impulse,  had  sprung  from  his  bed,  wrested  himself  from 
the  grasp  of  the  child  beside  him  ...  in  the  almost 
total  darkness  of  the  room  found  his  way,  with  the 
instinct  of  the  sleepwalker  or  the  maniac,  to  his  razor, 
and  was  dead  when  the  nurse  raised  him  in  her  arms. 
The  mind,  ground  into  unnatural  sharpness  by  over- 
fatigue,  and  over-grief,  had,  not  worn,  but  cut  through 
the  scabbard.  Thus  at  the  early  age  of  forty-one, 
broken  in  mind  and  body,  perished  this  industrious, 
versatile,  and  distinguished  man  of  letters. 

I  have  described  at  some  length  the  circum- 
stances of  Laman  Blanchard's  life  and  death  to 
illustrate  the  kind  of  case  which  was  in  the 
mind  of  Bulwer-Lytton  and  Dickens  when,  five 
years  later,  they  embarked  upon  their  ambitious 
scheme  of  trying  to  lighten  the  hardships  and 
relieve  the  minds  of  such  literary  toilers.  Bulwer- 
Lytton  thus  commented  upon  the  story  which  I 
have  just  summarised  : — 

Born  at  an  earlier  day,  Laman  Blanchard  would 
probably  have  known  sharper  trials  of  pecuniary 
circumstances  ;  and  instead  of  the  sufficient  though  pre- 
carious income  which  his  reputation  as  a  periodical 
writer  afforded  him,  he  might  have  often  slept  in  the 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  garret  and  been  fortunate  if  he  had  not  as  often  dined 
r.  48.  in  the  cellar.  But  then  he  would  have  been  compelled 
to  put  forth  all  that  was  in  him  of  mind  and  genius  ; 
to  have  written  books,  not  papers  ;  and  books,  intended 
not  for  the  week  or  the  month,  but  for  permanent  effect 
upon  the  public.  .  .  .  On  the  other  hand,  had  he 
been  born  a  German,  and  exhibited  at  Bonn  or  Jena  the 
same  abilities  and  zeal  for  knowledge  which  distinguished 
him  in  the  school  at  Southwark,  he  would,  doubtless, 
have  early  attained  to  some  competence  which  would 
have  allowed  full  leisure  and  fair  play  to  a  character  of 
genius  which,  naturally  rather  elegant  than  strong,  re- 
quired every  advantage  of  forethought  and  preparation. 

In  criticising  Blanchard's  early  poems  in  the 
New  Monthly  he  had  said  : — 

Let  him  not  forget  that  periodical  writing  is  the 
grave  of  much  genius.  It  leads  men  to  write  more 
than  they  reflect.  All  great  works  require  stern  and 
silent  meditation.  We  must  brood  deeply  over  what 
we  wish  to  last  long.  The  power  of  genius  is  increased 
by  the  abundance  of  fuel  that  supplies  it. 

This  criticism  elicited  from  the  poet  journalist 
a  letter  in  which  he  spoke  of  his  looking  forward 
to  a  time  when  he  might  realise  the  cherished 
dreams  of  his  youth,  escape  from  his  hurried 
compositions  for  the  day  and  the  hour,  return 
into  his  inner  self,  and  there  meditate  the  pro- 
duction of  some  work  which  might  justify  his 
critic's  belief  in  the  promise  of  his  early  efforts. 

Such  a  time  never  came  to  Laman  Blanchard  ; 
but  Bulwer  Lytton  and  Dickens  were  determined 
that,  if  they  could  prevent  it,  no  struggling  author 

138 


OBJECTS  OF  THE  INSTITUTION 

or  artist  should  again  be  placed  in  the  same  1851. 
predicament.  By  the  establishment  of  their  ^ET.  48. 
"  Guild  of  Literature  and  Art  "  they  hoped  to  be 
able  to  supply  to  the  authors  of  the  future  that 
period  of  rest  and  freedom  from  mental  anxiety 
which  is  necessary  to  the  production  of  really 
durable  work.  Their  new  institution  was  to  take 
the  place  of  the  professional  chairs  in  Germany 
which  "  had  not  only  saved  many  a  scholar  from 
famine,  many  a  genius  from  despair,  but,  by 
offering  subsistence  and  dignity  to  that  valuable 
class  of  writers  whose  learning  and  capacities  unfit 
them  by  reason  of  their  very  depth  for1  wide 
popularity,  had  given  worthy  and  profitable 
inducements  to  grave  study,  and  more  than  all 
else  had  maintained  the  German  fame  for  patient 
erudition  and  profound  philosophy." 

With  these  thoughts  in  their  mind,  Bulwer- 
Lytton  and  Dickens  now  laid  their  plans.  It 
was  agreed  between  them  that  the  former  should 
write  a  comedy,  and  that  it  should  be  produced 
by  an  amateur  cast  first  in  London  and  then  in 
the  provinces,  the  proceeds  being  devoted  to  the 
endowment  of  their  cherished  scheme.  The 
play,  a  five  act  comedy,  called  Many  Sides  to  a 
Character^  or  Not  so  Bad  as  We  seem,  was  finished 
early  in  1851  and  proved  worthy  of  the  cause 
which  it  was  to  serve.  Macready,  who  had  just 
retired  from  the  stage,  wrote  enthusiastically  on 
seeing  the  MS.  "  I  have  read,"  he  said,  "with 
very  great  delight,  the  comedy.  I  have  the 
highest  opinion  of  it.  Alas  !  things  of  this  sort 

139 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.    would  have  kept  me  on  the  stage.     Wilmot  is 
ET.  48.  a  splendid  part.     The  comedy  is  a  hit,  and  no 
mistake." 

The  play  was  first  produced  at  Devonshire 
House  on  May  16,  1851,  before  the  Queen,  the 
Prince  Consort,  and  a  large  fashionable  audience.1 


THE  DUKE  OF  MIDDLESEX 
THE  EARL  OF  LOFTUS 


1  DRAMATIS   PERSONS. 

Original  Cast. 

( Peers  attached  tcr 
the  son  of  James     Mr. 
II.,      commonly  - 
called  the    First     Mr. 
.Pretender. 

LORD  WILMOT,  a  young  man  at  the  head  of 
the  mode  more  than  a  century  ago,  son 
to  Lord  Loftus      ..... 
MR.  SHADOWLY  SOFTHEAD,  a  young  gentle- 
man from  the  city,  friend  and  double  to 
Lord  Wilmot         .....     Mr. 
HARDMAN,  a  rising  Member  of  Parliament, 

and  adherent  to  Sir  Robert  Walpole       .     Mr. 
SIR  GEOFFREY  THORNSIDE,  a  gentleman  of 

good  family  and  estate  ....     Mr. 
MR.  GOODENOUGH  EASY,  in  business,  highly 

respectable,  and  a  friend  of  Sir  Geoffrey  .     Mr. 
LORD  LE  TRIMMER  ( Frequenters  of  \  Mr. 

SIR  THOMAS  TIMID  \  Will's    Coffee  VMr. 


Frank  Stone. 
Dudley  Costello. 

Mr.  Charles  Dickens. 

Douglas  Jerrold. 
John  Forster. 
Mark  Lemon. 


E.  W.  Topham. 
Peter  Cunningham 
Westland  Marston. 
R.  H.  Home. 
Charles  Knight. 
Wilkie  Collins. 
John  Tenniel. 
Robert  Bell. 


COLONEL  FLINT,  a  Fire-eater  (.House  J  Mr. 

MR.  JACOB  TONSON,  a  Bookseller         .         .  Mr. 

SMART,  valet  to  Lord  Wilmot      .         .         .  Mr. 

HODGE,  servant  to  Sir  Geoffrey  Thornside    .  Mr. 

PADDY  O'SULLIVAN,  Mr.  Fallen's  landlord  .  Mr. 
MR.  DAVID  FALLEN,  Grub  Street  Author  and 

Pamphleteer Mr.  Augustus  Egg,  A. R.A. 

Coffee-House  Loungers,  Drawers,  Newsmen,  Watchmen,  etc.,  etc. 

LUCY,  daughter  to  Sir  Geoffrey  Thornside    .     Mrs.  Compton. 
BARBARA,  daughter  to  Mr.  Easy  .         .         .     Miss  Ellen  Chaplin. 
THE   SILENT   LADY   OF    DEADMAN'S    LANE 
(LADY  THORNSIDE)       .        .        . 

Date  of  Play — The  Reign  of  George  I.     Scene — London. 

Time  supposed  to  be  occupied,  from  the  noon  of  the  first  day  to  the 

afternoon  of  the  second. 

140 


SUCCESS  OF  THE  PLAY 

Its  success  was  complete,  and  after  a  number  of   1851. 
performances  at  the  Hanover  Square  Rooms  the  ^T- 48 
Company  started  on  a  tour  through  the  provinces, 
visiting  most  of  the  chief  towns  in  England.     In 
all  these  proceedings  Dickens  was  the  life  and 
soul    of    the    undertaking.      He    made    himself 
responsible  for  all  the  business  arrangements,  and 
whilst  he  was  thoroughly  practical  and  efficient 
in  the  capacity  of  Actor  Manager,  he  was  all  the 
time  on  fire  with  zeal  for  the  cause  in  which  he 
was  engaged.     This  enthusiasm  he  contributed 
not  only  to  his  fellow  actors,  but  to  the  large 
audiences  who  crowded  to  see  him  and  applauded 
him  wildly. 

To  Bulwer-Lytton  he  wrote  on  February  15, 
1852  :— 

MY  DEAR  BULWER — I  left  Liverpool  at  4  o'clock 
this  morning,  and  am  so  blinded  by  excitement,  gas, 
and  waving  hats  and  handkerchiefs,  that  I  can  scarcely 
see  to  write  ;  but  I  cannot  go  to  bed  without  telling  you 
what  a  triumph  we  have  had.  Allowing  for  the 
necessarily  heavy  expenses  of  all  kinds,  I  believe  we 
can  scarcely  fund  less  than  a  thousand  pounds  out  of 
this  trip  alone,  and  more  than  that.  The  extraordinary 
interest  taken  in  the  idea  of  the  Guild  of  "  this  grand 
people  of  England  "  down  in  those  vast  hives,  and  the 
enthusiastic  welcome  they  give  it,  assure  me  that  we 
may  do  what  we  will,  if  we  will  only  be  true  and 
faithful  to  our  design.  There  is  a  social  recognition  of 
it  which  I  cannot  give  you  the  least  idea  of.  I 
sincerely  believe  that  we  have  the  ball  at  our  feet,  and 
may  throw  it  up  to  the  very  Heaven  of  Heavens. 
And  I  don't  speak  for  myself  alone,  but  for  all  our 

141 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.    people,  and  not  least  of  all  for  Forster,  who  has  been 
fiL-r.  48.  absolutely  stunned  by  the  tremendous  earnestness  of 
these  great  places. 

To  tell  you  (especially  after  your  affectionate  letter) 
what  I  would  have  given  to  have  had  you  there,  would 
be  idle,  but  I  can  most  seriously  say  that  all  the  sights 
of  the  earth  turn  pale  in  my  eyes  before  the  sight  of 
three  thousand  people  with  one  heart  among  them,  and 
no  capacity  in   them,  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts,  of 
sufficiently  testifying  to  you  how  they  believe  you  to  be 
right  and  feel  that  they  cannot  do  enough  to  cheer  you 
on.     They  understood  the  play  (far  better  acted  this  time 
than  ever  you  have  seen  if)  as  well  as  you  do.     They 
allowed  nothing  to  escape  them.     They  rose  up  when 
it  was  over  with  a  perfect  fury  of  delight,  and  the 
Manchester  people  sent  a  requisition  after  us  to  Liver- 
pool to  say  that  if  we  will  go  back  there  in  May,  when 
we  act  at  Birmingham  (as  of  course  we  shall),  they  will 
joyfully  undertake  to  fill  the  Free  Trade  Hall  again. 
Among   the  Tories  of  Liverpool   the   reception    was 
especially  enthusiastic.     We  played  two  nights  running 
to  a  Hall  crowded  to  the  roof,  more  like  the  opera  at 
Geneva  or  Milan  than  anything  else  I  can  compare  it 
to.     We  dined  at  the  Town  Hall  magnificently,  and  it 
made  no  difference  in  the  response.     I  said  what  we 
were  quietly  determined  to  do  (when  the  Guild  was 
given  as  the  Toast  of  the  night),  and  really  they  were 
so  noble  and  generous  in  their  encouragement  that  I 
should  have  been  more  ashamed  of  myself  than  I  hope 
I  ever  shall  be  if  I  could  have  felt  conscious  of  having 
ever  for  a  moment  faltered  in  the  work. 

I  will  answer  for  Birmingham,  for  any  great  work- 
ing town  to  which  we  choose  to  go.  We  have  won  a 
position  for  the  idea  which  years  upon  years  of  labour 
could  not  have  given  it.  I  believe  its  worldly  fortunes 
to  have  been  advanced  in  this  last  week,  fifty  years  at 

142 


THE  COMPANY  ON  TOUR 

least.     I  fully  express  to  you  what  Forster  (who  couldn't    1851. 
be  at  Liverpool,  and  has  not  those  shouts  ringing  in  his  ^Er.  48. 
ears)  has  felt  from  the  moment  we  set  foot  in  Manchester. 
Believe  me,  we  may  carry  a  perfect  fiery  cross  through 
the  North  of  England  and  over  the  border,  in  this  cause, 
if  need  be — not  only  to  the  enrichment  of  the  cause,  but 
to  the  lasting  enlistment  of  the  people's  sympathy. 

I  have  been  so  happy  in  all  this,  that  I  could  have 
cried  on  the  shortest  notice  any  time  since  Tuesday, 
and  I  do  believe  that  our  whole  body  would  have  gone 
to  the  North  Pole  with  me,  if  I  had  shown  them  good 
reason  for  it. 

I  strongly  question  now  whether  it  is  expedient  to 
contemplate  as  yet  any  specific  time  for  discontinuing 
these  exertions.  I  will  think  of  it  between  this  and 
Saturday,  when  we  meet,  but  I  am  very  much  disposed 
to  put  it  to  the  rest  that  we  must  go  on  while  great 
towns  remain  open  to  us. 

I  hope  I  am  not  so  tired  but  that  you  may  be  able 
to  read  this.  I  have  been  at  it,  almost  incessantly, 
day  and  night,  for  a  week,  and  I  am  afraid  my  hand- 
writing suffers.  But  in  all  other  respects  I  am  only  a 
giant  refreshed. 

The  company  are  going  to  dine  with  me  on  Monday 
the  ist  of  March,  at  a  quarter  past  6.  I  will  not  ask 
you  to  come,  fearing  you  may  not  be  well  enough. 

We  meet  next  Saturday,  you  recollect  ?  Until  then 
and  ever  afterwards,  believe  me,  heartily  yours, 

C.  D. 

Birmingham,  Sheffield,  Derby,  Newcastle, 
Sunderland,  were  visited  in  turn,  and  the  pro- 
vincial tour  was  closed  by  a  public  dinner  at 
Manchester,  at  which  Bulwer-Lytton  and  Dickens 
were  both  present,  and  explained  their  scheme. 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  "  Bulwer  spoke  brilliantly  at  the  Manchester 
T.  48.  dinner,"  wrote  Dickens  to  Forster,  "  and  his 
earnestness  and  determination  about  the  Guild 
were  most  impressive.  It  carried  everything 
before  it.  They  are  now  getting  up  annual 
subscriptions,  and  will  give  us  a  revenue  to  begin 
with.  I  swear  I  believe  that  people  to  be  the 
greatest  in  the  world." 

The  necessary  funds,  about  £4000,  were  at  last 
collected,  though  it  was  still  some  years  before 
the  scheme  was  complete.  In  1854  Bulwer- 
Lytton  carried  a  Bill  through  Parliament l  to 
incorporate  the  Guild  of  Literature  and  Art  with 
the  following  objects  : — (i)  To  aid  those  of  its 
members  who  follow  Literature  or  the  Fine 
Arts  as  a  profession,  and  to  obtain  insurances 
upon  their  lives ;  (2)  to  establish  a  Provident 
Sickness  Fund  for  its  members  ;  (3)  to  pro- 
vide dwellings  for  its  members,  and  to  grant 
annuities  to  them  or  their  widows.  In  1863  he 
made  a  free  gift  to  the  Guild  of  a  site  of  land 
upon  his  estate  on  which  the  houses  were  built. 

It  is  sad  to  have  to  record  that  the  scheme 
which  had  been  set  on  foot  with  so  much  enthusi- 
asm and  hard  work  proved  a  lamentable  failure. 
All  that  its  promoters  could  do  was  done  ;  but  the 
co-operation  of  those  for  whom  the  Guild  was 
established  was  not  forthcoming.  Its  membership 
did  not  increase,  and  when  the  original  founders 
died  there  were  none  to  take  their  places.  The 
houses  had  to  be  let  to  others  than  members,  and 

1  He  was  returned  as  member  for  Hertfordshire  in  1852. 
144 


FAILURE  OF  THE  SCHEME 

eventually  in  1897  another  Act  had  to  be  passed  1851. 
through  Parliament  providing  for  the  dissolution  &T.  48. 
of  the  Guild  and  the  partition  of  its  endowment 
between  the  Royal  Literary  Fund  and  the  Artists 
General  Benevolent  Institution.  The  preamble 
of  this  Act  is  a  melancholy  recital  of  the  failure 
of  all  the  bright  hopes  and  generous  intentions  of 
the  idealists  who  founded  it.  In  their  anxiety 
to  provide  against  the  misfortunes  of  their  im- 
pecunious brothers  they  had  left  out  of  their 
calculations  some  obvious  facts  of  human  nature. 
The  men  of  real  genius  which  the  Guild  was 
to  foster  were  not  to  be  found  ;  and  artists  and 
writers  to  whom  pecuniary  assistance  would  be 
welcome  were  too  sensitive  to  acknowledge  them- 
selves openly  the  recipients  of  public  charity. 

Some  at  least  of  the  causes  of  this  failure 
were  foreseen  by  Macaulay  when  he  was  first 
invited  to  give  the  scheme  his  support.  He 
wrote  to  Bulwer-Lytton  on  May  17,  1851, 
the  day  after  the  performance  at  Devonshire 
House  : — 

DEAR  SIR  EDWARD — Thanks  for  your  pamphlet,1 
which  I  have  read,  and  for  your  play,2  which  I  saw 
yesterday  night.  If  the  play  amuses  and  interests  me 
as  much  in  the  perusal  as  it  did  in  the  representation, 
I  shall  rate  it  much  higher  than  the  pamphlet,  though 
the  pamphlet  is  what  everything  that  you  write  must  be. 

As  to  your  scheme,  I  am  not  aware  that,  except  to 
four  or  five  people  in  very  small  societies,  I  have 

1  Letters  to  John  Bull  (see  page  164). 

2  Many  Sides  to  a  Character  ;  or,  Not  so  bad  as  We  seem. 

VOL.    II  145  L 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  expressed  any  opinion  respecting  it.  But  I  certainly 
r.  48.  do  believe  that  its  tendency  is  to  give  encouragement, 
not  to  good  writers,  but  to  bad  or,  at  best,  middling 
writers.  And  I  think  that  you  would  yourself  feel 
some  misgivings  if  you  would  try  your  plan  by  a 
simple  practical  test.  Suppose  that  you  succeed  beyond 
your  expectations  as  to  pecuniary  ways  and  means. 
Suppose  ten  or  twelve  charming  cottages  built  on  the 
land  which  you  so  munificently  propose  to  bestow. 
Suppose  funds  to  be  provided  for  paying  your  Warden 
and  ten  or  twelve  Fellows.  And  suppose  that  you 
then  sit  down  to  make  your  choice.  Whom  will 
you  choose  ?  Form  a  list  of  the  thirty  best  writers 
now  living  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Then  strike  off 
from  this  list  first  all  who  require  no  assistance,  and 
secondly  all  who  do  indeed  require  assistance,  but  who 
actually  receive  from  the  State  pensions  as  large  as 
you  propose  to  give.  I  believe  that  you  will  find 
that  five  or  six  and  twenty,  if  not  more,  of  your 
thirty  will  fall  into  one  or  the  other  of  these  classes 
I  apprehend,  therefore,  that  you  will  be  driven  to  fill 
your  Guild  with,  to  use  the  mildest  term,  second-rate 
writers  ;  and  this  I  say  on  the  supposition  that  the 
selection  is  made  with  the  greatest  judgment  and  with 
an  impartiality  which  the  history  of  literary  institutions 
hardly  warrants  us  in  expecting. 

There  is  no  analogy  between  the  case  of  authors 
and  the  case  of  actors.  A  theatrical  fund  is  a  very  good 
thing.  For  to  the  existence  of  the  theatrical  art  it  is 
necessary  that  there  should  be  inferior  performers. 
That  Garrick  may  act  Hamlet,  he  must  have  a  Rosen- 
crantz  and  Guilderstern.  That  Mrs.  Siddons  may 
perform  Lady  Macbeth,  she  must  have  a  waiting- 
woman.  Nothing  can  be  more  reasonable  than  that 
those  who  derive  pleasure  from  the  exertions  of  genius 
should  encourage  that  subordinate  class  of  artists  without 

146 


MACAULAY'S  CRITICISM 

whose   help    genius   would    be    unable  to  exert  itself.     1851. 
But  there  is  no  such  connection  between  the  great  and  JEr.  48. 
the  small  writer  as  exists  between  the  great  and  the 
small  actor.     In  literature,  I  am  afraid,  it  will  always 
be  found  that  a  bounty  in  mediocrity  operates  as  a  fine 
in  excellence. 

I  could  say  a  great  deal  more.  But  I  have  already 
plagued  you  too  long.  I  need  not  say  that  I  do 
justice  to  your  motives,  and  to  the  motives  of  those 
who  are  joined  with  you  in  this  undertaking  ;  and  you, 
I  am  sure,  will  not  suspect  me  of  wanting  sympathy 
for  men  of  merit  in  distress.  If  your  project  turns 
out  well,  I  shall  have  real  pleasure  in  taking  to 
myself  the  shame  of  an  erroneous  prediction.  Hitherto 
you  have  every  reason  to  congratulate  yourself. 
The  success  of  yesterday  night  was  complete.  The 
principal  criticism  which  occurred  to  me  was  that  the 
scene  in  the  coffee-room  suffers  from  the  crowding  of 
the  actors  into  so  small  a  space.  It  seems  hardly 
necessary  to  employ  a  spy  for  the  purpose  of  watching 
conspirators  who  talk  loud  treason  in  so  thick  a  press 
of  people.  It  is  not  easy  to  set  this  right.  Yet  perhaps 
you  might  a  little  thin  the  room  of  company  while  the 
most  important  and  secret  things  are  said.  In  general 
the  stage  effect  was  admirable  ;  and  I  was  particularly 
delighted  with  Lord  Wilmot. — Ever  yours  truly, 

T.  B.  MACAULAY. 

Bulwer-Lytton  and  Dickens  had  intended 
their  scheme  to  be  something  more  than  a  mere 
distribution  of  charity.  They  meant  it  to  be  a 
Guild  or  Brotherhood  of  Literature,  the  member- 
ship of  which  was  to  be  at  once  a  privilege  and 
an  honour  ;  it  was  in  some  measure  to  serve  the 
purpose  of  a  college  fellowship.  This  object, 

147 


GUILD  OF  LITERATURE  AND  ART 

1851.  however,  was  never  attained.  It  became,  in 
T.  48.  fact,  a  mere  benevolent  fund,  and  its  houses 
merely  almshouses  for  those  in  narrow  circum- 
stances. As  such  it  failed,  because  it  was  too 
public,  and  too  openly  exposed  its  members  to 
the  slur  of  literary  pauperism.  Benevolent  work 
of  that  kind  was  then  and  still  is  being  done 
by  the  Royal  Literary  Fund,  from  which  the 
donations  and  annuities  are  privately  administered. 
And  so  the  only  result  of  this  noble  dream  was 
that  forty-six  years  later  a  sum  of  about  £2000 
and  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  Guild  houses 
were  added  to  the  funds  of  the  two  Benevolent  In- 
stitutions that,  from  long  experience  and  careful 
study  of  human  nature,  are  best  qualified  to  deal 
with  the  pecuniary  difficulties  of  authors  and 
artists. 


148 


CHAPTER  VI 

POLITICAL    CONVERSION 
1841-1852 

It  is  true  that  when  in  Parliament  some  years  before  the  politics  of 
Maltravers  had  differed  from  those  of  Lord  Raby  and  his  set,  but  Maltravers 
had  of  late  taken  no  share  in  politics — had  uttered  no  political  opinions — 
was  supposed  to  be  a  discontented  man  —  and  politicians  believe  in  no 
discontent  that  is  not  political.  Whispers  were  afloat  that  Maltravers 
had  grown  wise,  had  changed  his  views  ;  some  remarks  of  his,  more 
theoretical  than  practical,  were  quoted  in  favour  of  this  notion.  Parties, 
too,  had  much  changed  since  Maltravers  had  appeared  on  the  busy  scene — 
new  questions  had  arisen,  and  the  old  ones  had  died  off. 

Alice. 

ALTHOUGH  the  eleven  years  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  1841-1852. 
exclusion  from  Parliament  were  mainly  devoted  &T-  38-49- 
to  literature,  they  also  mark  an  important  stage 
in  the  development  of  his  political  opinions.  He 
left  the  House  of  Commons  in  1841  a  supporter 
of  a  Whig  Administration  ;  it  was  as  a  Tory 
that  he  returned  to  it  in  1852.  In  the  interval 
his  own  circumstances  had  changed.  He  had 
inherited  his  mother's  property  and  become  the 
owner  of  a  landed  estate.  His  political  opinions, 
too,  had  undergone  some  modification.  But 
during  these  years  the  whole  political  situation 
had  also  altered  completely  ;  new  combinations 
had  taken  place,  new  leaders  had  sprung  up, 

149 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

184.1-1852.  new    questions    divided    parties.       In    order    to 

Mr.  38-49.  explain    the    reasons    which    induced    Bulwer- 

Lytton  to  change  his  political  allegiance,  it  will 

be    necessary  to   give   a  short  summary  of  the 

political  history  of  these  years. 

In  the  election  of  1841,  when  he  lost  his  seat 
at  Lincoln,  the  Whig  Administration  of  Lord 
Melbourne  was  defeated,  and  immediately  after 
the  reassembling  of  Parliament  Sir  Robert  Peel 
became  Prime  Minister  for  the  second  time. 
The  agitation  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws 
was  then  at  its  height,  but  in  spite  of  the 
vigorous  campaign  in  the  country  conducted  by 
Cobden,  Bright,  and  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League, 
the  Free  Trade  resolutions  introduced  by  Charles 
Villiers  were  annually  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  At  the  end  of  1845  the  famine  in 
Ireland  suddenly  lifted  the  whole  controversy 
out  of  its  academic  stage,  and  the  Government 
was  faced  with  an  actual  emergency  of  a  very 
acute  kind.  Emergency  meetings  of  the  Cabinet 
were  held,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  proposed  to  his 
colleagues  that,  in  view  of  the  distress  in  Ireland, 
the  ports  should  be  opened  and  all  duties  on 
imported  food  should  be  removed.  To  this 
proposal  Lord  Stanley  and  some  other  Ministers 
were  resolutely  opposed  and  Sir  Robert  Peel 
resigned.  The  Queen  sent  for  Lord  John 
Russell,  who  was  unable  to  form  a  Government, 
and  Peel  once  more  resumed  office.  Lord 
Stanley  refused  to  join  the  reconstituted  Ministry, 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  took  his  place  at  the  Colonial 


REPEAL  OF  THE  CORN  LAWS 

Office.  Parliament  reassembled  on  January  19,  1841-1852. 
1846,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel  announced  his  con- ^ET.  38-49. 
version  to  the  policy  of  Free  Trade.  The 
Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  was  passed  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  May  15,  and  in 
the  Lords  on  June  22.  Great  was  the  con- 
sternation and  fury  of  the  Protectionists  at  what 
they  regarded  as  Peel's  betrayal  of  their  cause. 
Disraeli  attacked  him  with  the  utmost  bitter- 
ness in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  a  new  Pro- 
tectionist party  was  at  once  formed  under  the 
leadership  of  Lord  George  Bentinck.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  the  Protectionists 
had  their  revenge.  On  June  26  a  Bill  intro- 
duced by  the  Government  for  the  protection 
of  life  in  Ireland  was  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Commons  by  the  combined  votes  of  the  Whig 
Opposition,  the  Irish,  and  the  Protectionists,  and 
the  resignation  of  the  Ministry  followed.  At 
the  very  moment  when  the  supreme  act  of  his 
political  life  was  accomplished,  Sir  Robert  Peel 
was  driven  from  office,  and  Lord  John  Russell 
stepped  into  his  shoes. 

Bulwer-Lytton,  who  was  strongly  opposed  to 
the  Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  and  sympathised 
with  Disraeli  and  the  Protectionists  in  their 
attacks  upon  Peel,  was  at  this  time  in  a  very 
unsettled  state  of  mind  with  regard  to  politics. 
Since  his  retirement  from  the  House  of  Commons 
he  had  lost  touch  with  the  political  parties  with 
which  he  had  previously  acted,  and  no  party 
had  as  yet  arisen  with  which  he  was  much  in 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  sympathy.  He  had  never  had  any  affection  for 
MT.  38-49.  the  Whigs,  and  the  Radicals  with  whom  he 
had  co-operated  in  the  House  of  Commons 
had  proved  themselves  quite  unpractical  and  in- 
capable of  forming  themselves  into  a  strong 
parliamentary  organisation.  He  still  regarded 
the  Tories  with  traditional  hostility,  and  the 
recent  action  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  seemed  to  him 
an  act  of  political  perfidy.  With  that  large 
body  of  questions  connected  with  social  and 
industrial  improvement  and  included  under  the 
comprehensive  heading  of  Social  Reform,  his 
interest  and  sympathies  were  now,  as  always, 
bound  up,  and  he  looked  to  the  new  Ministry 
for  some  expression  of  their  determination  to 
make  these  questions  their  own.  For  Lord 
John  Russell,  personally,  he  had  a  great  regard, 
and  on  his  assumption  of  the  office  of  Prime 
Minister  he  addressed  to  him  a  series  of  open 
letters  on  matters  not  immediately  connected 
with  the  party  controversies  of  the  hour.  These 
letters  were  not  published  at  the  time,  and  they 
remain  among  his  papers  in  an  unfinished  state. 
They  were  subsequently  embodied  in  a  political 
memoir  prefixed  by  his  son  to  a  collected  edition 
of  Bulwer  -  Lytton's  speeches.  As  they  have 
been  already  printed  I  do  not  reproduce  them 
here,  but  on  account  of  the  valuable  evidence 
which  they  afford  of  their  author's  political 
opinions  at  this  time,  they  are  included  in  an 
Appendix  to  this  volume. 

These    letters    represent    the    last    phase    of 
152 


"LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL" 

Bulwer-Lytton's  Liberal  period  in  politics,  and  1841-1852. 
are  the  reflection  of  a  mind  far  removed  from  ^ET.  38-49. 
the  actual  controversies  which  divided  parties  at 
the  time  they  were  written.  The  first  letter 
summarises  the  situation  as  it  was  left  by  the 
defeat  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  Government  in  1846, 
and  indicates  the  task  which  awaited  the  new 
administration  of  Lord  John  Russell.  The  last 
letter  does  not  deal  with  politics  at  all,  at  least 
not  with  politics  as  understood  by  politicians, 
but  it  represents  the  literary  man's  view  of  the 
functions  of  the  State  in  the  domain  with  which 
he  is  more  particularly  familiar.  It  complains 
of  the  inadequacy  of  State  patronage  of  con- 
temporary art  and  literature,  uses  many  arguments 
which  are  often  urged  by  those  who  favour  the 
establishment  in  this  country  of  a  Ministry  of 
Fine  Arts,  and  concludes  by  recommending  the 
establishment  of  a  new  decoration,  which  would 
in  some  measure  correspond  to  the  Legion  of 
Honour  in  France,  and  be  available  for  recognis- 
ing the  services  of  those  who  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  art,  literature,  science,  commerce, 
or  industry.  Some  of  the  criticisms  in  this 
letter  are  now  out  of  date  and  have  been  met 
by  recent  changes,  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
argument  is  as  applicable  to  the  present  day  as 
it  was  to  the  generation  for  which  it  was 
written. 

When  Bulwer-Lytton  again  resumed  active 
connection  with  the  House  of  Commons,  it  was 
among  new  associates  and  under  the  influence 

'53 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  of  a  man  who  had  brought  a  new  principle  into 
&T.  38-49.  the  political  world.  What  he  had  failed  to  find 
among  the  Whigs,  what  he  had  hoped  to 
create  among  the  philosophical  Radicals,  what 
he  now  looked  for  anxiously  from  Lord  John 
Russell's  Administration,  he  found  later  in  the 
Tory  Democracy  of  Benjamin  Disraeli. 

At  the  time  he  composed  his  Letters  to  Lord 
John  Russell,  though  detached  from  active  party 
politics  and  differing  profoundly  from  his  party 
on  the  question  of  the  Corn  Laws,  Bulwer-Lytton 
was  still  a  nominal  supporter  of  the  Whig 
Government,  and  he  hoped  that  Lord  John 
Russell's  Administration  would  initiate  a  policy 
of  social  reform  of  which  he  could  cordially 
approve.  In  this  he  was  disappointed,  and  two 
years  later  he  had  become  thoroughly  disgusted 
with  the  Whigs  and  only  desired  to  see  their 
destruction. 

This  change  in  his  political  sympathies,  rather 
than  in  his  political  opinions,  was  due  to  several 
causes,  some  of  them  personal  and  others  public. 
A  serious  difference  of  opinion  on  a  single 
important  question,  if  that  question  happens  to 
be  one  of  the  chief  political  issues  of  the 
moment,  often  leads  to  complete  disagreement 
on  general  policy.  Party  ties,  though  loose 
enough  to  admit  of  differences  on  minor 
questions  or  details  of  legislation,  become 
violently  strained  when  differences  arise  over 
a  fundamental  item  in  the  party  programme. 
At  such  times  attacks  which  cause  little  or 

154 


A  BREACH  WITH  PARTY 

no  ill-feeling  when  made  by  political  opponents  1841-1852. 

are  bitterly  resented  and  seldom  forgiven  when  Mr.  38-49. 

they   proceed    from   political  friends  ;    and   the 

mutual    recriminations  which    ensue    have    the 

effect  of  throwing  the  dissentient  members  into 

the  arms  of  the  opposite  party.     Recent  history 

has  provided  two  conspicuous  examples  of  this 

tendency  : — In  1886,  when  Liberals  who  differed 

from  Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  question  of  Home 

Rule  joined  the  ranks  of  his  political  opponents 

and  eventually  became  completely  merged  in  the 

Conservative  party  ;  and  again  to  a  lesser  degree 

in  1903,  when  Mr.  Chamberlain's  declaration  in 

favour    of  Tariff  Reform    sent    many   Unionist 

Free  Traders  over  to  the  Liberal  party. 

It  is  true  that  in  1846  the  Repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws  had  been  carried  by  a  Conservative 
Government,  but  it  was  only  with  the  help 
of  Liberal  votes  that  this  had  been  done  ;  and 
while  the  Liberals  were  united  in  favour  of  Free 
Trade,  the  Conservative  party  as  a  whole  was, 
as  it  has  at  the  core  been  ever  since,  a 
Protectionist  party.  It  was,  therefore,  difficult 
after  1846  for  a  Protectionist  to  get  into 
Parliament  as  a  Liberal,  and  Bulwer-Lytton  had 
to  choose  between  the  three  alternatives  of 
abandoning  all  hope  of  getting  back  to  the 
House  of  Commons,  adopting  the  Free  Trade 
doctrines  of  his  party,  or  standing  as  a  Con- 
servative. His  first  inclination  was  to  adopt 
the  first,  but  circumstances  gradually  drove  him 
to  the  last. 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  Had  the  Whigs  shown  any  desire  to  retain 
^ET.  38-49.  him  as  a  supporter  or  to  help  him  to  obtain  a 
seat  in  Parliament,  he  might  have  ended  his 
life  in  the  political  faith  in  which  he  began  it. 
But  party  wire-pullers  are  never  disposed  to 
make  things  easy  for  men  of  independent  opinions  ; 
and  though  the  influence  of  the  political  caucus 
was  not  as  strong  at  that  time  as  it  has  since 
become,  yet  such  power  as  it  possessed  was 
effectively  used  against  him.  On  two  occasions 
subsequent  to  1846  he  tried  without  success  to 
recover  his  seat  at  Lincoln — once  in  July  1847, 
and  again  in  the  spring  of  1848 — and  had 
the  matter  been  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
local  people,  he  might  have  succeeded.  The 
circumstances  of  his  second  failure  are  thus 
described  in  a  letter  to  Forster  : — 

March  24,  1848. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — The  history  of  Lincoln  is 
short.  All  the  electors,  except  Seeley's  party,  whether 
Liberal  or  Conservative,  had  agreed  that  I  should  walk 
over  the  course  if  Seeley  was  unseated.  But  on  the 
very  evening  of  the  decision  against  him,  without  con- 
sulting or  apprising  me  who  had  been  fifteen  years  in 
possession  of  the  ground,  the  Whig  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  agreed  with  Seeley  to  send  down  Mr.  Hob- 
house  to  occupy  my  position.  This  was  done  secretly 
and  taking  advantage  of  my  being  at  Brighton. 

The  Tories,  finding  that  Seeley's  defeat  was  followed 
by  the  instant  appearance  of  a  Whig  Cabinet  Minister's 
brother,  conceived  naturally  that  I  could  not  entertain 
the  idea  of  standing,  and  deeming  themselves  duped, 
hastened  to  bring  forward  a  Tory.  The  Tory  thus 

156 


DISCONTENT  WITH   POLITICS 

standing  on  one  side  and  Hobhouse  on  the  other,  I,  1841-1852. 
of  course,   had  no  chance.     I  went  down,  therefore,  JEr.  38-49. 
merely  to  allay  the  irritation  of  my  own  friends  and 
induce  them  to  vote  for  Hobhouse,  rather  than  let  a 
Tory  come  in.     I  secured,  therefore,  his  seat  and  lost 
my  own.     Such  is  the  treatment  I  have  received  from 
the  courtesy  and  gratitude  of  the  Whig  Government. 
— Ever  yrs.  truly, 

E.  B.  L. 

The  feeling  that  he  had  been  badly  treated  by 
his  own  party,  and  his  strong  sympathies  with 
the  Protectionists,  who  formed  the  fighting 
strength  of  the  Conservative  party,  predisposed 
Bulwer-Lytton  to  take  advantage  of  any  oppor- 
tunity which  might  arise  of  actively  supporting 
the  latter.  Such  an  opportunity,  however,  did 
not  occur  for  some  years,  and  in  the  meanwhile 
he  settled  down  into  the  attitude  of  disgust  with 
all  political  warfare,  which  is  the  characteristic 
frame  of  mind  of  the  man  whose  political  con- 
victions are  temporarily  unsettled. 

In  reply  to  a  letter  from  Forster  inviting  him 
to  contribute  some  political  articles  to  The 
Examiner,  he  writes  : — 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  heartily  wish  you  had  asked 
me  anything  else,  to  contribute  to  any  other  kind  of 
literature — nay,  if  a  translation  of  Sanscrit.  I  would 
rather  have  gone  to  Haileybury  and  learned  Sanscrit  than 
received  this  request,  for  I  know  that  here  you  wholly 
overrate  my  possible  power  to  serve  you  ;  you  mistake 
the  peculiarities  of  my  capacity  in  this  kind  of  writing. 
It  is  only  where  a  special  object  has  moved  me  by  a 
strong  impulse  that,  even  in  that  phase  of  my  life  when 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  I  most  looked  on  the  world  practically,  I  could  write 
^ET.  38-49.  politics — periodically.  Now  nothing  seems  to  me 
more  strange  and  repulsive.  It  is  right  that  I  should 
here  frankly  and  confidently  open  my  whole  heart  to 
you  in  this  matter.  I  loathe  politics.  They  are  associ- 
ated in  my  mind  with  the  most  bitter  feelings.  I  am 
thrust  out  of  my  natural  sphere  in  them.  I  have  met 
with  what  I  call  gross  ingratitude  from  the  leaders 
and  the  people.  I  may  be  mistaken  in  this,  but  such 
is  my  rooted  persuasion.  After  my  last  defeat,  seeing 
myself  probably  thrust  out  of  all  fitting  career  in 
public  life,  I  have  shut  myself  up  in  my  shell,  or 
rather  I  have  entered  into  views  and  currents  of  mind 
wholly  opposed  not  only  to  politics,  but  to  that  temper 
of  mind  in  which  practical  politics  only  should  be 
approached.  I  never  look  at  a  leading  article  if  I 
can  help  it.  I  am  profoundly  ignorant  of  all  that  at 
the  day  moves  others,  and  if  I  were  to  correct  the  ignor- 
ance I  still  could  never  participate  in  the  movement. 
In  much  that  unites  the  Liberal  party,  too,  whether 
from  prejudice  or  not,  I  have  the  misfortune  to  differ. 
Free  Trade  I  regard  as  a  delusion.  Even  in  the 
Austrian  question,  I  believe  that  Austria  is  in  her  strict 
rights  ;  and  as  for  the  Government,  my  only  feeling 
towards  it  and  the  Whigs  is  that  if  anything  could 
excite  me  to  interest,  it  would  be  an  opportunity  that 
would  allow  me  conscientiously  to  destroy  or  help  to 
destroy  them. 

How  in  this  condition  of  mind  can  I  possibly  serve 
The  Examiner?  I  look  with  a  mournful  despair  at 
your  proposition  !  I  know  not  which  way  to  glance 
to  see  any  hope  of  being  useful.  To  write  weekly 
requires  a  vigilant  interest  in  public  affairs,  and  an 
intercourse,  I  assure  you,  with  the  fresh  notions  of 
public  men,  or  political  thinkers,  to  which  (use  what 
spasmodic  efforts  I  might)  I  could  not  rouse  myself. 

158 


INTEREST  IN  POLITICS  REVIVED 

The  only  thing  I  could  do — can  do — I  will  certainly.  1841-1852. 
That  is,  if  you  can  find  or  suggest  the  subjects,  I  will  MT.  38-49. 
treat  them  as  I  can.  For  instance,  if  there  were  any 
political  books  to  review,  in  a  spirit  not  at  variance 
with  my  convictions,  and  not  in  defence  of  these 
Ministers,  I  will  try  and  brighten  up  to  the  best  my 
obsolete  rusty  armoury.  But  these  Whigs  !  they  united 
to  thrust  me  from  my  own  country,  to  intrigue  against 
me  in  every  place  that  was  open,  to  exclude  me  from 
Parlt.,  and  they  have  succeeded.  Enough  of  this. 
See,  then,  how  in  this  state  I  can  serve  your  purpose. 
Don't  rely  on  my  finding  subjects.  Find  the  subjects 
yourself — tell  me  where  to  cram  the  materials,  and 
expect  no  more  from  me  than  a  machine  which  affection 
for  you  can  alone  rouse  from  loathing  inertness. — 
Adieu,  Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B.  L. 

Two  circumstances,  however,  gradually  served 
to  reawaken  his  active  interest  in  politics,  and 
to  bring  him  more  decidedly  into  sympathy 
with  the  Conservatives. 

The  first  of  these  was  the  increasing  pre- 
dominance of  the  Cobdenite  or  Manchester  school 
of  politics.  It  was  through  the  influence  and  in 
the  interests  of  the  middle-class  manufacturing 
portion  of  the  population  that  Free  Trade  had 
been  carried,  and  the  narrow  doctrinaire  principles 
of  the  Cobdenites  were  becoming  increasingly 
applied  to  the  whole  range  of  politics.  The 
political  creed  of  this  school  was  markedly  selfish, 
and  dictated  by  purely  commercial  considerations. 
In  foreign  and  domestic  questions  alike  their  sole 
regard  was  for  the  maintenance  and  promotion 

159 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  of  industry  and  commerce.  As  England  at  that 
JET.  38-49.  time  virtually  enjoyed  a  monopoly  in  most  manu- 
facturing processes,  foreign  competition  had  no 
terrors  for  them  ;  all  import  duties,  therefore, 
they  regarded  as  merely  vexatious  hindrances  to 
trade,  and  they  cheerfully  contemplated  a  future 
in  which  England  would  supply  the  world  with 
manufactures,  receiving  in  return  cheap  food  and 
raw  material.  This  mutually  satisfactory  inter- 
change of  commodities  was  to  lead  to  the 
establishment  of  international  friendship  and 
fraternity,  when  every  nation  would  realise  the 
irreparable  damage  to  commerce  caused  by 
armaments  and  wars.  Colonies  were  regarded 
with  the  utmost  suspicion  and  aversion,  as  afford- 
ing many  causes  for  international  complications 
and  frictions.  The  conception  of  a  world-wide 
Empire  had  no  place  in  their  dreams,  and  they 
hoped  that  as  soon  as  the  colonial  populations 
were  ripe  for  self-government,  they  would  sever 
their  connection  with  the  mother-country  and 
set  up  as  independent  free-trading  states.  The 
doctrine  of  laissez  faire  was  as  rigidly  applied  to 
industrial  conditions  at  home  as  to  foreign  trade. 
All  State  interference  with  industrial  contracts, 
conditions  of  labour,  and  the  free  bargaining 
between  employers  and  employed  was  inconsistent 
with  the  ideas  of  liberty  entertained  by  this  school, 
and  emphatically  condemned  by  them.  The 
whole  of  their  political  creed  was,  in  fact,  summed 
up  in  the  immortal  Sam  Weller's  definition  of 
free  competition  as  "  Each  for  himself  and  God 

1 60 


HATRED  OF  COBDENISM 

for  us  all,  as  the  donkey  said  when  he  danced  1841-1852. 
among  the  chickens."  ^T-  38-49- 

To  Bulwer  -  Lytton  these  doctrines  were 
anathema,  and  the  sanctity  with  which  they 
had  come  to  be  held  by  the  entire  Liberal  party 
finally  convinced  him  that  he  could  no  longer 
keep  company  with  such  a  party.  He  writes  to 
Forster  in  1848  at  the  beginning  of  the  political 
upheavals,  which  in  that  year  shook  every 
Government  in  Europe  : — 

Those  miserable  Cobdens !  and  visionary  Peace 
Dreamers  !  What  fools  they  are,  and  these  are  the 
men  by  whom  England  herself  has  been  half  driven 
to  the  brink  of  revolution.  Wise  Daniels  indeed. 
The  babyism  of  giving  up  indirect  taxation,  to  be 
driven  to  direct  in  a  country  like  this,  the  insanity  of 
going  on  preaching  about  customs  and  lowering  taxes 
on  the  comforts  of  the  people,  &c.,  when  the  only 
substitutes  are  direct  taxes  or  loans,  unless  indeed  they 
will  come  to  a  proper  reduction,  not  of  Army  and 
Navy,  but  of  Monarchy  itself.  A  la  bonne  heure  !  A 
Republic  is  cheap,  but  if  ever  that  hour  arrives  it  shall 
not  be,  if  I  and  a  few  like  me  live,  a  Republic  of  millers 
and  cotton  spinners,  but  either  a  Republic  of  gentlemen 
or  a  Republic  of  workmen — either  is  better  than  those 
wretched  money  spiders,  who  would  sell  England 
for  is.  6d. 

The  Government  are  morally  gone.  Nothing  can 
save  them  long.  What  imbeciles — so  audacious  and  so 
craven.  What  talent  the  French  Provisional  Govern- 
ment have  shown,  as  yet.  Their  promise  to  the  work- 
men is  their  only  dangerous  point.  If  out  of  Socialism 
they  can  pick  up  something  that  will  enable  them  to 
keep  that  promise,  it  will  be  fire  amongst  flax — here 

VOL.  ii  161  M 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  and  all  over  Europe.     But  if  Socialism  fail  them,  and 
yEr.  38-49.  they  can  do  nothing  for  the  ouvriers !  why  then  God 

help  them — War — war — war — is  the  only  mode  to  cut 

the  Gordian  knot. 

The  other  circumstance  which  contributed  to 
his  political  conversion  was  his  increasing  friend- 
ship with  Disraeli.  They  had  corresponded  for 
some  years  at  fitful  intervals,  but  only  about 
literary  subjects.  About  this  time  they  began 
to  find  a  new  common  interest  in  politics.  On 
August  3,  1850,  Bulwer-Lytton  invited  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Disraeli  to  stay  with  him  at  Knebworth. 
"  I  don't  think  the  wonder-monger,"  he  said, 
"  will  find  much  to  cavil  at  in  our  conjunction. 
After  all,  I  am  a  Protectionist — and  authorship 
is  neutral  ground." 

The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  during  this 
visit  the  foundations  were  laid  of  a  political 
friendship  firmer  and  more  intimate  than  the 
literary  friendship  which  had  preceded  it. 

Disraeli's  political  opinions  afforded  Bulwer- 
Lytton  a  convenient  bridge  from  the  Liberal 
to  the  Conservative  party.  This  brilliant  and 
eccentric  man  was  a  very  different  type  of 
politician  from  the  Tory  leaders  who  were  the 
objects  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  scorn  when  he  first 
entered  Parliament  ;  and  the  two  friends  soon 
found  that  they  had  much  in  common.  Their 
protectionist  opinions  were  by  no  means  the  only 
bond  of  sympathy  between  them.  Both  were 
men  of  strong  imagination,  which  in  each  of 
them  produced  high  notions  of  national  honour 

162 


FRIENDSHIP  WITH  DISRAELI 

and  marked  imperial  instincts.  To  both  the  1841-1852. 
insular  prejudices  of  the  Cobdenite  school  were  Mr.  38-49. 
equally  repugnant,  and  to  both  the  prospect  of 
uniting  the  country  gentlemen  and  the  artisans 
of  the  great  industrial  towns  in  a  common  attack 
upon  the  middle  class  manufacturers,  and  the 
exclusive  Whig  aristocracy  who  now  composed 
the  Liberal  party,  was  equally  attractive.  Both 
were  imperialists  and  reformers  at  heart  ;  and  the 
Tory  Democracy  created  by  Disraeli  was  just 
such  a  policy  as  his  friend  could  conscientiously 
support. 

Bulwer-Lytton's  first  public  declaration  on  re- 
entering  the  political  arena  was  contained  in  a 
pamphlet  which  he  published  in  I85I.1  On  the 
27th  of  February  he  wrote  to  Disraeli  : — 

MY  DEAR  D. — If  you  make  up  your  Government, 
or  even  if  you  don't,  I  think  of  writing  a  short 
pamphlet  which  will  contain  my  own  honest  views  of 
the  state  of  affairs  and  parties ;  and  in  which  there  may 
probably  be  something  that,  consistently  with  those 
views,  might  do  you  some  service,  if  the  pamphlet 
proved  a  hit.  A  thing  of  that  sort  at  this  time  coming 
from  me,  as  from  one  who  could  neither  expect  nor 
take  anything,  and  who  would  be  likely  to  view  things 
impartially,  might  really  be  useful  to  the  country, 
which  is  in  what  I  consider  to  be  a  very  critical  and 
dangerous  state.  Now  can  you  spare  me  any  time  for 
a  quiet  chat,  thoroughly  private,  either  at  my  hotel  or 
at  your  own  house.  I  think  of  getting  to  Knebworth 
on  Monday,  and  if  I  do  this  pamphlet  I  shall  knock  it 
off  as  soon  as  possible.  I  should  add  that  my  view  of 

1  Letters  to  John  Bull. 
163 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  matters  is  that  of  a  Conciliator  of  all  the  rival  interests. 
JEr.  38-49-  — Yrs.  ever,  E  B   L 

This  pamphlet,  which  consisted  of  three 
letters  addressed  to  John  Bull,  is  an  able  state- 
ment of  the  Protectionist  case.  The  last  two 
letters  which  deal  exclusively  with  the  effect 
produced  upon  agriculture  by  the  Repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws,  and  advocate  a  low,  fixed  duty  upon 
imported  wheat  do  not  require  any  special 
mention.  The  case  with  which  they  deal  is 
well  argued,  but  the  argument  of  the  Pro- 
tectionist, when  stated  exclusively  from  the  point 
of  view  of  any  single  industry,  is  always  easy  to 
enforce,  and  is  unanswerable  from  the  same  point 
of  view.  It  is  unquestionable  that  a  particular 
industry  can  be,  and  often  is,  if  not  destroyed,  at 
least  greatly  injured  by  foreign  competition,  and 
that  it  can  be  revived  and  maintained  by  the 
imposition  of  protective  duties.  The  only 
answer  to  such  a  case  which  a  Free  Trader  can 
make  is  either  that  it  is  economically  unsound  to 
protect  artificially  an  industry  which  cannot 
flourish  without  such  assistance,  or  else  to  point 
out  that  the  cheap  foreign  import  of  which  the 
producer  complains  is  a  great  boon  to  the 
consumer.  Neither  answer  brings  any  comfort 
to  those  interested  in  the  particular  trade  in 
question.  Bulwer-Lytton's  case,  therefore,  was 
an  easy  one,  partly  because  agriculture  is  an 
industry  which  for  many  reasons  cannot  be 
abandoned,  and  partly  because  the  injury  which 

164 


"  LETTERS  TO  JOHN  BULL  " 

it  had   suffered  was    clearly  demonstrable.     No  1841-1852. 

one  could  deny  that  in  1846  the  landed  interests  &r.  38-49. 

had  been  sacrificed  to  the  manufacturing  interests, 

and  that  agricultural    depression   was   the  price 

which  the  country  had  to  pay  for  the  policy  of 

Free  Trade.     The  fallacy  in  his  argument  was 

the  assumption  throughout  that  the  interest  of 

the  food  producer  is  identical  with  that  of  the 

food  consumer,  whereas  in  fact  they  are  different. 

It  may  be  debateable  which  of  these  two  interests 

should  receive  the  most  consideration,  whether 

either  should  be  entirely  sacrificed  to  the  other, 

or  whether  by  any  compromise  something  may 

be  conceded  to  each.     But  it  is  not  sufficient  for 

a  full  statement  of  the  problem  that  the  case  of 

the  producer  alone  should  be  established. 

The  first  letter  deals  more  generally  with  the 
point  of  view  from  which  the  writer  approaches 
the  discussion,  and  contains  some  very  sound 
propositions  regarding  the  study  of  political 
economy  and  its  uses  for  the  statesman  : — 

I  shun  in  these  letters  all  mere  party  questions. 
I  stand  alone  from  all  party.  1  will  not  attack  the 
Minister.  I  will  not  panegyrise  the  rival.  I  leave 
to  those  whose  support,  as  the  representatives  of 
manufacturing  and  urban  populations,  Lord  John  Russell 
unhesitatingly  preferred  to  all  terms  with  the  agri- 
cultural constituencies — the  grateful  task  to  extenuate 
his  merits,  and  enforce  his  offences.  To  me  his  name 
is  identified  with  the  memory  of  imperishable  services  ; 
and  I  feel  too  much  regret  to  differ  from  him,  not  to 
be  reluctant  to  blame.  If  in  him  could  yet  be  supplied 
what  appears  to  me  the  main  want  of  the  time,  there  is 

165 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  no  man  should  be  so  proud — what  ? — to  follow  as  a 
Mr.  38-49.  leader  ?  No.  To  support  as  a  conciliator.  What 
the  time  now  demands  is,  not  the  leader  ;  it  is  the 
conciliator.  Wherever  I  turn,  1  dread  the  chance  of 
a  chief  who  is  to  represent  all  the  passions  of  class  or 
the  selfishness  of  interests  ;  wherever  I  turn,  I  see  cause 
to  desire  that  the  coming  man  may  covet,  not  the  bays 
of  the  conqueror,  but  the  oak  wreath  of  the  citizen. 

Everywhere  you  behold  divisions  between  classes  ; 
jealousies,  and  feuds  between  national  interests  ;  and 
victory,  pushed  too  far  by  the  one  against  the  other, 
will  be  a  victory  achieved  over  the  country  itself  by 
its  own  sons,  far  worse  than  the  fears  of  Lord 
Ellesmere  could  ever  anticipate  from  the  fleets  and 
hosts  of  the  foreigner.  Penetrate  the  smoky  atmosphere 
through  which  rise  the  tall  chimneys  of  countless 
factories  ;  examine  the  heart  of  those  mighty  towns,  in 
which  all  theories  that  affect  the  interests  of  labour 
are  discussed  with  the  passions  which  numbers  speed 
and  inflame  ;  where  the  spirit  of  an  eternal  election 
agitates  the  mass  of  the  everlasting  crowd — say,  if 
there  be  not  yet  reserved  for  the  coming  man  the  con- 
sideration of  social  questions  which  no  Factory  Bill  has 
yet  settled  ;  which  no  Repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  after 
its  first  novelty  is  worn  away,  can  lull  into  rest ;  and 
tell  me  whether  it  be  better  for  the  solution  of  these 
that  the  man  shall  come  as  the  leader  or  the  conciliator  ? 

•  •  *  •  • 

Having  proved  by  historical  references  that 
the  free  importation  of  foreign  corn  lasted 
throughout  "  the  dark  ages,"  and  that  Protection 
dates  from  "  the  dawn  of  civilisation,"  when 
Edward  IV.  "a  King  who  himself  was  a 
merchant,  began  the  sagacious  favour  to  the 

1 66 


"THE  SENTIMENTS  OF  SLAVES" 

trading  middle  class,  as  a  counterpoise  to  armed  1841-1852. 
aristocracy,"    he    went   on    to  argue   that   other  JEr.  38-49. 
countries  also  had  prospered  and  built  up  their 
commerce    under   a    protective    system.      Then 
follows    a    vigorous    condemnation    of    the    un- 
patriotic speeches  of  the  modern  Liberals  : — 

But  I  own  to  you,  O  my  honoured  and  somewhat 
antiquated  John,  I  own  to  you,  that  the  school  in  which 
I  learned  to  love  liberty  seems  now  as  old-fashioned  as 
yourself.  For  I  learned  that  love  in  the  school  of  the 
great  patriots  of  the  past ;  I  learned  to  connect  it 
inseparably  with  love  of  country  ;  and  it  would  really 
seem  as  if  a  new  school  had  arisen,  which  identifies 
the  passion  for  freedom  with  scornful  indifference  for 
England.  And  when,  in  a  popular  meeting,  which 
was  crowded  by  the  friends  of  the  late  Corn-Law 
League,  and  at  which  one  of  the  great  chiefs  of  that 
combination  presided,  an  orator  declared,  in  reference 
to  the  defences  of  the  country,  that  "  he  thought  it 
might  be  a  very  good  thing  for  the  people  if  the  country 
were  conquered  by  the  foreigner "  ;  and  when  that 
sentiment  was  received  with  cheers  by  the  audience, 
and  met  with  no  rebuke  from  the  Paladin  of  Free 
Trade  seated  in  the  chair,  I  felt  that,  however  such 
sentiments  might  be  compatible  with  Free  Trade,  in 
the  school  in  which  I  learned  to  glow  at  the  grand 
word  of  Liberty,  they  would  have  been  stigmatised  as 
the  sentiments  of  slaves. 

Another  passage  sounds  strangely  familiar  in 
our  ears  to-day,  being  the  stock-in-trade  of  nearly 
every  Tariff  Reform  speaker  : — 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  what  is  one  man's  meat 
may  be  another  man's  poison.  It  is  natural  that  the 

167 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

841-1852.  Cracovian  corn-grower  should  be  desirous  of  competing 
£r.  38-49.  with  the  English  ;  it  is  natural  that  the  English  corn- 
grower  should  be  unwilling  to  have  that  honour  thrust 
upon  him.  A  State  can  adopt  no  dogma  for  universal 
application  >  whether  of  Protection  or  Free  Trade.  In 
those  branches  in  which  it  produces  more  or  better 
supplies  at  less  cost,  it  must  naturally  court  Free 
Trade  ;  in  those  branches  where  its  produce  is  less 
or  its  cost  greater  than  that  of  its  neighbours,  it  must 
either  consent  to  the  certain  injury,  the  possible  ruin, 
of  that  department  of  industry,  or  it  must  place  it 
under  Protection.  Free  Trade,  could  it  be  universally 
reciprocal,  would  therefore  benefit  Manchester  versus 
Germany,  and  injure  Lincolnshire  versus  Poland.  The 
English  cotton  manufacturer  thoroughly  understands 
this  when  he  says,  with  Mr.  Cobden,  "  Let  us  have 
Free  Trade,  and  we  will  beat  the  world  ! "  But  the 
world  does  not  want  to  be  beaten  !  Prussia,  France, 
and  even  America,  prefer  "  stupid  selfishness "  and 
protected  manufactures  to  enlightened  principles  and 
English  competition.  When  the  English  manufacturer 
says,  "  he  wants  only  Free  Trade  to  beat  the  world," 
he  allows  the  benefit  of  Protection  to  his  rivals,  and 
excuses  them  for  shutting  their  markets  in  his  face. 

But  whether  Free  Trade  be,  in  all  cases,  right  or 
wrong,  every  one  has  allowed  that  we  can't  have  it. 
To  Free  Trade,  fairly  and  thoroughly  carried  out, 
there  are  more  than  fifty  million  obstacles  to  be  found 
— in  the  Budget. 

That  we  must  lay  certain  duties  on  certain  foreign 
articles  of  general  consumption,  and  cramp  the  home 
producer  by  the  iron  hand  of  the  exciseman,  are  facts 
enforced  upon  our  attention  every  time  the  miserable 
man  doomed  to  hold  the  office  of  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  goes  through  the  yearly  agonies  of  his 
financial  statement.  Free  Trade,  too,  in  the  proper 

168 


THE  PROTECTIONIST  ARGUMENT 

acceptation  of  the  term,  by  all  the  laws  of  grammar  1841-1852. 
and  common  sense,  requires  two  parties  to  the  compact  &T.  38-49. 
— the  native  and  the  foreigner.  Between  you  and  me, 
John,  I  see  no  hope  of  the  foreigner.  I  wish,  however, 
to  raise  no  argument  upon  this,  against  the  policy  of 
our  tariffs.  Reciprocity  may  be  good  ;  but  I  allow 
that  it  is  not  essential.  Wherever  it  is  for  our  interest 
to  open  our  markets,  it  would  be  idle  to  wait  till  the 
foreigner,  against  his  idea  of  his  interests,  opened  his 
own.  All  that  I  would  observe  is,  that  such  one-sided 
liberality  may  be  judicious  and  politic,  but  it  has  no 
right  to  the  appellation  of  Free  Trade. 

The  best  argument  in  the  letter  is  that  with 
which  it  closes.  Having  disclaimed  any  intention 
of  attacking  political  economy,  he  points  out 
that  though  its  professors  arrogate  to  it  the  title 
of  a  science,  yet  the  investigations  of  political 
economists  do  not  proceed  on  the  inductive 
principle  : — 

It  has  rather,  I  think,  proceeded  in  "  that  opposite 
way"  which  Bacon  has  condemned,  and  in  which, 
according  to  him,  no  subtlety  of  definition,  and  no 
logical  acuteness,  can  suffice  to  avail  for  the  establish- 
ment of  truth.  It  has  rather  commenced  with  the 
abstract  principles,  and  then  selected  the  experiences 
on  which  to  support  them — resembling  somewhat  that 
ingenious  philosopher  of  whom  Condillac  informs  us, 
who  blessed  himself  with  the  persuasion  that  he  had 
discovered  a  system  that  was  to  explain  all  the 
phenomena  of  Chemistry,  and  hastened  to  a  practical 
chemist  to  communicate  his  discovery.  "  Unhappily," 
said  the  chemist,  "the  chemical  facts  are  exactly  the 
reverse  of  what,  in  this  most  luminous  and  ingenious 
discovery,  you  suppose  them  to  be."  "  Tell  me,"  then 

169 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  cries  the  philosopher,  nothing  daunted,  "  what  the  facts 
J&T.  38-49.  are,  that  I  may  explain  them  by  my  system ! "  But 
whether  or  not  political  economy  be  a  science  rather 
than  a  system,  and  a  science  based  upon  induction 
rather  than  logic,  it  is  a  study  affording  the  most 
valuable  suggestions,  throwing  light  upon  much  that 
had  been  hitherto  obscure  ;  it  is  allied  to  researches 
with  which  I  have  for  years  been  familiar ;  I  have 
pondered  it  with  attention,  I  would  speak  of  it  with 
respect ;  and  it  is  the  more  my  interest  to  do  so  now, 
for  I  shall  rest  much  of  my  case  on  reference  to  its 
maxims  and  the  admissions  of  its  authorities.  But  I 
must  be  permitted  to  observe,  that  it  is  a  common 
mistake  with  the  ordinary  run  of  students  in  political 
economy,  to  mistake  altogether  the  nature  of  that 
science,  and  the  reservations  imposed  upon  the  practical 
adoption  of  its  principles.  Political  economy  deals  with 
but  one  element  in  a  state,  viz.  its  wealth  ;  and  the 
soundest  political  economists  will  be  found  cautiously 
stopping  short  of  what  would  seem  the  goal  of  an 
argument  with  some  such  expression  as  "  But  this 
belongs  to  national  policy."  Political  economy  goes 
strictly  and  sternly,  as  it  were,  towards  the  investigation 
of  the  rigid  principle  it  is  pursuing ;  it  has  only 
incidentally  to  do  with  the  modifications  which  it 
would  be  wise  to  adopt  when  you  apply  the  principle 
to  living  men.  Of  living  men,  their  passions,  and 
habits,  and  prejudices,  it  often  thinks  no  more  than 
Euclid  does  when  he  is  demonstrating  the  properties 
of  a  triangle.  All  this  is  out  of  the  province  of  the 
political  economist,  and  within  that  of  the  statesman. 

Far  from  blaming  political  economy  for  this,  it 
could  not  be  what  it  professes  to  be  if  it  were  other- 
wise. The  persons  to  blame  are  those  who  insist  on 
applying  all  its  principles,  as  if  they  were  describing 
lifeless  things,  and  not  dealing  with  human  beings  ; 

170 


POLITICAL  ECONOMY 

and  hence  innumerable  mistakes,  made  by  hasty  readers,  1841-1852. 
not  only  in  the  application,  but  we  may  say  also  in  the  JET.  38-49. 
comprehension,  of  the  principle  itself. 

Suppose  that  I  write  a  treatise  on  Architecture, 
wherein  I  geometrically  establish  the  fact  that  the 
Parthenon  is  a  most  beautiful  building.  If  my 
neighbour,  Squire  Hawthorn,  who  lives  in  an  old- 
fashioned,  irregular,  country-house,  as  unlike  the 
Parthenon  as  a  house  can  be,  runs  to  me  out  of  breath, 
transported  to  enthusiasm  by  my  admirable  treatise, 
"  My  dear  Sir,  I  have  read  your  work ;  you  have 
proved  to  my  satisfaction  that  no  building  on  earth  is 
so  perfect  as  the  Parthenon.  Pray,  would  you.  advise 
me  to  pull  down  Hawthorn  Hall,  and  build  a  country- 
house  exactly  on  the  model  of  which  you  have  so 
lucidly  given  the  geometrical  designs  ?  Shall  I  turn 
Hawthorn  Hall  into  a  Parthenon?  What's  your 
advice  ? " 

"  Sir,"  I  should  answer,  unless  I  had  a  sinister  interest 
to  answer  otherwise,  "  I  am  not  the  proper  person  of 
whom  to  ask  that  advice  ;  whether  it  is  for  your  interest 
to  pull  down  your  very  irregular  old  house  ;  whether, 
if  you  did,  you  would  be  as  comfortable  in  a  Parthenon, 
and,  however  beautiful  that  edifice,  find  that  it  could 
be  adapted  to  the  wants  of  your  family,  and  the  differ- 
ence of  your  climate  ;  whether  you  could  even  live  in  it, 
without  catching  your  death  of  cold,  are  all  considera- 
tions with  which  I  had  nothing  to  do  when  I  wrote 
my  treatise.  My  object  was  but  to  explain  the  true 
principles  of  Architecture,  and  establish  the  excellence 
of  the  Parthenon  upon  geometrical  principles !  " 

Squire  Hawthorn  would  have  no  right  to  blame 
me  for  having  written  my  treatise  and  disturbed  his 
mind  ;  but  he  would  be  a  monstrous  great  fool  if  he 
turned  his  old  hall  into  a  Parthenon  ! 

171 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.        The  pamphlet  was  published  in  the  spring  of 

JET.  38-49.   1851  and  had  a  wide  circulation.     Soon  after  its 

publication  Bulwer-Lytton  writes  to  Disraeli  : — 

MY  DEAR  D. — I  have  ordered  the  printers  to  send 
you  the  4th  edition  of  my  pamphlet  which  I  have 
revised,  not  having  had  the  leisure,  in  the  call  for  the 
pamphlet,  to  revise  the  former  ones.  In  this  I  have 
strengthened  some  of  the  positions,  and  made  more 
clear  the  reasons  why  wages  may  long  fall  in  one  district 
and  not  in  another.  The  most  flattering  compliments 
that  have  reached  me,  strange  to  say,  have  been  from 
political  economists.  I  have  had  one  very  remarkable 
letter  from  the  living  chief  of  them,  though  I  did  not 
know  him — moved  to  it,  I  suppose,  by  the  impertinence 
of  the  Morning  Chronicle.  But  as  yet  I  don't  know 
how  the  Protectionists  receive  the  pamphlet  and  its 
views  (rather  odd  that  no  Protectionist  journal,  except 
the  Standard,  has  noticed  it,  nor  have  I  heard  from  any 
save  one  Protectionist  on  it).  I  cannot  judge  if  it  is 
really  effective  or  not,  despite  a  tolerably  rapid  sale.  I 
should  be  very  glad  of  your  opinion  or  of  any  brief 
suggestions  for  subsequent  editions.  The  4th  edition, 
not  yet  out,  will  be  a  large  one.  If  it  moves  beyond 
that  it  is  a  sign  that  it  begins  to  penetrate  the  country. 

I  see  the  Free  Traders  charge  me  with  avoiding 
detail  and  statistics.  But  don't  you  agree  with  me  that 
I  am  right  so  to  shun  them  ?  If  you  have  a  moment  to 
write  to  me,  direct  Knebworth,  Stevenage. — Yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

The  sale  of  the  pamphlet  fully  came  up  to 
its  author's  expectation,  for  it  went  into  ten 
editions.  Disraeli's  appreciation  was  expressed 
in  the  following  letter  : — 

172 


SUCCESS  OF  THE  PAMPHLET 

GROSVENOR  GATE,  May  2,  1851. 

MY   DEAR   BULWER — I   have  now  had   very   con-  1841-1852. 
siderable  opportunities  of  ascertaining   public  opinion  JEr.  38-49. 
respecting    the   Letters,  and    I    have    no  hesitation   in 
saying   that   it   is   one   of  high,  and   very  extensive, 
approbation.     I  am  not  speaking  merely  of  the  great 
politicians,  but  I  find  the  large-acred  squires  your  warm 
appreciators  ;  none  more  impressed,  for  example,  than 
Sir  Charles  Knightley. 

I  won't  attempt  to  give  you  a  catalogue  of  those 
whose  opinions  I  have  gathered  (the  last  Lord  Forester, 
who  was  enthusiastic  both  as  to  the  style  and  the  effect 
it  must  produce)  because  you  might  then  infer  the 
approbation  was  confined  merely  to  them.  It  is,  on  the 
contrary,  universal,  and  I  can't  doubt,  from  what  hourly 
reaches  me,  that  the  success  of  the  Letters  will  be  fully 
proportioned  to  the  occasion  and  the  fame  and  status 
of  the  writer. — Yrs.  ever,  j)^ 

Bulwer  -  Lytton's  increased  friendship  with 
Disraeli  and  the  political  conversion  which 
accompanied  it,  threatened  at  first  to  bring 
about  an  estrangement  from  his  old  and  trusted 
friend  John  Forster,  who,  as  editor  of  the  Liberal 
Examiner,  could  not  but  regard  with  feelings  of 
keen  distress  the  publication  of  opinions  from 
which  he  differed  so  strongly.  That  the  rela- 
tions existing  between  these  two  great  friends 
should  be  to  some  extent  affected  by  the  political 
differences  which  had  come  between  them,  was 
inevitable  ;  but  when  once  the  subject  had  been 
frankly  faced  and  each  had  expressed  his  fears 
and  re-affirmed  his  affection,  their  intimacy  was 
preserved  in  all  its  essential  features. 

173 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.       The  matter  was  first  raised  by  Forster  at  the 
^ET.  38-49.  end  of  a  long  letter  dated  November   i,  1851, 

which  was  chiefly  concerned  with  literary  matters 

and  concluded  as  follows  : — 

So  much  for  business.  And  now  I  will  say  simply 
a  word  as  to  that  odd  remark  in  your  note  on  there 
being  "  no  chance  of  my  going  to  you — no  getting  over 
the  Corn  Laws." 

Since  I  was  last  at  Knebworth  I  have  had  no 
invitation  of  any  kind  from  you  except  one  which 
reached  me  on  a  Friday  to  go  to  you  the  next  day — I 
being  then  bound  to  Ramsgate.  What  on  earth  then 
can  you  mean?  As  for  the  Corn  Laws,  I  shall,  of 
course,  always  regret  the  separation  in  point  of  opinion, 
because  I  know  the  natural  and  constant  tendency  of 
such  a  schism  to  gape  and  extend  itself  insensibly  into 
other  directions.  But  if  I  have  been  silent  hitherto 
respecting  it  in  the  Examiner,  it  would  be  hard  that 
you  should  attribute  that  to  any  motive  but  the  proper 
one.  Indeed,  if  I  might  take  the  opportunity  of  your 
old  friendship  to  speak  exactly  what  I  feel,  I  would  say 
that  I  have  felt  not  a  little  what  has  seemed  something 
like  a  reserve  and  indifference  to  me  on  your  part,  ever 
since  the  play  came  out.  But  no  such  feeling  can  ever 
affect  the  regard  with  which  I  must  always  subscribe 
myself, — Yr.  old  &  sincere  friend, 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

Bulwer-Lytton  replied  on  November  5  : — 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — To  come  at  once  to  the  point 
in  your  letter  which  is  to  me  most  important — I  mean 
that  which  involves  any  possible  cause,  I  will  not  say 
of  estrangement,  but  of  coldness,  in  a  friendship  which 
has  lasted  so  many  years,  which  I  so  cordially  appreciate. 
Let  me  say  frankly,  that  if  there  was  anything  in  my 


DIFFERENCES  WITH  FORSTER 

manner,  implying  "reserve  or  indifference  since  the  1841-1852. 
play  came  out "  I  was  most  wholly  unconscious  of  it,  JEr.  38-49. 
and  most  deeply  regret  it. 

As  to  the  play,  I  could  only  feel  very  warmly  all 
your  pains,  trouble  and  sympathy  about  it ;  and  if  I  had 
any  other  feeling,  it  could  only  be  that  of  regret  that 
a  part  which  we  both  thought,  in  perusal,  effective  and 
striking,  should  not  work  out  in  the  business  of  the 
stage  in  a  way  worthy  of  your  powers.  But  certainly 
that  could  produce  no  coldness  on  my  part,  and  I  never 
dreamed  till  you  wrote  that  there  was  a  hitch  here.  I 
thought — pardon  me,  if  I  fear  still — that  a  difference 
in  political  opinion  which  involves  a  separation  in 
party,  could  alone  occasion  what  was  apparent  to  me,  a 
certain  alienation  on  your  side.  Politicians  so  earnest 
as  yourself  and  so  accustomed  from  week  to  week  to 
dwell  upon  the  vexed  questions  of  politics,  are  too  apt 
perhaps  to  consider  that  the  vera  amidtia  can  only  be 
found  in  the  idem  velle  idem  nolle  de  Republica. 

I  have  never  so  considered  politics — to  me  they 
form  but  one,  though  large,  element  in  human  thought 
and  human  happiness,  and  this  is  natural  to  me  who 
have  had  to  divide  thought  among  so  many  topics. 
Therefore,  let  us  differ  ever  so  much  here,  it  cannot 
shake  my  really  brotherly  love  for  you,  my  deep  and 
unceasing  gratitude  for  a  thousand  obligations  which  I 
have  never  had  it  in  my  power  to  repay.  Let  it  shake 
as  little  as  possible  your  regard  for  me,  and  do  what 
justice  you  can  to  my  sincerity  in  my  belief.  Believe 
me,  I  never  thought  of  the  Examiner,  I  thought  only 
of  the  private  friend,  and  never  let  there  be  any  g$ne 
created  by  your  necessary  combination  of  two  capacities 
— the  public  journalist,  the  private  friend.  1  know  that 
if  I  enter  Parliament,  and  take  any  active  part  therein, 
the  Examiner  must  perforce  notice  to  blame  and 
censure  opinions  offered  to  it.  But  even  where  there 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  exists  no  private  acquaintance,  the  Examiner  is  so  free 
MT.  38-49.  from  the  personal  allusions  which  wound  and  irritate  that 
I  have  no  fear  that  I  shall  ever  read  any  animadversions 
on  myself  with  illiberal  and  ungenerous  resentment.  So 
let  that  matter  rest.  But  before  I  wholly  dismiss  these 
questions  of  politics  and  the  consequences  they  entail, 
let  me  unbosom  myself  fully  and  say  this — that  when 
it  has  been  urged  upon  me  by  parties  likely  to  come 
into  power,  that  I  may  have  office  offered  to  myself,  no 
inducement  has  ever  so  strongly  forced  itself  on  my 
mind  to  shake  my  aversion  to  the  thraldom  of  official 
life,  as  the  prospect  that  I  might  possibly  then  have  it 
in  my  power  to  offer  to  you,  not  as  politician,  but  as 
man  of  letters,  some  such  place  as  you  could  take 
without  compromise  of  opinion  or  loss  of  dignity.  And 
that  thus  some  other  party  might  have  the  power  of 
repairing  what  seems  to  me  the  distinguishing  injustice 
of  your  own.  This,  at  present,  is  mere  words.  I  may 
not  come  into  Parliament,  I  may  fail  there,  I  may  never 
have  the  power  referred  to.  But  in  all  sincerity  and 
truth  of  heart  I  say  what  has  always  been  uppermost  in 
my  mind,  and  would  so  remain,  if  our  private  intimacy 
ceased  to-morrow !  Who  shall  predicate  of  the  future  ? 
But  the  past  nothing  can  efface — that  is  in  truth  the 
Krfj/j,a  e?  det. 

As  to  invitations  to  Knebworth,  why,  I  always 
flattered  myself  you  never  needed  them,  but  would 
come  when  you  liked,  as  to  a  home. — Ever  most 
affectly.  yrs.,  E  B  L 

This  answer  completely  removed  all  trace  of 
ill-feeling  and  was  gratefully  acknowledged  as 
follows  : — 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — I  should  find  it  very 
difficult  to  say  to  you  with  what  feelings  I  read  your 

176 


FRIENDLY  EXPLANATIONS 

letter,  and  now  send  you  these  few  words  in  reply  to  1841-1852. 
it.  It  is  better,  perhaps,  that  I  should  not  attempt  to  &T.  38-49. 
do  so. 

As  to  the  misapprehension  I  laboured  under,  there 
is  no  more  to  be  said  respecting  it,  but  that  I  am  little 
likely  to  fall  into  any  such  mistake  again. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Examiner,  I  will  only  now  put 
this  question.  As  matters  stand,  would  you  rather 
that  the  silence  hitherto  observed  as  to  the  pamphlet 
should  continue,  or  that  an  opportunity  should  be 
taken  of  stating  broadly  and  frankly  the  difference 
between  us — with  regret  that  on  a  question  involving 
now  the  very  existence  of  the  old  Liberal  party,  we 
should  thus  have  lost  your  services  and  name  ? 

It  is  a  great  loss,  but  also  a  very  wide  difference. 
That  must  be  said.  For  as  I  see  your  argument,  you 
would  strongly  dissent  even  from  the  course  which 
Disraeli  sees  to  be  the  only  one  at  present  open  to 
him. 

In  talking  of  your  services  as  a  loss,  I  do  not  mean 
that  they  had  ever  been  given  to  that  particular  question, 
except  in  the  general  sense  of  supporting  a  Liberal  policy 
and  party,  from  which  your  withdrawal,  I  cannot  but 
see,  must  become  more  and  more  marked,  more  and 
more  to  be  regretted  by  us.  It  is  needless  for  me  to 
add,  with  the  view  I  take  of  these  matters,  that  I  see 
no  possibility  of  any  successors  to  the  present  men  on 
other  ground  than  that  of  a  compromise  of  the  claim 
for  any  direct  reimposition  of  a  duty  on  corn. 

Between  you  and  me,  I  shall  never  cease  to  remember 
what  you  have  said.  It  is  enough  for  me  that  you  have 
said  it.  The  act  would  not  be  of  greater  value.  I  can 
imagine  it  infinitely  less.  That  therefore  is  already  my 
icrijfjua  €9  ad  which  you  have  given  me,  and  no  one  can 
take  from  me. — Your  old  and  always  grateful  friend, 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

VOL.  ii  177  N 


POLITICAL  CONVERSION 

1841-1852.  Forster  was  justified  in  his  conviction  that  a 
JET,  38-49.  difference  so  fundamental  was  certain  to  lead  to 
a  complete  separation  of  political  interests.  The 
Letters  to  John  Bull  were  in  fact  the  bridge  over 
which  their  author  passed  from  one  political  party 
to  the  other.  The  most  important  result  of  their 
publication  was  an  invitation  from  the  electors 
of  his  own  county  that  he  would  become  their 
representative  in  Parliament.  The  invitation 
was  accepted  ;  and  at  the  General  Election  of 
1852,  Bulwer-Lytton  re-entered  Parliament  as 
Conservative  member  for  Hertfordshire.  He 
continued  to  sit  for  this  constituency  until  his 
elevation  to  the  Peerage  in  1866. 


178 


BOOK  V 

POLITICAL 
RETURN   TO   PARLIAMENT 

1852-1866 

Political  faction  loves  converts  better  even  than  consistent  adherents. 
A  man's  rise  in  life  generally  dates  from  a  well-timed  rat. 

Alice. 


179 


CHAPTER    I 

M.P.    FOR    HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852-1854 

But  what's  party  ?     Mere  cricket — some  out  and  some  in. 

Walpole. 

FOR  the  purposes  of  this  chapter  the  reader  may    1852. 
find  it  convenient   to  have   a   summary  of  the  &T.  49. 
chief  political   events  which   immediately  pre- 
ceded and  followed    Bulwer-Lytton's  return  to 

Parliament  in  i8ca. 

•*  , 

On  December  2, 1 8  5 1 ,  by  a  coup  cfEtat  in  Paris, 
Louis  Napoleon  made  himself  master  of  France, 
and  paved  the  way  for  his  assumption  of  the 
Imperial  Crown .  This  event  produced  immediate 
and  important  results  in  England.  Lord  Palmer- 
ston,  who  was  at  that  time  Foreign  Minister,  in 
the  course  of  a  private  conversation  with  the 
French  Ambassador,  expressed  his  approval  of 
the  coup  (F&at,  and  this  opinion  was  forwarded 
to  Paris  as  an  official  recognition  of  the  new 
position  of  the  Prince  President.  Such  an 
expression  of  opinion  was  contrary  to  the  policy 
of  strict  neutrality  which  the  Queen  and  the 
Government  were  anxious  to  maintain  in  this 

181 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852.    matter.     Lord  John   Russell,  therefore,   insisted 
&T.  49.  on    the    resignation    of    Lord    Palmerston,    and 
Lord  Granville  was  appointed  Foreign  Secretary 
in  his  place. 

The  dismissal  of  Lord  Palmerston  was  not 
the  only  result  of  Louis  Napoleon's  coup  d'fitat. 
It  also  aroused  a  wave  of  national  sentiment  in 
England,  which  eventually  swept  the  whole 
Government  from  power.  The  prospect  of  the 
establishment  of  a  second  Napoleonic  Empire  in 
France  created  almost  a  panic  amongst  a  genera- 
tion of  Englishmen  who  could  still  remember 
the  dread  with  which  the  first  Napoleon  had 
inspired  their  fathers,  and  a  general  demand 
was  raised  for  special  measures  of  defence  and 
the  reorganisation  of  the  militia  for  home  defence 
against  a  possible  French  invasion.  Though 
the  Government  must  have  known  that  such 
a  contingency  was  highly  improbable,  yet  the 
national  enthusiasm  rose  so  high  that  they  were 
obliged  to  take  it  into  account. 

When  Parliament  met  on  February  3,  1852, 
Lord  John  Russell  gave  a  full  account  of  the 
circumstances  which  had  led  to  the  dismissal  of 
Lord  Palmerston,  and  public  interest  in  politics, 
which  during  the  previous  year  had  been  com- 
pletely overshadowed  by  the  great  International 
Exhibition  in  London,  immediately  revived. 
On  February  9  Lord  John  Russell  introduced  a 
Reform  Bill  which  had  been  promised  in  the 
Queen's  speech,  and  which  had  a  very  cold 
reception,  both  in  the  House  and  in  the  country. 

182 


LORD  DERBY  TAKES  OFFICE 

It  proceeded  no  further,  for  on  February  16  was  1852. 
introduced  the  Government  Bill  for  strengthen-  &T.  49. 
ing  the  militia,  which  immediately  superseded 
it  in  public  interest.  This  measure  gave  Lord 
Palmerston  an  opportunity  of  taking  his  revenge 
on  the  chief  by  whom  he  had  so  recently  been 
dismissed.  He  welcomed  the  introduction  of 
the  Bill,  but  criticised  it  as  inadequate.  His 
criticisms  were  received  with  great  enthusiasm 
in  the  House  ;  and  when  a  few  nights  later  he 
moved  a  hostile  resolution  to  substitute  the 
word  "  regular "  for  the  word  "  local "  in  the 
Bill,  he  was  supported  by  both  the  Protectionist 
Opposition  and  the  Peelites.  The  result  was 
that  the  Government  was  defeated  by  a  majority 
of  nine.  The  Russell  Ministry  immediately 
resigned,  and  Lord  Stanley,  who,  on  the  death 
of  his  father  in  the  previous  year,  had  now  become 
Lord  Derby,  was  called  upon  to  form  the  new 
Government. 

Lord  Derby  announced  his  policy  in  the 
House  of  Lords  on  February  27.  The  organisa- 
tion of  the  militia  was  to  be  proceeded  with, 
reform  of  the  franchise  was  to  be  abandoned, 
and  a  policy  of  non-intervention  with  foreign 
countries  would  be  pursued  abroad.  The  most 
significant  passage  in  his  speech  was  his  reference 
to  the  Corn  Laws  :  "  When  the  entire  supply  of 
an  article  comes  from  abroad,"  he  said,  "  the 
whole  increase  of  the  price  falls  on  the  con- 
sumer ;  but  that  is  not  the  case  when  the  article 
is  partly  of  foreign  and  partly  of  home  supply, 

183 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852.  and  I  will  not  shrink  from  declaring  my  opinion 
JET.  49.  that  there  is  no  reason  why  corn  should  be  the 
solitary  exception  to  the  rule." 

Knowing  that  his  Government  did  not  possess 
a  majority  in  the  House  of  Commons,  Lord 
Derby  spoke  with  caution,  and  the  remainder  of 
his  remarks,  with  regard  to  finance,  were  vague 
and  indefinite  ;  but  this  one  passage  was  taken 
to  imply  an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  new 
Ministers  to  reimpose  the  Corn  Laws  in  some 
form  or  other.  The  Free  Traders  throughout 
the  country  were  thoroughly  alarmed.  Protests 
were  made  in  Parliament,  and  a  meeting  was  held 
in  Manchester  for  the  purpose  of  re-forming  the 
Anti-Corn  Law  League.  On  March  15  specific 
questions  were  asked  in  both  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Government. 
Lord  Derby  and  Mr.  Disraeli  both  replied  that 
they  did  not  intend  to  revert  to  a  protective  policy 
during  the  present  session,  and  that  they  would 
dissolve  Parliament  in  the  course  of  the  year. 

The  new  Militia  Bill  was  introduced  on 
March  25,  and  with  the  support  of  Lord 
Palmerston  and  the  Peelites  was  passed  by  a 
substantial  majority.  On  May  30  Mr.  Disraeli, 
who  was  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  and  leader 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  introduced  his  budget, 
which  merely  continued  the  financial  system 
then  in  existence  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  business  of 
the  session  could  be  completed,  Parliament  was 
dissolved  on  July  I . 

The  General  Election  which  followed  left  the 

184 


DISRAELI'S  BUDGET 

balance  of  parties  practically  unchanged,  and  there-    1852. 
fore,  when  Parliament  met  again  on  November  Mr.  49. 
4,    the    Government    was   still    in    a   minority. 
Their  defeat  was  only  a  question  of  time,  and 
Disraeli  did  not  hesitate  to  proceed  at  once  to 
the  issue  which  was  to  decide  their  fate. 

The  recent  General  Election  had  shown  un- 
mistakably that  the  country  was  not  prepared  to 
return  to  Protection.  The  Free  Traders  were  in 
a  majority  in  Parliament,  and  the  Chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer  had  not  the  remotest  chance  of 
securing  sufficient  support  for  his  financial  policy. 
His  position,  however,  was  not  what  it  had  been 
in  the  previous  session.  An  appeal  to  the  country 
had  taken  place  ;  the  supporters  of  the  Govern- 
ment were  avowedly  Protectionists,  demanding 
some  relief  for  their  landed  interests,  and  Disraeli 
did  not  care  to  owe  his  continuance  in  office  to 
the  support  of  political  opponents.  His  financial 
policy  was  ingenious  and  skilfully  framed.  He 
proposed  to  reduce  the  malt  duties  as  a  relief  to 
the  Agriculturists,  and  to  make  good  the  deficit 
thus  created  by  an  increase  in  the  inhabited  house 
duty.  The  speech  in  which  he  summed  up  the 
debate  and  replied  to  his  critics  was  a  personal 
triumph,  and  made  a  deep  impression  on  the 
House.  He  was  immediately  followed  by  Mr. 
Gladstone,  who  had  re-entered  Parliament  at  the 
recent  election  as  aPeelite  converted  to  Liberalism. 
Mr.  Gladstone  completely  effaced  the  impression 
created  by  the  speech  of  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  and  demolished  his  financial  proposals. 

185 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852.  Thus  commenced  the  life-long  duel  which,  for 
r.  49.  nearly  thirty  years,  was  carried  on  between  these 
two  great  protagonists.  The  great  debate  which 
followed  ended  in  the  defeat  of  the  Qovernment 
by  a  majority  of  19  (305  to  286).  The  next  day 
Lord  Derby's  Ministry  resigned,  and  a  coalition 
Government  was  formed  under  the  leadership  of 
Lord  Aberdeen  in  which  Lord  John  Russell  went 
to  the  Foreign  Office,  Lord  Palmerston  became 
Home  Secretary,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer. 

The  avowed  policy  of  the  new  Government 
was  the  preservation  of  peace  coupled  with  con- 
tinued defensive  preparations,  a  strict  adherence 
to  the  principles  of  free  trade,  education,  and  legal 
reform,  parliamentary  reform  to  receive  careful 
consideration.  The  next  session  was  chiefly  re- 
markable for  Mr.  Gladstone's  first  budget.  At 
the  end  of  it  the  Government  appeared  to  be 
firmly  established  and  the  country  prosperous, 
when  suddenly  the  Eastern  question  loomed  up 
on  the  horizon,  the  pacific  intentions  of  the 
Government  were  swept  aside,  and  the  country 
drifted  into  one  of  the  most  senseless  and  profit- 
less wars  in  which  it  has  ever  engaged. 

Such  were  the  circumstances  in  which  Bulwer- 
Lytton  re-entered  Parliament.  Lord  Derby's 
declaration  of  policy  in  February,  1852,  had 
finally  decided  him  to  throw  in  his  lot  with  the 
Conservatives,  and  at  the  General  Election  in 
July,  he  was  returned  as  member  for  Hertford- 
shire. When  Parliament  met  his  leaders  were 

186 


FIRST  SPEECH 

in  office  but  not  in  power,  and  before  the  end  of   1852. 
the  year  they  were  again  in  opposition.  ^ET.  49. 

His  first  speech  in  the  new  House  was  de- 
livered during  the  debate  on  Disraeli's  financial 
statement.  He  warmly  supported  the  reduction 
of  the  malt  duties  and  the  increase  in  the  house 
duty,  as  being  both  consistent  with  Free  Trade 
principles  and  also  an  act  of  grace  to  the 
agriculturists. 

"  I  grant,"  he  said,  "  that  we  shall  not  obtain  any- 
thing like  a  proportionate  advantage  from  the  reduction 
of  half  the  malt  tax  that  would  accrue  from  its  total 
repeal.  I  grant  that  we  shall  retain  the  costly  and 
vexatious  machinery  of  the  excise  restrictions,  and  that 
by  retaining  half  the  tax  you  will  still  cripple  the  farmer 
in  the  direction  of  his  capital,  and  in  the  preparation 
of  malt,  whether  for  fattening  his  cattle  or  for  brewing 
his  own  beer.  But  what  then  ?  It  is  a  bold  step  in 
the  right  direction.  It  is  so  considering  the  state  of 
the  revenue,  and  considering  the  feelings  of  gentlemen 
on  this  side  of  the  House,  who  never  desire  to  forget 
the  claims  and  interests  of  other  parties." 

Having  proved  by  quotations  from  leading 
economists  that  the  reduction  of  the  tax  was 
strictly  in  accordance  with  Free  Trade  doctrines, 
he  continued  : — 

But  because  this  question  is  accompanied  indirectly 
with  benefit  to  the  farmer,  and  is  accompanied  by  a 
double  house  tax,  we  are  told  that  this  is  a  question 
of  town  against  country.  No,  Sir,  it  is  a  question  of 
Free  Trade  against  restriction  ;  it  is  a  question  whether 

187 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852.  you  will  attempt  to  lower  the  price  of  an  article  of 
.  49.  popular  subsistence — whether  you  will  remove  a  check 
which  operates  directly  against  an  important  branch  of 
the  industry  of  the  country — and  it  is  accompanied  with 
a  direct  tax  which  would  be  fair  and  just,  and  as  such 
is  recommended  by  all  political  economists,  even  if  it 
were  not  accompanied  by  any  reduction  of  the  malt  tax 
at  all.  .  .  .  You  say  you  object  to  the  house  tax  being 
doubled  for  the  benefit  of  the  farmers,  but  that  is  simply 
to  say  that  you  object  to  the  further  extension  of  Free 
Trade  when  it  operates  against  the  other  classes  whom 
you  represent. 

The  speech  concluded  with  a  personal  ex- 
planation of  the  reasons  which  had  induced  him 
to  change  his  political  party  : — 

Now,  one  word  with  regard  to  myself,  for  it  applies 
equally  to  gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the  House  whose 
adherence  to  the  cause  of  Free  Trade  you  have  some- 
what ungraciously  received.  The  opinions  which  I 
entertained  upon  the  subject  of  a  repeal  of  the  corn 
laws  gradually  estranged  me  from  a  party  to  which  I 
formerly  rendered  some  trifling  service — a  party  in 
which  I  still  recognise  not  only  private  friends,  but 
many  accomplished  politicians  and  statesmen  of  con- 
summate talents  and  experience.  But  it  was  not  on 
that  single  question  alone  that  I  transferred  my  very 
humble  support  to  the  party  and  policy  represented  by 
the  present  Government.  I  did  not  make  that  transfer 
so  long  as  the  late  Administration  lasted.  I  did  not  do 
so  till  that  Administration — I  hope  I  may  say  so  with- 
out offence — died  from  its  own  exhaustion.  Not  until 
the  noble  Lord,  the  late  Premier,  looking  at  the  state  ot 
parties,  could  see  no  other  person  but  Lord  Derby  to 

188 


A  PERSONAL  EXPLANATION 

suggest  to  her  Majesty  as  his  successor — not  till,  re-  1852. 
garding  the  position  of  affairs  at  home,  still  more  the  ^Er.  49. 
position  of  affairs  abroad,  I  myself  believed  that  it 
might  be  for  the  welfare  and  perhaps  for  the  safety  of 
the  country,  to  give  to  Lord  Derby's  Government  a 
fair  and  a  cordial  trial.  It  was  first  to  that  trial  that  I 
bounded  my  support ;  but  I  did  so  with  full  allowance 
for  all  the  difficulties  which  the  Government  would 
have  to  encounter,  and  a  firm  belief  that  it  would  unite 
a  conciliatory  policy  towards  a  class  in  which  prolonged 
distress  had  produced  a  deep-seated  sense  of  injustice, 
with  that  rational  respect  for  public  opinion  which  Lord 
Derby  frankly  expressed  so  soon  as  he  acceded  to  office. 
In  that  school  where  I  learnt  the  meaning  of  con- 
stitutional liberty,  it  was  never  considered  a  disgrace 
to  a  Minister  of  England  to  regulate,  not  indeed  his 
private  doctrines,  but  his  political  conduct,  according 
to  the  opinions  of  his  time.  Nor  did  I  ever  think 
I  should  hear  a  taunt  on  the  expediency  of  bowing  to 
public  opinion  from  the  very  men  who  have  threatened 
to  change  the  constitution  itself  in  order  to  bring  us 
still  more  under  the  influence  of  popular  control.  But 
that  which  has  sanctioned  and  confirmed  the  support 
which  I  now  tender  to  the  Government  is  not  any 
question  connected  with  agriculture  ;  it  is  not  any  party 
consideration  ;  it  is  simply  this — the  disposition  they 
have  shown  to  promote  general  measures  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  laws,  and  for  advancing  the  welfare 
of  the  people.  I  do  not  allude  alone  to  reforms  of  the 
Court  of  Chancery,  nor  to  the  programme  of  useful 
measures  announced  in  her  Majesty's  gracious  Speech, 
nor  to  the  financial  projects  now  before  the  House — of 
which  I  sincerely  approve — but  I  must  look  also  to  the 
liberal  and  enlightened  speech  of  the  Right  Hon.  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  the  other  evening.  I  see 
there,  for  the  first  time,  the  pledge  from  a  Minister 

189 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1852.  of  the  Crown  for  economy  and  retrenchment,  in  the 
T.  49.  implied  promise  of  large  administrative  reform.  I  see 
there  a  capacity  to  deal  with  the  most  complicated  of 
social  questions — that  connected  with  criminal  punish- 
ment. I  see  a  general  understanding  of  what  I  conceive 
to  be  the  great  want  of  this  time — for  I  believe  the 
great  body  of  the  intelligent  public  is  disposed  to  favour 
the  policy  of  a  Government  which,  while  it  will  be  con- 
servative of  the  great  principles  of  the  constitution, 
will  make  that  constitution  suffice  for  all  purposes  of 
practical  reform.  It  is  by  measures  and  sentiments  like 
these  that  the  Government  have  shown  already  that 
they  do  not  come  into  office  as  the  exclusive  advocates 
of  a  single  class,  or  the  inert  supporters  of  a  retrograde 
policy.  On  the  contrary,  the  more  they  can  mitigate 
the  sufferings  of  every  class,  whether  commercial  or 
agricultural,  the  more  worthy  they  will  be  of  the 
support  of  that  House  of  Commons  to  which  every 
section  of  the  community  that  contributes  to  the 
supplies  has  a  right  to  come  for  the  redress  of 
grievances  ;  and  if  they  can  so  contrive  that  no  large 
portion  of  the  community  shall  be  left  excluded  from 
that  prosperity  which  is  paraded  before  our  eyes,  the 
more  they  will  unite  all  classes  and  interests  to  co- 
operate with  them  in  that  calm  but  continuous  progress 
in  which  it  is  the  duty  of  every  Ministry  to  maintain 
our  hereditary  place  in  the  foremost  rank  of  European 
civilisation. 

Therefore,  for  my  part,  I  declare  that  the  satisfaction 
with  which  I  shall  give  my  vote  in  accordance  with 
the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  question  immediately  before 
us,  will  be  increased  by  thinking  that  it  is  one  vote 
amongst  many  which  may  serve  to  continue  this 
Government  in  its  career  of  useful  and  liberal  legisla- 
tion ;  believing,  as  I  do,  that  those  same  causes  of 
dissension  which  before  rendered  a  Ministry  formed 

190 


AN  UNHAPPY  YEAR 

from  the    opposite    benches  so  weak   and   ineffective,     1853. 
in  spite  of  the  honesty,  the  virtues,  and  the  genius  of  JEr.  50. 
the  men  who  composed,  and  the  Premier  who  presided 
over    it,    do    still    exist,    and    will    still    prevent   that 
unity  and  firmness  of  purpose  which  can  alone  render 
effectual  the  desire  to  preserve — perhaps  against  attacks 
from   its  own    supporters — that  balance   between  safe 
reform  and  hazardous  experiment  on  which  I  believe, 
in    my    conscience,    depend    the    continuance    of    our 
prosperity  and  the  stability  of  the  Empire. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1853,  Bulwer- 
Lytton  suffered  much  from  ill-health,  and  for  a 
time  was  deprived  of  the  use  of  his  right  hand 
by  a  serious  inflammation.  On  April  6  he 
wrote  to  his  son  : — 

I  am  still  suffering  from  my  hand  and  have  only 
imperfectly  the  use  of  it.  I  have  had  nothing  but 
illness,  pain,  and  sorrow  since  the  year  1853  began. 
Perhaps  as  yet  the  unhappiest  year  of  my  life.  I  am 
not  at  all  up  to  Parliament,  and  to  add  to  my  mis- 
fortunes, am  so  deaf  as  not  to  hear  the  speakers.  My 
Novel  has  been  very  successful — more  so  as  to  favour 
and  general  popularity  than  all  its  predecessors. 

By  the  end  of  the  month  he  seems  to  have 
recovered  sufficiently  to  resume  his  parliamentary 
duties,  for  on  April  25  he  spoke  on  Mr. 
Gladstone's  first  budget.  This  speech  dealt  ex- 
clusively with  the  income  tax,  and  contained  a 
defence  of  the  principle  of  differentiating  between 
earned  and  unearned  incomes,  which  at  that  time 
was  condemned  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  but  which 
has  since  been  recognised. 

191 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1 853.  "  There  is  this  marked  difference,"  he  said,  "  between 
.  50.  the  Rt.  Hon.  Gentleman  and  those  who  have  supported 
Lord  Derby's  Government,  namely — that  when  the  late 
Government  proposed  to  deal  with  the  income  tax,  they 
made  it  an  indispensable  condition  to  remove  from  that 
impost  the  elements  of  unpopularity,  and  to  establish  a 
clear  distinction  between  precarious  income  and  income 
derived  from  realised  property.  The  Rt.  Hon. 
Gentleman,  the  present  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer, 
refuses  to  make  that  distinction.  He  proposes  to 
leave  the  principal  objections  untouched.  Now  it  is 
precisely  because  I  concur  in  the  two  fundamental 
premises  of  the  Right  Hon.  Gentleman,  that  I  am 
compelled  to  come  to  a  different  conclusion.  I  agree 
with  the  Rt.  Hon.  Gentleman,  first,  that  the  income 
tax  is  a  mighty  financial  resource,  which  should  be 
kept  available  in  all  times  for  future  need ;  and, 
secondly,  that  it  ought  not  to  be  regarded  as  an 
habitual  feature  of  our  taxation.  But  exactly  because 
I  wish  to  have  this  tax  available,  with  the  ready  assent 
of  the  people,  in  any  future  need,  that  I  ask  the  House 
to  remove  from  it  those  features  which  now  make  it 
so  unpopular  ;  or,  if  it  be  held  unwise  to  correct  the 
machinery  of  the  tax,  we  should  at  least  endeavour  to 
console  those  who  are  ground  down  by  this  tax,  by 
showing  them  we  will  not  maintain  it  a  single  year 
longer  than  we  can  help." 

The  attack  on  the  income  tax  failed,  and  the 
Government  carried  their  proposals  by  a  majority 
of  7 1 .  The  illness  and  sorrows  of  this  year  con- 
tinued to  the  end  of  it,  and  as  it  was  the  most 
unhappy,  so  also  it  was  the  least  productive  year 
in  Bulwer-Lytton's  life.  The  autumn  was  spent  at 
Harrogate  in  search  of  health  ;  in  December 

192 


ADDRESS  TO  STUDENTS 

he  wrote  to  his  son  again  in  melancholy  mood,  1854. 
and  remarks — "I  have  not  touched  a  literary  ^T- 5 ' 
subject  for  a  year." 

At  the  beginning  of  1854  he  was  again  active. 
In  January  he  was  elected  Honorary  President  of 
the  Associated  Societies  of  the  University  of 
Edinburgh,  and  on  the  i8th  delivered  a  long 
address  to  the  students  of  the  University,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  upheld  the  value  of  a  classical 
education,  and  more  especially  of  the  study  of 
Greek. 

"The  genius  of  Greek  letters,"  he  said,  "is  essen- 
tially social  and  humane.  Far  from  presenting  us  with 
a  frigid  and  austere  ideal,  it  deals  with  the  most  vivid 
passions,  the  largest  interests  common  to  the  mass  of 
mankind.  In  this  sense  of  the  word  it  is  practical — 
that  is,  it  connects  itself  with  the  natural  feelings,  the 
practical  life  of  man,  under  all  forms  of  civilisation. 
That  is  the  reason  why  it  is  so  durable — it  fastens 
hold  of  sympathy  and  interest  in  every  nation  and 
every  age.  Thus  Homer  is  immeasurably  the  most 
popular  poet  the  world  ever  knew." 

After  tracing  the  influence  of  Greek  literature 
from  Homer  to  Plato,  he  devoted  a  few  words 
to  a  comparison  of  Greek  and  Latin  writers  : — 

In  the  Greek  literature  all  is  fresh  and  original  ; 
its  very  art  is  but  the  happiest  selection  from  natural 
objects,  knit  together  with  the  zone  of  the  careless 
Graces.  But  the  Latin  literature  is  borrowed  and 
adopted,  and  like  all  imitations,  we  perceive  at  once 
that  it  is  artificial — but  in  this  imitation  it  has  such 
VOL.  ii  193  o 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1854.  exquisite  taste,  in  this  artificiality  there  is  so  much 
Er.  51.  refinement  of  polish,  so  much  stateliness  of  pomp, 
that  it  assumes  an  originality  of  its  own.  It  has  not 
found  its  jewels  in  native  mines,  but  it  takes  them  with 
a  conqueror's  hand,  and  weaves  them  into  regal  diadems. 
Dignity  and  polish  are  the  especial  attributes  of  Latin 
literature  in  its  happiest  age  ;  it  betrays  the  habitual 
influence  of  an  aristocracy,  wealthy,  magnificent,  and 
learned.  ...  In  short,  the  Greek  writers  warm  and 
elevate  our  emotions  as  men — the  Latin  writers 
temper  emotions  to  the  stately  reserve  of  high-born 
gentlemen. 

The  lessons  to  be  derived  from  a  study  of  this 
literature  of  the  past  have  their  application  to 
the  problems  of  the  present,  and  the  words  in 
which  he  pointed  this  out  to  his  young  audience 
represented  the  mature  political  convictions  of  a 
contemplative  mind. 

"  You  whom  I  address,"  he  said,  "  will  carry  with 
you,  in  your  several  paths  to  fortune,  your  national 
attribute  of  reflective  judgment  and  dauntless  courage. 
I  see  an  eventful  and  stirring  age  expand  before  the 
rising  generation.  In  that  grand  contest  between  new 
ideas  and  ancient  forms,  which  may  be  still  more  keenly 
urged  before  this  century  expires,  whatever  your 
differences  of  political  opinion,  I  adjure  you  to  hold 
fast  to  the  vital  principle  of  civilisation.  What  is  that 
principle  ?  It  is  the  union  of  liberty  with  order.  The 
art  to  preserve  this  union  has  often  baffled  the  wisest 
statesmen  in  stormy  times  ;  but  the  task  becomes  easy 
at  once  if  the  people  whom  they  seek  to  guide  will  but 
carry  into  public  affairs  the  same  prudent  consideration 
which  commands  prosperity  in  private  business.  You 
have  already  derived  from  your  ancestors  an  immense 

194 


BANQUET  AT  EDINBURGH 

capital  of  political  freedom  ;  increase  it  if  you  will — but  1854. 
by  solid  investments,  not  by  hazardous  speculations.  &T.  51. 
You  will  hear  much  of  the  necessity  of  progress,  and 
truly  ;  for  wherever  progress  ends,  decline  invariably 
begins  ;  but  remember  that  the  healthful  progress  of 
society  is  like  the  natural  life  of  man — it  consists  in 
the  gradual  and  harmonious  development  of  all  its 
constitutional  powers,  all  its  component  parts  ;  and 
you  introduce  weakness  and  disease  into  the  whole 
system,  whether  you  attempt  to  stint  or  to  force 
the  growth." 

Two  days  later  Bulwer-Lytton  was  enter- 
tained at  a  public  banquet  in  the  Hojpetoun 
Rooms  at  Edinburgh,  and  his  speech  on  that 
occasion  contains  many  passages  of  autobiographi- 
cal interest.  His  own  experiences  as  an  author, 
for  instance,  are  thus  described  : — 

When  I  first  commenced  the  career  of  authorship, 
I  had  brought  myself  to  the  persuasion  that,  upon  the 
whole,  it  is  best  for  the  young  writer  not  to  give  an 
exclusive  preference  to  the  development  of  one  special 
faculty,  even  though  that  faculty  be  the  one  for  which 
he  has  the  most  natural  aptitude,  but  rather  to  seek 
to  mature  and  accomplish,  as  far  as  he  can,  his  whole 
intellectual  organisation.  I  had  observed  that  many 
authors,  more  especially,  perhaps,  writers  of  imagination 
and  fiction,  often  excel  only  in  one  particular  line  of 
observation  ;  nay,  that,  perhaps,  they  only  write  one 
thoroughly  successful  and  original  work,  after  which 
their  ideas  appear  to  be  exhausted  ;  and  it  seemed  to 
me  that  the  best  mode  to  prevent  that  contrast  between 
fertility  in  one  patch  of  intelligence  and  barrenness  of 
the  surrounding  district  was  to  bring  under  cultivation 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1854.  the  entire  soil  at  our  command.  This  subjected  me 
JEr.  51.  at  first  to  what  was  then  a  charge,  but  which  I  have 
lived  to  hear  as  a  compliment,  namely,  that  I  had 
attempted  too  great  a  variety  of  authorship ;  yet, 
perhaps,  it  was  to  that  conviction  that  I  owe  the 
continuance  of  whatever  favour  I  have  received  from 
the  public  ;  for  that  favour  no  writer  can  hope  long 
to  retain  unless  he  prove  that  he  is  constantly  taking 
in  a  fresh  supply  of  ideas,  and  that  he  is  not  compelled 
to  whip  and  impoverish  invention  by  drawing  from 
the  same  field  a  perpetual  succession  of  the  same  crop. 
And  perhaps  it  may  encourage  younger  writers  if  I 
remind  you  that  I  was  not  successful  at  first  in  any 
new  line  that  I  thus  attempted.  My  first  efforts 
at  prose  composition  were  refused  admittance  into 
a  magazine.  My  first  novel  was  very  little  read, 
and  it  is  not  included  in  the  general  collection  of 
my  works.  My  first  poetry  was  thought  detestable, 
and  my  first  play  very  nearly  escaped  being  damned. 
Thus,  perhaps,  few  writers  have  been  less  intoxicated 
with  the  rapture  of  first  success  ;  and  even  when  I  did 
succeed,  perhaps  few  writers,  upon  the  whole,  have  been 
more  unsparingly  assailed  by  hostile  critics.  If  I  had 
relied  solely  upon  my  intellectual  faculties,  I  must  long 
since  have  retired  from  the  field  disheartened  and 
beaten  ;  but  I  owe  it  to  that  resolution  which  is  at 
the  command  of  all  men  who  will  only  recollect  that 
the  first  attribute  of  our  sex  is  courage — the  resolution 
to  fight  the  battles  of  literature  and  life  with  the  same 
bull-dog  determination  with  which  I,  and  no  doubt  all 
of  you,  fought  our  battles  at  school — never  to  give 
in  as  long  as  we  had  a  leg  to  stand  upon — that  at 
last  I  have  succeeded  so  far  as  to  receive  this  honour 
in  a  capital  renowned  for  its  learning,  and  at  the  hands 
of  a  people  who  may  well  sympathise  with  any  man 
who  does  not  rely  so  much  upon  his  intellect,  no  matter 

196 


NOTE  ON  EDINBURGH  SPEECHES 

what  the  grade  of  that  intellect  may  be,  as  upon  his    1854. 
stout  heart  and  his  persevering  labours. l  MT.  51. 

1  The  following  account  of  this  speech  is  given  by  Principal  Story,  on 
page  19  of  his  Life,  published  by  his  daughters  : — 

"It  was  on  6th  Jany.,  1853,  that  Moncrieff  brought  forward  his  motion  ' 
in  the  Diagnostic,  proposing  the  appointment  of  some  personage,  eminent 
in  literature  or  public  life,  as  Honorary  President  of  the  Associated 
Societies.  The  proposal,  approved  by  this  Society,  was  submitted  to  the 
others,  and  after  much  deliberation,  and  interchange  of  ideas  between 
delegates  from  each,  was  formally  ratified.  The  mode  of  election  was 
arranged,  and  at  a  general  meeting  Mr.  Skelton  nominated  as  first 
President  Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton.  Sir  Edward  accepted  the  office 
which  we  offered  him,  and  came  down  to  address  us  in  Jany.  (the  i8th), 
1854.  A  Committee,  of  which  I  was  Secretary,  was  appointed  to  conduct 
the  arrangements  for  the  delivery  of  his  speech.  We  had  some  trouble 
with  fussy  and  stiff-necked  members,  who  found  fault  with  our  plans,  and 
were  rigidly  opposed  to  expenditure,  but  we  contrived  to  carry  out  our 
ideas  of  a  becoming  ceremonial  to  the  satisfaction  of  every  one,  I  think, 
except  an  indignant  member  of  the  Town  Council  —  in  those  days, 
the  patrons  of  the  College,  who,  on  finding  no  special  place  reserved 
for  the  civic  dignitaries  on  the  platform  or  in  the  Hall,  denounced  our 
neglect  of  the  powers  that  be,  and  retired  dramatically  from  the  scene. 
Our  wish  was  that  Lord  Cockburn  should  have  taken  the  chair,  and  I  and 
a  colleague  were  deputed  to  invite  him  to  do  so. 

"  The  old  man  received  us  very  kindly,  but  asked  us  to  excuse  him,  on 
the  ground  of  such  duties  being  too  much  for  him  at  his  age.  '  I'm  such 
a  confoundedly  old  fellow,'  he  said  in  his  pleasant,  homely  voice,  and  bade 
us  good-night  with  cordial  wishes  for  our  success.  We  got  the  Lord 
Advocate,  the  present  Lord  Moncrieff,  to  take  the  Chair,  and  the  facetious 
Peter  Robertson,  of  famous  memory,  to  move  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
President  after  his  address,  and  the  meeting  was  a  great  success.  The 
Queen  Street  Hall  was  crammed  with  students,  and  all  the  most  dis- 
tinguished people  in  Edinburgh,  with  many  friends  of  Sir  Edward's  from 
elsewhere,  such  as  Alison,  Perrier  and  Stirling  of  Keir.  Sir  Edward  spoke 
for  a  full  hour,  without  ever  halting  for  a  word  or  looking  at  a  note,  and 
when  the  reporters  asked  him  afterwards  for  his  MS.,  blandly  assured  them 
he  had  none.  They  came  to  me  in  some  perturbation,  and  I  went  to 
Professor  Aytoun,  who  had  throughout  all  our  preliminaries  and  negotia- 
tions been  our  steady  friend  and  adviser.  Aytoun  assured  me  he  would 
make  it  all  right,  and  in  a  short  time  produced  the  MS.  Sir  Edward  had 
not  deviated  by  a  word  or  a  phrase  from  what  he  had  written,  except  at  a 
single  point,  where,  pointing  to  a  Scottish  lion,  which  formed  a  prominent 
feature  of  the  decoration  of  the  gallery  in  front  of  him,  he  said  no  blazon 
had  kept  farther  in  the  van  of  human  progress  than  'that  old  lion  of 
Scotland.'  The  MS.  was  '  than  the  white  cross  of  St.  Andrew.'  I  have 
always  thought  the  delivery  of  an  address  so  long  and  elaborate  from 
unaided  memory  a  wonderful  intellectual  feat.  Such  a  mnemonic  triumph 
impressed  itself  on  my  mind,  all  the  more  vividly  because  when,  next 
evening  but  one,  Sir  Edward  was  entertained  at  a  public  dinner  in  the 

197 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1854.         These  speeches  called  forth  a  generous  tribute 
Er.  51.  of    praise    from    Macaulay,    who    at    that    time 
represented  Edinburgh  in  Parliament. 

"Thanks  for  the  addresses,"  he  writes  on  March  i  ; 
"  I  have  already  read  them  with  much  interest  and 
admiration.  I  really  do  not  think  that  my  judgment 
is  corrupted  by  your  praises  when  I  say  that  I  have 
seen  no  compositions  of  the  sort  that  have  pleased  me 
so  much.  My  constituents  were  delighted,  as  I  hear 
from  all  quarters,  and  no  wonder." 

From  Edinburgh  Bulwer-Lytton  proceeded 
to  Leeds,  where  on  January  25  he  delivered 
an  address  to  the  members  of  the  Mechanics' 
Institution.  He  began  by  contrasting  the  audience 
which  confronted  him  with  that  which  he  had 
just  left  at  Edinburgh  : — 

Knowledge  there  is  the  task  work  ;  knowledge  here 
is  the  holiday.  But  in  both  these  communities,  in  the 
quiet  University  and  in  the  busy  manufacturing  town, 
I  find  the  same  grand  idea  ;  I  mean  the  recognition  of 
intelligence,  as  the  supreme  arbiter  of  all  those  questions 
which  a  century  ago  were  either  settled  by  force  or  stifled 
by  those  prejudices  which  are  even  stronger  than  law. 

Hopetoun  Rooms,  I  had  to  reply  to  the  toast  of '  the  Associated  Societies.' 
I  had  never  before  spoken  to  a  greater  auditory  than  the  select  circle  of 
the  Diagnostic,  and  dreading  the  effects  of  publicity,  novelty  of  position, 
and  dinner,  I  did  what  I  have  never  done  since,  and  took  the  precaution 
of  writing  out  my  speech  and  learning  it  off  by  heart.  When  I  had  to 
get  on  my  legs,  I  confided  my  MS.  to  my  friend,  James  Muirhead,  who 
sat  beside  me,  with  instructions  that  if  I  snowed  symptoms  of  collapse,  he 
was  to  prompt  me.  I  did  not  need  the  prompting,  but  I  felt  how  great 
a  man  and  orator  Sir  Edward  was,  who  could  carry  on  imperturbably  for 
over  an  hour,  while  I  could  barely  struggle  through  five  minutes.  I  may 
add  what  I  was  very  proud  of  at  the  time,  that  Sir  Edward,  with  great 
good  nature,  sought  me  out  after  dinner,  and  complimented  me  on  my 
maiden  speech." 

198 


SPEECH  TO  LEEDS  MECHANICS 

He  then  proceeded  to  examine  some  of  the    1854. 
characteristics  of  the  age.     Foremost   amongst  ^T-  51- 
these    he   placed   what  he  called  "  the   milder 
spirit   of  humanity."     It    was    this    spirit,    he 
maintained, 

.  .  .  which  has  raised  up  all  those  new  questions,  not 
heard  of  before  this  century,  affecting  the  condition  of 
the  people  ;  it  is  this  which  seeks  to  carry  health  and 
cleanliness  into  the  abodes  of  misery  and  squalor  ;  it 
is  this  which  has  directed  merciful  attention  even  to  the 
foes  and  outlaws  of  society,  seeking  to  reform  criminals 
rather  than  punish  them  ;  it  is  this  which  has  introduced 
hopeful  discipline  into  our  prison  houses,  and,  except 
in  the  rarest  cases,  has  struck  the  punishment  of  death 
out  of  our  criminal  code. 

Arising  from  this  tendency  was  noticeable 
another  great  principle  "  honourably  character- 
istic of  our  age,"  the  desire  to  educate  the 
masses  of  the  people—"  to  level  the  disparities 
of  instruction."  Whilst  forced  to  admit  that  in 
comparison  with  recent  developments  among  the 
German  and  French  people  State-regulated  in- 
struction was  somewhat  backward  in  England, 
he,  nevertheless,  contended  that  there  was  a 
silent  education  distinct  from  that  of  schools 
ever  at  work  among  the  people  of  this  country, 
"  which,  when  it  comes  into  action,  exhibits  an 
intellectual  power  not  yet  found  in  those  whom 
State  policy  may  more  instruct  as  children,  but 
whom  civil  institutions  less  nerve  and  discipline 
as  men."  As  proof  of  this  he  instanced  "  the 
ease  with  which  our  English  intelligence  has 

199 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1854.    gained  by  reforms,  all  which  German  mystics 
.  51.  and  French  fanatics  have  lost  by  revolutions." 
Then  followed  a  passage  which  raises  considera- 
tions well  worthy  of  careful  study  to-day. 

For  my  part,  I  trust  that  education  in  this  country 
will  never  be  altogether  paid  for  and  regulated  by 
the  State.  I  hope  in  this,  as  in  all,  that  we  shall 
never  part  with  the  vital  principle  of  self-government 
in  contradistinction  to  centralisation.  But  I  hope  I 
shall  live  to  see  the  day  when  here  in  England,  as  in 
America,  the  education  of  the  people  may  come  from 
the  desire  of  the  people,  consenting  in  local  districts  to 
levy  a  rate  upon  themselves  for  education,  thus  interested 
in  seeing  that  the  education  is  of  the  best  kind  that 
their  money  can  produce,  and  adapted  not  to  some 
rigid  and  inflexible  State  machinery,  but  open  to  every 
improvement  which  the  experience  of  one  district  can 
suggest  to  the  emulation  of  another. 

Since  these  words  were  uttered,  the  tendency 
of  educational  development  in  this  country  has 
been  unhappily  rather  in  the  direction  of 
centralisation  than  of  State-aided  local  experi- 
ment. Schools  are  now  everywhere  provided 
by  the  State  ;  education  is  at  once  compulsory 
and  free  ;  and  whilst  the  resulting  gain  to  the 
present  generation  has  been  great  in  some 
respects,  it  can  scarcely  be  denied  that  much 
has  also  been  lost  which  was  worth  preserving. 
On  the  one  hand  the  highest  attainments  of 
scholarship  are  placed  within  the  reach  of  the 
poorest  of  the  land,  but  on  the  other  hand  the 
education  received  is  less  appreciated  by  those 


200 


VIEWS  ON  EDUCATION 

who  receive  it,  and  in  the  case  of  large  numbers  1854. 
of  the  children,  it  is  by  no  means  suited  to  the  &T.  51. 
requirements  of  their  after  life.  Consequently, 
two  features  are  becoming  more  and  more 
apparent  in  the  present  system  of  national 
education ;  one  is  the  indifference  of  the 
majority  of  parents  to  the  instruction  which 
their  children  receive  in  the  national  schools, 
and  for  which  they  feel  no  responsibility  ;  and 
the  second  is  the  uniformity  in  the  curriculum 
which  is  taught  with  little  or  no  regard  to  local 
conditions  or  the  requirements  of  different  classes 
of  the  population.  What  has  been  done  cannot 
be  undone,  and  no  one  would  now  propose  to  go 
back  to  the  days  when  education  was  left  to 
voluntary  effort  alone  ;  but  the  problem  of  avoid- 
ing the  evils  of  over-centralisation  is  one  which 
must  increasingly  occupy  the  attention  of  all 
earnest  educational  reformers. 

Bulwer-Lytton's  speech  continued  with  a 
timely  reminder  that  education  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  schools  alone. 

"  I  think  you  will  see,"  he  told  the  mechanics  of 
Leeds,  "  that  a  good  education  includes  the  school — 
but  it  requires  something  more  ;  and  here  don't  let 
me  forget,  amongst  our  other  advantages,  the  habits 
of  our  domestic  life.  .  .  .  There  are  few  of  us  who 
have  succeeded  honourably  in  the  world  that  will  not 
acknowledge  that  we  owe  far  less  to  the  school  than 
to  the  precepts  and  examples  that  we  found  at  home, 
and  especially  to  the  precepts  of  a  mother's  lips  and  the 
stainless  example  of  a  mother's  life.  I  rejoice,  therefore, 


M.P.  FOR  HERTFORDSHIRE 

1854.  to  comply  with  the  request  of  a  gentleman  who  said  to 
.  51.  me,  on  entering  the  hall  : — 'Say  something  in  favour 
of  adding  a  female  class  to  this  institution.'  Perhaps 
there  is  not  a  town  in  this  country  in  which  the  females 
of  the  working  classes  appear  less  to  require  new 
facilities  for  education  than  they  do  at  Leeds.  I  am 
told  that  there  is  scarcely  a  manufactory  to  which  there 
is  not  a  school  for  girls  attached.  Nevertheless,  it 
would  be  an  honour  and  a  credit  to  this  institution  if 
you  could  add  female  classes,  and  endeavour  as  far  as 
possible  to  fit  women  to  be  the  worthy  companions  of 
intelligent  men." 

Arguing  that  education  is  the  work  of  a  life 
and  must  be  continued  to  the  man  after  he  leaves 
school,  he  paid  a  tribute  to  institutions  such  as 
that  which  he  was  addressing,  and  concluded 
with  a  fine  oratorical  image  : — 

Sure  I  am  that  the  surest  mode,  under  Providence, 
of  bringing  all  problems  of  existing  civilisation  to  a 
favourable  issue  is  to  proportion  intelligence  to  power. 
And  perhaps  it  may  be  through  institutions  like  this 
that  every  year  Leeds  and  Manchester  may  contrast 
more  and  more  the  alternate  ferocity  and  submission 
which  have  been  the  reproach  of  Lyons  and  Marseilles. 
I  have  often  thought  that  the  ancients  endeavoured  to 
convey  to  us  a  type  of  the  true  moral  force  in  their 
sublime  statue  of  Hercules  in  repose.  You  see  there 
the  gigantic  strength  which  has  achieved  such  glorious 
labours,  evincing  the  consciousness  of  its  power  by  the 
majesty  of  its  calm  ;  while  in  those  mighty  arms  which 
have  purified  earth  from  its  monsters,  the  artist  has 
placed  an  infant  child  smiling  securely  in  the  face  of 
the  benignant  God.  Keep  that  image  ever  before  you 
— it  is  the  type  of  that  power  which  should  belong  to 


202 


OUTBREAK  OF  WAR 

knowledge,  and  which  is  always  gentle  in  proportion    1854. 
to  the  victories  it  achieves.  JET.  51. 

Two  months  later  the  long  peace  which 
Great  Britain  had  enjoyed  without  interruption 
for  nearly  forty  years  came  to  an  end,  and  im- 
mediately all  other  public  affairs  were  over- 
shadowed by  the  anxiety  with  which  the  whole 
nation  turned  to  watch  the  fortunes  of  the  con- 
tending armies  in  the  Crimea. 

The  part  which  Bulwer-Lytton  took  in  the 
Parliamentary  debates  connected  with  the  war 
will  form  the  subject  of  the  next  chapter. 


203 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    CRIMEAN    WAR 
1854-1855 

The  misfortunes  of  one  generation  are  often  necessary  to  the  prosperity 
of  another.  The  stream  of  blood  fertilises  the  earth  over  which  it  flows, 
and  war  has  been  at  once  the  scourge  and  the  civilizer  of  the  world.  .  .  . 
What  adversity  is  to  individuals,  war  often  is  to  nations — uncertain  in  its 
consequences,  it  is  true  that  with  some  it  subdues  and  crushes,  but  with 
others  it  braces  and  exalts. 

Athens :  Its  Rise  and  Fall. 

854-1855.  THE  diplomatic  negotiations  which  preceded  the 
ET.  51-52.  outbreak  of  the  Crimean  war,  the  military 
operations  of  the  war  itself,  the  sufferings  of  the 
soldiers,  and  the  achievements  by  which  they 
added  fresh  glory  to  the  British  army,  are 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  book.  Some  reference, 
however,  must  be  made  to  the  Parliamentary 
discussions  of  the  years  1854  and  1855,  f°r  t^ie 
only  record  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  activities  during 
these  years  is  to  be  found  in  the  speeches  which 
he  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  the 
subject  which  then  occupied  men's  thoughts 
to  the  exclusion  of  everything  else. 

A  short  summary  of  the  chief  events  of  the 
Crimean  war  may  help  the  reader  to  understand 
the  matters  with  which  this  chapter  deals. 

204 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  WAR 

The  insignificant  dispute  between  the  priests  1854-1855. 
of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches  regarding  the  JEr.  51-52. 
control  of  the  Holy  places  in  the  East,  which 
eventually  involved  the  three  chief  Powers  of 
Europe  in  war,  was  first  taken  up  in  1852  by 
Napoleon  III.,  on  whom,  therefore,  rests  the 
responsibility  for  all  that  followed  from  his 
interference.  The  dispute  rapidly  developed 
into  a  personal  conflict  between  the  respective 
champions  of  the  two  Churches,  the  Czar 
Nicolas  I.  and  the  Emperor  of  the  French.  The 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  who  exercised  suzerainty  over 
the  territory  in  which  the  dispute  had  arisen, 
found  himself  called  upon  to  mediate  between 
these  two  Powers,  and,  unable  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  one  without  risking  a  conflict  with 
the  other,  he  contrived  as  long  as  possible  to 
avoid  a  settlement.  In  1853  Nicolas  sent  extra- 
ordinary envoys  to  Constantinople  to  claim  for 
Russia  a  religious  protectorate  over  all  Greek 
Christians  in  the  Turkish  dominions,  and  at  the 
same  time  proposed  to  make  with  England  a 
partition  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  The  British 
Government  refused  to  entertain  his  proposition, 
and  decided  to  support  the  Sultan  in  resisting 
the  Russian  demands.  The  quarrel  then  de- 
veloped into  a  rivalry  between  the  East  and 
West,  between  two  opposing  schools  of  thought, 
which  had  been  developing  in  Europe  ever  since 
1815.  Both  in  England  and  France  public 
opinion,  wholly  uninstructed  as  to  the  real 
issues  involved,  became  violently  excited.  The 

205 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854-1855.  Czar  was  denounced  as  the  autocratic  supporter 
JET.  51-52.  of  doctrines    of  Government   and   methods    of 
aggrandisement  opposed  to  the  modern  political 
thought   of  Western   Europe  ;    the   Sultan   was 
represented  as  a  model   of  religious   toleration, 
and    the    integrity    and    independence    of    the 
Ottoman  Empire  was  declared  to  be  necessary 
for  the  political  stability  of  Europe.     The  three 
special  champions  of  these  ideas  were  Napoleon 
III.,  Lord  Palmerston,  and  Lord  Stratford,  the 
British  Ambassador  at  Constantinople.     Each  of 
these  men,  for  different  reasons,  was  determined 
to  bring  about  a  war  with  Russia,  and  within 
a  few  months    their   object  was  accomplished. 
The  best  opinion,  both  in  England  and  France, 
was  opposed  to  the  war.     Lord  Aberdeen,  the 
Prime  Minister,  laboured  strenuously  to  preserve 
peace,  and  though  anxious  to  resign,  remained 
at  his  post,  in  the  belief  that  only  by  keeping 
his  Government  together  could  war  be  averted. 
But  the  peace  party,  though  strongly  represented 
in  the  Cabinet,  was  in  a  minority  in  the  country. 
Public   opinion   was  too   strong    for  them,   and 
the    country    drifted    into    a   war   from    which 
nothing   was  to  be  gained,  and  which  is  diffi- 
cult to  justify  by  any  consideration  for   British 
interests. 

Supported  by  Lord  Stratford,  the  Sultan  re- 
fused the  demands  of  the  Czar,  and  in  October, 
1853,  war  was  declared  between  Turkey  and 
Russia.  Diplomatic  negotiations  were  continued 
for  some  months  between  the  other  European 

206 


SUMMARY  OF  EVENTS 

Powers,  but  no  settlement  was  arrived  at  ;  and  1854-1855. 
in  March,  1854,  England  and  France  both  de-  &r.  51-52. 
clared   war    on    Russia.       A    treaty    of  alliance 
between  Great  Britain   and   France  was   signed 
on  March  10,  by  which  they  bound  themselves 
to   fight   against   Russia  for   the   rights  of  the 
Sultan  and  "  the  independence  of  the  Ottoman 
Empire." 

Mr.  Gladstone's  first  war  budget  was  intro- 
duced on  March  6,  and  a  second  one  on  May  8. 
On  March  31  the  Queen's  message  of  war  was 
discussed  in  Parliament.      These  were  the  first 
occasions    on    which    the    opinion    of    different 
sections  in  the   House  of  Commons  found  ex- 
pression   as  to   the    policy    of   the    war.      The 
majority,  of  course,  reflected  the  opinion  of  the 
country,  which  was  strongly  warlike.     A  small 
but  fearless  minority  of  Radicals,  whose  opinions 
were   voiced   by   the   fierce   eloquence   of  John 
Bright,  frankly  opposed  the  war  as  a  crime  on 
civilisation.     Disraeli,  who  led  the  Conservative 
opposition,    did    not    share    either   the    popular 
delusions  with  regard  to  Russia,  or  the  popular 
enthusiasm   for  war.     In   his   heart  he  disliked 
the  war  because   it   made   the   position   of  the 
Government  impregnable  ;  but  he  realised  that 
from  the  moment  hostilities  had  actually  broken 
out,  the  country  would  not  tolerate  any  criticism 
of  the  policy  of  the  war,  or  any  action  which 
could  be  interpreted  as  an  embarrassment  to  the 
Government  which  was  responsible  for  it.     In 
the   early  days  he   accused   the  Government  of 

207 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854-1855.  drifting  into  a  course  of  which  they  did  not 
/ET.  51-52.  themselves  approve.  "You  are  going  to  war," 
he  said,  in  the  first  budget  debate,  "  with  an 
opponent  that  does  not  want  to  fight,  and  you 
are  unwilling  to  encounter  him"  ;  but  in  all 
the  subsequent  debates  he  refrained  from  any 
criticism  which  might  be  regarded  as  hostile  to 
the  policy  of  the  war,  knowing  that  such  would 
be  considered  an  unforgivable  offence  by  the 
public,  with  whom  a  belief  in  the  righteousness 
of  the  quarrel  and  a  determination  to  bring  it 
to  a  successful  conclusion  had  become  sacred 
obligations  of  national  honour.  He  led  his  party 
in  many  attacks  on  the  Government  for  their 
mismanagement  of  the  campaign,  but  refused 
to  accept  their  challenge  to  a  direct  vote  of 
no  confidence. 

Owing  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  Russian 
troops  from  the  Danubian  provinces,  caused  by 
the  fear  of  the  Czar  that  Austria  intended  to 
join  the  allied  forces,  diplomatic  negotiations 
were  resumed  during  the  summer  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  after  the  failure  of  these  that  the  invasion 
of  the  Crimea  began  in  September.  The  battle 
of  the  Alma  took  place  on  September  20, 
and  was  immediately  followed  by  the  siege  of 
Sebastopol.  Balaklava  and  Inkermann  were 
fought  on  October  25  and  November  5.  On 
November  14  a  great  storm  occurred,  which 
destroyed  many  of  the  transports,  filled  the 
trenches  with  mud,  and  was  the  beginning  of 
the  acute  sufferings  which  the  allied  troops 

208 


SUMMARY  OF  EVENTS 

endured  for  the  rest  of  the  severe  Russian  winter.  1854-1855. 
Severe  criticisms  of  the  management  of  the  &T.  51-52- 
campaign,  damaging  to  the  reputation  both  of 
the  generals  at  the  front  and  of  the  Government 
at  home,  were  sent  to  The  Times  by  their  war 
correspondent,  Mr.  Russell.  The  publication 
of  these  letters  aroused  the  greatest  indignation 
in  England,  and  the  prevailing  discontent  was 
loudly  voiced  in  the  House  of  Commons 
when  Parliament  reassembled  in  December.  On 
December  19  the  Government  introduced  a  Bill, 
giving  them  power  to  enlist  foreign  soldiers 
to  assist  their  army  in  prosecuting  the  war. 
This  measure  was  strenuously  opposed,  but  was 
eventually  passed  by  a  majority  of  39.  When 
Parliament  reassembled  after  Christmas,  Mr. 
Roebuck  gave  notice  that  he  would  move  for 
the  appointment  of  a  Committee  to  inquire  into 
the  management  of  the  war.  Lord  John  Russell, 
who  had  from  the  first  been  a  constant  source 
of  embarrassment  to  Lord  Aberdeen,  now  declared 
that  he  could  not  oppose  this  motion  and  re- 
signed. On  January  29  Mr.  Roebuck's  motion 
was  carried  against  the  Government  by  305  to 
148,  and  Lord  Aberdeen  at  once  resigned. 

As  the  Opposition  had  supported  Mr.  Roe- 
buck's motion  and  were  therefore  responsible  for 
turning  out  the  Government,  the  Queen  sent 
for  their  leader,  Lord  Derby,  who,  to  Disraeli's 
great  disgust,  refused  to  take  office  because  he 
could  get  no  support  from  any  member  of  the 
Government  which  he  had  just  destroyed.  Lord 
VOL.  ii  209  P 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854-1855.  John  Russell  was  then  sent  for,  but  found  that 
JET.  51-52.  none  of  his  recent  colleagues  would  forgive  him 
for  what  they  considered  his  treachery  to  Lord 
Aberdeen,  or  consent  to  serve  under  him.  Lord 
Palmerston  eventually  became  Prime  Minister 
and  formed  a  new  Whig  Administration.  Lord 
John  Russell  was  not  included  in  the  Govern- 
ment, but  was  sent  soon  afterwards  as  British 
representative  to  the  Congress  of  the  Powers 
which  had  assembled  at  Vienna  to  discuss 
the  possibility  of  terminating  the  war.  Lord 
Palmerston  at  first  refused  to  accept  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Roebuck  Committee,  but  when 
Disraeli  insisted  that  the  House  should  adhere 
to  its  decision,  he  gave  way  and  allowed  the 
Committee  to  be  appointed.  Gladstone  and 
three  other  Peelites,  who  had  joined  the  Govern- 
ment on  the  condition  that  the  Committee 
should  be  resisted,  thereupon  resigned  ;  and  Lord 
John  Russell,  then  at  Paris  on  his  way  to 
Vienna,  agreed  to  accept  the  vacant  post  of 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  without 
abandoning  the  mission  on  which  he  was  en- 
gaged. A  ministerial  statement  on  the  subject 
of  these  changes  in  the  Cabinet  was  made 
in  the  House  of  Commons  on  February  23, 
and  during  the  debate  which  followed,  Bright 
renewed  his  advocacy  of  peace  in  a  speech 
containing  the  famous  reference  to  the  "  Angel 
of  Death." 

On  the  Continent  the  chief  events   of  1855 
were  the  dispatch  in  January  of   15,000  troops 

210 


SUMMARY  OF  EVENTS 

from    Sardinia  to   aid   the   allied  armies  in   the  1854-1855. 
Crimea,  the  diplomatic  negotiations  at   Vienna,  MT.  51-52. 
and  the  death  of  the  Czar  Nicholas,  which  took 
place   on    March   2.     The   Congress  of  Vienna 
put    forward   four    points    as    the    basis    of   an 
honourable  peace  : — 

1.  A   European   protection  of  the   Danubian 

provinces. 

2.  The  free  navigation  of  the  Danube. 

3.  The  termination  of  Russian  preponderance 

in  the  Black  Sea. 

4.  The    establishment    of   a    European    pro- 

tectorate over   the   Christian   subjects   of 
the  Sultan. 

The  only  one  of  these  points  which  offered 
any  difficulty,  and  on  which  the  Congress  finally 
broke  up,  was  the  third.  It  was  suggested  that 
the  Black  Sea  should  be  declared  neutral  and 
closed  to  the  warships  of  all  nations,  or  as  an 
alternative,  that  the  number  of  Russian  ships 
admitted  to  it  should  be  limited  by  a  fixed 
proportion  to  the  ships  of  other  countries. 
Russia  refused  to  accept  either  proposal,  and  the 
negotiations  were  suspended. 

The  failure  of  the  Congress  of  Vienna  some- 
what modified  the  war  feeling  in  England. 
Neither  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon  nor  to  Lord 
Palmerston  were  the  suggested  terms  at  all 
acceptable,  and  they  were  not  yet  prepared  to 
terminate  the  war,  although  the  proposals  had 
been  accepted  both  by  Lord  John  Russell  and 


211 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854-1855.  by  the  French  representative,  M.  Drouyn  de 
.  51-52.  Lhuys  ;  but  the  peace  party  in  England  now 
obtained  valuable  recruits  from  such  men  as 
Mr.  Gladstone  and  the  other  Peelites  who 
had  resigned  from  the  Cabinet — Mr.  Roundell 
Palmer,  Lord  Stanley,  and  Lord  Robert  Cecil 
(afterwards  Lord  Salisbury).  These  men  con- 
sidered that  the  objects  of  the  war  had  been 
satisfied,  and  regarded  insistence  on  the  limitation 
of  Russian  ships  in  the  Black  Sea  as  unreasonable. 
The  Austrian  Chancellor,  Count  Buol,  irritated 
at  the  rejection  of  the  Austrian  proposals,  made 
public  the  fact  that  they  had  been  supported  by 
the  French  and  English  representatives.  This 
led  to  a  storm  of  indignation  in  England  against 
Lord  John  Russell,  which  forced  him  to  resign. 
Lord  Raglan  died  in  June.  The  Sebastopol 
Committee  issued  their  report  in  July,  severely 
criticising  the  conduct  of  the  war.  Public 
opinion  strongly  condemned  the  Government, 
both  for  their  maladministration  and  for  the 
favouritism  which  they  had  shown  to  the 
members  of  their  own  privileged  class.  They 
were  subjected  to  numerous  attacks  from  the 
Opposition  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
only  narrowly  escaped  defeat  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  The  session  finally  closed  at  the  end 
of  July. 

On  August  1 6  the  battle  of  Tchernaya  took 
place,  in  which  the  Sardinian  soldiers  greatly 
distinguished  themselves,  and  on  September  8 
Sebastopol  fell.  The  last  event  of  the  war  was 


212 


BULWER-LYTTON'S  SPEECHES 

the  capture  by  the  Russians,  on  November  28,  1854-1855. 
of  the  fortress  of  Kars,  which  had  been  gallantly  ^ET.  51-52. 
defended  for  many  months  by  General  Williams. 
At  the  beginning  of  1856  a  Conference  of  the 
Powers  met  in  Paris,  and  the  war  was  brought 
to   an   end  by   the  Peace   of   Paris,  which   was 
signed  in  March. 

In  most  of  the  parliamentary  events  referred 
to  in  the  foregoing  summary,  Bulwer-Lytton 
took  a  prominent  part.  His  speeches  during 
these  years  differ  somewhat  from  those  which 
he  made  at  other  periods  of  his  life.  In  the 
main  his  parliamentary  utterances  are  remarkable 
for  their  detached  point  of  view.  They  nearly 
always  contain  some  line  of  argument  which  is 
peculiar  to  himself,  and  they  are  chiefly  interest- 
ing as  revelations  of  his  own  individuality.  His 
speeches  during  the  Crimean  war,  however,  are 
remarkable  rather  for  their  embodiment  of  the 
sentiments  and  opinions  of  the  day  than  for 
any  originality  of  thought.  In  times  of  great 
national  crisis  most  men's  minds  are  tuned  to 
the  same  key,  their  hearts  beat  in  greater 
harmony  than  at  other  times,  and  their  common 
anxiety  binds  them  in  closer  fellowship.  During 
the  war  there  were,  it  is  true,  a  few  men  who 
did  not  share  the  prevailing  opinions,  who  were 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  temper  of  the  public, 
whose  voices  were  raised  in  opposition  to  the 
policy  which  the  rest  of  their  countrymen 
applauded,  and  who  were  stigmatised  as 
"Russians,"  just  as  their  successors  of  a  later 

213 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854.  generation  were  stigmatised  as  "  Pro- Boers." 
51.  Bulwer-Lytton  was  not  one  of  these,  and  his 
speeches  in  1854  and  1855  are  a  reflection  of 
the  sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of  the 
English  people  at  that  time.  He  justified  the 
war  as  thousands  of  others  justified  it,  he  attacked 
the  mistakes  of  the  Government  as  thousands  of 
others  attacked  them,  and  like  the  rest  of  his 
countrymen  he  repudiated  any  suggestion  of 
peace  until  some  substantial  result  had  been 
achieved  to  compensate  the  nation  for  sacrifices 
which  would  otherwise  appear  merely  wanton. 

His  speeches  are  not  the  less  interesting  on 
that  account,  and  deserve  an  examination  for  the 
very  qualities  which  I  have  mentioned. 

On  May  15,  1854,  he  spoke  on  the  second 
Reading  of  the  Excise  Duties  Bill,  and  on 
behalf  of  agriculturists  bitterly  complained  of 
the  increase  of  the  malt  tax,  which  formed  part 
of  Mr.  Gladstone's  war  budget.  Although  the 
tax  itself  was  one  which  fell  wholly  on  the 
consumer,  he  argued  that  by  diminishing  the 
demand  for  barley  the  tax  had  a  specially 
injurious  effect  upon  the  farmers.  He  also 
criticised  the  reluctance  of  the  Government  to 
meet  the  expenses  of  the  war  by  means  of  a 
loan,  thereby  placing  part  of  the  burden  upon 
the  shoulders  of  posterity. 

"  So  much  has  been  said  about  our  not  saddling 
posterity,"  he  argued,  "  that  it  seems  as  if  it  were 
intended  to  insinuate  that  this  is  not  a  war  to  be  waged 
on  behalf  of  posterity,  but  for  some  fleeting  and  selfish 

214 


POLICY  OF  THE  WAR 

purpose  of  our  own.  If  that  be  so,  I  call  on  our  1854. 
Ministers  to  recall  our  fleets  and  to  disband  our  J&T.  51. 
armies — a  war  which  is  not  for  posterity  is  no  fitting 
war  for  us.  But  surely  if  ever  there  was  a  war  waged 
on  behalf  of  posterity,  it  is  the  war  which  would  check 
the  ambition  of  Russia,  and  preserve  Europe  from  the 
outlet  of  barbarian  tribes,  that  require  but  the  haven 
of  the  Bosphorus  to  menace  the  liberty  and  the  civilisa- 
tion of  races  as  yet  unborn.  It  is  not  our  generation 
that  need  fear  if  the  flag  of  Russia  waved  to-morrow 
over  the  ruins  of  Constantinople.  The  encroachments 
of  Russia  are  proverbially  slow;  it  would  require  a 
quarter  of  a  century  before  she  could  recover  the 
exhaustion  of  her  own  victories,  and  tame  into  con- 
venient serfs  the  brave  population  she  had  conquered. 
It  is  for  all  time  that  we  wage  the  battle.  It  is  that 
the  liberties  of  our  children  may  be  secured  from  some 
future  Attila,  and  civilisation  guarded  from  the  irrup- 
tions of  Scythian  hordes.  On  this  ground,  then,  we 
might  fairly  demand  the  next  generation  to  aid  us  in 
the  conflict  we  endure  for  their  sake." 

The  concluding  words  of  a  speech  made  in 
the  following  year  may  also  be  quoted  here  in 
further  illustration  of  the  views  of  that  genera- 
tion, respecting  the  policy  of  the  war  : — 

The  noble  Lord  (Lord  Archibald  Hamilton)  who 
has  just  spoken  with  so  much  honesty  of  conviction, 
ventured  to  anticipate  the  verdict  of  history.  Let  me 
do  the  same.  Let  me  suppose  that  when  the  future 
philanthropist  shall  ask  what  service  on  the  human  race 
did  we,  in  our  generation,  signally  confer,  some  one 
trained,  perhaps,  in  the  schools  of  Oxford,  or  the 
Institute  of  Manchester,  shall  answer  :  "  A  power  that 
commanded  myriads — as  many  as  those  that  under 

215 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854.  Xerxes  exhausted  rivers  in  their  march — embodied  all 
Er.  51.  the  forces  of  barbarism  on  the  outskirts  of  civilisation. 
Left  there  to  develop  its  own  natural  resources,  no 
State  molested,  though  all  apprehended  its  growth. 
But,  long  pent  by  merciful  nature  in  its  own  legitimate 
domains,  this  Power  schemed  for  the  outlet  to  its 
instinctive  ambition  ;  to  that  outlet  it  crept  by  dis- 
simulating guile,  by  successive  treaties  that,  promising 
peace,  graduated  spoliation  to  the  opportunities  of 
fraud.  At  length,  under  pretexts  too  gross  to  deceive 
the  common-sense  of  mankind,  it  prepared  to  seize  that 
outlet — to  storm  the  feeble  gates  between  itself  and  the 
world  beyond."  Then  the  historian  shall  say  that  we 
in  our  generation — the  united  families  of  England  and 
France — made  ourselves  the  vanguard  of  alarmed  and 
shrinking  Europe,  and  did  not  sheathe  the  sword  until  we 
had  redeemed  the  pledge  to  humanity  made  on  the  faith 
of  two  Christian  sovereigns,  and  ratified  at  those  distant 
graves  which  liberty  and  justice  shall  revere  for  ever. 

It  is  always  rash  for  the  politicians  of  one 
generation  to  anticipate  the  judgment  which 
later  generations  will  pass  upon  their  actions, 
and  the  verdict  of  history  on  the  policy  of  the 
Crimean  War  is  not  precisely  a  fulfilment 
of  Bulwer  -  Lytton's  grandiloquent  prophecy. 
Nevertheless,  his  words  have  an  interest  to-day 
as  an  illustration  of  the  extraordinary  prejudice 
which  the  people  of  that  generation  had  been 
taught  to  feel  against  Russia. 

Bulwer-Lytton's  next  intervention  in  Parlia- 
ment was  on  December  19,  1854,  when  he  led 
the  attack  on  the  Government  by  moving  the 
rejection  of  the  Bill  for  the  Enlistment  of 

216 


FOREIGN  ENLISTMENT  BILL 

Foreigners.     He  had  little  difficulty  in  making    1854. 
out  a  strong  case  against  this  ill-advised  measure,  ;£T.  51. 
and  prophesying    some   of  the    embarrassments 
which  would  follow  from  its  adoption.     Follow- 
ing  Lord  John   Russell,   who    had    moved    the 
second  Reading  of  the  Bill,  he  contended  that 
no  case  had  been   made  out  "why  we  should 
henceforth  prefer  to  win  our  victories  by  proxy." 

"  What  is  it,"  he  asked,  "  on  which  you  now  mainly 
rely  to  continue  this  war  with  vigour,  no  matter  at 
what  sacrifice  and  cost  ?  Not  so  much  on  the  extent  of 
our  territory,  the  amount  of  our  population,  the  wealth 
of  our  resources,  as  on  the  ardour  of  the  people  ;  on 
that  spirit  of  nationality  which,  we  are  told  by  the 
Minister  of  War,  rises  against  every  danger,  and 
augments  in  proportion  to  the  demand  on  its  energies. 
It  is  that  ardour  you  are  about  to  damp — it  is  that 
spirit  of  nationality  to  which  this  Bill  administers  both 
discouragement  and  affront.  The  noble  Lord  says  our 
difficulty  is  at  the  commencement.  What  is  the 
commencement  ?  One  burst  of  popular  enthusiasm  ! 
And  in  the  midst  of  that  enthusiasm,  at  a  time  when 
we  are  told  by  the  Secretary  at  War  that  ^you  get 
recruits  faster  than  you  can  form  them  into  regiments — 
you  say  to  the  people  of  this  empire,  *  Your  rude  and 
untutored  valour  does  not  suffice  for  the  prowess  of 
England,  and  we  must  apply  to  the  petty  principalities 
of  Europe  for  the  co-operation  of  their  more  skilful 
and  warlike  subjects.'  I  say  that  this  is  an  unwise,  and 
I  maintain  it  to  be  an  unnecessary,  blow  upon  the  vital 
principle  that  now  sustains  your  cause,  and  brings  to 
your  army  more  men  than  you  know  how  to  employ. 
And  if  anything  could  make  this  war  unpopular,  it 
would  be  the  sight  of  foreign  soldiers  quartered  and 

217 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854.  drilled  in  any  part  of  these  kingdoms,  paid  by  the  taxes 
Er.  51.  extorted  from  this  people,  and  occupying  barracks  of 
which  the  paucity  is  your  excuse  for  not  having 
embodied  more  of  the  militia  of  our  native  land.  .  .  . 
Now  as  to  the  precedents  cited  by  the  noble  Lord.  I 
am  almost  ashamed  to  repeat  what  everyone  knows — 
namely,  that  the  precedent  you  would  draw  from  the 
enlistment  of  Germans  in  1804  and  1806  is  wholly 
inapplicable  to  the  present  case.  Look  to  the  period  of 
the  great  French  war.  Our  sovereign  was  not  only 
King  of  Great  Britain — he  was  Elector  of  Hanover. 
His  interests  and  ours  were  identified  with  the  German 
Powers,  except,  indeed,  Prussia,  which  at  that  time, 
influenced  first  by  her  guilty  designs  on  the  partition  of 
Poland,  and  afterwards  by  the  hope  of  obtaining 
Hanover  as  a  reward  for  neutrality,  did,  in  the  opinion 
of  all  dispassionate  historians,  by  her  selfish  inertness 
and  procrastination,  paralyse  the  army  of  the  other 
allies,  and  give  to  the  common  foe  that  gigantic  power 
of  which  Prussia  was  afterwards  the  most  signal  victim. 
I  trust  that  Prussia  is  wiser  now  ;  that  she  will  not  again 
amuse  other  and  nobler  confederacies  by  her  tortuous 
diplomacy,  cripple  their  energies  by  dissimulating 
lethargy,  nor  require,  at  the  last,  the  assistance  of  their 
arms  to  free  herself  from  the  ruin  in  which  selfish 
indifference  to  the  common  cause  once  involved  her 
very  existence  as  a  nation.  But  at  that  time  the  enlist- 
ment of  German  soldiers  in  this  country  was  at  least 
natural  enough,  though  even  the  memory  of  their 
gallantry  in  the  field,  which  deserves  all  we  can  say  of  it, 
has  not, you  see, sufficed  to  render  that  enlistment  popular. 
The  noble  Lord  refers  to  the  debate  of  1804,  in  which 
Mr.  Francis,  afterwards  Sir  Philip,  took  part.  Ay,  but 
he  did  not  tell  you  the  excuse  which  the  then  Secretary 
at  War  made  to  the  objections  Mr.  Francis  indignantly 
urged.  The  excuse  was  this  : — '  The  enlistment  of 

218 


FOREIGN  ENLISTMENT  BILL 

German  soldiers  was  only  a  measure  of  providing  for  a  1854. 
certain  number  of  men  who  were  subjects  of  the  same  Mr,  51. 
sovereign,  and  had  been  forced  to  leave  their  country.' 
Who  can  say  that  this  is  a  parallel  instance  ?  It  is  true 
that  other  foreigners  were  enlisted,  but  they  were 
chiefly  from  those  German  nations  which  had  the  most 
cordial  sympathy  with  the  English  cause.  But  now, 
indeed,  although  we  should  be  proud  to  have  a  sincere 
and  hearty  alliance  with  the  German  courts,  it  is  at  least 
premature  to  believe  that  their  interests,  their  objects 
in  the  war,  are  cordially  and  permanently  identified 
with  our  own.  And  if  we  would  render  the  Germans 
as  popular  in  England  as  I  hope  they  may  yet  be,  we 
could  not  more  defeat  that  object  than  by  exhibiting 
German  soldiers  as  substitutes  for  English  valour  upon 
English  ground.  But  the  noble  Lord  goes  back  to  the 
time  of  Marlborough — nay,  he  says  that  in  all  our 
former  wars  foreign  troops  have  been  employed.  Yes  ; 
but  when  they  were  employed  with  honour,  they  were 
the  auxiliary  forces  of  our  open  allies,  and  officered  by 
the  rank,  the  chivalry,  the  military  renown  of  nations 
in  the  closest  sympathy  with  ourselves,  and  were  not 
mere  free  lances,  under  unknown  and  mercenary 
captains.  I  say,  when  they  have  been  employed  with 
honour.  For  where,  indeed,  an  aid  similar  to  that 
which  you  now  demand  has  been  obtained  wherever 
foreign  princes  have  been  subsidised,  and  their  subjects 
hired  by  English  gold  to  take  part  in  the  struggles  with 
which  they  had  no  English  sympathies — there  the 
historian  pauses  to  vent  his  scorn  on  the  princes  who 
thus  sell  the  blood  of  their  subjects,  and  his  grief  at  the 
degradation  of  England  in  the  blood-money  she  pays 
to  the  hirelings  :  these  are  not  precedents  to  follow, 
but  examples  to  shun.  .  .  . 

Whatever  way  I  look  at  this  proposed  Bill  I  can  see 
nothing  to  justify  and  excuse  it.     I  have  said  that  there 

219 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1854.  is  no  parallel  case  of  precedent.  Now,  let  us  ask,  What 
Mr.  5 1 .  is  your  plea  of  necessity  ?  And  here,  Sir,  I  find  my  own 
opinions  so  lucidly  and  moderately  stated  by  a  great  man 
whose  authority  must  have  the  utmost  weight  with 
gentlemen  opposite,  that  I  will  read  what  was  said  in  this 
House  by  the  late  Lord  Grey,  then  Mr.  Grey.  He  said : 
— '  On  urgent  occasions  it  may  be  proper  to  introduce 
foreign  troops  into  this  country,  but  it  should  never  be 
done  except  in  cases  of  extreme  and  proved  necessity, 
and  never  should  be  suffered  to  be  done  without  being 
watched  with  that  constitutional  jealousy  which  is  the 
best  part  of  the  character  of  this  House,  and  the  best 
security  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people.' 
Now,  let  me  pause,  and  appeal  to  the  generous  candour 
of  hon.  gentlemen  opposite,  if  these  words,  from  one  of 
the  greatest  statesmen  who  ever  adorned  your  opinions, 
do  not  justify  the  jealousy  with  which  we  regard  this 
Bill,  and  whether  we  are  right  or  wrong  in  that 
jealousy,  if  they  do  not  amply  vindicate  us  from  the 
unworthy  charge  of  wishing  to  obstruct  the  general 
preparations  for  the  war,  because  we  cavil  at  the 
introduction  of  foreign  soldiers.  Mr.  Grey  went  on  to 
observe  that  '  Though  he  was  not  ready  to  deny  that 
for  the  purpose  of  our  own  defence  we  should  some- 
times employ  foreign  troops,  yet  he  could  not  help 
thinking  that  the  wisest  course  for  us  would  be  to  rely 
on  what  had  been  emphatically  called  the  energy  of  an 
armed  nation.'  So,  then,  where  is  this  case  of  urgent 
and  proved  necessity — necessity  for  our  own  defence  ? 
You  have  not  argued  it  as  a  necessity  ;  the  noble  Lord 
has  not  done  so  ;  he  is  too  much  of  an  Englishman  for 
that.  It  is  only  argued  at  most  as  a  question  of 
convenience — the  convenience  of  drilling  or  organis- 
ing the  troops  in  this  country  ;  and  I  say  that  it 
does  not  seem  to  me  a  convenience  that  is  worth  the 
purchase." 

220 


LETTER  TO  FORSTER 

At  the  beginning  of  January  Bulwer-Lytton    1855. 
wrote  to  John  Forster  : —  JE.T.  52. 

Jan.  1855. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER  —  Many  happy  New  Years  to 
you,  and  may  the  coming  stranger  be  more  propitious 
than  he  is  to  me.  I  am  unable  to  shake  off  a  worrying 
bronchitis  and  serious  cough,  and  am  again  tormented 
with  sciatica,  which  nailed  me  for  three  months 
and  more  last  year.  Altogether  I  am  hipped  and 
lifeless. 

Is  it  Emerson  Tennent  whom  you  refer  to  as 
speaking  kindly  of  my  parliamentary  effort  ?  I  can't 
make  out  the  name.  All  these  things  come  too  late, 
and  how  evanescent  they  are  at  the  best.  Oh,  to  be  a 
raw  recruit  of  18,  setting  off  for  the  dismal  swamp  of 
the  Crimea,  full  of  hope,  dreamless  of  sciatica  and 
pining  for  a  word  in  a  despatch.  Eheu,  fugaces, 
Postume,  Postume,  labuntur  anni.  But  that  army,  what 
a  state  !  how  one's  heart  bleeds.  What  blame  attaches 
somewhere.  Is  it  Raglan  really  ? — Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B.  L. 

In  spite  of  the  physical  infirmities  complained 
of  in  this  letter,  he  again  took  an  effective  part 
at  the  end  of  the  month  in  the  debate  on  Mr. 
Roebuck's  motion  for  the  appointment  of  a 
Committee  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the 
army  before  Sebastopol,  which  led  to  the  defeat 
and  resignation  of  Lord  Aberdeen's  Government  ; 
and  his  speech  on  this  occasion  dealt  with  most 
of  the  charges  which  public  opinion  in  favour 
of  the  war  brought  against  the  Government 
responsible  for  its  conduct. 


221 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.  "  And  first,"  he  said,  "  we  accuse  you  of  this  :  that  you 
JE.T,  52.  entered — not,  indeed,  hastily,  but  with  long  deliberation, 
with  ample  time  for  forethought,  if  not  for  preparation 
— into  the  most  arduous  enterprise  this  generation  has 
witnessed,  in  the  most  utter  ignorance  of  the  power  and 
resources  of  the  enemy  you  were  to  encounter,  the 
nature  of  the  climate  you  were  to  brave,  of  the  country 
you  were  to  enter,  of  the  supplies  which  your  army 
would  need.  This  ignorance  is  the  more  inexcusable 
because  you  disdain  the  available  sources  of  informa- 
tion. ...  It  has  indeed  been  said  that  the  public  were 
no  wiser  than  the  Government — that  the  public  under- 
rated the  power  of  Russia,  and  demanded  the  premature 
siege  of  Sebastopol.  If  this  were  true,  what  then? 
Why  do  we  choose  Ministers  ?  Why  do  we  give  them 
salaries,  patronage,  honours — if  it  is  not  to  have  some 
men  wiser  than  the  average  of  mankind,  at  least  in  all 
that  relates  to  the  offices  they  hold  ?  It  may  be  a  noble 
fault  in  a  people  to  disregard  the  strength  of  an  enemy 
when  the  cause  is  just.  Who  does  not  love  and  admire 
this  English  people  more  when  they  rose  as  one  man  to 
cry  '  No  matter  what  the  cost  or  hazard,  let  us  defend 
the  weak  against  the  strong '  ?  But  if  to  underrate 
the  power  of  an  enemy  was  almost  a  merit  in  the 
people,  it  was  a  grave  dereliction  of  duty  in  a  Minister 
of  War.  But  I  deny  that  the  public,  fairly  considered, 
were  not  wiser  than  the  Government,  and  there  is 
scarcely  a  point  which  you  have  covered  with  a  blunder 
on  which  someone  or  other  of  the  public  did  not  try  to 
prepare  and  warn  you." 

The   next  charges   were  that  they  failed  to 
take  possession  of  Odessa, 

.  .  .  the  great  depot  of  the  Russian  enemy,  the  depot  of 
ammunition,  provisions,  troops  for  that  Crimea  which 


CRITICISM  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT 

you  had    already  resolved   to  invade.  .  .  .  This  first    1855. 
proof  of  feeble  incapacity  links  itself  with  all  that  has  JET.  52. 
followed.    You  thus  forbear  the  easiest  and  the  wealthiest 
conquest  of  all,  in  order  afterwards,  in  the  very  worst 
time,  at  the  very  worst  season,  to  attempt  an  achieve- 
ment the  most  difficult  in  itself,  and  which  that  forbear- 
ance to  Odessa  rendered  more  difficult  still. 

He  then  proceeded  to  read  extracts  from  the 
letters  of  a  young  officer,  who  had  died  of 
cholera  on  landing  in  the  Crimea,  to  show  that 
the  army  was  not  equipped  or  provisioned  as  it 
should  have  been,  and  that  no  allowance  had 
been  made  for  the  Russian  climate  at  that  season 
of  the  year  ;  and  he  ascribed  these  blunders  to  a 
lack  of  unity  in  the  Cabinet  itself  and  to  the 
Whig  exclusiveness,  under  which  "  a  small 
hereditary  combination  of  great  families "  had 
obtained  "  a  fictitious  monopoly  of  Liberal 
policy  and  a  genuine  monopoly  of  lethargic 
Government."  Time  which  might  have  been 
spent  on  raising  and  adequately  equipping  British 
troops  had  been  wasted  by  the  Government  on 
their  ill-conceived  Foreign  Enlistment  Bill. 

Here  again,  the  same  eternal  want  of  information  ! 
You  go  to  Germany  for  foreign  troops,  and  Germany 
declares  your  overtures  illegal,  and  rejects  them  with 
scorn.  I  ventured  to  tell  you  that  if  you  carried  the 
Foreign  Enlistment  Bill  you  would  never  be  able  to 
use  it.  And  now  Parliament  meets  again  with  fresh 
accounts  of  almost  incredible  suffering — 9000  of  our 
surviving  soldiers  enfeebled,  I  fear,  by  disease  ;  the 
huts  that  should  shelter  the  rest  still  at  Balaklava  ;  and 
Lord  Raglan,  according  to  the  despatch  we  read  this 

223 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.    morning,  still  without  men  and  vehicles  to  land  and  fix 
.  52.  them.     Men   look   to   us,  half  with   hope,  half  with 
despair.     "  What  is  to  be  done  ?  "  is  the  cry  of  every 
voice. 

The  answer  to  this  question  was  suggested 
in  the  concluding  words  of  the  speech — dismiss 
the  Government  and  save  the  army.  And  the 
House  of  Commons,  acting  on  the  advice,  dis- 
missed the  Ministry  by  a  majority  of  1 57  ! 

Had  Lord  Derby  accepted  the  responsibility 
incurred  by  his  party  in  contributing  to  the 
defeat  of  the  Government  and  undertaken  to 
form  an  Administration,  Bulwer-Lytton  would 
have  found  a  place  in  the  new  Government. 
This  fact  was  publicly  announced  by  Lord  Derby 
himself  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  February  8. 
In  the  course  of  a  personal  explanation  of  the 
reasons  which  prevented  him  from  taking  office, 
he  indicated  the  support  which,  had  he  done  so, 
he  might  have  counted  on  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  added  : — 

And  when  I  speak  of  new  blood,  I  am  sure  not  one 
of  my  friends  in  this  or  the  other  House  will  deem  it 
invidious  in  me  to  say  that  I  should  have  received — 
and  in  a  high  office  of  the  Administration  I  should  have 
been  proud  to  have  received — the  support  and  assistance 
of  the  unrivalled  eloquence  and  commanding  talents  of 
Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

With  the  exception  of  a  speech  on  the 
abolition  of  the  stamp  duties  on  newspapers, 
to  which  reference  will  be  made  in  the  next 

224 


SPEECH  ON  THE  VOTE  OF  CENSURE 

chapter,  Bulwer-Lytton  did  not  again  take  part  1855. 
in  the  debates  of  this  session  until  June  4,  when  &r.  52. 
he  spoke  on  Disraeli's  vote  of  censure  on  the 
Government.  The  negotiations  at  Vienna  having 
broken  down  in  the  meanwhile,  his  speech  on 
this  occasion  was  chiefly  concerned  with  the 
reasons  for  continuing  the  war  and  the  terms  on 
which  alone  peace  could  honourably  be  accepted. 
He  criticised  the  attitude  adopted  at  that  time 
by  Gladstone  and  the  Peelite  members  who  had 
resigned  in  the  spring  from  Lord  Palmerston's 
Government  : — 

The  Right  Honourable  Gentleman  complains  that 
the  terms  in  which  our  object  is  to  be  sought  are  now 
unwisely  extended  ?  Who  taught  us  to  extend  them  ? 
Who  made  not  only  the  terms,  but  the  object  itself, 
indefinite  ?  Was  it  not  the  head  of  the  Government  of 
which  the  right  hon.  gentleman  was  so  illustrious  a 
member  ?  Did  not  Lord  Aberdeen,  when  repeatedly 
urged  to  state  to  what  terms  of  peace  he  would  apply 
the  epithets  "  safe "  and  "  honourable,"  as  repeatedly 
answer,  "  That  must  depend  on  the  fortune  of  war  ; 
and  the  terms  will  be  very  different  if  we  receive  them 
at  Constantinople  or  impose  them  at  St.  Petersburg  ? " 
Sir,  if  I  may  say  so  without  presumption,  I  always  dis- 
approved that  language  ;  I  always  held  the  doctrine  that 
if  we  once  went  to  war  it  should  be  for  nothing  more 
and  nothing  less  than  justice  (Mr.  M.  Gibson — Hear, 
hear).  Ay,  but  do  not  let  me  dishonestly  catch  that 
cheer,  for  I  must  add,  and  also  for  adequate  securities 
that  justice  will  be  maintained.  No  reverses  should 
induce  us  to  ask  for  less — no  conquests  justify  us  in 
demanding  more.  .  .  .  The  right  hon.  gentleman  dwelt 
in  a  Christian  spirit,  which  moved  us  all,  on  the  gallant 
VOL.  ii  225  Q 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.  blood  that  had  been  shed  by  us,  our  allies,  and  even  by 
E-r.  52.  our  foes,  in  this  unhappy  quarrel.  But  did  it  never 
occur  to  him  that  all  the  while  he  was  speaking,  this 
question  was  irresistibly  forcing  itself  on  the  minds  of 
his  English  audience — "  And  shall  all  this  blood  have 
been  shed  in  vain  ?  Was  it  merely  to  fertilise  the  soil 
of  the  Crimea  with  human  bones  ?  And  shall  we  who 
have  buried  there  two-thirds  of  our  army,  still  leave  a 
fortress  at  Sebastopol  and  a  Russian  fleet  in  the  Black 
Sea,  eternally  to  menace  the  independence  of  that  ally 
whom  our  heroes  have  perished  to  protect  ? " 

And  would  not  that  blood  have  been  shed  in  vain  ? 
Talk  of  recent  negotiations  effecting  the  object  for  which 
you  commenced  the  war !  Let  us  strip  those  negotia- 
tions of  diplomatic  quibbles,  and  look  at  them  like  men 
of  common-sense.  Do  not  let  gentlemen  be  alarmed 
lest  I  should  weary  them  with  going  at  length  over 
such  hackneyed  ground — two  minutes  will  suffice. 
The  direct  question  involved  is  to  terminate  the  pre- 
ponderance of  Russia  in  the  Black  Sea ;  and  with  this 
is  involved  another  question — to  put  an  end  to  the 
probabilities  of  renewed  war  rising  out  of  the  position 
which  Russia  would  henceforth  occupy  in  those  waters. 
Now,  the  first  proposition  of  Russia  is  to  open  to  all 
ships  the  passage  of  the  Bosphorus  and  the  Dardanelles. 
"  That  is  the  right  thing,"  says  the  right  hon.  Member 
for  Manchester.  Yes,  so  it  would  be,  if  Russia  had 
not  the  whole  of  that  coast  bristling  with  her  fortresses  ; 
but  while  those  fortresses  remain  it  is  simply  to  say, 
"  Let  Russia  increase  as  she  pleases  the  maritime  force 
she  can  direct  against  Turkey,  sheltered  by  all  the 
strongholds  she  has  established  on  the  coasts  ;  and  let 
France  and  England  keep  up,  if  they  please,  the 
perpetual  surveillance  of  naval  squadrons  in  a  sea,  as 
the  note  of  the  French  Minister  well  expresses  it, 
'  where  they  could  find  neither  a  port  of  refuge  nor  an 

226 


TERMS  OF  PEACE 

arsenal  of  supply."      This  does  not,  on  the  one  hand,     1855. 
diminish   the   preponderance  of  Russia  ;   it  only  says  ^Er.  52. 
you  may,  at  great  expense,  and  with  great  disadvantage, 
keep  standing  navies  to  guard  against  its  abuse  ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,   far   from    putting  an  end  to  the 
probabilities   of  war,    it    leaves    the   fleets   of  Russia 
perpetually    threatening    Turkey,    and    the    fleets    of 
England   and   France   perpetually  threatening    Russia. 
.  .  .  The  second  proposition,  which  retains  the  mare 
c/aitsum,  not  only  leaves  the  preponderance  of  Russia 
exactly  what   it   was    before   the   war    began,  but,  in 
granting  to  the  Sultan  the  power  to  summon  his  allies  at 
any  moment  he  may  require  them,  exposes  you  to  the 
fresh  outbreak  of  hostilities  whenever  the  Sultan'  might 
even  needlessly  take  alarm  ;   but  with  these  differences 
between  your  present  and  future  position — first,  that 
Russia  would  then  be  strengthened,  and  you  might  be 
unprepared  ;  and  next,  that  while,  as  I  said  before,  now 
not  one  Russian  flag  can  show  itself  on  those  waters,  you 
might  then,  before  you  could  enter  the  Straits,  find  that 
flag  waving  in  triumph  over  the  walls  of  the  Seraglio.  .  .  . 
And  now  I   put  it  to  the  candour  of  those  dis- 
tinguished advocates  for  the  Russian  proposals,  whose 
sincerity  I  am  sure  is  worthy  of  their  character  and 
talents,  whether  the  obvious  result  of  both  these  pro- 
positions for  peace  is  not  to  keep  four  Powers  in  the 
unrelaxing  attitude  of  war — one  of  those  Powers  always 
goaded  on  by  cupidity  and  ambition,  the  other  three 
always   agitated    by    jealousy   and    suspicion  ?       And 
is  it  on  such  a  barrel  of  gunpowder  as  this  that  you 
would  ask  the  world  to  fall  asleep  ?     "  But,"  say  the 
hon.  Gentlemen,  "  the  demand  of  the  Western  Powers 
on  the  third  article  is  equally  inadequate  to  effect  the 
object."       Well,  I    think   there  they  have  very  much 
proved  their  case — very  much  proved  how  fortunate  it 
was    that    negotiations    were    broken    off.      However, 

227 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.    when  a  third  point  is  to  be  raised  again  let  us  clear  it 
ET.  52.  of  all  difficulties,  and  raise   it,  not    in   a  Congress   of 
Vienna,  but  within  the  walls  of  Sebastopol. 

Having  argued  that  those  who  were  now 
advocating  peace  on  unacceptable  terms  were 
only  weakening  the  power  of  their  country  to 
wage  the  war  successfully,  and  encouraging 
Russia  to  hold  out  still  longer,  he  concluded  : — 

In  order  to  force  Russia  into  our  object  we  must 
assail  and  cripple  her  wherever  she  can  be  crippled  and 
assailed.  I  say  with  the  Right  Hon.  gentleman,  the 
member  for  the  University  of  Oxford,  do  not  offer 
to  her  an  idle  insult,  do  not  slap  her  in  the  face, 
but  paralyse  her  hands.  "  Oh,"  said  a  noble  friend  of 
mine  the  other  night  (Lord  Stanley),  "  it  is  a  wretched 
policy  to  humble  the  foe  that  you  cannot  crush  ;  and 
are  you  mad  enough  to  suppose  that  Russia  can  be 
crushed  ? "  Let  my  noble  friend,  in  the  illustrious 
career  which  I  venture  to  prophesy  lies  before  him, 
beware  how  he  ever  endeavours  to  contract  the  grand 
science  of  statesmen  into  scholastic  aphorisms.  No,  we 
cannot  crush  Russia  as  Russia,  but  we  can  crush  her 
attempts  to  be  more  than  Russia.  We  can,  and  we 
must,  crush  any  means  that  enable  her  to  storm  or  to 
steal  across  that  tangible  barrier  which  now  divides 
Europe  from  a  Power  that  supports  the  maxims  of 
Machiavelli  with  the  armaments  of  Brennus.  You 
might  as  well  have  said  to  William  of  Orange,  "  You 
cannot  crush  Louis  XIV.  ;  how  impolitic  you  are  to 
humble  him !  "  You  might  as  well  have  said  to  the 
burghers  of  Switzerland,  "  You  cannot  crush  Austria  ; 
don't  vainly  insult  her  by  limiting  her  privilege  to 
crush  yourselves  !  "  William  of  Orange  did  not  crush 
France  as  a  kingdom — Switzerland  did  not  crush 

228 


PRAISE  OF  THE  SPEECH 

Austria  as  an  empire,  but  William  did  crush  the  power    1855. 
of  France  to  injure  Holland — Switzerland  did  crush  the  &r.  52. 
power  of  Austria  to  enslave  her  people  ;  and  in  that 
broad  sense  of  the  word,  by  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  we 
will  crush  the  power  of  Russia  to  invade  her  neighbours 
and  convulse  the  world. 

This  speech  created  a  very  favourable  im- 
pression in  Paris,  and  was  much  praised  by  the 
friends  of  Napoleon  III.,  who,  like  Palmerston, 
was  strongly  opposed  to  the  suggested  terms  of 
peace.  In  acknowledging  some  words  in  praise 
of  it  from  John  Forster,  Bulwer-Lytton  wrote  : — 

Thanks  for  what  you  say  of  my  speech  both  in  your 
note  and  the  Examiner.  As  it  was  not  made  for  a  party, 
it  was  not  for  the  moment,  I  think,  so  effective  as  my 
former  ones,  though  it  was  as  much  so  when  men  thought 
over  it.  I  am  still  very  far  from  contented  with  my 
delivery,  though  I  suppose  it  will  become  better  by 
practice.  Bright  made  a  wonderful  effect.  What  a 
thorough  Anglo-Saxon  he  is. 

The  only  other  speech  of  Bulwer-Lytton 
on  the  Crimean  war  to  which  I  shall  refer 
was  that  which  he  made  on  July  16,  in 
support  of  his  motion  of  censure  against  Lord 
John  Russell  for  his  conduct  in  connection  with 
the  Vienna  negotiations.  The  circumstances  in 
which  this  speech  was  delivered  were  peculiar 
and  caused  no  little  embarrassment  to  the  speaker. 
As  has  already  been  mentioned,  Lord  John 
Russell  had  been  sent  as  the  British  Plenipoten- 
tiary to  the  Vienna  Conference  in  the  spring  of 
1855.  His  position  there  was  a  difficult  one,  for 

229 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.  while  he  considered  himself  empowered  to  agree 
.  52.  on  behalf  of  his  Government  to  any  terms  which 
he  considered  acceptable,  Lord  Palmerston  and 
his  colleagues  could  not  in  fact  accept  any  terms 
which  were  not  agreeable  to  their  ally  Napoleon 
III. 

Napoleon  III.  was  entirely  dependent  for  his 
imperial  throne  upon  the  support  of  the  French 
army.  For  no  consideration  could  he  forfeit  that 
support,  and  finding  that  the  Austrian  proposals 
would  not  satisfy  the  army,  he  refused  to  entertain 
them.  As  soon  as  it  became  publicly  known 
that  Lord  John  had  agreed  to  proposals  which 
were  afterwards  repudiated  by  the  Government 
at  home,  an  embarrassing  situation  was  created, 
which  the  Opposition  at  once  took  advantage  of. 
The  public  was  not  aware  at  the  time  of  the 
delicacy  of  the  situation,  and  neither  Lord  John 
Russell  nor  his  colleagues  could  admit  in  their 
own  defence  that  they  were  continuing  the  war 
for  the  purpose  of  keeping  their  ally  on  his  throne. 
On  such  of  the  facts  as  had  then  been  made 
public  the  Opposition  had  a  strong  case.  Either 
the  Cabinet  were  disunited  on  the  all-important 
question  of  peace  or  war,  in  which  case  Lord 
John  Russell  ought  to  have  resigned,  or  if  they 
were  all  agreed,  they  could  not  be  sincere  in 
advocating  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war, 
when  a  few  weeks  previously  they  had  been  pre- 
pared to  accept  the  Vienna  proposals  for  the  con- 
clusion of  peace. 

Bulwer-Lytton  accordingly  gave  notice  of  a 
230 


MOTION  OF  CENSURE 

motion  that  Lord  John  Russell's  conduct  had  1855. 
"  shaken  the  confidence  of  the  country  in  those  to  ^T.  52. 
whom  its  affairs  are  entrusted,"  and  the  Opposi- 
tion prepared  to  enforce  their  case  against  the 
Government.  On  the  day  allotted  for  the 
discussion  of  this  motion,  however,  Lord  John 
rose  and  informed  the  House  that  his  resignation 
had  been  tendered  and  accepted,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  personal  explanation  he  made  the  best 
defence  which  was  possible  under  the  circum- 
stances. At  the  very  last  moment,  therefore,  the 
whole  situation  had  changed,  and  it  was  in  one 
of  those  unexpected  situations  so  trying  to 
speakers  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  Bulwer- 
Lytton  had  to  deliver  his  attack. 

His  speech  on  this  occasion,  though  a  bitter 
attack  on  Lord  John  Russell's  public  action, 
judged  by  the  light  of  what  was  then  known, 
was  made  in  perfectly  good  taste.  After  acknow- 
ledging the  change  created  in  the  situation  by 
Lord  John's  resignation,  he  proceeded  to  justify 
his  action  in  bringing  forward  a  charge  "  against 
a  man  so  eminent,  and  against  a  Government  so 
justly  entitled  to  the  indulgence  of  compassion," 
by  describing  the  situation. 

The  position  of  the  noble  Lord  on  Thursday  last 
was  this,  and  he  must  pardon  me  if  I  state  it  frankly, 
because  in  the  whole  course  of  his  speech  he  does  not 
seem  to  have  understood  how  that  position  is  viewed 
by  his  countrymen.  Here  was  a  great  and  distinguished 
statesman,  who  had  held  the  office  of  Chief  Minister  of 
the  Crown,  who  was  sent  to  Vienna  to  negotiate  terms 

231 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.  of  peace,  or  to  report  to  us  honestly  the  necessity  for 
52.  continued  war.  .  .  .  He  apparently  fails  in  his  object  ; 
he  returns  ;  a  suspicion  gets  abroad  that  the  noble 
Lord  is  inclined  to  favour  the  proposals  of  the  Austrian 
Government.  That  suspicion  is  mentioned  in  this 
House  on  the  24th  of  May,  and  the  noble  Lord  rises 
to  make  a  speech  to  dispel  that  suspicion,  to  vindicate 
the  breaking  off  of  negotiations,  and  the  continuance 
of  the  war ;  and  although  the  noble  Lord  does  not 
refer  to  the  Austrian  proposals  at  all,  he  does  in  that 
speech,  which  I  do  not  think  he  has  successfully  defended 
to-night,  speak  with  marked  disdain  of  the  propositions 
which  embodied  that  main  principle  of  naval  counter- 
poise which  we  have  since  learned  the  Austrian  pro- 
positions contained.  .  .  .  The  general  impression  then 
was  that  that  speech  of  the  noble  Lord  was  somewhat 
extravagant  in  its  zeal.  But  we,  who  advocated  the 
vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war,  pardoned  that  ex- 
travagance for  the  sake  of  its  high  spirit.  .  .  .  Suddenly 
there  appeared  in  the  public  prints  the  circular  of  the 
Austrian  Minister,  in  which  Count  Buol  states  that 
this  very  statesman  had  not  only  inclined  to  a  peace 
upon  the  terms  proposed,  and  which  he  appeared  to  us 
indignantly  to  scout,  but  that  he  had  actually  promised 
to  lay  before  his  Government  definite  proposals  for 
peace  so  framed,  and  to  back  those  terms  in  the  Cabinet 
with  all  his  power.  The  thing  seemed  incredible  ;  but 
the  question  on  Friday  week  was  put  to  the  noble 
Lord,  and  he  then  rises,  confirms  the  statement,  and 
informs  the  House  that  he  had  brought  back  propositions 
of  peace  which  he  did  conscientiously  recommend  as 
likely  to  end  the  war  "  with  honour  to  the  Allied 
Powers,  and  on  terms  calculated  to  afford  security  for 
the  future,"  and  that  thus  thinking  peace  both  possible 
and  honourable,  he  did,  nevertheless,  when  the  question 
was  brought  before  this  House,  while  the  peace  in 

232 


ATTACK  ON  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

question  was  being  actually  discussed  by  the  Cabinet,    1855. 
abuse   the   station    he   took   from   the   favour   of  his  JEr.  52. 
Sovereign,  and  the  confidence  the  people  placed  in  his 
honesty  and  truth,  and  join  with  his  colleagues  to  urge 
us  to  sacrifice  the  best  blood  of  England  in  a  war  that 
he   deemed  no  longer  necessary,   and  to  disdain  the 
peace  that  he  himself  recommended. 

The  remainder  of  the  speech  is  a  bitter 
condemnation  of  the  position  thus  exposed,  and 
of  the  degrading  effect  in  Europe  of  such  a 
spectacle  of  ministerial  insincerity  and  dissension. 

"  Let  us  have  peace,"  he  said,  "  even  upon  Austrian 
terms,  and  let  us  hope  that  the  energies  of  our  commerce 
may  atone  for  the  failure  of  our  arms  ;  or  let  the 
Ministers  and  the  people  join  with  one  heart  and  one 
soul  to  carry  on  this  war  to  a  speedy  and  triumphant 
end,  by  the  earnestness  of  their  purpose,  and  the 
worthiness  of  their  preparations.  .  .  .  There  is  some- 
thing, however,  which  ought  to  be  more  lasting  than 
any  peace,  and  more  glorious  than  any  war — I  mean 
that  high  standard  of  public  integrity,  without  which 
nations  may  rot,  though  they  have  no  enemies,  and 
with  which  all  enemies  may  be  defied." 

Lord  Palmerston,  who  replied  for  the  Govern- 
ment, having  a  weak  defence,  indulged  in  one 
of  those  fits  of  blustering  ill-temper,  which  were 
characteristic  of  him,  and  for  reasoned  argument 
substituted  mere  personal  rudeness.  The  follow- 
ing is  an  example  of  his  schoolboy-like  retorts  : — 

The  Hon.  Baronet  told  us  that  these  repeated 
changes  in  the  Ministry  expose  us  to  the  ridicule  of 
Europe.  Why,  Sir,  there  might  be  a  change  of 

233 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.    Government    that    would    render    us    still    more   the 

T.  52.  ridicule  of  Europe  ;   I  mean   if  a  man  like  the  Hon. 

Baronet  were  to  be  placed  in  a  high  position  in  it. 

The  motion  was  withdrawn  after  a  short 
debate,  in  which  Disraeli  replied  for  the  Op- 
position, and  declared  that  the  Prime  Minister's 
"  reckless  rhodomontade  "  was  unworthy  of  one 
"who  is  not  only  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons — which  is  an  accident  of  life — but  is 
also  a  gentleman." 

In  the  autumn  of  1855  a  series  of  articles 
appeared  in  the  Press,  a  newspaper  which  was 
then  regarded  as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  Con- 
servative Opposition,  condemning  the  continua- 
tion of  the  war,  and  advocating  the  claims  of 
the  peace  party  in  a  very  pronounced  manner. 
These  articles  were  supposed,  though  apparently 
without  justification,  to  have  been  inspired  by 
Disraeli.  Bulwer-Lytton,  who  still  believed 
that  no  terms  of  peace  had  yet  been  suggested 
which  satisfied  the  objects  for  which  the  war 
had  been  undertaken,  wrote  in  great  anxiety  to 
his  political  chief.  I  will  close  this  chapter 
with  the  interesting  and  characteristic  corre- 
spondence which  passed  between  them  on  this 
subject. 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Benjamin  Disraeli. 

Oct.  15,  1855. 

I  cannot  say,  my  dear  Dis.,  how  anxious  I  feel  as  to 
your  views  on  the  policy  to  be  adopted  with  regard  to 
the  Peace  and  War  question.  Pray  don't  think  me 

234 


THE  «  PRESS  "  ARTICLES 

presumptuous  if  I  most  earnestly  entreat  you  to  pause  1855. 
long  before  you  in  any  way  commit  yourself  to  the  Jvr.  52. 
Gladstonian  theory  and  sect.  My  convictions  on  that 
head  are  of  the  strongest.  I  do  not  say  more  now,  not 
knowing  how  far  you  have  made  up  your  mind  on  this 
all-important  question.  But  if  it  be  at  all  doubtful, 
I  earnestly  beg  you  to  give  me  the  occasion  to  com- 
municate my  own  ideas  and  adduce  some  of  the 
arguments  to  be  urged  against  any  connection  with  the 
Anti-War  parties,  or  any  insistence  upon  peace,  in  the 
present  state  of  the  struggle  and  the  determined  temper 
of  the  public.  I  say  no  more  at  present,  but  if  you 
think  it  worth  while  to  discuss  the  matter  confidentially, 
send  me  a  line  to  Paris,  under  cover  to  Robert  Lytton, 
Attache,  British  Embassy,  and  I  will  liberate  my  mind 
thereon.  I  am  sure  you  know  how  cordial  and  brother- 
like  my  affection  for  you  is,  and  how  great  my  interest 
is  in  your  fame  and  career.  Pause — pause — pause,  I 
entreat  you  again,  my  dearest  fellow,  before  you  lend 
your  name  to  any  of  those  argosies  gone  astray  in  the 
Pacific. — Yours  most  affectly,  E  B  L 

PARK  LANE,  Sunday  night. 

Benjamin  Disraeli  to  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

HOCHE  BEAUCHAMP,  TAUNTON, 
Nov.  6,  1855. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER — Passing  thro'  town,  I  saw 
Henry,  and  was  surprised  to  hear  that  you  had  arrived, 
or  were  arriving,  in  England. 

Had  I  been  aware  of  this,  I  would  have  modified 
my  engagements,  and  have  had  the  advantage  of 
meeting  you,  and  conferring  together  on  the  subject 
of  your  last  letter.  I  greatly  appreciated  it,  and  have 
well  and  continually  considered  it,  but  have  every  day 

235 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.  felt  it  more  difficult  to  reply  to  it  in  the  shape  or  limits 
Mr.  52.  of  an  epistle. 

As  regards  myself  personally,  your  views  were 
founded  on  a  misconception.  Since  the  prorogation 
I  have  taken  refuge  in  inertness  and  silence,  which  I 
think  becomes  the  position  of  our  party.  I  have  not 
said,  done  or  written,  anything  which  could  give  any 
indication  of  my  views  or  feelings,  either  publicly  or 
privately,  and  I  should  never  have  thought  of  taking 
up  any  new  position  with  respect  to  so  great  a  subject 
as  the  war,  without  previously  consulting  with  those 
friends  with  whom  I  act,  and  certainly  with  yourself. 

With  respect  to  the  subject  generally,  without 
attempting  to  enter  into  any  controversy,  or  pretending, 
with  any  precision  or  completeness,  to  express  my 
views,  I  would  make  one  or  two  suggestive  remarks. 

There  appears  to  me,  in  your  views  of  the  subject, 
however  just  their  general  scope,  the  omission  of  an 
important  element  in  forming  an  opinion  as  to  the 
practical  conduct  of  a  political  party. 

You  are  apt  to  forget,  and  I  am  not  surprised  at  it, 
for  I  constantly  feel  its  mortification,  that  you  are  an 
eminent  member  of  a  great  party  which  has  shrunk,  or 
which,  at  any  rate,  is  believed  by  the  country  to  have 
shrunk,  from  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  war.1 

One  might  be  inclined  to  believe  that  a  party  in 
this  pitiable  position,  were  bound  to  prepare  the  public 
mind  for  a  statesmanlike  peace.  I  do  not  very  clearly 
comprehend  how  a  war  Ministry  and  a  war  Opposition 
can  coexist. 

An  Opposition  must  represent  a  policy,  and  if  it 
represents  the  policy  of  the  Minister,  it  ceases  to  be  an 
Opposition. 

To  shrink  from  conducting  the  war  and  then   to 

1  Owing  to  Lord  Derby's  refusal  to  take  office  at  the  beginning  of 
the  year. 

236 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  DISRAELI 

stimulate  it,  seems  to  me  to  reduce  us  too  much  to  the    1855. 
level  of  the  little  boys  who  will  cheer  Palmerston  on  ^Er.  52. 
Lord  Mayor's  Day. 

These  are  rough  hints,  but  they  will  convey  to  your 
intelligence  what  is  passing  thro'  my  mind. 

Something  like  this  I  intimated  to  Henry,  and  I 
cannot  say  that  his  exposition  of  the  situation  satisfied 
me.  As  there  is  scarcely  any  judgment  I  hold  superior 
to  his,  I  fear  our  present  position  is  less  satisfactory 
than  I  could  hope.  I  trust  your  son  is  quite  right 
again. — Ever  yours,  j) 

You  cannot  communicate  to  me  too  often  and  too 
freely.  Everything  you  say,  as  you  must  know,  weighs 
with  me — and  deeply. 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Benjamin  Disraeli. 

Nov.  12,  1855. 

MY  DEAR  D. —  I  am  much  obliged  by  your  letter. 
I  had  ascribed  your  silence  to  the  reasons  you  state. 
It  is  quite  true  that  it  is  difficult  by  letter  to  enter  into 
a  question  so  complicated,  but  tho'  much  in  your  note 
disquiets  me,  I  rejoice  to  find  that  you  do  not  consider 
yourself  personally  committed  to  the  line  of  the  Press 
articles,  which,  however  able,  have  to  my  mind,  con- 
siderably tended  to  damage  the  party,  and  force  on 
that  discord  which  your  extraordinary  tact  and  sagacity 
smoothed  over  last  session.  A  concurrence  with  the 
views  in  those  articles  would  either  alienate  from  you 
or  (if  they  were  converted)  oust  from  Parliament 
the  most  staunch  and  reliable  of  your  friends,  whose 
Constituencies  are  warlike  to  the  core.  Pardon  me, 
my  dear  Dis.,  if  I  cannot  attach  the  weight  you  seem, 
I  hope  ironically,  to  do  to  the  suggestion  that  the  party 
you  so  gallantly  led  against  all  pacific  waverers  last 
session,  shrank,  or  is  supposed  by  the  country  to  have 

237 


THE  CRIMEAN  WAR 

1855.    shrunk  from  the  responsibility  of  conducting  the  war! 

T.  52.  Certainly,  I  never  so  considered  it,  and  certainly,  after 
Lord  Derby's  refusal  to  form  a  Govt.  that  was  not 
the  tone  we  took.  Not  on  that  ground  did  we  oppose 
the  Austrian  proposal  and  move  against  Lord  John. 
Warlike  did  the  country  hold  the  majority  of  our 
party  (as  warlike  I  am  sure  the  majority  are)  and 
increasing  rapidly  was  the  popularity  of  the  natural 
succession  to  Palmerston,  till  those  Press  articles 
and  the  inference  drawn  from  them,  fastened  upon 
Palmerston  the  very  repute  he  denied,  viz.  : — that  of 
being  the  only  representative  of  the  martial  sentiment 
that  pervades  the  population. 

Now,  as  to  the  theory  that  an  Opposition  must  have 
a  policy,  and  if  it  coincide  in  the  policy  of  Ministers 
it  ceases  to  be  an  Opposition,  with  all  deference  to  you, 
I  think  that  theory  might  be  fatal  if  pushed  too  far. 
This  was  the  theory  that  wasted  Fox's  life  out  of 
office.  The  proper  position  for  us  to  take  seems  to  me 
not  that  of  Fox  in  the  French  War,  but  that  of  Pitt 
versus  Addington.  Treat  Palmerston  as  Pitt  treated 
Addington — outwar  him.  Rely  on  it,  that  at  this  time, 
the  country  would  allow  no  pacific  advisers  either  to 
form  a  War  Government,  or  to  come  in  as  a  Peace 
one.  The  Country  will  never  take  -peace  from  a  -peace 
party.  It  will  take  peace  only  from  those  whom  it 
feels  to  have  been  thoroughly  in  earnest  when  the 
business  was  fighting.  I  own  I  feel  most  deeply  anxious 
for  the  state  of  the  country.  I  see  more  reasons  to 
desire  peace  than  even  the  peace  party  put  forward,  but 
I  see  in  those  reasons  additional  arguments  for  throw- 
ing one's  whole  soul  into  the  war,  in  order  to  conquer 
that  peace  and  not  creep  out  of  the  contest,  leaving 
behind,  in  the  opinion  of  France^  such  an  idea  of  our 
military  incapacity  as  would  be  sure,  ere  long,  to  subject 
us  to  a  struggle  with  a  far  worse  antagonist  than 

238 


PROPOSED  PAMPHLET 

Russia,  and  for  our  very  existence.  Henry  shares  my  1855. 
views,  and  far  from  thinking  despondently  of  our  JE.T.  $ 
prospects,  he  agrees  with  me  in  believing  that  nothing 
could  prevent  the  Conservatives  coming  into  power, 
but  a  profession  of  peace  policy  and  a  junction  with 
peace  politicians.  If  that  were  to  happen  and  we  were 
to  outvote  Palmerston  as  too  warlike,  Palmerston  would 
become  the  most  popular  Minister  since  Chatham.  He 
would  not  resign,  he  would  dissolve,  and  a  Dissolution 
would  scatter  his  opponents  to  the  winds.  Look  at 
Lord  John's  reception  in  the  Guildhall  !  Hissed  in 
the  City  of  London  !  Can  anything  more  significantly 
warn  us,  or  more  extinguish  the  practicability  of 
the  Press  recommendations. 

"  Much  meditating,"  as  Brougham  phrases,  and 
what  is  more  to  the  purpose,  much  feeling,  I  have 
written  a  letter  to  a  constituent  containing  my  views 
that  I  should  like  much  to  publish  in  the  Times.1  I 
have  an  idea  that  it  will  do  great  good  to  the  party 
at  this  moment,  and  (without,  of  course,  referring  to 
the  Press  articles  or  the  rumours  they  occasioned) 
remove  the  suspicion  and  unpopularity  those  articles 
and  rumours  have  engendered.  Of  course,  I  should 
only  speak  for  myself,  I  should  commit  neither 
you  nor  anyone  else.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  sure  I 
should  serve  you,  and  yet  leave  you  perfectly  free. 
Fancy,  I  met  Stanley  to-day,  and  told  him  frankly  the 
purport  of  what  I  meant  to  write.  To  my  surprise 
he  said  "  that  he  went  entirely  along  with  my  views 
and  ideas,  and  that  nothing  therein  could  offend  the 
Peacemen."  That  last  I  believe,  for  I  should  be 
Careful  to  offend  none — I  should  be  general,  English 
and  hearty,  because  I  feel  English  and  hearty.  I  should 
point  out  the  inadequacy  and  feebleness  of  preparations, 
&c.,  but  without  attacking  anyone  by  name.  In  short, 

1  Letter  to  Delme  Radcliffe,  Esq.,  published  in  Collected  Speeches. 

239 


1 85  5.  without  boring  you  further,  I  think  I  see  my  way  to 
JEr.  52.  a  decided  effect,  good  for  the  country,  good  for  the 
party.  At  all  events,  it  would  serve  as  a  feeler — if  it 
did  good,  tant  mieux,  if  it  did  harm,  it  could  only 
harm  myself ;  if  it  fell  flat,  it  would  be  a  coup  manqu^ 
that's  all.  Now  if  this  be  published,  the  right  moment 
is  now.  Do  you  think  you  can  trust  to  my  tact  and 
discretion  not  to  commit  a  blunder  therein,  or  would 
you  rather  first  see  the  article  ? 

Pray  write  to  me  by  return  of  post,  as  I  should  not 
like  to  do  anything  till  I  hear  from  you — and  yet  time 
presses.  What  would  strike  one  week  would  be  feeble 
the  next.  If  you  desire  to  see  it,  say  where  it  is  to  be 
sent,  and  return  it  forthwith.  And  if  you  say  "  No, 
burn  it,"  burned  it  shall  be.  Yet  I  think  you  may 
trust  my  instincts.  I  feel  something  of  the  kind  is 
wanted  and  speedily.  The  object  at  the  moment  is  not 
to  attempt  to  damage  Palmerston,  but  to  save  from 
damage  the  leaders,  to  whom  in  default  of  Graham, 
Gladstone,  Russell,  &c.,  the  country  would  necessarily 
look  to  succeed  him,  unless  they  get  into  the  same  mess 
as  has  disabled  all  their  rivals. — Yrs.  afF.  T?  D  T 

Hi.    £>.    LM 

Disraeli  must  have  replied  immediately  to 
this  letter  deprecating  publication  of  the  sug- 
gested article,  for  Bulwer-Lytton  wrote  again 
on  November  14  as  follows  : — 

The  same  to  the  same. 

KNEBWORTH, 
Nov.  14,  1855. 

MY  DEAR  D. — Many  thanks  for  your  kindness  in 
answering  my  note  so  promptly.  The  expression  of 
your  opinion,  however  moderately  conveyed,  suffices  to 
deter  me  from  publication.  Certainly  I  would  not  on 
any  account  force  on  divisions  amongst  us,  or  a  belief 

240 


THE  PEACE  OF  PARIS 

in  their  existence.  My  hope  and  aim  in  publishing  1855. 
would  have  been  to  prevent  divisions,  dispel  the  belief  JET.  52. 
in  them,  and  secure  to  us  even  some  share  of  popular 
enthusiasm.  From  what  I  hear  amongst  influential 
supporters  (I  don't  mean  in  Parliament),  both  personally 
and  by  anxious  correspondents,  I  do  think  there  is 
at  this  moment  a  dangerous  uneasiness  in  the  party, 
which  it  would  be  good  to  dispel  as  soon  as  might  be. 
I  may  be  wrong,  but  I  do  heartily  hope  that  we  shall, 
before  Parliament  meets,  make  up  all  our  differences. 
Now  that  I  resign  the  idea  of  publishing,  I  should  like 
you  to  see  what  I  proposed  to  write,  and  in  a  day  or  two 
it  will  be  ready.  I  could  then  come  up  to  town  with 
it,  if  I  found  you  there.  Tell  me  your  plans.  My 
object  in  asking  you  to  see  it  simply  is  because  it  at 
once  embodies  all  the  views  that  I  ill  express  by  letter, 
and  will  allow  you  to  see  at  once  whether  there  be  any 
radical  difference  between  your  idea  and  mine,  than 
which  nothing  could  pain  me  more  deeply,  but  which 
I  really  don't  think  exists,  when  we  come  to  confer. — 
Most  truly  yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

Athough  Bulwer-Lytton  was  probably  right 
in  describing  the  feeling  in  England  as  still 
warlike,  France  was  by  this  time  tired  of  the 
war.  Napoleon  III.  was  now  as  anxious  to  con- 
clude peace  as  in  the  summer  he  had  been 
anxious  to  avoid  it  ;  and  as  the  attitude  of 
Napoleon  III.  was  throughout  the  key  to  the 
situation,  the  definite  proposals  for  terminating 
the  war  which  were  again  put  forward  from 
Vienna  before  the  end  of  November  were  this 
time  seriously  entertained  and  resulted  in  the 
Peace  of  Paris,  which  was  signed  in  March  1856. 
VOL.  ii  241  R 


CHAPTER  III 

ACTIVITIES  IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1855-1858 

The  heart  loves  repose,  and  the  soul  contemplation,  but  the  mind  needs 
action. 

My  Novel. 

1855.  BULWER  -  LYTTON'S  speeches  on  the  Crimean 
52.  war  greatly  increased  his  parliamentary  reputa- 
tion and  marked  him  out  as  a  certain  office- 
holder in  the  next  Conservative  administration. 
It  was  not,  however,  till  three  years  later  that 
the  expectations  held  out  by  Lord  Derby  in 
1855  could  be  fulfilled.  Mention  must  now  be 
made  of  the  work  of  those  three  years. 

In  order  not  to  interrupt  the  narrative  of  the 
last  chapter,  I  passed  by  a  political  event  of  some 
interest  in  connection  with  this  biography.  On 
March  26,  1855,  Bulwer-Lytton  again,  and  for 
the  last  time,  defended  in  Parliament  the 
abolition  of  the  stamp  duties  on  newspapers. 
He  had  the  satisfaction  at  last  of  seeing  the 
removal  of  those  "taxes  upon  knowledge," 
against  which  he  had  protested  so  pertinaciously 
in  his  youth.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in 
1835,  on  the  third  occasion  that  he  had  pleaded 

242 


REPEAL  OF  THE  NEWSPAPER  TAXES 

with  the  Government  to  repeal  the  stamp  duties  1855. 
on  newspapers,  both  Lord  Melbourne,  then  &?•  S 
Prime  Minister,  and  Lord  Althorp,  the 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  had  held  out 
hopes  that  this  might  be  done  in  the  next 
session.  Since  then  twenty  years  had  passed, 
and  it  was  reserved  for  Sir  George  Cornewall 
Lewis  to  redeem  the  pledge  which  had  been 
given  to  a  former  generation.  During  that 
time  Bulwer-Lytton  had  changed  his  political 
allegiance ;  yet  when  a  Liberal  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  in  1855  proposed  to  carry  out  this 
fiscal  change,  he  defended  it  against  the  protests 
of  some  of  his  own  party  with  the  same  vigour 
as  of  old,  and  with  an  additional  twenty  years' 
experience  to  enforce  his  arguments. 

The  opponents  of  the  repeal  now  took  their 
stand  on  a  different  ground.  There  was  no  exact 
counterpart  in  1855  to  the  Sir  Charles  Wetherall 
of  1835  ;  and  the  main  argument  put  forward  in 
opposition  to  the  Government  proposal  was  that 
it  was  an  act  of  folly  to  sacrifice  £200,000  of 
revenue  at  a  time  when  new  taxes  were  being 
imposed  to  carry  on  the  Russian  war.  It  is 
indeed  an  ironical  fact,  and  one  which  invites 
considerable  mistrust  of  ministerial  arguments, 
that  a  change  which  on  financial  grounds  alone 
was  resisted  by  one  Liberal  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer in  a  year  when  the  country  was  at  peace, 
and  the  state  of  the  revenue  flourishing,  should 
actually  have  been  proposed  by  a  subsequent 
Liberal  Chancellor  when  the  country  was  at 

243 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1855.    war,  the  income  tax  at  is.  4<i.,  and  every  penny 
T.  52.  which  could  be  raised  was  required  to  meet  an 
enormous  new  financial  liability. 

In  defence  of  Sir  George  Cornewall  Lewis's 
proposals,  Bulwer-Lytton  restated  the  principle 
for  which  he  had  contended  all  his  life,  "  that 
you  ought  not  in  a  free  country  to  lay  a  tax  on 
the  expression  of  political  opinion — a  tax  on  the 
diffusion  of  that  information  on  public  affairs 
which  the  spirit  of  our  constitution  makes  the 
interest  and  concern  of  every  subject  in  the  State. 
Still  more,  you  should  not,  by  means  of  that  tax, 
create  such  an  artificial  necessity  for  capital  that 
you  secure  the  monopoly  of  thought  upon  the 
subjects  that  most  interest  the  public  at  large  to 
a  handful  of  wealthy  and  irresponsible  oligarchs." 
"  The  question,"  he  added,  "  is  this — whether  it 
is  not  time  that  we  should  enforce  that  great 
principle  of  the  constitution  of  civil  liberty,  and 
of  common  sense,  which  says  that  opinion  shall 
go  free,  not  stinted  nor  filched  away  by  fiscal  ar- 
rangements, but  subject  always  to  the  laws  of  the 
country  against  treason,  blasphemy,  and  slander." 
George  Jacob  Holyoake,  in  his  Sixty  Tears  of 
an  Agitator  s  Life  (1892),  has  given  a  description 
of  this  debate,  from  which  I  extract  the  following 
allusion  to  Bulwer-Lytton's  speech  : — 

On  the  famous  night  when  the  stamp  fell,  when  the 
loth  of  Queen  Anne  was  put  to  death,  I  was  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  It  was  on  the  26th  of  March, 
1855,  and  I  was  present  from  four  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  until  nearly  one  o'clock  next  morning. 

244 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  DEBATE 

Mr.    Bouverie   had   vacated    the   chair,    the   usher    l8S5- 
raised    the    mace,    the    Speaker    took    his    seat,    and  -&T.  52. 
announced    with   a    voice    reverberant   as    the    Long 
Parliament — loud  enough   to  reach    into   innumerable 
sessions   to   come — that    the    Chancellor   of   the    Ex- 
chequer's Bill  would  be  proceeded  with. 

While  Mr.  Deedes  moved  an  amendment  (in  a  dull, 
insipid,  gaseous  speech,  of  the  carbonic  acid  kind)  to 
defer  the  second  reading  of  the  Bill,  a  fashionably- 
dressed,  slenderly-built  Member  appeared  on  the  right 
of  the  gangway,  taking  notes.  From  the  Speaker's 
Gallery  he  seemed  a  young  man.  Before  the  dull 
Deedes  had  regained  his  seat,  the  elegantly-looking 
lounger  from  the  Club  threw  down  his  hat  and  .caught 
the  Speaker's  eye.  Rebuking  his  "  honourable  friend  " 
(Deedes)  for  assuming  that  the  House  had  not  had 
time  to  understand  the  Bill  before  it,  he  announced 
that  20  years  ago  he  (the  lounger)  had  introduced 
a  similar  Bill  into  Parliament.  Strangers  then  knew 
that  Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  was  the  Member 
addressing  the  House.  It  was  said  that  Sir  Edward 
purchased  his  baronetcy  by  compromising  the  News- 
paper Stamp  Bill  of  1836.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  nobly 
vindicated  his  liberal  and  literary  fame  by  his  brilliant 
speech  this  night.  "  Do  not  fancy,"  he  exclaimed,  "  that 
this  penny  tax  is  a  slight  imposition.  Do  not  fancy 
that  a  penny  paper  is  necessarily  low  and  bad.  Once 
there  existed  a  penny  daily  paper — it  was  called  The 
Spectator.  Addison  and  Steele  were  its  contributors. 
It  did  more  to  refine  the  manners  of  the  people  than 
half  the  books  in  the  British  Museum.  Suddenly  a 
penny  tax  was  put  on  that  penny  paper,  and  so  one 
fatal  morning  the  most  pleasing  and  graceful  instructor 
that  ever  brought  philosophy  to  the  fireside,  had 
vanished  from  the  homes  of  men.  A  penny  tax 
sufficed  to  extinguish  the  Spectator  and  divorce  that 

245 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1855.    exquisite  alliance  which  genius  had  established  between 

Er.  52.  mirth  and  virtue." 

This  fine  passage  was  worthy  of  the  occasion. 
Nothing  comparable  to  it  was  said  during  the  debate. 
.  .  .  Those  who  say  old  convictions  are  never 
shaken,  nor  votes  won  by  debate,  should  have  stood  in 
the  lobby  at  midnight  after  this  division.  A  burly 
country  squire  of  the  Church-and-King  species — fat 
and  circular  as  a  prize  pig — a  Tory  "  farmer's  friend," 
born  with  the  belief  that  a  free  press  would  lead  to  an 
American  Presidency  in  St.  Stephen's,  and  that  the 
penny  stamp  was  the  only  barrier  in  the  way  of  a 
French  Convention  in  this  country,  and  that  Gibson, 
Cobden  and  Bright,  were  counterparts  of  Danton, 
Robespierre  and  Marat  in  disguise — this  obese  legis- 
lator, nudging  a  Liberal  who  had  voted  in  the 
majority,  said,  "  I  gave  a  vote  on  your  side  to-night ! 
Lytton  convinced  me."  A  triumph  of  oratory  that  for 
Sir  Edward  !  215  voted  for  a  free  press  on  this  night 
— 161  against;  majority  54. 

During  the  year  1855  Bulwer-Lytton  was  at 
work  upon  his  translation  of  the  Odes  and  TLpodes  of 
Horace.  In  a  letter  to  John  Forster  he  wrote  : — 
"  I  am  translating  Horace's  Odes  in  rhymeless 
metre  for  amusement — my  first  literary  impulse  for 
four  years."  A  letter  to  his  son  also  gives  some 
explanation  of  the  circumstances  in  which  this 
work  was  undertaken.  After  describing  a  private 
worry  which  had  preyed  upon  his  mind  for 
two  years,  he  adds  : — 

It  was  to  force  my  mind  into  something  wholly 
different  that  I  plunged  into  this  Horatian  Bath — Fonte 
Bandmiae  I  And  do  not  forget,  in  after  life,  if  you 

246 


have  the  same  kind  of  torment  immediately  bearing  on  l855- 
the  present,  affecting  the  future,  irritating,  stinging,  -#/r.  52. 
haunting,  irreparable — to  try  the  same  effect  of  entering 
into  that  still  classical  world  of  the  dead  past.  I  do 
not  think  original  poetry  would  have  the  same  effect, 
because  that  would  still  bear  on  one's  own  feelings, 
re-excite  imagination,  and  recall  one's  own  individuality. 
But  the  classical  world  has  ideas  wholly  apart  from  one's 
own  ;  one  insensibly  transmutes  oneself  on  entering  into 
it.  The  petty  and  trivial  difficulty  of  hunting  after 
the  right  word — the  immersion  in  disputes  of  gram- 
marians and  commentators — all  gradually  interest  the 
mind,  and  call  out  counterbalancing  powers  not  usually 
employed.  It  can't  last  long,  it  is  true,  with  a  nature 
of  large  passions,  but  it  may  be  the  ferry  boat  your 
own  lyrics  allude  to,  to  carry  one  over  "  the  fatal 
moment "  and  leave  one  on  the  "  farther  shore." 
Shakespeare  is  too  small  for  the  grief,  but  Horace 
or  Homer  serves  as  a  draught  or  sip  of  Lethe. 

In  another  letter  to  his  son,  undated,  but  appar- 
ently belonging  to  this  time,  he  says  : — 

I  shall  be  anxious  to  hear  your  prospects  of  Naples. 
A  nice  place  indeed.  Ah,  enviable  young  man,  youth, 
Naples,  poetry  and  hope !  a  paid  attache  and  cheques 
on  the  vast  Bank  of  the  Future,  which  genius  and  perse- 
verance so  rarely  leave  dishonoured.  I  go  to-day  to 
Knebworth.  There,  I  hope  to  get  up  the  American  case 
for  debate  thoroughly,  and,  perhaps,  also  complete  my 
first  instalment  of  Horace. 

I  find  incessant  occupation  the  only  thing  now  for 
me.  I  build  a  wall  round  myself  in  which  1  seek  not 
to  leave  a  cranny  for  one  hostile  thought  or  treacherous 
memory  ;  the  bricks  are  always  in  the  kiln  and  the 
trowel  in  the  hand — poor  bricks  but  stout  cement ! 

247 


1856.         The  task  thus  undertaken  as  a  mental  sedative, 

ET.  53.  and  without  any  regard  to  publication,  continued 

to  provide  an  interesting  literary  occupation  for 

many  years,  and  it  was  not  till   1869  that  this 

work  was  eventually  published. 

At  the  beginning  of  1856  he  was  occupied 
by  extensive  structural  alterations  at  Knebworth. 
On  May  I  he  spoke  in  the  House  of  Commons 
in  the  debate  on  the  capitulation  of  Kars,  and  in 
August  he  was  again  seeking  health  from  the 
waters  of  Malvern.  Though  he  speaks  in  his 
letters  of  being  "profoundly  idle,"  he  was  at 
work  at  this  time  upon  the  novel  Pausanias,  the 
Spartan,  which  was  not  published  till  after  his 
death  (1876). 

Of  this  work  he   writes   to   his   son   in   the 


summer  :- 


I  am  slowly  getting  on  with  my  Spartan  story  and 
am  weaving  many  of  the  old  Greek  lyrics  into  use  in 
rhymeless  metre.  I  send  you  one,  not,  however, 
borrowed  from  the  actual  Greek  author,  but  I  think 
it  has  the  Greek  spirit.  It  is  a  song  supposed  to  have 
been  sung  by  a  Laconian  singer  accompanied  with 
Dorian  flutes,  before  the  first  appearance  on  my  stage 
of  the  Spartan  Pausanias — the  conqueror  of  Plataea. 

And  again  a  few  weeks  later  : — 

My  Pausanias  stops.  I  don't  see  my  way  through 
it.  I  have  been  horribly  idle,  or  rather  energy  and 
invention  stop  with  me.  I  may  hark  back  to  the 
Horace.  My  literary  vein  seems  quite  dry.  Nothing 
original  comes  to  me.  I  have  made  some  galvanic 

248 


.,_ 


LORD  RECTOR  OF  GLASGOW 

attempts  at  Tales  and  Essays  ;  all  run  aground  after  a    l857- 
few  pages.  ^T-  54- 

In  the  same  letter  he  says  : — 

I  have  been  busy  among  my  constituents,  speaking, 
etc.  I  addressed  tta  boys  at  Bishop  Stortford  School, 
(an  excellent  one),  and  I  am  not  sure  whether  it  was 
not  the  most  effective  speech  I  ever  made.  A  middle 
class  school,  but  how  superior  to  schools  for  us  in  the 
general  teaching.  If  one  learnt  nothing  out  of  school 
at  Eton  and  Harrow,  would  what  one  learns  at  the 
school  enable  one  to  keep  up  with  the  sons  of  traders  ? 
I  doubt  it. 

Another  and  more  important  engagement  was 
fulfilled  at  the  beginning  of  1857.  In  the  year 
1856  Bulwer-Lytton  had  been  elected  Lord 
Rector  of  Glasgow  University.  The  election  of 
the  Lord  Rector  at  that  time  took  place  annually, 
but  many  of  the  Rectors  remained  in  office  for 
two  years,  very  few  for  three.  Bulwer-Lytton 
had  the  exceptional  honour  of  being  elected  to 
this  office  for  three  years  in  succession — 1856— 
1858. 

On  January  15,  1857,  he  delivered  his 
Rectorial  Address  to  the  students,  the  success 
of  which  was  thus  announced  in  a  letter  to  his 
son  written  a  few  days  later  : — 

The  effect  in  Glasgow  was  astounding.  Never  such 
a  sensation  before,  even  from  Peel  or  Macaulay.  Nor 
did  I  ever  before  see  my  own  reputation  face  to  face  as 
I  did  in  that  wondrous  city,  which  is  awful  from  its 
wealth  and  its  splendour. 

249 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

l857-  The  literary  vein  which  seemed  to  have  run 
r.  54-  dry  in  the  summer  of  1856  must  have  been  re- 
plenished by  new  ideas  before  the  end  of  the 
year,  for  early  in  1857  ^e  was  a^e  to  send  to 
Forster  the  first  chapters  of  a  new  novel,  What 
will  he  do  with  it?,  and  received  a  very  en- 
couraging verdict  in  reply. 

John  Forster  to  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

46  MONTAGUE  SQUARE,  W., 
„  April  27,  1857. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — Nothing  could  be 
better  for  the  opening  of  the  story.  The  interest 
springs  up  at  once  and  takes  hold  of  you.  I  can 
answer  for  myself  at  least. 

And  if  I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  you  have  hit 
upon  something  new  in  grandfather  Waife.  I  see,  or 
fancy  I  see,  germs  of  infinite  growth  in  him — sensitive, 
sarcastic,  humorous,  tragic,  the  high  and  the  low  in  all 
possibilities  of  contrast  and  combination — a  character 
of  as  many  sides  as  would  satisfy  Polonius  himself, 
give  him  only  room  and  verge. 

The  Cobbler's  crystal  I  cannot  quite  see  into,  but 
notwithstanding  that,  and  his  unsettling  a  theory  of 
mine  about  the  radical  propensities  of  cobblers  (originat- 
ing in  their  wish,  I  have  fancied,  to  cobble  everything), 
you  make  me  love  the  good  old  heart  already. 

I  hugely  like  the  beginning  of  your  story,  and 
heartily  wish  you  health  and  spirits  to  go  on  as  you 
have  begun.  Make  as  much  lamentation  as  you  like 
about  your  gone  youth,  but  continue  to  write  as  you 
now  do,  and  the  epitaph  will  be  worth  all  it  is  written 
over. 

You  must  let  me  see  more  of  the  story  as  soon  as 

250 


"WHAT  WILL  HE  DO  WITH  IT' 

you  can.     "What  will  he  do  with  it?"  is  a  thought    l857- 
now  pressing  sorely  on  your  old  friend,  ^T.  54. 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

The  completion  of  this  novel  occupied  the 
remainder  of  the  year  1857,  and  it  appeared  as 
it  was  written  in  monthly  parts  in  Blackwood's 
Magazine.  As  the  story  developed  the  author 
continued  to  receive  the  most  flattering  en- 
couragement from  his  friend  Forster,  who  wrote 
on  May  1 5  : — 

I  had  much  to  say  of  the  earlier  portion  of  these 
chapters,  but  the  later  knocked  it  all  out  of  my  head. 
You  have  done  nothing  finer,  nothing  fuller  of  subtle 
touches  of  genius  and  wisdom  and  humanity,  than 
Darrell  and  his  surroundings,  and  that  young  Lionel.  I 
cannot  criticize  it.  My  only  feeling  is  the  eagerness 
to  get  on.  I  never  felt  so  impatient  of  the  piecemeal 
publication.  And  yet  the  curious  thing  is  that  both 
sides  of  the  interest  yet  shown  have  a  certain  sort  of 
completeness,  of  fullness,  in  the  expectation  they  have 
wakened  in  me,  that  seems  to  check  the  impatience, 
both  as  to  Waife  and  Darrell,  no  matter  what  the 
current  of  story  may  be,  the  character  is  so  well  laid. 

And  again  on  December  2 1  : — 

What  will  he  do  with  it  ?  which  by  your  kind  inter- 
cession I  now  get  regularly  from  Blackwood,  immensely 
interests  me.  My  wife  is  in  despair  about  the  separa- 
tion of  Waife  and  his  grandchild,  but  this  I  bear 
heroically  for  the  story's  sake  and  the  finished  art  of 
the  narrator.  We  must  pay  something  for  our  enjoy- 
ments. To  me  the  peculiarity  of  this  story  is  the 
extraordinary  sustainment  of  wit  and  knowledge  in  the 

251 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1857.    writing — not  simply  in  the  remarks  or  reflections  where 
r.  54.  you   lay   yourself  out   for   such   display,   but   in   the 

texture  of  the  narrative,  the  woof  out  of  which  the 

whole  is  spun. 

The  book  was  finished  at  the  beginning  of 
1858,  just  before  the  author  undertook  the  new 
and  arduous  labours  of  a  Cabinet  Minister  ;  and  on 
February  21,  1858,  in  a  letter  announcing  that 
Lord  Derby  had  been  sent  for  and  had  agreed  to 
form  a  Government,  he  adds,  "  My  book  is  done 
and  in  Blackwood's  hands." 

Although  the  year  1857  was  chiefly  devoted 
to  literary  work,  Bulwer-Lytton  was  not  inactive 
in  politics.  The  chief  topic  of  public  interest 
at  the  beginning  of  the  year  was  the  trouble 
with  China  occasioned  by  the  action  of  Sir  John 
Bowring,  the  British  Plenipotentiary  at  Hong- 
Kong.  In  a  letter  to  his  son,  he  writes  on 
February  26,  1857  : — 

I  have  been  absorbed  in  politics  or  I  should  have 
written  before.  To-day  we  have  a  debate  on  the 
Chinese  question.  I  think  I  have  mastered  the  question, 
and  I  have  the  idea  of  speaking  to-night.  But  I  feel 
nervous  and  may  not  do  so. 

This  question  arose  out  of  an  act  of  the  most 
wanton  aggression  committed  under  Sir  John 
Bowring's  orders,  and  afterwards  upheld  by  Lord 
Palmerston  and  the  Government  at  home.  The 
history  of  the  incident  was  as  follows. 

China  was  at  this  time  almost  entirely  closed 
to  Europeans,  and  there  were  no  diplomatic 

252 


THE  CHINESE  WAR 

representatives  at  Pekin  ;  but  by  the  treaty  of  1857. 
Nankin,  1842,  five  ports  were  to  be  opened  to  &T.  54. 
foreign  trade.  The  terms  of  the  Treaty  had  only 
been  complied  with  in  respect  of  four  of  these 
ports,  and  Canton,  the  fifth,  still  remained  closed 
to  Europeans,  the  excuse  given  being  that  the 
Chinese  Government  would  not  accept  responsi- 
bility for  the  safety  of  foreigners  in  that  city. 
The  British  Plenipotentiary  in  Hong-Kong,  Sir 
John  Bowring,  resented  his  exclusion  from 
Canton  and  awaited  some  opportunity  of  forcing 
the  Chinese  Government  to  carry  out  their 
treaty  obligations.  On  October  8,  1856,  an 
incident  occurred  at  Canton  which  he  seized 
upon  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  his  claim. 

The  Arrow,  a  small  Chinese  ship,  built  and 
owned  by  Chinese  and  with  a  Chinese  crew 
on  board,  was  lying  in  Canton  harbour,  and 
flying  the  British  flag,  when  she  was  boarded  by 
the  Chinese  authorities,  and  her  crew  arrested  on 
a  charge  of  piracy.  The  British  Consul,  Mr. 
Parkes,  demanded  their  release  on  the  ground 
that  they  were  under  the  protection  of  the 
British  flag.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Arrow  was 
not  in  any  sense  a  British  ship,  and  though  she 
had  had  a  licence  to  fly  the  British  flag,  the 
licence  had  expired,  and,  therefore,  no  justification 
existed  for  the  British  Consul's  demand,  which 
was  not  unnaturally  refused  by  the  Chinese 
authorities.  Mr.  Parkes  referred  the  matter  to 
Sir  John  Bowring,  who,  only  too  glad  of  an 
opportunity  to  assert  himself,  replied  that  though 

253 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1857.  the  licence  of  the  Arrow  had  expired,  the  Chinese 
ET.  54.  were  not  aware  of  this  fact,  and  an  apology  must 
be  demanded  of  them  within  forty-eight  hours. 
When  no  reply  was  received,  he  ordered  the 
British  Admiral,  Sir  Michael  Seymour,  to  attack 
the  forts  of  Canton.  His  instructions  were  carried 
out  and  the  forts  were  destroyed  on  October  28. 
Yeh,  the  Governor  of  Canton,  then  released  the 
crew,  but  refused  to  make  any  apology.  Sir 
James  Bowring  thereupon  advanced  the  claims 
which  he  had  been  waiting  to  make,  and  demanded 
that  he  should  be  admitted  to  Canton  in  accord- 
ance with  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Nankin,  and 
failing  to  get  any  satisfaction,  he  gave  orders  for 
a  further  bombardment  of  Canton.  Governor 
Yeh  retaliated  by  offering  a  reward  for  the 
murder  of  any  Englishman  and  the  destruction  of 
any  British  ships.  This  led  to  a  series  of  outrages 
and  atrocities  on  the  part  of  the  Chinese,  and 
these  were  afterwards  claimed  in  England  as  a 
justification  of  the  utterly  indefensible  proceed- 
ings, of  which  they  were  in  fact  not  the  cause 
but  the  result.1 

As  soon  as  the   Blue   Book  describing   these 

1  In  a  short  biographical  memoir  of  Sir  John  Bowring,  attached  to  his 
own  autobiographical  recollections,  the  only  justification  for  his  action  on 
this  occasion  is  contained  in  the  following  words  : — "  Most  unprejudiced 
persons  will  admit  that  it  was  an  error  to  allow  the  British  flag  to  be 
abused  by  unscrupulous  Chinese  traders,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  vessel  in 
question  had  no  right  to  carry  it,  the  term  of  registry  having  expired. 
The  dispute  was  in  fact  regarded  as  a  means  to  an  end,  that  end  being  the 
free  admission  of  foreigners  to  the  city  of  Canton  ;  and  although  Yeh's 
conduct  was  defiant  throughout,  and  his  resolute  determination  not  to 
hold  intercourse  with  high  European  officials  at  his  Yamun  exhibited  a 
lamentable  perversity,  it  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  a  better  cause  of 
quarrel  was  not  found  than  the  Arrow  affair." 

254 


SPEECH  ON  THE  CHINESE  QUESTION 

events  was  published  in  England,  votes  of  censure  1857. 
were  moved  against  the  Government  in  both  &T.  54. 
Houses  of  Parliament.  The  debate  in  the 
House  of  Lords  began  on  February  24,  and  was 
adjourned  till  the  26th.  Though  Lord  Derby 
made  out  an  overwhelming  case  and  was  strongly 
supported  in  debate,  his  resolutions  condemning 
the  Government  were  defeated  by  a  majority 
of  thirty-six.  In  the  House  of  Commons  the 
matter  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Cobden  on 
February  26,  and  the  debate  lasted  four  nights. 
Bulwer-Lytton  spoke  on  the  first  night  im- 
mediately after  Mr.  Labouchere,  the  Colonial 
Secretary,  in  support  of  Mr.  Cobden's  resolution, 
and  thus  found  himself,  for  the  first  and  only  time 
in  his  life,  acting  in  concert  with  the  Manchester 
Liberals — "  those  miserable  Cobdens  and  vision- 
ary peace-dreamers,"  as  he  had  called  them 
in  1848. 

His  speech  began  with  an  admirably  reasoned 
statement  of  the  case,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
international  law  and  international  equity,  and 
ended  with  a  vigorous  denunciation  of  the 
Government.  He  pointed  out  that  the  original 
demand  of  the  British  Consul  for  the  surrender 
of  the  crew  was  unjustifiable,  because  since  the 
Arrow  was  not  a  British  vessel  within  the 
meaning  of  the  Treaty,  it  was  impossible  for 
the  Government  to  avail  themselves  of  another 
clause  of  the  Treaty  which  declared  that  if  any 
Chinese  malefactor  be  on  board  a  British  vessel, 
and  the  Chinese  authorities  wish  to  arrest  him, 

255 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1857.    they  shall  not  forcibly  enter  upon  such  British 

£T.  54.  vessel,  but  shall  make  application  to  the  British 

Consul.     The  argument   that   the    Chinese    did 

not   know   the   true  position   of  the   Arrow   he 

swept  aside  with  scorn. 

"  Why,  Sir,"  he  said,  "  a  falsehood  does  not  exist 
only  in  the  telling  a  lie,  but  in  the  wilful  suppression 
of  truth  ;  and  this  suppression  of  truth  Lord  Clarendon, 
a  Minister  of  the  Crown,  does  not  hesitate  to  re-echo 
and  approve.  In  the  magniloquent  appeal  with  which 
the  Colonial  Secretary  concluded  his  peroration,  he 
talked  loftily  of  vindicating  the  honour  of  the  nation. 
The  honour  of  the  nation !  Sir,  prevarication  and 
falsehood  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  honour  of  the 
English  nation  ;  they  appertain  rather  to  the  honour 
of  an  Old  Bailey .  attorney.  We  have  heard  a  great 
deal  about  the  dissimulation  and  duplicity  of  Russia. 
How  Russia  will  chuckle  at  this  !  Here  is  a  Minister 
of  the  Crown,  the  austere  negotiator  of  the  Paris 
Conference,  the  rebuker  of  Russian  duplicity,  approving 
colonial  agents  in  the  maintenance  of  a  claim  which 
they  knew  to  be  illegal,  and  the  assertion  of  a  fact 
which  they  knew  to  be  untruth  ! " 

In  conclusion,  he  argued  that  whatever  might 
have  been  the  mistakes  committed  in  the  initial 
stages,  the  whole  responsibility  rested  with  the 
Government  at  home,  from  the  moment  they 
supported  and  approved  the  action  of  their  agent 
on  the  spot. 

With  regard  to  Sir  John  Bowring,  we  all  know 
that  he  is  an  able  and  accomplished  man  ;  but  he  is 
also  a  man  of  enthusiastic  temperament,  and,  like  all 
men  of  genius,  is  very  desirous  of  carrying  out  his  own 

256 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT 

wishes.  From  the  first  he  was  seized  by  a  strong  1857. 
ambition  to  obtain  an  entrance  into  Canton  ;  and  JEr.  54. 
although  I  do  not  doubt  that  Sir  John  Bowring  is 
as  humane  and  honourable  a  man  towards  his  own 
countrymen  as  any  amongst  us,  yet  when  agents  of 
European  Governments  come  in  contact  with  oriental 
nations,  they  are  apt  to  be  gradually  warped  from  the 
straight  line  of  humanity  and  justice  they  would  adopt 
at  home.  It  is  then  that  we  look  to  a  wise  Government 
to  guard  against  the  over-zeal  of  agents  by  salutary 
cautions  which  foresee  and  prevent  their  errors,  and  by 
temperate  rebuke  when  the  errors  are  first  incurred. 
When  a  Government  forsakes  this  duty — when  it 
places  before  us  nothing  but  unqualified  approval  of 
actions  like  those  recorded  in  the  papers  laid  on  our 
table — all  subordinate  agents,  like  colonial  superin- 
tendents and  consuls,  vanish  from  our  eyes,  and  it  is 
only  with  the  Government  that  we  have  to  deal. 
Here,  then,  in  my  place  as  a  representative  of  the 
people,  it  is  the  Government  that  I  charge.  I  charge 
them  with  sanctioning  an  ordinance  which,  unknown 
to  Parliament,  has  turned  into  a  dead  letter  that  grand 
Act  of  the  Imperial  Legislature  which  regulates  the 
whole  trade  and  navigation  of  the  country.  I  charge 
them  with  approving  the  enforcement  of  that  ordin- 
ance by  measures  that  equally  violate  the  laws  of 
nations  and  the  spirit  of  English  honour.  I  charge 
them  with  lending  the  authority  of  the  Crown  to 
homicide  under  false  pretences,  belying  the  generous 
character  of  our  country,  and  offensive  to  every  senti- 
ment of  right  and  justice  which  our  nature  receives 
from  Heaven ! 

The  debate  was  concluded  on  March  3.     In 
the  division  thirty-five  Liberals,  including  Mr. 
Gladstone  and  Lord  John  Russell,  as  well  as  the 
VOL.  ii  257  s 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1858.    greater  number   of  the   Conservatives,  followed 
ET.  55.  Cobden,  with   the   result  that  the   Government 
was   defeated,   and   the   resolution   carried   by   a 
majority  of  sixteen. 

Two  days  later  Lord  Palmerston  announced 
that  he  had  advised  the  Queen  to  dissolve 
Parliament.  A  General  Election  followed, 
and  resulted  in  a  personal  triumph  for  Lord 
Palmerston.  Exactly  what  Bulwer-Lytton  had 
prophesied  in  his  letter  to  Disraeli  would  have 
been  the  result  of  a  dissolution  at  the  end  of 
1855  now  took  place.  The  election  was  fought 
as  much  on  the  Crimean  war  as  on  the  Chinese 
question.  Lord  Palmerston  was  regarded  as  a 
national  hero,  the  champion  of  British  rights 
abroad,  and  the  vindicator  of  British  honour. 
When  the  new  Parliament  assembled  on  April  30, 
the  Government  had  a  substantial  majority.  Be- 
fore the  year  was  out,  however,  they  were  again 
defeated  in  the  House  of  Commons  and  resigned. 

This  sudden  and  unexpected  event  was  the 
result  of  the  attempt  on  the  life  of  Napoleon  III. 
by  the  Italian  Orsini,  which  took  place  on 
January  14,  1858.  For  the  second  time  in  his 
career  Lord  Palmerston  was  driven  from  office 
by  circumstances  connected  with  the  French 
Emperor.  When  it  was  discovered  that  Orsini 
and  his  fellow-conspirators  had  hatched  their 
plot  in  England,  and  that  their  bombs  had  been 
made  in  Birmingham,  a  great  outcry  arose  in 
France  against  this  country  for  the  asylum 
granted  to  criminals  of  this  character.  Repre- 

258 


A  NEW  CRISIS 

sentations  were  made  to  the  British  Government,  1858. 
through  the  medium  of  the  French  Ambassador  &-*.  55. 
in  London,  urging  that  some  action  should  be 
taken  to  prevent  the  preaching  of  murder  under 
the  sanction  of  the  English  law.  At  the  same 
time  some  very  offensive  language  about  Great 
Britain  was  used  by  the  Colonels  of  certain  French 
regiments  in  presenting  congratulatory  addresses 
to  the  Emperor  on  his  escape.  Public  opinion  in 
England  was  deeply  incensed,  and  the  relations 
between  the  two  countries  became  strained. 

In  the  midst  of  this  popular  excitement, 
Lord  Palmerston  introduced  into  the  House 
of  Commons,  on  February  8,  a  Bill  for  the 
punishment  of  conspiracy  to  murder.  The  Bill 
was  intensely  unpopular,  and  when  it  came 
up  for  second  Reading  on  February  19,  Mr. 
Milner  Gibson  moved  a  resolution  which,  while 
it  expressed  detestation  of  Orsini's  crime  and  a 
readiness  to  remedy  any  defects  in  the  Criminal 
Law,  concluded  by  expressing  regret  "  that  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  previously  to  inviting 
the  House  to  amend  the  law  of  conspiracy  at 
the  present  time,  have  not  felt  it  their  duty  to 
make  some  reply  to  the  important  despatch 
received  from  the  French  Government,  dated 
Paris,  Jan.  22,  1858,  and  which  has  been 
laid  before  Parliament."  This  was  a  subtle  vote 
of  censure  on  the  Government  in  terms  calculated 
to  secure  the  maximum  of  support,  and  it 
succeeded  in  its  object.  Lord  Palmerston, 
realising  the  dangerous  nature  of  the  resolution, 

259 


IN  AND  OUT  OF  PARLIAMENT 

1858.  turned  upon  his  critics  with  the  fiercest  indigna- 
55-  tion.  ,  All  the  domineering  insolence  which 
made  him  so  popular  in  the  country,  but  which 
was  always  resented  by  the  House  of  Commons, 
found  vent  in  a  personal  attack  upon  Mr.  Gibson, 
and  contributed  to  his  defeat.  Lord  John  Russell 
and  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  well  as  several  independent 
Liberals,  again  voted  against  the  Government, 
and  the  resolution  was  carried  by  a  majority  of 
nineteen. 

The  result  of  the  debate  was  announced  by 
Bulwer-Lytton  in  a  letter  to  his  son.  He  writes 
on  Saturday,  February  20  : — 

You  will  see  by  the  date  of  this  that  I  write  the  day 
after  the  defeat,  and,  of  course,  resignation  of  Palmerston 
on  Milner  Gibson's  motion.  At  present  it  is  uncertain 
what  is  to  be  done,  or  who  will  succeed.  Probably 
Lord  John  and  the  Liberals.  This  seems  the  natural 
result,  the  motion  having  emanated  from  their  side  and 
they  having  a  large  majority  in  the  House.  If  the 
Liberals  come  in  under  Lord  John,  it  would  serve  to 
unite  the  Conservatives,  and  probably  increase  their 
numbers  in  a  short  time.  John  Russell's  difficulties 
with  France  would  be  great. 

If  the  Government  is  offered  to  Derby,  he  would  take 
it,  but  could  be  turned  out  in  a  day  and  his  difficulties 
would  also  be  very  great. 

Palmerston's  fall  last  night  gave  occasion  for  the 
vent  of  all  the  hoarded  animosities  and  contempt 
he  has  been  long  provoking.  His  last  speech  was 
uttered  in  a  violent  rage,  with  the  most  indecorous 
gesticulations  ;  and  from  all  sides  of  the  House  there 
were  disdainful  groans  of  disgust.  I  never  yet  saw 

260 


ACCEPTANCE  OF  OFFICE 

a  Prime   Minister  so  greeted.      Gibson  spoke    amaz-    1858. 
ingly  well.     Gladstone  really  like  a  great  orator  ;   the  ^ET.  55. 
House  being  with  him,  gave  him  the  passion  he  often 
wants. 

Perhaps,  Before  I  send  this  on  Monday,  I  shall  be 
able  to  tell  you  how  things  are  decided.  But  it  will  be 
uphill  work  for  any  Government,  and  there  will  be  a 
reaction  towards  Palmerston  now  he  is  out.  The 
things  that  have  hurt  him  most  have  been  Clanricarde's 
appointment1  and  the  whole  of  his  conduct  in  this 
wretched  French  affair. 

Sunday.  Lord  Derby  is  sent  for  and  has  accepted. 
Whether  this  will  personally  affect  me,  I  know  not. 
If  it  does,  you  will  hear. 

Bulwer  -  Ly tton  did  not  immediately  take 
office  in  Lord  Derby's  Government,  but  a  few 
weeks  later,  on  Lord  Ellenborough's  resignation, 
he  was  offered,  and  accepted,  the  post  of  Secretary 
of  State  for  the  Colonies.  His  elevation  to 
Cabinet  office  was  associated  with  private  em- 
barrassments and  afflictions  of  the  most  poignant 
kind,  which  will  be  explained  in  the  next 
chapter. 

1  Lord  Clanricarde  was  appointed  Lord  Privy  Seal  in  succession  to 
Lord  Harrowby  in  January  1855.  The  appointment  caused  great  public 
indignation,  owing  to  the  part  which  Lord  Clanricarde  had  played  in  the 
unpleasant  Handcock  case. 


261 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    HARVEST    OF    BITTERNESS 

1836-1858 

There  is  no  anguish  like  the  hour, 

Whatever  else  befall  us, 
When  one  the  heart  has  raised  to  power 

Exerts  it  but  to  gall  us. 

Lover?  Quarrels. 

1836-1838.  IT  will  be  necessary  in  this  chapter  to  make. a 
.  33-35.  final  allusion  to  Bulwer-Lytton's  relations  with 
his  wife  subsequent  to  their  separation,  to  show 
how  bitter  was  the  harvest  produced  by  those 
seeds  of  discord  which  were  sown  while  they 
lived  together.  It  has  already  been  mentioned 
that  Lady  Bulwer  found  it  a  task  beyond  her 
powers  to  live  within  the  income  of  £400  a 
year,  which  was  secured  to  her  by  the  deed  of 
separation.  She  accordingly  sought  to  add  to 
her  means  by  writing.  As,  however,  her  pen 
was  merely  employed  in  the  abuse  of  her  husband 
and  his  mother,  and  as  her  mode  of  living  in  the 
two  years  which  followed  their  separation  caused 
her  husband  to  regard  her  as  an  unfit  guardian 
for  her  young  children,  he  removed  them  from 
her  keeping  in  1838,  and  transferred  to  Miss 

262 


AFTER  THE  SEPARATION 

Greene  the  £  100  a  year  which  was  allowed  to  1838-1844. 
her  for  their  maintenance  and  education.  This  &T.  35-41. 
naturally  still  further  embittered  Lady  Bulwer's 
feelings,  and  all  the  hatred  which  she  felt  for  her 
husband  was  now  extended  to  her  old  friend. 
The  knowledge  that  Miss  Greene  had  been  the 
one  true  friend  of  her  unhappy  girlhood,  her 
confidante  and  champion  in  early  married  life, 
her  only  comforter  at  the  time  of  her  separation, 
and  the  devoted  guardian  of  her  children  since 
1836,  merely  served  to  increase  her  rage  and 
mortification,  now  that  she  regarded  her  as  the 
servile  agent  of  the  man  she  hated. 

After  trying  to  console  herself  for  her 
matrimonial  misfortunes,  first  in  Dublin  and 
afterwards  in  Bath  and  Paris,  in  company  which 
very  seriously  damaged  her  reputation,  Lady 
Bulwer  went  to  Switzerland  in  1840  and  lived 
for  some  years  quietly  at  Geneva. 

In  1844  t^6  news  that  her  husband  had  suc- 
ceeded to  his  mother's  estate  revived  once  more  her 
passionate  resentment  against  him.  This  was  still 
further  intensified  by  receiving  a  communication 
from  his  lawyer  that  she  was  not  entitled  to  adopt 
the  surname  of  Lytton  which  her  husband  had 
assumed  on  his  mother's  death.  Her  own  legal 
adviser  not  only  assured  her  that  she  was  within 
her  rights  in  defying  her  husband's  wishes  in 
this  matter,  but  urged  her  to  return  to  England 
and  sue  him  for  an  increased  allowance  on  the 
grounds  of  his  improved  pecuniary  position. 
Though  she  had  not  sufficient  means  to  carry  out 

263 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1847-1851.  this  suggestion  at  the  time,  it  became  from  that 
J&T.  44-48.  moment  the  set  purpose  of  her  life.  With  the 
help  of  friends  she  returned  to  England  in  1 847, 
and  spent  all  her  energies  and  most  of  her  in- 
come in  repeated  attempts  to  force  her  husband 
to  pay  her  debts  and  increase  her  allowance. 

The  £400  a  year  which  she  received  had  been 
from  the  first  secured  to  her  by  Mrs.  Bulwer- 
Lytton  on  the  proceeds  of  the  Knebworth  estate, 
and  the  transference  of  this  property  to  her 
husband  did  not  really  increase  his  ability  to  pay 
it.  Even  if  he  had  profited  by  his  new  inherit- 
ance to  the  extent  which  she  believed,  the 
campaign  of  blackmail  by  which  she  pursued 
her  husband  was  the  method  least  calculated 
to  secure  for  herself  any  share  of  the  profits. 
Owing  to  diminished  rents  caused  by  the  heavy 
fall  in  the  price  of  wheat,  and  the  increasing 
cost  of  his  children's  education,  Bulwer-Lytton's 
settled  income  was  not  in  fact  materially  increased 
by  his  succession  to  his  mother's  estate  ;  and  such 
additional  means  as  he  earned  by  his  literary 
labours  he  was  naturally  little  disposed  to  share 
with  his  most  implacable  enemy  and  bitterest 
traducer.  In  old  days  he  had  slaved  himself 
almost  to  death  to  provide  a  comfortable  and 
luxurious  home  for  the  wife  whom  he  loved. 
The  sacrifice  of  his  own  health  for  this  object 
had  then  been  willingly  made  ;  but  he  was  not 
likely  to  continue  any  such  sacrifices  now  for  a 
woman  who  lost  no  opportunity  of  assailing  him 
both  in  public  and  private.  To  her  threats, 

264 


DIVORCE  IMPOSSIBLE 

therefore,  he  replied  by  counter-threats  ;  lawyers'  1847-185 1 
letters  continually  passed  from  one  to  the  other,  J£T.  44-48. 
and  every  species  of  insult  was  indulged  in.  Lady 
Lytton's  language,  however,  became  so  violent, 
and  her  methods  of  attack  so  outrageous,  that 
each  of  her  many  advisers  sought  in  turn  to 
restrain  her.  The  moderating  counsels  of  her 
friends  were  quite  unsuccessful,  and  only  brought 
down  on  their  own  heads  the  wrath  which  they 
tried  to  appease.  One  by  one  they  were  succes- 
sively repudiated  and  replaced  by  others,  so  that 
Lady  Lytton  came  to  be  almost  exclusively  en- 
gaged throughout  her  life  in  finding  new 
champions  and  abusing  her  old  ones. 

The  only  means  of  terminating  this  miserable 
matrimonial  feud  was  to  be  found  in  divorce. 
Whatever  views  may  be  held  as  to  the  sacredness 
and  irrevocability  of  the  marriage  tie,  few,  I 
think,  would  deny  that,  in  a  case  like  this,  the 
dissolution  of  the  bond,  with  all  the  unpleasant 
publicity  attaching  to  it,  would  have  been 
preferable  to  the  life-long  campaign  of  hatred 
which  the  maintenance  of  the  marriage  entailed. 
But  owing  to  the  strange  anomaly  in  the  English 
divorce  law,  which  refuses  to  dissolve  a  marriage 
where  faults  are  committed  by  both  the  parties 
to  it,  divorce  in  this  case  was  impossible.  Either 
party  was  in  a  position  to  produce  evidence 
sufficient  to  secure  a  divorce,  but  since  the 
charges  would  have  been  mutual,  the  remedy, 
which  by  common  sense  was  doubly  required, 
was  by  law  denied. 

265 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1847-1851.  A  perusal  of  all  the  papers  relating  to  this 
.  44-48.  unhappy  quarrel  leaves  no  possible  doubt  that 
Lady  Lytton's  mind  became  at  last  completely 
unhinged  by  the  continued  indulgence  of  her 
hatred.  She  was  obsessed  with  the  idea  that 
she  was  being  hunted  and  persecuted.  Almost 
every  one  who  spoke  to  her  she  took  for  an  agent 
or  spy  of  her  husband,  and  this  delusion  some- 
times led  her  into  making  the  most  libellous 
attacks  upon  perfectly  innocent  persons  un- 
acquainted either  with  herself  or  her  husband. 
On  one  occasion,  for  instance,  a  lady  whom  Sir 
Edward  had  never  seen  or  even  heard  of,  came 
to  Taunton  for  the  purpose  of  giving  some 
lectures,  and  she  sent  a  prospectus  to  Lady 
Lytton  among  other  persons  residing  in  Taunton, 
whose  patronage  she  desired  to  obtain.  Lady 
Lytton,  on  receipt  of  this  lady's  card  and  the 
prospectus,  immediately  accused  her  of  being 
a  discarded  mistress  of  her  husband  and  a 
person  of  notoriously  evil  life,  masquerading 
under  a  false  name. 

A  favourite  practice  of  hers  was  to  address 
letters  to  her  husband,  the  envelopes  of  which  were 
covered  with  scurrilous  and  obscene  inscriptions, 
and  she  sometimes  dispatched  as  many  as  twenty 
of  these  in  one  day,  all  duplicates,  and  addressed 
to  the  House  of  Commons,  to  his  clubs,  to  town 
and  country  addresses,  to  hotels — anywhere,  in 
fact,  where  they  were  likely  to  be  seen  by  others. 
She  did  not  even  confine  this  particular  form  of 
attack  to  her  husband,  but  sent  similar  letters 

266 


LADY  LYTTON'S  ATTACKS 

to  all  his  friends.     Lord  Lyndhurst,  Sir  Francis  1847-1851. 
Doyle,    Dickens,    Forster,    Disraeli,    and    others  &r.  44-48. 
all    received    these    scandalous  documents,  with 
the  result  that  they  appealed  to  Sir  Edward  to 
place  his  wife  under  restraint. 

The  impression  created  upon  me  by  the  sight 
of  some  of  the  letters,  which  it  has  been  my 
painful  task  to  read  through,  is  that  of  opening 
a  drawer  full  of  dead  wasps.  Their  venom  is 
now  powerless  to  hurt,  but  they  still  produce 
a  shudder  and  feeling  of  disgust.  The  shame 
with  which  I  have  read  them  to-day,  my 
strong  desire  to  have  them  buried  out  of  sight, 
my  dread  lest  they  should  be  seen  by  any  other 
eyes,  enable  me  to  form  some  conception  of 
the  abhorrence  which  they  must  have  excited 
in  the  mind  of  their  recipient. 

In  1851,  on  the  occasion  of  the  performance 
of  Bulwer-Lytton's  play  at  Devonshire  House, 
in  aid  of  the  Guild  of  Literature,  Lady  Lytton 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  stating  that 
"  she  would  enter  his  house  disguised  as  an 
orange  woman  and  pelt  the  Queen  with  rotten 
eggs,"  and  accusing  Her  Majesty  of  being  "  the 
cold-blooded  murderess  of  Lady  Flora  Hastings." 
At  the  same  time  she  wrote  a  longer  and  even 
more  outrageous  letter  to  Charles  Dickens  in 
similar  terms.  The  Duke  of  Devonshire  was 
consequently  obliged  to  employ  detective  police 
to  guard  against  this  outrage. 

The  scandal  of  these  proceedings  at  last 
became  insupportable.  The  knowledge  that 

267 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1851-1858.  it  was  the  sacrifices  which  he  had  made  for 
&T.  48-55.  her  sake,  the  love  which  he  had  once  felt  for 
her  which  gave  this  woman  the  power  to  wound 
him  so  deeply  ;  the  realisation  that  the  chains 
by  which,  in  defiance  of  his  mother's  warnings 
and  advice,  he  had  bound  himself  to  her  could 
never  be  loosed  ;  that  it  was  his  money  which 
she  was  paying  to  unscrupulous  lawyers,  obscure 
publishers,  and  newspaper  editors  for  the  purpose 
of  defaming  his  character  ;  that  it  was  his  name 
which  she  was  dragging  through  the  mire — all 
this  was  peculiarly  bitter  to  a  man  of  Bulwer- 
Lytton's  temperament.  To  live  with  this 
skeleton  in  his  cupboard  was  a  trial  requiring  all 
the  courage  and  endurance  of  one  so  sensitive  to 
criticism,  so  proud,  so  shy — one  who  had  an 
even  exaggerated  horror  of  public  scandal,  whose 
social,  literary  and  political  position  caused  him 
to  be  much  talked  about,  and  whose  public 
duties  necessitated  constant  intercourse  with 
others.  But  when  the  cupboard  door  was  forced 
open,  when  the  skeleton  walked  abroad,  mocked 
him  in  the  streets,  insulted  him  wherever  he  went, 
shrieked  at  him  from  the  daily  press,  and  molested 
even  his  friends  and  acquaintances,  the  trial  was 
beyond  endurance.  If  he  went  into  society,  his 
friends  met  him  with  fresh  evidence  of  the  scandal 
which  hung  round  his  life.  He  could  not  enter 
the  House  of  Commons  or  attend  the  meetings  of 
the  Cabinet,  without  the  fear  that  one  of  his  col- 
leagues might  hand  him  some  obscene  and  abusive 
communication  just  received  from  his  wife. 

268 


THE  HERTFORD  ELECTION 

In  these  circumstances,  and  as  much  for  the  1851-1858. 
protection  of  his  friends  as  of  himself,  Sir  Edward  JET.  48-55. 
began  to  make  inquiries  as  to  the  powers  which 
he  might  possess  of  placing  his  wife  under  re- 
straint. At  the  end  of  March,  1858,  he  drew 
up  a  statement  of  Lady  Lytton's  conduct  since 
their  separation,  and  submitted  this,  together  with 
specimens  of  her  written  libels,  to  several  medical 
men.  They  all  agreed  that  these  documents  fur- 
nished undeniable  proofs  of  the  derangement  of 
her  intellect.  Amongst  his  papers  I  find  written 
opinions  from  six  different  doctors  that  Lady 
Lytton  was  of  unsound  mind  and  ought  to  be 
placed  under  medical  supervision.  The  inquiries 
were  not  completed  when  Bulwer- Lytton  was 
subjected  to  the  most  galling  public  insult  which 
he  had  yet  received. 

When  in  1858  Lord  Stanley  was  transferred 
to  the  India  Office,  vacated  by  the  resignation  of 
Lord  Ellenborough,  Lord  Derby  invited  Bulwer- 
Lytton  to  join  his  newly  formed  Ministry  as 
Secretary  of  State  for  the  Colonies.  The  ac- 
ceptance of  this  office  necessitated  an  election  at 
Hertford,  and,  in  his  new  capacity  of  Minister  of 
the  Crown,  Bulwer- Lytton  went  to  meet  his 
constituents.  The  seat  was  not  contested,  and  the 
nomination  was  fixed  for  June  8.  On  the  yth 
Lady  Lytton  left  Taunton  and  travelled  via  Oxford 
to  Bedford  ;  from  there  she  drove  by  night 
to  Hertford,  taking  with  her  about  one  hundred 
large  poster  bills  inviting  the  electors  to  meet  her  in 
the  Town  Hall  at  noon.  She  arrived  at  Hertford 

269 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1858.  at  four  in  the  morning  of  June  8,  and  at  once 
JE.T.  55.  engaged  a  bill-sticker  to  attach  her  bills  in  various 
parts  of  the  town.  As  soon  as  the  Under-Sheriff 
heard  of  this,  he  ordered  the  posters  to  be  taken 
down,  and  took  possession  of  the  remaining  ones. 
All  this  was  done  in  the  early  hours  of  the 
morning  before  the  inhabitants  were  astir.  The 
election  took  place  not  in  the  Town  Hall  but  in 
a  field  outside  the  town.  At  the  moment  when 
Sir  Edward  was  returning  thanks  for  his  re- 
election, Lady  Lytton  arrived  upon  the  scene. 
Advancing  hurriedly  through  the  crowd,  she 
called  out  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Make  way  for  the 
member's  wife."  She  then  addressed  some  very 
violent  language  to  Sir  Edward,  shaking  her  fist 
at  him  and  shouting,  "  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the 
country  to  make  such  a  man  Secretary  for  the 
Colonies."  Her  husband,  overcome  with  shame 
and  horror  at  the  sight  of  this  wild  apparition, 
left  the  field.  Lady  Lytton  then  mounted  the 
platform  and  harangued  the  assembled  crowd  in 
a  very  excited  manner,  exclaiming,  "How  can  the 
people  of  England  submit  to  have  such  a  man  at 
the  head  of  the  Colonies,  who  ought  to  have 
been  in  the  Colonies  as  a  transport  long  ago. 
He  murdered  my  child  and  tried  to  murder  me. 
The  very  clothes  I  stand  up  in  were  supplied  to 
me  by  a  friend."  After  this  scene  she  returned 
to  London  and  took  the  night  train  back  to 
Taunton. 

Sir  Edward  Bulwer- Lytton  now  determined 
to  take  immediate  steps  to  have  a  medical  ex- 

270 


MEDICAL  OPINION 

amination  of  his  wife's  mental  condition,  with  a  1858. 
view  to  preventing  a  recurrence  of  these  out-  ^/r.  55. 
rages.  He  sought  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Hale 
Thomson,  and  after  submitting  to  him  the  docu- 
ments which  he  had  put  together,  asked  him  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Taunton,  and  in  conjunction  with 
Mr.  Woodford,  a  local  doctor,  to  examine  Lady 
Lytton  and  give  an  opinion  as  to  her  sanity,  at 
the  same  time  cautioning  him  to  certify  nothing 
which  he  could  not  support.  The  two  medical 
men  had  a  three  hours'  interview  with  Lady 
Lytton  ;  and  on  his  return  to  town  Mr.  Hale 
Thomson  said  he  was  not  satisfied  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  unsoundness  of  her  mind.  As  he 
was  leaving  she  gave  him  .the  following  letter. 

CLARKE'S  CASTLE  HOTEL,  TAUNTON, 
June  12,  1858. 

DEAR  SIR — I  have  only  to  repeat  to  you  in  writing 
what  I  had  said  viva  voce  and  what  has  been  represented 
to  him,  alas,  in  vain  so  often  before,  that  let  Sir  Edward 
Lytton  pay  the  debts  of  sixteen  years'  standing  which 
his  ceaseless  persecutions  have  entailed  upon  me — to  wit 
£2500,  and  allow  me  ^500  a  year  for  the  remainder 
of  my  miserable  existence  (not  his),  pledging  himself 
stringently,  that  is  legally,  not  to  molest  or  malign 
me  directly  or  indirectly,  and  I  solemnly  pledge  myself 
(being  at  full  liberty  to  live  and  go  where  I  please) 
never  even  to  mention  his  name  verbally  or  otherwise. 
Believe  me,  dear  Sir,  Yours  truly, 

ROSINA  BULWER  LYTTON. 

In  the  course  of  the   following    week    Mr. 
Hale  Thomson  received  four  long  letters  from 

271 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1858.  Lady  Lytton  of  a  violent  and  excited  kind,  full 
ET.  55.  of  the  most  monstrous  allegations,  and  rambling 
reiterations  of  her  imagined  persecutions.  In  the 
last  letter,  dated  June  22,  she  threatened  to  come 
to  London  on  the  following  day,  and,  unless  her 
terms  were  accepted,  to  collect  a  crowd  outside 
the  Colonial  Office  and  denounce  her  husband. 

On  receipt  of  this  letter,  Mr.  Hale  Thomson 
communicated  with  Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton, 
and  expressed  his  opinion  that  the  extent  of  his 
wife's  insanity  was  such  that  it  was  his  duty  to 
have  her  placed  under  restraint.  Sir  Edward  had 
to  attend  a  Cabinet  meeting  that  morning  and  left 
the  matter  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  his  solicitor, 
and  Mr.  Thomson,  giving  them  full  authority 
to  act  as  they  thought  fit.  Robert  Lytton  and 
the  solicitor  therefore  called  on  Dr.  Gardiner  Hill, 
who  kept  a  private  nursing  home  for  mentally 
defective  patients  at  Inverness  Lodge,  Brentford, 
and  arranged  with  him  to  be  in  London  with 
proper  assistance  at  5  o'clock  to  receive  Lady 
Lytton  into  his  house  as  a  patient.  When  she 
arrived  at  Mr.  Hale  Thomson's  house  by 
appointment  in  the  afternoon  of  June  23,  Lady 
Lytton  was  informed  that  arrangements  had  been 
made  for  her  removal  to  Inverness  Lodge  as  a 
person  of  unsound  mind,  on  the  medical  certificate 
of  Mr.  Thomson  and  Mr.  Ross.  She  naturally 
protested  vehemently  against  such  action,  but, 
since  the  requirements  of  the  law  had  been 
complied  with,  she  was  powerless  to  resist  and 
therefore  drove  off  quietly  with  Dr.  Gardiner 

272 


LADY  LYTTON'S  DETENTION 

Hill  to  his  Home  at  Brentford.  She  was  kept  1858. 
there  for  three  weeks  and  treated  with  the  ^ET.  55. 
utmost  kindness  and  consideration.  Her  Taunton 
landlady,  Mrs.  Clarke,  accompanied  her ;  her 
solicitor  and  Miss  Ryves,  her  friend  of  those 
days,  had  access  to  her  whenever  they  wished  ; 
she  made  great  friends  with  Dr.  Hill's  little  girl, 
who  kept  her  company  most  of  the  day  ;  and  in 
fact  she  enjoyed  as  much  liberty  as  was  com- 
patible with  the  necessary  supervision  of  a 
certified  lunatic. 

Although  there  was  nothing  harsh,  cruel,  or 
tyrannical  about  Lady  Lytton's  treatment  at 
Inverness  Lodge,  it  was  an  act  of  supreme  un- 
wisdom on  her  husband's  part  to  send  her  there. 
That  his  wife's  mental  equilibrium  was  thoroughly 
unsettled,  that  she  suffered  from  delusions,  that 
her  libels  and  obscenities  constituted  a  form  of 
molestation  from  which  he  felt  it  his  duty  to 
protect  not  only  himself  but  his  friends  and 
colleagues  in  the  Government  is  indisputable. 
But  the  question  was  not  whether  two  doctors 
could  be  found  to  certify  her  as  a  lunatic,  for 
probably  much  more  eminent  and  authoritative 
men  than  those  actually  consulted  would  have 
been  prepared  to  do  this,  but  whether  the  un- 
soundness  of  her  mind  was  of  the  kind  to  justify 
her  forcible  detention  even  in  a  private  home, 
and  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  keep  her 
there  in  face  of  the  outcry  which  would  inevit- 
ably be  raised  as  soon  as  the  fact  was  made 
public.  It  was  a  matter  for  lawyers  and  men  of 

VOL.  II  273  T 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1858.    the   world   rather  than  for  doctors,  and  as  sub- 
r.  55.  sequent     events    proved,     Bulwer  -  Lytton    was 
singularly  badly  advised  in  the  course  which  he 
adopted. 

After  three  weeks  the  mistake  was  apparent 
even  to  its  authors.  The  matter  had  been  taken 
up  by  the  London  and  provincial  press.  Articles 
appeared  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  the  Somerset 
Gazette,  and  the  Hertfordshire  Gazette,  demand- 
ing a  public  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  of 
Lady  Lytton's  detention,  and  severely  criticising 
the  action  of  the  Colonial  Secretary.  To  appear 
in  Court  with  public  opinion  prepossessed  in  her 
favour  and  unfold  before  a  jury  the  story  of  her 
wrongs,  to  force  her  husband  to  appear  and 
answer  her  charges,  to  cross-examine  him  upon 
all  the  incidents  of  his  private  life,  and  obtain  a 
wide  publicity  for  her  accusations  against  him, 
was  the  very  course  which  Lady  Lytton  would 
most  have  welcomed,  and  which  consequently 
Sir  Edward  most  desired  to  avoid.  His  colleagues 
in  the  Ministry  became  apprehensive  of  a  sensa- 
tional social  scandal  which  might  render  his 
resignation  inevitable,  and  all  those  who  were 
at  first  most  eager  for  the  restraint  of  the  "  tigress 
of  Taunton  "  were  now  the  most  concerned  to 
find  a  means  of  escape  from  the  consequences  of 
their  advice. 

In  this  crisis  Robert  Lytton  came  to  his  father's 
rescue.  He  had  witnessed  the  scene  at  the 
Hertford  Election,  which  was  the  first  occasion 
on  which  he  had  seen  his  mother  since  his 

274 


THE  SON'S  INTERVENTION 

childhood.  He  had  himself  suffered  from  the  1858. 
same  kind  of  persecution  as  his  father,  for  he  had  ^/r.  55. 
received  letters  from  her  in  his  various  diplomatic 
posts  addressed  to  "  that  white  -  livered  little 
reptile,  Robert  Lytton,"  and  he  shared  the 
responsibility  for  her  detention  as  a  lunatic. 
He  now  offered,  if  his  mother  could  be  released, 
to  take  her  abroad  and  try  and  bring  her  to  a 
calmer  frame  of  mind.  The  suggestion  was 
welcomed  by  both  his  parents  ;  the  doctors  who 
three  weeks  previously  had  certified  Lady  Lytton 
insane  now  certified  that  she  was  fit  to  be  re- 
leased, and  that  a  journey  abroad  with  her  son 
would  probably  have  very  beneficial  results  on 
her  state  of  health  ;  a  public  scandal  was  avoided 
and  everybody  was  satisfied. 

Lady  Lytton's  acceptance  of  the  arrangement 
was  the  more  readily  obtained  because  Sir  Edward 
at  last  consented  to  pay  her  debts  and  increase  her 
allowance  to  £500  a  y6^-1  She  left  Inverness 
Lodge  on  July  17,  and  in  company  with  Miss 
Ryves  and  her  son,  she  travelled  via  Paris  to 
Bordeaux,  where  they  stayed  about  a  month, 
proceeding  at  the  end  of  August  to  Luchon. 

If  kindness,  gentleness,  patience,  and  sympathy 
could  have  healed  the  wounds  in  Lady  Lytton's 
heart  she  had  found  at  last  one  who  was  ready 
to  administer  to  her  lavishly  all  these  salves. 
If  the  disputes  and  misunderstandings,  the  ac- 
cumulated charges  and  countercharges  of  twenty- 

1  After  the  death  of  her  husband  in  1873,  Lady  Lytton's  allowance  was 
further  increased  to  £700  a  year  by  her  son. 

275 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1858.  five  years  could  have  been  disposed  of  finally  by 
.  55.  the  judgment  of  a  perfectly  just  and  unprejudiced 
judge,  both  parents  might  without  reserve  have 
submitted  their  case  to  the  son  who  now 
volunteered  his  services  as  mediator.  But  the 
trouble  was  too  deep-seated  for  any  such 
treatment.  Each  parent  wanted  a  champion, 
not  an  arbitrator,  and  their  test  of  championship 
was  unrestrained  abuse  of  the  opposite  party. 

The  only  terms,  however,  on  which  Robert 
Lytton  could  accept  the  role  of  deus  ex  machina 
was  the  immediate  cessation  on  the  part  of  both 
his  parents  of  their  mutual  recriminations,  and 
neither  would  agree  to  these  terms.  Had  he 
combined  in  his  own  person  all  the  knowledge 
of  the  most  experienced  man  of  the  world,  all 
the  skill  of  the  most  highly  -  trained  brain 
specialist,  and  all  the  resourcefulness  of  the 
most  accomplished  lawyer,  he  could  hardly 
have  succeeded  in  these  circumstances.  As  the 
offspring  of  the  two  warring  natures  whom  he 
wished  to  reconcile  his  task  was  impossible. 
His  father  wrote  to  him  by  almost  every  post 
long  and  bitter  recitals  of  the  events  which  had 
darkened  his  life  and  turned  his  love  into 
hatred,  accompanying  them  all  with  the  assurance 
that  nothing  would  satisfy  him  but  a  complete  re- 
cantation and  apology  which  it  was  now  the  duty 
of  his  son  to  obtain.  His  mother,  on  the  other 
hand,  poured  into  his  ears  daily  the  story  of  her 
grievances  in  language  of  the  bitterest  invective. 

Placed  thus  between  Scylla  and  Charibdis, 

276 


FAILURE  OF  THE  EXPERIMENT 

Robert  Lytton  tried  at  first  to  steer  a  middle  1858. 
course.  In  replies  to  his  father  he  pointed  out  ^T.  55. 
the  partial  and  one-sided  nature  of  the  com- 
munications which  he  had  received  from  him, 
and  insisted  that  peace  in  the  future  could  only 
be  obtained  by  a  mutual  determination  to  bury 
the  past.  To  his  mother  he  replied  equally  em- 
phatically that  the  pnly  condition  on  which  he 
would  consent  to  remain  in  her  company  was 
that  she  should  refrain  from  all  abuse  of  his 
father.  The  result  was  that  instead  of  reconcil- 
ing either  parent  to  the  other  he  only  lost  the 
confidence  of  both. 

Utterly  miserable  though  this  situation  made 
him,  he  would  not  abandon  his  mission  or  accept 
definitely  and  finally  the  cause  of  either  mother 
or  father  until  circumstances  decided  the  matter 
for  him,  leaving  him  no  choice. 

The  ultimate  issue  was  brought  about  by  Lady 
Lytton  herself.  She  had  left  the  custody  of 
Dr.  Gardiner  Hill  ostensibly  as  a  free  agent,  in 
full  possession  of  her  faculties,  and  having 
voluntarily  undertaken  a  journey  on  the  Continent 
in  company  with  her  son  and  a  female  friend. 
By  the  doctors,  however,  her  conditional  release 
had  only  been  sanctioned  in  the  belief  that  it 
would  have  a  more  calming  effect  upon  her 
mind  than  her  continued  detention  ;  and  the 
journey  was  regarded  as  a  curative  experiment 
upon  a  patient  who  still  required  careful  attention. 
As  subsequent  events  proved,  Lady  Lytton  was 
not  really  in  a  condition  to  be  treated  as  a  rational 

277 


THE  HARVEST  OF  BITTERNESS 

1858.  human  being.1  Her  feelings  at  first  were  a 
&T.  55.  mixture  of  triumph  at  the  failure  of  her  husband's 
plans,  and  excitement  at  the  prospect  of  the  foreign 
journey  with  a  man  to  look  after  her  and  provide 
for  her.  Both  these  feelings  were  no  doubt  in- 
tensified by  the  knowledge  that  that  man  was  her 
son  whom  she  might  perhaps  succeed  in  withdraw- 
ing from  his  father's  influence  and  binding  to  her 
own  cause.  She  wrote  to  her  friends  expressing 
herself  as  entirely  happy  and  satisfied,  and  she 
assured  her  son  that  in  the  sunshine  of  his  presence 
all  the  shadows  of  her  life  had  melted  away. 

By  degrees  this  new  affection,  like  all  the 
emotions  of  her  nature,  grew  into  a  passion.  She 
wrote  to  her  son,  almost  daily,  effusive  expres- 
sions of  her  love,  little  notes  after  parting  with 
him  at  night  or  to  greet  him  in  the  morning. 
Then  suddenly  one  day  without  the  slightest 
provocation  the  weathercock  of  her  passions 
veered  completely  round  ;  she  received  him 
with  a  paroxysm  of  rage  and  poured  upon  him 
such  a  torrent  of  abuse  that  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  the  house  and  take  posthorses  to  Toulouse. 
There  he  delayed  for  a  few  days,  and  letters  were 
interchanged  which  painfully  recall  the  corre- 
spondence of  husband  and  wife  just  before  their 
separation.  For  one  moment  Lady  Lytton  is 
abject  in  her  misery  and  contrition,  the  next  she 
resumes  her  torrent  of  vituperation.  Eventually 

1  Lady  Lytton's  condition  is  exactly  described  in  the  words  Macaulay 
applies  to  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  sect  of  Quakers  :  "  With  an 
intellect  in  the  most  unhappy  of  all  states,  that  is  to  say,  too  much  dis- 
ordered for  liberty,  and  not  sufficiently  disordered  for  Bedlam." 

278 


IRRECONCILABLE  TILL  DEATH 

Robert  Lytton  made  his  way  to  Paris,  where  his    1858. 
mother    rejoined    him.     There   a    last    unhappy  ^T.  55. 
interview  took    place  between  them,   and  they 
parted  never  to  meet  again.     The  son  returned 
to    The    Hague    to    resume  his    official    duties, 
and  the  mother  returned  to  Taunton  to  resume 
the  story  of  her  blighted  life.     To  the  tale  of 
her  sufferings,   real  and  imaginary,  was  hence- 
forth added  the  chapter  of  her  kidnapping  and 
forcible  incarceration  in   a  lunatic  asylum.     In 
the  eyes  of  those  who  heard  only  her  version  of 
the   facts   her  husband  became   a   greater   fiend 
than  ever,  and  between  these  implacable  foes  no 
truce  was  ever  called  on  this  side  of  the  grave. 

Since  their  death l  a  whole  generation  has 
passed  away,  and  of  the  fire  of  controversy  in  which 
their  lives  were  consumed  the  last  sparks  are 
now  extinguished.  It  is  not  for  me,  the  grandson 
of  both,  to  pass  any  judgment.  I  can  only  put 
together  such  materials  as  have  survived  to  assist 
others  to  do  what  was  not  possible  to  the  con- 
temporary partisans,  namely,  to  base  their  judg- 
ment upon  a  full  knowledge  of  the  facts.  No 
human  judgment  can  be  wholly  just,  because  all 
human  knowledge  is  necessarily  incomplete.  In 
our  own  concerns  it  is  impossible  to  divest 
ourselves  of  the  partiality  of  an  advocate,  but  the 
more  we  learn  of  the  tragedies  of  other  lives  the 
more  clearly  we  see  that  the  highest  justice  consists 
not  in  blaming  or  forgiving  but  in  understanding. 

1  Lady  Lytton  died  at  Upper  Sydenham  on  March   12,   1882,  in  her 
eightieth  year. 

279 


CHAPTER  V 

SECRETARY    OF    STATE    FOR    THE    COLONIES 

1858-1859 

Were  you  ever  in  public,  my  dear  reader  ?  Did  you  ever  resign  your 
private  comforts  as  man  in  order  to  share  the  public  troubles  of  mankind  ? 
If  ever  you  have  so  departed  from  the  Lucretian  philosophy,  just  look 
back — was  it  life  at  all  that  you  lived  ?  Were  you  an  individual  existence 
— a  passenger  in  the  railway  ? — or  were  you  merely  an  indistinct  portion 
of  that  common  flame  which  heated  the  boiler  and  generated  the  steam 
that  set  off  the  monster  train  ? 

My  Novel. 

1858-1859.  BULWER-LYTTON'S  tenure  of  the  Office  of  Secre- 
J£T.  55-56.  tary  of  State  for  the  Colonies  was  short  and  not 
particularly  eventful.  The  Government  of  which 
he  was  a  member  was  in  a  minority  during  the 
whole  period,  and  was  kept  in  power  only  by 
the  dissensions  among  their  Liberal  opponents. 
Most  of  their  work,  therefore,  consisted  in  carry- 
ing on  the  measures  which  had  already  been 
commenced  by  their  predecessors.  The  new 
Colonial  Secretary  gave  the  closest  attention  to 
the  work  of  his  Department,  and  established  the 
friendliest  relations,  both  with  his  permanent 
officials  and  with  the  Colonial  Governors  with 
whom  he  was  brought  in  contact.  His  Under- 
secretary was  Lord  Carnarvon,  of  whom  he  had 
the  highest  opinion.  His  opinion  is  recorded  in 

280 


IN  OFFICE 

the  following  terms  in  an  endorsement  of  their  1858-1859. 
correspondence  made  in  1869  : —  &r.  55-56. 

Lord  Carnarvon  was  Under-Secretary  of  the  Colonies 
to  me.  Very  accomplished,  very  honourable,  very 
hardworking,  very  ambitious,  very  sensitive  to  praise 
or  censure.  He  has,  therefore,  the  qualities  that  ensure 
no  mean  success  in  public  life.  If  he  attain  the  highest 
hereafter  it  will  be  in  spite  of  a  certain  want  of  vigour  in 
his  style  of  speaking,  and  of  virile  grasp  of  thought  in 
difficult  occasions,  as  compared  with  one  or  two  of  his 
contemporaries.  But  he  is  a  safer  man  than  any  of 
them  that  has  yet  appeared  in  tranquil  times. 

He  also  wrote  to  one  of  his  permanent  officials 
at  the  Colonial  Office  in  the  spring  of  1859  : — 

Lord  Carnarvon  demands  my  warmest  thanks  and 
praise  for  his  generous  uncomplaining  industry — il  ira 
loin — by  far  the  first  young  man  of  his  rank  in  public 
life. 

The  permanent  Under  -  Secretary  at  the 
Colonial  Office  at  this  time  was  Sir  Frederick 
Rogers  (afterwards  Lord  Blachford)  who,  in  a 
letter  to  his  daughter,  thus  refers  to  his  political 
chiefs  : — 

Both  Lord  Carnarvon  and  Sir  Edward  Lytton 
work  very  hard  ;  Sir  Edward  writes  perfect  volumes  of 
minutes,  and  then  tells  me  that  he  learnt  two  great 
maxims  in  life,  one  to  write  as  little  as  possible,  and 
the  other  to  say  as  little  as  possible  ! 

Bulwer- Lytton  was,  in  fact,  a  writer  by 
profession.  It  was  as  a  man  of  letters  that  he  is 

281 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  known  to  fame,  and,  though  he  earned  a  great 
MT.  55-56.  reputation  as  an  orator,  his  speeches  were  rather 
the  products  of  a  literary  mind  than  of  political 
genius.  They  were  written  out  in  full,  and 
delivered  from  memory  with  elaborate  and 
studied  gestures.  The  manuscripts  of  those 
which  were  delivered,  and  of  many  others  which 
were  never  spoken,  are  preserved  among  his 
papers,  and  may  be  regarded  as  oratorical  essays 
on  the  various  matters  with  which  they  deal, 
remarkable  for  their  sound  common  sense  and 
vigorous  expression.  Of  his  manner  of  speak- 
ing a  very  interesting  description  is  given  in 
William  White's  Inner  Life  of  the  House  of 
Commons.1  White  was  for  many  years  door- 
keeper of  the  House  of  Commons,  a  position 
which  enabled  him  to  study  the  individual 
habits  and  peculiarities  of  the  chief  speakers 
of  that  day.  Of  Bulwer-Lytton  he  writes : — 

.  .  .  He  always  walks  about  in  that  abstracted 
manner,  rather  stooping,  his  hat  on  the  back  of  his 
head,  his  hands  thrust  into  his  trouser  pockets,  and  his 
eyes  cast  downwards — looking  for  all  the  world  as  if  he 
fancied  that  he  had  lost  something,  and  was  searching 
on  the  ground  and  feeling  for  it  in  his  pockets  at  the 
same  time.  It  is  generally  known  about  the  House 
when  he  is  going  to  speak,  as  he  then  wanders  about 
more  abstractedly  than  usual.  The  Hon.  Baronet  is 
not  an  effective  speaker ;  not,  however,  because  his 
matter  is  not  good,  but  because  his  action  spoils  all. 
It  is  well  known  that  he  studies  his  speeches  carefully 

1  Edited,  in  1897,  by  Justin  MacCarthy. 
282 


BULWER-LYTTON'S  ORATORY 

beforehand — would  that  he  would,  under  proper  guid-  1858-1859. 
aace,  study  how  to  deliver  them  !  His  manner  is  this  :  &T-  55-5^- 
He  begins  a  sentence,  standing  upright,  in  his  usual 
tone ;  as  he  gets  to  the  middle  he  throws  himself 
backwards,  until  you  would  fancy  that  he  must  tumble 
over,  and  gradually  raises  his  voice  to  its  highest  pitch. 
He  then  begins  to  lower  his  tone  and  bring  his  body 
forwards,  so  that  at  the  finish  of  the  sentence  his  head 
nearly  touches  his  knees,  and  the  climax  of  the  sentence 
is  lost  in  a  whisper ;  and  yet,  notwithstanding  this 
serious  drawback,  there  are  but  few  members  whose 
speeches  are  comparable  to  Sir  Edward's.  Strange  that 
a  man  who  thinks  it  worth  his  while  to  get  up  his 
matter  carefully  should  pay  so  little  attention  to  his 
manner. 

White's  criticism  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  articu- 
lation is  not  exactly  corroborated  by  others 
who  have  described  his  speaking  to  me.  All 
accounts  agree  that  his  gestures  were  somewhat 
extravagant,  the  most  common  of  which  was  to 
raise  his  arm  straight  up  above  his  head  and  bring 
it  down  again  with  a  kind  of  sawing  motion,  and 
I  have  also  heard  that  his  voice  was  loud  and  not 
well  modulated.  But  the  complaint  that  he  was 
difficult  to  hear  is  new  to  me  ;  such  a  defect  is 
hard  to  reconcile  with  the  enthusiastic  applause 
which  his  speeches  undoubtedly  evoked.  A 
speech  which  is  not  well  heard  is  seldom  well 
received,  and  the  reception  given  to  Bulwer- 
Lytton's  speeches  was  always  in  the  highest 
degree  appreciative.  They  were  not  only  loudly 
cheered  by  his  own  side,  but  also  praised  by  his 
opponents. 

283 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  His  year  of  Office  was  but  an  incident  in  a 
MT.  55-56.  literary  career,  and  though  his  departmental  work 
was  conscientiously  fulfilled,  it  was  thoroughly 
uncongenial.  During  the  whole  time  he  was 
harassed  to  distraction  by  the  painful  circum- 
stances described  in  the  last  chapter,  and  this 
private  affliction,  combined  with  the  arduous 
labours  of  Parliament  and  Office,  so  affected  his 
health  that  by  the  end  of  1858  he  was  quite 
unfit  to  continue  his  official  work.  While  he 
was  Secretary  of  State,  however,  several  im- 
portant changes  took  place  in  Colonial  administra- 
tion, of  which  some  mention  must  be  made. 

The  two  Colonies  which  chiefly  occupied  his 
attention  were  Australia  and  Canada,  and  in  both 
these  Colonies  there  are  flourishing  towns  to-day 
which  bear  his  name.  Almost  his  first  official 
act  was  the  abolition  of  the  old  mail  contract 
with  Australia,  which  had  proved  ineffectual  and 
troublesome,  and  one  of  his  last  acts  was  the 
separation  of  Queensland  from  New  South  Wales, 
and  the  appointment  of  Sir  George  Bowen  to 
the  Governorship  of  the  new  Colony. 

The  letter  confirming  this  appointment  was 
described  by  Sir  George  Bowen  as  "  an  admirable 
compendium  of  the  duties  of  a  Colonial  Governor," 
and  he  added  :  "  I  attribute  in  no  slight  degree 
the  success  of  my  career  to  my  strict  adherence 
to  the  advice  given  in  this  letter.  It  would  be 
well  that  it  should  be  published,  if  it  were  only 
that  future  Colonial  Governors  may  have  the 
advantage  of  studying  it." 

284 


LETTER  TO  SIR  GEORGE  BOWEN 

Although  this  letter  has  been  quoted  in  the  1858-1859. 
Prefatory  Memoir   prefixed  to  Bulwer-Lytton's  ^T-  55-56- 
collected  speeches,  I  think  it  well  for  the  sake  of 
the  completeness  of  this  Biography  to  reproduce 
it  here  : — 

Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  Sir  George  Bowen. 

GREAT  MALVERN, 
April 29,  1859. 

DEAR  SIR  GEORGE  BOWEN — I  have  the  pleasure  to 
inform  you  that  the  Queen  approves  of  your  appoint- 
ment to  Moreton  Bay,  which  will  henceforth  bear  the 
appellation  of  Queensland.  Accept  my  congratulations, 
and  my  assurances  of  the  gratification  it  gives  me  to 
have  promoted  you  to  a  post  in  which  your  talents  will 
find  ample  scope. 

There  is  not  much  to  learn  beforehand  for  your 
guidance  in  this  new  colony.  The  most  anxious 
and  difficult  question  connected  with  it  will  be  the 
"  squatters."  But  in  this,  which  is  an  irritating  contest 
between  rival  interests,  you  will  wisely  abstain  as  much 
as  possible  from  interference.  Avoid  taking  part  with 
one  or  the  other.  Ever  be  willing  to  lend  aid  to 
conciliatory  settlement ;  but,  in  order  to  secure  that  aid, 
you  must  be  strictly  impartial.  Remember  that  the 
first  care  of  a  Governor  in  a  free  colony  is  to  shun  the 
reproach  of  being  a  party  man.  Give  all  parties  and  all 
the  ministries  formed  the  fairest  play. 

Mark  and  study  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  com- 
munity ;  every  community  has  some  peculiar  to  itself. 
Then,  in  your  public  addresses,  appeal  to  those  which 
are  the  noblest ; — the  noblest  are  always  the  most 
universal  and  the  most  durable.  They  are  peculiar  to 
no  party. 

Let  your  thoughts  never  be  distracted  from  the 

285 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  paramount    object    of    finance.     All    States    thrive    in 
&T.  55-56.  proportion  to  the  administration  of  revenue. 

You  will,  as  soon  as  possible,  exert  all  energy  and 
persuasion  to  induce  the  colonists  to  see  to  their  self- 
defence  internally.  Try  to  establish  a  good  police  ;  if 
you  can  then  get  the  superior  class  of  colonists  to  assist 
in  forming  a  militia  or  volunteer  corps  spare  no  pains 
to  do  so. 

It  is  at  the  commencement  of  colonies  that  this 
object  can  be  best  effected.  A  colony  that  is  once 
accustomed  to  depend  on  imperial  soldiers  for  aid 
against  riots,  &c.,  never  grows  up  into  vigorous 
manhood.  Witness  the  West  Indian  colonies. 

Education  the  colonists  will  be  sure  to  provide  for. 
So  they  will  for  religion. 

Do  your  best  always  to  keep  up  the  pride  in  the 
mother  country.  Throughout  all  Australia  there  is  a 
sympathy  with  the  ideal  of  a  gentleman.  This  gives  a 
moral  aristocracy.  Sustain  it  by  showing  the  store  set 
on  integrity,  honour,  and  civilised  manners  ;  not  by 
preferences  of  birth,  which  belong  to  old  countries. 

Whenever  any  distinguished  members  of  your  colony 
come  to  England  give  them  letters  of  introduction, 
and  a  private  one  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  whoever  he 
may  be.  This  last  is  not  sufficiently  done  in  colonies ; 
but  all  Secretaries  of  State  who  are  fit  for  the  office 
should  desire  it.  You  may  quote  my  opinion  to  this 
effect  to  my  successors. 

As  regards  despatches,  your  experience  in  the 
Ionian  Islands  will  tell  you  how  much  is  avoided  in 
despatches  that  may  be  made  public,  and  done  in 
private  letters.  This  practice  is  at  present  carried  to 
inconvenience  and  abuse.  Questions  affecting  free 
colonies  may  come  before  Parliament,  of  which 
no  public  documents  whatever  afford  the  slightest 
explanation. 

286 


DUTIES  OF  A  COLONIAL  GOVERNOR 

The  communications  from  a  Government  should  be  1858-1859. 
fourfold  : —  Mr.  55-56. 

1st.  Public  despatches. 

2nd.  Confidential — intended  for  publication  if  at  all 
required. 

3rd.  Confidential — not  to  be  published  unless 
absolutely  necessary  for  defence  of  measures  by  yourself 
and  the  Home  Department. 

4th.  Letters  strictly  private — and  these,  if  frank  to  a 
Minister  or  to  an  Under-Secretary  like  Mr.  Merivale, 
should  be  guarded  to  friends,  and  touch  as  little  as 
possible  upon  names  and  parties  in  the  colony.  A 
Government  may  rely  on  the  discretion  of  a  Depart- 
ment, never  on  that  of  private  correspondents. 

5th.  As  you  will  have  a  free  press,  you  will  have 
some  papers  that  may  be  abusive.  Never  be  thin- 
skinned  about  these  ;  laugh .  them  off.  Be  pointedly 
courteous  to  all  editors  and  writers — acknowledging 
socially  their  craft  and  its  importance.  The  more  you 
treat  people  as  gentlemen  the  more  "  they  will  behave 
as  such." 

After  all,  men  are  governed  as  much  by  the  heart  as 
by  the  head.  Evident  sympathy  in  the  progress  of  the 
colony  ;  traits  of  kindness,  generosity,  devoted  energy, 
where  required  for  the  public  weal ;  a  pure  exercise  of 
patronage  ;  an  utter  absence  of  vindictiveness  or  spite  ; 
the  fairness  that  belongs  to  magnanimity — these  are  the 
qualities  that  make  governors  powerful,  while  men 
merely  sharp  and  clever  may  be  weak  and  detested. 

But  there  is  one  rule  which  I  find  pretty  universal 
in  colonies.  The  governor  who  is  the  least  huffy,  and 
who  is  most  careful  not  to  overgovern,  is  the  one  who 
has  the  most  authority.  Enforce  civility  upon  all 
minor  officials.  Courtesy  is  a  duty  public  servants  owe 
to  the  humblest  member  of  the  public. 

Pardon  all  these   desultory  hints  which   I   daresay 

287 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 


1858-1859.  may  see™  to  you  as  old  as  the  hills  ;  and  wishing  you 
yEr.  55-56.  a^  nealth  and  enjoyment  in  the  far  land,  believe  me,  — 
Yours  very  truly, 

E.  B.  LYTTON. 

P.  S.  —  Get  all  the  details  of  the  squatter  question 
from  the  Department  —  master  them  thoroughly.  Con- 
vert the  jealousies  now  existing  between  Moreton  Bay 
and  Sydney  into  emulation.  Your  recollection  of  the 
old  Greek  States  will  tell  you  what  strides  States  can 
take  through  emulation.  I  need  not  say  that  the 
sooner  you  go  out  to  the  new  colony  the  better. 

You  are  aware  that  since  I  have  been  in  this  office  I 
have  changed  the  old  colonial  uniform  for  the  same  as 
that  worn  in  the  imperial  service.  I  consider  it  a  great 
point  to  assimilate  the  two  services  in  outward  emblems 
of  dignity.  The  Queen's  servant  is  the  Queen's  servant, 
whether  at  Westminster  or  at  the  antipodes.  You  will 
have,  therefore,  to  get  a  new  dress.  When  do  you  wish 
to  go  ? 

E.  B.  L. 

The  most  important  act  of  Bulwer-Lytton's 
Colonial  administration  was  the  incorporation  of 
British  Columbia  as  a  new  Colony  on  the  North 
American  Continent.  This  step  was  prompted 
by  the  necessity  of  providing  some  form  of  govern- 
ment for  the  preservation  of  order  among  the< 
immigrants  who  had  lately  been  attracted  to  this 
district  by  the  discovery  of  gold  on  the  banks  of 
the  Fraser  River.  Vancouver  Island  had  been 
placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company  in  1849.  The  Company  were  given 
a  monopoly  of  trade  as  well  as  all  the  responsi- 
bilities of  Government  in  the  Island  for  a  period 

288 


BRITISH  COLUMBIA 

often  years,  but  their  jurisdiction  did  not  extend  1858-1859. 
to  the  mainland,  the  territory  of  which  had  not  ^ET.  55-56. 
as  yet  been  colonised.  This  territory  stretched 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and  from  the  sources  of  the  Fraser  River  to  the 
American  boundary.  It  was  known  to  be  rich 
in  minerals,  well  covered  with  timber,  and  to 
contain  valuable  fisheries,  as  well  as  good  agri- 
cultural soil  ;  but  until  1856  there  had  been  no 
attempt  to  develop  the  country,  which  was 
almost  exclusively  inhabited  by  Indians.  In 
that  year  it  was  announced  that  gold  had  been 
discovered  along  the  Fraser,  Thompson,  and 
Columbia  rivers,  and  soon  afterwards  an  immi- 
gration of  gold-seekers  from  America  took  place. 

In  December,  1857,  t^ie  Governor  of  Van- 
couver Island  issued  a  proclamation,  declaring 
the  rights  of  the  Crown  to  the  gold  in  this 
district,  establishing  licence  fees  for  diggers,  and 
prohibiting  any  digging  without  authority  from 
the  Colonial  Government.  As,  however,  the 
Governor  had  no  jurisdiction  whatever  upon  the 
mainland,  his  proclamation  was  ignored  ;  the 
immigration  of  gold-diggers  rapidly  increased, 
•and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  appealed  to  the 
Home  Government  to  establish  some  authority 
to  preserve  order  and  protect  life  and  property 
among  the  new  settlers. 

On  July  8,  1858,  therefore,  Bulwer-Lytton 
introduced  a  Bill  into  the  House  of  Commons 
for  this  purpose.  The  Bill  proposed  to  empower 
the  Crown  for  five  years  to  make  laws  for  the 

VOL.  II  289  U 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  district,  with  a  view  to  the  establishment  of  a 
JEr.  55-56.  representative   Government  at  the   end  of  that 
period. 

The  passing  of  this  Bill  led  eventually  to  the 
establishment  of  a  new  Colony  and  the  develop- 
ment and  settlement  of  one  of  the  richest  districts 
in  the  present  Dominion  of  Canada.  In  the  con- 
cluding words  of  his  speech  on  the  second  Reading 
of  the  Bill,  the  new  Colonial  Secretary  fore- 
shadowed the  future  prosperity  of  the  new 
territory  : — 

"  I  do  believe,"  he  said,  "  that  the  day  will  come, 
and  that  many  now  present  will  live  to  see  it,  when  a 
portion  at  least  of  the  lands  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  being  also  brought  into  colonisation, 
and  guarded  by  free  institutions,  one  direct  line  of 
railway  communication  will  unite  the  Pacific  to  the 
Atlantic.  Be  that  as  it  may,  of  one  thing  I  am  sure — 
that  though  at  present  it  is  the  desire  of  gold  which 
attracts  to  this  colony  its  eager  and  impetuous  founders, 
still,  if  it  be  reserved,  as  I  hope,  to  add  a  permanent 
and  flourishing  race  to  the  great  family  of  nations,  it 
must  be,  not  by  the  gold  which  the  diggers  may  bring 
to  light,  but  by  the  more  gradual  process  of  patient 
industry  in  the  culture  of  the  soil,  and  in  the  exchange 
of  commerce  ;  it  must  be  by  the  respect  for  the  equal 
laws  which  secure  to  every  man  the  power  to  retain 
what  he  may  honestly  acquire  ;  it  must  be  in  the 
exercise  of  those  social  virtues  by  which  the  fierce 
impulse  of  force  is  tamed  into  habitual  energy,  and 
avarice  itself,  amidst  the  strife  of  competition,  finds  its 
objects  best  realised  by  steadfast  emulation  and  prudent 
thrift.  I  conclude,  Sir,  with  a  humble  trust  that  the 
Divine  Disposer  of  all  human  events  may  afford  the 

290 


ADDRESS  TO  ENGINEERS 

safeguard  of  His  blessing  to  our  attempt  to  add  another  1858-1859. 
community  of  Christian  freemen   to  those  by  which  j^T  55.56 
Great  Britain  confides  the  records  of  her  empire,  not  to 
pyramids  and  obelisks,  but  to  states  and  commonwealths 
whose  history  shall  be  written  in  her  language." 

The  interest  which  Bulwer-Lytton  took  in 
the  new  Colony  and  the  high  hopes  which  he 
formed  of  its  future  prosperity,  are  further 
illustrated  by  a  speech  which  he  made  to  a 
detachment  of  Engineers  on  their  embarkation 
at  Portsmouth  for  British  Columbia.  After 
attending  a  Council  at  Osborne,  summoned  for 
the  purpose  of  ratifying  the  new  arrangements, 
Bulwer  -  Lytton  went  on  board  the  ship  at 
Portsmouth,  and  addressed  the  following  words 
of  encouragement  to  the  sappers  and  miners  who 
were  about  to  sail  in  her  : — 

Soldiers — I  have  come  to  say  to  you  a  few  kind 
words  of  parting. 

You  are  going  to  a  distant  country,  not,  I  trust,  to 
fight  against  men,  but  to  conquer  nature  ;  not  to  besiege 
cities,  but  to  create  them  ;  not  to  overthrow  kingdoms, 
but  to  assist  in  establishing  new  communications  under 
the  sceptre  of  your  own  Queen. 

For  these  noble  objects,  you,  soldiers  of  the  Royal 
Engineers,  have  been  especially  selected  from  the  ranks 
of  Her  Majesty's  armies.  Wherever  you  go  you  carry 
with  you  not  only  English  valour  and  English  loyalty, 
but  English  intelligence  and  English  skill.  Wherever 
a  difficulty  is  to  be  encountered  which  requires  in  the 
soldiers  not  only  courage  and  discipline,  but  education 
and  science,  sappers  and  miners,  the  Sovereign  of 
England  turns  with  confidence  to  you.  If  this  were 

291 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  a  service  of  danger  and  bloodshed,  I  know  that  on 
,/Er.  55-56.  every  field  and  against  all  odds,  the  honour  of  the 
English  arms  would  be  safe  from  a  stain  in  your  hands  ; 
but  in  that  distant  region  to  which  you  depart,  I  hope 
that  our  national  flag  will  wave  in  peaceful  triumph  on 
many  a  Royal  birthday,  from  walls  and  church  towers, 
which  you  will  have  assisted  to  raise  from  the  wilder- 
ness, and  will  leave  to  remote  generations  as  the  blood- 
less trophies  of  your  renown. 

Soldiers,  you  will  be  exposed  to  temptation  ;  you  go 
where  gold  is  discovered,  where  avarice  inflames  all  the 
passions,  but  I  know  that  the  voice  of  duty  and  the 
love  of  honour  will  keep  you  true  to  your  officers,  and 
worthy  of  the  trust  which  your  Sovereign  places  in  Her 
Royal  Engineers.  For  my  part,  as  one  of  the  Queen's 
Ministers,  I  promise  that  all  which  can  conduce  to 
your  comfort  and  fairly  reward  your  labours,  shall  be 
thoughtfully  considered.  You  have  heard  from  my 
distinguished  friend,  your  Commanding  officer,  that 
every  man  amongst  you  who  shall  have  served  six 
years  in  British  Columbia,  and  receives  at  the  end  of 
that  time  a  certificate  of  good  conduct,  will  be  entitled, 
if  he  desire  to  become  a  resident  in  the  Colony,  to  thirty 
acres  of  land,  ay,  and  of  fertile  land  in  that  soil  which 
you  will  have  assisted  to  bring  into  settlement  and 
cultivation.  In  the  strange  and  wild  district  to  which 
you  are  bound,  you  will  meet  with  men  of  all  countries, 
of  all  characters  and  kinds.  You  will  aid  in  preserving 
peace  and  order,  not  by  your  numbers,  not  by  mere 
force,  but  by  the  respect  which  is  due  to  the  arms  of 
England,  and  the  spectacle  of  your  own  discipline  and 
good  conduct.  You  will  carefully  refrain  from  quarrel 
or  brawl.  You  will  scorn,  I  am  sure,  the  vice  which 
degrades  God's  rational  creature  to  the  level  of  the 
brute — I  mean  the  vice  of  intoxication.  I  am  told 
that  is  the  vice  which  most  tempts  common  soldiers. 

292 


COLONIAL  POLICY 

I  hope  not — but  I  am  sure  it  is  the  vice  which  least   1858-1859. 
tempts   thoughtful,    intelligent,  successful  men.     You  JEr.  55-56. 
are  not  common  soldiers — you  are  to  be  the  Pioneers 
of  Civilization. 

Nothing  more  counteracts  the  taste  for  drink  than 
the  taste  for  instruction,  and  Colonel  Moody  will 
endeavour  to  form  for  your  amusement  and  profit  in 
hours  of  leisure  a  suitable  collection  of  books.  I  beg 
to  offer  my  contribution  to  that  object,  and  I  offer 
it  not  as  a  public  Minister,  out  of  public  monies,  but 
in  my  private  capacity  as  a  lover  of  literature  myself, 
and  your  friend  and  well-wisher. 

Farewell.  Heaven  speed  and  prosper  you.  The 
enterprise  before  you  is  indeed  glorious.  Ages  hence 
industry  and  commerce  will  crowd  the  roads  that  you 
will  have  made  ;  travellers  from  all  nations  will  halt  on 
the  bridges  you  will  have  first  'flung  over  solitary  rivers, 
and  gaze  on  gardens  and  cornfields  that  you  will  have 
first  carved  from  the  wilderness  ;  Christian  races  will 
dwell  in  the  cities  of  which  you  will  map  the  sites  and 
lay  the  foundations.  You  go  not  as  the  enemies,  but 
as  the  benefactors  of  the  land  you  visit,  and  children 
unborn  will,  I  believe,  bless  the  hour  when  Queen 
Victoria  sent  forth  her  sappers  and  miners  to  found  a 
second  England  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific. 

In  the  following  year,  1859,  the  monopoly  of 
the  Hudson  Bay  Company  expired,  and  Bulwer- 
Lytton  had  to  carry  through  the  difficult  and 
delicate  negotiations  of  restoring  to  the  Crown 
the  administration  of  those  districts  which  had 
hitherto  been  controlled  by  the  Company. 

The  other  chief  items  of  his  Colonial  policy 
included  the  passing  of  an  Encumbered  Estates 
Bill  for' the  West  Indian  Colonies,  the  settlement 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  of  a  long-standing  dispute  with   France  by  the 
&T.  55-56.  exchange    of    Portendio    for    Albuda,    and    the 
despatch  of  Mr.  Gladstone  on  a  special  mission 
to  the  Ionian  Islands. 

The  High  Commissioner  of  these  Islands  was 
at  that  time  Sir  John  Young,  and  the  inhabitants, 
who  were  under  a  British  Protectorate,  but 
ardently  desired  to  be  united  to  Greece,  ex- 
pressed their  dissatisfaction  with  Sir  John  Young's 
administration.  It  was  necessary  to  investigate 
these  complaints,  and  Bulwer-Lytton  was  ex- 
tremely fortunate  in  persuading  Mr.  Gladstone 
to  undertake  the  task.  The  negotiations  on  the 
subject  of  this  mission,  and  the  correspondence 
with  the  Queen,  Lord  Derby,  and  Mr.  Gladstone 
about  it,  form  the  greater  part  of  the  papers 
which  Bulwer-Lytton  has  preserved,  relating  to 
his  official  work.  The  details  of  the  mission, 
however,  belong  rather  to  the  life  of  Mr. 
Gladstone,  by  whose  biographer  they  have  been 
fully  described,1  than  to  this  story  ;  and  all  that 
need  be  mentioned  here  is  that  Mr.  Gladstone, 
finding  the  Islanders  bent  upon  incorporation 
with  Greece,  and  having  no  authority  to  satisfy 
their  wishes  in  this  respect,  returned  to  England 
and  reported  the  facts  to  the  Government.  Both 
Gladstone  and  Bulwer-Lytton  had  strong  Hellenic 
sympathies,  and  realised  that  the  wishes  of  the 
Islanders  could  not  be  ignored,  but  there  were 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  satisfying  them  at  that 
time.  A  change  of  Governors,  therefore,  was 

1  Life  of  Gladstone,  by  John  Morley,  Book  iv.,  chap.  x. 
294 


THE  IONIAN  ISLANDS 

the  only  result.  Sir  John  Young  was  recalled,  1858-1859. 
and  Sir  Henry  Storks  was  sent  out  as  High  <#/r.  55-56. 
Commissioner  in  his  place. 

The  question  of  the  Ionian  Islands  occupied  the 
autumn  months  of  1858,  and  by  the  end  of  the 
year  occurred  the  breakdown  in  Bulwer-Lytton's 
health  already  referred  to.  On  December  16 
he  wrote  to  Lord  Derby,  tendering  his  resigna- 
tion. He  explained  that  having  been  in- 
creasingly ill  ever  since  the  end  of  the  session, 
his  doctor  had  now  definitely  warned  him  that 
the  consequences  would  be  serious  if  he  did  not 
immediately  take  a  complete  rest,  and  added  : — 

I  feel,  therefore,  whatever  my  personal  regrets  may 
be,  that  it  is  due  to  you  and  to  the  Government  rather 
to  retire  at  once,  while  you  have  deliberate  leisure  to 
make  arrangements  for  my  successor,  than  incur  the 
too  probable  danger  of  failing  to  yourself  and  the 
public  service  at,  perhaps,  the  very  time  when  any 
kind  of  change  might  carry  with  it  the  greatest 
inconvenience. 

In  quitting  a  post  in  which  I  had  hoped  to  be 
useful,  and  colleagues  for  whom  I  entertain  every 
sentiment  of  esteem  and  sympathy,  while  I  do  not 
attempt  to  conceal  my  mortification  and  regrets,  I  am 
not  without  some  consolations.  I  trust  that  the  zeal 
and  assiduity  by  which,  in  my  Department,  I  have 
sought  to  remedy  defects  of  experience,  will  be 
generally  acknowledged.  I  believe  that  I  have 
smoothed  some  difficulties  from  the  way  of  my 
successor  ;  and  I  am  not  aware  of  any  measure  adopted 
by  me  which  Parliament  will  think  to  the  discredit  of 
the  Ministers  by  whom  I  was  recommended  to  the 
choice  of  the  Sovereign. 

295 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  I  shall  venture  also  to  indulge  a  hope,  from  which  I 
Mr.  55-56.  derive  indeed  no  slight  support  under  the  pain  the 
present  letter  costs  me — that,  by  sufficient  repose  while 
yet  in  time,  I  may  so  far  recover  health  and  strength 
as  to  be  enabled,  during  the  debates  of  the  session,  to 
render  some  little  aid  to  the  Government  as  an 
independent  Member  of  Parliament. 

Let  me  conclude  by  sincerely  thanking  you  for  all 
the  kindness  I  have  received  at  your  hands  during  my 
tenure  of  office,  and  leaving  it  to  your  Lordship  to 
tender  my  resignation  to  her  Majesty. 

At  the  same  time  he  wrote  to  Disraeli: — 

MY  DEAR  DISRAELI — I  will  ask  you  to  read  the 
enclosed  note  from  Dr.  Reed,  the  physician  who  has 
attended  me  for  nearly  twelve  years.  It  is  the  key  to 
the  letter  I  have  felt  reluctantly  compelled  to  address  to 
Lord  Derby,  and  of  which  also  I  enclose  you  a  copy. 
In  quitting  office,  I  trust  that  I  may  yet  often,  at  need, 
be  found  near  you  in  the  field  of  party  strife  ;  and  with 
the  most  affectionate  wishes  for  your  prosperity  and 
fame  in  the  official  career  in  which  my  physical  strength 
foils  the  earnest  desire  not  to  part  from  your  side,  that 
has  long  assisted  me  to  suppress  the  sense  of  physical 
suffering, — Believe  me,  most  truly  yours, 

E.  B.  LYTTON. 

His  letter  to  Lord  Derby  was  acknowledged 
as  follows  : — 

KNOWSLEY,  Dec.  19,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  EDWARD — I  need  hardly  say  with 
how  much  regret  I  have  received  the  unexpected 
intelligence  brought  me  by  your  messenger  this 
morning.  I  regret  it,  not  less  for  the  cause  which  you 

296 


RESIGNATION 

assign,  than  for    the   loss  which  the  Government  will  1858-1859. 

sustain    by    your    retirement,    and    the   embarrassment  &T.  55-56. 

which  would  be  caused  by  any  change  at  this  time,  but 

more  especially  by  one  which  deprives  us  of  the  services 

of  a  colleague  who,  during  the  short  time  he  has  held 

Office,    has   performed   the  duties  of  his  Department 

with  so    much  ability  and  success  as  you   have  done. 

Still,  the  reasons  which  you  assign  for  your  decision  are 

such    as   it  would   probably  be   in  vain,  and    perhaps 

would    hardly   be  justifiable  in   me,  to  endeavour  to 

combat.     Only  let  me  entreat  you  not  to  make  your 

determination    known   to   anyone,    and   take    no   step 

towards  carrying  it  into  effect,  until  I  shall  have  had 

time  to  look  about  me,  and  to  consider  in  what  manner 

I    may    best  mitigate   the  serious  inconvenience  which 

must   be   caused    by   a  change.     You  will,  of  course, 

allow  me  to  communicate  confidentially  with  Disraeli, 

who,  as  Leader  of  the   House  of  Commons,  has    the 

deepest  interest  in  this  matter,   hardly  second   to  my 

own.     I  shall  not  at  present  name  it  to  any  other  of 

our  colleagues,  and  I  will  not  even  yet  abandon  the 

hope   that   if  the   difficulties   of  a    new   arrangement 

should    be   found    as   formidable   as    I  anticipate,    the 

comparative  relaxation  which  you  may  obtain  between 

this  time  and  our  meeting  again,  may  produce  such  an 

improvement  in  your  health,  that,  even  if  we  may  not 

look   to   a    permanent   continuance   of  your   valuable 

services,  you  may  be  induced  to  delay  their  withdrawal 

till  the  present  critical  period  for  the  Government  shall 

have  passed  by. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  present  is  a  moment  when 
there  will  be  a  great  and  very  natural  unwillingness  to 
enter  on  the  responsibilities  of  Cabinet  Office  ;  while 
credit  will  hardly  be  given  to  the  real  causes  which 
have  led  to  your  proffered  retirement,  and  rumours  of 
"  dissensions  in  the  Cabinet "  on  the  eve  of  meeting 

297 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

858-1859.  Parliament,  will  both  weaken  the  Government  in  public 
T-  SS-S^-  opinion,  and  increase  the  difficulty  of  filling  up  the 
vacant  office.  While,  therefore,  I  will  lose  no  time  in 
considering  anxiously  the  possibility  of  making  a  fresh 
arrangement  to  meet  your  wishes,  I  must  repeat  my 
very  earnest  hope  that,  for  the  present,  you  will  con- 
sider your  letter  as  in  abeyance,  and  say  not  a  single 
word  which  should  lead  to  a  suspicion  of  your  in- 
tentions.— Believe  me,  dear  Sir  Edward,  Yours  very 
sincerely, 

DERBY. 

Disraeli  replied  in  a  strain  of  vigorous  re- 
proach : — 

DOWNING  STREET, 
Dec.  20,  1858. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER — I  am  entirely  knocked  up 
by  your  letter,  received  on  my  hurried  return  from 
Knowsley. 

I  have  no  opinion  of  Dr.  Reed,  or  of  any  Doctors. 
In  the  course  of  my  life  I  have  received  fifty  letters 
from  physicians  like  that  which  you  enclosed  to  me, 
and  which  I  return.  Had  I  attended  to  them,  I  should 
not  be  here,  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  in  robust 
health. 

Men  of  our  temperament,  at  our  time  of  life,  ought 
not  to  require  Doctors.  I  am  quite  alarmed  that  you 
have  been  so  long  under  Dr.  Reed,  who,  in  some 
degree,  explains  your  state. 

It  is  quite  impossible  that  a  man  more  than  fifty, 
who  has  accomplished  such  great  work  as  you  have 
done,  and  endured  such  unparalleled  and  supernatural 
labour,  can  experience  any  real  deficiency  of  nervous 
energy.  It  is  not  organic  or  natural,  and  must  be  the 
result  of  some  quacking. 

298 


DISRAELI'S  REPROACHES 

I  hope  you  will  reconsider  your  position,  and  not  1858-1859. 
sacrifice  a  political  career  at  a  public  emergency,  and  ^Er.  55-56. 
when  you  have  gained,  on   all   hands,  credit  for  the 
masterly  administration  of  your  Department.     It  will 
cause  you  regret  hereafter. 

I  say  nothing  of  the  effect  on  the  position  of  the 
Government  by  the  retirement  of  any  of  its  members 
at  this  moment.  The  true  motive  will  never  be 
credited. 

Whatever  your  illness  may  be,  your  secession  will  be 
a  paralytic  stroke  to  the  Ministry.  The  retirement  of 
the  most  insignificant  would  be  serious  now. 

It  has  been  one  of  the  objects  of  my  public  life  to 
find  a  colleague  in  an  old  friend,  with  whom,  in  our 
youth,  I  had  pursued  a  congenial  course,  and  I  cannot 
express  the  pain  it  costs  me  to  contemplate  the 
possibility  of  our  separation. 

My  direction  is  Torquay.  We  had  meant  to  have 
gone  there  this  morning,  but  I  have  stayed  a  day  on 
account  of  this  business. 

At  all  events,  I  trust  the  affair  may  be  kept  quite 
close  at  present,  so  that  we  may  look  about  ourselves, 
and  breathe,  and  think. — Yours  ever, 

D. 

To  a  statesman  who  made  politics  the  business 
of  his  life,  and  who  derived  from  the  excitement 
of  party  conflict  a  stimulus  which  enabled  him 
successfully  to  accomplish  incessant  labours  both 
parliamentary  and  departmental,  the  thought  of 
retiring  from  the  field  for  reasons  of  health 
savouredof  incredible  weakness  and  even  cowardice. 
Where,  as  in  Disraeli's  case,  a  man's  whole  mental 
energies  are  absorbed  by  his  profession,  he  has  no 
time  to  consider  whether  he  be  well  or  ill,  and 

299 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  unless  he  has  some  organic  disease,  he  can  under- 
55-56.  take  an  amount  of  work  which  no  physician 
would  sanction  or  even  believe  to  be  possible. 
Naturally,  therefore,  Disraeli  was  not  impressed 
by  the  cautious  advice  of  a  medical  man,  and 
seeing  nothing  in  Dr.  Reed's  letter  which  justified 
the  step  which  his  friend  proposed  to  take,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  tell  him  so  with  characteristic 
bluntness  and  energy.  But  with  Bulwer-Lytton 
the  case  was  different.  Politics  did  not  constitute 
the  business  of  his  life,  but  only  imposed 
additional  burdens  upon  a  physique  already 
seriously  impaired  by  years  of  excessive  literary 
toil.  Even  so,  he  was  not  a  man  to  shirk  work, 
nor  to  be  easily  overcome  by  mere  brain  exercise. 
It  is  doubtful  whether  the  work  of  the  Colonial 
Office  imposed  upon  him  any  greater  intellectual 
strain  than  the  literary  labours  which  had  been 
voluntarily  undertaken  and  unremittingly  con- 
tinued for  thirty  years.  But  the  real  cause  of 
his  collapse  at  this  time  was  not  known  to 
Disraeli,  and  was  not  even  fully  realised  by 
Bulwer-Lytton  himself.  The  complete  loss  of 
nerve  from  which  he  was  suffering  was  not 
caused  by  any  brain  work,  either  literary  or 
political,  not  by  the  late  hours  and  unhealthy 
atmosphere  of  the  House  of  Commons,  nor  even 
by  the  anxiety  of  ministerial  responsibility. 
These  things  aggravated  but  did  not  originate  a 
mischief  which  had  its  roots  in  the  misery  and 
humiliation  of  his  domestic  trouble.  Reference 
to  the  dates  of  the  events  mentioned  in  the  last 

300 


REASONS  OF  THE  RESIGNATION 

chapter  will  remind  the  reader  that  the  brightest  1858-1859. 
moment  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  public  career  coin-  &T.  55-56. 
cided  with  the  darkest  hour  of  his  private 
affliction.  The  shame  and  horror  which  he  felt 
at  his  wife's  conduct,  the  sting  of  the  hatred 
with  which  she  pursued  him,  the  torment  of 
doubt  as  to  what  his  own  action  should  be, 
remorse  too,  perhaps,  for  a  past  which  could  not 
be  recalled — all  this  provoked  a  wild  longing 
to  escape  and  be  free,  to  wake  from  the  night- 
mare which  haunted  him.  These  memories  and 
anxieties  had  to  be  suppressed  daily  before  he 
could  set  about  his  public  duties ;  they  had  to  be 
banished  from  his  thoughts  before  he  could 
employ  his  mind  upon  official  business,  and  it 
was  with  the  fear  of  the  hunted  rather  than  with 
the  stimulus  of  ambition,  that  his  new  and 
arduous  work  was  undertaken.  The  effort  at 
last  proved  too  much  for  him  ;  he  lost  heart, 
became  too  conscious  of  his  infirmities,  and  asked 
to  be  relieved  of  responsibilities  which  he  felt  no 
longer  capable  of  sustaining. 

These  facts  could  not  be  explained  to  Lord 
Derby,  nor  even  to  Disraeli,  and  though  Bulwer- 
Lytton  wrote  again  to  both  his  chiefs  that  his 
malady  was  more  deep-seated  than  they  imagined, 
he  consented  out  of  consideration  for  the  welfare 
of  the  Government  as  a  whole,  to  leave  his 
resignation  in  abeyance  for  the  time  being,  and 
to  continue  in  office.  He  tried  his  best  by 
living  as  much  as  possible  in  the  country,  and 
by  visits  to  Malvern,  to  stave  off  a  complete 

301 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  breakdown  ;  but  he  could  not  get  rid  of  the  fever 

^Er.  55-56.  and  sleeplessness  from  which  he  was  suffering, 

and  during  the  last  months  of  his  official  career, 

the  business  of  the  Department  was  left  largely 

in  Lord  Carnarvon's  hands. 

The  reason  why  Lord  Derby  was  especially 
anxious  not  to  give  any  additional  ground  at 
this  moment  for  rumours  about  dissensions  in 
the  Cabinet,  was  that  he  was  then  preparing 
his  Reform  Bill,  and  wanted  as  much  authority 
as  possible  behind  it.  The  Bill  was  introduced 
by  Disraeli  on  February  28,  and  received  a  very 
mixed  reception.  Some  Conservatives  objected 
to  it  for  going  too  far,  while  the  advanced 
Radicals  ridiculed  it  as  wholly  inadequate.  Lord 
John  Russell  moved  a  hostile  amendment  to  the 
second  Reading  of  the  Bill  on  March  21,  and 
the  debate  lasted  for  seven  nights.  Bulwer- 
Lytton  spoke  on  the  second  night,  and  his  speech 
on  this  occasion  was  regarded  by  many  of  his 
friends  as  his  oratorical  masterpiece.  Lord 
Palmerston,  an  opponent,  who,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  by  no  means  partial  to  his  merits,  afterwards 
told  the  Queen  that  it  was  one  of  the  finest 
speeches  he  had  ever  heard  spoken  in  the  House 
of  Commons. 

The  speech  was  thus  described  by  William 
White,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  The  Illustrated 
Times  :— * 

When    the    Colonial    Secretary  rose   to  deliver  his 

1  Inner  Life  of  the  House  of  Commons,  by  William  White,  p.  88. 
302 


SPEECH  ON  REFORM  BILL 

views  on  the  subject  of  Reform,  we  knew  we  might  1858-1859. 
anticipate  one  of  his  "  great  orations."  We  all  know  &T.  55-56. 
here  when  Sir  Edward  is  going  to  speak  as  well  as 
we  know  that  the  sun  is  about  to  rise  when  a  streak 
of  light  appears  over  the  eastern  hills,  or  that  it  is 
going  to  rain  when  thick,  heavy  clouds  slowly  roll  up 
from  the  south-west.  When  Sir  Edward  has  made 
up  his  mind  to  speak  he  is  restless,  uneasy,  and  wanders 
about  the  House  and  the  lobby  with  his  hands  in  his 
pockets  and  his  eyes  upon  the  ground.  The  Right 
Honourable  Baronet  has  lately  made  some  change  in 
the  appearance  of  his  outward  man.  He  used,  until 
he  took  office,  to  wear  a  formidable  moustache  and  a 
long  ragged  "  imperial,"  but  he  has  now  clipped  and 
trimmed  these  hirsute  ornaments,  and  looks  neater 
and  more  like  an  Englishman  than  he  did  last  year. 
Sir  Edward's  speech  is  said  to  have  been  a  grand 
oration.  Nay,  one  enthusiastic  member  declared  that 
it  was  "one  of  the  grandest  orations  which  have  ever 
been  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons."  To  this, 
of  course,  we  should  demur,  though  we  are  not  com- 
petent fully  to  decide  upon  its  merits  ;  for,  in  truth, 
though  we  listened  attentively,  we  could  not  catch 
more  than  half  of  what  the  Right  Honourable  Baronet 
said.  The  voice  we  heard,  but,  alas,  before  it  reached 
us  it  was  only  a  voice  ;  the  articulate  sounds,  by  the 
manner  in  which  they  were  projected  from  the  mouth, 
were,  before  they  reached  us,  most  of  them  inarticulate 
— mere  sounds,  conveying  no  meaning.  On  looking 
over  Sir  Edward's  speech  as  reported  in  the  Times, 
we  find  the  following  passage,  than  which  few  things 
finer  have  been  uttered  in  the  course  of  the  debate  : — 
"  The  popular  voice  is  like  the  grave  ;  it  cries  '  give, 
give,'  but  like  the  grave,  it  never  returns  what  it 
receives."  Well,  the  condition  in  which  this  remark 
came  up  to  us  was  something  like  this — "  The  popular 

303 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  yah  !  is  like  the  grah  !  it  cried  yah  !  yah  !  but  like  the 
J&T.  55-56.  grah  !  it  never  returns."  At  the  close  of  the  sentence 
Sir  Edward  dropped  his  head  so  low  that  the  last  word 
or  two  went  under  the  table.  Members  down  below, 
we  apprehend,  must  have  heard  Sir  Edward  better,  for 
they  cheered  vociferously.  Indeed,  at  the  close  of  this 
remarkable  harangue,  the  cheering  was  beyond  every- 
thing that  we  ever  heard  in  the  House  or  indeed 
elsewhere.  It  was  literally  a  "  tempest  of  applause," 
and  seemed  to  us  to  come  from  all  parts  of  the 
House.  It  burst  forth  as  the  orator  sat  down,  like 
a  hurricane,  was  renewed  and  re-renewed,  and  then, 
when  it  seemed  to  have  died  out,  was  started  again, 
and  once  more  the  whole  House  appeared  to  join  in 
chorus.  And  all  this  was  rendered  more  effective  by 
the  members  rising  just  then  to  go  to  dinner,  and 
cheering  as  they  rose.  A  proud  man  was  Sir  Edward 
that  night  as  members  came  up  to  congratulate  him 
on  his  success,  and  probably  he  went  home  and 
dreamed,  either  waking  or  sleeping,  that  he  had 
secured  a  great  parliamentary  name,  and  that  future 
historians  will  say  of  him  that,  in  addition  to  being 
a  most  successful  novelist,  he  was  one  of  the  greatest 
orators  of  his  time. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  debate  on  March  31, 
Lord  John  Russell's  amendment  was  carried,  and 
Lord  Derby  advised  the  Queen  to  dissolve 
Parliament.  In  the  General  Election  which 
followed  the  Government  gained  thirty  seats, 
but  this  was  not  sufficient  to  give  them  a  majority 
in  the  House  of  Commons  ;  and  when  Parliament 
reassembled  at  the  end  of  May,  a  vote  of  no 
confidence,  proposed  by  Lord  Hartington,  was 
carried  against  them.  Lord  Derby  thereupon 

3°4 


END  OF  OFFICIAL  LIFE 

resigned,  and  the  short  Tory  interregnum  came  1858-1859. 
to  an  end.  MT.  55-56. 

Bulwer-Lytton,  who  had  again  pressed  his 
resignation  upon  Lord  Derby,  but  continued  to 
hold  office  until  a  successor  could  be  found, 
obtained  his  release  in  the  defeat  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  soon  afterwards  went  abroad  to  a 
German  watering-place.  He  writes  to  his  son: — 

As  to  my  health,  it  continues  very  weak  and  variable. 
I  never  intend  to  take  office  with  Lord  Derby  again. 
My  present  interest  and  ambition  in  politics  are  gone. 
Of  course,  I  feel  for  the  country,  but  it  will  probably 
be  long  before  I  am  well  enough  to  take  any  active 
part.  Till  then  I  shall  be  laid  on  the  shelf.  .  .  .  I  am 
disenchanted  in  all  ways  with  politics,  public  and  private. 
Nothing  but  a  strong  conviction  that  I  could  do  any 
good  to  the  country,  or  that  the  country  was  in  danger, 
would  rouse  me  into  much  activity. 

From  Stevenson  Arthur  Blackwood,  his  Under- 
secretary at  the  Colonial  Office,  he  received  the 
following  kind  letter  of  regret  at  the  severance 
of  their  official  connection  : — 

53  UPPER  BROOK  STREET, 
14  June. 

When  servants  turn  their  masters  off  they  don't 
express  any  concern  at  parting.  But  I,  who  have  been 
your  slave  for  a  matter  of  a  year,  shall  form  an  exception. 
For  I  cannot  forbear  saying,  from  the  fullness  of  my 
heart,  that  I  mourn  over  an  event  which  deprives  me 
of  a  chief  whom  it  is  impossible  to  serve  under  without 
admiring  and  loving  ;  and  who  has  imported  into 
official  drudgery  a  charm  which  I,  at  least,  will  never 
forget. 

VOL.  ii  305  x 


SECRETARY  OF  STATE  FOR  COLONIES 

1858-1859.  In  grieving  for  myself,  I  rejoice  for  you.  I  con- 
Mr.  55-56.  gratulate  you  on  your  undeserved  "vote  of  censure," 
which  liberates  you  easily  from  an  employment  too 
laborious  for  your  present  state  of  health.  Your  year 
of  office  has  achieved  success  for  you  and  added  to 
your  renown.  What  can  a  man  wish  for  more  in  that 
line  ?  And  thus  you  will  retire  into  a  life  of  liberty — 
my  grand  desire,  but  unattainable — and  be  spared  the 
task  of  appending  that  wondrous  hieroglyphic  at  the 
foot  of  so  many  dull  despatches  when  you  are  in  a 
hurry  to  be  off. 

Spare  yourself  the  trouble  of  noticing  this  in  pen 
and  ink.  I  daresay  I  shall  catch  a  glimpse  of  you 
before  you  depart  from  our  blessed  roof  in  D.  Street. 
— Believe  me,  dear  Sir  Edward,  Sincerely  yours, 

A.  BLACKWOOD. 


306 


CHAPTER  VI 

POLITICAL    REFORM 

1859-1867 

The  People's  a  very  good  thing  in  its  way. 

But  what  is  the  People  ?  the  mere  population  ? 

No,  the  sound  thinking  part  of  this  practical  nation 

Who  support  peace  and  order,  and  steadily  all  poll 

For  the  weal  of  the  land.  .  .  . 

Of  a  people  like  this  I've  no  doubts  nor  mistrustings, 

But  I  have  of  the  fools  who  vote  wrong  at  the  hustings. 

Walpole. 

THE  defeat  of  Lord  Derby's  Government  on  1859. 
the  question  of  Parliamentary  Reform,  and  the  ^T-  56- 
General  Election  of  1859  which  followed  it, 
mark  an  important  turning-point  in  the  political 
history  of  this  country.  From  this  moment  the 
differences  which  had  weakened  the  Liberal 
party  for  so  long,  and  which  had  twice  enabled 
Lord  Derby  to  hold  office  without  the  support 
of  a  Parliamentary  majority,  began  to  disappear  ; 
the  personal  animosities  between  rival  leaders  sub- 
sided, the  alliance  between  Peelites  and  Liberals 
became  complete,  and  all  minor  factions  became 
gradually  merged  into  the  two  compact  and 
powerful  parties,  soon  afterwards  ranged  under 
the  leadership  of  Gladstone  and  Disraeli. 

Bulwer-Lytton  had  the  sagacity  to  realise  the 
3°7 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1859.  nature  of  the  change  which  was  about  to  take 
Er.  56.  place  in  the  political  life  of  the  country.  On 
the  day  following  the  defeat  of  the  Government 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  immediately 
after  the  decision  of  the  Cabinet  to  dissolve 
Parliament,  he  wrote  the  following  note  to  Sir 
Henry  Drummond  Wolff,  who  was  then  acting 
as  his  private  secretary  : — 

DOWNING  STREET,  April  I,  1859. 

Remember  my  words.  From  this  day  dates  a 
change  that  in  a  few  years  will  alter  the  whole  face 
of  England.  From  this  day  the  extreme  Liberals  are 
united  ;  the  great  towns  will  be  banded  for  Democracy, 
and  Democracy  in  England  is  as  sure  as  that  we  are 
in  this  room.  Nothing  like  this  day  since  Charles  I. 
did  much  the  same  as  we  are  doing. 

The  meaning  of  the  last  sentence  is  rather 
obscure,  but  the  prophecy  has  been  accurately 
fulfilled,  although  the  consequences  of  the  change 
have  not  been  precisely  what  Bulwer-Lytton 
imagined.  The  period  of  aristocratic  govern- 
ment was  virtually  ended,  that  of  democratic 
government  was  about  to  begin.  The  Reform 
Bill  of  1832  did  not  immediately  alter  the 
character  of  parliamentary  government.  The 
results  of  great  constitutional  changes  in  this 
country  are  slow  to  make  themselves  felt  ;  and 
though  political  representation  in  1832  passed 
out  of  the  hands  of  what  had  till  then  been 
a  comparatively  small  governing  class,  the 
machinery  of  government  still  remained  under 

308 


GROWTH  OF  DEMOCRACY 

their  control.  Throughout  the  first  half  of  the  1859. 
nineteenth  century — in  fact,  till  the  death  of  Lord  Mr.  56. 
Palmerston  in  1865 — the  government  of  the 
country  was  predominantly  aristocratic.  Just  as 
the  decline  of  Aristocracy  was  gradual,  almost 
imperceptible,  so  the  growth  of  Democracy, 
which  has  been  the  work  of  the  latter  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  has  been  equally  gradual. 
It  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1867,  and  the  process  is  not  yet  complete. 
Both  the  two  political  parties,  which  became 
consolidated  in  1859,  recognised  the  inevitable 
change  which  was  taking  place,  and  both 
Gladstone  and  Disraeli,  in  their  separate  ways, 
helped  to  accelerate  it. 

Bulwer-Lytton  belonged  essentially  to  an 
aristocratic  age,  and  the  termination  of  his 
political  career  coincided  with  the  close  of  that 
age.1  In  early  life  he  had  been  an  advanced 
Reformer,  and  to  the  end  his  political  views  were 
on  many  questions  more  Liberal  than  those  of 
the  majority  of  the  Conservative  party,  with 
which  he  had  associated  himself.  The  true 
Conservative  policy  he  defined  as  "  the  conserva- 
tion of  organic  principles "  in  every  political 
society. 

"  All   that   Conservatism   regards,"  he   once  wrote, 
"  is  duration  for  the  body  politic.     It  is  not  averse  to 

1  He  once  wrote  to  a  friend  £  fropos  of  the  political  upheavals  in 
Europe  in  1849,  "  Show  me  a  class  of  gentlemen,  an  Aristocracy  in  short, 
and  I  will  form  a  conjecture  as  to  the  duration  of  any  free  constitution  ; 
without  that,  between  Crown,  soldiers,  traders  and  mobs,  I  am  all  at  sea." 

3°9 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1859.  change — change  may  be  healthful ;  but  it  is  averse  to 
Er.  56.  that  kind  of  change  which  tends  to  disorganisation. 
Whatever  there  be  most  precious  to  the  vitality  of  any 
particular  State,  becomes  its  jealous  care.  As  but  one 
thing  is  more  precious  to  a  State  than  liberty  (social 
order),  so  where  liberty  is  established,  Conservatism  is 
its  stubborn  guardian,  and  never  yields  the  possession, 
save  for  that  which  it  is  more  essential  to  conserve. 
But  liberty  is  diffused  throughout  a  people  by  many 
varieties  of  constitution — the  monarchical,  the  aristo- 
cratic, the  democratic,  or  through  nice  and  delicate 
combinations  of  each.  Conservatism  tends  to  the 
conservation  of  liberty  in  that  form,  and  through  those 
media,  in  which  it  has  become  most  identified  with  the 
customs  and  character  of  the  people  governed.  And 
if  it  seems  at  times  opposed  to  the  extension  of  freedom, 
it  is  not  on  the  ground  of  extension,  but  from  the  fear 
that  freedom  may  be  risked  or  lost  altogether  by  an 
incautious  transfer  of  the  trust." 

The  last  sentence  is  a  key  to  Bulwer-Lytton's 
views  on  the  difficult  question  of  Parliamentary 
Reform ;  and  as  the  only  important  speeches 
which  he  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  after 
his  retirement  from  office  were  on  this  subject, 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  make  a  short  reference 
to  them  at  this  point. 

The  Act  of  1832  had  enfranchised  the  great 
body  of  the  middle  class,  and  though  its  authors 
at  the  time  spoke  of  it  as  a  final  settlement,  very 
few  could  really  have  regarded  it  as  such.  It 
was  inevitable  that  sooner  or  later  representation 
would  have  to  be  extended  to  the  labouring  class 
also.  The  manner  in  which  this  extension  was 

310 


A  SUCCESSION  OF  REFORM  BILLS 

ultimately  brought  about  forms  one  of  the  most    1859. 
extraordinary  chapters  in  the  political  history  of  &T.  56. 
this  country. 

Between  the  years  1832  and  1866  there  was 
no  popular  enthusiasm  in  favour  of  Reform. 
Advanced  political  thinkers  advocated  a  moderate 
extension  of  the  franchise,  but,  without  pressure 
from  without,  Parliament  was  indifferent  to  the 
question.  Lord  John  Russell,  Lord  Derby,  and 
Mr.  Gladstone  were  all  genuine  Reformers  at 
heart,  and  made  several  unsuccessful  efforts  to 
induce  Parliament  to  accept  their  proposals. 
Reform  Bills  were  introduced  in  1852,  1854, 
1859,  1860,  and  1866,  but  none  of  them  could 
make  any  progress  against  the  general  apathy  of 
the  country.  The  death  of  Lord  Palmerston  in 
1865  removed  the  chief  obstacle  to  Reform  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  by  the  following 
year  the  efforts  of  John  Bright  and  the  members 
of  the  Reform  League  had  succeeded  in  arousing 
a  formidable  agitation  in  the  country  against  the 
inactivity  of  Parliament. 

The  qualification  for  the  borough  franchise  at 
that  time  stood  at  a  rental  of  £  10,  and  for  the 
county  franchise  at  £50.  The  various  Reform 
Bills  introduced  by  different  Governments  only 
differed  slightly  from  each  other  in  the  extent 
to  which  they  proposed  to  reduce  these  qualifi- 
cations. The  Bill  of  Lord  Derby's  Government 
in  1859  proposed  to  equalise  the  borough  and 
county  franchise,  the  latter  being  reduced  to 
£10  and  the  former  left  at  the  same  figure.  At 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1859.  the  same  time  it  set  up  a  number  of  special 
.  56.  qualifications  or  "  fancy  franchises,"  designed  to 
secure  some  test  of  responsibility  from  the 
electorate  :  University  graduates  and  members 
of  the  learned  professions  were  to  have  a  vote 
as  such,  and  also  any  man  who  possessed  an 
income  of  £10  a  year  from  invested  funds,  a 
pension  of  £2O»  or  £60  in  the  Savings  Bank. 
The  Russell-Palmerston  Bill  of  1860  lowered 
the  county  franchise  to  £10,  but  at  the  same 
time  reduced  the  borough  franchise  to  £6. 
The  Russell-Gladstone  Bill  of  1866  was  even 
more  moderate,  and  proposed  to  reduce  the 
county  franchise  to  £14  and  the  borough 
franchise  to  £7.  All  these  Bills  were  rejected 
by  the  House  of  Commons,  because  they  were 
either  too  moderate  or  too  extreme.  But  this 
continued  trifling  with  a  serious  question  eventu- 
ally produced  that  impetus  of  popular  enthusiasm 
which  neither  statesmanship  nor  eloquence  had 
hitherto  succeeded  in  arousing  ;  and  in  1867  the 
impatience  of  the  country  extorted  from  the 
Conservative  party  a  far  more  radical  measure 
than  the  one  which  they  had  themselves  rejected 
a  few  months  earlier. 

The  denouement  was  highly  dramatic.  The 
Derby- Disraeli  Government  of  1867,  after 
introducing  yet  another  moderate  and  cautious 
measure,  allowed  it  to  be  transformed  by  their 
opponents  into  a  Bill  establishing  complete 
Household  Suffrage,  and  extending  to  the  work- 
ing class  an  adequate  representation,  stripped  of 

312 


THE  BILL  OF   1859 

all  the  safeguards  with  which  they  had  sought    1859. 
to  surround  it.  ^ET.  56. 

Bulwer-Lytton  took  part  in  all  these  dis- 
cussions, and  some  of  his  best  speeches  were 
delivered  on  the  subject  of  Parliamentary  Reform. 
Such  of  his  arguments  as  were  confined  to  mere 
points  of  debate  it  is  not  necessary  to  mention 
here,  but  some  reference  must  be  made  to 
passages  which  indicate  his  general  attitude  upon 
the  subject. 

He  defended  the  Bill  of  1859  as  a  member 
of  the  Government  responsible  for  it.  He 
explained  that,  while  the  Bill  was  avowedly  a 
compromise  based  upon  a  consideration  for  the 
temper  of  the  public,  which  was  mild,  and  the 
extent  of  the  evil  to  be  remedied,  which  was 
small,  he  himself  had  no  superstitious  dread  of 
any  of  those  questions  which  were  raised  by 
the  most  ardent  Reformers  among  his  political 
opponents. 

"  Some  of  those  questions,"  he  said,  "  I  espoused 
myself  many  years  ago  ;  one  or  two  of  them  I  still 
individually  favour ;  and  if  on  others  I  have  since 
modified  or  wholly  altered  the  opinions  I  then  held,  I 
have  done  so  with  no  uncharitable  prejudice  against 
those  who  believe  now  what  I  myself  once  believed,  or 
may  even  believe  a  little  more  than  my  political  creed 
ever  permitted  me  to  do." 

Whilst  not  unwilling  to  extend  the  franchise 
to  such  of  the  working  class  as  proved  themselves 
capable  of  exercising  it  wisely,  he  was  not  pre- 
313 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1859.    pared  to  give  them  a  preponderating  voice,  and 

JET.  56.  to  "  place  capital  and  knowledge  at  the  command 

of  impatient  poverty  and  uninstructed  numbers." 

The  character  of  the  Bill  and  his  own  reason  for 

supporting  it  were  thus  explained  : — 

For  myself,  I  cannot  but  think  that  at  heart  I  go 
farther  than  the  noble  Lord  (Lord  John  Russell)  ;  I 
go  farther  than  most  of  the  great  republican  writers, 
ancient  and  modern.  I  go  in  theory  as  far  as  Mr. 
John  Mill,  and  I  would  not  object  to  the  widest 
possible  suffrage,  if  you  can  effect  a  contrivance  by 
which  intelligence  shall  still  prevail  over  numbers. 
If  that  be  impossible,  then  I  say,  at  least,  the  first  step 
towards  anything  that  approaches  to  universal  suffrage 
should  be  something  that  approaches  to  universal 
education.  .  .  .  One  moment  more  to  this  Bill.  It 
is  said  not  to  be  final.  No  Reform  Bill  can  be.  The 
fault  you  allege  is  its  merit.  It  is  its  merit  if  it  meets 
some  of  the  requirements  of  the  day  present,  and  does 
not  give  to-day  what  you  may  regret  to-morrow  that 
you  cannot  restore.  Democracy  is  like  the  grave  ;  it 
perpetually  cries,  "  Give,  give  "  ;  and,  like  the  grave, 
it  never  returns  what  it  has  once  taken.  But  you  live 
under  a  constitutional  monarchy  which  has  all  the 
vigour  of  health,  all  the  energy  of  movement.  Do 
not  surrender  to  democracy  that  which  is  not  yet  ripe 
for  the  grave.  Gentlemen  employ  much  sarcastic  cavil 
in  the  dispute  as  to  what  is  the  main  principle  of  this 
Bill.  I  say,  as  Lord  Macaulay  said  in  the  debate  on 
the  old  Reform  Bill,  I  care  little  for  technical  definitions 
on  that  score.  I  would  not  base  the  defence  of  this  or 
of  any  Reform  Bill  upon  an  abstract  dogma  on  which 
special  pleaders  may  differ.  I  would  take  that  which 
was  our  main  object  for  the  backbone  and  life-spring 

3M 


THE  BILL  OF  1860 

of  the  Bill.  That  main  object  was,  irrespectively  of  1860. 
party  interests,  to  confirm  and  extend  to  the  middle  ^Er.  57. 
class  the  political  power  which,  during  the  last  twenty- 
seven  years,  they  have  exercised,  so  as  to  render  liberty 
progressive  and  institutions  safe  ;  but  at  the  same  time 
to  widen  the  franchise  the  middle  class  now  enjoys,  so 
that  it  may  include  all  belonging  to  the  class  who  are 
now  without  a  vote ;  and  instead  of  bringing  the 
middle-class  franchise  down  to  the  level  of  the  work- 
men, lift  into  that  franchise  the  artisan  who  may  have 
risen  above  the  daily  necessities  of  the  manual  labourer 
by  the  exercise  of  economy  and  forethought. 

In  attacking  the  Bill  of  1860,  on  the  ground 
that  it  gave  an  undue  share  of  representation  to 
the  most  excitable  and  least  instructed  section 
of  the  population,  he  restated  his  principle  as 
follows  : — 

A  free  State  will  be  best  sustained  and  advanced  by 
securing  to  its  legislative  councils  the  highest  average 
degree  of  the  common  sense  of  the  common  interest. 
For  this  intelligence  is  requisite,  but  not  intelligence 
alone  ;  you  might  have  a  legislative  assembly  composed 
of  men  indisputably  intelligent — nobles,  lawyers,  priests 
—  who  might  honestly  believe  they  used  their  in- 
telligence for  the  common  interest,  when,  in  fact,  they 
used  it  for  their  own.  Hence  it  follows  that  no  one 
class  interest  must  predominate  over  all  the  others,  or 
the  common  interest  is  gone  ;  gone,  if  that  class  be 
the  great  proprietors  ;  gone,  if  that  class  be  the  working 
men.  But  there  is  this  distinction  between  the  working 
class  and  every  other  that,  granting  their  intelligence 
to  be  equal  to  that  of  others,  granting  that  it  be  not 
more  likely  to  be  misdirected,  still,  when  it  is  mis- 
directed, the  consequences  are,  if  they  are  invested 

315 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1860.  with  the  electoral  power  that  determines  legislation, 
r.  57.  immeasurably  more  dangerous,  both  to  the  common 
interest  and  to  their  own.  For  they  are  the  roots  of 
society,  and  it  is  the  roots  of  society  that  their  errors 
will  affect ;  while  their  numbers  are  so  great  that  their 
votes  could  overpower  the  votes  of  all  the  other  classes 
put  together.  When  this  happens,  the  instinctive  safe- 
guard of  the  rich  is  corruption  ;  and  the  instinctive 
tendency  of  ambition,  if  it  be  not  rich,  is  towards 
those  arts  which  give  dictatorship  to  demagogues.  .  .  . 
The  working  class  have  virtues  singularly  noble  and 
generous,  but  they  are  obviously  more  exposed  than 
the  other  classes  to  poverty  and  to  passion.  Thus  in 
quiet  times  their  poverty  subjects  them  to  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  rich  ;  and  in  stormy  times,  when  the  State 
requires  the  most  sober  judgment,  their  passion  subjects 
them  to  the  ambition  of  the  demagogue. 

The  whole  of  Bulwer-Lytton's  argument  on 
this  occasion,  and  again  in  1866,  was  directed 
towards  proving  that  the  Bills  under  consideration 
would  not  improve  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
would  probably  cause  its  degeneration. 

"  How,"  he  asked,  "  will  this  Bill  improve  the 
representation  ?  Will  it  make  the  House  of  Commons 
wiser  ?  Will  it  make  our  Councils  more  enlightened  ? 
Will  it  increase  the  knowledge,  the  integrity,  the 
pecuniary  independence,  and  the  mental  discipline, 
without  which  we  should  have  no  strength  in  public 
opinion,  if  ever  we  had  to  protect  our  freedom  against 
an  able  tyrant  and  a  standing  army?  .  .  .  How  will 
this  measure  improve  the  constituent  body  ?  When 
that  question  was  asked  in  the  debates  on  the  great 
Reform  Bill,  the  answer  of  the  reformers  was  crushing. 
You  then  got  rid  of  the  borough-monger,  who  sold 

316 


A  SUCCESSFUL  SPEECH 

his  borough  ;  of  the  pot-walloper,  who  sold  his  vote  ;  1860. 
and  your  substitutes  were  trade,  commerce,  manu-  JEt.  57. 
factures,  that  combination  of  various  interests  which 
is  found  in  the  middle  ranks  of  society,  which  cannot 
be  called  a  class,  because  it  comprises  all  classes,  from 
the  educated  gentleman  to  the  skilled  artisan,  and 
which,  therefore,  does  represent  a  high  average  of  the 
common  sense  of  the  common  interest.  You  then  did 
not  merely  extend  the  franchise.  .  .  .  To  use  the  words,  I 
think,  of  the  late  Lord  Grey,  '  You  purified,  you  exalted 
the  constituency.'  But  when  you  are  asked,  '  How 
does  the  little  Reform  Bill  purify  and  exalt  the 
constituency  ? '  what  will  you  answer  ?  You  will  say, 
'  It  is  true  we  found  many  persons  of  respectable  means 
and  excellent  education  who  complained  that  they  were 
without  a  suffrage  ;  we  did  not  attend  to  their  complaint, 
but  where  we  found  persons  living  in  lanes  and  alleys, 
at  a  rent  which  afforded  the  fair  presumption  that  they 
had  little  property  and  less  education,  we  conferred 
our  new  franchise  exclusively  on  them.  And  so  we 
purified  and  exalted  the  constituency  ! ' 

This  argument  was  developed,  illustrated,  and 
enforced  with  great  vigour  in  a  speech  which 
lasted  for  two  hours,  and  won  the  highest  praise, 
not  only  from  those  on  whose  behalf  it  was 
made,  but  also  from  some  of  those  against  whom 
it  was  directed.  Writing  to  his  son  on  May  9, 
1860,  Bulwer-Lytton  says  : — 

After  I  dined  with  Dickens,  I  went  to  Buckingham 
Palace  (a  concert).  Lord  John  Russell  came  up  to  me 
and  said  :  "I  thank  you  very  much  for  what  you  said 
about  me  in  your  speech." 

"  What  I  said  was  sincere  ;  let  me  think  your  foreign 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1860.  policy  belongs  to  all  time  ;  your  Reform  Bill  is  but  for 
JE.T.  57.  a  session." 

His  answer  : — "  Ay,  I  often  think  of  what  you  once 
said  to  me  two  years  ago  in  this  room  :  '  The  old 
Reform  Bill  proves  its  merit,  because  it  is  so  hard  to 
improve  it.' ' 

Mine  : — "  Yes,  we  then  both  agreed  that  to  use  my 
words — it  was  a  block  of  granite  ;  you  can't  chip  it  with 
a  small  chisel,  you  may  make  another  block.  But  dare 
you  do  so  ?  or  does  the  country  want  one  ? "  He 
seemed  struck,  and  I  gather  from  his  tone  that  the 
Reform  Bill  will  drop. 

Five  minutes  after  Charles  Villiers  brought  up  the 
Duke  of  Argyll,  whom  he  introduced  to  me.  The 
Duke  said  :  "I  wish  to  tell  you  how  much  I  admire 
your  speech."  Villiers  added  this  :  "  The  Ministers 
bring  forward  a  Bill  and  admire  the  arguments  against 
it!" 

The  Bill  was  dropped,  and  it  was  six  years 
before  another  one  was  introduced.  Two  more 
attempts  were  made  "  to  chip  the  block  of  granite 
with  a  small  chisel "  before  Parliament  made  up 
its  mind  "to  make  a  new  block."  The  new 
block  (the  amended  Bill  of  1867)  was  not  at  all 
to  Bulwer-Lytton's  liking,  but  as  his  own  political 
friends,  by  whom  he  had  just  been  made  a  Peer, 
were  responsible  for  it,  he  had  to  give  it  a  re- 
luctant support. 

"  I  confess,"  he  said  in  a  speech  prepared  for  but 
never  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords,  u  for  my  part, 
that  I  consent,  or  rather  submit  to  it  with  great 
reluctance,  and  I  am  only  reconciled  to  it  by  the  con- 
viction that  the  time  has  come  when  the  question  of 


BULWER-LYTTON'S  ARGUMENTS 

Reform  must  be  settled,  and  that  the  scheme  to  which    1860. 
both  parties  have  agreed  in  the  House  of  Commons  &T.  57. 
has  become  the  only  mode  by  which  that  settlement 
can  be  practically  effected.     Still,  though  I  regard  the 
probable  results  of  the  measure  with  deep  anxiety,  I 
have   not  hitherto  shared  in   those  fears  which  have 
been  expressed  here  and  elsewhere  with  that  eloquence 
which  js  never  more  imposing  than  when  it  assumes 
the  attributes  of  superstition  and  peoples  the  dark  with 
spectres." 

The  line  of  argument  adopted  by  Bulwer- 
Lytton  in  the  discussions  on  the  reform  of  the 
franchise  of  his  own  day  was  widely  employed 
by  members  of  both  political  parties  at  that  time, 
and  indeed  it  invariably  recurs  whenever  the 
distribution  of  the  franchise  is  under  discussion. 
Reformers  and  anti  -  Reformers  alike  are  apt  to 
consider  the  character  of  the  representative  body 
rather  than  the  needs  of  the  classes  who  demand 
representation. 

Throughout  his  speeches  there  is  only  one 
passage  which  recognises  the  true  principle  of 
representation,  when  he  said  in  1860  : — 

If  you  reflect  a  moment  you  will  own  that  the  true 
representation  of  the  working  or  poorer  classes  must 
be  more  or  less  perfect  in  proportion  to  the  knowledge 
which  may  exist  in  this  House  of  the  inseparable 
connection  between  their  interests  and  all  our  legislative 
functions. 

The  admission  was  a  valuable  one,  although 
for  the  purpose  of  his  argument  he  destroyed 

319 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1860-1867.  its  value  by  going  on  to  claim  that  the  interests 
JE.T.  57-64  of  the  working  man  were  truly  represented  by 

.  .  .  every  wise  legislator  who  stimulates  trade,  who 
strengthens  credit,  who  exalts  the  standard  of  society 
in  which  the  working  man  rises  with  every  step  that 
raises  the  common  interest  of  us  all  ;  by  every  profound 
lawyer  who  renders  justice  more  accessible  ;  by  every 
enlightened  philanthropist  who  ameliorates  the  condition 
of  humanity  ;  by  every  naval  or  military  officer  whose 
professional  science  suggests  sounder  defences,  not  only 
for  the  land  we  inhabit,  but  for  the  protection  of  the 
commerce  which  employs  the  millions. 

It  is  only  true,  of  course,  that  any  class  is 
represented  by  legislators,  lawyers,  philanthropists, 
soldiers,  etc.,  if  that  class  has  had  a  share  in  the 
selection  of  such  men  for  the  duties  which  they 
perform.  A  Government,  however  formed,  may 
be  a  good  Government  or  a  bad  one,  but  it 
cannot  be  representative,  unless  it  is  chosen  by 
some  elective  machinery,  and  when  elected  it  is 
only  representative  of  those  who  are  entitled  to 
elect  it.  I  do  not  suggest  that  a  Govern- 
ment necessarily  neglects  the  interests  of  any 
class  which  is  unenfranchised,  any  more  than  it 
necessarily  advances  the  interests  of  every  class 
which  is  enfranchised.  The  House  of  Commons 
down  to  the  year  1832  may  have  passed  many 
laws  for  the  benefit  of  the  middle  or  the  working 
class,  but  it  did  not  represent  them  ;  between 
1832  and  1867  it  may  have  studied  the  best 
interests  of  the  artisans  and  the  agricultural 
labourers,  but  it  did  not  represent  them,  just  as 

320 


PRINCIPLE  OF  REPRESENTATION 

to-day  the  House  of  Commons  may  be  scrupu-  1860-1867. 
lously  considerate  of  the  special  interests  of  JEr.  57-64. 
women,  but  it  does  not  represent  them. 

In  considering,  therefore,  the  efficiency  of  a 
representative  institution,  the  first  question  is 
whether  or  not  it  does  represent  all  those  for  whom 
it  legislates — I  do  not,  of  course,  mean  every 
individual ;  no  Parliament  professes  to  represent 
every  individual,  because  no  Parliament  legislates 
for  individuals.  But  every  Parliament,  to  be 
truly  representative,  must  give  some  votes  at  least 
to  every  class  or  section  of  its  citizens  which  is 
specifically  differentiated  as  such  in  its  legislation. 
Universal  suffrage  is  not  necessary  to  secure  a 
truly  representative  Parliament,  because  the 
number  of  voters  in  each  section  of  the  electorate 
might  be  limited  by  various  qualifications  with- 
out infringing  the  principle  of  representation. 
An  electorate  of  four  or  five  million  might  be 
accurately  representative  of  the  whole  population, 
while  an  electorate  of  ten  million  might  not  be 
so.  But  the  process  of  selecting  the  voters  from 
each  section  in  a  limited  electorate  necessarily 
involves  a  complicated  system  of  registration, 
which  Reformers  at  all  times  seek  as  far  as 
possible  to  avoid  ;  and  the  natural  development, 
therefore,  in  all  democratic  countries,  is  in  the 
direction  of  universal  suffrage. 

The  dangers  anticipated  by  Bulwer-Lytton 
and  others  from  the  large  extension  of  the 
franchise  which  was  made  in  1867,  have  been  to 
a  great  extent  avoided  by  three  facts  : — 

VOL.  II  321  Y 


POLITICAL  REFORM 

1860-1867.        i«   His  own  condition  that  universal  suffrage 
JET.  57-64.  should  be  preceded   by  universal  education  has 
been  fulfilled. 

2.  The  establishment  of  the  ballot  has  mini- 
mised the  dangers  of  corruption. 

3.  Though    a   preponderance    of  the    voting 
power    has    been     given    to     what    he    called 
"  impatient  poverty  and  uninstructed  numbers," 
yet    no   distribution   of  the   franchise   can    take 
away    the    influence    of   wealth    and    intellect. 
Apart    altogether   from    direct    bribery,    wealth 
must  always  command  a  powerful  influence,  even 
under  the  most  democratic  constitution.     So  also 
with  intellect ;  however  uninstructed  the  average 
voter    may    be,   he    is    still    susceptible    to    the 
arguments  of  reason,  and  is  capable  of  exercising 
a  shrewd  judgment  between  the  rival  claims  of 
those  who  ask  for  his  favour.     It  is  inevitable 
that    where   political   power    is    vested   in    the 
People,   there    should    arise    the    same    class    of 
flatterers   and   sycophants   as   those  who  fawned 
upon  the  Crown  or  the  aristocratic  families  in 
the  days  of  their  ascendancy.     The  demagogues 
and  the  mob  orators  are  the  modern  substitutes 
for  the  Court  favourites   of  the  past,  but  their 
influence  is  as  precarious   as   that   of  their  pre- 
decessors.     Extravagant   promises   and   delusive 
phrases  may  secure  them  popularity  and  power 
for  a  time,  but  it  is  by  performance  rather  than 
professions,  that  such  power  is  maintained  ;  and 
personal  character,  honesty  of  purpose,  sincerity 
of  conviction,  have  the  same  value  in  a  democratic 

322 


RETROSPECT 

age  as  they  had  at  any  other  period  of  the  world's  1860-1867. 
history.  ^ET.  57-64. 

Looking  back,  therefore,  to  those  controversies 
of  the  past,  we  see  that  the  robust  faith  in  the 
political  instincts  of  the  British  people,  expressed 
by  the  Reformers  of  that  day,  was  more  justified 
than  the  gloomy  forebodings  of  others,  who 
could  only  see  in  the  changes  which  were  taking 
place  the  inevitable  ruin  of  their  country. 


323 


CHAPTER  VII 


PEERAGE    AND    RETIREMENT    FROM    POLITICS 
1859-1866 

I  do  confess  that  I  have  wished  to  give 
My  land  the  gift  of  no  ignoble  name, 

And  in  that  holier  air  have  sought  to  live 
Sunn'd  with  the  hope  of  fame. 

The  Desire  of  Fame. 

A  name  in  the  deep  gratitude  and  hereditary  delight  of  men — this  was 
the  title  Literature  bestowed. 

Ernest  Maltravers. 

1859.    IN   the  last   chapter    I    have    rather  forestalled 

.  56.  events,  and  must  return  to  pick  up  the  threads 

of  Bulwer-Lytton's  life    outside  the   House  of 

Commons,  from  his   retirement  from  Office  in 

1859  to  his  elevation  to  the  Peerage  in  1866. 

At  the  end  of  the  Parliamentary  session  in 
1859  he  went  to  Wildbad,  and  once  more 
resumed  his  literary  occupations.  He  was  en- 
gaged for  the  remainder  of  the  year  upon  the 
poem  of  St.  Stephens. 

One  of  the  earliest  and  most  satisfactory  results 
of  Bulwer-Lytton's  release  from  official  duties 
was  the  re-establishment  of  his  intimacy  with 
John  Forster,  which  had  been  interrupted  during 

324 


RELATIONS  WITH  FORSTER 

the  last  few  years.  There  was  never  any  real  1859. 
breach  between  these  two  firm  friends,  but  JET.  56. 
circumstances  had  occurred  which  had  checked 
the  intimacy  and  frequency  of  their  intercourse. 
Their  friendship  had  its  roots  in  literature,  and 
in  politics  they  did  not  agree,  but  from  1854  to 
1859  Bulwer-Lytton  had  been  chiefly  engrossed 
with  politics,  and  consequently  during  these  years 
they  had  drifted  apart.  Their  correspondence 
never  wholly  ceased,  but  for  a  time  it  was 
meagre  and  more  or  less  formal.  In  1853 
Forster  had  written  at  a  time  when  he  was 
mourning  his  sister's  death  : — 

1  was  disappointed  not  to  see  you  before  you  left 
town,  but  I  grow  acquainted  with  disappointments. 
.  .  Yet  an  old  friend's  face  would  have  been  very 
welcome  to  me  just  now,  and  I  have  seen  very,  very 
little  of  you  for  a  long  time.  But  I  never  doubt  your 
friendship,  though  circumstances  appear  to  separate 
us  just  now.  I  could  never  bring  myself  to  think  you 
strange  to  me.  Some  of  the  whitest  stones  in  my 
memory  mark  the  steps  of  our  friendly  intercourse, 
and  I  cannot  look  back  into  a  single  year  of  my  life 
since  I  came  to  manhood  in  which  your  kindly  and 
familiar  image  does  not  stand  more  prominent  than  any 
other. 

Once  again  in  1858  Bulwer-Lytton  had 
written  : — 

Old  friend,  I  fear  there  is  a  something  between  us. 
It  is  not  my  fault,  I  am  sure.  Perhaps  it  is  only  Fate's. 
But  can't  we  root  it  thoroughly  away  ? 

325 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1859.  Though  both  were  conscious  of  some  subtle 
JET.  56.  change  in  their  relations,  though  both  regretted 
it,  it  seemed  for  a  time  beyond  the  power  of 
either  to  remove  the  cause.  The  preoccupations 
of  their  lives,  ill-health,  and  difference  of  opinion, 
both  public  and  private,1  kept  them  apart.  To- 
wards the  end  of  1859  their  correspondence  began 
to  resume  its  old  cordial  tone,  and  by  degrees 
their  common  interests  in  literature  helped  to 
re-establish  an  intimacy  which  lasted,  with  only 
occasional  gaps,  until  they  were  separated  by 
death.  On  November  4,  1859,  Forster  wrote  : — 

I  hear  with  the  greatest  possible  pleasure  the  better 
news  of  your  health.  There  is  nothing  in  life  I  miss 
so  much  as  the  old  pleasant  intercourse.  It  is  a  time 
of  life  when  nothing  can  replace  it,  or  supply  the 
associations  of  such  a  friend.  So  I  will  hope  that  with 
better  health  and  less  exacting  employments  we  may 
meet  a  little  oftener  in  the  year  coming. 

Bulwer-Lytton  replied  : — 

MY  DEAREST  FRIEND — A  thousand  thanks  for  your 
kind  letter.  I,  too,  have  always  missed  our  old  familiar 

1  One  of  these  differences  had  reference  to  Bulwer-Lytton's  relations 
with  his  wife.  In  The  Personal  and  Literary  Letters  of  the  Earl  ofLytton, 
vol.  i.  p.  91,  occurs  this  passage  :  "Under  the  influence  of  the  misery 
which  this  (Lady  Lytton's  attack)  caused  him,  he  (Sir  E.  B.  L.)  listened 
to  the  very  unfortunate  advice  of  his  friend,  John  Forster,  who  was  then 
Secretary  of  the  Lunacy  Commission,  of  which  Lord  Shaftesbury  was  the 
Chairman,  and  took  steps  to  have  his  wife  declared  a  lunatic."  This 
statement  is  not  accurate,  and  in  justice  to  Forster  requires  correction. 
Lady  Betty  Balfour,  knowing  the  intimacy  which  existed  between  Bulwer- 
Lytton  and  Forster,  and  knowing  also  the  latter's  official  position,  doubtless 
concluded  that  Bulwer-Lytton  had  acted  on  Forster's  advice.  Forster's 
own  letters,  however,  at  the  time,  show  conclusively  that  this  was  not  so. 
He  advised  strongly  against  the  step,  always  maintaining  that  Lady  Lytton 
was  "  more  bad  than  mad." 

326 


"ST.  STEPHENS" 

friendship,  and  nothing  in  life  would  delight  me  more    1859. 
than  to  renew  it.  &T.  56. 

Their  correspondence  for  the  remainder  of 
the  year  deals  chiefly  with  the  poem  of  St. 
Stephens,  "  my  prose  verses  on  our  nation,"  as 
Bulwer-Lytton  described  it.  This  book  contained 
a  more  elaborate  series  of  sketches  of  British 
statesmen  and  orators  from  the  time  of  the  Civil 
War  until  the  death  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  on  the 
same  lines  as  the  few  which  were  previously 
included  in  The  New  Timon.  It  concludes  with 
an  appreciation  of  Macaulay,  who  died  at  the 
end  of  1859.  It  was  published  anonymously  in 
the  first  three  monthly  numbers  of  Blackwood's 
Magazine,  in  1860. 

The  next  subject  of  discussion  between  Bulwer- 
Lytton  and  Forster  was  provided  by  a  work  of 
the  latter.  Forster  had  just  published  two 
volumes  of  essays,1  dealing  with  the  events  of 
the  Great  Rebellion,  and  Bulwer-Lytton  under- 
took to  write  a  critical  article  upon  them  for 
the  Quarterly  Review.  Finding,  however,  as  the 
article  proceeded,  that  he  differed  widely  from 
Forster's  view  of  some  of  these  events,  he  felt 
considerable  hesitation  in  completing  his  task. 
I  give  the  following  letters  which  passed  between 
them  on  the  subject,  as  an  indication  of  Bulwer- 
Lytton's  views  on  an  important  matter  of  con- 
stitutional history.  These  views  are  better  and 
more  fully  expressed  in  the  article  itself,  for  those 
who  are  sufficiently  interested  to  read  it. 

1  The  Debates  on  The  Grand  Remonstrance. 
327 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

1860.  MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  find  myself  in  a  dilemma 
T.  57.  with  regard  to  the  review  of  your  works  in  the  Quarterly, 
and  think  it  right  to  place  it  before  you.  As  I  come 
with  attention  to  re-examine  the  time  of  the  great 
struggle,  I  find  I  arrive  at  a  point  in  which  I  widely 
diverge  from  your  views. 

My  dislike  to  Charles  1st  is  indeed  confirmed,  and 
with  the  earlier  conduct  of  the  Parliamentarian  Chiefs 
I  have  no  grave  fault  to  find.  I  can  find  in  Straffbrd's 
crimes  enough  to  render  his  sentence  just  in  itself,  tho' 
I  am  strongly  against  its  legality.  But  where  I  begin 
to  differ  from  you  sensibly,  is  in  all  that  relates  to  the 
Great  Remonstrance.  I  accept  your  narrative,  on  the 
whole,  of  the  arrest  of  the  5  Members.  As  far  as  I 
have  yet  examined,  I  think  you  substantiate  the  strong 
points  of  the  case  you  so  ably  urge.  But  I  am  dead 
against  the  Parliamentarian  claims  as  to  the  Militia, 
and  the  1 9  points  presented  to  the  King.  These  claims 
no  Constitutional  Sovereign  ought  to  have  accepted, 
and  I  do  not  for  these  accept  the  excuse  of  Charles's 
insincerity.  The  insincerity  of  one  King  may  be  an 
excuse  for  deposing  him,  but  not  for  changing  the 
entire  fabric  of  a  Constitutional  Monarchy.  I  think 
our  obligations  to  Pym  and  his  party  stop  abruptly  here, 
— that  we  are  in  no  way  indebted  to  them  for  further 
services  to  freedom.  On  the  contrary,  we  owe  it  to 
their  violence,  not  only  that  the  country  was  deluged 
with  blood,  but  that  liberty  was  swept  away  first  by 
Cromwell,  and  then  by  Charles  II.  And  neither  their 
Militia  Bill  nor  their  1 9  points  form  any  part  of  our  Con- 
stitution at  this  day.  Therefore,  they  gained  nothing 
for  posterity,  supposing  these  demands  would  have  been 
gains.  They  had  effected  all  that  now  forms  the  basis 
of  English  liberty,  and  Charles,  after  his  failure  in  the 

328 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISCUSSION 

arrest  of  the  5  Members,  was  really  powerless  for  evil    1860. 
— at  least,  as  powerless  as  such  a  man  could  have  been  JEr.  57. 
while  on  the  throne. 

Unfortunately,  these  views  of  mine  are  not  limited 
to  a  past  period  in  history  over  which  I  could  pass 
lightly,  but  they  link  themselves  to  future  con- 
tingencies and  permanent  policy.  They  are  consonant 
to  a  theory  I  have  held  for  a  great  many  years,  indeed 
nearly  all  my  political  life,  viz.  :  —  ist,  that  while 
popular  revolutions  usually  commence  in  the  faults  of 
the  Govt.,  yet  when  they  arrive  at  a  certain  point, 
they  are  liable  to  be,  in  much,  robbed  of  their  legitimate 
fruits  by  the  violence  of  the  popular  party  ;  that  a 
revolution  of  force  and  blood  can  nearly  always  be 
prevented  by  a  compromise,  when  the  popular  party 
are  uppermost ;  and  that,  if  they  disdain  this  and  go 
further,  a  reaction  is  sure  to  follow,  which  throws 
back  liberty  and  leaves  its  after  triumph  very  much 
at  the  hazard  of  new  circumstances.  Thus,  I  think, 
and  always  have  thought,  that  terms  might  have 
been  obtained,  and  indeed  were,  from  Louis  XVI.  which 
ought  to  have  prevented  the  terrors  of  the  after 
revolution,  and  would  have  founded  national  freedom, 
whereas  the  French  have  never  had  national  freedom 
since. 

I  think  again  they  ought  to  have  kept  the  House  of 
Orleans  on  the  throne,  and  reformed  their  Chamber  in 
accepting  Louis  Philippe's  abdication.  And  so  here,  I 
think,  still  more  decidedly,  that  the  Park,  made  a  great 
mistake  in  the  trial,  and  assault  on  the  Monarchy  in 
the  person  of  Charles,  the  results  being  that  the  Parlt. 
itself  soon  became  despicable  and  odious  in  its  own 
day  ;  and  had  Charles  II.  possessed  a  Richelieu  or  a 
Straffbrd  for  Minister,  I  doubt  if  absolute  Monarchy 
might  not  have  been  established.  No  thanks  to  the 
Militia  Bill  and  the  19  points  if  it  has  not  been. 

329 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1 860.  This  is  my  dilemma.  Shall  I  proceed  in  the  review  ? 
JET.  57.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  better  not.  I  feel  that  I  must  not 
only  abandon  my  cherished  political  convictions,  but 
appear  to  accept  views  against  them  which  might 
afterwards  be  quoted  against  myself,  if  I  did  not 
explicitly  state  where  I  differ  from  you  ;  and  ought 
not  the  review  to  be  in  the  hands  of  some  one  who 
agrees  with  you?  I  need  not  add  that  I  should  not 
fail,  in  writing  the  review,  to  attest  your  high  and  rare 
merits  as  a  writer,  and  to  cite  your  graphic  account  of 
the  arrest.  (I  should  be  more  curt  as  to  your  view 
of  the  Remonstrance.)  But  in  a  controversy  like  this, 
to  which  you  have  given  so  much  research  and  feel 
such  earnest  convictions,  and  which,  moreover,  is  in 
itself  one  into  which  a  good  degree  of  the  warmth 
of  existing  party  predilections  is  apt  to  enter,  I  feel 
a  sort  of  nervous  fear  that  I  might  write  something 
which  might  rather  vex  you  than  please,  and  that  the 
acknowledgment  of  your  merits  might  not  atone  for 
a  clash  with  your  opinions. 

I  have  now  put  the  matter  before  you,  frankly  and 
loyally,  and  will  go  on  or  back  out,  as  you  may  decide. 
— Ever  yrs.  most  afftly., 

E.  B.  L. 

P. S. — Perhaps  you  may  see  the  difference  between 
us  more  clearly  when  I  say  that  I  think  more  highly 
of  Falkland  than  I  did,  and  believe  that  he  has  not  been 
generally  appreciated.  I  believe  him  to  have  wanted 
that  strange  force  of  will  by  which  some  men  impress 
their  opinions  on  others,  and  without  which  a  man  in 
such  days  cannot  be  a  very  efficient  actor  in  events  ; 
but  I  equally  believe  him  to  have  been  a  much  sounder 
reasoner  than  the  Pyms  and  Vanes,  and  that  his  politics 
were  much  more  in  harmony  with  those  of  safe  re- 
formers in  our  day. 

330 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISCUSSION 

John  Forster  to  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

46  MONTAGU  SQUARE,  W., 
<)th  July  1860. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — I  have  a  difficulty  in    1860. 
answering   your   letter   in   so    far   as   it   opens  up   the  &T.  57- 
personal  question  of  what  value  there  may  be  in  the 
additions  I  have  attempted  to  make  to  our  horoscope 
of  an  important  period  of  English  history.  .  .  . 

Of  course,  I  widely  differ  from  you  in  the  views 
indicated  in  your  letter.  If,  at  the  point  named  by 
you,  Falkland's  and  Hyde's  views  had  been  suffered 
to  prevail,  I  believe  that  everything  gained  up  to  that 
time  would  ultimately  have  been  lost,  and  the  cause  of 
national  liberty  deferred  for  perhaps  two  centuries — 
to  be  then  achieved,  not  as  in  1688,  but  in  far  more 
terrible  fashion.  Forty-four  years  is  but  the  portion 
of  the  age  of  a  man  ;  it  is  the  measure  of  the  interval 
between  the  drawing  the  sword  against  Charles  I.  and 
drawing  the  Bill  of  Settlement  from  William  III. ;  and 
happy  the  nation  that  can  right  itself  in  such  brief 
space,  and  with  so  little  needless  shedding  of  blood. 
That  we  owe,  as  I  solemnly  believe,  mainly  under 
God,  to  Pym  and  Hampden.  If  at  any  time  they 
violated  forms,  they  did  it  to  preserve  the  spirit,  and 
the  spirit  survived  to  vindicate  itself  and  them,  and 
overthrew  even  the  tyranny  established  in  its  name. 

These  are  questions,  however,  which,  though  feeling 
deeply  respecting  them,  I  have  not  opened  in  my  recent 
volumes.  I  have  restricted  myself  very  carefully  to 
the  section  of  those  comprised  in  the  subjects  of  my 
narrative.  I  have  not  discussed  the  19  propositions, 
nor,  as  I  believe,  rendered  it  necessary  that  this  should 
be  discussed  in  any  review  of  those  volumes. 

As  you  have  kindly  invited  my  opinion,  I  would 
ask  your  permission  to  state  it  thus  : — that,  if  you  feel 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1860.  upon  reflection  that  you  cannot  conscientiously  do  more 
.  57.  for  these  books  of  mine  than  make  them  a  peg  upon 
which  to  hang  a  disquisition  of  which  the  drift  would 
be  to  damage  and  discredit,  as  far  as  might  be,  the 
cause  of  Charles  the  First's  opponents,  with  such 
occasional  compliment  to  myself  as  one  of  the  "  graphic" 
extracts  might  convey — while  I  have  no  right  to  object 
to  your  taking  this  line,  and  it  would  make  no 
difference  in  the  hearty  affection  and  grateful  regard 
I  entertain  towards  you,  I  yet  cannot  honestly  say  that 
it  would  give  me  pleasure.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you 
feel  that,  notwithstanding  our  marked  and  strong 
difference  of  opinion,  you  can  conscientiously  speak 
of  what  I  have  lately  written  as  important  in  an 
historical  sense,  and  for  its  mere  additions  to  what 
it  is  at  least  right  that  all  our  countrymen  should 
know — if,  while  you  enter  as  strong  a  caveat  against 
my  opinions  as  you  may  think  called  for,  and  set 
forth  your  own  on  every  point  as  warmly  on  the 
other  side,  you  can  still  find  in  the  books  them- 
selves, and  the  incidents  dwelt  on  and  detailed, 
sufficient  for  the  substance  of  a  review,  I  should  be 
proud  indeed,  no  matter  how  severely  dealt  with  in 
points  of  opinion,  to  be  so  handled  by  such  a  writer 
as  yourself.  .  .  . 

Whatever  your  decision,  it  can  only  leave  me 
grateful  to  you. — Always  most  truly  and  afftly.  yrs., 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

P.S. — Telegrams  which  arrived  this  morning  after 
the  paper  was  published  announce  the  evacuation  of 
Sicily  by  the  Neapolitans — the  holding  of  Castellamare 
by  the  English  Admiral  as  referee  of  both  parties  until 
conditions  of  armistice  are  carried  out,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  a  regular  Government  by  Garibaldi  !  What  a 
great  deed  it  has  been  ! 

332 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISCUSSION 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

12  July  1860. 

MY  DEAR  F. — I  am  very  much  obliged  by  yours.    1860. 
As  to  opinions  on  the  historical  value  of  your  works,  JEr.  57. 
I  have  no  fear  but  what  I  shall  truthfully  say  what  will 
content  you. 

As  to  the  views  I  am  in  sad  doubt.  I  feel  I  shall 
please  no  one,  and  I  suspect  that  the  readers  of  the 
Quarterly  will  very  little  like  the  condemnation  of 
Charles's  whole  character,  which  I  believe  to  be  just. 
He  was  a  bad  gentleman  as  well  as  bad  King. 

But  I  think  it  is  so  important  for  this  age  and  all 
future  ones  to  indicate  where  I  honestly  think  popular 
passion  overshoots  its  mark,  that  I  cannot  stop  at  the 
Remonstrance,  which  I  feel  sure  was  a  mistake,  but 
must  touch  on  the  demands  of  the  Parliament,  which 
made  a  civil  war  inevitable. 

I  separate  Falkland  from  Hyde.  Falkland,  if  the 
King  had  triumphed,  would  have  been  no  party  to 
despotism.  Hyde  would  have  been.  Falkland  was 
eventually  at  Oxford,  urging  moderate  courses  on  the 
King,  and  very  ill  looked  upon  in  consequence. 

I  propose  at  present  to  get  on  where  I  can,  and 
before  finally  determining  will  again  confer  with  you. 

Garibaldi  is  the  best  fellow  going.  He  is  the  party 
of  Lamartine,  put  into  soldierly  action.  But  what  is 
to  be  done  with  Sicily  ? — Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B.  L. 

In  another  letter,  a  few  days  later,  in  which 
the  same  arguments  are  repeated  at  length, 
Bulwer-Lytton  concludes  : — 

The  subject  is  immense,  its  issues  eternal,  and  after 
several  weeks  hard  labour  at  it,  I  am  seized  with  awe 

333 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1860.  and  despair  at  my  presumption  in  dealing  with  it  at  all. 
JE.T.  57.  I  would  fain,  therefore,  drop  the  effort,  and  I  am  sure 
you  will  feel  that  I  have  not  done  so  without  great 
regret  and  reluctance.  It  really  is  that  I  foresee  in 
my  venture  only  a  rough  pebble  thrown  into  the 
current  of  our  friendship,  likely  to  chafe  its  course, 
which  has  more  and  more  vexed  and  embarrassed  me  as 
I  have  proceeded.  It  seems  useless  writing  to  Elwin. 
How  shall  I  venture  to  send  in  my  resignation  ? — Yrs. 
ever, 

E.  B.  L. 

John  Forster  to  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

46  MONTAGU  SQUARE,  W., 
21  July  1860. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — It  seems  right  that 
I  should  make  some  reply  to  your  letter,  but  I  hardly 
know  what  to  say.  We  have  been  of  old  time  in  such 
apparent  sympathy  on  subjects  as  to  which  you  now 
discover  such  gulfs  yawning  betwixt  us,  that  I  really 
find  it  difficult  to  apprehend  the  nature  of  the  objection, 
which,  after  resuming  the  subject  upon  the  conditions 
put  to  me  in  your  former  letter,  compels  you  finally 
to  cast  it  aside. 

It  is  due,  however,  to  myself,  distinctly  to  repeat 
what  I  said  in  the  letter  I  formerly  wrote,  that  no 
difference  of  opinion  upon  the  broad  historical  facts, 
however  strongly  stated  by  you,  however  earnestly 
enforced,  would  have  been  made  matter  of  the  remotest 
objection  by  me.  If  you  had  found  my  books 
worthless,  I  could  have  understood  your  objection. 
If  I  had  made  any  false  pretence  of  discoveries  which 
were  not  as  I  stated  them,  if  the  books  had  con- 
tributed no  new  facts  to  the  history  of  the  period, 
but  were  simply  the  old  hashed-up  arguments  and 

334 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISCUSSION 

statements,  if  the  opinions  expressed  in  them  had  been    1860. 
wildly  exaggerated,  or  the  facts  grossly  misrepresented,  &T.  57. 
if,  for  any  or  all  these  reasons,  I  challenged  condemna- 
tion and  exposure,  I  could  well  understand  that  a  friend 
should  shrink  from  the  task.     But  I  venture  to  believe 
that  this  is  not  the  case.  .  .  . 

As  to  the  Quarterly  Review,  they  would  gladly  have 
received  such  a  paper  from  you  as  you  originally  pro- 
posed to  write,  and  the  wider  the  departure  from  me, 
the  more  agreeable  probably  to  them,  in  respect  to 
points  of  opinion.  There  needn't  have  been  any  fear  as 
to  that  —  however  little  of  a  "  martyr "  you  were 
disposed  to  make  of  the  King.  Of  course,  however, 
the  matter  takes  quite  another  character  and  colour  if 
the  object  of  the  article  to  be  written  was  to  be  some- 
thing quite  other  than  the  books  which  formed  its 
subject.  Upon  the  latter  humbler  level,  I  can  imagine 
few  pleasanter  articles  than  you  might  have  written, 
if  you  had  merely  taken  (for  a  brief  paper)  such  inci- 
dents to  the  theme  as  what  I  have  disclosed,  from 
entirely  new  sources,  of  the  usages  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  that  day,  of  the  details  of  their  proceed- 
ings, of  the  character  and  peculiarities  of  speakers  and 
speeches — the  picture,  in  short,  I  have  attempted  to 
give.  .  .  . 

I  cannot  wonder  at  your  displeasure  with  Elwin,  and 
I  now  take  leave  of  the  thing  for  ever,  with  no  feeling 
really  at  heart,  but  that  of  a  sort  of  conviction  that  our 
differences  in  opinion  will  turn  out  to  be  by  no  means 
so  great  as  you  suppose.  I  am  expressing  myself 
clumsily,  but,  in  giving  you  the  assurance  that  your 
abandonment  of  this  review  (on  which  I  confess  I  had 
built  very  much),  makes  no  change  whatever  in  my 
private  regard.  I  wish  also  to  say  that  I  entertain  not 
less  firmly  the  assurance  that  the  sympathies  we  used 
to  have  in  common  on  great  historic  questions  and 

335 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1 860.    characters,  may  yet  prove  to  be  strong  and  unbroken. — 
.  57.  Ever  yours, 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

Edward  Bulwer-Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

July  22,  1860. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — Your  letter  gives  me  a  good 
deal  of  pain.  I  hardly  know  how  to  act  for  the  best. 
My  strong  belief  is,  however,  that  an  article  by  someone 
else  will  be  sure  to  please  you  better,  and  the  good  to 
the  book  is  derived  from  the  weight  of  the  Quarterly 
and  not  the  pen  of  the  writer. 

I  did  not  mean  to  "  make  use  of  your  book  "  to  pen 
an  essay  on  it,  Macaulay-like.  But  the  unlucky  thing 
is  this — that  it  is  impossible  to  extract  without  comment 
— that  the  comment  will  do  ample  justice  to  you  as  a 
writer,  &c.,  in  the  way  you  refer  to,  but  will  state  those 
differences  of  view  which  I  can  see  even  by  this  note  of 
yours  will  displease. 

You  speak  of  our  former  sympathy  as  to  the  time 
and  incidents  of  the  Civil  disturbances.  I  think  that 
we  have  never  much  discussed  these  particular  events 
and  dates.  Generally,  1  still  agree  with  you  as  to  the 
character  of  Charles  1st,  and  as  to  the  conduct  of  the 
Parliamentary  chiefs  up  to  a  certain  time.  This  special 
time  I  never  very  closely  examined  before — it  is  the  im- 
portance to  which  you  yourself  raise  the  Remonstrance 
and  the  new  interest  you  give  to  the  exact  crisis,  which 
naturally  made  me  look  into  all  the  circumstances  with 
more  serious  care,  and  with  a  fresh  mind.  But  still  the 
view  that  as  far  back  as  25  years  ago  I  took  of  the  French 
Revolution,  becomes  equally  applicable  to  our  English 
one,  viz. : — that  all  requisite  for  liberty  could  have  been 
achieved  by  peaceful  reforms,  and  that  in  going  beyond 
them,  liberty  was  injured.  To  myself  the  mortification 

336 


AN  HISTORICAL  DISCUSSION 

of  stopping  short  of  the  task  I  undertook  is  extreme —    l86°- 
it  has  been  my  only  literary  work  all  the  summer.     I  -&T.  57. 
have  devoted  many  weeks  to  it,  and  it  is  much  time  and 
work  that  I  throw  away,  rather  than  incur  the  risk  of  a 
difference  between  us,  and  fail  to  make  the  time  and 
work  really  effect  the  object  with  which  they  were  alone 
commenced,  viz.: — contribute  somewhat  of  service  to 
your  writings,  in  the  way  that  you  would  wish  that 
service  rendered. 

I  leave  off  because  that  object  fails  me,  and  I  see  that 
another  writer  could  much  better  effect  it.  Your  books 
have  placed  me  so  thoroughly  in  the  time  that  I  have 
been  living  in  it.  I  feel  that  I  myself  must  have  made 
the  same  choice  as  Falkland.  I  feel,  too,  that  all  my 
discipline  and  train  of  thought  as  a  politician  in  events, 
present  and  contingent,  forbid  me  to  approve  the 
Remonstrance,  or  the  course  taken  by  Pym,  etc.,  just 
before  the  Remonstrance,  or  subsequent  to  the  Arrest 
of  the  five  members. — Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B.  L. 


The  same  to  the  same. 


July  26,  1860. 


MY  VERY  DEAR  FRIEND — I  have  received  yours.  I 
will  throw  aside  what  I  have  done.  I  will  look  again 
to  the  subject  and  see  if  I  can  treat  it  in  some  briefer 
and  simpler  way.  Next  week  I  hope  to  be  at  leisure 
and  perhaps  somewhere  by  the  seaside.  Till  then  I  will 
defer  sending  in  my  resignation  of  the  article.  If  I  find 
after  a  second  attempt  that  I  cannot  contrive  it,  I  will 
tell  you  so  frankly,  and  you  will  be  sure  that  I  have  at 
least  given  all  thought  to  my  conclusions,  however — 
Ever  yrs.  truly, 

E.  B.  L. 


VOL.  II 


337 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

John  Forstet  to  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton. 

46  MONTAGU  SQUARE,  W., 
2jth  July  1860. 

1860.  MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — I  am  very  deeply 
Er.  57.  touched  indeed  by  your  note  of  yesterday. 

I  will  not  reproach  myself  for  having  given  occasion 
to  such  generous  kindness  on  your  part,  but  begin  now 
to  feel  as  if  I  had  been  wrong  and  selfish  in  the  letters 
I  have  written. 

Forgive  me  if  I  have  been.  Whatever  now  is  the 
result,  I  can  have  but  one  feeling  in  the  matter.  I 
could  almost  wish  that  you  should  be  unsuccessful  in  this 
kind  attempt,  if  only  to  show  how  thoroughly  grateful 
I  shall  be  to  you  all  the  same. 

Have  no  doubt  as  to  that,  or  of  the  true  and  pro- 
found sense  I  carry  always  in  my  heart  of  hearts,  of 
your  tried  friendship  and  affection,  and  many  kindnesses 
to  me. — My  dear  Bulwer,  I  am  ever  gratefully  & 

affectly.  yrs.,  T          ,-, 

JOHN  FORSTER. 

The  article  was  completed  and  appeared  in 
the  October  number  of  the  Quarterly  Review  for 
1 860.  The  points  of  difference  between  the  writer 
and  Forster  are  stated  in  it  with  perfect  frankness, 
without  in  the  least  detracting  from  his  genuine 
appreciation  of  the  latter's  work,  and  the  suscepti- 
bilities of  the  readers  of  the  Quarterly  Review  are 
carefully  respected  !  Indeed  it  seems  strange 
that  he  should  ever  have  had  any  anxieties  about 
either  of  these  points.  The  article  is  to  be  found 
under  the  title  of  "  Pym  versus  Falkland,"  in 
the  volume  called  Quarterly  Essays  in  the 
Knebworth  edition  of  his  collected  works.  It  is 

338 


CORFU 

an  admirable  piece  of  historical  criticism  as  well  1860. 
as  an  interesting  sidelight  on  the  author's  views  ^T.  57 
of  certain  political  questions. 

In  the  autumn  of  1860,  Bulwer-Lytton 
visited  the  Ionian  Islands,  the  affairs  of  which 
had  occupied  so  much  of  his  attention  while 
at  the  Colonial  Office.  He  writes  to  his  son 
from  Corfu  on  October  24  :  — 

MY  DEAR  ROBERT — Here  I  am !  after  a  lovely 
passage,  sea  smooth  as  glass.  On  the  morning  after  the 
second  night  the  old  Acroceraunian  rocks  rose  before 
me — infames,  Horace  calls  them,  considering  a  man 
must  have  a  breast  of  triple  brass  and  oak  to  undertake 
such  a  voyage  as  would  permit  him  to  behold  them. 
Out  of  the  clear  sea  they  stood,  seemingly  harmless. 
May  they  look  so  and  be  so  when  I  leave. 

The  isle  is  beautiful,  chiefly  from  sky  and  colour, 
with  undulating  olive  woods.  I  have  been  here  in 
Storks'  palace  three  days.  I  move  into  the  villa  he  lends 
me  to-day.  It  was  quite  unfurnished  ;  with  much 
trouble  and  some  expense  I  have  furnished  two  or  three 
rooms  and  got  together  two  or  three  servants.  I  shall 
be  lonely  and,  I  expect,  bored  there,  but  the  view  from 
it  is  superb.  The  town  is  wretched,  like  a  wild  village 
near  Naples,  with  a  mixture  of  the  back  slums  of  Ports- 
mouth. The  Palace  magnificent — Royal  indeed,  and 
Storks  lives  in  great  pomp  and  state. 

My  nephew  goes  in  a  day  or  two  to  his  lone  isle.  I 
propose  staying  only  two  or  three  weeks,  and  think  then 
of  returning  to  Trieste  and  wintering  either  at  Venice 
or  Nice.  I  give  up  Alexandria  and  Athens  with  regret, 
but  the  season  is  advanced  and  people  here  say  the 
voyage  might  be  rough.  I  am  a  timorous  sailor.  I 
doubt  whether  the  climate  be  healthy,  but  at  least  it  is 

339 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1860.    summer,  and  it  is  something  to  have  glimpses  of  summer 
T.  57.  in  this  year  of  1860. 

I  hope  I  may  get  on  with  my  mystic  story — now  at 
a  standstill. 

And  how  are  you  and  the  rheumatism  ?  And  how 
do  poetry  and  politics  get  on  ?  Here  we  have  all  the 
aspect  of  preparation  for  war — 3  line  of  battleships,  6 
more  expected,  3000  soldiers  in  this  little  town,  and 
sailors,  drunk  and  joyous,  everywhere.  There  seems 
no  society,  no  box  to  be  got  even  at  the  little  Opera — a 
few  thin  wives  of  officers — flirtations — none  !  I  begin 
to  believe  that  after  a  certain  age  capitals  are  necessary 
for  winters,  but  capitals  that  have  the  attractions  of 
landscape,  like  Nice  and  Naples.  Discomfort,  which 
seems  to  abound  here,  becomes  an  evil,  large  in  pro- 
portion as  romance  fades  away. 

I  have  no  news  and  no  letters  and  no  books.  I 
think,  if  I  can  summon  eno'  energy,  to  take  a  master 
for  Italian.  Greek  modern  seems  hopelessly  arduous. 
The  island  under  a  good  constitution  and  good  laws 
ought  to  be  most  wealthy,  and  the  winter  residence 
of  the  English,  but  as  it  is,  there  is  no  accommodation 
for  English — bad  inns,  no  lodgings,  and  one  shop  ! 
Classic  life,  however,  seems  to  revive  in  one's  mind 
like  a  dream  here  ;  one  imagines  old  Greece  back.  If 
I  had  my  tale  of  Pausanias  here  I  should  finish  it — the 
sky  would  suggest  colouring  and  supply  the  want  of 
books.  But,  please  Heaven,  I  think  I  shall  finish 
Pausanias  next  year. 

Have  you  seen  Otway  ? — Yrs.  ever  affectly., 

E.  B.  L. 

The  mystic  story  referred  to  in  this  letter, 
like  its  predecessor  Zanoniy  originated  in  a  dream, 
and  as  such  it  was  first  told  by  the  author  to 
his  son,  who  used  to  say  that  this  first  sketch 

340 


"A  STRANGE  STORY' 

was  even  more  interesting  and  striking  than  the    1860. 
longer  story  which  was  afterwards  founded  upon  ^T.  57. 
it.     The  inspiration  thus  received  was  elaborated 
by    Bulwer-Lytton    into   A   Strange    Story,   and 
this   work    occupied    him  for   the   next   twelve 
months. 

Before  leaving  England  he  had  received  the 
following  letter  from  Charles  Dickens  : — 

GAD'S  HILL  PLACE, 
HICHAM  BY  ROCHESTER,  KENT, 
Friday ,  ^rd  August  1860. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — Is  there  any  possibility 
of  your  being  induced  to  write  a  tale  for  All  the  Tear 
Round*  It  has  the  largest  audience  to  be  got  that 
comprehends  intelligence  and  cultivation,  but  that 
audience  is  already  your  own,  and  that  is  no  temptation. 

It  would  gladly  pay  any  price  for  the  distinction 
of  having  your  assistance,  and  it  can  well  afford  to  do 
so,  but  you  can  get  what  price  you  please  anywhere, 
and  that  is  no  temptation. 

If  you  could  by  any  means  reconcile  the  doing  of 
such  a  thing  with  your  inclination  and  convenience, 
it  would  give  me  strong  heart  and  unspeakable  gratifica- 
tion. That  is  the  only  speciality  I  can  put  before  you. 

What  I  most  want,  is  such  a  tale  as  you  could 
republish  in  three  volumes,  a  week  or  two  before  its 
completion  in  All  the  Year  Round.  Such  a  book 
portioned  out  from  week  to  week,  would  occupy  in  its 
periodical  publication,  six  or  eight  months. 

In  mere  pecuniary  return  it  could  be  made  very 
profitable  to  you,  and  we  could  get  a  price  for  the 
proofs  from  week  to  week  in  America,  that  I  doubt 
your  being  quite  prepared  for.  But  the  mere  busi- 
ness matter — I  repeat — is  not,  /  know  well>  the  first 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1860.    question.     If  you  were  to  do  it  at  all,  you  would  do 
JET.  57.  it  for  me. 

Now,  is  that  possible  ?  Any  time  within  a  year  ? 
I  know  how  much  I  ask.  You  will  tell  me  at  your 
leisure.  Neither  of  us  will  misunderstand  the  other. 
— Yrs.  faithfully, 

CHARLES  DICKENS. 

Bulwer  -  Lytton  does  not  appear  to  have 
accepted  the  suggestion  at  once  ;  but  before  the 
end  of  the  year  he  was  already  at  work  on  the 
mystic  story  which  grew  out  of  his  dream,  and 
offered  it  to  Dickens  for  his  magazine.  The 
acceptance  of  the  story  and  the  terms  offered  for 
it  are  contained  in  the  following  letters  : — 

Charles  Dickens  to  Edward  Bulwer- Lytton. 

GAD'S  HILL  PLACE, 
HICHAM  BY  ROCHESTER,  KENT, 
ztyh  November  1860. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — I  need  not  tell  you 
that  I  have  received  your  letter  with  the  strongest 
interest,  and  with  the  liveliest  desire  that  a  result  I 
should  so  highly  prize,  may  be  brought  about  somehow 
or  other. 

This  hasty  note  is  written  to  let  you  know  that  I 
will  immediately  enter  into  every  detail  of  calculation 
and  enquiry,  and  will  write  you  the  fullest  particulars 
on  every  head,  by  next  Tuesday  s  post  from  London. 

In  the  meantime,  I  only  add  that  there  is  no 
publisher  whatever  associated  with  All  the  Tear  Round 
— I  and  Wills,  my  sub-editor,  are  the  sole  proprietors  ; 
therefore,  implicit  reliance  may  be  placed  in  the  journal's 
proceedings.  That  the  subject  is  as  interesting  to  me 

342 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  DICKENS 

as   to   any  one   alive,    and  would    unquestionably   be    l86° 
attractive,  and  that  I  will  make  every  possible  and  im-  ^T.  57 
possible   point  clear,   and  set  forth  with  plain  ;figures, 
when  I  write  on  Tuesday. — Meanwhile  and  ever,  Be- 
lieve me,  Affectly.  yrs., 

CHARLES  DICKENS 


The  same  to  the  same. 

GAD'S  HILL  PLACE, 
HICHAM  BY  ROCHESTER,  KENT, 
\th  December  1860. 

MY  DEAR  BULWER-LYTTON — All  the  intelligence 
I  am  going  to  give  you  proceeds  on  the  following 
assumption.  If  it  should  be  wrong,  I  will  correct  my 
intelligence  on  your  explaining  it  to  be  wrong.  But  I 
hope  and  believe  it  to  be  quite  right. 

When  you  use  the  expression  350  "pages  of  close 
writing,  chiefly  on  foolscap  paper  like  that  on  which  I 
scribble,"  I  assume  that  you  mean  pages  of  foolscap 
paper,  written  on  one  side,  each  page  being  half  a  sheet, 
not  a  quarter  of  a  sheet — that  is,  not  a  sheet  of  foolscap 
paper  torn  in  two. 

This  quantity  I  have  had  carefully  estimated  at  the 
printer's  and  cast  off.  It  would  make  about  150 
printed  pages  of  All  the  Tear  Round. 

The  publication  of  such  150  pages  in  the  weekly 
quantity  we  usually  consider  the  best  for  a  serial  work 
in  All  the  Tear  Round^  would  occupy  about  thirty 
weeks.  In  other  words,  seven  months,  or  from  six 
to  seven  months. 

For  the  right  of  such  publication  in  All  the  Tear 
Round^  I  would  gladly  pay  you  £1500  —  fifteen 
hundred  pounds.  I  could  at  once  conclude  in  your 
behalf  a  bargain  with  an  unimpeachable  publisher,  who 
would  pay  you  for  the  right  of  re-publication  in  a 

343 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1 86 1.  collected  form  for  two  years  (at  prices  not  to  interfere 
Er.  58.  with  the  subsequent  transfer  to  Routledge,  but  well 
within  his  figure)  £1200 — twelve  hundred  pounds. 
For  the  transmission  of  proofs  to  America  week  by 
week  for  simultaneous  publication  there — of  course 
without  damage  to  copyright  here — I  could  get  you 
(as  our  American  transactions  are  on  a  very  good 
footing)  £300 — three  hundred  pounds. 

This  would  make  in  all  ^3000 — three  thousand 
pounds.  The  tale  to  be  published  as  yours,  with  your 
name,  and  the  bookseller's  two  years  to  commence,  of 
course,  from  the  time  of  publication  in  a  complete 
form  ;  which  would  be  a  week  or  so  before  it  ended  in 
All  the  Tear  Round. 

As  I  have  just  begun  a  story  of  my  own  in  All  the 
Tear  Round,  we  could  not  begin  advantageously  to 
publish  yours  before  the  ist  of  August,  which  would 
bring  the  publication  of  the  book  to  the  very  best  time 
of  the  year.  But  all  the  agreements  could  be  im- 
mediately made,  and  the  All  the  Tear  Round  money  is 
ready  to  be  paid  down. 

Not  to  overload  the  plainness  of  these  statements 
with  other  matter  interesting  to  us  as  private  friends, 
and  not  associated  with  a  question  of  business,  I  break 
off  here,  and  hope  to  hear  from  you  soon. — My  dear 
Lytton  Bulwer  [sic],  Ever  affectionately  yours, 

CHARLES  DICKENS. 

The  story  was  completed  by  the  end  of  1861 
and  began  to  appear  anonymously  in  All  the 
Tear  Round  on  August  10. 

To  Forster,  Bulwer- Lytton  writes  on  July 
29,  1 86 1  : — 

I  am  revising  and  finishing  the  story  for  Dickens. 
It  is  original  and  a  psychological  curiosity.  But  I  am 

344 


"A  STRANGE  STORY"  EXPLAINED 

by  no  means  sure  of  its  effect  either  with  the  few  or    1861. 
the  many  ;  ^T.  58. 

and  again  on  September  14,  to  his  son  : — 

I  am  in  the  agonies  of  finishing  my  book — in  the 
last  chapter,  I  hope,  and  whenever  you  read  it  you  will 
see  what  throes  that  chapter  must  have  caused  in 
parturition.  I  fancy  this  will  be  my  best  work  of 
imagination.  I  fancy  it  deals  with  mysteries  within 
and  without  us  wholly  untouched  as  yet  by  poets.  It 
is  not  my  widest  work,  but  I  think  it  is  perhaps  the 
highest  and  deepest.  However,  it  is  not  yet  completed 
and  finis  coronal  opus. 

The  following  letters  still  further  explain  the 
author's  views  concerning  this  book  : — 

To  Charles  Dickens. 

(Undated,  but  written  from  Ventnor 
at  end  of  '6 1  or  beginning  of  '62.) 

MY  DEAR  DICKENS — Cordial  thanks  for  your  trouble 
and  hints.  No  doubt  every  story  should  contain  in  itself 
all  that  is  essential  to  its  own  explanation — and  to  a 
thinker  I  hope  mine  does.  The  question  is  only  how  far 
it  is  necessary  to  anticipate  the  objections  of  those  who 
don't  think.  I  had  already  thought  how  far  it  would 
be  possible  to  effect  this  in  the  body  of  the  work,  by 
adding  something  to  one  of  the  later  conversations 
between  Faber  and  Fenwick,  and  can  do  so  to  a  certain 
extent,  viz. :  —  why  the  supernatural  is  a  legitimate 
province  of  fiction.  But  also,  how  the  supernatural 
resolves  itself  into  the  natural  when  faced  and  sifted. 
But  that  does  not  meet  the  case  in  toto.  Because  the 
parts  which  would  seem  most  to  require  explanation 

345 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1 86 1.    are   the    concluding    scenes,    which    appear    those    of 
Er.  58.  demonology,  and  no  previous  conversation  must  antici- 
pate those,  or  their  effect  would  be  lost,  and  vanish  in 
philosophical  unreality. 

Now,  in  truth,  it  is  in  the  latter  science  that  for  the 
first  time  the  interior  or  symbolical  meaning,  that 
contains  the  true  philosophical  explanation,  is  carried 
out.  Margrave  is  the  sensuous  material  principle  of 
Nature.  Ayesha,  with  her  black  veil,  unknown  song, 
and  her  skeleton  attendant,  Death,  is  Nature  as  a 
materialist,  like  Fenwick,  sees  her. 

Fenwick  is  the  type  of  the  intellect  that  divorces 
itself  from  the  spiritual,  and  disdaining  to  acknowledge 
the  first  cause,  and  the  beliefs  that  spring  from  it,  is 
cheated  by  the  senses  themselves,  and  falls  into  all  kinds 
of  visionary  mistakes  and  illusions,  similar  to  those  of 
great  reasoners,  like  Hume,  La  Place  and  La  March. 

Lilian  is  the  type  of  the  spiritual  divorcing  itself 
from  the  intellectual,  and  indulging  in  mystic  ecstacies 
which  end  in  the  loss  of  reason.  Each  has  need  of 
the  other,  and  their  union  is  really  brought  thro'  the 
heart — Fenwick  recognising  soul  and  God,  thro'  love 
and  sorrow,  tho'  he  never  recognised  them  till  the 
mysterious  prodigies  which  puzzled  him,  had  passed 
away.  Lilian  struggling  back  to  reason  and  life,  thro' 
her  love  and  her  desire  to  live  for  the  belov'd  one's 
sake. 

But  all  this  could  only  be  implied,  either  by  some- 
thing supplementary  or  by  a  preface.  But  if  in  a 
preface,  the  interest  of  the  book  would  be  gone. 

Now  there  is  a  course  that  has  just  occurred  to  me. 
Zanoni  was  symbolical,  and  Miss  Martineau  divined 
the  key  to  it,  which  she  gave  and  which  is  appended  to 
the  popular  editions  of  the  book. 

2ndly,  whether  some  such  key,  as  if  suggested 
by  a  third  person,  a  friend,  might  be  added  to  the 

346 


LETTERS  ON  "A  STRANGE  STORY' 

story    (very   short).       If   you   thought  this  desirable    1862. 
then  return  me  this  letter  with  any  comment  on  it  you  JEr.  59. 
like. 

I  don't  see  how  Mrs.  Poyntz  can  be  reintroduced 
into  the  story.  How  could  she  come  to  Australia? 
She  could  only  come  into  a  supplementary  chapter,  as 
talking  over  the  book,  Mr.  Vigors  arguing  for  the 
supernatural,  she  pooh-poohing,  and  some  third  person, 
a  friendly  critic,  giving  the  key  suggested  above.  This 
might  be  done  in  a  half-humorous  vein  round  Mrs. 
Poyntz's  tea-table. — Yrs.  ever, 

E.  B.  L. 


To  his  Son. 

April  15, 1862. 

MY  DEAREST  R. — Your  letter  about  A  Strange  Story 
reached  me  just  as  I  am  starting  for  Buxton.  I  can't, 
however,  lose  a  post  in  thanking  you  for  it  and  express- 
ing my  admiration  of  the  critical  depth  of  your  remarks. 
You  find  the  beauty  which  belongs  to  your  own  thoughts 
in  the  book — it  is  your  own  pearls  that  you  insert  into 
my  oyster  shell.  .  .  . 

I  shall  have  something  to  say  as  to  the  Faber 
dialogues  ;  in  poetry  they  would  be  inexcusable.  I  am 
not  sure  that  in  prose  they  are  justified.  But  still  they 
are  essential  to  the  very  design  you  so  well  appreciate 
— ist,  because  they  do  not  explain,  tho'  they  use  all  the 
best  known  arguments  in  physiology  and  metaphysics. 
The  supernatural  in  man  is  inexplicable  by  the  natural 
sense  of  man. 

2ndly.  They  show  that  philosophers  getting  rid 
of  soul  and  ist  cause,  indulge  in  more  romance  and 
fantastic  chimera  than  any  novels  can  do.  Margrave 
is  a  trifle  compared  to  Lornosch's  and  Laplace's  theories 
of  man  and  creation.  It  is  clear  that  Goethe  thought 

347 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1862.    (as  an  artist)  that  prose  narrative  might  include  these 

JET.  59.  dissertations  which  partially  belong  to  essay.       Thus 

in  Wilhelm  Meister  he  treats  of  an  immense  range  of 

subjects  which  he  only  flashes  over  in  Faust  and  his 

other  dramas. 

But  an  artistic  narrative  demands  that  these  dis- 
sertations should  be  strictly  pertinent  to  the  main  con- 
ception for  which  the  characters  are  created  ;  that  they 
should  be  as  necessary  to  the  moral  or  intellectual 
narrative  as  the  incidents  are  to  the  external ;  that 
they  are  not  episodical  but  essential. 

Now  I  think  that  Faber's  conversations  belong  to 
this  character,  and  strictly  obey  its  laws.  If  you  strike 
out  those  conversations,  you  strike  out  all  that  part 
of  the  story  for  which  Fenwick  and  Margrave  and 
Lilian  are  created.  They  carry  on  the  history  of 
soul.  It  is  said  that  they  will  be  skipped  and,  there- 
fore, not  conduce  to  the  end  proposed.  True  that 
they  may  be  skipped  by  the  first  rush  of  novel 
readers ;  but  if  the  book  lives,  they  will  not  and 
cannot  be  skipped.  They  will  be  read  first  by  a  few, 
then  the  few  will  communicate  them  to  the  many. 
You  might  as  well  say  that  Goethe's  criticisms  on  art 
would  be  skipped  in  Wilhelm  Meister.  So  they  were 
at  first ;  but  now  it  is  thro'  them  that  Wilhelm  Meister 
lives  and  is  studied.  In  my  arguments  for  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  I  have  taken  the  most  popular 
and  modern  objections  now  current,  and  the  arguments 
are  not  old  hashes-up.  I  believe  that  the  argument 
which  rests  our  immortality  on  our  special  capacities 
to  comprehend  abstract  ideas  connected  with  im- 
mortality to  be  a  great  advance  on  metaphysical 
science.  At  all  events,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see 
that  part  quoted. 

The  attempted  explanations  of  Faber  serve  to  bring 
together  a  great  variety  of  ideas  of  all  schools  of 

348 


LETTERS  ON  "A  STRANGE  STORY' 

physiology  and  in  reality  do  not  explain  the  phenomena    1862. 
of  marvel — no  philosophy  yet  formed  does — but  they  &T.  59. 
still  tend  to  show  that  a  thing  is  not  inexplicable  because 
men  can't  explain  it. 

And  the  true  moral  here  is  in  Faber's  final  con- 
clusion after  the  catastrophe,  viz.: — that  what  signifies 
whether  these  magic  marvels  are  true  or  not  —  how 
small  is  their  marvel  compared  to  the  growth  of  a 
blade  of  grass.  The  common  sights  before  us  are 
inexplicable  and  are  therefore  the  true  magic.  When 
Faber  recognises  this,  then  he  recognises  the  Creator 
and  becomes  serene  in  that  recognition. 

The  caldron  scene  can  only  be  thoroughly  under- 
stood by  those  who  are  made  to  perceive  that  it  is 
there  the  story  obtains  its  diaeresis  in  summing  up  all 
the  symbolical  truths  of  the  work. 

There  in  the  scene  of  the  new  world,  where  the 
cave  bride  hides  the  bones  of  the  antideluvian  world, 
there  where  youth  grows  out  of  age  in  the  universal 
Cosmos,  there  man  seeks  to  renew  his  own  youth,  and 
there  the  magician,  long  estranged  from  Nature,  finds 
her  (Ayesha).  Nature  whether  she  be  mother  or 
mistress,  or  both — mistress  when  science  first  wooed  her, 
mother  when  science  fades  away  in  her  lap  behind  her 
veil. 

The  art  of  the  story  must  be  judged  by  remembrance 
of  its  interior  meanings.  Vulgar  critics  say  I  dismiss 
Mrs.  Poyntz  too  soon.  So  I  do,  if  the  novel  is  only 
a  novel.  But  if  you  look  into  its  deeper  meanings, 
Mrs.  Poyntz  (the  polite  world)  vanishes  exactly  where 
the  polite  world  does  vanish  to  the  intellectual  seeker, 
viz. : — Fenwick,  for  he  escapes  from  it  to  solitude,  and, 
as  he  thinks,  to  Nature  ;  but  Nature  cannot  enlighten 
him  so  long  as  he  ignores  Nature's  God. 

Thus  have  I  rambled  on.     Now  I  enclose  a  criticism 
from   the    Eclectic   Review,   the   organ    of   the   Non- 
349 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1862.  conformists,  which  is  the  most  favourable  I  have  seen 
T.  59.  of  the  book  and  myself  generally,  and  certainly  by 
some  writer  who  enters  into  the  work.  This  from  a 
religious  quarter  will  do  the  book  much  good.  It  will 
justify  you  with  the  religious  reader  in  Elackwood.  I 
enclose  you  also  a  review  from  the  Guardian  which 
is  the  High  Orthodox  Church,  much  less  civil  and  more 
shallow,  but  still  civil  and  useful. 

I  confine  this  letter  to  the  one  subject  and  will  treat 
of  others  in  another  letter.  With  a  thousand  thanks, 
— Most  affectly.  yrs.,  ]7.  g  L 

P.S. — Scott  was  attacked  for  the  "  White  Lady  of 
Avenel,"  but  that  was  a  very  poor  attempt  at  the  super- 
natural. My  defence  of  the  supernatural  is  obvious — 
it  is  simply  this  : — that  no  one  not  an  ignoramus  can 
deny  to  the  poet  the  fullest  use  of  the  supernatural ; 
the  only  question  raised  is — But  what  we  concede  to  the 
poet  can  we  concede  to  the  romance  writers  ?  Of  course 
you  must  concede  it.  You  can't  here  distinguish  between 
verse  and  prose.  Fiction  is  fiction  in  both  and  the 
romance  is  to  be  praised,  not  censured,  if  it  lifts  itself 
up  to  those  realms  of  imagination  which  are  considered 
by  every  critic  the  highest.  What  critic  ever  denied 
that  the  supernatural  element  was  the  highest  in  poetry, 
viz.: — fiction. 

I  suppose  you  have  my  book  complete  with  the 
preface  ? 

It  was  hardly  surprising  that  this  work  was 
little  understood  or  appreciated  by  contemporary 
reviewers,  and  with  few  exceptions  the  notices 
which  it  received  were  generally  very  mortifying 
to  the  author.  In  another  letter  to  his  son, 
undated,  but  probably  written  very  soon  after 
the  one  just  quoted,  he  says  : — 

35° 


RECEPTION  OF  THE  BOOK 

I  am  at  present  under  the  damp  of  the  general 
critical  outcry  against  my  own  Strange  Storyy  and  -^T.  59. 
I  think  I  see  the  same  danger  for  you  arising  much 
from  the  same  causes,  namely,  the  dislike  of  our 
practical  public  to  mysticism  and  allegory.  ...  I 
think  "  the  unsafe  "  is  a  hazard  rarely  to  be  admitted 
by  an  author  who  consults  his  peace  during  his  life, 
and  when  hazarded,  that  he  should  be  in  a  position 
to  be  as  little  shaken  as  possible.  Even  with  my  long 
authorship,  if  I  had  my  time  over  again,  I  would  not 
have  published  A  Strange  Story,  nor  do  I  think  if  I 
had  shown  it,  on  the  whole,  to  an  anxious  friend,  that 
he  would  have  counselled  me  to  publish  it.  Yet  I 
have  no  doubt  in  my  own  mind  that  it  is  my  highest, 
though  not  my  broadest  work,  of  prose  fiction  ; 

and  again  : — 

Thanks  for  your  kind  and  encouraging  word  about 
A  Strange  Story.  It  is  just  one  of  those  things  in 
which  I  did  want  some  aid  from  critics,  to  explain 
and  vindicate  it  to  the  Public.  But  the  critics  seem 
to  attack  it  ruthlessly,  even  one's  friends  among  the 
reviewers  seem  shy  of  praising  it.  The  Public  don't 
know  exactly  what  to  make  of  it,  whether  to  admire 
or  condemn.  A  powerful  review  by  a  great  critic, 
such  as  a  German  might  write,  would  at  once  decide 
the  public  in  its  favour — none  such  is  likely  to  appear. 
It  sells  well,  is  discussed  much,  has  a  few  earnest 
admirers,  but  generally  I  should  think,  was  no  favourite. 
Time  may  right  it  or  not.  Who  can  say  ?  For  the 
present  I  think  it  has  hurt  my  reputation,  and  I  have 
not  seen  so  many  impertinent  personalities  in  the 
reviewers  for  many  years  as  blossom  out  now.  But 
I  am  not  so  thin-skinned  as  I  was  once.  Nothing  to 
be  done  in  Parlt.  I  go  there  but  little. 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1862.  Before  A  Strange  Story  was  completed,  Bulwer- 
ET.  59.  Lytton  was  already  engaged  upon  another  work, 
which  was  completed  in  1862.  This  was  a 
series  of  essays  which  appeared  in  Blackwood's 
Magazine^  and  were  afterwards  collected  into 
one  volume  entitled  Gaxtoniana.  These  essays 
are  reflections  upon  a  large  number  of  every-day 
matters,  and  show  Bulwer-Lytton's  excellent 
common  sense,  sound  judgment,  and  insight  into 
human  nature  at  their  highest  point.  Writing 
to  his  son  from  Ventnor  in  December  1861, 
he  says  : — 

,  I  have  been  reading  really   hard   and  writing  my 

essays.  ...  I  have  been  fagging  hard  at  much  in 
science — gone  through  a  vast  amount  of  physiological 
and  metaphysical  reading,  and  a  little  of  the  mathe- 
matical. I  find  that  the  great  thing  in  the  voyage 
of  life  is  to  stop  very  often  to  take  in  coals — to  get 
a  complete  stock  of  new  ideas,  and  one  only  gets  that 
by  new  studies  or  pursuits.  If  out  of  Parliament 
I  should  try  the  Drama  again.  I  think  I  could  do 
much  better  now  than  in  my  former  attempts,  which 
are  but  sketches.  I  should  probably  also  take  up 
some  branch  of  science  seriously  —  not  chemistry,  I 
am  not  prudent  enough  for  that,  and  should  blow 
myself  up. 

He  did  not  wait  till  he  was  out  of  Parliament 
before  again  taking  to  the  drama,  but  in  1862 
began  a  rhymed  comedy  on  the  subject  of 
Walpole,  but  he  was  mistaken  in  thinking  that 
he  could  eclipse  his  former  achievements  in  this 
line.  His  best  dramatic  work  had  already  been 

352 


"  WALPOLE  " 

done,  and  he  never  again  reached  the  same  level.    1862. 
To  Forster  from  Aix  la  Chapelle  he  writes  on  MT.  59. 
September  i,  1862  : — 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  have  been  staying  six  weeks 
at  Spa  ;  thence  I  came  on  here  for  some  douche  baths, 
for  an  obstinate  lumbagoish  sort  of  pain.  At  this  place 
I  wrote  Money — eheu  fugaces^  Postume,  Postume^  labuntur 
anni.  I  shall  stay  but  a  short  time,  as  short  as  I  can 
for  the  alleged  "  cure,"  for  I  dislike  the  place  heartily 
and  shall  most  probably  return  to  England  in  the 
course  of  this  month,  tho'  I  can't  decide  as  yet  whether 
to  winter  among  the  native  fogs  or  not. 

I  saw  Shaftesbury  at  Spa,  who  seemed  philanthropi- 
cally  excited  against  the  North  American  cruelties. 
Civil  War  is  always  more  or  less  cruel,  and  a  young 
people  have  hot  heads. 

At  Spa  I  commenced  a  long  cherished  idea  of 
making  Sir  R.  Walpole  the  subject  of  a  comedy  in 
rhyme.  I  wrote  a  scene  which  I  think  very  epigrammatic 
and  telling,  convincing  me  that  rhyme  in  comedy 
would  be  a  new  and  strong  effect.  But  I  stopped  at 
that  scene  on  remembering  that  we  have  no  stage.  I 
had  an  idea  if  we  could  revive  our  amateur  corps,  that 
it  would  suit  them.  But  they,  like  other  pleasant 
things,  seem  scattered  far  and  wide  on  that  sea  of 
life  on  which  ships  never  sail  long  together.  For 
the  rest,  I  have  been  lazily  mumbling  my  essays, 
and  do  not  find  a  Helicon  in  these  sulphurous 
springs.  My  health  is  better  generally  than  when  I 
left,  and  the  symptom  which  alarmed  the  doctor  has, 
I  hope,  vanished. 

I  have  been  reading  nothing  but  Hegel  and  Pigault 
le  Brun — an  odd  combination.  Pigault  has  immense 
vis  comica,  but  I  see  nothing  to  crib  from  him,  which 
is  a  pity.  I  want  to  find  a  new  well  for  a  novel,  and 

VOL.  ii  353  2  A 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1863.    can't  find  anything  less  common  than  the  parish  pumps. 
ET.  60.  —Adieu,  Ever  afftly.  yours,  £  R   LYTTON. 

Did  I  tell  you  I  have  bought  a  property  eight  miles 
from  town,  very  pretty?  I  am  not  sure  whether  I 
shall  let  the  house  or  live  in  it  part  of  the  year.  I 
farm  the  land  myself. 

The  property  mentioned  in  the  postscript  was 
Copped  Hall,  Totteridge,  which  turned  out  to 
be  a  good  speculation.  He  kept  it  till  1867, 
when  he  sold  it  advantageously  and  bought  No. 
12  Grosvenor  Square.  In  1864  he  also  bought 
Bredalbane  House,  No.  21  Park  Lane,  which 
became  his  London  residence  for  eighteen  months. 
He  sold  it  to  Lady  Palmerston  in  November 
1865. 

For  the  years  1863-1866  there  is  little  to 
record.  From  November  1862  to  April  1863 
he  was  at  Nice,  writing  a  little  and  reading 
much.  Whilst  there  he  received  some  private 
communications,  asking  if  he  would  be  prepared 
to  accept,  if  it  were  offered  to  him,  the  throne 
of  Greece,  left  vacant  by  the  abdication  of  King 
Otho,  and  refused  by  Prince  Alfred.  This 
honour  had  also  been  offered  to  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  to  Lord  Stanley,  neither  of  whom  could  be 
otherwise  than  amused  at  the  suggestion.  In 
the  latter  case  Disraeli  had  written  to  a  friend 
on  hearing  of  it : — 

The  Greeks  really  want  to  make  my  friend  Lord 
Stanley  their  King.  This  beats  any  novel ;  but  he 
will  not.  Had  I  his  youth,  I  would  not  hesitate,  even 

354 


THE  THRONE  OF  GREECE 

with  the  earldom  of  Derby  in  the  distance.  ...  It  is    1863. 
a  dazzling  adventure  for  the  house  of  Stanley,  but  &T.  60. 
they  are  not  an  imaginative  race,  and  I  fancy  they  will 
prefer  Knowsley  to  the  Parthenon  and  Lancashire  to 
the  Attic  plains. 

Bulwer-Lytton  appears  to  have  had  the  same 
feelings.  However  much  his  imagination  might 
have  been  fired  at  an  earlier  date,  he,  too,  preferred 
Knebworth  to  Athens  !  Writing  to  his  son 
from  Nice,  he  says  : — 

Certes  if  I  were  to  accept  I  should  defy  '  the  Great 
Powers '  to  turn  me  out,  and  I  would,  if  I  lived  ten 
years,  make  Greece  a  very  important  State.  But  it 
would  require  trouble,  and  perhaps  money,  to  organise 
and  concentrate  the  parties  and  the  machinery  of  the 
election,  and  seems  to  promise  a  thorny  and  laborious 
exile  among  strange  tongues,  even  if  successful.  There- 
fore, I  have  thrown  iced  water  on  the  propositions  that 
have  been  secretly  conveyed  to  me.  .  .  .  For  my  part, 
the  thing  seems  far  from  alluring.  A  country  without 
roads,  without  revenues,  over  head  and  ears  in  debt, 
an  unhealthy  capital  subject  to  fevers,  a  language  one 
could  never  learn  to  speak,  a  horrible  travesty  of  a 
European  free  constitution  ;  with  subjects  profoundly 
orientalised,  corruption  universal — all  this  looks  dismal 
beside  the  calm  Academe  of  Knebworth. 

In  the  same  letter  he  speaks  of  the  arrival  in 
England  for  her  marriage  with  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  of  Princess  Alexandra  of  Denmark  : — 

The  Princess  seems  to  have  bewitched  the  English 
world.  Our  Speaker,  writing  to  me  the  other  day, 
says  that  there  was  not  a  man  in  that  London  crowd 

355 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1864.    who  would  not  have  gone  through  fire  and  water  to 
JE.T.  61.  serve  her. 

After  the  lapse  of  fifty  years,  the  same 
thing  might  be  said  with  equal  truth  to-day  of 
the  lovely  and  lovable  Queen  who  has  never 
lost  the  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  British  people 
which  she  won  on  the  very  day  of  her  arrival. 

With  the  return  of  health,  and  after  a  long 
spell  of  literary  work,  Bulwer-Lytton's  interest 
in  politics  began  to  revive,  but  at  the  beginning 
of  1864  he  received  a  painful  reminder  of  the 
perpetual  check  imposed  upon  his  ambitions  in 
this  direction.  Writing  to  his  son  on  January 
20,  1864,  he  says  : — 

This  morning  I  received  a  letter  from  Disraeli,  which 
conveyed  the  thunderbolt  that  L[ady]  L[ytton]  has 
resumed  attacks — written,  he  says,  to  my  colleagues  and 
friends,  making  horrible  and  nameless  accusations.  I 
can  conceive  how  annoying  and  humiliating  these  letters 
would  be,  especially  if  to  Derby  and  others  of  that  class, 
as  I  suspect  from  Dis's  letter.  This  horrible  calamity 
weighs  on  me,  but  I  know  not  what  to  do.  Of  course, 
it  will  prevent  office.  I  cannot  go  through  such  public 
scandals  again  as  an  official  character.  I  have  heard 
nothing  from  her  myself,  nor  of  her,  except  accidentally 
from  a  person  living  at  Taunton,  that  she  had  been  out 
to  a  concert  and  seemed  well.  I  know  not  what  to 
do.  But  the  thing  effectively  damps  the  ardour  I  was 
beginning  to  have  for  politics.1 

1  "  It  is  said  that  politics  are  a  jealous  mistress — that  they  require  the 
whole  man.  The  saying  is  not  invariably  true  in  the  application  it  com- 
monly receives — that  is,  a  politician  may  have  some  other  employment  of 
intellect,  which  rather  enlarges  his  powers  than  distracts  their  political  uses. 
Successful  politicians  have  united  with  great  parliamentary  toil  and  triumph 

356 


THE  DANISH  QUESTION 

The  reopening   of  this  wound  produced    its'    1864. 
usual  effect,  and  his  letters  for  the  remainder  of  ^ET.  61. 
this  year  complain   of  ill-health  and  great   de- 
pression   of  spirits.     He    was   chiefly    occupied 
with  correcting  a  collected  edition  of  his  poems, 
and  working  at  the  novel  of  Pausanias  and  the 
comedy  of  Walpole.     The   winter  was  spent  at 
Hastings,  Bath,  and  finally  at  Torquay,  which 
latter  place  became  his  usual  winter  quarters  for 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

In  1864  public  opinion  in  England  was  much 
exercised  about  the  quarrel  between  Denmark 
and  Germany  concerning  the  Schleswig  and 
Holstein  Duchies,  and  a  long  correspondence  on 
the  subject  took  place  between  Bulwer-Lytton 
and  his  son.  The  latter,  who  was  then  at  Copen- 
hagen, naturally  sided  very  strongly  with  the 
Danes,  and  held  that  after  the  encouragement 
given  to  Denmark  by  the  British  Government, 
Great  Britain  was  in  honour  bound  to  support 
that  country  in  her  quarrel.  Bulwer-Lytton,  on 
the  other  hand,  held  that  to  go  to  war  with 
Germany  for  the  retention  by  Denmark  of  two 
Duchies,  the  population  of  which  was  largely 
German,  was  an  impossible  policy  for  England. 

"  My  opinions,"  he  said,  "  no  doubt  seem  to  you 
very  moderate  and  milk  and  water.  But  yours  seem 

legal  occupations  or  literary  or  learned  studies.  But  politics  do  require 
that  the  heart  should  be  free,  and  at  peace  from  all  more  absorbing  anxieties 
— from  the  gnawing  of  a  memory  or  a  care,  which  dulls  ambition  and 
paralyses  energy.  In  this  sense  politics  do  require  the  whol$  man.  If  I 
returned  to  politics  now,  I  should  fail  to  them,  and  they  to  me." 

IV hat  will  he  do  with  it  ? 

357 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1864.  to  me  much  more  fiery  than  justice  warrants  or  policy 
.  6 1.  justifies — if  it  mean  our  fighting  Germany  with  the 
handful  of  men  we  have,  and  in  support  of  a  cause 
beset  with  doubts  from  the  first,  and  aggravated  by 
the  gallant  but  stolid  obstinacy  of  Denmark.  .  .  .  All 
the  difficulties  that  have  occurred  were  visible  from 
1860,  and  commenced  with  the  Schleswig  Petition. 
And  I  think  our  wise  course  would  have  been  to  have 
interfered  only  to  the  same  extent  as  other  Non- 
German  parties  to  the  Treaty.  Or,  if  we  resolved  to 
interfere,  then  in  a  wholly  opposite  direction,  viz.: — 
instead  of  rigidly  enforcing  upon  both  parties  a  Treaty 
which  it  was  clear  was  pregnant  with  war,  and  intoler- 
able to  both,  to  have  summoned  a  conference  to  consider 
how  the  Treaty  should  be  modified.  As  it  is  now,  I 
believe  if  all  Europe  made  Denmark  a  battlefield,  it 
would  come  to  the  same  result  at  the  end,  viz.: — that 
what  is  German  should  be  German  ;  what  is  Scandina- 
vian, Scandinavian.  I  see  no  other  solution,  and  all 
others  are  but  patchworks  of  rotten  tissues.  The  error 
of  1852  was  the  forgetfulness  of  the  first  rule  in  the 
grammar  of  politics — the  interests  and  wishes  of  the 
people  governed  —  in  this  case  Holstein  and  south 
Schleswig.  And  that  error  must  be  corrected,  or  the 
whole  construction  will  be  unsound  and  perilous." 

Of  his  own  health  and  occupations  he  writes 
on  April  24,  1864  : — 

I  continue  very  unwell,  but  I  believe  there  is  no 
doubt  that  I  am  mending,  but  slowly — so  slowly  !  My 
cough  hampers  me  terribly,  at  night  in  especial,  and  I 
am  quite  incapable  of  the  least  exertion,  beyond  taking 
a  drive  for  an  hour  or  two,  which  I  do  daily  and  get 
out  of  the  carriage  when  I  find  a  warm  place  in  a 
suburb  and  walk  for  a  few  minutes.  Still,  I  am 

358 


SON'S  MARRIAGE 

certainly  not  so  weak  as  I  was,  and  that  is  the  best    1864. 
sign  ;  I  think,  D.V.,  I  may  be  really  convalescent  in  ^ET-  5, 
about  a  fortnight.     But  I  doubt  if  I  shall  be  up  to 
Parliament  all  the  session,  or  make  any  ostentatious 
use  of  my  big    house.     No  doubt  this   has   been    a 
stroke,   and  impresses  on  me  the  necessity  of  study- 
ing climate    during    the   winter    and    spring  in    future 
years. 

In  the  summer  of  1864,  his  son,  whilst  on  a 
visit  to  England  after  leaving  Copenhagen  and 
before  taking  up  a  new  diplomatic  post  at  Athens, 
became  engaged  to  Miss  Edith  Villiers  and  was 
married  to  her  on  October  4.  This  marriage 
was  for  various  reasons  distasteful  to  Bulwer- 
Lytton.  As  a  niece  of  Lord  Clarendon,  Miss 
Villiers  belonged  to  a  family  not  only  opposed 
to  him  in  politics,  but  with  a  powerful  political 
influence  in  the  county  for  which  he  was  a 
member.  From  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  also, 
the  marriage  was  a  disappointment  to  him. 
Knowing  how  great  was  the  financial  drain  of 
his  Knebworth  estate,  Bulwer-Lytton  had  hoped 
that  his  son's  marriage  might  bring  enough  money 
into  the  family  to  render  its  upkeep  an  easier 
task,  and  he  found  it  hard  to  reconcile  himself 
to  the  failure  of  these  expectations.  Once  the 
matter  was  settled,  however,  and  he  came  to  have 
a  personal  acquaintance  with  his  daughter-in-law, 
he  found  her  charm  irresistible,  and  before  the 
end  of  his  life  came  to  feel  for  her  a  deep 
affection. 

In  a  letter  to  his  son  written  towards  the  end 

359 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1865.    of  the  year  following  his  marriage,  he  explained 
T.  62.  the  reasons  for  his  feelings  at  the  time  : — 


I  simply  said  that  the  ancient  house  or  estate 
required  money,  that  ever  since  I  have  had  it  I  have 
sacrificed  many  enjoyments  to  myself  which  money 
would  have  given,  if  not  spent  on  the  place,  as  I  spent 
it.  And  all  I  said  with  regard  to  yourself  was  not  in 
reproach,  but  in  explanation  why  I  could  not  feel  so 
much  satisfaction  in  your  marriage  as  you  seemed  to 
think  I  ought  to  have  done.  .  .  .  Estates  need  money 
and  Knebworth  consumes  all  I  ever  get  from  it  and  more. 
For  the  rest,  I  do  make  every  allowance  for  differing 
circumstances,  differing  associations  and  differing  duties. 
All  I  say  is,  without  reproaching  you,  I  do  not  think  it 
fair  to  reproach  me  for  want  of  sympathy  in  a  marriage 
which  annihilated  views  of  my  own,  at  a  time  when  I 
did  not  even  know  your  wife. 

Let  us  dismiss  the  rest  of  this  argument,  it  ends  in 
reality  when  you  say  you  are  quite  contented  with  your 
marriage  and  that  is  all  I  ever  desire.  I  can  but  be 
delighted  that  your  reason  approves  a  very  hasty 
marriage,  or  at  least  a  very  hasty  engagement,  when 
you  had  none  of  the  time  to  study  character,  &c.  .  .  . 
Sometimes,  tho'  rarely,  Providence,  in  mercy  rather  than 
in  punishment,  directs  a  man's  choice,  whatever  the 
previous  circumstances  were,  so  as  to  make  him  happy. 
And  it  appears  that  Providence  has  been  kind  in  your 
case.  Antecedent  circumstances  go  for  nothing.  In 
love  there  is  no  wherefore.  .  .  . 

On  February  10,  1865,  Bulwer-Lytton  wrote 
in  a  letter  to  his  son  : — 

I  am  in  town,  but  doubt  if  I  shall  stay.  Nothing 
to  do  in  Parlt.,  only  I  don't  know  where  to  go. 

360 


"  LOST  TALES  OF  MILETUS  " 

Torquay  is  the  best  place,  but  it  is  so  far  and  I  hate  1865. 
railways.  Weather  here  raw  and  dull,  not  very  cold.  ^T.  62. 
My  poems  are  on  the  whole  receiving  more  attention 
and  a  little  more  praise  than  I  expected.  I  am  glad  I 
collected  them.  Yours,  I  suppose,  will  be  soon  out. 
I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are  doing  justice  to  Byron.  He 
is  certainly  an  extraordinary  born  poet,  but  the  odd 
thing  about  him  is  that  instead  of  acquiring  art  as  he 
got  older,  he  continued  to  lose  the  little  he  ever  had. 
...  I  have  been  going  through  Horace  with  increased 
delight.  He  is  the  model  for  popular  lyrics,  and 
certainly  the  greatest  lyrist  extant.  I  fancy  Alcasus 
had  more  genius,  but  we  have  nothing  of  him  but 
scraps  and  tradition.  He  must  have  been  a  sort  of 
Byron,  I  should  think.  .  .  .  Pam  is  in  full  vigour  and 
means  to  settle  the  newspaper  controversy  as  to  whether 
people  really  live  to  a  hundred.  He  will  be  Prime 
Minister  when  your  intended  Neogilus l  is  21,  and  you 
are  in  the  vale  of  years  with  a  white  beard.  Apropos, 
I  am  letting  my  beard  grow,  which  I  find  very  comfort- 
able, and  it  sprang  up  quite  dark  and  not  at  all  grey — 
to  signify.  Derby's  Homer  has  had  immense  success 
and  sale.  In  fact,  the  book  of  the  season. 

After  the  close  of  the  Parliamentary  session  of 
1865,  he  went  to  Mont  Dore  in  Auvergne,  and 
there  began  another  volume  of  Poetry — The  Lost 
Tales  of  Miletus.  This  book  was  finished  by  the 
end  of  the  year,  and  was  published  by  Murray  at 
the  beginning  of  1866.  He  writes  to  his  son  on 
September  21,  1865  : — 

I   have   been   scribbling    and   may    send    you   some 

1  Mrs.  Robert  Lytton  was  then  in  England,  expecting  her  first  confine- 
ment. 

361 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1865.    proofs  for  your  criticism.     There  is  none  that  I  should 
.  62.  value  more  highly. 

The  proofs  were  sent  on  October  17,  and  in 
the  letter  accompanying  them,  he  says  : — 

You  will  see,  I  think,  that  there  is  merit  in  construc- 
tion and  dramatic  treatment,  but  I  daresay  the  diction  is 
flat  and  prosaic.  ..."  The  Wife  of  Miletus  "  I  suspect 
to  have  been  a  genuine  Milesian  story  ;  if  so,  it  is  curious 
as  giving  us  in  more  human  proportion  the  she-fiends 
of  Greek  drama.  I  think  I  have  made  much  of  the 
materials  in  creating  the  characters  of  the  Gaul  and 
Erippe,  and  placing  between  them  the  careless  civilisation 
of  Xanthus,  who  seems  very  generous  and  really  is  so  ; 
and  yet  Erippe's  accusation  against  him  of  sensual  selfish- 
ness is  not  untrue.  .  .  .  While  I  am  writing,  the  report 
is  that  poor  Palmerston  is  dying  at  Brocket,  not  ex- 
pected to  live  many  hours. 

The  next  day  he  writes  : — 

I  have  felt  a  strange  shock  at  Pam's  death,  expected 
as  it  has  been  for  days.  Something  has  gone  out  of  the 
world  that  one  had  looked  upon  as  part  and  parcel  of  it. 

The  following  letters  throw  some  light  on  the 
subject  of  The  Lost  Tales  of  Miletus  : — 


To  Ms  Son. 


December  26,  1865. 


I  am  glad  you  prefer  "  Sisyphus  " — so  do  I.  But 
I  do  not  think  it  is  the  favourite  with  the  few  who 
have  seen  the  poems.  The  one  most  popular  seems 
"  The  Secret  Way,"  because,  perhaps,  of  the  fuller 
story  and  the  prettiness  of  the  original  legend  in  making 

362 


LETTERS  ON  « THE  LOST  TALES  " 

two  persons  fall  in  love  with  each  other,  as  seen  in  dreams.    1 865. 
But  it  is  more  melodramatic  than  most  of  the  others.  J&T.  62. 
"  The  Wife  of  Miletus  "  is  the  most  tragic,  and  with 
some  is  the  favourite.     I  suspect  this  to  be  a  genuine 
Milesian  tale.     But  the  characters  of  the  Gaul   and 
Erippe  are  mine.     "  Cydippe  "  is  entirely  rewritten  in  a 
different  metre. 

Your  observations  about  the  interest  of  short 
narrative  pieces  call  forth  my  idea  of  their  artistic 
treatment.  In  the  first  place,  I  think  they  resemble  a 
drama  in  this  — that  they  require  a  backbone,  namely  : 
— a  single  leading  idea  or  purpose,  which  should  not  be 
obscured  by  episodical  ornament.  This  is  best  secured 
where  one  does  not  invent  the  germ  of  the  story, 
because,  before  sitting  down  to  write,  the  original 
mainspring  of  the  story  being  followed,  has  become 
clear  and  forcible  to  one's  own  mind,  and  it  so  comes 
out,  almost  unconsciously,  in  transfusion. 

2ndly,  I  think  that  vigorous  treatment  requires 
terseness  and  a  pruning  of  superfluous  blossoms,  the 
study  of  compression. 

3rdly,  that  as  some  purely  poetic  passage  may  be 
required,  it  should  be  well  considered  what  it  should  be, 
and  the  poetry  then  thrown  pre-eminently  into  that 
passage,  so  that  it  stands  out  as  a  picture  from  the  frame. 

Now  in  these  two  last  named  peculiarities,  Horace's 
lyrics  seem  to  me  unrivalled  as  hints  for  narrative,  ist, 
observe  how  wonderfully  he  compresses  and  studies 
terseness,  as  if  afraid  to  bore  an  impatient,  idle  audience  ; 
2ndly,  when  he  selects  his  picture,  how  it  stands  out — 
Cleopatra's  flight,  the  speech  of  Regulus,  the  story  of 
Europa,  the  vision  of  Hades  in  the  ode  on  his  escape 
from  the  tree,  &c.  He  never  has  two  plots,  and  rarely 
two  pictures  in  his  lyrics. 

The  writer  most  resembling  him  in  these  respects, 
tho'  of  a  genus  so  opposite  as  to  be  almost  antagonistic, 

363 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1865.    is  Schiller — in  his  narrative   poems.     In    "  Fridolin," 

JE.T.  62.  how  he  emphasises  the  picture  of  the  forge.     In  the 

"  Diver,"  the  horror  of  the  depth  in  the  sea,  &c. 

Now  lastly,  as  to  character,  I  think  this  must  be 
studied  according  to  the  nature  of  the  interest  you 
desire  to  create.  A  character  may  be  very  slight,  very 
shadowy,  and  yet  no  elaboration  could  make  it  better 
for  the  peculiar  interest.  Take  Alp  in  the  "  Siege  of 
Corinth."  How  slightly  sketched  his  character,  how 
easy  to  sneer  at  it,  a  sort  of  dandy  renegade,  yet  for 
the  peculiar  interest  of  the  story  the  character  is  perfect. 
Shakespeare  could  not  have  improved  it  for  the  special 
purpose.  I  name  the  "  Siege  of  Corinth  "  because  to 
my  mind,  it  is  the  most  animated  by  real  narrative  in 
the  language.  And  the  one  great  picture  of  Alp's 
walk  by  moonlight  is  the  realisation  in  large  of  the 
Horatian  mode  of  dealing  with  episodical  ornament. 

If  I  may  presume,  after  speaking  of  such  great 
masters,  to  advert  to  my  own  treatment  of  character  in 
these  stories,  I  think  you  will  see  on  reflection  that  for 
at  least  some  of  the  stories  the  interest  would  have 
been  wholly  changed  to  disadvantage,  but  for  the 
characters  as  sketched.  Take  the  Gaul  in  the  "  Wife 
of  Miletus "  —  civilise  him  a  little  more,  and  his 
grandeur  would  become  brutal.  Take  the  lovers  in 
"  The  Secret  Way."  Let  Zariades,  instead  of  a  hardy 
conquering  emulator  of  Cyrus,  be  a  poetic  dreamer  ;  let 
Argiope  assume  some  attributes  that  detract  from  the 
insistance  on  her  shame-faced  modesty,  and  this  love 
between  the  two,  as  created  by  dreams,  would  certainly 
lose  in  depth  and  purity  of  conception. 

In  "  Cydippe,"  the  character  (here  I  am  speaking  of 
the  corrected  version,  which  you  have  not  seen)  rests 
much  on  the  father.  His  wish  that  his  son  should 
marry,  his  piety  and  submission  to  the  Gods  when  he 
believes  that  wish  to  be  rejected.  At  the  beginning 

364 


LETTERS  ON  "THE  LOST  TALES" 

you  wish  the  father  to  be  contented,  before  you  even  1865. 
know  anything  about  the  son's  love  affair,  yet  the  JET.  62. 
character  of  the  son,  as  essentially  cold,  and  averse  to 
love,  is  an  element  of  interest.  Cydippe's  readiness  to 
receive  any  lover  in  submission  to  her  father,  and 
growing  rebellious  when  she  does  love,  help  the  story, 
tho'  these  attributes  of  character  in  both  are  not 
interesting  in  themselves.  I  really  must  beg  pardon  in 
alluding  to  my  own  practice  and  in  poems  which  are 
very  likely  to  fall  still-born,  but  that  is  my  conviction 
of  the  way  character  should  be  adapted  to  short 
narratives. 

In  respect  to  metres,  I  can  say  nothing.     Mine  is 
an  experiment,  it  may  take  a  century  to  test.     But, 
putting  aside  rhyme,  as  having  nothing  to  do  with  the 
question,  I  think  if  you  fairly  examine,  you  will  see 
that  you  obtain  in  rhythmical  quatrain  a  compression 
and  terseness,  and  some  lyrical  quality  that  you  cannot 
obtain   with   heroic    blank    verse.     I    think,    speaking 
honestly,  that  for  the  perfect  success  of  these  innova- 
tions of  rhythm,  it  requires  a  more  perfect  master  of 
form  and  expression    than    I    am.       I    have    been   so 
accustomed  by  prose  fiction  to  consider  large  effects, 
that  like  an  infinitely  greater  master  of  fiction,  Scott, 
I   have  dulled  myself  to  the  requirements  of  verbal 
form,  and  I  do  not  sufficiently  care  for  the  delicacies 
of  musical  cadence.     But  I  think  that  the  addition  of 
rhymeless  quatrain  (the  Horatian  strophe)  to  our  modes 
of  versification,  will,  for  certain  kinds  of  narrative,  and 
especially    lyrical    narrative,    and    even    lyrical    poetry 
itself,  be  found,  some  day  or  other,  to  contain  a  vein 
of  poetry  in  new  directions,  prompting  new  modes  of 
treatment,  and  quite  in  harmony  with  the  genius  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon   language.      Imagine  what  Milton  could 
have  done  with  such  forms  at  the  age   in   which  he 
wrote  the  Comus  ! 

365 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1866.  But  I  certainly  do  not  ask  that  rhyme  should 
JE.T.  63.  be  abandoned,  nor  do  I  say  that  for  most  things 
rhyme  may  not  be  better.  I  don't  remember  Shelley's 
rhymed  translation  of  the  (so-called)  Homeric  Hymns. 
But  before  I  could  decide  whether  for  verses  from  the 
Greek,  I  should  not  prefer  rhymeless  metre,  I  should 
like  to  have  seen  Shelley  undertake  translations  without 
rhyme. 

Finally,  I  will  say  one  thing.  I  think  it  would  be 
a  great  step  gained  by  a  really  great  poet  meditating 
to  "  be  the  first  that  ever  burst  into  a  silent  sea,"  to 
invent  some  form  of  metre  not  so  used  up  as  our  blank 
verse,  and  imposing  more  difficulties  of  treatment.  For 
the  Drama,  heroic  blank  verse  is  perfect  (except  for 
comedy).  But  for  epic,  narrative  and  didactic,  it  has 
great  defects,  the  chief  of  which  is  that  it  courts  to 
tediousness  and  dilution.  Even  Milton's  Paradise  Lost 
is  infinitely  too  lengthy — compare  it  in  that  respect 
with  the  stern  terseness  of  Dante's  Strophe.  Strophe 
necessitates  a  certain  brevity.  Take  "Alastor"  (beauti- 
ful specimen  of  blank  verse)  but  it  is  dull — because  the 
facility  of  the  metre  is  too  indulgent  to  the  exuberance 
of  the  poet.  It  is  a  great  thing  to  impose  difficulties 
on  oneself,  and  I  believe  this  to  be  one  of  the  merits 
of  rhyme. 

But  I  am  certainly  not  setting  an  example  of  com- 
pression now,  so  I  hasten  to  the  end. — Affectly.  yrs., 

E.  B.  L. 

To  the  same. 

Feb.  i  ^th,  1866. 

Many  thanks  for  your  letter  and  flattering  opinions 
of  the  Lost  Tales. 

Despite  a  singularly  unfair  and  carping  article 
in  The  Saturday  Review,  I  think  they  are  making 

366 


LETTERS  ON  "  THE  LOST  TALES  " 

way  and  are,  at  all  events,  generally  favoured  by  the    1866. 
critics.  ^T.  63. 

What  you  say  about  love  as  not  being  an  effective 
dramatic  element,  is  perfectly  true,  and  I  have  often 
said  it  myself — that  is  love  pur  et  simple — and  yet 
love  as  a  mixed  ingredient  is  almost  an  essential 
element  of  Drama.  Generally  speaking,  it  necessitates 
opposing  struggle.  Love  versus  duty,  versus  pride, 
versus  fate,  &c.  Then  it  becomes  effective. 

I  agree  with  you  that  love  between  husband  and 
wife  is  more  effective  than  between  lovers.  But  that 
is  from  various  reasons,  scarcely  perceptible  to  an 
audience  or  even  a  reader.  One  reason  is  the  fixed 
and  permanent  nature  of  the  tie,  and  the  terrible 
consequences  of  rupture  there  as  compared  in  real  life 
with  the  rupture  between  a  youth  and  a  maid.  Romeo 
forgets  Rosalind  when  he  sees  Juliet.  He  might  forget 
Juliet  also,  if  he  did  not  marry  her.  There  would  be 
little  interest  in  the  quarrel  between  man  and  wife,  if 
man  had  fifty  wives.  It  is  our  domestic  associations  that 
give  this  dramatic  interest  to  married  folks.  But  tho' 
love  as  between  two  lovers  pur  et  simple  is  not  very 
serviceable  on  the  stage,  it  is  very  interesting  in  all 
narrative,  whether  prose  or  poetry.  Take  Lucy  and 
Ravenswood  (in  The  Bride  of  Lammermoor]  for  prose 
narrative  ;  and  what  would  be  Lara  if  you  took  away 
Kaled.  It  is  the  moving  passion  in  lyrics.  Lyrical 
poetry  as  between  husband  and  wife,  is,  to  my  mind, 
detestable.  Domestic  lyrical  poetry  in  praise  of  one's 
baby,  makes  one  sick,  yet  parental  and  filial  love  on 
the  stage  is  effective.  Therefore,  I  think  you  must 
amend  your  critical  errors  and  separate  altogether 
genuine  Drama,  that  is  Drama  for  the  stage,  from 
poetry  or  fiction  in  which  the  dramatic  element  is 
admitted.  In  the  former  love  pur  et  simple  not  being 
a  first-rate  agency  of  interest,  but  in  the  latter  it  is. 

367 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1866.  When  Lord  Derby  formed  his  third  Admini- 
T.  63.  stration  in  the  summer  of  1866,  after  the  defeat 
of  the  Liberal  Reform  Bill,  he  offered  a  peerage 
to  Bulwer-Lytton,  who  gratefully  accepted  it. 
This  honour  had  been  the  summit  of  his  ambition 
from  the  earliest  days,  and  with  the  attainment 
of  it,  the  strenuous  period  of  his  life  comes  to  an 
end.  Not  only  did  he  welcome  the  distinction 
as  a  recognition  of  his  own  achievements  in 
literature  and  politics,  but  he  valued  it  especially 
as  an  honour  to  the  family  of  which  he  was  ever 
proud.  It  was  to  him  a  tribute  which  he  could 
dedicate  to  the  memory  of  his  mother  and  leave 
as  a  legacy  to  his  son. 

To  the  latter  he  writes  : — 

July  31,  1866. 

MY  DEAREST  SON — All  the  letters  of  congratulation 
I  have  received  put  together  do  not  give  me  the  delight 
which  I  derive  from  your  letter1  of  July  2Oth,  just 
come  to  hand  and  heart. 

With  that  marvellous  gift  of  sympathy  which  belongs 
to  you,  and  in  which  lies  the  secret  at  once  of  your 
personal  popularity  and  your  intellectual  compre- 
hensiveness, you  have  touched  the  key  of  every 
sentiment  far  remote  from  individual  vanity  which 
endears  to  me  an  hereditary  honour.  On  one  of  these 
sentiments  alone  you  have  been  modestly  reserved — you 
comprehend  fully  my  satisfaction  at  feeling  as  if  I  were 
paying  a  debt  to  those  who  have  gone  before  me.  Add 
largely  to  that  satisfaction  the  joy  of  a  father  proud 
of  his  son,  and  knowing  into  what  worthy  hands  the 

1  This  letter  is  published  in  The  Personal  and  Literary  Letters  of  Robert, 
First  Earl  of  Lytton,  1906,  vol.  i.  p.  211. 

368 


PEERAGE 

representation  of  all  honours  he  may  acquire,  will  pass    1866. 
in  the  course  of  Nature.  &T.  63. 

Do  you  remember  in  the  earliest  years  of  my 
coming  into  the  possession  I  owe  to  my  mother's  love, 
you,  then  a  schoolboy,  and  I,  then  woefully  crippled 
by  the  unexpected  discovery  that  I  was  poorer  with 
Knebworth,  if  it  were  kept  up,  than  I  had  been  without 
it,  and  then,  not  only  out  of  Parliament,  but  not  seeing 
my  way  back  into  it  ?  Do  you  remember  the  evening 
when  you  and  I  were  riding  together,  and  I  said  : — 
"  We  must  have  the  Peerage.  I  can  but  be  a  Baron 
— higher  grades  I  leave  to  you  "  ? 

I  remember  it  all  as  if  it  were  yesterday.  When 
the  thing  was  done  and  in  the  Gazette  you  have  read, 
certainly  my  first  thought  was  of  my  poor  mother, 
and  I  said  as  if  she  were  living  still  on  this  earth,  or 
wherever  she  be,  caring  for  such  matters  : — "  How  it 
will  please  her."  My  second  thought  passed  quick 
as  lightning  to  you,  and  among  the  somewhat  more 
complicated  sentiments  therein  mingled,  was  this  : — 
"  It  will  please  him  to  think  he  gives  to  the  woman 
who  chose  him  out  of  mankind  the  station  that  all 
women  value — the  station  for  which  women  sell  them- 
selves, even  noble-hearted  women."  Nothing  we  men 
care  for  more  than  to  give  a  something  or  other  to  the 
woman  we  love. 

Now,  as  to  this  thing  itself,  practically  speaking — it 
is  a  strange  mixture  of  feeling.  In  large,  political  life, 
apart  from  that  family  or  individual  sentiment  which 
you  and  I  understand — it  is  a  fall.  One  ceases  to  be 
a  power.  One  is  shelved.  A  member  for  the  smallest 
boro'  who  has  the  ear  of  the  House  of  Commons  has 
more  influence  with  the  public  than  the  richest  peer. 
Again,  I  know  of  no  instance  in  which  a  man  passing 
from  the  Commons  to  the  Lords  without  office  at  the 
time  has  ever  done  anything  in  the  Lords.  Why,  I  know 
VOL.  ii  369  2  B 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1866.  not  yet,  but  so  it  is.  I  have  taken  my  seat  and  only 
ET.  63.  been  once  in  the  House  of  Lords.  I  left  it  in  dismay — 
on  only  one  point,  but  that  point  awful — the  conscious- 
ness of  deafness.  I  never  was  in  a  public  room  in 
which  hearing  was  so  difficult.  I  sat  next  a  man  who 
seemed  trying  his  best  to  hear  Derby,  whose  voice  is 
the  most  audible,  and  I  said  to  him — "  Do  you  hear  ? " 
"  Only  a  word  or  two  here  and  there,"  was  the 
encouraging  answer.  It  is  time  that  I  was  on  a  modest 
back  bench.  I  see  but  one  place  where  I  could  hear 
(not  being  in  the  Ministerial  front  row)  and  that  is  the 
Cross  Bench.  But  the  dons  of  routine  say  that  to  sit 
there  would  be  to  proclaim  some  hostility  to  the  Govt. 
— my  independent  neutrality.  Still,  to  that  Cross 
Bench  I  must  converge,  or  I  must  relinquish  all  idea 
of  "  further  progress."  At  present  my  belief  is  that 
I  must  make  an  immense  struggle  to  conquer  deafness, 
and  I  think  of  going  to  Paris  to  consult  a  doctor  there. 

Sir  Henry  is  in  England,  thin  as  a  spectre.  But  so 
redundant  of  life,  energy  and  restless  ambition,  that  he 
is  the  finest  incarnation  of  youth  I  have  seen  since  I 
left  school.  Write  to  him  as  often  as  you  can.  He 
complains  of  your  silence.  I  can't  give  you  his  address, 
for  he  is  ever  on  the  wing,  but  you  can  enclose  to  me. 

My  own  plans  are  to  stay  here  thro'  August,  then 
go  to  Paris  to  consult  the  aurist,  and  be  guided  by  the 
result  as  to  staying  there.  But  to  winter  at  Nice. 

Love  to  Edith  and  respects  to  Neogilus.1 — Yrs. 
most  afF. 

L. 

At  the  time  when  he  accepted  the  peerage, 
Bulwer-Lytton  hoped  that  with  a  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment secured  to  him  without  the  expense  and 
trouble  of  a  contested  election,  he  would  be 

1  Edward  Rowland  John,  born  September  19,  1865. 
37° 


CLOSE  OF  POLITICAL  CAREER 

able  to  render  valuable  service  to  his  party  by  '866. 
occasional  speeches  in  the  House  of  Lords  ;  and  ^T-  63- 
with  the  object  of  rendering  himself  more 
competent  for  such  a  task,  he  consulted  a  cele- 
brated aurist  in  Paris  about  his  deafness.  This 
man — a  Dr.  Turnbull — seems  to  have  helped 
him  considerably,  for  he  writes  from  Paris  in 
December  1866:  "I  have  been  trying  an  aurist 
and  my  hearing  has  been  much  improved  "  ;  and 
in  March  of  the  following  year  he  speaks  of  the 
infirmity  as  having  "  tolerably  ceased." 

Whether  it  was  that  this  improvement  in 
his  hearing  was  only  temporary,  and  that  his 
deafness  proved  an  insuperable  difficulty,  or 
whether  he  failed  to  overcome  the  nervousness 
occasioned  by  the  chilling  atmosphere  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  Lord  Lytton  never  spoke  in 
that  assembly.  He  prepared  speeches  on  several 
occasions  during  the  last  years  of  his  life,  but 
none  of  them  were  ever  delivered,  and  his  active 
political  career  was  closed  in  1866. 

For  nearly  forty  years  his  life  had  been  one 
of  incessant  labour  and  strenuous  mental  activity. 
It  had  been  spent  in  an  atmosphere  of  conflict  and 
struggle.  He  had  been  assailed  throughout  by 
hostile  criticism,  both  literary  and  political  ;  he 
had  been  laughed  at  for  his  affectations,  attacked 
for  changing  his  politics,  and,  in  short,  had  met 
with  even  more  than  his  share  of  the  mis- 
representation common  to  all  public  men.  In 
spite  of  opposition,  however,  and  the  handicap 
of  constant  ill-health,  he  had  worked  on  with 


PEERAGE  AND  RETIREMENT 

1866.  courage  and  persistency  to  the  goal  of  his 
T.  63.  ambition.  The  comparative  repose  of  his  later 
years  had  been  fully  earned.  His  literary  work 
was  only  interrupted  by  death,  but  from  this 
moment  his  life  ran  on  calmly  and  peacefully  to 
the  end. 


372 


BOOK  VI 

LITERARY  AND   PERSONAL 
LAST  YEARS 

1867-1873 

If  I  have  borne  much,  and  my  spirit  has  worked  out  its  earthly  end 
in  travail  and  in  tears,  yet  I  would  not  forego  the  lessons  which  my 
life  has  bequeathed  me,  even  though  they  be  deeply  blended  with  sad- 
ness and  regret.  No  !  were  I  asked  what  best  dignifies  the  present, 
and  consecrates  the  past  ;  what  enables  us  alone  to  draw  a  just  moral 
from  the  tale  of  life  ;  what  sheds  the  purest  light  upon  our  reason  ; 
what  gives  the  firmest  strength  to  our  religion  ;  and  whether  our 
remaining  years  pass  in  seclusion  or  in  action,  is  best  fitted  to  soften 
the  heart  to  man  and  elevate  the  soul  to  God,  I  would  answer  with 
Lassus— it  is  EXPERIENCE.  Devereux. 


373 


CHAPTER  I 

FATHER  AND  SON 
1836-1865 

'Tis  human  nature  and  sacred  ties — one's  own  flesh  and  blood,  and 
besides  one  hand  rubs  the  other,  one  leg  helps  on  the  other,  and  relations 
get  on  best  in  this  world  when  they  pull  together  ;  that  is,  supposing  that 
they  are  the  proper  sort  of  relations,  and  pull  one  on,  not  down. 

My  Novel. 

HAVING  arrived  at  the  last  stage  in  Lord 
Lytton's  life,  I  feel  that  this  is  a  convenient  place 
to  interrupt  the  chronological  narrative  for  the 
purpose  of  dealing  in  greater  detail  with  one  or 
two  aspects  of  his  life  and  character  which  are 
of  sufficient  importance  to  occupy  a  chapter  to 
themselves.  The  first  of  these  concerns  his 
relations  with  his  son. 

From  the  correspondence  contained  in 
previous  chapters,  the  reader  will  have  been 
able  to  form  a  general  idea  of  Lord  Lytton's 
character,  and  to  estimate  both  its  strength  and 
its  weakness  in  his  capacity  as  son,  husband, 
writer,  and  statesman.  It  is  the  object  of 
this  chapter  to  complete  the  picture  by 
giving  additional  evidence  of  his  personality  as 
a  father. 

375 


FATHER  AND  SON 

While  his  children  were  still  young,  Lord 
Lytton  had  no  part  in  their  home  life  ;  he  was 
little  with  them,  and  beyond  an  occasional 
holiday  visit  he  does  not  appear  to  have  con- 
tributed much  to  their  happiness  or  to  have  de- 
rived much  happiness  himself  from  intercourse 
with  them.  He  wrote  them  most  affectionate 
letters  and  took  an  interest  in  their  studies  and 
characters,  but  he  did  not  possess  the  qualities 
which  arouse  affection  in  very  young  children. 
His  separation  from  his  wife  as  well  as  his  own 
occupations  prevented  him  from  giving  them 
the  advantages  of  a  happy  home  or  of  intimate 
family  life,  and  it  was  not  till  well  past  middle 
life  that  he  began  to  know  the  luxury  of 
an  intellectual  companionship  with  his  son 
fuller,  more  intimate  and  more  affectionate  than 
any  which  he  had  enjoyed  with  his  own 
contemporaries. 

Lord  Lytton's  life  was  on  the  whole  a 
singularly  lonely  one.  Neither  in  literature  nor 
in  politics  did  he  belong  to  any  intimate  set. 
He  went  little  into  society  and  he  never  stayed 
for  many  months  in  the  same  place.  During 
the  parliamentary  season  he  was  usually  in 
London  ;  at  the  end  of  the  summer  he  always 
went  to  some  health  resort,  generally  on  the 
Continent,  to  recover  from  the  fatigues  of  the 
London  life  which  was  most  distasteful  to  him, 
and  the  winter  months  were  spent  either  in  the 
south  of  England  or  the  south  of  France.  He 
had  great  affection  for  his  Knebworth  home,  and 

376 


A  LONELY  LIFE 

spent  several  months  there  at  intervals  in  each 
year,  but  the  large  empty  house  only  increased 
his  sense  of  loneliness,  and  after  entertaining  a 
few  friends  there,  he  was  soon  off  again  to  some 
other  residence.  His  chief  literary  friend  was 
John  Forster,  and  his  chief  political  friend 
Disraeli,  but  his  intimacy  with  both  these  men 
was  on  an  intellectual  rather  than  a  personal 
basis.  In  his  whole  correspondence  the  only 
letters  which  are  of  a  really  intimate  personal 
character  are  those  which  passed  between 
himself  and  his  son.  Yet  even  this  intimacy 
took  many  years  to  establish,  it  was  chequered 
by  many  misunderstandings,  disagreements,  and 
causes  of  friction,  and  that  it  became  firmly 
established  at  last  upon  a  basis  of  mutual 
love  and  admiration  was  largely  due  to  the 
exceptional  degree  in  which  the  son  possessed 
those  qualities  of  tenderness  and  sympathy 
which  were  lacking  in  the  father. 

If  Emily  Lytton's  life  had  been  spared  ;  if  she 
had  outlived  the  sorrows  of  her  girlhood,  and 
learned  to  know  her  father  through  the  medium 
of  common  intellectual  interests,  and  the  mutual 
knowledge  of  each  other's  experiences  ;  had  she 
made  a  happy  marriage  and  had  children  of  her 
own,  she  would  doubtless  have  established  with 
her  father  a  close  and  affectionate  companionship, 
precious  alike  to  him  and  to  her.  There  would 
then  have  existed  in  Lord  Lytton's  life  a 
softening  influence  to  counteract  the  hardening 
effect  of  his  own  experiences.  Her  early  death 

377 


FATHER  AND  SON 

deprived  him  of  the  last  chance  of  knowing  in 
his  own  home  the  affection  of  a  woman  who 
could  reign  there  by  right.  He  had  had  no 
sister,  his  wife  had  become  a  living  nightmare 
that  threatened  him  from  without,  his  daughter 
a  dead  memory  that  haunted  him  within. 

It  might  be  expected  that  after  his  daughter's 
death,  Lord  Lytton  would  have  been  drawn 
more  closely  to  his  surviving  child,  but  the  same 
qualities  which  prevented  him  from  understand- 
ing his  daughter  and  entering  into  her  thoughts 
and  feelings  also  prevented  him  for  many  years 
from  having  any  better  knowledge  of  his  son. 

In  all  the  early  difficulties  of  his  life  Robert 
Lytton  found  his  father  strangely  lacking  in 
sympathy  and  understanding.  At  the  time  of 
his  sister's  death  he  was  a  boy  of  sixteen  at 
Harrow.  Almost  immediately  afterwards  he 
was  taken  away  from  school  and  sent  to  a  private 
educational  establishment  at  Bonn.  Whilst  there, 
he  got  into  a  boyish  scrape  which  caused  him 
the  acutest  suffering.  Here  was  an  occasion 
when  a  father's  love  and  sympathy  and  advice 
would  have  been  of  inestimable  value  to  him  ; 
but  if  he  looked  for  it,  he  looked  in  vain.  The 
elder  Lytton  was  at  Nice  when  he  received  the 
news  of  his  son's  trouble,  and  far  from  well 
himself  at  the  time.  He  entirely  misjudged  the 
situation,  greatly  overestimating  the  gravity  of 
the  scrape,  and  greatly  underestimating  the 
mental  distress  of  his  son.  By  the  harsh  letters 
which  he  wrote  at  the  time,  he  showed  how 

378 


MISUNDERSTANDINGS 

completely  he  had  failed  to  understand  the 
character  of  the  boy,  and  it  was  only  through 
the  kindness  and  sympathy  of  two  older  friends 
— Chauncey  Townshend  and  John  Forster — and 
by  the  inherent  strength  and  beauty  of  his  own 
nature,  that  Robert  Lytton  was  able  to  survive 
without  any  moral  harm,  an  incident  trivial  in 
itself,  but  which  from  the  treatment  which  it 
received,  might  permanently  have  embittered 
his  character.  When  father  and  son  met  and 
talked  the  matter  over,  all  misunderstanding 
was  removed,  and  the  circumstance  is  only 
mentioned  here  to  show  through  what  vicissi- 
tudes the  story  of  this  relationship  had  to  pass 
before  it  reached  the  stage  of  perfect  under- 
standing and  deep  affection. 

The  next  cause  of  estrangement  between 
father  and  son  was  occasioned  by  the  painful 
circumstances  which  have  been  described  in  a 
previous  chapter. 

When  in  1858  Lady  Lytton's  violent  attacks 
upon  her  husband  led  to  her  temporary  detention 
in  a  private  home,  Robert  Lytton,  as  has  been 
already  mentioned,  came  to  the  assistance  of  both 
his  parents  in  a  most  generous  and  self-sacrificing 
manner.  For  several  months  he  attempted  the 
hopeless  task  of  mediating  between  his  father 
and  mother.  That  he  did  not  succeed  was  in  no 
way  due  to  any  fault  of  his  own.  In  the  circum- 
stances the  task  which  he  had  undertaken  was 
an  impossible  one,  but  his  difficulties  were  im- 
mensely increased,  and  his  failure  rendered  doubly 

379 


FATHER  AND  SON 

bitter,  by  the  extraordinary  letters  which  he  re- 
ceived from  his  father  at  that  time. 

These  letters  were  at  first  very  grateful  and 
encouraging,  but  later,  when  the  father  began  to 
fear  that  his  son  was  falling  under  his  mother's 
influence,  their  tone  became  hard  and  menacing. 
The  father  spoke  of  disowning  his  son  altogether, 
and  even  suggested  that  on  his  return  they 
might  meet  as  strangers  in  the  street.  Finally, 
when  the  son's  moment  of  bitterest  disappoint- 
ment and  despondency  arrived,  when  he  had 
to  acknowledge  the  failure  of  his  efforts,  and 
turned  his  back  on  his  mother  for  ever,  the  cup 
of  his  misery  was  filled  to  overflowing  by 
receiving  letters  from  his  father  upbraiding  him 
for  his  extravagance,  and  reproaching  him  for 
having  come  away  from  Luchon  and  left  his 
mother  behind.  Robert  Lytton,  although  he 
felt  "  stunned  and  stupified "  at  finding  himself 
thus  addressed  in  language  which  he  himself 
"  would  reluctantly  use  even  towards  a  dishonest 
menial,"  replied  in  a  spirit  of  gentle  and  patient 
remonstrance.  Never  were  the  beauty  and 
tenderness  of  his  character  more  conspicuous 
than  in  his  dealings  with  both  his  parents 
during  those  bitter  months  of  1858.  Some  of 
the  passages  in  his  father's  letters  must  have 
appeared  to  him  almost  as  insane  as  anything 
which  he  experienced  from  his  mother  ;  and  yet 
he  never  failed  to  express  in  reply  the  utmost 
patience,  gentleness,  respect,  and  affection,  and 
this  forbearance  was  richly  rewarded. 

380 


UNJUST  REPROACHES 

There  is  nothing  more  remarkable  in  the 
character  of  the  first  Lord  Lytton  than  his 
readiness  to  accept  apologies  and  explanations 
from  others,  and  on  receipt  of  them  to  retract 
any  harsh  or  unjust  expressions  which  he  had 
himself  employed.  To  his  wife,  to  his  children, 
to  his  friends,  he  repeatedly  exhibited  the  most 
astonishing  irritability,  and  sometimes  became 
positively  offensive,  but  on  receipt  of  a  soft 
answer,  a  satisfactory  explanation,  or  an  appeal 
to  his  heart,  he  immediately  melted  into  a  mood 
of  tender  contrition.  So  now.  His  unkind 
letters  to  his  son  in  1858  probably  surpassed 
in  the  error  of  their  judgment,  the  injustice 
of  their  reproaches,  and  the  harshness  of  their 
language  all  other  mistakes  in  his  human 
relationships.  Had  they  been  answered  in  the 
same  spirit,  a  life-long  estrangement  might  have 
ensued  between  two  men  who  were  capable 
of  giving  to  each  other  the  most  precious 
affection  of  their  lives.  Fortunately,  they  only 
served  to  reveal  to  the  father  the  depths  of 
his  son's  nature,  which,  when  so  revealed, 
were  generously  acknowledged.  Here,  for 
instance,  is  the  letter  which  closed  this  par- 
ticular incident : — 

My  own  darling  boy — my  noble,  tender-hearted, 
matchless  son — my  all  in  all — the  only  one  in  the 
world  left  to  me  to  love — God  in  his  great  mercy  bless 
and  strengthen  and  cheer  and  watch  over  you.  I  have 
just  received  your  kind  letter  after  the  long  one  I  wrote 
to  you  yesterday,  and  I  hasten  now  to  write  these  few 

381 


FATHER  AND  SON 

lines  to  say  that  if  there  be  a  word  in  mine  that  wounds 
and  pains,  know  that  there  are  tears  in  my  eyes  now 
that  should  wash  such  words  away  for  ever — tears  of 
unspeakable  gratitude,  confidence,  and  the  love  that 
must  sanctify.  Yes,  let  me  hope  that  Heaven  will  and 
does  sanctify  it.  Remember.,  things  and  events  so  vary 
that  letters  will  vary  too  ;  but  remember  also  that  if 
words  imply  soreness  and  pain  or  reproach  or  doubt, 
still  my  substantial  trust  in  you  after  the  letter  received 
to-day,  is  absolute  and  steadfast.  I  know  that  there 
are  in  you  watching  over  me,  watching  over  all,  as 
beautiful  a  heart  and  soul  and  intellect  as  the  Maker 
can  furnish  to  man.  1  know  your  enormous  difficulties, 
I  know  all  the  complications  of  duty  that  may  perplex 
you.  I  will  do  my  best  to  relieve  and  aid  you  in 
such  a  task. 

After  this  time,  though  there  were  disputes 
leading  to  some  coldness  over  the  question  of 
settlements  at  the  time  of  Robert  Lytton's 
abortive  engagement  to  a  Dutch  girl  in  1859, 
and  in  1864  at  the  time  of  his  marriage,  yet 
nothing  serious  occurred  again  to  disturb  the 
intimacy  of  their  relationship,  which  was 
strengthened  in  later  years  by  circumstances 
in  Robert  Lytton's  own  life.  His  marriage, 
which  was  at  first  a  disappointment  to  his  father, 
became,  through  the  tact  and  gentleness  of  his 
wife,  a  new  bond  of  sympathy.  To  this  was 
added  a  common  joy  in  the  birth  of  his  children, 
a  common  interest  in  watching  their  growth, 
and  lastly — most  potent  of  all — a  common  grief 
occasioned  by  the  early  death  of  his  eldest  boy 
in  1871.  In  that  grave  were  buried  the  hopes 

382 


COMPLETE  INTIMACY  ESTABLISHED 

and  aspirations  which  father  and  grandfather  had 
cherished  for  the  generation  that  was  to  succeed 
them  ;  but  buried  there,  too,  was  every  trace, 
every  memory  even,  of  the  shadows  which  had 
clouded  their  own  past. 

The  correspondence  which  passed  between 
these  two  men  ranged  over  the  widest  possible 
field.  As  they  were  much  separated  from  each 
other,  their  letters  are  numerous,  occupying 
many  volumes.  Every  subject  was  discussed 
between  them — literature,  politics,  religion,  as 
well  as  their  own  personal  interests.  Letters 
which  bear  on  particular  incidents  connected 
with  this  biography  have  been  quoted  in  other 
chapters.  The  following,  of  a  more  general  kind, 
have  been  selected  here  in  the  hope  that  they 
may  help  to  illustrate  further  the  character  and 
opinions  of  their  writer. 

The  first  two  letters  were  written  in  1853, 
when  Robert  Lytton  was  at  Florence  and 
enjoying  a  very  friendly  intercourse  with  the 
Robert  Brownings.  The  third  belongs  to  1856, 
and  is  in  answer  to  one  which  he  had  written 
to  his  father  expressing  dissatisfaction  with  his 
profession,  and  his  anxiety  to  leave  it. 

HARROGATE, 
Oct.  7/J,  1853. 

MY  DEAREST  SON — I  am  delighted  with  your  letter, 
most  of  all  with  its  warm  affection,  which  fills  me  with 
gratitude,  and  for  which  I  invoke  on  your  young  head 
a  father's  tenderest  blessing. 

383 


FATHER  AND  SON 

Next,  with  all  the  evidence  of  a  rich  mind  pushing 
itself  forth  in  true  directions,  your  intellect  seems  to 
have  taken  a  great  start  since  I  last  saw  you,  and  I 
should  guess  that  you  must  have  been  aided  therein  by 
close  intercourse  with  superior  and  original  minds — a 
little,  perhaps,  too  Utopian  and  struggling  against  the 
grand  calm  equilibrium  of  the  social  and  the  practical ; 
but  youth  should  go  through  that  phase  of  airier  idea, 
and  may  as  well  do  it  in  company  with  minds  not 
likely  to  leave  the  balloon  in  the  mud.  Perhaps  the 
Brownings  may  have  contributed  to  this.  However, 
whether  wrought  out  alone,  or  whether  some  other 
man's  heifer  be  occasionally  yoked  to  the  plough,  the 
seeds  spring  strong  from  furrows  made  far  below  the 
surface. 

I  quite  think  with  you  that  publish  your  poems  you 
must.1  The  vent  is  required,  only  keep  the  incognito 
strictly  till  we  agree  to  lift  the  bars  of  the  vizor.  But 
before  we  publish,  send  me  a  list  of  the  poems  selected, 
of  your  principal  corrections,  the  title  of  the  book  and 
the  pseudonym  of  the  author.  I  should  avoid  anagrams, 
and  take  as  intelligible  a  type  for  the  poems,  and  as 
unaffected  tho'  impressionable  a  name  for  the  author,  as 
your  invention  dictates.  For  my  small  poems  lately 
collected,  I  took  the  title  of  "  Cornflowers,"  illustrated 
by  the  lines  : — 

The  cornflower  blossoms  when  the  sheaves  are  ripe  ; 
Song  is  the  twin  of  golden  Contemplation — 
The  harvest-flower  of  life, 

meaning,  of  course,  to  denote  that  those  poems  were 
the  later  growth  of  my  mind. 

So,  perhaps,  this  may  serve  you  as  a  hint  for  a 
metaphorical  title  for  your  verses,  conformably  to 
what  you  felt  to  be  their  spirit.  .  .  . 

1  Clytemnestra,  and  Other  Poems. 
384 


LITERARY  STUDIES 

As  to  what  you  say  about  study  to  be  original,  leave 
all  study  alone — it  will  come,  but  not  yet — you  should, 
after  this,  repose  the  mind  altogether  from  verse, 
storing  it  quietly  with  other  ideas.  These  will  spring 
up  naturally  into  original  forms,  as  the  growth  of  the 
mind  and  the  eclectic  collection  of  opposite  ideas  makes 
your  whole  compound  original.  No !  don't  study 
Shakespeare.  His  form  is  too  contagious,  and  has  been 
too  much  transfused  into  all  modern  shapes.  It  will 
only  lead  you  back  to  the  Keatses,  Tennysons,  &c. 
The  Elizabethan  School  has  been  overworked.  Leave 
it  alone.  Dryden  might  do  some  good,  but  not  yet. 
If  you  must  read  poetry,  avoid  as  models  for  the 
present  all  in  your  own  language.  The  poets  of  other 
tongues  have  this  advantage,  that  you  are  not  sensible 
of  their  mannerism  sufficiently  to  copy  it  unconsciously  ; 
it  is  their  grand  essences  only  that  you  take. 

If  you  would  take  up  Greek  as  an  earnest  study, 
avoiding  all  cribs  and  translations,  working  your  way 
thro'  the  raw  language,  with  lexicon,  grammar  and  a 
good  master,  it  would  be  of  more  service  than  any 
other  language.  Begin  chronologically  :  —  Homer, 
Hesiod,  Anacreon,  Aeschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides. 
But  Homer  is  the  man  to  study  au  fond,  because  he 
shows  you  (as  by  far  the  most  popular  poet  that  ever 
lived)  the  essentials  of  practical  popularity.  Observe 
that  he  is  never  subtle.  He  takes  hold  of  the  passions 
most  common  to  the  human  heart  in  all  ages,  and  thus 
Nature  itself  makes  his  combinations  essentially  artistic. 
Would  he  move  you  more  to  terror  for  his  Achilles, 
and  yet  let  the  fiercest  qualities  of  that  hero  still  leave 
him  human,  and  wind  themselves  thro'  the  undulations 
of  sympathy,  he  unites  this  indomitable  strength  and 
valour  with  the  presentiment  of  early  death,  he  connects 
it  with  unspeakable  sorrow  in  the  fate  of  Patroclus. 
Would  he  interest  you  in  the  defence  of  Troy  in  spite 

VOL.  ii  385  2  c 


FATHER  AND  SON 

of  the  sacrilege  to  the  marriage  hearth  which  dooms  it, 
he  brings  forth  the  marriage  hearth  itself  in  aid  of  your 
pity,  and  makes  you  forget  Helen  in  the  poetry  of 
Hector  and  Andromache.  The  guilt  of  Troy  vanishes 
before  the  lovely  valour  of  Hector.  So  again,  would  he 
present  the  picture  of  human  reverse,  so  as  to  strike  all 
hearts — he  draws  a  King  with  all  that  can  give 
honour  and  reverence  to  power,  old  age,  numerous 
children,  &c.,  and  then  shows  you  Priam  a  suppliant 
for  the  body  of  Hector.  Wherever  you  look  at 
Homer  you  see  the  poetic  secrets  of  popularity  eternal 
and  universal.  Ruminate  on  this,  and  you  will  discover 
your  own  most  prevalent  deficiency,  and  that  of  the 
subtle  modern  schools,  with  their  lust  for  dainty  expres- 
sions, hairsplitting  fancies,  &c. 

Next  to  Greek  comes  German,  but  that  rounds  back 
into  modernism  again.  You  will  find  Italian  verse, 
perhaps,  too  cold  and  elegant  for  your  purpose  or  taste. 
Yet  still  on  that  school  Milton  and  Spenser  founded 
themselves.  And  tho'  they  borrowed  largely  and 
copied  much,  yet  you  see  they  continued  to  be  original. 
In  fine,  the  poets  of  other  tongues  help  us  to  originality, 
those  of  our  own  force  us  into  imitation. 

Now  as  to  the  Magazine.  When  you  present  the 
argument  pecuniary  before  me,  I  have  nothing 
to  say.  Sweet  is  the  money  we  earn  for  ourselves, 
and  I  have  no  right  to  say  "Don't  add  £120  to 
your  income,"  unless  I  could  say  also  "  I  make 
up  the  loss."  I  can  only  leave  it  to  your  own 
consideration  to  weigh  the  'pros  and  the  cons.  The 
anonymous  may  save  you  from  frittering  away 
your  name,  but  not  from  frittering  away  the  grow- 
ing strength  of  your  mind,  freshness  of  style  and  of 
thought.  A  certain  degree  of  chastity  is  necessary 
for  every  muse.  Magazines,  if  not  brothels,  are — 
ballrooms. 

386 


LITERATURE  AND  A  PROFESSION 

This  is  different  with  majestic  Quarterlies.  I  don't 
dislike  your  modest  doubt  thereon.  But  I  am  sure 
that  you  could  write  well  and  tellingly  for  a  Quarterly. 
Think  only  of  some  good,  effective  subject  that  you 
understand,  read  conscientiously  for  it,  submit  your 
article  to  private  persons,  who  understand  the  subject, 
have  it  copied,  so  that  your  old  vice  of  misspelling 
(not  yet  conquered)  does  not  break  out,  and  I  think 
we  shall  do  some  grand  thing.  Why  not  the  present 
political  state  of  Italy,  or  the  new  religious  spirit  in 
Italy  ?  Theories  of  religious  reform  afloat  there.  If 
you  could  but  hit  on  a  subject,  more  or  less  connected 
with  your  profession,  and  it  told  respectably,  it  would 
serve  immensely  to  expedite  your  advance — might  get 
you  in  another  year  to  be  paid  attach^,  and  be  remembered 
to  the  advantage  of  your  career  all  your  life.  .  .  . 

There  is  one  thing  in  literature  I  would  always  do, 
namely,  from  time  to  time  connect  literature  with 
your  practical  profession  and  career.  Macaulay  has 
done  this  well.  Henry  did  it  in  his  works  on  France, 
which,  whatever  their  merit,  greatly  served  him  in  his 
career.  As  a  general  rule  writers  in  the  Quarterlies 
are  much  honoured,  writers  in  Magazines  depreciated. 
And  looking  round  to  my  contemporaries,  I  observe 
those  who  were  distinguished  in  the  first  have  all  got 
high  positions  ;  those  rather  brilliant  in  the  last,  have 
all  sunken  down  into  the  repute  of  small  litterateurs 
and  have  no  positions  at  all.  Verb.  sap. 

My  dear  Boy,  I  wish  I  were  with  you  to  receive 
your  confidences,  tho'  in  all  affairs  of  the  heart  I  fear 
that  our  relative  positions  and  differing  ages  would 
always  impose  a  certain  restraint  on  frankness.  But 
take  this  as  a  general  rule — that  what  in  the  slack 
morality  of  the  world  are  called  liaisons  in  Society,  tho' 
very  pleasing  excitements  at  first,  invariably  lead  to 
anxiety,  tortures,  disappointments,  scrapes,  heart- 

387 


FATHER  AND  SON 

pangs,  wherever  a  man  is  not  a  mere  cold-blooded 
roue.  They  may  do  well  for  a  light  Frenchman,  they 
play  the  devil  with  an  earnest  Englishman,  and 
they  render  one  always  liable  to  an  esclandre  or  a 
compelled  engagement,  that  inflict  ruin  or  misery  on 
one's  whole  life.  Youth,  I  know,  must  be  youth,  man 
man,  and  the  world  must  be  turned  topsy  turvey  before 
the  relationships  between  the  sexes  can  be  adjusted  to 
any  harmonious  ethics  that  reconcile  virtue  with  the 
passions  and  the  senses.  But  no  man  ever  does  much 
who  gives  up  much  of  his  thoughts  and  time  to  women  ; 
and  no  man  who  gives  up  much  of  his  time  and  thoughts 
— I  don't  say  to  poetic  dreams,  but  to  grand  masculine 
studies  and  pursuits,  is  inclined,  as  a  habit,  to  let  women 
over-stimulate  his  brain  and  wear  out  the  fibres  of  his 
heart.  .  .  . 

MY  DEAREST  R. — I  received  yours  to-day,  and  order 
Scott  to  write  to  the  Florence  bankers  to  pay  to  your 
order  ,£50,  exclusive  of  the  allowance,  which,  I  hope, 
will  set  you  right.  I  don't  in  any  way  blame  you  for 
assisting  an  artist  or  any  man — to  be  generous  belongs 
to  humanity — to  be  occasionally  taken  in  is  the  lot  of 
youth,  and  the  noble  misfortune  of  a  gentleman.  But 
I  do  entreat  you  never  in  future  to  sign  a  bill  either 
for  yourself  or  another.  In  the  first  place,  all  signing  or 
endorsing  bills  lowers  and  damages  one's  respectability, 
and  it  is  really  a  blow  when  a  bill  is  dishonoured.  Next, 
the  thing  once  begun  may  induce  a  habit  and  that  habit 
is  the  fatal  cause  of  ruin.  3rdly,  it  really  mortgages, 
as  it  were,  the  future.  One  knows  what  one  has,  one 
does  not  know  what  one  may  have  three  months  hence.  I 
have  owed  much  in  life  to  the  principle  of  never  endors- 
ing a  bill  for  any  friend,  however  intimate.  I  have  often 
crippled  myself  by  lending  him  at  the  time,  but  being 
responsible  for  him — No  !  I  did  it  once  about  your  age 

388 


ADVICE  ABOUT  MONEY 

for  Cockburn,  my  earliest  intimate  friend,  and  it  occa- 
sioned me  great  annoyance  and  lost  me  his  friendship 
to  this  day,  because  when  the  bill  was  dishonoured,  I 
ventured  to  remonstrate. 

That  served  me  as  a  lesson  for  life.  I  should  be 
rejoiced  if  you  would  let  this  little  bother  be  your 
warning  too.  Accept  these  rules  when  you  lend  a  man 
money  :  consider  it  a  gift — it  is  a  God-send  if  he  repay 
you — and  if  he  don't,  make  up  your  mind  that  it  is 
lost ;  don't  ask  for  it  when  you  know  he  can't  repay 
you,  and  count  beforehand  your  resources  with  the 
conviction  that  —  it,  nummus,  like  tempus,  nunquam 
revertitur. 

2ndly,  if  you  lend,  let  it  be  your  money,  never 
your  name,  credit,  character  and  honour,  all  of  which 
are  pawned  in  a  Bill.  It  is  the  more  necessary  to  be 
firm  on  this  point,  because  it  is  a  very  common  tempta- 
tion, being  so  much  the  habit  of  young  men.  Your 
best  excuse  will  be  to  say  you  promised  me  never  to  do 
it.  In  future,  if  you  can't  get  out  of  some  slight  loan 
which  you  can't  conveniently  spare  by  a  self-sacrifice, 
much  better  ask  me.  .  .  . 

VENTNOR,  Dec.  10,  1856. 

MY  DEAREST  ROBERT — I  pass  at  once  to  what  I 
conclude  to  be  the  substance  of  your  letter,  tho'  you 
leave  it  a  little  hazy.  You  are  discontented  with 
foreign  society,  weary  of  its  temptations,  revolted  by 
its  sins  ;  you  would  see  more  of  your  own  country 
and  have  a  hankering  to  leave  your  profession.  Well 
— all  society  of  the  same  rank  is  alike  ;  you  would 
find  life  in  English  drawing-rooms  just  as  insipid,  just 
as  vicious,  with  these  differences  : — ist.  that  a  great 
portion  of  it  has  tastes  much  less  suited  to  yours  than 
rough  talk  —  the  turf,  Henley,  &c.;  2nd,  that  "a 
scrape  "  here  may  be  ruin  for  life.  But  I  think  it  natural 

389 


FATHER  AND  SON 

that  you  should  wish  to  see  more  of  England,  and  right 
that  you  should  do  so.  Let  us  then  contrive  the  best 
way.  Give  up  your  profession.  Put  me  out  of  the 
question,  and  let  us  think  of  that.  I  never  knew  any 
man  leave  a  profession  who  did  not  repent  it  heartily. 
You  have  got  thro'  the  worst  stages  ;  if  you  throw  it 
up,  you  throw  up  so  many  years  of  your  life,  and 
return  to  the  place  you  started  from  at  17.  Now  much 
of  what  you  feel  now,  belongs  to  a  crisis  in  life  which  I 
know  well.  Supposing  instead  of  Diplomacy  you  had 
gone  to  the  Law  and  fagged  at  it.  You  would  not  have 
had  nearly  so  many  sores  of  the  sentiment,  nor  such 
moments  of  despondency  as  you  have  now.  Why? 
Because  you  would  have  had  a  labour  more  apart  from 
what  is  called  pleasure,  from  society,  &c.  Such  pleasure 
would  have  been  seized  as  a  joyous  recreation.  But  you 
chose,  and  I  was  pleased  you  should  choose,  a  profession 
which  allowed  you  to  have  the  true  season  of  youth. 
Lawyers  can  never  have  it.  By  this  you  have  known 
sorrows  and  errors,  but  by  this  you  have  deepened  your 
wisdom,  added  to  your  genius,  and  on  the  whole,  rather 
heightened,  perhaps,  than  deadened  your  moral  per- 
ceptions. But  now,  suppose  you  throw  up  this  pro- 
fession and  have  none,  but  are  quite  free,  and  an  income 
not  below  that  of  most  young  men  well-born  ?  Well 
— you  will  then  feel  satiety  still  more ;  just  as  you  would 
have  felt  it  less  as  lawyer  than  attache,  you  will  feel  it 
less  as  attache  than  as  nothing. 

But  you  will  give  yourself  up  to  literature  and  poetry, 
&c.  I  doubt  whether  you  would  do  so  half  so  much,  or 
at  all  events,  half  so  well.  When  a  poet  or  man  of 
letters  is  not  urged  on  by  the  positive  want  of  money, 
I  know  by  experience,  man  of  letters  as  I  am  now 
grown  by  custom,  that  invention  flags  and  industry 
grows  dull.  But  if,  with  the  instincts  of  literature,  you 
compel  me  to  do  something  else  which  I  don't  like  as 

390 


VALUE  OF  A  PROFESSION 

well,  then  suddenly  my  mind  would  fly  cravingly  back 
to  literature  as  yours,  perhaps,  does  to  poetry  when 
you  are  bored  with  desk  or  salons.  Of  this  I  am 
pretty  confident.  At  all  events,  I  would  not  advise 
you  formally  to  throw  up  the  profession.  Keeping  in 
it  may  be  a  wonderful  thing  for  you  hereafter — leaps 
up  the  ladder  you  don't  now  foresee,  not  only  in 
diplomacy  but  public  life.  .  .  . 

I  should  be  delighted  if  we  could  arrange  that  you 
could  come  to  England  for  some  time,  and  I  could 
much  more  talk  than  write  to  you  as  to  your  present 
state  of  feeling.  Much  of  what  you  feel  as  to  your 
profession  and  companionship  I  still  feel  hourly  to  the 
House  of  Commons  and  the  London  life  it  forces  me 
to.  I  hate  it.  No  success  rewards  me,  and  failure, 
always  probable,  is  a  horrid  idea.  But  still  I  go  on. 
We  cannot  make  the  grooves  .of  our  own  life.  Happy, 
indeed,  they  whose  heart  and  conscience  get  into  those 
ruts  which  suit  best  with  the  wheels.  But  still  life  is 
doing — to  live  is  to  do  ;  and  as  we  thus  live  and  thus 
do,  we  fulfil  that  task  which  Heaven  meant  for  us. 
Chauncy  Townshend's  life  has  been  my  beau-ideal  of 
happiness — elegant  rest,  travel,  lots  of  money — and  he 
is  always  ill  and  always  melancholy.  When  Duty- 
chooses  our  life  for  us,  it  is  a  hard  road  and  one  is  jolted 
dreadfully,  but  I  suspect  that  we  have  on  the  whole  a 
larger  sum  of  enjoyment  and  fewer  deductions  from 
ennui  and  remorse  than  one  has  when  one  chooses  one's 
life  for  oneself,  and  sends  Duty  to  the  Devil.  If  one 
has  talents  in  the  former  case,  one  is  a  fact  in  one's 
age — in  the  latter  case,  one  first  says  : — "  But  I  don't 
care  for  success,"  and  afterwards  enviously  regards 
one's  busy  contemporaries  and  is  miserable  from  the 
sense  of  failure.  Thus  is  it  with  Villiers  and  Lord 
Walpole — two  accomplished,  clever  men — cut  business 
and  enjoyed  themselves,  while  I  fagged  ;  and  now,  tho' 

391 


FATHER  AND  SON 

to  this  day  they  say  they  never  had  ambition,  Villiers 
positively  weeps  when  he  talks  of  my  successes  and 
what  a  fool  he  has  been.  And  Walpole  ,is  gnawed 
with  contempt  for  himself  and  told  me  he  would 
give  anything  to  have  been  a  clerk  in  an  office. — 
Adieu, 

E.  B.  L. 

P.  S.  —  As  to  income,  you  gather  from  my  letter 
that  instead  of  withdrawing  £100  a.  year  if  you  retire, 
should  you  feel  that  your  health  and  happiness  require 
it,  and  ^400  a  year  not  eno'  for  you  in  England — all 
I  can  say  is — put  your  hands  in  my  purse — it  is  open 
to  you. 

In  1860  Robert  Lytton  published  his  poem  of 
Lucile,  the  story  of  which  was  taken  from  George 
Sand's  novel  Lavtma.  As  it  was  on  his  father's 
advice  that  the  preface  containing  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  this  fact  was  suppressed,  and  a  charge  of 
plagiarism  incurred,  the  following  letter  may  be 
read  with  interest  as  containing  his  father's  views 
on  the  subject  : — 

1860. 

MY  DEAR  R. — With  respect  to  the  charge  of  plagiarism 
in  L.  Gazette,  I  have  not  seen  the  article,  but  saw  an 
allusion  to  it  in  some  journal.  My  strong  impression 
is  that  you  must  not  think  of  noticing  it  yourself ;  that 
if  noticed  at  all,  it  should  be  by  a  friend  in  a  competent 
journal.  Forster  could  do  it  in  the  Examiner.  When 
I  go  to  England  I  could  get  it  done  in  some  others 
if  necessary  ;  possibly  in  some  note  in  some  future 
preface  or  work  you  may  allude  to  it,  and  give  what 
reply  is  best  in  five  lines,  perhaps  by  a  sarcasm  or 
irony. 

392 


PLAGIARISM 

The  fact  is  that  plagiarism  is  one  of  the  charges 
most  difficult  to  answer,  because  the  rights  of  authors 
are  not  yet  very  clearly  decided  in  respect  to  borrowing. 
In  your  particular  case  I  hold  that  the  charge  is 
groundless,  but  it  would  require  some  subtlety  in 
criticism  to  show  it  to  be  groundless,  no  matter  how 
much  you  took  from  a  novel. 

As  a  general  rule,  a  poet  has  a  right  if  he  so  please, 
to  take  his  whole  plot  and  principal  situations  from  a 
prose  writer,  and  that  is  not  plagiarism.  Shakespeare 
has  done  so  wherever  he  could,  and  a  novelist  in  turn 
has  a  right  to  take  similar  liberties  with  a  poet.  Where 
this  is  done  in  either  case,  acknowledgment  is  a  mere 
matter  of  option,  but  it  would  be  always  better  to  lay 
down  a  general  rule,  where  it  is  not  applied,  to  vindicate 
oneself  from  a  special  charge.  Qjii  s  excuse,  s  accuse. 
I  should  like  to  see  the  article.  In  my  early  days  I  fell 
into  the  error  of  answering  attacks — it  did  no  good.  I 
should  doubt  if  the  L.  Gazette  had  any  weight  as  a 
journal.  Still,  I  should  see  the  article  and  judge 
calmly.  My  present  conviction  is  that  Forster  will 
dispose  of  it  in  the  Examiner. 

True  plagiarism  is  in  borrowing  the  form  of  another. 
Imitators  of  Pope,  Byron,  or  Tennyson,  are  plagiarists, 
tho'  they  may  not  borrow  a  single  thought  or  a  single 
line.  Borrowing  is  a  beauty  of  scholarship  and  taste, 
and  can't  be  done  too  largely.  All  great  poets  do 
borrow  in  proportion  to  their  own  wealth.  Dryden  has 
observed  in  one  of  his  prefaces,  that  the  sole  condition 
of  borrowing  is  to  improve  what  you  take.  That  is 
not  always  possible — Byron's  line — "  They  make  a 
solitude  and  call  it  peace,"  is,  as  you  well  know,  a  latent 
translation  from  Tacitus,  Quum  solitudinem  faciunt 
pacem  appellant.  It  is  not  an  improvement,  yet  the 
line  is  an  exquisite  beauty.  He  did  not  acknowledge 
it  in  a  note,  to  have  done  so  would  have  been  pedantry. 

393 


FATHER  AND  SON 

But   if  he   had   taken  it  from   a   contemporary  poet, 
he  ought  to  have  acknowledged  it. 

My  own  theory  is  that  the  less  a  poet,  especially  a 
dramatist,  makes  his  own  plot,  the  better.  All  the 
ancient  dramatists  took  their  fable  from  well-known 
myths.  I  very  much  doubt  if  Shakespeare  ever  invented 
his  own  story.  The  poet  accepts  certain  premises  and 
from  them  builds  up.  The  story  is  so  and  so — the 
characters  such  and  such — the  poet  then  makes  the 
story  pleasing  and  explains  the  characters  according  to 
his  own  metaphysics.  .  .  . 

Some  of  the  elder  Lytton's  letters  in  the 
following  year,  1861,  contain  interesting  com- 
ments on  various  literary  matters  : — 

VENTNOR,  ISLE  OF  WIGHT, 

2  MARINE  PARADE, 

Oct.  28,  1861. 

MY  DEAR  R. — I  have  already  given  you  all  the  hints 
I  can  upon  Lever.1  You  may  smooth  the  difficulty 
as  to  his  later  works  by  allowing,  perhaps  justly,  the 
merit  he  doubtless  assigns  to  them,  of  more  purpose 
and  better  construction  of  plot,  while  you  could  urge 
his  persevering  in  the  merit  of  the  earlier  works — in 
dash  and  gusto.  I  don't  pity  you  having  to  read 
Smollett,  whose  vigour  is  astonishing.  You  can  raise 
the  tone  of  your  critique  by  making  it  general,  beginning 
with  the  advantage  of  high  spirits  in  narrative 
composition.  In  ancient  times  Homer  has  them  to 
matchless  degree.  In  later  times  Ariosto.  They 
characterise  French  fiction  more  than  English. 
Voltaire  has  them,  so  in  a  lower  degree  have  writers  like 
Pigault  le  Brun — it  is  the  prevalent  merit  of  Paul  de 

1  Robert   Lytton  was  at  this  time  writing  a  critical  article   upon  the 
works  of  Charles  Lever. 

394 


LITERARY  MATTERS 

Kock  and  Dumas.  Farquhar  has  them  in  comedy 
contrasted  with  Congreve.  Fielding  has  them,  but  not 
quite  to  such  degree  as  Smollett  in  Roderick  Random  and 
Peregrine  Pickle. 

Then  come  to  Lever  (whose  works  you  need  not 
read  thro') — cite  a  few  instances  out  of  H.  Lorriquer 
and  others,  quote  as  an  instance  of  the  philosophical 
humour  that  may  sometimes  be  compatible  with  high 
spirits,  Lever's  story  of  the  Irish  person  getting  his 
father's  soul  out  of  purgatory — I  forget  where  it  is  found. 
Lever  will  tell  you,  it  is  capital. 

His  fun  sometimes  runs  away  into  farce,  but  so  it 
does  even  with  Moliere,  as  in  his  Malade  Imaginaire. 
Authors  as  they  proceed  in  a  career,  become  sensible  of 
their  own  faults,  but  in  getting  rid  of  them,  are  apt  to 
get  rid  of  the  merits  that  go  along  with  faults.  Thus 
Lever  curbing  extravagance  may  not  sufficiently 
remember  that  he  may  lose  the  rush  that  made 
extravagance  itself  pleasing.  Where  the  author  really 
improves  he  should  concentre  waste  force  upon  some 
point.  Thus  Smollett  lost  much  of  his  "  go  "  in  his 
Humphrey  Clinker,  but  then  he  concentred  his  creative 
power  on  much  more  complete  development  of  humour- 
ous character,  as  in  Lismahago  and  Matthew  Bramble. 
Look  to  Sir  J.  Reynolds'  lectures,  you  will  find  a 
passage  or  two  on  gusto  that  will  help  you. 

In  respect  to  Servian  Poems,1  I  have  read  them  with 
attention.  They  will  come  in  well  in  the  ultimate 
summing  up  of  your  poetic  powers,  but  not  in  them- 
selves advance  your  reputation  at  present.  At  this 
stage  of  your  career  you  should  study  what  is  popular, 
what  will  strike  and  interest  the  largest  number  of 
readers,  later  you  can  fill  up  crevices  with  scholastic 
mortar. 

1  Serbski   Pesme   or   National  Songs  of  Serbia,    by   Owen    Meredith 
Chapman  and  Hall,  1861. 

395 


FATHER  AND  SON 

Altogether  it  was  a  fine  exercise,  and  if  it  does  you 
no  good  now,  does  you  no  harm  and  will  do  you  good 
ultimately.  It  increases  objective  experience  in  poetry. 
Browning's  poems  I  have  received  too.  Thank  him  very 
heartily  from  me  for  sending  them.  Tell  him  that  I  not 
only  read  but  study  them,  and  he  must  consider  every 
admiration  I  yield  as  the  higher  compliment,  because 
it  overcomes  an  obstacle  in  a  taste  formed  and  hardened 
in  opposite  theories,  while  whatever  I  may  not  fully 
appreciate,  I  feel  arises  from  that  obstacle — my  own 
taste  may  spoil  that  of  the  wine.  Privately  to  you,  I 
may  add  that  I  can't  yet  attain  your  enthusiastic 
estimate  of  him  as  a  poet.  I  think  he  has  a  great  deal 
of  intellect,  but  that  his  form  is  very  faulty.  It  seems 
to  me  that  he  does  not  finish  what  he  carves.  But  there 
must  be  a  force  and  originality  about  him  more 
perceptible  to  a  younger  man  than  myself,  because  I 
recognise  in  him  a  great  deal  that  has  served  to  form 
your  own  theories  and  influence  your  own  style.  More 
so,  I  should  think,  than  even  Tennyson  has. 

What  I  should  advise  you  to  cultivate  steadily  in 
future  is  breadth  of  manner.  Taking  the  largest 
emotions  and  feelings — those  that  men  have  most  in 
common,  with  a  certainty  that  you  will,  on  taking  them, 
add  refinement  and  novelty  in  the  detail  of  expression. 
And  again,  all  writers  to  be  popular  must  be  national. 
You  are  not  broadly  English  eno' — at  least  to  my  fancy. 
But  still,  in  all  I  say,  I  speak  with  the  prejudices  of  a 
taste  too  old  to  alter,  and  which  has  never  guided  me 
to  popular  success  in  verse.  And  after  all,  each  genius 
must  hit  on  its  own  way  out.  Only  I  do  fancy  that  if 
you  would  forbear  to  read  the  living,  would  confine  your 
reading  to  the  writers  among  the  dead,  who  have  been 
the  most  extensively  popular,  you  would  be  more 
original  and  striking — viz.: — Homer,  Horace,  Ariosto, 
Goethe,  Scott.  If  you  would  study  Scott,  and  then  say 

396 


LITERARY  MATTERS 

to  yourself,  "  Why  not  have  all  his  merits  and  add  to 
them  a  little  more  thought  and  purpose,  with  a  polished 
vocabulary  instead  of  so  much  slovenly  slip-slop,"  I 
think  you  might  do  wonders.  But  were  I  you  I  would 
try  and  forget  that  Browning  and  Tennyson  ever  wrote. 
Wordsworth — I  think  wisely — told  a  young  poet  never 
to  read  contemporary  poetry. — Yours  most  truly, 

E.  B.  L. 

A  few  weeks  later  he  wrote  again  : — 

I  will  get  the  poem  of  yours  you  mention  and  tell 
you  about  it.  I  am  convinced  myself  that  if  you 
would  slip  from  all  poetry  for  two  years  and  "  take  in 
coals "  constantly,  you  would  be  startled  at  your  own 
improvement ;  but  that  if  you  continue  constantly  writ- 
ing poetry  meanwhile,  you  will  go  on  mechanically  re- 
peating or  merely  improvising  the  same  form.  I  wish 
from  you  now  a  great  work,  thoroughly  original,  and 
in  poetry  form  must  be  original.  It  is  no  use  having 
only  original  conceptions.  I  want  Tennyson  and 
Browning  to  be  entirely  forgotten.  Nothing,  believe 
me,  like  lying  fallow  and  meanwhile  studying  things 
quite  new  to  preconceived  ideas. 

I  advise  you,  nevertheless,  to  read  constantly 
Homer,  Shakespeare,  and  the  popular  works  of  Goethe, 
viz.  : — Werier^  Faust,  not  the  others.  There  you  have 
the  three  greatest  minds  in  the  known  world  made 
familiar  to  the  widest  possible  circle.  What  Bentham 
makes  his  axiom  in  politics,  helps  to  the  axiom  of  the 
poetic  art.  He  says,  u  The  greatest  happiness  of  the 
greatest  number  should  be  the  object  of  Govt." 

I  say  "  The  greatest  delight  of  the  greatest  number  " 
should  be  the  object  of  poetic  art.  I  add — which 
Bentham  does  not — for  both, — "And  for  the  longest 
possible  period"  Without  that,  both  theorems  are  in- 

397 


FATHER  AND  SON 

complete.  It  is  for  the  greatest  happiness  of  the 
greatest  number,  for  the  moment,  to  burn  witches  or 
to  get  a  triumph  over  the  Tories  ;  it  is  the  greatest 
delight  of  poetic  art  for  the  moment  to  read  Eugene 
Sue  or  Dumas.  But  we  must  look  to  the  long  run, 
and  in  the  long  run  intellect  prevails  over  numbers. 
Take  my  maxim,  ponder  it,  and  with  your  wonderful 
taste  in  poetic  vocabulary  and  spirit,  you  will  be  the 
greatest  poet  in  Christendom  of  your  time.  Omit  it, 
and  fritter  away  your  genius  by  driblets,  and  you  will 
end  in  mortification.  Strike  at  the  highest,  the  widest 
range  for  the  longest  period,  that  is  to  say,  imagina- 
tion and  intellect  adapted  to  the  delight  of  the  greatest 
number,  but  also  to  the  finest  minds,  and  therefore  for 
the  longest  period. 

Am  I  not  right  ?  Think  of  Shakespeare  and 
Homer — Goethe  in  his  two  popular  works.  And  to 
judge  what  I  mean,  think  what  Scott  would  have  been 
if  he  had  had  the  intellect  of  Shakespeare  or  even  the 
vocabulary  of  Shelley.  Get  rid,  in  your  aspirations,  of 
the  metaphysical  poets,  commencing  with  Cowley  and 
ending  with  Tennyson.  Say  to  yourself,  "  Broad  effects, 
opinions,  humours,  feelings,  thoughts  that  every  man  in 
Oxford  St.  knows."  Do  you  understand  ?  .  .  . 

The  references  in  these  letters  to  the  "popular 
element "  in  poetry  were  not  clearly  understood 
by  Robert  Lytton.  He  interpreted  the  advice 
to  mean  that  he  was  to  study  the  popular  taste 
and  write  what  would  please  the  public  rather 
than  himself.  This  suggestion  he  was  unwilling 
to  accept,  and  vindicated  the  right  of  every  author 
to  be  above  all  things  true  to  himself.  In  a  letter 
of  a  later  date  the  elder  Lytton  explains  his 
meaning  further  : — 

398 


"POPULAR  ELEMENT'    IN  POETRY 

I  don't  think  we  quite  understand  each  other  as  to 
the  meaning  of  the  words  popular  element.  I  don't 
mean  any  pandering  to  popular  codes,  whatever  they 
may  be.  What  I  mean  by  the  popular  element  is  that 
which  I  find  without  one  exception  all  the  poets  whom 
posterity  recognises  to  be  great  eminently  possess,  in 
fact,  it  is  their  chief  quality.  Homer  has  it  above  all 
poets ;  Virgil  and  Horace  have  it  (and  it  makes  their  pre- 
eminence over  Catullus  and  Ovid)  ;  Milton  has  it,  and 
it  makes  his  pre-eminence  over  Spenser.  And  the  first 
proof  of  the  popular  element  is  its  nature  being  so  in- 
dependent of  form  that  it  is  cosmopolitan — pleases  all 
races  and  all  times.  The  essential  of  the  popular 
element  is  the  expression  of  a  something  which  comes 
home  to  the  greatest  number  of  human  hearts  and  souls. 
Breadth  of  type,  whether  in  creation  of  character  or 
utterance  of  sentiment,  is  the  fundamental  attribute  of 
this  popular  element.  Of  course,  therefore,  the  passions 
are  the  most  available  agencies  and  the  highest  as  well 
as  widest,  provided  they  be  the  passions  that  all  either 
feel  or  can  approach  by  human  sympathy, — love,  hate, 
revenge,  jealousy,  &c. ;  and  the  heroic  type  is  that  which, 
after  all,  the  masses  best  comprehend,  and  in  the  heroic 
type  is  pathos,  the  pathos  of  generosity  and  self-sacrifice. 
But  the  passions  are  not  the  only  agencies  of  popular 
element.  The  sentiment  is  an  agency  also,  as  in  Byron, 
who  has  more  sentiment  than  passion — in  Horace,  in 
a  lower  degree  in  Goldsmith  or  Gray's  Elegy — in  the 
highest  degree  in  Dante,  who  is  severe  and  restrained 
in  the  use  of  passion,  tho'  you  feel  that  he  individually 
is  all  passion.  That  is  the  best  form  which  most  pel- 
lucidly  delivers  to  the  ordinary  eye  the  beauties  of 
the  poetic  types,  and  that  never  can  be  the  highest 
form  which  cuts  up  large  effects  into  small  ones, 
and  overstudies  expression.  The  over  study  of  ex- 
pression is  the  fault  of  the  new  school  in  form,  and 

399 


FATHER  AND  SON 

the  neglect  of  large  types  common  to  mankind,  for 
eccentric  and  exceptional  types  of  thought,  sentiment 
or  character.  .  .  . 

The  completion  of  A  Strange  Story  in  this 
year,  led  to  an  interesting  correspondence  between 
father  and  son  on  the  subject  of  religion  : — 

VENTNOR,  Nov.  19,  1861. 

MY  DEAREST  ROBERT — I  am  most  touched  and 
grateful  for  your  kind  and  affectionate  letter.  And, 
indeed,  I  cannot  be  too  grateful  to  Heaven  for  the 
blessing  of  such  a  son.  God  grant  you  may  be  happy  ! 
And  now,  you  say  you  are  at  the  age  of  30,  which 
seems  to  me  incredible.  I  am  reminded  that  you  are 
in  the  year  which  the  Spartans  thought  the  best  for 
marriage.  Would  that  you  might  find  someone  with 
whom  that  bond  would  be  congenial  and  felicitous. 

In  what  you  say  about  art  I  agree  on  the  whole. 
Genius,  in  fact,  makes  art,  not  art  genius.  As  soon 
as  we  have  laid  down  all  the  best  rules  of  art,  up 
rises  some  genius  who  alters  them  all,  and  the  work  of 
criticism  has  to  begin  again.  The  presence  of  the  Mens 
divinior  is  the  essential,  in  poetry  especially.  Where 
that  is,  it  is  the  enchanter's  wand.  Has  Browning 
got  it?  Probably.  You  are  a  much  better  judge  of 
that  than  I.  Unquestionably  there  is  a  massiveness  and 
substance  about  him  that  I  don't  find  in  Tennyson — 
still  taste  is  taste,  and  somehow  he  doesn't  often  please 
mine.  I  will  read  the  poems  you  speak  of  with  care 
when  quite  in  the  humour  for  them,  which  I  am  not 
now.  .  .  . 

I  am  correcting  the  final  sheets  of  A  Strange  Story. 
Towards  the  end  I  have  a  conversation  to  which  I 
have  given  much  weight,  on  the  proof  of  soul  distinct 
from  mind,  i.e.  from  the  thinking  faculty.  I  have 

400 


RELIGION 

shown  how  the  metaphysicians  who  have  argued  Man's 
immortality  solely  from  mind — as  immaterial  must  give 
immortality  also  to  the  brutes,  for  all  true  naturalists 
allow  that  brutes  and  insects  have  mind  as  well  as  man. 
Every  definition  of  mind  includes  an  ant  and  an  ear- 
wig. From  this  I  have  built  out  a  theory,  not  wholly 
new  but  I  think  never  so  plainly  put  before,  viz.  : — 
that  the  evidence  of  man's  soul  is  not  in  his  mind,  i.e. 
not  in  his  ideas  as  received  thro'  the  senses,  but  in  his 
inherent  capacity  to  receive  ideas  of  God,  soul,  etc., 
which  capacity  is  not  given  to  the  brutes. 

I  think  when  you  see  this  chapter  it  will  strike  you, 
and  it  is  argued  out  thro'  analogies  in  all  the  laws  of 
Nature. 

The  question  you  raise  is  not  met,  for  that  touches 
rather  the  duties  of  soul  than  its  existence,  viz.  : — its 
responsibility,  and  also  enters  into  all  the  difficult 
questions  of  variety  in  life,  mind,  and  circumstance. 
But  these  seem  to  me  minor  corollaries  to  the  funda- 
mental problem — soul  itself. 

I  don't  think  the  ending  as  I  now  have  it  is  too 
fantastic — it  is  written  with  too  much  power  for  that, 
and  is,  I  imagine,  the  finest  thing  in  point  of  interior 
meaning  I  ever  wrote.  Margrave,  at  the  close,  comes 
out  with  a  certain  pathos,  and  even,  perhaps,  mental 
(not  spiritual)  grandeur.  I  leave  the  whole  to  be 
solved  either  way,  viz.  : — entirely  by  physiological 
causes,  or  by  the  admission  of  causes  that  may  be  in 
Nature,  but  physiology  as  yet  rejects  as  natural.  .  .  . 

VENTNOR,  Dec.  17,  1861. 

MY  DEAREST  ROBERT — Your  interesting  letter  is  so 
full  and,  to  return  your  compliment,  suggestive  that 
I  fear  I  shall  be  only  able  to  touch  on  it  briefly  (!)  and 
piecemeal. 

ist,  About  your  own  poetical  aspirations.     You  are 

VOL.  II  401  2  D 


FATHER  AND  SON 

quite  right,  having  done  so  wonderfully  well,  to  persevere, 
and  not  at  all  with  the  idea  of  giving  up  if  you  don't 
satisfy  yourself.  I  hope  you  will  never  satisfy  your- 
self. I  am  sure  I  never  satisfied  myself,  and  what  is 
far  more  to  the  purpose,  I  am  still  more  sure  that 
Shakespeare  never  satisfied  himself.  All  who  do  well 
have  an  archetype  of  the  perfect  in  their  minds,  which 
they  can  never  accomplish — a  truth  I  work  out  in 
one  of  my  essays,  and  at  present,  therefore,  leave 
"  suggested."  .  .  . 

You  are  wrong  in  thinking  you  want  imagination. 
What  would  be  true  is  this: — your  imagination  does  not 
make  its  first  object — invented  plot  and  story.  This, 
perhaps,  it  never  will  do.  Your  imagination  creates 
other  things,  creates  new  trains  of  idea  ;  to  create  ideas 
is  quite  as  imaginative  as  to  create  persons.  Is  not 
Lucretius  more  imaginative  than  Virgil  ?  When  I 
compare  what  I  did  up  to  30  with  what  you  have 
done,  I  would  willingly  swop  with  you,  and  I  think 
your  reputation  quite  as  high  as  and  much  less  con- 
tested than  mine  was  at  30.  The  difference  between 
us  is  that  I  built  with  bricks  and  you  have  been  build- 
ing with  marble.  That  is  the  real  difference  between 
imaginative  works  in  prose  and  verse.  The  last  excels 
in  the  material  chosen,  and  retains  a  value  from  the 
material  independent  of  the  architectural  merits,  which 
may  be  as  great  in  the  brick.  ... 

I  can't  go  into  the  enormous  question  of  the  soul's 
essence  and  immortality  at  this  moment,  but  what  I 
mean  about  capacities  is  this  : — Put  aside  ideas  al- 
together whether  innate  or  formed  thro'  the  senses  (with 
the  meagre  and  rococo  philosophy  of  Condillac)  or 
thro'  experience  (with  Locke).  But  the  living  thing 
that  receives  ideas  must,  before  it  can  receive  them,  be 
made  capable  of  receiving  them.  A  piece  of  marble  is 
not  capable  of  being  impressed  by  a  touch — a  piece  of 

402 


RELIGION 

wax  is — all  substance,  then,  can  only  receive  impressions 
according  as  it  is  capable  of  receiving  them. 

Before  the  infant  can  have  the  idea,  or  instinct,  of 
applying  its  lips  to  the  teat,  it  must  be  capable  of 
having  that  idea.  My  inkstand  is  not  capable  of  apply- 
ing itself  to  the  teat.  Very  well  then,  capacities  to 
receive  ideas  must  precede  ideas.  In  the  capacities  of 
man  to  receive  ideas  of  the  soul  lies  the  certain 
proof  of  his  soul  !  Why?  Because  of  uniform 
analogy  throughout  Nature.  Nature  only  gives  to 
each  organised  life  capacities  to  receive  instincts  or 
ideas  which  are  suited  to  its  destiny.  The  ostrich  re- 
ceives the  idea  to  bury  her  eggs  in  the  sand,  the  linnet 
to  build  in  the  tree,  the  duck  brought  up  by  the  hen 
to  take  to  the  water,  and  so  forth.  Each  thing  after 
its  kind  has  the  capacity  to  receive  ideas  or  impressions 
that  correspond  with  its  destination.  Man  alone  receives 
ideas  that  carry  on  his  being  to  a  life  beyond  the 
world,  and  curiously  eno',  interwoven  with  those  ideas, 
are  all  the  more  abstract  ideas  (not  given  to  inferior 
animals)  of  space,  weight,  proportion,  essence,  substance, 
&c.,  by  which  he  distinguishes  himself  from  brutes  in 
seeking  to  improve,  embellish,  nay,  subdue  to  his  uses, 
the  Nature  he  finds  around  him.  He  could  not  build, 
legislate,  write,  for  the  future  beyond  his  grave — if  a 
future  beyond  his  grave  was  not  positively  (tho'  in- 
sensibly) stamped  on  his  receptivity  (i.e.  on  his  passive 
power  to  receive  active  impressions).  No  animal,  how- 
ever gregarious  or  constructive,  improves  for  posterity. 
What  an  ant's  nest  is  now  it  has  been  since  the  deluge. 

It  may  be  said,  and  has  been  said  by  materialists, 
"  But  all  these  abstract  ideas  which  we  grant  are 
peculiar  to  him,  including  those  of  soul  and  hereafter, 
may  be  given  to  him  simply  because  they  are  useful  to 
his  destiny  here  ;  and  the  ideas  of  soul  and  hereafter 
may  be  false  in  themselves,  but  vindicated  for  utility, 

403 


FATHER  AND  SON 

by  the  moral  restraints  they  impose  or  the  intellectual 
aspiration  they  venerate !  "  Not  so — according  to  all 
inductive  philosophy,  inducing  from  analogical  experi- 
ence. And  why  not  so  ?  Because  Nature  is  singularly 
truthful,  and  rather  parsimonious  than  liberal  of  the 
capacities  she  allots  to  each  thing  according  to  its 
destiny.  She  will  shape  the  capacity  of  a  brute  to 
novelties  that  conduce  to  its  self-conservation  here,  but 
not  more.  That  is — suppose  a  hawk  in  this  country  is 
accustomed  to  search  for  its  prey  in  partridges — the 
hawk  may  swoop  in  preference  over  stubble  and  turnip 
fields.  Transport  it  to  another  region  where  there  are 
no  turnips  and  stubble,  and  its  prey  is  found  in  forests 
or  the  margins  of  streams.  That  hawk  or  its  posterity 
has  the  capacity  to  shift  its  range  to  the  places  where 
its  food  is  to  be  found.  But  man  alone  has  capacities 
to  take  in  every  region  ideas  that  connect  themselves 
with  soul  and  hereafter.  Therefore,  according  to  the 
invariable  truthfulness  and  parsimony  of  Nature  in 
giving  capacities  suited  to  each  thing,  and  not  more 
than  such  capacities,  soul  and  hereafter  are  proved  to 
man  by  his  capacities  to  entertain  their  idea.  The 
defective  faculties  of  man  here,  with  his  consciousness 
that  here  they  must  be  defective,  and  that  only  in  a 
higher  state  of  being  can  they  be  developed,  form 
additional  proof  of  his  destiny.  He  has  given  to  him 
perceptions  of  a  hereafter,  but  none  of  its  nature. 
And  why  ?  because  if  he  knew  more  of  the  next  world, 
he  would  be  unfitted  for  this.  And  his  destiny 
comprehends  his  being  here  before  he  comes  to  the 
hereafter. 

He  resembles  the  Foetus  in  the  womb.  The  Foetus 
must  have  capacities  suited  to  its  state  in  the  womb, 
but  with  those  capacities  are  others,  chiefly  dormant, 
adapted  to  his  state  when  he  quits  the  womb.  Suppose 
for  a  moment  that  he  could  reason.  He  might  say  : — 

404 


RELIGION 

"  What  is  the  good  of  these  eyes — I  am  in  the  dark  ! 
Or  these  ears — I  can  hear  nothing  !  "  And  the  answer 
would  be  "Nature  gives  you  nothing  in  vain — it  is 
quite  true  that  your  ears  and  eyes  are  of  no  use  to  you 
at  present,  but  since  you  have  ears  and  eyes,  it  is  quite 
clear  they  are  meant  for  use  some  day  !  " 

"  When  ? "  says  the  Foetus. 

"  When  you  are  out  of  the  womb  !  " 

"  When  of  use  to  me  all  these  capacities  to 
comprehend  a  hereafter  ? "  says  man. 

Answer  : — "  When  you  are  in  the  hereafter." 

But  the  above  argument  is  only  one  out  of  a 
thousand  in  philosophical  proof  of  soul  and  another 
life.  I  have  been  reading  of  late  an  immense  variety 
of  physiological  and  metaphysical  works,  speculating  on 
the  subject  pro  and  con.  And  the  more  I  read,  the 
more  the  great  truth  grows  out ;  but  the  proofs  of  it  are 
so  multiform  that  no  letter  can  contain  them. 

With  regard  to  the  souls  of  animals,  many  great 
thinkers  support  that  notion.  Anaxagoras,  Descartes, 
etc.  Erigena  is  the  most  unqualified  arguer  for  it. 
And  no  doubt  all  living  things  have  souls,  but  that  the 
souls  of  the  inferior  races  preserve  the  sense  of  identity 
and  continue  the  ego  after  death  is  quite  another 
question.  St.  Augustine  says  that  if  they  had  the  sense 
of  identity,  they  would  be  immortal  like  man.  He 
denies  that  they  have.  But  no  one  can  be  quite  sure  of 
this,  since,  as  you  justly  say,"  We  are  outside  of  their 
existence."  We  can  see  eno'  of  them,  however,  to  see 
that  they  have  no  worship  of  an  invisible  Being,  they 
don't  pray.  The  dog  has  an  immense  capacity  for 
veneration  and  gratitude  to  a  being  different  from 
himself,  viz.: — to  man.  He  supplicates  man,  but  we 
see  no  sign  that  he  supplicates  a  God.  In  fact,  I  think 
we  may  assume  that  man  alone  has  capacities  to  com- 
prehend soul — God — hereafter,  and  therefore  we  may 

405 


FATHER  AND  SON 

give  to  him  an  immortality,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
given  to  the  brutes.  It  is  eno'  for  man  to  take  care  of 
himself  in  that  respect. 

I  have  not  touched  on  other  parts  of  your  letter 
which,  treating  of  consciousness,  responsibility,  &c., 
lead  to  other  branches  of  the  subject,  viz.: — less  "Is 
there  a  soul  ? "  than  "  What  is  a  soul  ? "  and  "  what 
its  attributes  and  duties?  " 

Now  by  soul  I  mean  a  something  in  man  that  lives 
on,  and  in  truth  soul  really  means  the  living  principle. 
And  the  mistake  to  my  mind  of  metaphysicians  has 
been  to  confine  it  to  the  thinking  faculty  or  mind. 
Now,  I  am  not  quite  sure  that  the  mind,  which  we  now 
have,  necessarily  lives  again  with  the  soul.  A  silkworm 
has  one  mind  adapted  to  its  state,  a  chrysalis  another  mind, 
adapted  to  the  state  of  chrysalis,  a  butterfly  another  mind, 
adapted  to  the  state  of  butterfly — meaning  by  mind 
the  perceptions  or  ideas  of  the  living  organised  matter, 
whether  obtained  thro'  instinct  or  experience. 

Much  of  the  most  valuable  part  of  a  man's  mind 
here  may  not  be  of  the  slightest  use  to  him  hereafter. 
Raphael  has  a  mind  that  so  arranges  its  ideas  as  to 
produce  beautiful  pictures  ;  Lord  St.  Leonards,  a  mind 
to  grapple  with  an  intricate  lawsuit ;  I,  a  mind  to  write 
tolerable  novels,  and  so  forth.  But  if,  in  the  next 
world,  we  don't  make  pictures,  go  to  law,  or  write 
novels,  these  three  minds  would  have  to  be  entirely 
reconstituted,  if  they  were  to  preserve  anything  like  the 
rank  obtained  by  them  here.  And  even  the  mind  of  a 
Newton  or  a  Shakespeare,  fitted  to  problems  interesting 
to  this  world,  might  not  necessarily  have  the  faculties 
suited  to  another.  Suppose  a  silkworm  of  the  most 
admirable  intelligence  as  a  silkworm,  it  does  not  follow 
that  his  intelligence  as  a  silkworm  will  be  of  use  to  him 
as  a  butterfly.  Hence  I  think  it  may  be  that  the  New 
Testament  (which  the  more  I  look  into  and  ponder 

406 


RELIGION 

over  it,  the  more  unutterably  deep  I  find  its  truths) 
differs  so  much  from  Plato  and  the  great  philosophers 
who  make  virtue  an  intellectual  study  and  only,  there- 
fore, accessible  to  philosophers.  Christ  says  nothing 
about  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect — Christ  coming 
to  announce  a  future  world,  and  not  to  expatiate  upon 
all  that  can  civilise  this  one.  Christ,  therefore,  reduces 
His  precepts  to  two  very  simple  ones  : — "  Love  man, 
and  believe  in  God."  All  the  rest  will  follow.  And 
certainly  in  these  two  principles  we  have  the  substance 
of  that  which  we  can  suppose  the  soul  to  retain,  tho'  it 
may  not  retain  the  talents  which  paint  pictures,  write 
plays,  and  puzzle  lawyers. 

The  problem  of  consciousness,  viz.: — whether  the 
proof  of  soul  is  to  be  sought  in  the  conscious  ego,  is 
at  this  moment  a  vexed  question  with  metaphysicians. 
Browne  makes  a  great  deal  of  it.  Tissot,  a  French 
writer,  whom  I  am  now  reading,  and  who,  tho'  extremely 
learned,  seems  unacquainted  with  Browne,  says  very 
truly,  however,  that  the  soul  is  not  always  conscious. 
The  soul  has  two  states,  conscious  and  unconscious. 
Tissot  contends,  as  I  incline  to  contend,  that  soul  is  the 
living  principle.  But  he  pushes  that  doctrine  too  far, 
and  into  that  vice  of  system  which  spoils  most  French 
reasoners. 

Finally,  I  entreat  you  to  hold  fast  to  the  conviction 
of  soul  and  hereafter,  and  the  connecting  link  between 
which  is  found  in  habitual  prayer.  You  may  answer  in 
the  aphorism  of  the  last  writer  that  belief  is  involuntary, 
that  you  cannot  say  to  a  man  "  Believe  this  or  that." 
This  aphorism,  pushed  to  its  full  extent,  is  eminently 
untrue.  Aristotle  says  much  more  truly,  "  What  we 
wish  for — that  we  believe  !  " 

The  truth,  however,  as  to  belief  lies  in  this — our 
belief  is  formed  like  anything  else,  in  the  conceptions 
formed  by  our  own  studies. 

407 


FATHER  AND  SON 

If,  having  heard,  read,  or  conceived  yourself, 
plausible  objections  to  imperishable  soul,  you  there  stop, 
you  may  believe  there  is  no  soul.  But  if  you  say  "  this 
is  too  important  a  question  to  be  so  left :  how  are 
these  objections  to  be  met  ? "  and  go  on  reading, 
enquiring  and  meditating,  you  will  find  all  these 
objections  vanish.  There  is  no  objection  made  by  a 
materialist  that  has  not  been  satisfactorily  answered  by 
one  author  or  another.  And  having  thus  widened  your 
knowledge  into  the  belief  of  God,  soul  and  prayer,  then 
habitually  pray,  and  you  will  find  the  belief  enter  into 
all  your  reasoning  faculties,  and  become  an  incorporate 
part  of  your  intellect.  Now  prayer,  being  a  universal 
impulse  of  man,  is  a  truthful  one.  It  helps  him  wonder- 
fully thro'  his  destiny  in  this  life.  When  I  look  back 
to  the  times  when  I  did  not  pray,  and  compare  them 
with  the  time  in  which  I  do  pray,  I  can't  say  that  I 
find  prayer  prevents  my  sinning,  but  I  find  on  the  whole 
that  I  am  a  much  better  and  a  more  sound-thinking 
person  for  prayer,  and  decidedly  happier  for  it. 

I  would  rather,  in  order  to  get  the  habit  of  prayer, 
pray  for  the  merest  trifles,  provided  they  were  not 
sinful,  so  as  to  habituate  oneself  to  think  of  God  as  a 
living,  kindly,  powerful  friend,  who,  by  giving  the 
impulse  to  pray  to  Him,  means  that  you  should  exercise 
it  and  that  the  exercise  should  do  you  good.  Especially, 
I  recommend  the  habit  of  thanking  God  for  any  little 
piece  of  comfort,  any  blessing  that  may  seem  to  you 
small.  It  may  be  irrational  to  supplicate  for  trifles, 
but  it  can't  be  irrational  to  thank  for  any  trifle.  For 
three  days  I  have  been  nailed  in  bed  to  one  position  by 
a  kind  of  agonising  cramp  in  the  muscles — a  sort  of 
lumbago.  And  the  other  night,  growing  intolerably 
weary  of  the  same  position,  and  seeing  in  that  position 
sleep  was  hopeless,  I  began  to  amuse  myself  by  devising 
how  to  coax  a  corner  of  the  pillow  about  three  inches 

408 


RELIGION 

farther  towards  me,  so  that  I  could  get  the  balance  of 
the  whole  body  somewhat  relieved  by  a  new  position 
for  the  head.  With  great  slowness  and  caution  I  at 
last  contrived  this.  The  sense  of  relief  was  instant- 
aneous and  I  felt  I  could  then  have  a  chance  of  sleep. 
With  that  relief  there  came  a  sudden  joy,  and  in  the 
sudden  joy  I  thanked  God  !  The  moment  I  had  so 
thanked  God  there  settled  upon  me  a  train  of  thoughts, 
lulling,  soothing,  a  sense  of  security,  a  gratitude  to 
think  that  in  that  dark  lonely  night  there  was  an  ear 
I  could  address.  I  felt  my  soul !  Now  I  would  not 
have  given  up  that  capacity  of  prayer,  tho'  called  forth 
by  such  a  trifle,  for  millions. 

There — for  the  present  I  must  leave  this  vast 
subject.  .  .  . 

Lastly,  I  approach  the  subject  of  the  res  angusta 
which  peeps  out  in  your  letter.  In  the  middle  of 
January,  when  I  get  my  rents,  I  shall  beg  your  accept- 
ance of  j£ioo,  which  you  will  find  at  your  account  at 
Scotts.  Next,  talk  to  me  about  your  "  embarrass- 
ments." Do  you  still  owe  debts  ?  What  are  they  ? 
Frankly  ? 

To  sum  up  this  subject,  I  wish  you  to  have  the  fair 
enjoyments  of  your  age  and  station.  I  am  not  a  very 
good  judge  of  a  single  man's  expenses  nowadays.  I 
mean  those  that  should  give  him  a  gentleman's  margin 
for  enjoyment.  Things  are  dearer  now  than  when  I 
was  young.  But  what  I  should  wish  for  you  are  these 
— good  apartments,  reasonable  hospitality  to  friends, 
without  ostentation  indeed,  but  still  with  the  neat 
elegance  of  a  gentleman.  Dress,  of  course  (a  young 
man's  most  pleasing  luxury),  and  all  the  winter  at  least, 
a  carriage,  leaving  fair  margin  for  pocket  money.  I 
should  like  to  add  a  saddle  horse. 

Now,  can  these  be  had  with  your  income  at  Vienna  ? 
If  not,  make  your  calculations  and  let  me  see  them. 

409 


FATHER  AND  SON 

And    think    how    far    I    can    enlarge    your    means    of 
comfort,  &c. 

At  all  events,  my  dear  boy,  let  us  go  into  the 
matter  with  a  view  to  save  you  from  "embarrassments." 
I  don't  object  to  your  adding  to  your  income  by 
anonymous  writing,  but  I  would  rather  it  were  in 
prose  criticism  than  in  verse.  I  think  Tennyson  has 
owed  much  of  his  position  to  a  choiceness  and  coyness 
in  publication.  But  independently  of  that  motive,  a 
man  who  is  always  fribbling  with  a  muse  or  a  woman 
will  find  that  he  loses  power  to  get  a  hearty  child  from 
either,  and — dividing  one's  faculties  as  one  divides  a 
farm — I  would  always  let  the  land  from  which  you 
expect  your  valuable  corn  crop  lie  fallow  from  time 
to  time,  and  keep  up  the  culture  which  will  ultimately 
enrich  the  fallow  itself,  by  attention  to  the  root  crops 
on  the  other  parts  of  the  farm. — And  so  now,  adieu, 
Ever  yr.  most  afF.  father, 

E.  B.  L. 


VENTNOR,  Jan.  22,  1862. 

MY  DEAR  R. — I  must  give  but  a  short  answer  to  the 
heads  of  your  long  letter,1  being  much  pressed  for  time. 

As  to  the  most  important  part  of  your  interesting 
epistle,  the  religious,  I  am  quite  satisfied.  The  essential 
things  to  hold  to,  you  seem  to  hold  to — God,  soul, 
hereafter,  prayer,  reverence  for,  and  acceptance  of,  the 
hopes  and  ethics  of  Christianity. 

In  what  sense  you  interpret  Christianity  is  a  minor 
matter  for  a  man  who  is  not  going  to  set  himself  up  as 
a  theologian.  It  would  be  a  very  serious  matter  for 
your  peace  and  reputation  in  this  life  if  you  did. 

The  conclusion  I  myself  have  come  to  is  this — that 

1  See  Personal  and  Literary  Letters  of  Robert,  ist  Earl  of  Lytton,  vol.  i. 
p.  136. 

410 


RELIGION 

after  accepting  so  much  as  I  have  stated  above,  it  is 
best  not  to  puzzle  one's  head  further.  I  accept  the 
Church  to  which  I  belong,  because  I  think  it  immaterial 
to  me  here  and  hereafter  whether  some  of  its  tenets 
are  illogical  or  unsound,  and  because,  before  I  could 
decide  that  question,  I  must  wade  thro'  an  immense 
mass  of  learning  for  which  I  have  no  time,  and  then 
go  thro'  a  process  of  reasoning,  for  which  I  have  no 
talent.  And  when  I  have  done  all  this,  cui  bono  ?  I 
take  many  things  in  life  and  in  thought  as  settled,  or 
if  to  be  unsettled,  I  am  not  the  man  to  do  it.  It  is 
not  my  metier ;  it  does  not  belong  to  my  TO  Trpkirov 
nor  to  yours.  Browning's  Bishop  is  right  in  his  way. 
But  what  he  says  as  a  cynic  I  say  as  a  gentleman  and 
an  artist.  I  have  not  read  the  works  you  name  about 
St.  Paul,  nor  wish  to  do  so.  Scriptural  criticisms  I 
avoid  on  system.  I  have  not-  read  Strauss  and  probably 
never  shall,  nor  "  Essays  and  Reviews,"  &c. 

I  am  not  even  scientific  eno'  to  criticise  the  law  of 
gravitation,  which  I  should  like  to  do,  for  I  suspect  it 
to  have  a  hole  in  it.  My  mind  is,  therefore,  wholly 
unfitted  to  solve  such  mysteries  as  the  Trinity,  the 
Redemption,  &c.  Meanwhile,  I  take  gravitation  on 
Newton's  authority,  and  as  Newton  gave  up  a  great 
part  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  scripture,  and  decided 
on  accepting  the  Trinity,  Redemption,  &c.,  I  am  content 
to  take  his  authority  as  that  of  a  man  better  able  to 
comprehend  such  matters  than  I  am. 

Now  as  to  "  Vanini "  l — I  think  the  part  sent  very 
fine,  very  thoughtful,  full  of  grave  merits,  and  to  be 
completed-  some  day.  But  not  the  sort  of  thing  to 
suit  the  next  step  in  your  poetic  career.  My  belief  is, 
and  I  cannot  too  rudely  enforce  it,  that  you  should 
study  the  popular.  You  are  in  that  very  stage  of 
repute  that  requires  the  attempt  at  independence  from 

1  In  Chronicles  and  Characters. 
411 


FATHER  AND  SON 

critics,  by  seizing  hold  of  a  large  public.  Later  you 
can  write  for  the  few  when  you  please,  and  the  many 
will  follow  you.  But  first  get  the  many. 

As  to  the  Drama,  whatever  objection  I  see  to  it 
vanishes  before  any  strong  predilection  of  yours.  Genius 
sees  its  own  way  and  must  take  it.  The  subject  you 
suggest  I  perfectly  apprehend.  It  is  magnificent.  But 
confoundedly  difficult,  and  I  doubt  if  it  can  be  made 
popular.  .  .  . 

There  are  certain  stages  in  every  career  when  it  is 
better  to  write  a  trifle  that  charms  the  public  and 
secures  its  friendship,  than  a  grand  thing  which  the 
public  can't  understand  and  the  critics  will  depreciate. 
I  think  you  are  in  that  stage.  Not  that  I  attach  the 
slightest  importance  to  what  you  tell  me  about  the 
charge  of  plagiarism.  The  public  will  not  care  if  you 
plagiarise  or  not,  provided  you  please  them  ;  but  if  you 
don't  please  the  public,  then,  whether  for  plagiarism  or 
for  anything  else,  the  critics  have  it  their  own  way 
against  you. 

There  are  ten  years  of  an  author's  life  when  he  ought 
to  consider  critics  to  be  his  enemies.  Tennyson  and 
Dickens  have  continued  to  avoid  those  ten  years,  so 
did  Scott.  Tennyson,  I  know  not  why,  but  Dickens 
and  Scott  because  they  pleased  the  public  so  much  that 
the  critics  did  not  dare  go  against  the  public.  .  .  . 

The  reference  to  the  res  angusta  at  the  end 
of  the  long  letter  of  1861  reminds  me  that 
something  should  be  said  of  the  financial  side  of 
the  relations  between  father  and  son.  Through- 
out his  life  Lord  Lytton  had  a  hard  struggle 
to  earn  the  means  to  live  up  to  his  financial 
obligations.  With  the  exception  of  what  he 
received  from  his  estate,  which  never  did  much 

412 


MONEY  MATTERS 

more  than  pay  its  expenses,  his  income  and  his 
savings  were  entirely  the  result  of  his  own 
exertions,  and  the  labour  of  earning  taught 
him  the  value  of  money.  His  essay  on  "  The 
Management  of  Money  " l  contains  much  sound 
advice  on  the  subject,  and  the  principles  there 
laid  down  were  repeated  in  many  letters  to  his 
son.  Robert  Lytton,  whose  constant  changes 
at  short  intervals  from  one  diplomatic  post  to 
another  involved  the  sale  of  furniture  and  the 
disposal  of  leases,  generally  at  a  loss,  frequently 
found  himself  in  financial  straits,  and  was  obliged 
to  apply  to  his  father  repeatedly  for  pecuniary 
help.  These  appeals  were  not  pleasant  to  make, 
as  they  necessitated  long  personal  explanations, 
and  were  usually  answered  by  parental  lectures 
on  the  necessity  for  economy.  But,  on  the  whole, 
they  usually  met  with  a  generous  response,  and 
the  only  criticism  suggested  by  these  letters  is 
that  it  would  have  been  a  sounder  policy  if 
the  father  had  given  his  'son  a  slightly  larger 
allowance  in  place  of  the  continual  extra  doles 
with  which  it  had  to  be  supplemented. 

This  was  particularly  apparent  at  the  time 
of  Robert  Lytton's  marriage,  when  his  cost  of 
living  was  necessarily  increased.  Unfortunately, 
however,  his  father  was  at  that  time  in  some- 
what straitened  circumstances  himself.  He  had 
recently  embarked  upon  two  rather  large  specu- 
lations, namely,  the  purchase  of  Copped  Hall 
and  of  Breadalbane  House  in  Park  Lane.  Though 

1  Caxtoniana,  Knebworth  Edition 
413 


FATHER  AND  SON 

both  these  properties  were  afterwards  disposed 
of  at  a  profit,  they  absorbed  for  a  time  all  his 
available  capital,  and  diminished  his  income.  In 
a  letter  written  on  December  26,  1865,  these 
circumstances  are  explained. 

TORQUAY,  Deer.  26,  1865. 

MY  DEAREST  ROBERT — I  have  just  received  yours 
of  the  1 6th  relative  to  pecuniary  matters.  I  had  already 
written  to  you  thereon,  stating  that  your  balance  at 
Scott's  at  present  was  £100  in  your  favour,  and  that 
when  your  bill  of  the  25th  became  due,  leaving  £150 
against  you,  I  had  arranged  with  Scott  to  withdraw 
that  sum  from  your  current  account,  so  that  you  might 
draw  as  if  it  did  not  exist.  I  stated  that  the  £150  was 
withheld  till  April,  when  I  would  assist,  at  all  events, 
in  great  part.  I  now  write  to  say  that  I  will  take 
upon  me  the  whole,  so  that  you  may  consider  that 
debt  cancelled. 

I  do  not,  I  own,  gather  from  your  present  letter 
whether  that  help  is  sufficient,  or  whether  you  require 
more.  If  so,  do  not  trouble  yourself  with  particulars, 
but  state  how  much  you  want,  and  when  it  would  be 
required.  I  am  quite  aware  that  the  first  year  or  two 
of  your  marriage  must  be  a  time  of  chief  pressure,  and 
only  regret  that  it  happened  so  peculiarly  to  be  a  time 
of  rare  pressure  with  me,  and  that  not  having  been 
able  to  foresee  your  marriage,  I  had  encumbered  myself 
with  Copped  Hall  and  Breadalbane  House,  which,  tho' 
good  speculations  in  the  long  run,  were  in  the  mean- 
while very  heavy  expenses. 

I  shrink  from  alienating  more  of  my  little  capital 
than  I  can  possibly  help,  because  the  interest  derived 
from  it  is  essential  to  my  income,  and  the  capital  itself 
enables  me  to  make  ventures  that  ultimately  increase 

414 


MONEY  MATTERS 

it,  so  that  when  I  do  withdraw  it,  I  make  it  a  rule  to 
strain  every  nerve  to  replace  what  I  withdraw.  But 
if  necessary,  to  set  your  mind  quite  at  ease  on  money 
matters,  I  shall  consider  it  a  pleasure  to  sell  out  for 
a  time.  .  .  . 

This  aspect  of  their  relations  can  perhaps  be 
summed  up  best  in  the  words  of  another  of  the 
father's  letters  : — 

It  gives  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  comply  with 
your  request,  and  I  enclose  the  cheque.  I  need  not 
say  there  can  be  no  loans  between  you  and  me,  and 
you  will  accept  the  sum  as  a  birthday  present.  I  am 
indeed  peculiarly  fortunate  in  having  a  son  who,  in 
his  pecuniary  relations  with  myself,  has  always  shown 
the  greatest  delicacy,  and  who,  when  perhaps  a  little 
heedlessly  overstepping  his  income,  has  the  talent  and 
the  manliness  to  make  up  deficiencies  by  his  own 
exertions.  Both  these  considerations  heighten  my 
natural  pleasure  in  -meeting  any  wish  of  yours.  .  .  . 

I  conclude  this  chapter  by  a  quotation  from  a 
letter  written  in  1865,  which  bears  in  a  general 
way  upon  the  subject  of  the  chapter  itself  :— 

I  don't  quite  agree  with  what  you  say  very 
eloquently,  that  the  parent  owes  greater  duties  to  the 
child  than  the  child  to  the  parent,  because  the  parent 
has  summoned  the  child  into  being.  In  the  ist  place, 
I  presume  that  sound  philosophy  will  allow  us  to 
suppose  that,  on  the  whole,  the  Supreme  Being  is 
benevolent,  and  that  a  state  of  being  is  therefore,  on 
the  whole,  and  under  general  circumstances,  rather 
good  than  bad,  better  than  nullity.  If  so,  the  child 
has  no  right  to  be  angry  or  ungrateful  that  it  was 

415 


FATHER  AND  SON 

brought  into  a  state  of  being  according  to  the  laws  of 
Nature.  If,  indeed,  you  dispute  the  premises,  and  say 
the  Deity  is  not  benevolent,  and  it  is  better  not  to  be 
than  be,  all  duties  on  every  side  cease  for  want  of  an 
arbitrator — that  arbitrator  is  a  God. 

But  I  don't  think  the  case  of  relative  duties  rests  on 
the  coming  into  the  world,  but  on  the  pains  and  care 
that  every  parent  more  or  less  bestows  on  a  child. 
And  I  do  not  think  that  children,  in  general,  ever  in 
any  way  requite  these,  nor,  according  to  modern 
civilisation,  can  they  well  do  so.  On  the  broad  fact,  it 
is  eno'  to  observe  that  every  known  nation  above  the 
savage  has  recognised  as  a  cardinal  law  of  piety  the 
reverence  due  to  parents  from  children,  and  said  very 
little  about  the  duties  parents  owe  to  children.  And 
for  a  very  good  reason — Nature  takes  care  that  parents 
in  general  amply  discharge  all  these  elementary  duties 
to  children.  But  it  requires  a  higher  principle  than 
brute  Nature  to  make  children  do  their  duty  to  parents, 
and  any  philosophy  that  should  weaken  by  questioning 
that  principle  would  be  demoniacal. 

Many  of  Lord  Lytton's  letters  to  his  son  in 
later  years  bear  on  the  same  points,  but  those 
already  quoted  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter,  which  is  to  show  how, 
through  many  vicissitudes  and  misunderstandings, 
and  in  spite  of  many  errors  on  the  father's  side, 
there  was  gradually  established  between  these 
two  men  an  intimate  relationship,  precious  alike 
to  the  father  and  the  son. 


416 


CHAPTER  II 

OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 


Nothing  more  conduces  to  liberality  of  judgment  than  facile  intercourse 
with  various  minds. 

Caxtoniana. 

IN  Lord  Lytton's  correspondence  with  his  son, 
and  also  in  letters  to  friends  written  at  different 
times  of  his  life,  are  to  be  found  opinions  upon 
various  authors  and  their  books,  which  provide 
a  general  indication  of  his  tastes  in  literature. 
They  are  for  the  most  part  hastily  expressed  and 
with  greater  frankness  than  he  would  have 
permitted  himself  had  they  been  intended  for 
publication  ;  but  for  that  very  reason  they  possess 
a  special  interest.  In  order  to  interrupt  as  little 
as  possible  the  chronological  narrative  of  his 
active  life,  I  have  reserved  some  of  these  letters 
for  treatment  in  a  separate  chapter,  where  they 
may  be  studied  not  as  considered  judgments,  but 
as  indications  of  the  tendency  of  his  reflective 
opinions. 

Lord  Lytton  was  throughout  his  life  a 
constant  and  extensive  reader.  From  earliest 
childhood  he  devoured  eagerly  whatever  books 

VOL.  II  417  2  E 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

he  could  obtain,  and  even  in  the  years  when  he 
was  most  busily  engaged  in  original  composition 
he  always  found  time  for  reading.  Some  of  his 
novels,  of  course,  especially  the  historical  ones, 
necessitated  a  vast  amount  of  research,  but  apart 
from  special  study  of  this  kind,  he  was  regularly 
engaged  in  some  course  of  serious  reading.  It 
was  his  method  of  "  taking  in  coals,"  and  it  kept 
his  mind  constantly  supplied  with  fresh  ideas. 
With  the  great  classical  writers  in  Latin, 
Greek,  English,  French,  German,  and  Italian, 
he  had  an  intimate  acquaintance  and  for  most 
of  them  an  unstinted  admiration.  In  the  field 
of  purely  imaginative  literature,  whether  in 
prose  or  verse,  his  taste,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  character  of  his  own  writings, 
was  governed  to  a  great  extent  by  his  love  of 
the  romantic. 

From  the  days  when  as  a  boy  of  eight  he 
was  first  captivated  by  Southey's  translation  of 
Amadis  of  Gaul,  and  Spenser's  Faery  Queen, 
found  among  his  grandfather's  books,  to  the  end 
of  his  life  his  inclination  was  always  towards  the 
description  of  human  actions  or  human  passions. 
In  poetry  especially  he  was  impatient  of  all 
authors  whose  chief  characteristic  was  either 
delicacy  of  humour  or  beauty  of  diction. 

His  appreciation  of  Schiller  and  Horace  is,  of 
course,  known  to  every  one  from  his  own 
translations  of  these  authors  and  his  published 
opinions  of  their  works.  Other  writers  who 
appear  from  his  letters  to  have  been  special 

418 


CHAUCER 

favourites  are  Homer,  Virgil,  Goethe,  Chaucer, 
Pope,  Coleridge,  Scott,  and  Byron. 

On  Chaucer  he  writes  to  his  son  in  1860  : — 

....  I  carried  down  with  me  to  Richmond  for  a 
day  or  two,  a  new  edition  of  Chaucer  in  his  original 
shape,  but  with  a  convenient  glossary,  and  I  am  amazed 
at  his  wonderful  accuracy  of  rhythm  ;  according  to  his 
own  accentuation,  there  are  as  few  lines  with  a  de- 
fective foot  as  there  are  in  Dryden.  His  metre, 
too,  is  extremely  artful.  As  a  general  rule,  he  always 
has  his  stop  at  the  end  of  a  couplet,  does  not  break 
into  verses  as  blank  verse  does.  But  he  makes  his 
pause  of  the  ultimate  sense,  by  a  preference  so  marked 
that  he  must  have  arrived  at  it  by  a  rule  of  art,  at  the 
end  of  a  first  line  ;  cantering  on  with  wonderful  ease 
and  vigour  thro'  the  couplets,  and  then  unexpectedly 
pulling  up  with  a  full  stop  at  the  end  of  a  first  line. 
The  effect  of  this  is  both  surprise,  and  with  him  it  is 
music  ;  the  relief  from  the  rhyme  has  a  melody,  and  I 
only  regret  that  I  had  not  studied  his  rhythm  when  I 
was  young,  for  I  think  I  could  then  have  formed  on  it 
one  that  would  have  escaped  the  Pope  sameness,  and 
yet  been  as  correct  and  smooth  in  its  cadence,  and 
would  have  had  the  charm  of  originality  tho'  old. 

The  allusion  to  Geomancy  that  we  read  in  Dryden' s 
Palamon  and  Artite  is  in  Chaucer — Puella  and  Rubeus 
in  the  temple  of  Mars.  But  he  makes  a  mistake — 
Puer  is  the  sign  of  Mars,  Puella  is  the  sign  of  Venus 
direct.  As  Chaucer  borrows  from  the  Thebaids  of 
Boccacio,  I  suppose  the  geomantic  allusion  is  there. 
The  whole  of  that  fine  description  of  the  temple  of 
Mars  is  in  the  poem  of  Boccacio,  and  he  borrowed  it 
from  Statius.  What  next  surprised  me  in  Chaucer  was 
his  extreme  civilisation  of  thought — what  he  says,  a 
modern  dandy  might  say.  3rdly,  I  was  surprised  at 

419 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

the  remarkable  degree  of  opulence  and  elegance  that  he 
gives  to  small  traders,  carpenters  and  millers.  He 
represents  their  wives  as  dressed  in  silks,  &c.  I  suspect 
the  lower  part  of  the  middle  class  was  better  off  then 
than  it  is  now.  When  we  meet — I  hope  some  day  at 
Knebworth — I  anticipate  much  pleasure  in  looking  over 
Chaucer  together  under  the  old  hereditary  trees.  .  .  . 

His  opinion  of  Coleridge  is  fully  set  forth  in 
a  Quarterly  article  on  Charles  Lamb  and  some  of 
his  Companion  (1867),  and  the  following  letters 
are  also  interesting  on  the  same  subject  :— 

To  his  Son  in  1863. 

....  Did  I  tell  you  that  I  went  thro'  the  2 1  vols. 
of  Coleridge  before  I  left  Knebworth,  allured  to  it  by 
my  admiration  of  The  Ancient  Mariner  ? 

He  seems  to  me  to  have  had  by  far  the  largest  mind 
of  his  age.  Scott  and  Byron  as  minds  look  thin  and 
narrow  beside  his.  He  is  singularly  creative  as  a  poet. 
But  unluckily  he  rather  creates  other  poets  than 
completes  his  own  poems.  All  the  germs  of  the  poetry 
that  blossomed  after  him  seem  to  me  in  his  verse.  We 
must  remember  that  Christabel  preceded  The  Lay  of 
the  Last  Minstrel,  The  Siege  of  Corinth,  &c.,  and  in 
Christabel  is  their  originating  idea.  A  wonderful 
embryo  it  is,  but  nothing  more  than  an  embryo. 
Again,  in  his  meditative  verse  (which  I  take  last)  is  the 
germ  of  the  new  reflective  school  in  all  its  varieties.  In 
his  combination  of  metaphysics  and  theology  we  have 
all  the  movement  of  the  High  Church.  In  short, 
wherever  the  leviathan  moves  either  his  head  or  his 
tail,  there  is  "  a  stir  "  in  the  ocean  felt  miles  and  leagues 
off.  But  he  wants  many  of  the  elements  of  a  first-rate 
thinker — chiefly,  he  wants  the  practical  or  popular 

420 


COLERIDGE 

element.  His  taste,  too,  is  defective.  He  has  no 
sense  of  proportion.  He  elaborates  his  small  beauties 
to  the  neglect  of  great  ones,  which  has  been,  I  think, 
the  fault  of  the  last  new  schools  altogether.  And  like 
Shelley,  his  genius  can  but  make  fragments,  but  he 
makes  grander  fragments  than  Shelley,  and  his 
fragments  are  fairer  representations  of  the  great  whole. 
After  reading  him,  like  a  small  serpent  who  has 
munched  up  a  great  bull,  horns  and  all,  I  remain  in  a 
state  of  torpor  and  can  read  nothing  ;  it  will  take  me 
a  year,  I  suppose,  to  digest  my  bull.  .  .  . 

To  Mrs.  Halliday,  1872. 

I  am  much  pleased  to  hear  you  like  what  I  said  about 
Coleridge.  He  is  not  done  justice  to,  but  I  think  he 
was  the  most  remarkable  mind  of  our  century,  combining 
the  most  original  imagination  with  the  most  cultured 
intelligence.  No  doubt  he  wants  a  something  necessary 
to  the  reaching  of  the  universal  heart  or  understanding, 
the  something  which  Goethe  praises  in  Schiller  as  "  the 
practical." 

What  I  wrote  on  Gray  is  a  great  many  years  ago, 
and  I  fancy  now  that  I  was  not  quite  just  to  him.  .  .  . 

The  following  opinions  expressed  in  various 
letters  throw  further  light  on  his  preferences 
among  classical  authors  : — 

To  John  Forster  (undated,  but  about  1850). 

...  I  have  been  reading  with  attention  Voltaire's 
tragedies,  and  am  greatly  struck  with  his  dramatic 
power.  In  the  great  element  of  the  drama,  conduct 
of  the  plot,  with  its  accessory,  suspense,  he  seems  to 
me  unrivalled.  He  also  seems  thoroughly  master  of 

421 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

the  great  secret  of  uniting  domestic  interest  with  grand 
subjects.  The  balance  between  relations,  brother  and 
brother,  parent  and  child,  parent,  wife  and  child,  he 
uses  with  admirable  invention  and  exquisite  skill.  This 
is  very  apparent  in  one  of  his  worst  tragedies,  Catiline. 
He  has  continued  to  give  great  domestic  interest  and 
passionate  vigour  to  this  subject,  which  is  certainly  not 
dramatic  in  itself;  and  his  immense  superiority  over 
Ben  Jonson  in  the  dramatic  construction  is  startling. 
Certainly,  he  seems  the  greatest  dramatist  France  has 
ever  known  from  Corneille  to  Hugo,  tho'  in  merits 
detached  from  the  dramatic  art,  he  is  often  excelled 
by  others.  He  is  worth  re-reading  if  you  have  leisure 
to  do  so,  and  will,  of  course,  make  allowance  for  his 
frenchness — that  indescribable  fault  which  prevents 
all  his  countrymen  from  understanding  any  national 
characters  but  their  own — equally  striking  in  Voltaire's 
Cassandre  and  Hugo's  Ruy  Bias.  I  have  also  been 
reading  an  Italian  philosopher,  whom  a  French  school, 
including  Michelet,  try  to  elevate  into  a  great  thinker 
— Vico — and  I  am  amused  to  see  what  ideals  the 
spirit  of  party  can  set  up.  His  leading  idea  is  to 
prove  Catholicism  the  grand  development,  the  flower 
and  crown  of  the  stem  of  human  history  ;  and  his  super- 
ficiality is  as  remarkable  as  his  prejudices.  Of  the 
latter  there  is  an  entertaining  example  in  his  life. 
Grotius  had  produced  a  very  great  effect  upon  him, 
and  he  had  thought  of  writing  a  comment  on  him, 
when  it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  be  a  sin  in  a 
good  Christian  "  to  ornament  a  heretic  "  ! 

To  his  Son,  1859. 

...  I  incline  to  think  Johnson  the  greatest  writer 
in  the  language  next  to  the  poets  and  the  philosophers 
— that  is,  there  is  no  English  writer  in  belles  lettres 

422 


JOHNSON  AND  TASSO 

that  equals  his  union  of  intellect,  learning,  and  form. 
The  style  of  the  Lives  is  very  superior  to  Macaulay's  ; 
Macaulay  founded  his  style  on  that  of  the  Lives,  but, 
with  more  simplicity  and  better  English,  never  ap- 
proaches to  the  same  high  grade  in  beauties.  Johnson 
says  finer  things  in  a  finer  way.  His  grammar  is  often 
incorrect — to  my  surprise.  But  I  know  not  any  English 
writer  whose  grammar  is  perfect — curious  ;  every  good 
French  writer  seems  to  write  good  grammar  as  a  thing 
of  course.  Macaulay  makes  fewer  slips  than  any  I 
can  remember,  but  the  niceties  and  elegancies  of  English 
construction  and  style  are  little  known  to  him.  .  .  . 

To  the  same,  1861. 

...  I  don't  wonder  that  you  admire  Ariosto's  gusto, 
but  he  is  not  a  complete  whole — he  is  desultory  and 
fragmentary.  Whoever  read  what  remains  of  him  thro'  ? 
Not  so  Tasso.  Tasso  has  the  art  of  construction,  of 
design,  of  completeness  ;  the  best  constructor  in  verse, 
I  think,  between  Homer  and  Walter  Scott.  But  I 
allow  to  you  that  he  is  often  feeble,  has  few  great  bursts, 
no  vast  depths,  and  is  sometimes  tag  \sic\.  But  all  this 
may  be  said  of  Virgil ;  and  he  is  a  better  story  teller 
than  Virgil.  In  fine,  he  is  the  culminating  flower  of  the 
chivalrous  troubadour  spirit — love  and  sentiment,  and 
fighting  and  religion.  His  finest  passages,  to  my  mind, 
are  the  descriptions  of  his  good  enchanter.  But  every- 
where, what  musical  lines,  and  what  lovely  bits  of 
tenderness  and  grace  !  .  .  . 

To  the  same,  1871. 

.  .  .  What  a  wonderful  book  Gibbon's  is.  After 
all,  there  is  something  grand  in  the  elaborate  rhythmical 
prose  style  of  the  last  century,  both  in  France  and 

423 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

England.  Gibbon,  Johnson,  Junius,  and  in  his  own 
way,  Goldsmith,  whose  sentences  abound  in  careful 
music.  And  in  France  Buffon,  Volney,  Rousseau  and 
the  French  Goldsmith,  St.  Pierre.  Strange  that  gener- 
ally in  the  history  of  literature  in  the  age  in  which  the 
poetry  inclines  towards  the  mechanism  and  form  of 
prose,  and  does  not  cultivate  "  expression,"  the  prose 
inclines  towards  poetry  and  is  rich  in  "expression." 
The  last  century  is  remarkable  for  this  in  France  and 
England,  and  we  observe  it  in  the  difference  between 
Greek  and  Latin  forms.  The  Greek  prose  is  generally 
very  slovenly  and  often  thoroughly  ungrammatical, 
while  the  poetry  is  super-poetical  in  "expression." 
And  the  Latin  prose  is  so  measured  and  rhythmical, 
so  artistic  and  so  bold,  compared  with  its  verse.  Cicero 
seems  to  me  the  great  poet  of  the  Latins  as  Rousseau 
is  of  the  French  ;  they  both  satisfy  the  poetic  something 
in  men's  souls  and  men's  ears  more  than  their  con- 
temporary versifiers  do.  ... 


To  Mrs.  Halliday, 

...  I  fully  subscribe  to  your  admiration  of  Michael 
Angelo.  The  loftiness  of  his  character  is  in  harmony 
with  the  grandeur  of  his  works  ;  and  few  indeed  have 
ever  been  at  once  so  high  and  so  wide  in  genius.  He 
seems  to  embrace  the  whole  realm  of  Art  in  painting, 
sculpture,  architecture,  and  to  touch  the  height  of 
achievement  in  the  first  two,  and  almost  in  the  third. 
That  a  man  in  labours  so  great  should  also  be  a 
poet  at  all,  would  seem  a  rare  phenomenon  to  those 
who  do  not  understand  the  truth  that  the  poetic  tempera- 
ment and  even  the  poetic  faculty,  to  some  degree,  is 
essential  to  the  full  development  of  all  genius  in  arts 
that  have  affinity  to  poetry  —  even  the  art  of  oratory. 
I  should  doubt  if  there  ever  existed  any  great  orator 

424 


THE  MODERN  SCHOOL 

who  had  not  at  one  time  or  other  written  poetry,  tho' 
not  of  the  higher  order  which  necessitates  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  whole  intellect,  imagination  and  study  of 
the  man — at  least  while  he  "  dons  his  singing  robes." 
Bolingbroke,  Chatham,  Pitt,  Fox,  Sheridan,  Canning, 
Macaulay,  all  wrote  verses.  M.  Angelo's  sonnets  are 
full  of  a  grace  not  often  found  in  his  sculpture  or 
painting.  But  it  is  easy  to  see  that  while  his  genius 
and  personal  character  were  austere,  he  had  in  his 
composition  wonderful  veins  of  tenderness  and  sweet- 
ness. .  .  . 

Racine  is  nearly  read  through,  and  I  am  glad  to  owe 
to  you  the  great  pleasure  of  re-perusing  at  leisure  and 
with  mature  judgment  a  writer  so  illustrious.  The  re- 
perusal  has  confirmed  my  former  opinion  that  Racine 
is  very  inferior  to  Corneille  in  the  grander  elements  of 
art  ;  but  that  he  is  nevertheless  a  very  great  tragic 
writer,  and  has  a  wonderful  gift  of  telling  his  story,  of 
contriving  his  plot,  and  of  inventing  dramatic  positions. 
I  think  him  greater  as  a  dramatist  than  as  a  poet ;  his 
Athalie^  in  especial,  is  a  very  fine  poem,  despite  a 
certain  poverty  of  expression  in  the  choruses.  .  .  . 

Of  later  writers  Lord  Lytton's  opinions  were 
curiously  captious.  His  taste  made  him  incap- 
able of  appreciating  some  of  the  best  works  in 
English  literature,  which  belonged  to  what  he 
called  "  the  modern  school " — the  chief  fault  of 
which  he  repeatedly  described  as  overstudy  of 
expression.  In  early  life  he  could  see  nothing 
in  Jane  Austen  but  "  village  gossips  ;  "  in  Keats 
and  Shelley  nothing  but  "  verbal  conceits  "  and 
"  filigree  of  expression."  These  opinions,  how- 
ever, were  somewhat  modified  in  later  life,  and 
writing  to  Mrs.  Halliday  in  1871  and  1872,  he 

425 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

corrects  the  impatience  with  these  writers  ex- 
pressed in  his  earlier  letters.  "  Yes,"  he  says 
in  one  letter,  "  I  admire  Miss  Austen  immensely 
so  far  as  she  goes.  But  I  don't  think  she  is  more 
than  a  half-sovereign  of  purest  gold  and  clearest 
mintage,  as  compared  to  a  whole  sovereign." 
Of  Keats  he  says  in  another  letter  : — 

I  return  the  Keats,  and  again  thank  you  for  the 
pleasure  I  have  had  (than  which  I  know  few  greater) 
of  revising  in  maturer  judgment  an  illiberal  estimate 
of  a  transcendant  genius,  formed  in  earlier  years  when 
one  has  not  learned  to  have  charity  in  taste. 

I  have  ventured  (in  fact,  I  could  not  resist  it)  to 
note  down  in  pencil  on  the  margins  (easily  rubbed  out) 
some  critical  remarks  of  blame  or  praise.  But  were 
the  occasions  for  blame  infinitely  more  numerous  and 
more  grave  than  I  have  found  them,  the  impression 
left  on  my  mind  would  be  the  same,  viz.  : — that  I  have 
been  in  company  with  one  who  overflows  with  the 
essences  of  poetry  in  imagination  and  diction  ;  and,  to 
judge  by  the  Hyperion ,  he  might,  if  spared,  have  com- 
posed poems  to  which  I  accord  the  name  of  "  great." 
I  accord  that  name  very  sparingly.  But  it  is  impossible 
to  predict  a  future  from  performances  of  a  genius  not 
wholly  completed.  I  think,  for  instance,  that  in  earlier 
years  Coleridge  gave  promise  of  an  ascendancy  in  poetry 
which  he  failed  to  attain.  But  he  originated  in  other 
minds  the  ideas  he  never  carried  out  himself.  Still, 
with  all  my  admiration  for  Keats,  I  think  his  influence 
on  later  poets  has  been  unfortunate,  and  that  we  owe 
to  it  the  effeminate  attention  to  wording  and  expression 
and  efflorescent  description  which  characterise  the  poetry 
now  in  vogue.  I  will  not  enter  into  the  irritating  differ- 
ences of  taste  which  are  involved  in  discussing  the 

426 


KEATS 

elements  of  poetry  really  great,  as  distinct  from  those 
of  the  poetry  that,  however  it  be  lauded,  is  incessantly 
small,  its  very  beauties  being  those  in  which  small 
poetry  abounds  and  great  poetry  adopts  very  sparely 
and  expresses  very  tersely. 

I  entirely  agree  with  Hegel  in  ranking  "  descriptive 
poetry,"  viz.  : — description  of  inanimate  Nature,  or 
even  of  brute  Nature,  in  the  last  degree  of  genuine 
poetry.  Of  course,  great  poets  in  great  poems  resort 
to  it  at  times,  and  must  do  so,  but  in  great  poems  it  is 
very  briefly  expressed  and  very  much  generalised. 
There  is  no  going  into  minute  details.  When  you 
speak  of  leading  from  Nature  up  to  Nature's  God,  I 
agree  with  you  if  you  speak  of  man  as  included  in  the 
word  Nature,  not  otherwise.  I  think  that  great  poetry 
deals  with  the  thoughts  and  passions  and  destinies  of 
man,  and  thro'  man  arrives  at  Nature's  God  ;  and  I 
believe  that  this  is  the  ladder  by  which  all  great  poetry 
ascends  to  the  Most  High. 

Connect  Marathon  and  Thermopylae  with  the  men 
who  give  interest  to  the  places,  and  the  flat  and  the  defile 
assume  dignity  which  is  denied  to  Mount  Skiddaw  or  the 
river  Dove.  But  then  a  great  poet  would  very  briefly 
give  the  picture  of  the  localities,  even  of  Thermopylas 
and  Marathon,  and  only  as  the  "  painted  scene  "  to  the 
human  actions  which  shed  glory  on  the  places. 

Now  the  reason  why  I  rank  Pope  high  (tho'  of 
course,  not  among  the  highest)  is  that  he  does  deal 
with  man  and  not  with  daffodillies,  and  "  patient  asses." 
The  range  of  humanity  he  comprehends  is  not  large,  it 
is  true,  but  it  is  wonderfully  well  scanned,  and  what  he 
did  do  he  completed  so  thoroughly  and  so  artistically 
that  all  Europe  cannot  find  his  equal  in  it.  To  improve 
on  Pope  in  his  own  way  is  impossible,  even  in  the  mere 
rhythm  of  his  couplet — own  how  deplorably  bad  all 
attempts  to  break  it  up,  and  run  it  on  like  blank  verse 

427 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

(as  in  Endymion  and  elsewhere)  are.  But  far  beyond 
the  unimprovable  symmetry  of  his  form,  is  his 
mastery  over  the  great  components  of  civilised  life  in 
capitals.  There,  in  the  height  and  breadth  of  his 
satire  and  his  philosophical  mode  of  sentiment,  he  has 
no  English  equal,  and  elsewhere,  only  one  superior  — 
Moliere,  unless,  indeed,  we  say  Horace  ;  but  tho'  his 
epistles  and  satires  are  paraphrases  from  Horace,  they  are 
to  my  mind,  great  improvements  on  the  original.  Of 
course,  he  is  not  up  to  the  standard  of  Horace  altogether, 
because  Horace  is  a  great  lyrical  poet,  and  lyrical 
poetry  is  in  itself  a  much  higher  grade  than  any  in 
which  Pope  takes  his  immoveable  stand.  .  .  . 

To  his  son  he  also  writes  about  the  same 
time  :  — 

Did  I  tell  you  that  I  have  reperused  all  Keats  this 
winter  —  perfectly  astounded  by  the  luxuriance  of  his 
purely  poetic  fancy  ;  but  he  wants  what  is  essential  to 
the  highest  order  of  poet  —  the  prose  side  of  the  poet. 
However,  he  is  a  prodigy.  Pity  that  he  could  not 
help  founding  a  villainous  school,  different  there  from 
Coleridge,  who  began  all  the  modern  modes  of  poetic  ex- 
pression and  founded  vigorous  schools  in  Scott  and  Byron. 

Among  French  writers  it  is  curious  that 
while  he  had  unbounded  admiration  for  Lamartine, 
he  did  not  appreciate  Victor  Hugo,  a  writer  with 
whom  he  might  be  expected  to  have  great 
sympathy  :  — 


To  his  Son, 

Pray,  have  you  read  Alfred  de  Musset  ?  I  am 
reading  him  —  a  real  poet,  much  more  nature  and  fire 
than  Tennyson,  but  occasionally  maudlin  and  amatorily 
extravagant.  His  form  is  charming  and  rather  Horatian 

428 


VICTOR  HUGO 

than  French.  Have  you  read  also  Marie  by  Brieux  ? 1 
If  not,  pray  get  it ;  read  attentively,  and  tell  me  what 
you  think.  I  did  not  conceive  French  poetry  could  be 
so  naive.  A  thorough  poet — not  great,  but  as  great  as 
Goldsmith,  and  a  study. 

Hugo  is  a  great  monstrum  indeed  and  informe,  but 
still  ingens. 

I  never  read  a  worse  book  than  Les  Miserables  by  a 
man  of  genius  (as  far  as  I  have  gone — vol.  8).  But 
still  it  is  not  the  bad  writing  of  a  Frankenstein,  but 
of  the  colossal  creature  Frankenstein  made,  reminding 
me  of  that  vast  wretch  by  its  junction  of  all  the  worst 
members  of  the  Sues  and  Dumas,  &c. — as  Frankenstein's 
giant  was  made  out  of  bones  and  fibres  stolen  from 
graves,  but  the  whole  meant  to  be  larger  and  grander 
than  humanity  and  becoming  hideous,  yet  with  the 
hideousness  of  a  tremendous  genius.  .  .  . 

In  another  letter  in  1869,  he  says  : — 

.  .  .  Have  you  read  L'Homme  qui  rit  ?  Judging 
by  the  extracts,  I  shall  not  attempt  the  hideous  pain  of 
a  perusal.  I  begin  to  doubt  whether  V.  Hugo  ever 
did  write  well.  I  daresay  none  of  his  works  will  bear 
a  second  reading,  at  least,  so  as  to  endure  comparison 
with  any  classical  work,  even  by  a  third-rate  genius. 
I  fancy  one  was  duped  at  first  by  his  spasms  and  gasps 
and  jerks  into  a  belief  that  he  had  at  least  prodigious 
vigour,  whereas  I  suspect  he  was  but  an  epileptic  dwarf 
in  a  state  of  galvanism.  The  dramas  are  really  vulgar 
and  improbable  tales  set  into  strained  versification  ;  and 
even  the  romance  of  Notre  Dame  is  essentially  full  of 
untruths  in  character  and  art,  with  the  exception  of 
Cap.  Phoebus,  and  any  ordinary  novelist  might  have 
created  him.  But  authors  nowadays  seem  like  spoiled 

1  Julien  Auguste  Pelage  Brieux  (1803-1858),  the  Breton  poet.  His 
novel  in  verse,  Marie,  appeared  in  1836. 

429 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

babies,  and  the  more  they  kick  and  scream,  the  more 
they  get  their  own  way. 

Of  his  English  contemporaries  Lord  Lytton's 
judgment  was  no  doubt  influenced  to  a  certain 
extent  by  personal  considerations.  For  Dickens, 
a  close  personal  friend,  he  entertained  the  highest 
admiration,  whilst  of  Thackeray,  who  for  many 
years  was  associated  with  the  group  that  attacked 
him  unsparingly  in  Frasers  Magazine,  his  opinion 
was  almost  wholly  adverse. 

In  poetry  the  modern  school  was  entirely  dis- 
tasteful to  him.  Though  his  letters  to  his  son 
abound  in  generous  praise  of  many  of  his  (Robert 
Lytton's)  poems,  he  is  for  ever  complaining  of  the 
influence  of  the  poetry  of  the  day.  Two  great 
contemporaries  in  particular,  Browning  and 
Tennyson,  he  was  quite  unable  to  appreciate. 
Browning  he  respected  as  his  son's  friend,  but 
could  not  share  the  latter's  enthusiasm  for  his 
genius,  as  will  be  apparent  from  letters  quoted  in 
the  last  chapter.  His  opinion  of  Tennyson  has 
already  been  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
publication  of  The  New  Timon,  and  this  opinion 
does  not  appear  ever  to  have  been  modified.  In 
1864  he  speaks  of  him  as  "a  poet  adapted  to  a 
mixed  audience  of  school-girls  and  Oxford  dons  ; " 
and  his  last  opinion,  recorded  in  1 87 1 ,  is  in  much 
the  same  strain.  Writing  to  Mrs.  Halliday,  he 
says  : — 

I  agree  with  you  entirely  in  admiring  the  music  in 
certain  of  Tennyson's  lines.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  admire 

43° 


TENNYSON 

it  in  sustainment  to  any  great  length.  I  admire  also 
many  felicities  in  expression,  in  despite  of  many  vulgarities 
and  conceits  which  his  hunt  after  such  prettiness  often 
incurs.  But  to  my  mind  he  has  in  him  less  of  the  masculine 
quality  than  any  English  poet  of  repute.  I  can  scarcely 
understand  how  any  man  could  reconcile  himself  to 
dwarf  such  mythical  characters  as  Arthur,  Lancelot  and 
Merlin,  into  a  whimpering  old  gentleman,  a  frenchified 
household  traitor  and  a  drivelling  dotard.  Neither  can 
1  admire  Enoch  Arden^  the  subject  of  which  has  been 
used  up  in  so  many  novels,  and  which,  at  the  best,  is  in 
the  false  sentiment  of  Kotzebue. 

Still,  I  am  not  a  fair  judge  of  any  contempor- 
aneous poetry.  I  despair  of  fellow-feeling  with  an 
age  which  says  Pope  is  no  poet  and  Rossetti  is  a 
great  one. 

I  quote  these  opinions  as  illustrative  of  certain 
limitations  in  Lord  Lytton's  literary  taste,  and  as 
having,  for  that  reason,  a  biographical  interest. 
Tennyson's  place  in  English  literature  is  now  so 
well  established,  that  lovers  of  his  poetry  should 
have  no  cause  to  resent  the  publication  of  these 
criticisms. 

Of  one  young  poet  of  his  own  day,  Algernon 
Swinburne,  Lord  Lytton  had  a  rather  unexpected 
appreciation.  He  probably  became  acquainted 
with  Swinburne's  poetry  through  the  medium  of 
their  common  friend,  Monckton  Milnes.  Atalanta 
In  Calydon  was  published  in  April  1865,  and 
Milnes,  who  was  anxiously  spreading  Swinburne's 
reputation  among  his  literary  friends,  may  have 
sent  Lord  Lytton  a  copy.  A  letter  of  apprecia- 
tion accompanied  by  a  copy  of  The  Lost  Tales  of 

431 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

Miletus^  in  January  1866,  elicited  the  following 
acknowledgment  from  Swinburne  : — 

HOLM  WOOD, 

SHIPLAKE,  HENLEY-ON-THAMES, 
Jan.  17,  1866. 

SIR — I  should  have  written  before  to  thank  you  for 
a  double  kindness,  had  your  book  and  letter  been  sooner 
sent  on  to  my  present  address.  As  it  is,  you  will  no 
doubt  understand  how  difficult  I  feel  it  to  express  my 
thanks  for  your  gift,  and  for  the  letter,  to  me  even  more 
valuable,  which  accompanied  it.  To  receive  from 
your  hands  a  book  which  I  had  only  waited  to  read 
till  I  should  have  time  to  enjoy  it  at  ease  as  a  pleasure 
long  expected,  and  deferred  for  a  little  (on  the  principle 
of  children  and  philosophers),  was,  I  should  have 
thought  till  now,  gratification  enough  for  once  ;  but 
you  contrived  at  the  same  time  to  confer  a  greater 
pleasure — the  knowledge  that  my  first  work,  written 
since  mere  boyhood,  had  obtained  your  approval.  Of 
the  enjoyment  and  admiration  with  which  I  have  read 
your  book,  I  need  not  say  anything.  Pleasure  such  as 
this  you  have  given  to  too  many  thousands  to  care  to 
receive  the  acknowledgment  of  one.  Such  thanks  as 
these  I  have  owed  you,  in  common  with  all  others  of 
my  age,  since  I  first  read  your  works  as  a  child  ;  the 
other  obligation  is  my  own,  and  prized  accordingly  as  a 
private  debt,  impossible  to  pay,  and  from  which  I  would 
not  be  relieved. — Believe  me,  Yours  very  sincerely, 

A.  C.  SWINBURNE. 

Though  Chastelard  (published  in  December, 
1865)  was  literally  Swinburne's  "first  work 
written  since  mere  boyhood,"  Atalanta  was  the 
first  published,  and  this  was  evidently  the  book 

432 


SWINBURNE 

referred  to,  because  Lord  Lytton  wrote   to  his 
son  on  February  13,  1866  : — 

Have  you  read  Swinburne's  Poems  ?  I  have  only 
read  the  Atalanta,  which  I  think  promising  and 
vigorous.  But  he  has  a  good  deal  to  unlearn,  in 
order  to  attain  simplicity  and  calm,  which  are  quite 
compatible  with  fire  of  style.  There  is  more  fire  in 
a  tranquil  summer  sun  than  in  the  conflagration  of  a 
frightened  village. 

A  little  later  he  writes  again,  in  answer  to 
some  criticism  of  his  son  : — 

What  you  say  about  your  dislike  to  moral  purpose  in 
poetry  (referring  to  Swinburne)  seems  to  me  questionable. 
I  grant  that  in  lyrical  poetry  there  should  be  the  free 
song  of  the  bard,  and  your  remark  chiefly  applies  to 
lyrical  poetry.  Yet  in  jnuch  of  the  best  lyrical  poetry, 
there  is  a  latent  moral  purpose.  The  first  six  odes, 
book  iii.  Horace,  are  all  written  with  a  moral  intention 
and  purpose,  and  are  perhaps  his  finest  odes. 

I  suspect  there  is  moral  intention  in  much  of 
Pindar.  Milton  professes  it  in  Paradise  Lost,  "  To 
vindicate  the  ways  of  God  to  man."  :  And  didactic 
poetry  necessitates  it.  No  one  can  despise,  however, 
Pope's  Essay  on  Man,  or  say  it  is  not  a  finer  poem 
than  most  lyrics.  The  fact  is  that  there  is  no  rule,  but 
that  the  poet  can  rarely  escape  from  a  moral  purpose, 
except  in  some  joyous  outburst ;  it  forces  itself  on  him 
as  a  part  of  plan  and  interwoven  with  conception.  The 
Drama  certainly  has  it,  especially  the  old  Greek ; 
punishment  of  pride  in  CEdipus,  etc.  And  in  Comedy 
it  is  essential.  What  is  the  Misanthrope  or  Tartuffe 
without  it  ?  ... 

1  Milton's  line  was  "justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man."     It  was  Pope 
who  introduced  the  word  "  vindicate  "  in  adopting  the  line. 

VOL.  II  433  2  F 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

Towards  the  close  of  April  1866,  Swinburne 
published  his  Poems  and  Ballads^  which  was  de- 
nounced with  great  violence  in  the  Press.  In 
July  of  the  same  year  the  attacks  became  really 
serious,  and  under  threat  of  prosecution,  Moxon, 
the  publisher,  determined  without  communication 
with  the  author,  to  withdraw  the  volume  from 
circulation.  In  this  difficult  crisis  Swinburne 
received  very  welcome  encouragement  and  assist- 
ance from  Lord  Lytton,  who,  on  seeing  the 
violent  attacks  on  Poems  and  Ballads,  wrote  to 
him,  so  Mr.  Edmund  Gosse  informs  me,  express- 
ing his  sympathy  and  recommending  him  to 
be  calm.  At  the  same  time  Lord  Lytton  invited 
him  to  Knebworth  to  talk  the  matter  over, 
adding  that  John  Forster  would  be  present. 

The  following  letters  now  take  up  the  tale  : — 

Algernon  Swinburne  to  Lord  Lytton. 

22A  DORSET  STREET,  PORTMAN  SQ.,  W., 
Aug.  6th  [1866]. 

DEAR  LORD  LYTTON — Your  letter  was  doubly  ac- 
ceptable to  me,  coming  as  it  did  on  the  same  day  with 
the  abusive  reviews  of  my  book  which  appeared  on 
Saturday.  While  I  have  the  approval  of  those  from 
whom  alone  praise  can  give  pleasure,  I  can  dispense 
with  the  favour  of  journalists.  I  thank  you  sincerely 
for  the  pleasure  you  have  given  me,  and  am  very  glad 
if  my  poems  have  given  any  to  you.  In  any  case,  I  with 
the  rest  of  the  world,  must  remain  your  debtor  for  much 
more — and  a  debtor  without  prospect  of  repayment. 

Nothing  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to 

434 


LETTERS  FROM  SWINBURNE 

accept  your  kind  invitation,  should  it  be  convenient  to 
you  to  receive  me  for  a  day  or  two  in  the  course  of 
the  next  fortnight.  For  some  ten  days  or  so  I  am 
hampered  by  engagements,  difficult  to  break  even  for 
a  day. — Believe  me,  with  many  thanks  for  the  kind- 
ness of  your  letter,  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  C.  SWINBURNE. 


The  same  to  the  same. 

22A  DORSET  ST.,  W., 
Aug.  loth  [1866]. 

DEAR  LORD  LYTTON — I  will  come  on  the  i6th  if 
that  day  suits  you.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  Mr. 
Forster,  for  whose  works  I  have  always  felt  a  great 
admiration.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  much  pleasure  and 
encouragement  your  last  letter  gave  me.  You  will  see 
that  it  came  at  a  time  when  I  wanted  something  of  the 
kind,  when  I  tell  you  that  in  consequence  of  the  abusive 
reviews  of  my  book,  the  publisher  (without  consulting 
me,  without  warning,  and  without  compensation)  has 
actually  withdrawn  it  from  circulation. 

I  have  no  right  to  trouble  you  with  my  affairs,  but 
I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  trespass  so  far  upon 
your  kindness  as  to  ask  what  course  you  would  recom- 
mend me  to  take  in  such  a  case.  I  am  resolved  to 
cancel  nothing,  and  (of  course)  to  transfer  my  books 
to  any  other  publisher  I  can  find.  I  am  told  by  lawyers 
that  I  might  claim  legal  redress  for  a  distinct  violation 
of  contract  on  Messrs.  Moxon's  part,  but  I  do  not  wish 
to  drag  the  matter  before  a  law  court.  This  business, 
you  will  see,  is  something  worse  than  a  scolding,  to 
which,  from  my  Eton  days  upwards,  I  have  been 
sufficiently  accustomed. — Yours  sincerely, 

A.  C.  SWINBURNE. 
435 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 


The  same  to  the  same. 


22  A.  DORSET  ST.,  W., 
Jug.  I3//5  [1866]. 


DEAR  LORD  LYTTON  —  I  am  much  obliged  by  the 
letter  of  advice  you  wrote  me,  and  if  Lord  Houghton 
had  not  gone  off  to  Vichy,  I  should  certainly  take 
counsel  with  him.  As  it  is,  I  am  compelled  to  decide 
without  further  help.  I  have  no  relation  with  Messrs. 
Moxon  except  of  a  strictly  business  character  ;  and 
considering  that  the  head  of  their  firm  has  broken  his 
agreement  by  refusing  to  continue  the  sale  of  my 
poems,  without  even  speaking  to  me  on  the  matter, 
I  cannot  but  desire,  first  of  all,  to  have  no  further 
dealings  with  anyone  so  untrustworthy.  The  book  is 
mine  ;  I  agreed  with  him  to  issue  an  edition  of  1000 
copies,  he  undertaking  to  print,  publish,  and  sell  them  ; 
and  if  the  edition  sold  off,  I  was  to  have  two-thirds  of 
the  profits.  He  does  not  now  deny  the  contract  which 
he  refuses  to  fulfil  ;  he  simply  said  to  a  friend  who  called 
on  him  as  my  representative  that,  on  hearing  there  was 
to  be  an  article  in  the  Times  attacking  my  book  as  im- 
proper, he  could  not  continue  the  sale.  As  to  the 
suppression  of  separate  passages  or  poems,  it  could  not 
be  done  without  injuring  the  whole  structure  of  the 
book,  where  every  part  has  been  as  carefully  considered 
and  arranged  as  I  could  manage  ;  and  under  the  circum- 
stances, it  seems  to  me  that  I  have  no  choice  but  to 
break  off"  my  connection  with  the  publisher. 

I  have  consulted  friends  older  than  myself  and  more 
experienced  in  the  business  ways  of  the  world,  and 
really  it  seems  to  me  I  have  no  alternative.  Before 
the  book  was  published,  if  my  friends  had  given  me 
strong  and  unanimous  advice  to  withdraw  or  to  alter 
any  passage,  I  should  certainly  have  done  so  —  in  two 
instances  I  did,  rather  against  my  own  impulse,  which 

436 


DESCRIPTION  OF  SWINBURNE 

is  a  fair  proof  that  I  am  not  too  headstrong  or  conceited 
to  listen  to  friendly  counsel.  But  now  to  alter  my 
course  or  mutilate  my  published  work,  seems  to  me 
somewhat  like  deserting  one's  colours.  One  may  or 
may  not  repent  having  enlisted,  but  to  lay  down 
one's  arms  except  under  compulsion,  remains  intoler- 
able. Even  if  I  did  not  feel  the  matter  in  this  way, 
my  withdrawal  would  not  undo  what  has  been  done 
nor  unsay  what  has  been  said. — Yours  truly, 

A.  C.  SWINBURNE. 

Swinburne  went  to  Knebworth  on  August 
17.  Three  days  later  Lord  Lytton  wrote  to 
his  son  the  following  interesting  description  of 
his  eccentric  young  guest  : l — 

KNEBWORTH, 
Aug.  20tA,  1866. 

MY  DEAR  ROBT. — The  Forsters  are  with  me,  and,  to 
my  great  regret,  leave  the  day  after  to-morrow. 

Staying  here  also  is  A.  Swinburne,  whose  poems  at 
this  moment  are  rousing  a  storm  of  moral  censure.  I 
hope  he  may  be  induced  not  to  brave  and  defy  that 
storm,  but  to  purgate  his  volume  of  certain  pruriences 
into  which  it  amazes  me  any  poet  could  fall.  If  he 
does  not,  he  will  have  an  unhappy  life  and  a  sinister 
career.  It  is  impossible  not  to  feel  an  interest  in  him. 
He  says  he  is  26  2;  he  looks  16 — a  pale,  sickly  boy, 
with  some  nervous  complaint  like  St.  Vitus'  dance. 
But  in  him  is  great  power,  natural  and  acquired.  He 
has  read  more  than  most  reading  men  twice  his  age, 
brooded  and  theorised  over  what  he  has  read,  and  has 

1  This  letter  was  enclosed  by  my  father  in  an  interesting  letter  of  his 
own  dated  Oct.  i,  1866,  to  Mr.  Wilfred  Scawen  Blunt.     The  originals  of 
both  letters  are  still  in  Mr.  Blunt's  possession. 

2  He  was  really  29  at  this  date. 

437 


OPINIONS  ON  MEN  AND  BOOKS 

an  artist's  critical  perceptions.  I  think  he  must  have 
read  and  studied  and  thought  and  felt  much  more  than 
Tennyson  ;  perhaps  he  has  over-informed  his  tenement 
of  clay.  But  there  is  plenty  of  stuff  in  him.  His 
volume  of  poems  is  infested  with  sensualities,  often  dis- 
agreeable in  themselves,  as  well  as  offensive  to  all  pure 
and  manly  taste.  But  the  beauty  of  diction  and  master- 
ship of  craft  in  melodies  really  at  first  so  dazzled  me, 
that  I  did  not  see  the  naughtiness  till  pointed  out. 
He  certainly  ought  to  become  a  considerable  poet  of 
the  artistic  order,  meaning  by  that  a  poet  who  writes 
with  a  preconceived  notion  of  art,  and  not,  as  I  fancy 
the  highest  do,  with  unconsciousness  of  the  art  in  them, 
till  the  thing  itself  is  written.  On  the  other  hand,  he 
may  end  prematurely  both  in  repute  and  in  life.  The 
first  is  nearly  wrecked  now,  and  the  2nd  seems  very 
shaky.  He  inspires  one  with  sadness  ;  but  he  is  not 
so  sad  himself,  and  his  self-esteem  is  solid  as  a  rock. 
He  reminds  me  a  little  of  what  Lewes  was  in  youth, 
except  that  he  has  no  quackery  and  has  genius.  I 
thought  it  would  interest  you  to  dot  down  these  ideas 
of  a  man  likely  to  come  across  your  way,  and  may 
serve  to  warn  you  first  against  his  mistakes,  and  also 
against  much  intimacy  with  him  personally.  I  suspect 
he  would  be  a  dangerous  companion  to  another  poet. 
And  he  seems  to  me  as  wholly  without  the  moral  sense 
as  a  mind  crammed  full  with  aesthetic  culture  can  be. 
— Yours  ever, 

L. 

Swinburne  remained  at  Knebworth  till  August 
25th.  While  he  was  there,  Lord  Lytton  looked 
into  his  affairs,  and  arranged  for  the  re-issue  of 
Poems  and  Ballads  by  a  more  courageous  publisher 
than  Moxon.  Swinburne  was  greatly  cheered 

438 


OPINION  OF  SWINBURNE 

by  Lord  Lytton's  sympathy,  and  full  of  admira- 
tion of  the  novelist's  firmness  and  promptitude 
in  business  arrangements.  He  spoke  afterwards 
of  his  "  very  pleasant  visit." 

The  friendship  does  not  appear  to  have  gone 
any  further,  as  I  have  no  later  letters  from  Swin- 
burne, and  Lord  Lytton's  subsequent  references 
to  him  in  letters  to  his  son  and  to  John  Forster, 
suggest  that  his  admiration  for  the  young  poet 
was  somewhat  modified  by  their  hostile  criticisms. 
The  letters  which  I  quoted  are  endorsed  by  Lord 
Lytton  as  follows  : — 

A.  Swinburne,  of  very  doubtful  chance  of  real  fame 
at  this  date,  1869.  He  has  in  him  much  material  as  a 
Poet — great  reading  and  much  study  of  art.  But  his 
self-conceit  is  enormous — his  taste  in  all  ways  impure. 
In  his  passions  he  is  not  masculine,  in  his  reasoning  not 
sound.  Still  he  is  young,  has  true  stuff  in  him,  and 
may  mellow  into  excellence  in  later  life  if  he  be  spared. 


439 


CHAPTER  III 

PEACEFUL    YEARS 

1867-1870 

The  feet  of  years  fall  noiseless ;  we  heed,  we  note  them  not. 

Pilgrims  of  the  Rhine. 

His  was  the  age  when  we  most  sensitively  enjoy  the  mere  sense  of 
existence  ;  when  the  face  of  Nature,  and  a  passive  conviction  of  the  be- 
nevolence of  our  Great  Father,  suffice  to  create  a  serene  and  ineffable 
happiness,  which  rarely  visits  us  till  we  have  done  with  the  passions  ;  till 
memories,  if  more  alive  than  heretofore,  are  yet  mellowed  in  the  hues  of 
time,  and  Faith  softens  into  harmony  all  their  asperities  and  harshness, 
till  nothing  within  us  remains  to  cast  a  shadow  over  the  things  without ; 
and  on  the  verge  of  life  the  angels  are  nearer  to  us  than  of  yore.  There 
is  an  old  age  which  has  more  youth  of  heart  than  youth  itself. 

Alice. 

1867.  AT  the  end  of  1866  Lord  Lytton  went  to  Nice 
T.  64.  and  remained  there  till  April  1867.  His  letters 
from  Nice  make  mention  of  a  novel  which  he 
has  begun  but  cannot  get  on  with,  and  of  an 
article  on  Charles  Lamb  and  some  of  his 
companions,  which  was  contributed  to  the 
Quarterly  Review  in  January,  1867.  He  also 
writes  on  March  1 1  th  :  "I  am  slowly  finishing 
my  Horace  with  critical  notes,  but  I  don't  know 
what  to  do  with  it  when  finished.  All  I  can  say 
is  the  work  amuses  me  and  hurts  nobody." 

At  the  end  of  April  he  returned  to  England 
and   spent   the   summer  at   Knebworth,  coming 

440 


THE  LOSS  OF  YOUTH 

up    to    London    for    Parliamentary    and    social    1867. 
engagements.  JE-r.  64. 

In  September  he  went  to  Eaux  Bonnes  in  the 
Pyrenees,  and  wrote  to  his  son  from  there  on 
September  5  :  "  I  shall  try  and  write  something 
here,  but  must  get  well  first.'*  Later  in  the 
month  he  writes  to  Forster  : — 


EAUX  BONNES, 
Sept.  20,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  shall  direct  this  to  your 
office  to  be  forwarded,  not  knowing  whether  you  may 
have  left  Ross.  Ah !  those  lost  days  of  la  jeunesse 
dor -fa ',  when  we  launched  our  boat  in  the  Wye  and' you 
addressed  a  sonnet  to  Henry  Marten  ! *  Nothing  we 
ever  gain  in  after  life  compensates  for  the  loss  of  youth. 
For  youth  grasps  hope,  and  hope  embraces  the  infinite 
and  the  eternal.  We  best  understand  what  youth  is 
when  we  remember  that  in  all  creeds  of  the  future  state 
the  souls  of  the  blessed  are  to  be  always  young.  No 
one  would  trouble  himself  much  to  be  an  eternal  soul 
of  70.  Eternally  70 — wish  that  to  the  wicked  ! 

I  expect  to  be  back  the  first  week  of  October. 
Write  to  me  in  St.  James'  Place  about  October  5  to 
say  where  you  will  be.  I  want  much  to  consult  you 
about  a  play  I  have  been  writing  here.  The  place  is 
so  dull  that  I  was  compelled  to  write.  It  is  in  the 
rough  as  yet — from  a  comedy  of  Plautus  which  Moliere 
spared,  and  which  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  abandoned  by 
every  Englishman.  The  "dramatic  situation  in  the 
original  is  superb.  I  think  I  have  not  spoilt  it.  It 

1  Henry  Marten  (1602-1680),  the  regicide,  Carlyle's  "indomitable  little 
pagan,"  who  was  imprisoned  for  the  last  fifteen  years  of  his  life  in  Chep- 
stow  Castle,  on  the  Wye. 

441 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1867.  has  great  parts  for  the  chief  actor  (Fechter)  and  a 
.  64.  girl  (who?),  good  parts  for  the  others.  But  never- 
theless, it  is  full  of  drawbacks  and  difficulties,  and  I 
really  don't  know  as  yet  whether  it  is  good  or  bad. 
It  is  written  like  The  Lady  of  Lyons  with  great  gusto, 
and  as  a  drama  rather  than  as  a  literary  work. 

Dickens  seems  to  have  been  most  friendly  about 
The  Lady  of  Lyons.  I  have  no  idea  except  from  his 
letter  about  Fechter's  success  in  it.  Schiller  s  Life  can 
wait  till  I  come  back. 

These  waters  make  me  worse  now  ;  of  course  the 
doctors  say  that  is  a  good  sign  and  that  I  shall  feel  the 
benefit  in  the  winter. — Ever  yrs., 

LYTTON. 

The  play  referred  to  in  this  letter — a  prose 
comedy  called  The  Captives — was  completed  on 
his  return  to  England,  and  forms  the  subject  of 
most  of  his  letters  for  the  remainder  of  this  year. 
It  was  submitted  to  Dickens  and  to  Fechter  for 
their  opinion,  which  appears  to  have  been 
unfavourable,  on  the  ground  that  its  Greek 
setting  and  Greek  names  would  militate  against 
its  popularity  in  England.  It  was,  therefore, 
abandoned  with  reluctance,  and  was  never  either 
performed  or  published. 

Lord  Lytton  returned  to  England  in  October 
without  having  derived  any  benefit  from  the 
French  watering-place.  The  cough  from  which 
he  was  suffering  was,  if  anything,  rather  worse, 
and  it  continued  to  trouble  him  increasingly 
during  the  remaining  years  of  his  life.  He 
only  once  went  abroad  again  for  his  health,  and 
his  remaining  winters  were  spent  at  Torquay. 

442 


DICKENS  BANQUET 

He   occasionally  visited   Bath   and   Buxton,  but    '867. 
nowhere  did   he  succeed  in  getting  rid  of  this  ^ET-  64- 
troublesome  ailment,  which  afflicted  him  at  all 
seasons    of  the  year,   and   at    times   completely 
prostrated  him.     In  spite  of  increasing  physical 
infirmities,   however,    his    mental    activity    con- 
tinued to  the  end. 

On  November  2  he  presided  at  the  farewell 
banquet  to  Dickens  just  previous  to  his  departure 
for  America,  and  in  proposing  the  toast  of  the 
evening,  paid  an  affectionate  tribute  to  his  great 
literary  rival  and  personal  friend,  who  had 
helped  to  refine  humanity  "  by  tears  that  never 
enfeeble  and  laughter  that  never  degrades."  In 
the  course  of  his  speech  he  also  referred  ap- 
preciatively to  another  distinguished  writer, 
who  was  present  among  the  guests,1  and  received 
the  following  grateful  acknowledgment  two 
days  later  : — 

Matthew  Arnold  to  Lord  Lytton. 

ATHEN^UM  CLUB, 
Nov.  4//5,  1867. 

MY  DEAR  LORD — You  said  to  me  on  Saturday  that 
though  you  had  seen  extracts  from  my  new  volume  of 
poems,  you  had  not  yet  seen  the  book  itself,  so  I  trust 
you  will  do  me  the  honour  of  accepting  a  copy,  which 
I  have  desired  my  publishers  to  send  you. 

I  hardly  know  how  to  thank  you  for  your  most 

1  "I  see  before  me  a  distinguished  guest,  distinguished  for  the  manner 
in  which  he  has  brought  together  all  that  is  most  modern  in  sentiment, 
with  all  that  is  most  scholastic  in  thought  and  language — Mr.  Matthew 
Arnold.  I  appeal  to  him  if  I  am  not  right,  when  I  say  that  it  is  by  a 
language  in  common  that  all  differences  of  origin  sooner  or  later  are  welded 
together." 

443 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1867.  unexpected  and  gratifying  mention  of  me  in  your 
r.  64.  admirable  speech  on  Saturday  night.  I  have  had  very 
little  success  with  the  general  public,  and  I  sincerely 
think  that  it  is  a  fault  in  an  author  not  to  succeed 
with  his  general  public,  and  that  the  great  authors  are 
those  who  do  succeed  with  it.  But  if  the  kindest, 
most  generous,  and  most  flattering  marks  of  esteem 
from  the  most  distinguished  of  his  contemporaries, 
can  console  a  man  for  not  succeeding  with  the  general 
public,  this  consolation  I  have  had  ;  and  the  kindest, 
most  generous  and  most  flattering  instance  of  it  I  have 
ever  met  with,  was  your  Lordship's  mention  of  me  on 
Saturday  night. — Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  Lord,  with 
great  truth  and  regard,  Your  faithful  and  obliged  servant, 

MATTHEW  ARNOLD. 

At  the  end  of  November  1867,  Lord  Lytton 
went  to  Torquay  for  the  remainder  of  the 
winter.  To  Forster  he  wrote  from  there  at  the 
end  of  the  year  :  "  I  am  laboriously  idle,  cor- 
recting the  proofs  of  my  Miscellaneous  Prose 
Works^  and  sending  off  proofs  of  the  Horace  to 
Blackwood,  to  whom,  after  all,  I  have  given,  or 
rather,  sold  it." 

The  Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  were  published 
at  the  end  of  January  1868,  in  three  volumes, 
by  Richard  Bentley.  The  first  volume  contained 
essays  contributed  to  Quarterly  Magazines  at 
various  times  ;  the  second,  the  early  essays  and 
tales  which  had  first  appeared  in  The  Student^ 
together  with  two  not  previously  published,  and 

1  In  the  Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  the  essays  and  tales  from  The  Student 
were  considerably  altered  and  revised.  In  the  Knebworth  Edition  of  Lord 
Lytton's  works  the  original  text  has  been  preserved. 

444 


MATTHEW  ARNOLD 

the  third,  the  later  essays  originally  published  in    1868. 
the  volume  called  Caxtoniana.  ^T.  65. 

Lord  Lytton's  reference  to  Matthew  Arnold 
at  the  Dickens  Banquet  in  the  previous  autumn 
led  to  a  correspondence  between  these  two 
writers,  and  their  intercourse  gradually  developed 
into  a  very  cordial  friendship.  No  two  authors 
could  be  more  dissimilar  in  their  published  works, 
yet  each  had  a  genuine  admiration  for  the  other ; 
and  it  is  interesting  to  find  that  Matthew  Arnold 
acknowledged  that  his  own  literary  tastes  had 
been  influenced  by  Lord  Lytton's  writings.  At 
the  beginning  of  1868  he  writes  : — 

2  CHESTER  SQUARE,  W. 
January  jtA,  1868. 

MY  DEAR  LORD  LYTTON — If  I  did  not  answer 
your  kind  letter  sooner,  it  was  because  I  have  been 
sadly  occupied  for  the  last  fortnight  with  the  illness  of 
my  youngest  child,  whom  we  have  just  lost.  Even  at 
this  sad  time,  your  letter  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  ; 
it  was  a  fresh  instance  of  the  cordial  and  gratifying 
kindness  which  my  productions  have  met  with  at  your 
hands,  and  which,  I  assure  you,  I  gratefully  value. 
About  the  rhythms,  you  are  probably  quite  right.  If  I 
have  learnt  to  seek  in  any  composition  for  a  wide 
sweep  of  interest  and  for  a  significance  residing  in  the 
whole  rather  than  in  the  parts,  and  not  to  give  over- 
prominence,  either  in  my  own  mind  or  in  my  work,  to 
the  elaboration  of  details,  I  have  certainly  had  before 
me,  in  your  works,  an  example  of  this  mode  of 
proceeding,  and  have  always  valued  it  in  them. — 
Believe  me,  my  dear  Lord  Lytton,  Gratefully  and 
sincerely  yours,  MATTHEW  ARNOLD. 

445 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

A  few  months  later  Lord    Lytton  sent  him 
.  65.  tke  coiiecte(i  edition  of  his  Miscellaneous   Prose 
Works^    which    had    just    been    published,    and 
Matthew  Arnold  writes  again  : — 

2  CHESTER  SQUARE, 
February  zznd,  1868. 

DEAR  LORD  LYTTON — A  thousand  thanks  for  your 
magnificent  present,  which  I  shall  value  extremely.  I 
am  delighted  to  think  that  a  good  deal  in  it  will  be 
quite  new  to  me ;  articles  in  the  Quarterly  which 
appeared  without  your  name  and  which  I  have  missed 
reading.  Other  parts  of  it,  well-known  and  familiar  to 
me,  carry  me  back  to  the  happiest  time  of  my  life — 
The  Student,  the  Life  of  Schiller,  came  into  my  hands 
just  at  the  moment  I  wanted  something  of  the  kind. 
I  never  shall  forget  what  they  then  gave  me — the  sense 
of  a  wider  horizon,  the  anticipation  of  Germany,  the 
opening  into  the  great  world — just  what  Macaulay,  with 
his  unmixed  Englishism  and  metallic  manner,  could  not 
give  me. 

Like  the  poor  fallen  man  in  Godolphin,  I  am  going 
to  the  suburbs,  not  to  Brompton,  as  he  did,  but  to 
Harrow,  to  bring  up  my  boys  at  the  School  there  ;  it 
is  the  only  way  in  which  I  can  send  them.  But  I  hope 
not  to  have  left  London  before  you  return  to  it,  and  if 
I  have  not,  I  shall  certainly  venture  to  call  and  repeat 
my  thanks  in  person. — Believe  me,  dear  Lord  Lytton, 
with  great  truth,  Your  faithful  and  obliged, 

MATTHEW  ARNOLD. 

In  February  1868,  Lord  Lytton  writes  to  his 
son  from  Torquay,  in  criticism  of  an  article  which 
the  latter  had  written  on  the  subject  of  classical 
education  : — 

446 


GROSVENOR  SQUARE 

Since  writing  this  morning  I  have  seen  your  article  1868. 
in  the  Edinburgh  Review.  I  think  it  very  able,  well  ^Er.  65. 
argued  and  weighty.  I  put  aside  my  own  views  in  so 
judging,  for  my  views  are  not  the  same  as  yours,  and  I 
also  think  you  attach  consequence  to  authorities  whom 
on  such  a  subject  I  scarcely  regard  as  authorities  at  all 
— such  as  Mill.  The  best  judges  would  be  successful 
men  of  action  and  really  great  authors.  Few  amongst 
these  would  not  think  Latin  and  Greek,  even  super- 
ficially acquired,  an  inestimable  blessing  for  which 
nothing  else  could  atone.  I  very  much  doubt,  too, 
whether  composition  in  Greek  or  Latin  does  not  more 
rapidly  help  to  teach  them  than  any  other  mode  ;  and 
in  this  respect,  for  boyhood,  verse  in  any  language 
is  better  than  prose.  But  not  arguing  the  case,  I 
think  your  article  extremely  to  your  credit  and  very 
reviewish. 

My  town  house l  is  far  from  ready.  I  like  Torquay 
much  in  a  lazy  way. 

The  house  in  Grosvenor  Square  was  ready  for 
occupation  by  the  spring,  and  Lord  Lytton  came 
to  live  there  for  the  Parliamentary  session.  He 
writes  to  his  son  in  May  : — 

I  have  been  immersed  in  the  vortex  of  fashionable 
life  since  Easter  with  scarcely  an  hour  to  myself.  I 
am  much  pleased  that  you  like  my  collection.  Few 
as  yet  have  read  it.  Its  chief  merit  seems  to  me  to 
consist  in  a  larger  range,  comprising  both  sentiment 
and  reflection  and  critical  survey  of  men  and  books, 
than  any  other  collection  of  English  essays  by  one 
author  which  I  can  remember.  In  this  it  is  excelled 
by  Montaigne,  but  Montaigne  excels  in  almost 

1  12  Grosvenor  Square. 
447 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1868.    everything   else    and    is   essentially    the    arch-poet   of 
r.  65.  essayists. 

At  one  of  his  social  parties  he  met  Disraeli 
and  writes  : — 

Disraeli  was  there  and  wonderfully  cordial  to  me. 
He  talked  of  old  days  and  kept  pressing  my  hand, 
which  is  not  his  wont.  However,  I  feel  steely  to  him 
and  his  Government. 

The  social  engagements  in  which  Lord 
Lytton  took  part  during  the  years  that  he  lived 
in  Grosvenor  Square  were  in  a  large  measure 
undertaken  at  the  instance  of  Lady  Sherborne,1 
with  whom  he  became  very  intimate  at  this 
time.  He  writes  about  her  to  his  son  in  July 
1868:— 

Lady  Sherborne  is  an  enigma.  She  is  not  young. 
She  would  generally  be  considered  very  plain.  She  is 
not  clever.  She  is  not  a  flirt.  She  is  very  good,  with 
a  religious  temperament.  But  she  certainly  has  charm. 
She  is  so  quiet  and  feminine,  with  a  wonderfully  sweet 
voice  in  talk  as  well  as  song.  We  are  great  friends. 
Lord  Sherborne  is,  however,  an  infliction — dull  and 
cross,  but  a  fine  man,  and  she  seems  a  very  good  wife, 
takes  his  scoldings  and  governs  him  with  a  silk  rein. 

During  the  last  years  of  his  life,  this  lady  was 
Lord  Lytton's  most  intimate  woman  friend. 
They  corresponded  regularly  and  met  frequently. 
She  gave  him  sympathy  and  encouragement, 

1  Susan  Elizabeth  Block  of  Charlton,  znd  wife  of  the  3rd  Baron 
Sherborne.  She  died  March  7,  1907.  Lord  Sherborne  died  in  1883, 
aged  79. 

448 


LADY  SHERBORNE 

shared    his    interests,    helped   in  correcting   the    1868. 
proofs  of  his  last  works,  comforted  him  in  his  J£t.  65. 
illnesses,  and  revived  in    him  a   taste  for  social 
intercourse    which    he    had    not   felt    for   many 
years. 

He  writes  to  her  from  Grosvenor  Square  on 
June  13,  1868  :  — 

MY  DEAR  LADY  SHERBORNE — I  was  so  glad  to  get 
your  letter.  You  remember  what  we  said  of  the 
happiness  of  the  religious  temperament.  I  rejoice 
to  think  that  that  blessing  rests  over  you  and  your 
household  at  this  hour.  Human  nature  attains  to  its 
highest  heroic  standard  where  the  grave  has  no  victory 
and  death  no  sting. 

I  dined  with  Henry  yesterday,  where  I  met  your 
friend  Lord  Albemarle,  who  was  very  pleasant.  Chiefly 
"  literary  coves."  My  enemy  the  editor  of  the  Pall 
Matt  Gazette?  with  whom  I  had  the  hypocrisy  to  shake 
hands,  Kinglake,  and  the  editor  of  the  Quarterly^  etc. 
Then  I  went  to  the  queerest  little  old  gentleman 
rejoicing  in  the  monosyllabic  name  of  Bebb,  who  has 
come  into  a  great  fortune  and  sets  up  for  youth  and 
gives  balls  in  a  house  he  has  made  very  pretty  in 
Gloucester  Place.  I  did  not  stay  there  very  long. 

To-day  I  have  to  dinner  the  Carnarvons,  Stanhopes, 
Dufferins,  Sir  R.  &  Lady  E.  Peel,  etc.  On  Monday  I 
have  another  party.  Tuesday  I  dine  with  Lady 
Combermere  ;  Wednesday  with  an  M.P.  who  has  a 
glass  eye  and  sees  the  Political  askew.  Thursday  I 
expect  my  eldest  brother  and  his  family  to  dine  here — 
and  so  on.  The  Irish  Church  Bill  comes  on  in  the 
Lords  the  25th,  and  debate  will  last  two  nights.  I 
hope  to  fly  to  Knebworth  the  first  week  in  July  and  to 

1  Frederick  Greenwood. 
VOL.  II  449  2  G 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1868.    carry  you  there  on  my  wings.     We  can  be  as  quiet  as 
T.  65.  you  like. 

It  is  a  great  comfort  to  me  to  think  your  sister  is 
with  you,  and  if  you  and  she  like  it,  I  hope  she  will 
also  nestle  down  at  Knebworth — though  how  I  shall 
amuse  Lord  Sherborne,  having  no  trout  near,  I  know 
not. — Ever  yr.  affte. 

LYTTON. 

On  August  i  he  writes  to  her  from 
Knebworth  : — 

My  guests  leave  me  to-morrow.  They  profess  to 
have  enjoyed  themselves  much,  perhaps  because  I  have 
left  them  so  much  to  themselves,  plunged  in  the  work 
of  that  melancholy  play  which  I  hope  will  leave  me  to- 
night. I  have  been  writing  upstairs,  as  I  am  now,  and 
immensely  untidy,  owing  to  an  arrear  of  unanswered 
letters,  in  order  to  get  off  the  play. 

The  play  here  referred  to  was  The  Rightful 
Heir,  which  was  a  rearrangement  of  The  Sea- 
Captain,  and  completely  rewritten.  It  was 
performed  at  the  Lyceum  Theatre  on  October  3. 
He  writes  to  his  son  about  it  on  October  19  : — 

The  Press  has  been  very  civil  about  my  play,  more 
so  than  about  any  work  I  ever  wrote.  But  I  doubt  if 
it  will  have  a  long  run.  It  has  four  parts  requiring  great 
actors,  and  only  the  two  Vezins  act  well.  Bandmann, 
from  whom  much  was  expected,  falls  short.  Beaufort 
and  Eveline  are  very  weak  and  ineffective,  and  the  play 
itself,  though  allowed  to  be  good  in  composition,  etc., 
has  not  the  agreeable  emotions  that  bear  repeating, 
like  The  Lady  of  Lyons.  Worst  of  all,  a  lettered 
audience  scarcely  exists,  and  though  it  might  be  created, 

45° 


WINTER  AT  TORQUAY 

it  would  require  years  to  do  so,  aided  by  good  actors.  1869. 
And  anything  more  worrying  and  troublesome  than  JEr:  66. 
attendance  on  actors  and  green  rooms,  with  their 
quarrels  and  jealousies,  can't  be  conceived.  It  is  a 
world  of  its  own  and  requires  very  skilful  administration 
on  the  part  of  the  author.  I  am  now  returning  to  my 
Horace  which  is  preparing  for  the  press.  I  don't  feel 
up  to  any  travelling.  I  have  had  a  very  ailing  summer. 
Perhaps  an  English  winter  may  do  me  good.  I  shan't 
interfere  in  politics,  but  am  anxious  to  see  the  temper 
of  the  new  House  of  Commons. 

The  winter  of  1868-69  was  spent  quietly  at 
Torquay,  and  the  only  literary  work  of  these 
months  was  the  preparation  for  the  press  of  his 
translation  of  Horace  ,  on  which  he  had  been 
engaged  off  and  on  ever  since  1853,  and  the 
rhymed  Comedy  of  Walfole.  The  former  first 
appeared  in  the  April  number  of  BlackwoofPs 
Magazine  for  1868,  and  as  a  separate  volume  in 
October  1869.  The  latter  was  published  in 
December  1869.  Both  were  well  received,  and 
in  one  letter  Lord  Lytton  tells  his  son  :  "  The 
Horace  sells  better  than  any  of  my  original 
poetry  has  done  of  late  years." 

In  February  1869  he  received  the  following 
letter  from  Matthew  Arnold,  which  again 
expresses  the  latter's  sense  of  indebtedness  :  — 

THE  ATHENAEUM, 
Feb.  24/£,  1869. 


DEAR  LORD  LYTTON  —  I  often  now  am  many  days 
together  without  coming  to  London,  and  this  is  why 
your  kind  note  has  remained  without  an  answer  till 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1869.  now.  Your  sympathy  and  approbation  give  me  great 
r.  66.  pleasure  ;  the  more  so,  because  I  am  conscious,  as  I 
think  I  have  told  you  before,  of  a  very  considerable 
debt  of  gratitude  to  a  certain  European  tone  of  reflec- 
tion and  sentiment  in  your  writings,  which  impressed 
me  and  suited  me  from  the  first  times  when  I  began  to 
read  at  all,  and  before  I  found  anything  of  the  same 
kind  anywhere  else.  I  very  much  agree  with  you  that 
self-government,  in  our  sense  of  the  word  and  that 
of  the  Americans,  is  likely  to  prevail  more  and  more, 
and  I  am  not  at  all  sure  this  is  not  a  good  thing ;  only 
one  may  with  advantage  labour  to  clear  this  habit  from 
much  of  the  quackery  and  self-delusion  with  which  we 
and  the  Americans  are  at  present  prone  to  invest  it. 

When  you  come  to  London,  I  shall  some  day — if 
you  will  permit  me — come  and  pay  my  respects  to  you 
in  Grosvenor  Square. 

Till  then,  I  am,  with  great  truth,  dear  Lord  Lytton, 
— Your  sincerely  obliged 

MATTHEW  ARNOLD. 

Three  months  later  Matthew  Arnold  took 
the  young  Duke  of  Genoa,  who  was  living 
under  his  charge  at  Harrow,  down  to  Knebworth 
on  a  visit.  He  wrote  to  his  mother  (May  12, 
1869)  :— 

This  place  of  Lord  Lytton's  stands  well  on  a  hill 
in  the  pretty  part  of  Hertfordshire.  It  is  a  house 
originally  of  Henry  VII. 's  reign,  and  has  been  elabor- 
ately restored.  The  grounds,  too,  are  very  elaborate, 
and  full  of  statues,  kiosks,  and  knick-knacks  of  every 
kind.  The  House  is  a  mass  of  old  oak,  men  in  armour, 
tapestry,  and  curiosities  of  every  description.  But,  like 
Lord  Lytton  himself,  the  place  is  a  strange  mixture  of 
what  is  really  romantic  and  interesting,  with  what  is 

452 


SUMMER  IN  LONDON 

tawdry  and  gimcracky.  ...  It  might  be  a  much  more  1869. 
impressive  place  than  it  is  if  it  had  been  simply  treated.  JET.  66. 
Lord  Lytton  is  kindness  itself,  but  theatrical  in  his 
reception  of  us,  and  in  his  determination  to  treat  the 
Prince  as  a  Royal  personage.  The  Prince,  who  is  a 
dear  boy,  of  whom  I  am  getting  quite  fond,  behaves 
admirably,  but  would  much  rather  be  let  alone.  .  .  . 
The  most  pleasing  thing  about  Lord  Lytton  is  his 
humanity.  He  goes  into  the  cottages  of  the  poor 
people,  and  they  seem  to  adore  him.  They  have 
known  him  ever  since  he  was  a  boy,  and  call  him  "  Sir  " 
and  "  Mr."  instead  of  "  My  Lord  "  ;  and  when  they 
correct  themselves  and  beg  pardon,  he  says  : — "  Oh, 
never  mind  that !  " * 

The  summer  was  again  spent  in  London  in 
the  same  way  as  the  preceding  year,  and  Lord 
Lytton  writes  to  his  son  on  July  6  : — 

I  have  a  thousand  apologies  to  make  for  my  remiss- 
ness  as  a  correspondent.  I  have  no  better  excuse  than 
that  of  being  whirled  away  in  the  London  vortex. 
From  breakfast  till  2  I  have  had  either  visitors  or 
pressing  work,  from  2  I  have  been  out  either  till  our 
House  meets  or  till  dinner,  and  after  that  one  is  fit  for 
nothing.  A  wearisome  and  exacting  life  enough.  Till 
I  got  into  the  Lords  my  life  never  had  a  holiday  ;  and 
now,  somehow  or  other,  I  find  the  holiday  hard  work. 

The  same  letter  describes  the  circumstances 
which  prevented  him  from  delivering  a  speech 
which  he  had  prepared  for  the  House  of  Lords 
on  the  subject  of  the  Irish  Church  Bill  :— 

"  As  to  my  speech,"  he  says,  "  the  affair  is  this.  I 
wanted  to  speak  early  the  first  night,  but  was  requested 

1  Letters  of  Matthew  Arnold,  vol.  ii.  pp.  6,  7. 
453 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1869.  to  adjourn  the  debate  by  the  Whips  of  both  parties,  and 
JS.T.  66.  the  leaders — Cairns,  Granville,  Salisbury.  I  agreed. 
When  I  rose  to  do  so,  Grey  rose  also,  close  by  the 
Clerk's  chair,  and  mumbled  something  inaudible. 
Cries  for  me  being  loud,  he  then  gave  way.  I  moved 
the  adjournment,  but  in  his  mumbling  tones  he  had 
already  moved  it,  and  therefore  had  legal  precedence. 
This  he  declined  to  waive,  and  I  was  thus  thrown  out 
of  the  course,  the  debate  having  been  all  arranged  and 
parcelled  out  before,  Bishops  and  Irish  Lord  Lieuten- 
ants, etc.,  having  each  their  appointed  claim  and  hour. 
I  was  sorry  for  it,  as  I  think  I  had  good  things  to  say. 
But,  at  all  events,  the  general  disappointment  at  not 
hearing  me  was,  perhaps,  a  greater  success  than  my 
speech  might  have  been.  I  had  no  idea  there  would  be 
so  great  a  wish  to  hear  me. 

"  I  am  immersed  in  social  engagements.  I  have, 
unhappily,  agreed  to  be  President  of  the  Archaeological 
Society  which  visits  Hertfordshire  this  year,  and  must 
give  an  inaugural  address  and  a  breakfast  to  include  the 
County,  and  devote  a  week  to  these  learned  brutes  ! 
This  begins  August  2nd,  and  I  must  leave  town  for 
Knebworth  before." 

A  letter  to  his  son,  on  the  subject  of  the  Irish 
Church,  though  undated,  probably  belongs  to 
the  summer  of  1869  : — 

...  I  say  nothing  about  the  Irish  question.  The 
subject  is  too  long.  But  in  your  ideas,  as  with  foreign 
philosophers,  you  confound  the  powers  of  a  free  Parlia- 
mentary state  with  those  of  an  autocrat.  An  autocrat 
could  settle  the  Church  question  and  might  allow 
Catholic  Bishops  to  sit  in  Park.  A  Minister  who 
proposed  the  latter  to  the  House  of  Commons,  or  made 
any  attempt  to  sanction  a  R.  Cath.  Church  as  an  establish- 

454 


THE  IRISH  CHURCH 

ment,  would  be  gone  in  a  jiffy  and  even  lose  his  seat  in  1869. 
Parliament.  The  great  difficulty  in  the  Protestant  jEr.  66. 
Church  question  is  less  that  of  disestablishment  than  its 
endowments.  Its  chief  riches  are  not  State  property,  but 
derived  from  private  bequests  since  the  Reformation; 
and  it  is  an  awful  thing  to  begin  confiscation  of  private 
property,  however  public  the  purposes  to  which  it  is 
devoted.  It  unsettles  all  real  property.  Another 
difficulty  is  that  the  chief  part  of  Protestant  Church 
property  is  in  the  midst,  not  of  Catholic,  but  of  purely 
Protestant  populations,  as  in  the  north  ;  a  third  is  that 
if  the  population  generally  are  Catholic  the  vast  majority 
of  property  is  Protestant,  and  it  is  not  statesmanship  to 
alienate  the  proprietors  of  a  country  where  you  can't 
attach  the  population. 

Nothing  can  attach  the  Irish  population,  short  of 
independent  severance.  It  is  the  Ionian  Islands  on  a 
large  scale.  The  mere  residence  of  a  Royal  Prince 
without  power  or  patronage  would  do  little  to  conciliate 
sentiment.  With  power  and  patronage  he  would  become 
a  party  man  and  soon  be  obnoxious,  while  he  would 
create  the  jealousy  of  the  monarch.  The  problem  is 
insoluble  save  by  time  and  material  prosperity  with  a 
powerful  police. — Yrs., 

L. 

Two  letters  to  Lady  Sherborne,  written  in 
1869,  on  the  subject  of  religion,  may  also  be 
quoted  here  : — 

MY  DEAR  REINE  DBS  ANIMAUX — I  obey  your  com- 
mands and  send  you  two  autographs  for  the  Monks  of 
Canada.  Pray  don't  imagine  that  any  theory  in  your 
letter  seemed  to  me  too  grave.  I  admire  and  revere 
the  sentiment  that  comes  from  the  truly  religious 
nature — such  as  yours.  There  is  no  perfect  beauty  of 

455 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1869.  character  without  it.  I  sympathise  entirely  with  that 
JEr.  66.  cry  of  the  soul  which  you  express  when  you  say,  "  We 
do  not  love  God  eno' "  nor  that  wonderful  representa- 
tion of  the  Divine  tenderness  for  humanity  which  the 
Father  vouchsafed  to  us  in  the  Image  of  our  Lord. 
We  all  must  feel  at  times  how  feeble  and  lukewarm 
is  our  love  for  God,  and  reproach  ourselves  for  ingrati- 
tude. But  then,  on  reflection,  we  become  aware  that 
the  Creator  has  set  bounds  to  this  yearning  of  the  soul 
while  on  earth — bounds  which  are  rarely,  if  ever,  passed 
with  safety  to  our  human  reason  and  human  uses  in  this 
world.  The  Brahmin  Dervish  who  devotes  himself  to 
the  contemplation  of  the  Divine  goodness  and  seeks 
thro'  the  love  it  inspires  to  absorb  himself  in  divinity 
itself,  is,  perhaps,  the  oldest  and  the  most  earnest  type 
of  this  religious  yearning.  The  early  Roman  Catholic 
Church  affords  types  more  familiar  to  us  in  St.  Teresa, 
Simon  Stylites  and  others. 

But  we  are  compelled  to  consider  these  devotees 
irrational  visionaries  and  fulfilling  less  the  objects  of 
life  than  many  an  erring  struggler  in  the  great  arena  of 
action,  who  serves  the  Father  in  his  rough  way,  without 
dwelling  over  much  on  the  love  that  he  cannot  fathom. 
It  is  a  sun  on  which  we  cannot  gaze  long  without 
becoming  blind  or  suffering  the  sunstroke. 

The  most  striking  instance  of  the  love  you  mean, 
accompanied  by  active  engagements  in  objects  purely 
human,  has  always  seemed  to  be  David.  It  is  difficult 
to  conceive  a  more  erring  mortal,  and  yet  I  understand 
why  he  is  called  after  God's  own  heart.  He  has  estab- 
lished so  fully  the  link  between  himself  as  the  naughty, 
affectionate  child  and  the  Divine  Creator  as  the  in- 
dulgent Father,  to  whom  he  conies  in  every  difficulty, 
utters  his  every  joy  and  his  every  sorrow,  and  never 
allows  his  greatest  sin  to  intercept  his  communion 
with  the  All-perfect.  Did  we  find  such  a  man  now 

456 


LETTERS  ON  RELIGION 

in  life,  the  Public  would  call  him  a  hypocrite  and  im-    1869. 
postor.     But  to  my  mind,  he  is  presented  to  us  as  an  &T.  66. 
example   of  the  efficacy  of  prayer.     His   life  is  one 
encouragement  to  pray,  no  matter  how  unworthy  we 
make  ourselves  of  an  approach  to  God,  if  regarded 
only  as  the  Judge  and  not  as  the  Father. 

And  there  seems  to  me  a  mysterious  symbolical 
signification  in  the  genealogy  which  makes  the  all- 
spotless  Saviour  the  son  of  the  passionate,  faulty  David, 
since  both  so  maintain  and  enforce  the  appeal  to  the 
one  Father  in  every  trouble,  in  every  trial.  As  on 
earth  the  heart  is  really  part  and  parcel  of  the  soul,  and 
through  the  affections  and  errors  of  the  heart  we  must 
still  preserve  the  upward  tendency  of  the  soul.  Because 
David  does  this,  he  is  after  God's  own  heart,  even  when 
to  the  Spirit  of  God  he  is  most  displeasing,  just  as  if 
we  had  several  children,  and  one  was  always  getting 
into  scrapes  from  which  the  others  were  free,  but  in 
each  scrape  came  to  us  confident  of  our  pity  and  in- 
dulgence and  sympathy,  pouring  out  his  whole  heart 
to  us.  Somehow  or  other,  he  would  be  more  after  our 
own  hearts  than  the  other  children  who  deemed  us  too 
aloof  from  their  lives  or  too  severe  for  their  approach, 
who  gave  us  no  trouble  and  showed  us  no  affection. 
But  let  us  be  satisfied  that  we  do  love  God,  if  we  thus 
approach  Him,  like  David,  with  supreme  confidence  in 
His  fatherly  regard  for  us,  rejoicing  in  His  smile  and 
not  overawed  at  the  thought  of  His  power. 

I  am  sure  after  this  long  letter  you  will  not  say  that 
I  thought  your  letter  too  grave.  .  .  . 

Saturday. 

I  feel  so  grateful,  dearest  Lady,  for  your  tender  and 
beautiful  letter.  I  accept  it  quite  in  the  earnest  spirit 
in  which  it  is  written. 

I  am,  you  know,  a  firm  believer  in  the  efficacy  of 

457 


PEACEFUL  YEARS 

1869.  prayer,  and  I  feel  in  it  a  great  comfort  and  a  great 
.  66.  support.  But  as  I  think  I  have  said  before,  the 
"  religious  temperament  " — that  exaltation  or  ecstasy  of 
spirit  which  makes  "  the  joy  of  the  heart "  you  describe, 
which  turns  pain  and  sorrows  into  loving  messages  from 
God,  and  can  absorb  itself  into  Heaven  when  the  body 
is  stretched  on  the  rack — is,  I  believe,  a  constitutional 
gift  and  no  more  to  be  acquired  than  the  gift  of  poetry 
is.  You  may  as  well  say  to  an  ordinary  man,  "See 
what  delight  the  poet  feels  in  Nature  ;  see  how  in 
trouble  he  forgets  the  world  he  inhabits  and  dwells  in 
the  world  he  creates ! "  as  say  to  him,  "  Test  that 
spiritual  poetry  in  religion  which  you  marvel  at  in 
another  ;  which  is  not  bestowed  on  Christians  alone, 
on  a  St.  Augustine,  a  St.  Teresa,  a  Robert  Hall, 
a  Calvinist,  if  he  feels  himself  '  in  grace,'  but  which 
is  also  granted  to  the  Brahmin,  the  Dervish,  the 
Mohammedan  Faquir,  all  of  whom  can  inflict  tortures 
on  their  flesh  and  feel  them  not,  in  the  rapture  which 
fuses  their  souls  in  the  contemplation  of  divinity." 

I  believe  that  the  last  persons  to  whom  this  gift  is 
usually  granted  are  men  accustomed,  like  myself,  to  the 
culture  of  reason,  the  strife  of  active  life,  the  balance 
between  judgment  and  imagination  which  the  student 
of  literature,  the  politician,  the  man  of  the  world,  seeks 
to  maintain.  In  a  word,  I  have  not  that  gift,  no  doubt 
a  blessed  one,  but  wholly  incompatible  with  the  elements 
of  my  character  ;  nor  do  my  beliefs  in  the  relations 
between  this  world  and  the  next  tend  to  attempt  the 
pale  imitation  of  an  enthusiasm  which  I  cannot  sincerely 
feel.  However,  I  am,  I  trust,  deeply  grateful  to  the 
Divine  and  merciful  Father  for  all  the  blessings  He  has 
given  me  ;  and  if  I  repine  at  the  want  of  some  others, 
it  is  not  habitually,  and  only  when  under  that  depression 
of  spirits  in  which  the  body  overcomes  the  manhood  I 
strive  to  maintain  in  the  mind.  .  .  . 

458 


QUIET  CONTENTMENT 

The  death  of  Lord  Derby  in  1869  created  a    1870. 
vacancy   in   the   order  of  St.    Michael   and   St.  ^T-  67- 
George  which  was  offered  to,  and  accepted  by, 
Lord  Lytton.     He  was  gazetted  a  G.C.M.G.  on 
January  15,  1870. 

And  so  the  months  passed  peacefully  away. 
There  remains  little  to  record.  His  letters  from 
Knebworth  or  Argyll  House,  Torquay,  speak  of 
idleness  and  contentment,  happy  friendships  and 
quiet  reading.  The  busy  life  was  nearly  finished, 
and  repose  attained  at  last.  The  sorrows  and 
regrets  inseparable  from  old  age  as  friends  and 
relations  drop  out,  health  fails,  and  the  world 
moves  on  as  it  were  over  one's  head,  recur  from 
time  to  time  in  his  correspondence,  but  on  the 
whole  these  last  years  were  happy  and  unevent- 
ful. To  his  son  he  writes  from  London  on 
February  14,  1870  :  "  I  came  to  town  meditating 
all  sorts  of  political  action,  but  the  cold  and 
gloom  of  the  weather  have  stricken  me  into 
inertia,  and  I  am  longing  to  get  back  to 
Torquay  if  I  can,  and  stay  there  through  March. 
In  youth  one  says,  £  What  would  I  do  were  I  in 
the  position  time  gives  to  some  senior.'  One 
gains  the  position  and  then  says  : — c  Ah,  what 
would  I  do  now,  if  I  were  but  young.' ' 


459 


CHAPTER  IV 

LAST    LITERARY    WORK 

1870-1872 

Life  has  always  action  ;  it  is  our  own  fault  if  it  ever  be  dull  ;  youth 
has  its  enterprise,  manhood  its  schemes  ;  and  even  if  infirmity  creep  upon 
age,  the  mind  still  triumphs  over  the  mortal  clay,  and  in  the  quiet  hermitage, 
among  books  and  from  thoughts,  keeps  the  great  wheel  within  everlastingly 
in  motion.  . 

The  Pilgrims  of  the  Rhine. 

1870.  THE  winter  of  1869-70  was  unusually  severe, 
.  67.  and  even  at  Torquay  Lord  Lytton  could  not 
escape  the  rigours  of  the  climate.  He  says 
in  one  of  his  letters  :  "  I  am  not  only  idle,  but 
all  literary  exertion  is  repugnant  to  me,  so  none 
of  my  irons  in  the  fire  are  a  bit  hotter.  The 
fire  is  gone  out  for  the  present." 

The  fire,  however,  was  by  no  means  ex- 
tinguished. It  did  not  even  smoulder  for  long, 
and  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  were  busily 
spent  in  literary  work. 

John  Forster  was  also  very  ailing  at  this  time, 
and  Lord  Lytton's  letters  to  him  in  the  early 
months  of  1870  express  the  most  affectionate 
solicitude  for  his  friend's  health.  One  of  these 
letters  makes  mention  of  his  satisfaction  at 
having  received  an  offer  to  act  his  play  of 

460 


LETTER  TO  FORSTER 

Walpole  at  a  morning  performance  at  the  Gaiety.    1870. 
For   some   reason  which   is  not  explained,   the  ^T-  67- 
arrangement    fell    through,   and   at    the   end    of 
March  he  writes  to  Forster  : — 


ARGYLL  HOUSE,  TORQUAY, 
March  28,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  am  very  much  obliged  by 
your  letter  and  entirely  approve  your  refusal  to  let  my 
ill-starred  play  be  acted  under  such  malign  auspices. 
I  am  utterly  amazed  that  Langford  should  have  urged 
the  thing  on  me,  seeing  that  he  said  the  manager  was 
his  friend,  and  therefore  I  presumed  that  he  was 
cognisant  of  his  friend's  intentions.  If  not,  his  friend 
deceived  him,  as  (ourselves  excepted)  most  friends 
do  deceive  their  friends  where  they  see  the  way  to 
twopence.  This  is  a  disappointment,  but  one  so  in 
the  groove  of  my  disappointments  that  it  scarcely 
disappoints  me.  I  have  long  since  resigned  the  last 
lingering  hope  of  fair  play  in  my  life-time,  and  as  I 
believe  in  (or  rather,  am  immutably  convinced  of)  a 
future  state  in  another  form  of  being,  any  success  given 
to  me  after  I  have  left  this  world,  any  failure,  provided 
that  it  affected  only  intellect  and  not  honour,  would 
please  or  mortify  me  no  more  (even  if  in  the  future 
life  we  are  allowed  to  know  what  passes  in  this)  than 
it  would  please  or  mortify  you  and  me  to  learn  what 
was  thought  of  us  in  an  infant  school.  But  so  far  as 
this  life  is  concerned,  and  any  pleasure  mere  intellectual 
effort  can  bestow — O,  that  I  had  been  born  in  any 
Christian  land  except  that  in  which  I  was  born. 

Having  so  vented  myself,  I  feel  free  to  go  to 
matters  which  affect  me  much  more  nearly.  How  are 
you  ?  Do  say  ;  your  last  note  is  silent  thereon,  and 

461 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870.    to    know  you  better  would    please  me  immeasurably 
JET.  67.  more  than  could  the  greatest  praises  bestowed  on  my 
most  favourite  works. — Yrs., 

L. 

One  of  the  "  irons  in  the  fire  "  at  this  time 
was  the  story  of  The  Coming  Race.  This  book — 
a  fantastic  story  of  an  imaginary  race  living  in 
the  interior  of  the  earth  with  a  very  highly 
developed  civilisation  —  was  an  entirely  new 
departure,  unlike  anything  which  Lord  Lytton 
had  written  before.  It  was  not  merely  an  excel- 
lent tale  of  adventure,  but  had  a  definite  satirical 
purpose.  In  it  he  imagines  a  community  in 
which  most  of  the  Utopian  philosophies  of  the 
day  were  realised  to  their  fullest  extent.  Uni- 
versal peace,  perfect  liberty  of  the  individual, 
and  equality  both  of  class  and  sex,  the  highest 
development  of  mechanical  invention,  perfect 
physical  well-being  of  the  individual,  and  social 
well-being  of  the  community  —  all  these  were 
attained,  and  resulted  in  a  race  that  was  at  once 
mild  and  terrible,  highly  intellectual,  and  in- 
sufferably dull. 

It  was  a  state  in  which  war,  with  all  its  calamities, 
was  deemed  impossible — a  state  in  which  the  freedom 
of  all  and  each  was  secured  to  the  uttermost  degree, 
without  one  of  those  animosities  which  make  freedom 
in  the  upper  world  depend  on  the  perpetual  strife  of 
hostile  parties.  Here  the  corruption  which  debases 
democracies  was  as  unknown  as  the  discontent  which 
undermines  the  thrones  of  monarchies.  Equality  here 
was  not  a  name ;  it  was  a  reality.  Riches  were 

462 


"THE  COMING  RACE" 

not  persecuted,  because  they  were  not  envied.  Here  1870. 
those  problems  connected  with  the  labours  of  a  work-  &T.  67. 
ing  class,  hitherto  insoluble  above  ground,  and  above 
ground  conducing  to  such  bitterness  between  classes, 
were  solved  by  a  process  the  simplest, — a  distinct  and 
separate  class  was  dispensed  with  altogether.  Mechanical 
inventions,  constructed  on  principles  that  baffled  research 
to  ascertain,  worked  by  an  agency  infinitely  more  power- 
ful and  infinitely  more  easy  of  management  than  aught 
we  have  yet  extracted  from  electricity  or  steam,  with  the 
aid  of  children  whose  strength  was  never  overtasked, 
but  who  loved  their  employment  as  sport  or  pastime, 
sufficed  to  create  a  Public  wealth  so  devoted  to  the 
general  use  that  not  a  grumbler  was  ever  heard  of. 
The  vices  that  rot  our  cities,  here  had  no  footing. 
Amusements  abounded,  but  they  were  all  innocent. 
No  merry-makings  induced  to  intoxication,  to  riot, 
to  disease.  .  .  .  The  vigour  of  middle  life  was  pre- 
served even  after  the  term  of  a  century  was  passed. 
With  this  longevity  was  combined  a  greater  blessing 
than  itself — that  of  continuous  health.  Such  diseases 
as  befell  the  race  were  removed  with  ease  by  scientific 
applications  of  that  agency — life-giving  as  life-destroy- 
ing— which  is  inherent  in  Vril.  .  .  .  All  that  our 
female  philosophers  above  ground  contend  for  as  to 
rights  of  women,  is  conceded  as  a  matter  of  course 
in  this  happy  common-wealth.  .  .  .  Lastly,  among 
the  more  important  characteristics  of  the  Vril-ya,  as 
distinguished  from  our  mankind,  is  their  universal 
agreement  in  the  existence  of  a  merciful,  beneficent 
Deity,  and  of  a  future  world  ;  while  with  that  agreement 
is  combined  another — namely,  since  they  can  know 
nothing  as  to  the  nature  of  that  Deity  beyond  the 
fact  of  His  supreme  goodness,  nor  of  that  future 
world  beyond  the  fact  of  its  felicitous  existence,  so  their 
reason  forbids  all  angry  disputes  on  insoluble  questions. 

463 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870.  Thus  they  secure  for  that  state  in  the  bowels  of  the 
r.  67.  earth,  what  no  community  ever  secured  under  the 
light  of  the  stars — all  the  blessings  and  consolations 
of  a  religion  without  any  of  the  evils  and  calamities 
which  are  engendered  by  strife  between  one  religion 
and  another. 

It  would  be,  then,  utterly  impossible  to  deny  that 
the  state  of  existence  among  the  Vril-ya  is  thus,  as  a 
whole,  immeasurably  more  felicitous  than  that  of 
super-terrestrial  races,  and  realising  the  dreams  of  our 
most  sanguine  philanthropists,  almost  approaches  to 
a  poet's  conception  of  some  angelical  order.  And  yet, 
if  you  would  take  a  thousand  of  the  best  and  most 
philosophical  of  human  beings  you  could  find  in 
London,  Paris,  Berlin,  New  York,  or  even  Boston, 
and  place  them  as  citizens  in  this  beatified  community, 
my  belief  is,  that  in  less  than  a  year  they  would  either 
die  of  ennui,  or  attempt  some  revolution  by  which 
they  would  militate  against  the  good  of  the  community, 
and  be  burnt  into  cinders  at  the  request  of  the  Tur 
[Chief  Magistrate]. 

The  development  of  this  theme  gave  plenty 
of  scope  for  the  indulgence  of  quiet  satire,  and 
for  ingenuities  of  invention.  The  manuscript  of 
the  story  was  sent  to  Forster  at  the  beginning  of 
March  1870,  and  the  following  letters  on  the 
subject  throw  light  on  the  author's  opinions 
concerning  the  work  : — 

Lord  Lytton  to  John  Forster. 

A.H.,  TORQUAY, 
March  15,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — The  MS.  does  not  press  for 
publication,  so  you  can  keep  it  during  your  excursion 

464 


LETTERS  ON  "THE  COMING  RACE" 

and  think  over  it  among  the  other  moonstricken  pro-  1870. 
ductions  which  may  have  more  professional  demand  on  ^T.  67. 
your  attention.  Perhaps  some  suggestion  may  occur 
to  you.  The  only  important  point  is  to  keep  in  view 
the  Darwinian  proposition  that  a  coming  race  is  destined 
to  supplant  our  races,  that  such  a  race  would  be  very 
gradually  formed,  and  be  indeed  a  new  species  develop- 
ing itself  out  of  our  old  one,  that  this  process  would 
be  invisible  to  our  eyes,  and  therefore  in  some  region 
unknown  to  us.  And  that  in  the  course  of  the  develop- 
ment, the  coming  race  will  have  acquired  some  peculi- 
arities so  distinct  from  our  ways,  that  it  could  not  be 
fused  with  us,  and  certain  destructive  powers  which 
our  science  could  not  enable  us  to  attain  to,  or  cope 
with. 

Therefore,  the  idea  of  electrical  power  occurred  to 
me,  but  some  other  might  occur  to  you. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

A.H.,  TORQUAY, 
March  16,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER  —  With  regard  to  the  MS., 
return  it  here  and  place  in  pencil  marks  at  all  the 
passages  you  object  to.  I  don't  quite  understand 
about  the  romance  interfering  with  the  satire.  There 
must  be  romance  of  some  kind,  and  there  must  also  be 
some  organic  peculiarity  in  the  coming  race  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  ourselves  and  give  them  some 
destroying  powers  that  our  mere  science  could  not 
attain.  For,  if  they  had  only  learnt  to  develop  agencies 
in  electricity,  not  yet  known  to  us,  we  could  acquire  that 
knowledge  as  readily  as  one  nation  has  acquired  from 
another  the  use  of  the  electric  telegraph.  But  I  will 
attend  to  any  suggestion  you  may  make,  or  put  aside 
the  MS.  altogether. 

VOL.  ir  465  2  H 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870.          Robert  seems  to  have  been  making  an  oration   at 
JET.  67.  Vienna  in  praise  of  the  Americans.     I  don't  agree  with 
him  in  a  crow  over  the  gentlemen  of  the  south — but 
that  is  matter  of  opinion  and  taste. 

Heaven  set  you  up  soon. — Ever  yr.  affte. 

L. 

The  same  to  the  same. 

i  March  20,  1870. 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — It  is  most  kind  of  you  to  write 
me  so  long  a  letter  while  still  so  unwell. 

I  am  a  little  startled  at  your  doubt  if  a  publisher 
will  take  the  book  as  an  anonymous  one — my  notion 
having  been  that  if  it  could  appear  unbeknown,  it 
would  create  a  sensation  and  have  a  large  sale,  but  that 
with  my  name  it  would  be  a  failure.  However,  on  the 
former  supposition  I  suppose  1  err ;  in  the  latter  I 
feel  sure  I  am  right.  I  would  not  on  any  account  give 
my  name  to  it. 

I  did  not  mean  Vril  for  mesmerism,  but  for  electricity, 
developed  into  uses  as  yet  only  dimly  guessed,  and 
including  whatever  there  may  be  genuine  in  mesmerism, 
which  I  hold  to  be  a  mere  branch  current  of  the  one 
great  fluid  pervading  all  nature.  I  am  by  no  means, 
however,  wedded  to  Vril,  if  you  can  suggest  anything 
else  to  carry  out  this  meaning — namely,  that  the  coming 
race,  though  akin  to  us,  has  nevertheless  acquired  by 
hereditary  transmission,  etc.,  certain  distinctions  which 
make  it  a  different  species,  and  contains  powers  which 
we  could  not  attain  to  through  a  slow  growth  of  time  ; 
so  that  this  race  would  not  amalgamate  with,  but  destroy 
us.  And  yet  this  race,  being  in  many  respects  better 
and  milder  than  we  are,  ought  not  to  be  represented 
terrible,  except  through  the  impossibility  of  our  tolerat- 
ing them  or  they  tolerating  us,  and  they  possess  some 
powers  of  destruction  denied  to  ourselves. 

466 


"THE  COMING  RACE" 

Now,  as  some  bodies  are  charged  with  electricity  like    1871. 
the  torpedo  or  electric  eel,  and  never  can  communicate  ^ET.  68. 
that  power  to  other  bodies,  so  I  suppose  the  existence  - 
of  a   race  charged   with   that   electricity  and    having 
acquired  the  art  to  concentre  and  direct  it — in  a  word, 
to  be  conductors  of  its  lightnings.     If  you  can  suggest 
any  other  idea  of  carrying  out  that  idea  of  a  destroying 
race,  I  should  be  glad.     Probably  even  the  notion  of 
Vril  might  be  more  cleared  from  mysticism  or  mesmerism 
by  being  simply  defined  to  be  electricity  and  conducted 
by  those  staves  or  rods,  omitting  all  about  mesmeric 
passes,  etc.     Perhaps,  too,  it  would  be  safe  to  omit  all 
reference   to   the   power    of  communicating  with   the 
dead. 

I  hope  to  have  a  good  account  of  yourself. — Ever 
affectly.  yrs., 

L. 

Lord  Lytton  adhered  to  his  determination  to 
produce  the  book  anonymously,  and  events  proved 
that  he  was  justified  in  so  doing.  It  was  published 
by  Black  wood  in  the  spring  of  1871,  and  was 
read  with  great  interest.  Considering  the  stage 
of  development  which  electrical  science  had 
reached  at  the  date  when  The  Coming  Race  was 
published,  and  the  extent  to  which  it  has 
since  developed  for  practical  purposes  many  of 
the  powers  exercised  by  the  Vrilya,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  Lord  Lytton  showed  remarkable 
gifts  of  foresight  in  this  work.  The  anonymity 
of  the  book  was  strictly  preserved.  Besides  John 
Forster,  only  Lady  Sherborne  and  his  son  were 
admitted  into  the  secret  of  its  authorship.  To 
the  latter  Lord  Lytton  wrote  on  May  19,  1871  : — 

467 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1871.  The  Coming  Race  is  out,  and  on  its  road  to  you  by 
T.  68.  book  post.  As  yet  I  have  seen  no  opinions  about  it, 
except  in  letters  to  Blackwood  from  Max  Miiller  and 
Sir  A.  Grant,  another  philosopher,  very  eulogistic. 
But  it  has  not  come  before  the  public  yet,  and  it  seems 
uncertain  whether  it  will  be  a  great  hit  or  a  failure.  It 
is  improved  in  point  of  humour  since  you  saw  it,  and  I 
think  you  will  like  its  solemn  quiz  on  Darwin  and  on 
Radical  politics. 

In  June  1871  he  says  : — 

I  don't  think  people  have  caught  or  are  likely  to 
catch  the  leading  idea  of  the  book,  which  is  this  : — 
Assuming  that  all  the  various  ideas  of  philosophical 
reformers  could  be  united  and  practically  realised,  the 
result  would  be  firstly,  a  race  that  must  be  fatal  to 
ourselves ;  our  society  could  not  amalgamate  with  it ; 
it  would  be  deadly  to  us,  not  from  its  vices  but  its  virtues. 
Secondly,  the  realisation  of  these  ideas  would  produce 
a  society  which  we  should  find  extremely  dull,  and  in 
which  the  current  equality  would  prohibit  all  greatness. 
Of  course  in  the  handling  of  the  main  idea  there  are 
collateral  veins  of  satire  or  reflection. 

Blackwood  tells  me  that  the  opinions  he  hears 
privately  are  very  enthusiastic,  chiefly  from  professors 
and  scholars,  and  the  papers  usually  most  hostile  to  me 
are  wonderfully  civil  to  it,  Spectator,  Examiner,  Athenaeum, 
Scotsman — all  my  wonted  foes.  Nevertheless,  it  does 
not  seem  to  get  fairly  before  the  public,  and  I  do  not 
hear  it  discussed  or  see  it  about.  I  daresay  its  sale  wi11 
be  limited. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  1871  the  reputa- 
tion of  this  book  was  fairly  established,  and  on 
January  30, 1 8  72,  the  author  says  of  it  to  his  son  : — 

468 


The  Coming  Race  has  had  a  great  sale — five  editions,     1871. 
and  is  now  going  into  a  cheaper  one,  stereotyped,  which  JEr.  68. 
shows  the  advantage  of  the  anonymous.     It  owes  its 
sale  chiefly  to  the  praise  of  the  reviewers,  and  precisely 
the  reviewers  who  would  have  been  most  uncivil  to  the 
author  if  they  had  guessed  him.     I  think  when   you 
hit  on  a  popular  subject  you  will  do  well  to  try  the 
anonymous  too. 

Another  literary  task  of  these  years  was  the 
revision  and  republication  of  King  Arthur.  The 
subject  was  first  mentioned  in  a  letter  to  Forster 
of  March  9,  1 870  : — 

A  Mr.  Charlton  Tucker,  who  is  setting  up  as  a 
publisher  in  Northumberland  Street,  Strand,  has  dis- 
tinguished himself  from  the  rest  of  mankind  by  ex- 
pressing admiration  of  my  ill-treated  proles  King 
Arthur^  and  has  offered  me  liberal  terms  for  leave  to 
bring  out  a  new  edition.  Now  my  intense  fatherly 
love  for  King  Arthur  does  not  so  cloud  my  general 
knowledge  of  the  world  as  to  dim  my  eyes  to  the  fact 
that  a  man  setting  up  as  a  publisher  might  like  to 
secure  an  old-fashioned  respectable  name  like  mine ; 
and  that  in  republishing  King  Arthur  at  a  probable 
loss,  he  pays  for  my  name  and  establishes  a  claim  on 
my  gratitude  or  on  my  vanity.  Vanity  is  often  a 
better  basis  whereon  to  build  than  gratitude.  There- 
fore, not  rejecting  his  offer,  I  have  put  it  aside  to  be 
considered.  Meanwhile,  having  always  had  it  on  my 
mind,  in  packing  up  wares  for  posterity,  that  I  ought 
to  launch  forth  a  new  edition  of  King  Arthur^  I  have 
been  looking  over  that  poem  with  a  sternly  critical  eye, 
and,  barring  some  faults  of  taste  and  declamatory  form 
of  diction,  I  am  amazed  to  find,  after  a  long  forgetfulness 
of  every  line,  how  good  it  seems  to  me  on  the  whole, 

469 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1871.  and  the  higher  the  flight  the  better  it  seems  to  me. 
ET.  68.  Of  course,  seeing  the  neglect  it  has  undergone,  the 
chances  are  that  I  am  mistaken.  I  try  to  bring  before 
my  eyes  the  mortifying  recollection  of  much  greater 
men  enamoured  of  their  own  bad  verses.  Richelieu 
and  Cicero  to  wit.  But  in  vain  I  set  those  examples 
before  me ;  at  every  page  I  read,  my  impression 
strengthens  that  the  poem  has  been  unjustly  ignored, 
and  should  it  ever  find  favouring  critics,  must  establish 
a  high  and  permanent  place  in  literature.  Possibly 
when  I  have  finished  correcting  it  I  may  ask  you  to 
look  impartially  at  certain  parts,  and  from  a  point  of 
view  distinct  from  that  which  accepts  as  poetry  the 
verbal  mannerisms  of  the  day.  Possibly  also  I  may 
ask  your  advice,  whether  if  I  venture  a  new  edition 
under  the  auspices  of  this  virgin  publisher,  I  may 
expose  myself  and  my  venture  to  the  disparaging 
sneer  of  not  having  found  an  older  bird  than  Mr. 
Jackson  to  be  caught  by  that  unremunerative  chaff. 
Meanwhile,  I  mean  to  finish  the  revision  of  the 
work. 

Now,  having  cleared  my  decks  of  this  egotistical 
lumber,  I  must  express  my  heartfelt  pleasure  at  thinking 
that  though  this  iron  weather  has  been  so  against  you, 
you  are  apparently  making  strides,  slow  but  sure, 
towards  convalescence.  When  the  sun  begins  to 
smile,  and  the  buds  to  bloom,  I  hope  the  stride  will 
be  rapid. 

The  Queen  of  Holland  has  been  taking  up  and 
spoiling  my  time  here.  I  gave  up  to  her  talk  two 
mortal  hours  on  Sunday,  met  and  took  her  into  dinner 
at  Lady  Brownlow's  yesterday,  and  am  again  summoned 
to  meet  her  at  ten  this  evening  at  Lady  Sherborne's. 
She  is  very  clever,  very  liberal,  more  philosophical  than 
sentimental — such  a  Sovereign  as  Voltaire  might  have 
liked,  but  restless  as  quicksilver,  and  makes  one  un- 

470 


A  TROUBLESOME  PREFACE 

comfortable   by   her   infectious   fidgetings   of  thought    1871. 
and  body.  ^T>  68> 

After  re-reading  the  poem,  Forster  wrote  to 
him  very  encouragingly  about  King  Arthur : 
"  It  is  a  masterly  piece  of  construction,"  he  said, 
"  high  and  buoyant  to  the  last,  and  brimming 
over  with  life  and  fancy.  Loftier  or  more 
various  power  than  in  this  book  you  have  not 
shown  anywhere."  Mr.  Tucker's  offer  was 
therefore  accepted,  and  a  very  unattractive, 
badly  illustrated,  edition  of  the  book  was  pub- 
lished in  the  autumn  of  1870.  The  preface  to 
this  edition  gave  Lord  Lytton  a  great  deal  of 
trouble.  His  first  draft  of  it  contained  some 
critical  passages  of  Tennyson's  treatment  of 
the  same  subject,  and  it  concluded  with  others 
of  querulous  protest  against  the  injustice  he 
had  received  from  contemporary  critics.  On 
the  advice  of  Forster,  these  passages  were 
wisely  omitted  before  the  book  went  to 
press.  In  reply  to  his  friend's  criticism  of 
the  preface,  Lord  Lytton  wrote  on  August  29, 
1870:— 

MY  DEAR  FORSTER — I  am  very  much  obliged  by 
your  letter.  Your  doubts  in  much  express  my  own, 
but  there  is  one  point  I  feel  to  be  essential,  namely,  the 
vindication  of  my  throwing  over  the  Mort  d'Arthur, 
and  constructing  my  own  fable  and  characters.  I  want 
to  do  that.  At  the  same  time,  I  want  equally  to  avoid 
impugning  Tennyson's  different  mode  of  treatment. 
That  is  the  great  difficulty,  which  I  hoped  you  or 
Robert  would  help  me  to  solve.  I  must  say  something, 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  too,  about  the  distinction  between  my  Guenevere  and 
J&T.  67-69.  the  French  one. 

The  second  point  I  should  like  to  keep  in  view  and 
think  politic,  is  some  assertion  of  my  own  estimate  of 
the  poem,  even  if  it  provoke  ridicule  ;  but  I  feel  that 
it  ought  to  be  done  more  briefly,  and  with  more 
modesty  and  dignity. 

That  horrible  preface  has  cost  me  more  trouble 
than  a  three  volume  novel,  and  I  return  to  it  with 
weariness  and  nausea.  .  .  . — Afftly.  yrs., 

L. 

To  Mrs.  Cosway *  he  wrote,  at  the  end  of 
1 870,  about  this  book  : — 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  COSWAY — You  don't  like  me  to 
say  "flattered,"  and  I  really  do  not  know  by  what 
words  I  can  express  my  sense  of  the  distinction  you 
bestow  upon  my  pet  child.  Ever  since  I  began  what 
is  called  "a  literary  career,"  I  have  had  against  me 
more  inveterately  than  any  other  author  of  my  day, 
the  cliques  which  supply  criticisms  to  the  journals. 
When  I  have  written  books  like  novels,  which  need 
not  their  intervention  to  obtain  a  fair  reading  from 
the  public,  these  cliques  could  not  do  me  all  the  harm 
they  wished  to  do.  But  there  are  some  kinds  of 
writing  which  the  general  public  do  not  take  to  unless 
they  are  somewhat  forced  to  it,  by  the  recommendation 
of  reviews.  Poetry  is  of  that  kind,  and  especially  a 
poem  so  lengthy,  so  unfamiliar  in  subject,  and  so  little 
modern  in  style,  as  King  Arthur.  And  the  reviewers 
there  have  certainly  contrived  to  discourage  the  most 
benevolent  reader  from  the  effort  of  perusal,  with  the 
exception  of  one  notice  in  the  Fortnightly. 

1  Afterwards  Mrs.  Halliday,  a  friend  of  his  last  years,  some  of  his 
letters  to  whom  have  already  been  quoted  in  a  previous  chapter. 

472 


LETTER  ON  "KING  ARTHUR" 

At  my  stage  of  life  it  matters  little  to  me  whether  1870-1872. 
I  am  right  or  wrong  in  any  estimate  I  may  form  of  JEr.  67-69. 
King  Arthur^  or  anything  else  I  may  have  written.  I 
feel  so  like  a  boy  about  to  leave  a  preparatory  school 
in  which  his  themes  and  exercises  can  be  of  no  value 
except  so  far  as  they  influence  his  grade  in  the  higher 
school  destined  to  continue  his  education.  But  praise 
of  the  "  exercise,"  snubbed  and  disparaged  by  the  other 
little  boys  and  the  ushers,  coming  from  one  so  intimately 
conversant  with  great  masterpieces,  cannot  but  ex- 
hilarate my  spirits  on  looking  round  the  familiar 
schoolroom  which  I  must  so  soon  leave  behind  me. 

No,  if  I  don't  like  talking  about  my  books,  I 
certainly  shrink  yet  more  from  the  thought  of  reading 
them  to  others.  I  am  the  loneliest  person  in  the 
world  as  to  composition.  "  Le  Moineau  Solitaire " 
sits  on  the  housetops  in  order  that  no  one  may  guess 
that  he  has  a  nest  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree.  I  agree 
with  you  in  disliking  exceedingly  the  illustrations. 
But  after  being  out  of  print  nearly  twenty  years, 
except  in  a  wretched  ill -printed,  unconnected,  cheap 
edition  by  Routledge,  an  admiring  publisher  urged  me 
to  let  him  issue  the  present  edition  of  the  poem  revised, 
and  contracted  for  illustrations.  Unluckily,  it  is  a 
very  large  edition,  but  it  is  going  off  slowly.  When 
gone,  I  shall  probably,  if  alive,  launch  forth  another 
unillustrated,  and  if  so,  you  shall  have  the  earliest 
copy. — Very  gratefully  &  truly  yrs., 

LYTTON. 

Another  letter  to  the  same  correspondent, 
undated,  but  written,  I  think,  at  the  end  of 
1870,  has  an  interesting  reference  to  Byron  : — - 

My  DEAR  MRS.  COSWAY — I  shall  be  happy  to 
dine  with  you  on  Thursday  next.  Schiller  rocked 

473 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  me    to    sleep    last    night    on   the   boundless   deep   of 

^Er.  67-69.  the  aesthetics. 

I  dare  not  for  a  moment  think  of  myself  in  com- 
parison with  any  of  the  great  names  which  you  so 
graciously  place  near  me.  But  I  have  a  general  notion 
that  every  original  genius  stands  within  his  own  magic 
circle,  that  no  one  else  ever  drew  a  magic  circle  exactly 
like  it,  that  one  finds  on  trying  to  institute  a  rival 
comparison  between  circle  A  and  circle  B,  that  the 
magicians  baffle  one,  and  immediately  begin  shifting  the 
tints  and  outlines  of  the  rings  that  gird  them,  so  that 
where  one  moment  we  detect  a  similitude  in  the  next 
we  are  startled  by  a  contrast,  and  thus  all  points  needed 
for  just  comparison,  disappear. 

Byron  is  especially  unique.  I  know  no  genius  before 
or  since  his  time  that  has  taken  the  same  ground 
and  cultivated  it  in  the  same  manner.  That  he  is  a 
passionate  nature,  as  you  observe,  is  strikingly  true, 
and  yet  he  fails  where  most  passionate  natures  gifted 
with  poetic  invention  succeed,  viz.  : — in  the  struggle 
between  contending  passions.  This  is  why  he  is  not  a 
great  dramatist.  I  think,  however,  that  he  has  "  in- 
tensity," but  his  intensity,  like  his  passionateness,  is 
concentrated  in  the  utterance  of  himself.  He  is  in- 
tensely and  passionately  personal,  and  his  character 
"  pierces "  thro'  his  genius.  We  have  nothing  but 
tiny  fragments  left  of  Alcaeus,  but  I  fancy  that  his 
nature  must  have  had  more  resemblance  to  Byron's 
than  that  of  any  other  poet.  Both  made  poetry  out 
of  their  own  lives  as  men,  and  both  seem  to  have  had 
attributes  of  fate  and  character  in  common,  amorous 
and  combative  and  stormy,  and  always  in  hot  water 
and  trouble — exiled  nobles  ;  passing  both  to  the  shades, 
leaving  behind  them  a  fame  identified  with  the  personal 
interests  they  created,  and  always,  when  we  think  of 
them,  revealed  to  us  in  aspects  of  youth.  One  can't 

474 


FRANCO-PRUSSIAN  WAR 

fancy  that  either  of  them  could  have  lived  to  be  sober,  1870-1872. 
elderly   artists.     Whenever  I   gaze    on    that    beautiful  Mr.  67-69. 
portrait  of  Byron  in  a  sailor's  dress,  standing  by  the 
seashore,  I  am  reminded  of  the  description  of  Alcaeus 
mooring  his  bark  on  the  wet  sand  and  singing  of  love, 
whatever  his  hardships  in  shipwreck  and  war  and  exile. 
— Truly  yrs., 

L. 

The  chief  event  of  the  year  1870  was  the 
war  which  broke  out  in  the  summer  between 
France  and  Germany.  On  September  2, 
Napoleon  III.  surrendered  to  the  Germans,  after 
the  battle  of  Sedan,  and  the  French  Empire  was 
at  an  end.  The  Revolution  in  Paris,  which 
followed  this  event,  and  the  horrors  of  the 
Commune  in  March  and  April  1871,  provided 
the  world  with  another  striking  example  of 
the  results  of  mob  rule,  animated  by  radical 
philosophy,  on  which  Lord  Lytton  had  so 
often  passed  judgment  in  connection  with  other 
Revolutions  of  the  past,  and  which  had  been  a 
special  object  of  his  satire  in  The  Coming  Race. 
His  letters  in  1871  contain  frequent  references 
to  these  events. 

To  his  son  he  writes  on  January  29,  1871  : — 

.  .  .  Before  this  reaches  you  I  suppose  that  you 
will  know  all  about  the  Peace,  &c.,  so  I  need  not  touch 
upon  that.  In  a  clever  letter  1  have  just  received  from 
one  who  is  rather  a  good  authority,  knows  France  and 
her  parties  well,  and  sees  much  of  the  Orleanists,  it  is 
said  that  the  Orleanists  are  in  great  fear  that  the 
Emperor  will  be  restored,  that  his  partisans  are  far 

475 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  more  numerous  and  influential  than  appears  on  the 
Mr.  67-69.  surface — ist,  all  the  civil  officers,  Prefets,  &c.,  promoted 
by  him,  identify  with  him  for  the  most  part  their  am- 
bition. Many  of  them  are  young,  energetic  and  with 
great  local  interest.  They  have  nothing  to  gain  from 
either  a  Republic  or  the  Orleanists.  They  have  the  bond 
of  party  to  the  Emperor.  2ndly,  The  Deputes  and 
Senate  are  more  or  less  for  him.  3rdly,  A  large  pro- 
portion of  the  peasants  and  the  majority  of  the  Priests. 
4thly,  The  chief  military  officers  are  revolted  by  the 
insolence  of  Gambetta  &  Co.  They  feel  humiliated 
by  the  idea  of  being  governed  by  the  Pekins  and 
lawyers  whom  a  Republic  would  throw  up,  and,  what- 
ever the  military  faults  of  the  Emperor  and  the  late 
Ministers,  still  they  recognise  in  the  Emperor  the 
"  army's  friend,"  the  man  whose  heart  is  most  with  them. 
So  that  if  McMahon  declares  for  the  Emperor  and  can 
influence  the  bulk  of  the  captive  army,  the  other  armies 
would  not  venture  to  oppose,  and  indeed  be  likely  to 
join. 

In  that  case,  the  Emperor,  never  having  been  legally 
deposed,  would,  on  release,  go  up  to  Paris  with  his 
released  armies,  summon  the  old  Chamber  and  Senate, 
and  appeal  to  another  Plebiscite  with  the  aid  of  his 
Prefets  to  work  it. 

All  this  seems  plausible  eno',  but  it  is  impossible  to 
predict  anything  in  a  state  of  affairs  so  anomalous  and 
with  a  people  so  capricious.  If,  however,  he  goes 
back,  I  suspect  it  will  be  to  resume  his  pristine  personal 
domination.  His  partisans  say,  not  unnaturally,  "  All 
went  admirably  till  the  Emperor  put  power  into  the 
hands  of  a  Press  which  misled  the  people,  and  weakened 
the  Executive  by  radical  measures  not  fitted  for  France." 
Probably  his  restoration  would  be  the  best  thing  for 
England.  A  Republic  would  lead  to  much  infectious 
evil  here,  and  the  Orleanists  would  be  too  weak  to 

476 


SITUATION  IN  FRANCE 

resist  any  impulse  of  the  French  to  avenge  upon  England  1870-18; 
the  sufferings  they  have  undergone  from  the  Germans.    j^T  ^_( 

As  to  the  union  between  France  and  Belgium,  in 
electing  the  Belgian  King  over  both,  it  would  indeed  be 
a  standing  menace  against  our  shores  with  that  vast  sea- 
board facing  us. 

The  Government  here  is  terribly  out  of  favour  with 
all  parties,  and  Gladstone  distrusted  and  almost  despised. 
Nevertheless,  a  few  speeches  of  his  when  Parliament  opens 
may  bolster  up  his  Cabinet  for  a  time.  Certainly  not 
for  long,  if  the  growing  ardour  for  military  defence  and 
European  prestige  should  continue,  in  the  face  of  those 
dampers — the  taxes  !  .  .  . 

To  the  same. 

May  19,  1871. 

.  .  .  There  is  no  doubt  of  the  immense  value  of  the 
German  mind  and  literature  and  its  massiveness  com- 
pared with  the  French.  But  it  would  be  too  much  to  say 
that  the  French  borrowed  its  really  national  and  classical 
masterpieces  from  the  German — rather  the  contrary,  I 
should  say  that  the  German  had  borrowed  somewhat 
from  the  French,  especially  the  Berlin  School  of 
thought. 

What  can  be  more  French  or  less  indebted  to  German 
than  Montaigne,  Charron,  Voltaire,  Corneille,  Moliere, 
La  Fontaine,  Beranger?  I  don't  think  Rousseau  and 
his  followers  (like  Chas.  Le  Brun  and  G.  Sand)  are  so 
purely  and  distinctively  French  as  the  others  I  have 
named,  but  they  certainly  are  not  indebted  to  German, 
and  the  Germans  are  certainly  indebted  to  them.  In 
our  present  disgust  of  French  follies,  we  must  not 
allow  ourselves  to  follow  out  a  natural  impulse  to 
depreciate  them  altogether.  Their  misfortune  was  their 
great  Revolution,  from  which  they  have  never  recovered, 

477 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  and  never,  I  fear,  can.  That  Revolution  destroyed  all 
JEr.  67-69.  the  great  foundations  of  calm  and  durable  Government — 
all  that  stands  between  popular  passion  and  a  master.  It 
could  not  destroy  a  nobility,  but  it  destroyed  aristocracy 
and  made  a  noblesse,  without  dukes  and  property,  a 
dangerous  instead  of  a  salutary  class.  It  destroyed  all 
the  true  bonds  of  religion,  tho'  it  could  not  wholly 
suppress  a  Church,  and  it  rendered  a  Republic  and  a 
Constitutional  Monarchy  alike  impossible — at  least  for 
duration.  In  the  cause  of  the  Commune  there  is,  of 
course,  a  something  sound  in  a  vague  instinct  of  de- 
centralisation, and  establishing  urban  influences  over 
rural,  but  it  is  mixed  up  with  such  absurdities  and  vices 
that  no  thinker  can  respect  it.  This  is  always  the  case 
where  philosophy  unites  with  the  working  class.  The 
working  class  accept  such  notions  of  philosophy  as 
they  think  suit  their  interest,  and  being  inevitably  un- 
philosophical  themselves — make  a  hell -broth  of  the 
elixir — just  as  Mr.  Mill  and  Mr.  Bradlaugh  would  do 
if  they  were  brought  together  in  the  ferment  of  revolu- 
tion. Baser  trash  than  Mill  has  been  uttering  lately 
on  the  land  question,  I  can't  conceive.  .  .  . 

To  the  same. 

May  24,  1871. 

...  I  agree  with  and  admire  most  of  what  you  say 
in  your  letter  upon  Morley,  politics,  &c.  That  Morley, 
Mill,  and  all  that  school  are  impracticable,  is  not  their 
worst  feature.  Their  doctrines,  safe  enough  when 
addressed  to  you  and  me,  are  terribly  dangerous  when 
dropped  among  artisans.  Not  that  such  doctrines  can 
be  carried,  so  long  as  existing  civilisation  lasts,  but  that 
the  struggle  to  carry  them  causes  so  much  unsettlement, 
such  fanatical  excesses  and  such  futile  revolutionary 
spasms.  The  Parisians,  Communists,  etc.,  are  an  in- 

478 


THE  COMMUNE 

stance  of  this,  and  in  their  general  wrongdoing  their  1870-18; 
nucleus  of  right  vanishes  into  the  background.  JE.T.  67-* 

Of  course,  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of 
their  one  strong  point,  that  rural  populations  should 
not  swamp  urban  electors,  and  that  municipalities  should 
be  freed  from  central  dictation.  But  these  are  reforms 
not  to  be  fought  at  the  cannon's  mouth,  and  could  easily 
have  been  attained  by  argument.  But  once  let  heated 
actors  take  up  philosophical  truths,  and  they  so  muddle 
and  adulterate  them,  that  truths  become  fallacies,  and, 
of  course,  the  bulk  of  these  Parisian  rioters  lost  sight 
of  the  nucleus,  some  wanted  to  depose  God  and  get  rid 
of  all  religion,  some  wanted  their  neighbours'  shops, 
some  wanted  one  thing  or  another  which  the  good  of 
society  would  no  more  allow  than  I  hope  in  England  it 
will  ever  allow  Mr.  Mill's  wild  projects  against  private 
property  in  land  to  do  more  than  increase  the  number 
of  fools  and  rogues  in  the  cesspool  of  great  towns. 

I  suppose  with  you  that  Henri  V.1  has  the  best 
chance  now,  but  the  whirligig  of  time  in  Paris  is  so 
rapid  that  a  month  hence  he  may  have  no  chance  at 
all.  It  will  be  a  great  thing  for  England  and  for  all 
Monarchies  if  H.  V.  can  be  chosen  and  stand  his 
ground.  .  .  . 

To  Mrs.  Cosway. 

ARGYLL  HALL,  Dec.  27,  1871. 

MY  DEAR  MRS.  COSWAY — Many  thanks  for  your 
friend's  interesting  letter,  which  I  return.  The  French 
have  so  destroyed  all  durable  elements  of  good  Govt., 
that  they  must  to  the  last  remain  a  signal  example  of 
how  well  on  the  whole  a  clever  people,  geographically 
blest,  can  get  on,  however  bad  their  Govt.  may  be. 

1  The  Comte  de  Chambord,  grandson  of  Charles  X. 
479 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  The  old  Romans  are  a  proof  of  that  truth,  for  I  defy 
&T.  67-69.  political   philosophers   to   concoct  a  worse   Govt.  than 
they  had  from  the  time  of  Scipio  Africanus  to  the  final 
fall  of  their  Empire. 

I  believe  that,  like  the  Romans,  the  only  thing  left 
for  the  French  is  autocracy  in  some  shape  or  other.  It 
is  laughable  to  imagine  either  a  Republic  or  a  Con- 
stitutional Monarchy  taking  root  in  that  shallow  layer 
of  hothouse  dry  leaves  and  fine  loam  and  the  refuse  of 
the  stables.  I  know  a  little  of  the  Due  d'Aumale  and 
the  Count  de  Paris.  The  last  is,  to  my  mind,  the  beau- 
ideal  of  a  popular  Constitutional  Monarch.  His 
manners  so  simple  and  gracious,  his  life  so  orderly  and 
domestic,  his  sympathies  so  manly,  and  his  abilities  being 
just  what  they  ought  to  be  for  such  a  post,  neither  too 
great  nor  too  small.  The  Due  d'Aumale  is  of  another 
mould,  but  the  position  assigned  to  him  is  terribly 
critical.  Even  the  House  of  Orleans  cannot  afford  to 
furnish  the  world  with  another  example  of  household 
treason,  and  it  is  idle  to  talk  of  anyone  being  President 
of  a  Republic  in  which  there  are  no  republicans,  except 
prigs  and  fanatics.  .  .  . 

The  events  of  the  Siege  of  Paris  and  the  War 
of  the  Commune,  provided  Lord  Lytton  with 
material  for  one  of  his  last  novels.  During  the 
years  1871  and  1872  he  was  engaged  upon  two 
books,  one  of  which,  The  Parisians,  though  not 
completed,  had  begun  to  appear  anonymously  in 
Blackwood's  Magazine  during  the  author's  life- 
time ;  the  other,  Kenelm  Chillingly,  was  finished 
but  not  published  till  after  his  death. 

As  the  secret  of  the  authorship  of  The 
Parisians  was  guarded  as  jealously  as  that  of 
The  Coming  Race,  no  mention  of  it  is  made  in  any 

480 


"KENELM  CHILLINGLY' 

of  Lord  Lytton's  letters  except  those  to  his  son.  1870-1872. 
It  is  first  referred  to  in  one  of  these  dated  January  &T.  67-69. 
30,   1872 — the    same  letter  which  tells    of  the 
successful  sales  of  The  Coming  Race  : — 

"  The  author  of  the  C.R.,"  he  says  "  (pray  always 
continue  to  guard  his  secret)  has  done  more  than  3  vols. 
of  an  odd  sort  of  novel,  which  is,  however,  now  at  a 
standstill — he  finds  it  so  difficult  to  finish.  Its  present 
title  is  The  Parisians  and  it  ought  to  end  with  the 
Communist  siege,  ignes  suppositos  cineri  doloso.  I  fear, 
however,  that  the  author  of  the  C.R.  would  be  detected 
in  this  book,  and  yet  there  are  good  reasons  for  not 
publishing  it  in  his  own  name.  This  is  a  matter  to 
be  considered  when  finished.  1  don't  think  it  very 
interesting,  because  of  its  merits  in  another  way,  which 
consist  in  digressive  dialogues  on  the  local  and  political 
aspects  of  Paris." 

To  Kenelm  Chillingly  there  are  more  references 
in  his  letters,  but  only  as  to  the  progress  which 
he  is  making  with  it,  and  none  bearing  on  the 
subject  matter  of  the  book.  On  September  9, 
1872,  he  writes  to  Mrs.  Halliday  from  Kneb- 
worth  : — 

I  have  finished  two  vols.  of  Chillingly,  which  are  sent 
to  Blackwood.  I  don't  know  how  you  will  like  it. 
The  hero  is  very  strange-humoured,  I  think  original, 
and  there  are  more  poetic  bits  in  it  than  in  most  of  my 
later  writings,  but  the  end  of  it  is  difficult  and  not  yet 
approached. 

The  third  volume  was  begun  a  few  days  later, 
but  was  delayed  during  the  whole  of  October 

VOL.  II  481  2  I 


LAST  LITERARY  WORK 

1870-1872.  owing  to  illness.     The  remainder  of  the  winter 
JET.  67-69.  of   1 872   at  Torquay   was   devoted  to  its   com- 
pletion. 

"  I  am  grown  enamoured  of  monotony,"  he 
writes,  towards  the  end  of  1 872,  "  and  am  dis- 
inclined by  a  pebble  to  disturb  the  still  current 
of  daily  life."  In  another  letter  he  speaks  of 
finishing  Chillingly  in  the  spring,  but  that  spring 
never  came.  The  sands  had  run  out,  and  as  if 
conscious  that  his  time  was  limited,  he  worked 
steadily  on  at  this  book,  and  when  in  the  follow- 
ing January  his  long  and  laborious  life  came  to  an 
end,  it  was  finished  and  ready  for  publication. 


482 


CHAPTER   V 

WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 

1873 

God  has  mercifully  ordained  it  as  the  customary  lot  of  nature,  that  in 
proportion  as  we  decline  into  the  grave,  the  sloping  path  is  made  smooth 
and  easy  to  our  feet  ;  and  every  day  as  the  films  of  clay  are  removed  from 
our  eyes,  Death  loses  the  false  aspect  of  the  spectre,  and  we  fall  at  last  into 
his  arms  as  a  wearied  child  upon  the  bosom  of  its  mother. 

Ernest  Maltravers. 

THE  last  months  of  the  year  1872  were  probably  1873. 
the  happiest  of  Lord  Lytton's  life.  His  son  and  ^T-  7°- 
daughter-in-law  were  staying  with  him  at 
Torquay  in  November  and  December,  and  this 
little  family  circle  was  united  by  every  sentiment 
of  sympathy  and  affection.  Father  and  son 
enjoyed  long  and  intimate  talks  on  all  the  interests 
of  their  respective  lives.  Not  for  years  had  they 
spent  so  long  a  time  together,  and  never  before 
were  all  three  more  completely  intimate  and 
happy.  Between  Lord  Lytton  and  his  daughter- 
in-law  there  had  always  existed  a  certain  amount 
of  shyness,  as  they  met  but  seldom,  and  generally 
in  company  with  others,  and  Lord  Lytton's 
deafness  made  him  a  difficult  companion. 
During  this  visit  all  shyness  was  removed,  and 
the  sorrows  which  both  had  passed  through  so 

483 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 

1873.    recently  introduced  a  tenderness  and    sympathy 
JF.T.  70.  into   their    relationship   which   had   never  been 
there  before.     It  was  thus  in  a  calm  sunset  glow 
that  Lord  Lytton's  life  passed  to  its  close. 

In  the  evenings  he  read  aloud  the  last  chapters 
of  Kenelm  Chillingly^  on  which  he  was  then 
engaged  ;  and  his  son  has  thus  recorded  the  effect 
upon  his  father  of  the  revival  in  this  book  of  his 
boyish  romance  at  Ealing  :— 

My  Father  read  the  manuscript  of  Kenelm  to  my  wife 
and  myself,  and  at  particular  parts  of  it  he  could  not 
restrain  his  tears.  Throughout  the  day  (it  was  New 
Year's  Eve — the  eve  of  the  year  of  his  own  death)  on 
which  he  finished  the  chapter  describing  Kenelm's 
sufferings  above  the  grave  of  "  Lily,"  he  was  profoundly 
dejected,  listless,  broken  ;  and  in  his  face  there  was  the 
worn  look  of  a  man  who  has  just  passed  through  the 
last  paroxysm  of  a  passionate  grief.  We  did  not  then 
know  to  what  the  incidents  referred,  and  we  wondered 
that  the  creations  of  his  fancy  should  exercise  such 
power  over  him.  They  were  not  the  creations  of  fancy, 
but  the  memories  of  fifty  years  past.1 

The  visit  came  to  an  end  on  January  4, 
1873,  and  when  Robert  Lytton  and  his  wife  left 
Torquay,  Lord  Lytton  was  apparently  in  sound 
health.  On  the  day  of  their  departure  he  wrote 
to  his  daughter-in-law  : — 

MY  DEAREST  EDITH — I  am  so  delighted  to  have  seen 
so  much  of  you  this  time,  and  feel  so  touched  and 
grateful  for  all  your  affectionate  kindness  to  me.  I 

1  The  Life,  Letters,  and  Literary  Remains  of  Ednvard  Bulnuer,  Lord  Lytton, 
vol.  i.  p.  287. 

484 


THE  LAST  PARTING 

could  not  see  anything  here  for  a  little  New  Year's  gift     1873. 
to  you  and  Robert  and  the  children.     I  venture  to  ask  MT.  70. 
you  to  buy  something  for  yourself  and  the  children  with 
£30  of  the  enclosed  cheque  ;  the  other  £20  is  to  be 
invested  in  a  gift  for  Robert  such  as  he  may  like. — God 
bless  you,  my  dear  child.     Ever  yr.  affte.  father, 

L. 

Again  the  next  day  he  wrote  : — 

Certainly  I  hope  that  there  will  never  be  shyness 
again  between  either  of  us.  I  fancy  I  am  the  shyer  of 
the  two.  Of  course,  I  missed  you  very  much — sulked, 
would  not  drive  out,  and  have  been  reading  the  lives  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales  and  Montalembert,  as  examples  of 
patience  under  loss. 

To  Lady  Sherborne  he  wrote  more  fully  of 
these  books  on  January  5  :— 

I  have  read  vol.  I.  of  Oliphant's  Montalembert.  She 
has  contrived  to  make  him  in  all  the  earlier  part  a  horrid 
little  coxcombical  prig.  But  I  suppose  vol.  II.  will 
bring  him  out  better.  He  was  certainly  an  effective 
orator  and  a  very  fine  character,  taken  altogether.  I 
saw  him  once  when  he  must  have  been  young — not  at 
all  the  angelical  countenance  she  insists  on — a  short, 
ill-shaped,  rather  common-looking  man  with  a  face  too 
large  for  his  body,  not  unlike  Mendelssohn — aquiline 
nose  (of  course  that  is  always  handsome  !),  rather  florid, 
rather  full-cheeked,  auburnish  hair. 

I  also  read  last  night  in  bed  The  Life  of  St.  Francis 
de  Sales — a  much  higher  type  of  the  R.C.  hero  than 
Montalembert,  and,  judging  by  short,  terse  aphorisms 
of  his  in  the  book,  I  should  think  a  much  higher 
intellect.  But  that  R.C.  faith,  between  you  and  me, 
does  produce  very  fine  specimens  of  adorned  humanity 

485 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 

1873.  — at  once  so  sweet  and  so  heroical.  I  suspect  the 
r.  70.  Brahminical  faith  does  the  same.  Both  agree  on  this — 
the  desire  to  keep  before  them,  and  melt  into,  a  diviner 
essence  than  the  human.  And,  therefore,  both  are  at 
once  more  human  and  more  divine.  We  members 
of  the  Protestant  Established  Church  are  always 
bringing  Heaven  into  our  parlour,  and  trying  to  pare 
religion  into  common  sense.  Who  can  pack  the  infinite 
into  the  finite,  or  the  ocean  into  a  silver  teaspoon  ? 

To  the  same  correspondent  was  written  on 
Saturday,  January  12  one  of  the  last  letters  he 
ever  wrote  with  his  own  hand  : — 

I  can  only  write  you  a  little  line,  dear  Lady.  I  am 
in  great  pain — earache  with  violent  noises  in  both  ears, 
like  blood  to  the  head,  and  worn  out  for  want  of  sleep. 
Altogether  beaucoup  miserable. 

The  poor  Emperor's1  death  has  affected  me  more 
than  I  could  have  supposed.  He  is  associated  with  the 
gayest  and  most  active,  but  at  the  same  time  with  the 
most  troubled  and  combative  part  of  my  career. — Ever 
yr.  faithful  friend, 

LYTTON. 

The  great  pain  complained  of  in  this  letter 
continued  all  that  day.  In  the  evening,  though 
still  suffering  much,  he  kept  an  engagement  to 
dine  with  his  friend  Mrs.  Halliday.  The  next 
day  he  described  himself  as  feeling  intensely  tired, 
and  remained  lying  down  on  the  sofa.  On 
Tuesday  two  doctors  attended  him,  and  succeeded 
by  hot  fomentations  in  giving  him  some  relief. 
The  pains  on  the  right  side  of  the  face  and  neck, 

1  Napoleon  III. 
486 


DEATH 

however,  gradually  increased.     On  Thursday  he    1873. 
dictated  some  letters  to  his  publishers,  but  by  JET.  70. 
Friday  both  sight  and  hearing  were  almost  gone 
and  his  mind  had  begun  to  wander. 

Robert  Lytton  was  summoned  by  telegram 
that  day,  and  arrived  between  five  and  six  in  the 
evening.  Lord  Lytton  had  only  had  intervals  of 
consciousness  during  the  day,  but  when  he  heard 
that  his  son  had  been  sent  for,  he  said,  "  What 
nonsense.  Why  send  a  telegram  ?  I  am  not  so 
ill."  When  his  son  arrived  he  said,  "  Is  it 
Robert?"  and  added,  "There's  no  danger. 
When  there  has  been  so  much  pain  I  am  told 
there  is  no  danger."  He  asked  for  his  letters  and 
tried  to  read  them,  but  complained  that  it  was 
too  dark.  His  son  then  read  aloud  to  him  some 
of  the  letters,  and  he  dictated  answers  to  them, 
which  were,  however,  not  coherent.  During  the 
night  he  had  a  series  of  epileptic  fits  and 
convulsions,  between  forty  and  fifty  in  all,  with 
only  a  few  minutes'  interval  between  each.  In 
the  morning  he  became  calm,  but  never  again 
recovered  consciousness.  He  gradually  sank 
and  died  quite  peacefully  at  2  P.M.  on  Saturday, 
January  18,  1873. 

The  cause  of  death  was  inflammation  of  the 
membranes  of  the  brain,  resulting  from  the 
disease  in  the  ear  from  which  he  had  suffered  for 
many  years.  The  courage,  the  industry,  and 
great  mental  activity,  which  were  the  character- 
istics of  his  life,  remained  with  him  till  death, 
which  came  as  a  merciful  release  from  labour  and 

487 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 

1873.  suffering.  He  did  not  express  any  consciousness 
ET.  70.  of  his  approaching  end,  but  for  some  time  past 
he  had  contemplated  it  with  perfect  equanimity. 
His  last  letters,  as  well  as  published  works,  express 
repeatedly  his  firm  conviction  that  death  was  but 
the  gate  of  life.  On  a  stray  sheet  among  his 
papers  I  have  found  the  following  words,  which 
must  have  been  written  towards  the  very  end  of 
his  life  : — 

The  act  of  dying  reminds  me  of  the  traveller  who 
has  long  been  absent  from  his  father's  home  and  is 
recalled  to  it  perhaps  more  suddenly  than  he  anticipated 
or  wished  for.  He  leaves  uncompleted  designs  and 
enterprises  on  which  he  had  engaged  his  love  of  adven- 
ture, or  his  hopes  of  power  or  fortune.  He  calls  to 
mind  commissions  of  grave  import  which  his  father  had 
entrusted  to  him,  and  which  he  has  not  fulfilled.  His 
cheek  pales  as  he  reflects  on  many  a  folly,  many  a  fault, 
against  which  he  had  been  warned  in  vain.  He  cannot 
go  back  to  his  father  and  say  : — "  Thy  son  has  been 
always  heedful  of  thy  lessons  and  worthy  of  thy  love." 

Fain  would  he  linger  on  the  road. 

What  greeting  shall  he  receive  at  the  bourne  ? 

Whom  of  those  dear  to  his  memory,  but  of  whom 
he  has  long  lost  sight,  shall  he  find  reunited  to  welcome 
him  at  the  threshold  ? 

Still,  as  nearer  and  nearer  he  comes  to  the  sacred 
precincts,  farther  and  farther  fade  away  his  regrets  for 
the  things  left  behind  uncompleted.  Softer  and  softer 
sinks  into  his  soul  the  tender  remembrance  that  none 
ever  so  loved  as  the  father  whom  he  has  so  often 
forgotten.  It  is  to  a  father's  judgment  that  he  is  to 
render  the  account  of  his  wanderings — it  is  to  a  father's 
home  that  he  returns. 

488 


LETTER  FROM  BROWNING 

From  most  of  the  chief  men  in  literature  1873. 
and  politics  Robert  Lytton  received  letters  of  &T.  70. 
sympathy  with  himself,  and  of  admiration  for 
his  distinguished  father.  Many  of  them,  like 
Disraeli,  Gladstone,  John  Morley,  John  Forster, 
etc.,  were  also  personal  friends  of  himself  or  his 
father,  and  wrote,  therefore,  with  genuine  feeling. 
All  these  letters  are  of  great  interest  to  Lord 
Lytton's  descendants,  but  they  contain  little  that 
make  them  of  interest  to  the  public.  One  letter, 
however,  I  think  it  worth  while  to  quote  because  of 
the  simple  and  generous  tribute  which  it  contains 
from  a  great  man  who  might  with  justice  have 
felt  that  he  had  been  insufficiently  appreciated: — 

19  WARWICK  CRESCENT, 

UPPER  WESTBOURNE  TERRACE,  W., 

Jan.  21,  1873. 

MY  DEAR  LYTTON — It  is  very  sad  that  I  should  only 
have  to  write  to  you  on  such  occasions  as  the  present. 
I  feel  profoundly  the  loss  of  a  great  and  gracious  man 
who,  besides  what  he  was  to  all  the  world,  was  ever  kind 
to  myself  when  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  in  his 
presence. 

I  don't  know  whether  I  ever  told  you  that  he  was 
the  very  first  who  ever  said  an  encouraging  word  to  me 
in  print — using  the  expression  that  "  my  genius  might  be 
safely  trusted  "  to  do  this  or  the  other  thing  one  day. 
I  never  forgot  it,  amid  many  more  things  that  call 
for  astonishment  and  admiration  in  his  career,  and  1 
should  have  brought  myself  to  say  thus  much,  however 
inadequate,  to  anybody  who  cared  to  hear  it.  How 
then  can  I  help  telling  you  that  my  sympathy  is 
complete,  while  regrets  of  my  own  are  abundant  and,  I 
believe,  enduring  ?  I  rejoice  that  you  have  the  best 

489 


WESTMINSTER  ABBEY 

1873.    consolation  in  yourself  and  about  you.      May  either 
JET.  70.  have  its  full  effect. — Ever  affectionately  yours, 

ROBERT  BROWNING. 

Lord  Lytton  had  expressed  a  wish  to  be 
buried  very  quietly  in  the  grounds  of  the  family 
mausoleum  at  Knebworth,  but  when  the  honour 
of  a  public  funeral  in  Westminster  Abbey  was 
offered,  his  son  could  not  refuse  such  a  national 
recognition  of  the  great  place  which  his  father 
had  occupied  in  the  public  life  of  his  generation. 

He  is  buried  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Edmunds, 
next  to  the  grave  of  Humphrey  Bourchier,  whose 
death  at  the  Battle  of  Barnet  had  been  mentioned 
in  The  Last  of  the  Barons,  among  warriors  and 
royal  personages  of  a  much  earlier  date,  but  close 
to  The  Poets'  Corner,  where  lie  many  of  his 
fellow-workers  in  literature.  The  stone  above 
his  grave  bears  this  inscription  : — 

EDWARD  GEORGE  EARLE  LYTTON  BULWER  LYTTON. 
Born  25  May  1803.     Died  18  January,  1873. 

1831-1841.  Member  of  Parliament  for  St.  Ives  and  for  Lincoln. 

.     1838.  Baronet  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
1852-1866.  Knight  of  the  Shire  for  the  County  of  Hertford. 

1858.  One  of  Her  Majesty's  principal  Secretaries  of  State.. 

Knight  Grand  Cross  of  St.  Michael  &  St.  George. 
1866.  Baron  Lytton  of  Knebworth. 

Laborious  and  distinguished  in  the  field  of  intellectual  activity, 

Indefatigable  and  ardent  in  the  cultivation  and  love  of  letters, 

His  genius  as  an  author  was  displayed  in  the  most  varied  forms, 

Which  have  connected  indissolubly 

With  every  department  of  the  literature  of  his  time 

The  name  of  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton. 

The  funeral  service  took  place  on  Saturday, 
January  25,  1873.  On  Sunday,  February  2, 

49° 


JOWETT'S  SERMON 

a    funeral    sermon  was  preached  in  the    Abbey    1873. 
by   Professor  Jowett.       His  words  were  simple  MT.  70. 
and  sincere.     After  describing  his  first  and  only 
meeting  with  Lord  Lytton  three  weeks  before 
at  Torquay,  he  said  : — 

He  left  upon  me  an  impression  of  genuine  kindness, 
of  endless  activity  of  mind,  of  great  knowledge,  and 
of  a  noble  interest  in  literature  and  literary  men.  You 
felt  that  he  was  a  true  man,  who  had  nothing  to  conceal, 
who  was  willing  and  able  fearlessly  to  impart  himself  to 
others.  His  voice  is  silent  now — never  more  to  be  heard 
by  his  family  or  friends.  But  in  his  writings  he  still 
speaks  to  us.  We  read  them  over  again  and  refresh 
the  memories  of  our  youth,  with  mournful  interest,  now 
that  the  author  of  them  is  taken  from  us.  We  are 
astonished  at  their  number,  their  variety,  and  their 
excellence.  In  all  three  respects,  taken  together,  they 
are  hardly  to  be  paralleled,  except  by  one  other  writer 
in  the  English  language.  .  .  . 

We  may  think  of  him  now,  after  his  long  life  of 
toil,  as  laying  his  head  on  a  pillow  and  taking  his  rest  ; 
and  to  us,  who  have  not  the  gift  of  his  genius,  he  has 
left  a  splendid  example  of  what  may  be  effected  by 
continuous  purpose  in  the  course  of  many  years.  .  .  . 

The  omissions  and  shortcomings  of  his  life  he  would 
have  been  himself  the  first  to  confess  and  to  lament. 
"  That  which  I  have  done  may  He,  within  Himself, 
make  pure."  And  so,  with  deep  and  affectionate 
remembrances,  as  we  believe  he  would  have  wished,  and 
not  with  formal  panegyric,  we  bid  farewell  to  one 
of  England's  greatest  writers,  and  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  our  time — and  leave  him  to  rest, 
where  his  hope  was,  in  the  mercy  of  God. 

491 


CHAPTER   VI 

SUMMARY    AND    RETROSPECT 

Calmly  to  time  I  leave  these  images 
Of  things  experienced,  suffer 'd,  felt,  and  seen  ; 
Fruits  shed  or  tempest-torn  from  changeful  trees, 
Shells  murmuring  back  the  tides  in  distant  seas — 
Signs  where  a  Soul  has  been. 

Poems. 

IN  the  foregoing  pages  I  have  endeavoured  to 
trace  the  development  of  Lord  Lytton's  character 
through  a  long  life  of  incessant  labour  and  mental 
activity.  The  story  which  this  book  contains, 
if  read  in  conjunction  with  his  own  published 
works,  should  enable  the  public  to  form  a  final 
and  correct  judgment  of  the  manner  of  man  he 
was.  It  only  remains  for  me  now  to  close  my 
narrative  with  a  few  words  of  general  summary. 
Lord  Lytton  undoubtedly  ranks  among  the 
leading  men  of  his  generation,  remarkable  rather 
for  the  universality  of  his  genius  than  for  his 
supremacy  in  any  one  particular  sphere.  He  was 
not  supreme  either  in  politics  or  literature, 
yet  in  one  respect  he  was  unique.  No  other 
man  of  his  generation  reached  so  high  a  level  of 
attainment  in  all  the  varied  departments  of  his 

492 


UNIVERSALITY  OF  HIS  GENIUS 

activities.  Distinguished  as  a  novelist,  as  a 
dramatist,  and  as  an  orator,  he  was  also  essentially 
a  man  of  the  world.  In  business  capacity,1  in 
judgment,  in  imagination,  in  brain  power,  in 
industry,  he  was  equally  remarkable — in  the  last 
quality  almost  unrivalled.  When  the  number 
and  variety  of  his  works  are  considered,  one  is 
struck  with  amazement  at  the  amount  of  in- 
tellectual labour  which  he  crowded  into  the 
seventy  years  of  his  life. 

An  old  woman,  who  had  once  been  one  of 
Lord  Lytton's  trusted  domestic  servants,  is  still 
living  in  a  cottage  at  Kneb worth.  One  day  she 
was  talking  to  me  about  my  grandfather,  and  in- 
advertently used  an  expression  which  quaintly 
summed  him  up  more  perfectly  than  any  elaborate 
description  could  have  done.  She  was  describing 
his  house  at  Copped  Hall,  where  she  had  been 
employed  as  caretaker,  and  added,  "  In  one  of 
his  attacks  of  fluency  I  nursed  him  there  for  many 
weeks."  "  Pleurisy,"  I  believe,  was  what  she 
meant,  but  "  an  attack  of  fluency  "  was  a  delicious 
expression,  and  often  while  writing  this  book  it 
has  occurred  to  me  how  frequently  my  grand- 
father must  have  been  subjected  to  such  attacks. 
Fluent  he  certainly  was,  and  whether  in  private 
correspondence,  in  official  minutes,  in  verse,  in 
prose,  or  in  public  speaking,  words  seem  to  have 

1  Mrs.  Schuster,  in  a  long  letter  to  my  father  written  from  Torquay  in 
March,  1873,  gives  an  account  of  her  acquaintance  with  the  first  Lord 
Lytton.  In  the  course  of  this  letter,  she  says,  "  My  husband,  who  was  a 
great  financier,  used  to  say  he  would  rather  talk  on  financial  subjects  with 
Lord  Lytton  than  with  most  of  the  financial  men  in  London." 

493 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

flowed  from  him  with  an  ease  and  abundance  that 
is  truly  astonishing. 

In  his  Letters  to  John  Bull,  Lord  Lytton 
described  himself  as  a  Labourer  and  a  Landowner. 
He  might  have  claimed  that  his  life  as  a  whole 
was  that  of  a  Labourer  and  an  Artist,  but  he  was 
not  equally  successful  in  each  capacity.  As  a 
labourer  he  was  magnificent.  No  man  ever 
worked  harder  for  so  many  years,  or  employed 
more  fully  the  talents  which  he  possessed.  As 
an  artist  he  had  great  merits,  but  also  great  faults. 
Most  men,  however  talented,  are  apt  to  fail  in 
something,  and  Lord  Lytton's  chief  shortcoming 
was  in  matters  of  taste.  This  defect  was  con- 
spicuous in  his  writings  ;  it  vitiated  his  style 
and  led  him  into  that  "  premeditated  fine 
writing  "  which  infuriated  Thackeray.  It  was 
apparent  in  the  decoration  of  the  houses  which 
he  occupied — in  his  "  Pompeian  room  "  at  Craven 
Cottage,  and  the  ornate  Gothic  "  embellishments  " 
of  his  Hertfordshire  home.  It  is  also  traceable 
at  times  in  his  dealings  with  his  wife,  and  it  may 
be  seen  here  and  there  in  his  correspondence. 
The  faults  in  taste  which  we  condemn  to-day 
were  largely  characteristic  of  the  age  in  which 
he  lived.  He  was  an  artist  in  a  bad  period  ;  but 
the  blemish  was  also  inherent  in  the  man,  and  to 
a  certain  extent  it  affected  all  his  work,  so  that 
while  his  other  qualities  compel  admiration,  his 
lack  of  taste  diminishes  affection.  Mr.  S.  C.  Hall 
says  of  him  with  some  truth  : — 

He  was  a  man  more  to  be  admired  than   loved  ; 

494 


TRIBUTES  OF  AFFECTION 

the  sentiments  he  excited  were  not  those  of  love  ;  if 
he  aimed  at  popularity  it  was  not  by  winning  his  way 
through  the  heart.  Many  men,  vastly  his  inferiors  in 
intellectual  and  personal  gifts,  and  in  other  advantages 
that  are  great  in  the  race  for  fame  and  fortune,  left  him 
far  behind.1 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Lord 
Lytton  was  incapable  of  inspiring  affection, 
for  there  were  many  who  loved  him  dearly. 
Many  of  the  letters  from  John  Forster  quoted 
in  this  book  are  striking  tributes  of  affection 
from  that  prince  of  friends.  Another  of  his  con- 
temporaries, and  his  greatest  rival  in  literature, 
Charles  Dickens,  used  these  words  when  pro- 
posing his  health  at  the  farewell  banquet  to 
Macready,  in  1851  : — 

In  the  path  we  have  both  trod  I  have  uniformly 
found  him  from  the  first,  the  most  generous  of  men, 
quick  to  encourage,  slow  to  disparage,  ever  anxious  to 
assist  the  order  of  which  he  is  so  bright  an  ornament, 
and  never  condescending  to  shuffle  off  and  leave  it 
outside  State  rooms,  as  a  Mussulman  might  leave  his 
slippers  outside  a  mosque. 

Among  his  papers  I  have  found  a  large 
number  of  letters  from  less  distinguished 
men,  which  speak  in  terms  of  the  warmest 
affection  and  gratitude  of  the  assistance  and 
encouragement  which  they  have  received  at  his 
hands.  Lastly,  in  his  own  son  he  inspired  a 
veneration  and  love  which  amounted  to  a  positive 

1  Recollections  of  a  Long  Life. 
495 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

worship.     Writing  to  a  friend  after  his  father's 
death,  Robert  Lytton  said  of  him  : — 

He  was  more  to  me  than  a  father  to  a  son.  The 
strongest,  wisest,  truest  friend,  and  we  were  bound 
together  by  many  peculiarities — ties  woven  out  of  very 
bitter  circumstances,  in  which  affection  had  yet  learnt 
much  sweet  and  tender  consolation.  I  have  been 
accustomed  to  lean  so  implicitly  on  him  for  guidance  and 
support  in  all  the  difficulties  and  responsibilities  of  life, 
that  my  forty  years  of  personal  experience  have  virtually 
indeed  been  forty  years  of  childhood — and  this  is  the 
first  great  trouble  of  my  life  which  finds  me  without 
my  "  ever  present  help  in  trouble." 

All  these  tributes  prove  that  though  Lord 
Lytton  was  not  one  of  those  authors  who  are 
generally  beloved,  he  was,  at  least,  the  truest  of 
friends  to  the  few  who  were  privileged  to  know 
him  intimately. 

Lord  Lytton's  chief  merit  as  an  artist  lay  in 
the  fertility  and  power  of  his  imagination,  his 
weakness  in  the  observation  and  delineation  of 
human  character.  In  an  essay  on  "  The  Normal 
Clairvoyance  of  the  Imagination,"  he  points  out 
how  a  writer  may  "  see  through  other  organs 
than  the  eyes  ;  describe  with  an  accuracy  that 
astounds  a  native  the  lands  which  he  has  never 
beheld  ;  and  read  the  most  secret  thoughts  in  the 
hearts  of  men  who  lived  a  thousand  years  ago." 
In  the  same  essay  he  says  of  himself; — 

I  am  not  sure,  indeed,  that  I  could  not  describe  the 
things  I  imagine  more  exactly  than  the  things  I 

496 


HIS  IMAGINATION 

habitually  see.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  could  not  give  a 
more  truthful  picture  of  the  Nile,  which  I  have  never 
beheld  except  in  my  dreams,  than  I  could  of  the  little 
lake  at  the  bottom  of  my  own  park,  on  the  banks  of 
which  I  loitered  out  my  schoolboy  holidays,  and  (could 
I  hallow  their  turf  as  Christian  burial-ground)  would 
desire  to  choose  my  grave. 

The  truth  of  this  observation  is  evident 
throughout  his  work.  It  was  in  the  clairvoyance 
of  his  imagination  that  he  excelled  ;  in  personal 
observation  and  accurate  description  he  failed.  In 
his  purely  fanciful  compositions  like  Zanoni,  The 
Coming  Race,  and  some  of  his  shorter  tales,  his 
imagination  attained  its  highest  expression.  As 
a  master  of  plot  he  was  supreme  ;  and  in  his  his- 
torical novels  his  history  is  sounder,  his  political 
insight  deeper,  than  those  of  most  authors  who 
have  attempted  this  department  of  fiction.  In 
all  his  work  he  is  remarkable  for  the  rich  stores 
of  information  which  he  acquired  on  an  infinite 
variety  of  subjects,  the  vast  range  of  his  general 
reading,  and  the  suggestiveness  with  which  his 
mind  plays  over  so  many  and  such  diverse  fields 
of  thought  and  knowledge. 

Thus,  wherever  Lord  Lytton  relied  for  his 
strength  upon  a  brilliant  imagination  and  con- 
scientious study,  his  work  is  that  of  a  great 
master.  His  weakness  is  more  apparent,  apart 
from  the  defects  of  taste  and  style  already 
mentioned,  in  those  books  which  depend  rather 
upon  the  truthful  presentation  of  contemporary 
life.  His  best  character-drawing  is  to  be  found 

VOL.  II  497  2  K 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

in  his  later  novels,  more  especially  in  The  Caxtons 
and  My  Novel ;  and  the  study  and  presentation  of 
intellectual  character  was  a  special  feature  of  his 
work.  Even  here,  however,  the  art  belongs 
rather  to  the  department  of  imagination  than  of 
observation. 

Sympathy  with  mankind  was  not  the  main- 
spring of  his  literary  genius,  and  consequently 
it  was  not  in  the  subtle  analysis  of  human 
character  and  motives  that  he  excelled.  When 
he  comes  to  deal  with  contemporary  life,  the 
descriptions  of  politics  and  society  in  which  his 
actors  play  their  parts,  as  well  as  the  person- 
alities of  the  actors  themselves,  are  for  the  most 
part  ineffective  and  unreal.  His  heroines  are 
stage  heroines  rather  than  critical  studies  of 
human  nature  ;  they  seem  to  be  based  more 
often  on  an  ideal  conception  of  womanhood, 
which  he  fashioned  out  of  his  boyish  romance, 
than  on  any  profound  study  of  living  women. 
His  heroes,  too,  are  stage  heroes,  the  same  type 
often  recurring  under  different  names,  with  such 
variations  only  as  the  differing  circumstances 
require.  None  of  them  are,  strictly  speaking, 
autobiographical  studies,  yet  they  all  contain 
some  characteristics  of  the  author.  On  this 
point  he  makes  Ernest  Maltravers  say  :  "  I 
wish  I  could  draw  myself.  What  author  ever 
could  mimic  his  own  features  ?  We  are  too 
various  and  too  complex  to  have  a  likeness  in 
any  one  of  our  creations."  The  fact  is  that 
though  Lord  Lytton  never  portrayed  himself,  for 

498 


A  MAKER  OF  TRAGEDY 

few  of  his  characters  are  real  portraits  of  any 
human  being,  his  typical  hero  was  to  a  large 
extent  the  embodiment,  in  imagination,  of  many 
of  his  own  sentiments  and  moods. 

I  have  ventured  to  make  these  criticisms,  and 
they  are  made  as  personal  impressions,  which  my 
readers  may  or  may  not  agree  with,  because  the 
romantic  vein,  so  much  in  vogue  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century,  and  generally  unsympathetic  to  the 
present  generation,  explains  much  in  the  circum- 
stances of  Lord  Lytton's  own  life.  Most  of  his 
troubles  and  sorrows  arose  from  the  fatal  tendency 
to  exaggerate  incidents  that  were  comparatively 
small.  Having  filled  many  books  with  the 
imaginary  tragedies  of  other  people's  lives,  it 
was  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  should  have 
shown  too  great  a  readiness  to  make  real  tragedy 
out  of  the  circumstances  of  his  own.  It  has 
been  seen  how  the  pride  that  took  offence  at 
a  mere  expression,  the  over -insistence  upon 
points  of  "  honour,"  and  the  indulgence  in  long 
verbal  explanations  and  recriminations,  led  to 
a  temporary  estrangement  from  his  mother, 
occasional  misunderstandings  with  his  son,  and  a 
life-long  feud  with  his  wife.  It  is  impossible  to 
read  the  story  of  his  life  without  feeling  that 
much,  if  not  all,  of  the  bitterness  which  it  contains 
might  have  been  prevented  by  a  determination 
to  avoid  heroics  and  to  maintain  a  true  sense  of 
proportion  between  the  various  incidents  which 
go  to  make  up  a  situation.  People  have  more 
control  over  their  own  destinies  than  is  generally 

499 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

admitted.  Those  who  are  on  the  look-out  for 
tragedy  will  find  easily  enough  material  at  hand 
out  of  which  to  make  it,  whilst  those  who  make 
up  their  minds  at  all  costs  to  avoid  it  will 
generally  succeed  in  doing  so.  Unfortunately,  Lord 
Lytton  belonged  to  the  former  class,  and  bitter 
was  the  price  which  he  had  to  pay  in  con- 
sequence. 

His  faults  in  style  laid  Lord  Lytton  open  to 
the  censure  of  literary  critics,  and  his  desire  to 
escape  their  criticisms,  which  he  always  believed 
were  based  upon  personal  hostility  to  himself, 
induced  him  to  publish  many  of  his  works 
anonymously.  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  however, 
that  while  he  has  never  found  favour  with  the 
critical  few,  he  has  never  lost  his  popularity 
with  the  general  reading  public.  One  may  say 
of  him,  as  he  said  himself  of  Ernest  Maltravers  : 
"  In  return  for  individual  enemies,  what  a 
noble  recompense  to  have  made  the  Public 
itself  your  friend,  perhaps  even  Posterity  your 
familiar  ! "  From  the  day  when  Pelham  first 
sprang  into  favour  to  the  end  of  his  life  every 
successive  publication  passed  through  a  great 
many  editions.  His  first  novel,  Falkland^  and 
his  first  play,  The  Duchess  de  la  Valliere^  were 
failures,  so  also  was  The  Siamese  Twins  ;  but  with 
these  exceptions  every  one  of  his  works  was 
successful  with  the  public,  and  from  first  to  last 
enormous  sums  were  paid  for  his  copyrights. 
Of  his  last  work,  Kenelm  Chillingly ',  3150  copies 
were  sold  on  the  day  of  its  publication.  This 

500 


SUCCESS  OF  HIS  PUBLIC  LIFE 

remarkable  success  was  reached  in  every  depart- 
ment which  he  touched.  His  novels  are  known 
all  over  the  world,  and  have  been  translated  into 
many  languages.  His  plays  held  the  stage 
throughout  his  lifetime,  and  some  of  them 
have  been  revived  with  success  in  the  present 
generation.  Though  his  reputation  as  a  poet 
is  not  great,  yet  the  political  portraits  in  The 
New  Timon  are  still  remembered  and  quoted  ;  and 
Colburn,  its  publisher,  told  the  author  that  this 
poem  had  had  a  larger  sale  than  any  poem  since 
Byron.  His  pamphlet  on  The  Crisis  reached  a 
phenomenal  and  unprecedented  sale,  and  had  the 
reputation  of  deciding  an  election.  In  politics 
he  held  high  office  as  Secretary  of  State,  and 
some  of  his  speeches  take  rank  among  the 
highest  specimens  of  Parliamentary  oratory. 

Of  Lord  Lytton's  reputation  as  an  orator  it  is 
now  only  possible  to  judge  from  the  statements  of 
contemporaries  and  from  reading  his  printed 
speeches.  The  excellence  of  the  latter  is  cer- 
tainly of  a  very  high  order.  Their  arguments  are 
well  arranged,  their  reasoning  is  broadly  sensible 
rather  than  subtle,  and  their  language  is  always 
extremely  forcible.  That  they  made  a  great 
impression  upon  the  audiences  to  which  they 
were  delivered  is  undoubted.  Justin  MacCarthy, 
who  was  by  no  means  partial  to  his  merits, 
makes  the  following  admission  in  his  preface  to 
William  White's  book,  from  which  I  have 
already  quoted  : — 

You  might  try  to  analyse  away  as  long  as  you  chose 

501 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

the  reality  and  the  merit  of  Sir  Edward  Bulwer-Lytton's 
success  as  a  speaker,  but  you  could  not  reason  away  the 
fact  that  he  was  for  the  time  a  great  success,  and  that 
he  crowded  and  held  the  House  of  Commons  in  a 
manner  never  surpassed  by  any  parliamentary  orator 
within  my  recollection. 

When  all  these  facts  are  remembered,  it  is 
impossible  to  deny  that  Lord  Lytton  was  one  of 
the  giants  of  his  day.  We  may  criticise  him 
freely,  but  no  criticism  can  deprive  him  of  the 
commanding  position  which  he  occupied.  The 
most  remarkable  fact,  indeed,  about  his  public 
life  was  its  success.  His  private  life  was  in 
striking  contrast.  This  book  contains  little 
record  of  real  happiness.  Ill-health  and  great 
loneliness  are  prominent  features  in  it.  Though 
Lord  Lytton  had  a  few  friends  of  high  intel- 
lectual ability,  he  associated  chiefly  with  persons 
intellectually  his  inferiors.  While  his  remark- 
able talents  and  wide  reading  made  him  a 
most  interesting  acquaintance,  his  deafness,  his 
sensitiveness,  and  his  irritability  made  him  a 
difficult  companion  to  live  with.  In  early  life 
his  excessive  literary  occupations  left  him  little 
time  for  social  recreation.  His  tastes  were 
naturally  domestic,  and  if  he  had  chosen  for 
his  wife  a  woman  of  a  more  conventional  and 
phlegmatic  temperament,  who  would  have  pro- 
vided him  with  a  tranquil  home,  his  character 
might  have  developed  on  wholly  different  lines. 
Though  subjected  to  the  flattery  of  amorous 
admirers  and  to  the  temptations  common  to  all 

502 


SADNESS  OF  HIS  PRIVATE  LIFE 

young  men  who  achieve  success  in  any  public 
capacity,  he  remained  indifferent  to  them.  With 
the  break-up  of  his  domestic  happiness  every- 
thing became  changed.  He  was  then  forced 
to  seek  outside  his  home  the  consolations  of 
love  which  could  not  be  obtained  within,  but 
such  consolations  were  not  without  their  bitter 
fruit.  Married  to  a  woman  he  had  ceased 
to  love,  and  by  whom  he  was  pursued  with 
vindictive  hate,  debarred  from  ever  obtaining 
a  release  from  this  bondage  and  marrying  again 
where  his  heart  was  bestowed,  he  could  never 
know  the  peace  and  happiness  of  a  home  life, 
nor  the  love  of  woman  unaccompanied  by  sin 
and  scandal.  In  a  sketch  of  his  own  character, 
written  at  the  age  of  forty-three,  there  is  a 
passage  which  expresses  the  pathos  of  such  a 
situation. 

"That  which  I  desire,"  he  says,  "is  affection,  and 
this  it  is  which  captivates  me.  I  cannot  exist  without 
the  interchange  of  affection,  and  I  can  find  affection 
nowhere  so  strong  and  so  pure  as  in  the  heart  of  a 
woman.  Therefore  a  woman's  love  has  been  necessary 
to  my  existence,  and  I  have  paid  for  it  the  usual 
penalty,  in  error  and  in  scandal.  This  besom  d1  aimer 
has  involved  me  in  the  most  serious  errors  of  my  life, 
embarrassed  me  in  complicating  all  my  duties,  and  often 
placed  me  unhappily  at  war  with  the  world.  I  grant 
this  ;  yet  had  I,  when  I  could  no  longer  love  and  esteem 
my  wife,  somewhere  about  the  age  of  26,*  shut  my 

1  It  was  in  1833  that  Lord  Lytton  first  became  seriously  estranged  from 
his  wife.  He  was  then  thirty  years  old,  but  he  was  always  mistaken  as  to 
his  own  age — vide  the  Autobiography. 

5°3 


SUMMARY  AND  RETROSPECT 

heart  to  the  want  it  craved  for,  sure  am  I  that  though 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world  I  should  have  been  a  more 
respectable  man,  I  should  have  become  a  much  more 
unamiable  one.  It  has  been  the  interchange  of  affec- 
tion with  some  loving  and  loyal  nature  that  has  kept 
me  from  becoming  a  cold  and  ambitious  egotist,  and  in 
reality  reconciled  me  with  the  world  with  which,  in  seem- 
ing, it  often  placed  me  at  war." 

Side  by  side  with  this  private  confession  may 
be  placed  a  passage  in  The  New  Timon,  which 
expresses  rather  more  crudely  the  average  man's 
view  of  actions  which  he  commits,  yet  knows 
to  be  indefensible  : — 

I  tell  of  guilt — and  guilt  all  men  must  own, 
Who  but  avow  the  loves  their  youth  has  known. 
Preach  as  we  will,  in  this  wrong  world  of  ours, 
Man's  fate  and  woman's  are  contending  powers  ; 
Each  strives  to  dupe  the  other  in  the  game, — 
Guilt  to  the  victor — to  the  vanquished  shame  ! 
Nay,  I  approve  not  of  the  code  I  find, 
Not  less  the  wrong  to  which  the  world  is  kind. 

This  is  a  common  but  mischievous  attitude, 
and  so  long  as  men  continue  to  describe  and 
accept  as  "  found "  a  code  of  morals  which  in 
reality  they  establish  though  they  cannot  defend, 
so  long  will  such  a  code  be  preserved  and  con- 
doned as  "  the  way  of  the  world." 

My  task  is  now  finished,  and  the  picture 
which  I  have  drawn  I  leave  to  others  to  examine 
and  criticise.  Though  the  personality  which 
stands  revealed  in  Lord  Lytton's  private  corre- 
spondence is  not  essentially  different  from  that 
which  may  be  deduced  from  his  published 

5°4 


THE  END 

writings,  it  is  at  least  more  genuine  and  more 
human.  Of  his  errors  he  was  quite  conscious 
himself,  and  for  most  of  them  he  paid  the  price. 
I  have  not  attempted  to  conceal  them,  because 
from  the  errors  of  great  men  one  can  usually 
learn  more  even  than  from  their  virtues. 
Looking  backward  through  his  life  from  its 
close,  one  must  acknowledge  the  accuracy  with 
which  it  was  foreseen  and  summarised  by  Mirny, 
the  gipsy  girl  who  interpreted  the  lines  in  his 
hand  when  he  was  yet  but  twenty-one.  "  You 
are  a  prosperous  gentleman.  You  will  be  much 
before  the  world.  There  is  plenty  of  good 
fortune  and  success  in  store  for  you.  You'll 
hunger  for  love  all  your  life,  and  you  will  have 
much  of  it ;  but  less  satisfaction  than  sorrow." 

His  life,  if  not  a  happy  one  to  himself,  was 
full  and  useful,  and  has  given  happiness  to 
thousands  of  others.  He  had  many  noble 
qualities  which  were  faithfully  employed  in  the 
service  of  mankind.  Having  studied  for  two 
years,  with  the  sympathy  of  a  relation,  but  also 
with  the  impartiality  of  a  stranger,  the  record  of 
his  achievements,  my  final  impression  is  one 
of  admiration  and  gratitude  for  the  splendid 
inheritance  which  he  has  bequeathed  to  those 
who  come  after  him. 


5°5 


APPENDIX    I 

LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

1846.     &T.  43 
LETTER  I 

"DEAR  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL — In  the  midst  of  cir- 
cumstances not  encouraging  to  ordinary  Politicians,  yet 
not  unanalogous  to  those  in  which  great  men  have  laid 
the  foundations  of  solid  power,  you  have  assumed  the 
reins  of  Government.  Hitherto,  in  our  time,  each  new 
Administration  has  been  the  result  of  fierce  contest 
between  strongly  marked  and  long  hereditary  parties, 
ending  in  the  passionate  triumph  which  the  Aristocracy 
have  forced  upon  the  popular  faction,  or  the  popular 
faction  carried  over  the  Aristocracy  amidst  the  fears  of 
Property  and  the  formidable  irritation  of  the  Church. 
Your  Government  proceeds  not  from  the  victory  of  your 
own  party  but  from  the  dissolution  of  that  which  has 
opposed  it.  Hostile  elements  have  crumbled  away. 
Like  Ivanhoe  you  do  not  win  the  victory  by  force  of 
arms.  Your  adversary,  suffocated  in  his  helmet,  yields 
without  a  blow. 

"  It  is  not  my  intention  to  review  the  causes  which 
have  led  to  this  peaceful  surrender  of  the  maxima  opima 
of  office.  I  shall  pass  no  judgment  upon  the  startling 
inconsistencies  which  achieved  the  boldest  experiment 

5°7 


APPENDIX  I 

yet  made  upon  the  complicated  interests  of  a  mixed 
community,  and  broke  up  the  powerful  party  which 
the  principle  of  resistance  to  that  experiment  (in  forms 
however  modified  and  cautious)  had  animated  with 
passion  and  disciplined  into  unity.  Those  inconsis- 
tencies justified  the  resentment  of  men  who  saw  in 
them  perfidy  to  obligations  and  contempt  of  pledges, 
while  unquestionably  the  same  inconsistencies  are  elevated 
from  errors  into  virtues  in  the  eyes  of  such  as  can  regard 
them  as  the  manly,  if  protracted,  recognition  of  truth  and 
the  sacrifice  of  rooted  prejudices,  of  party  considerations, 
of  vulgar  ambition,  nay,  even  of  some  portion  of  what 
Englishmen  value  most,  the  reputation  of  good  faith 
and  steadfast  honour,  to  solemn  convictions  of  the  wel- 
fare of  our  common  country. 

"  I  do  not  address  to  you,  my  Lord,  this  letter  with 
the  views  of  a  partizan.  As  slightly  as  possible  would 
I  refer  to  an  angry  and  stormy  past.  My  desire  is  to 
escape  from  its  strife  to  that  serener  future  which  the 
breaking  of  the  cloud  opens  to  our  survey.  Standing 
aloof  from  all  recent  discussions  on  the  Corn  Laws,  I 
have  not  been  subjected  to  the  influences  which  heat 
opinion  into  the  passion  of  the  adversary,  or  the  zeal 
of  the  convert.  I  believe  still,  as  I  have  believed  ever, 
that  on  both  sides  of  the  question  there  is  great  ex- 
aggeration ;  that  the  benefit  will  be  less  to  commerce, 
the  evil  less  to  agriculture,  than  stated  by  the  eloquence 
of  leaguers,  or  proved  by  the  calculations  of  Pro- 
tectionists. The  effect  upon  the  capital  invested  in 
land  and  upon  the  condition  of  that  part  of  the  popula- 
tion whose  existence  rests  upon  the  prosperity  of  the 
farmer,  must  depend  upon  the  rapidity  or  the  slowness 
with  which  foreign  land  can  be  brought  into  sufficient 
cultivation  to  influence  materially  the  prices  of  the 
Home  market.  For  this  cultivation  capital  is  requisite, 
and  seeing  that  even  in  England  our  greatest  difficulty 

508 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

is  to  obtain  an  adequate  investment  of  capital  in  land, 
that  what  our  farmers  want  most  is  not  skill  but  money, 
that  what  our  landlords  are  without  is  not  the  desire  for 
improvement  but  the  funds  to  bestow  on  it,  I  do  not  think 
that  capital  can  be  so  promptly  and  so  largely  applied  to 
the  corn  fields  of  our  poor  and  distant  neighbours  as 
to  force  an  abundance  prematurely.  According  to  the 
ordinary  progress  of  nations,  while  land  abroad  is 
gradually  redeemed  from  the  waste,  and  its  produce 
brought  easily  to  the  sea-port,  our  own  population 
will  increase,  new  products  will  be  won  from  our  soil, 
labour  at  home  will  adapt  itself  to  the  demand,  labour 
and  price  abroad  will  rise  with  employment  and  im- 
provement— and  if  a  crisis  of  suffering  and  panic  come, 
it  will  be  brief  and  merciful.  I  have  rather  the  hope 
that  our  free  havens  will  form  depots  for  the  supply  of 
corn  to  other  nations,  that  the  American  and  Polish 
harvests,  transported  indeed  to  our  shores,  will  be 
destined  to  feed  the  increasing  populations  of  our 
allies  and  neighbours,  and  that  while  we  exchange 
our  manufactures  for  corn,  we  shall  exchange  again 
that  corn  for  the  bullion  which  will  improve  orr  own 
factories  and  mature  our  own  soil. 

"  Still,  I  regard  the  experiment  as  one  of  vast  hazard 
— one  of  which  no  experience  justifies  us  in  predicting 
the  result,  one  which  may  bring  social  alterations  little 
thought  of  amidst  the  clamour  for  that  mere  commercial 
aphorism  — '  Buy  in  the  cheapest  market,  sell  in  the 
dearest ; '  one  which,  in  spite  of  the  contempt  with 
which  the  assertion  has  been  met,  depends  for  safety 
and  success  upon  the  peace  in  Europe  which  no  human 
wisdom  may  suffice  to  preserve,  and  the  fortune  of  our 
fleets  which  no  human  valour  can  guarantee. 

"  I  allude  to  the  debates  which  occupied  and  the 
transactions  which  closed  the  parliamentary  proceedings 
of  1 846,  simply  to  show  how  natural  is  that  neutrality 

5°9 


APPENDIX  I 

with  which  by  the  great  body  of  the  Public  an  ad- 
ministration so  formed  is  as  yet  regarded.  If  the  minds 
of  some  men  have  been  greatly  exasperated,  it  is  not 
against  the  new  Government  but  the  old.  Those 
whom  you  have  displaced  have  no  just  resentment  in 
your  success.  They  fell  not  from  the  vigour  of  your 
opposition,  but  amidst  your  support ;  you  and  your 
friends  swelled  the  majority  which  carried  their  own 
measures.  The  measures  carried,  their  power  expired 
of  itself.  Your  administration,  therefore,  provokes  no 
bitterness  in  the  supporters  of  the  late  Government, 
while  it  fulfils  but  the  end  for  which  the  real  opposition 
represented  in  the  Lower  House  by  Lord  George 
Bentinck  mainly  strove.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  no  special  triumph  to  that  vigorous  band  of  free 
traders  to  whom  the  credit  of  the  recent  changes  has 
been  so  popularly  conceded.  Their  triumph  was 
achieved  in  the  conversion  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  and  their 
tone  is  less  that  of  congratulation  to  his  successor  than 
of  condolence  with  his  fall.  Hence  no  administration 
was  ever  commenced  with  less  angry  invectives  or  less 
noisy  rejoicings. 

"  Most  administrations  enter  office  with  a  programme 
of  the  proceedings  which  are  to  characterise  their  policy 
and  record  its  benefits.  It  is  not  your  fault  that  this 
programme  is  less  stirring  and  animated  than  that  of 
your  predecessors.  It  is  not  your  fault  if  reforms  with 
which  you  have  identified  an  illustrious  career  are  now 
effected,  and  you  have  reduced  the  number  of  abuses 
which  you  can  promise  to  remove. 

u  The  utmost  verge  to]  which  the  spirit  of  progress 
will  bear  you,  supported  by  Property  ever  cautious, 
and  Intelligence  never  rash,  you  have  well-nigh  reached 
— so  far,  at  least,  as  that  progress  is  directed  to  objects 
purely  political,  ameliorations  purely  constitutional. 

"  Rightly,  to  my  judgment,  therefore,  have  you  turned 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

your  attention  to  those  evils  which  lie  below  the  surface 
of  party.  The  ground  is  clear  .of  weeds,  but  the  rich- 
ness of  the  harvest  will  depend  on  upturning  the  subsoil. 
Wisely  have  you  seized  the  occasion,  whilst  party 
voices  are  mute,  to  address  yourself  to  the  wants  of  a 
nation.  Nobly,  if  you  fulfill  the  mission  you  announce, 
will  you  have  crowned  a  life  which,  more  than  any 
other  man's  life  since  the  Restoration,  has  so  connected 
itself  with  truths  vindicated  and  things  done — that 
your  biography  is  the  history  of  great  events.  Nor 
will  your  latest  be  your  least  achievement,  if  you  warm 
into  action  those  words  so  dead  and  cold  on  the  lips  ot 
sciolists,  and  in  the  pages  of  dreamers — SOCIAL  REFORM. 

"  Social  Reform  !  Your  lordship  could  not  be  dis- 
appointed if  the  phrase  created  a  languid  expectation. 
It  is  a  sound  to  carry  delight  to  the  heart  of  some 
earnest  philanthropist,  or  to  set  in  movement  the 
restless  brain  of  some  speculator  in  moral  problems. 
But  the  mass  of  the  public  says  *  Good,'  and  settles 
back  to  the  business  of  life.  You,  with  your  large 
experience  of  mankind,  were  doubtless  prepared  for 
this  apathy.  You  knew  that  interest  in  Ministerial 
announcements  is  proportioned,  not  to  the  gravity  of 
the  undertakings  proposed,  but  to  their  connection 
with  the  questions  which  most  angrily  divided  our 
opinions,  or  recently  animated  our  passions. 

"  The  working  classes  in  our  towns  have  been  hitherto 
aroused  only  by  reforms  connected  with  constitutional 
change.  They  have  been  so  impressed  by  their  favourite 
orators  with  the  belief  that  you  must  change  a  con- 
stitution in  order  to  effect  a  reform,  that  they  have 
neglected  even  to  think  about  reforms  which  the 
present  machinery  suffices  to  effect.  They  have  been 
told  so  often  that  the  storm  clears  the  air,  that  they  look 
upon  storms  as  the  only  purifiers  of  the  atmosphere. 

"  The  middle  class,  into  which  it  has  been  the  object 

5" 


APPENDIX  I 

of  all  recent  legislation  to  throw  the  preponderating 
power,  and  for  which,  indeed,  we  have  of  late  years 
almost  exclusively  legislated  (rendering,  it  is  true, 
benefits  to  other  orders,  but  only  indirectly,  and  as  the 
contingent  results  of  liberal  concessions  to  the  one 
essentially  favoured) — the  middle  class,  I  say,  engaged 
as  it  is  in  money-making,  and  not  seeing  exactly  how 
social  reforms  are  to  influence  the  money  markets,  or 
enlarge  its  sphere  of  pecuniary  speculation,  limits  its 
expectations  to  some  scheme  for  the  regulation  of 
railroads. 

"  The  more  privileged  orders — in  whom  the  spirit 
of  party  is,  rigidly  speaking,  the  strongest,  foresee 
in  legislation  for  purely  moral  ameliorations  no 
opening  for  the  appeal  to  prejudice  and  the  stimulus 
to  passion  which  are  the  immemorial  resources  of  party 
chiefs. 

"  But  below  the  surface-public,  is  ever  that  important 
and  thoughtful  essence  of  the  life  of  nations — the 
tranquil  people.  Too  much  do  we  confound  the 
public  with  the  people.  As  well  confound  the  cuticle 
with  the  heart,  or  the  wave  with  the  ocean." 

The  end  of  this  letter  and  the  beginning  of  the  next 
are  missing,  but  the  following  fragment  gives  a 
sufficient  indication  of  the  argument  which  he  was 
developing  : — 

LETTER  II 
(Fragment) 

"  Heaven  forbid  that  I  should  undervalue  the  blessings 
of  a  free  Government  or  underrate  the  benefits  of 
commerce,  yet  day  by  day  we  grow  more  convinced 
that  these  suffice  not  for  themselves.  They  hallow  the 
ground,  they  build  the  temple,  they  do  not  ensure  the 

512 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

purity  of  the  worship  nor  the  presence  of  the  Gods. 
But  when  you  enlighten  the  liberty  you  have  effected, 
when  you  ennoble  that  desire  of  gain  which  impels  your 
commerce,  you  do  more  than  improve  institutions,  you 
elevate  a  race.  Give  universal  suffrage,  and  if  ignorance 
is  prevalent,  what  profit  in  the  votes  of  a  million  fools  ? 
Open  all  harbours  to  your  trade,  and  what  profits  to 
your  operatives,  if  their  limbs  are  stunted  and  their 
frames  rotted  under  the  fierce  exactions  made  upon 
their  toil  ?  Exalt  the  standard  of  opinion,  elevate  the 
condition  of  the  masses,  and  liberty  becomes  the  privilege 
of  thoughtful  minds,  commerce  the  natural  leveller  of 
social  inequalities." 

The  letter  evidently  went  on  to  deal  with  the 
problems  of  national  education,  for  it  concludes  as 
follows  : — 

"  To  the  people  two  kinds  of  education  are  necessary 
— ist,  the  intellectual ;  2nd,  the  industrial.  It  would 
be  well  if,  in  the  last,  one  establishment  in  every  district 
could,  though  not  wholly  maintained  by  the  Govern- 
ment, receive  its  encouragement  and  support.  Such 
establishments  would  vary  in  the  details  of  instruction, 
according  to  the  habits  of  the  surrounding  population. 
In  provinces  purely  agricultural,  the  best  modes  of 
agriculture  would  be  taught ;  in  provinces  bordering 
on  manufacturing  towns,  the  instruction  would  assume 
a  higher  class,  and  comprehend  mechanical  philosophy 
and  the  arts  of  design. 

"  In  the  metropolis  itself  (too  much  neglected)  such 
schools  would  inculcate  various  branches  of  industrial 
knowledge  to  the  unfortunate  children  of  both  sexes 
who  now  are  literally  sent  to  the  house  of  correction, 
or  transported  to  penal  settlements,  '  to  keep  them  out 
of  harm's  way.'  It  is  but  the  other  day  that  I  read 
VOL.  ii  513  2  L 


APPENDIX  I 

in  the  newspapers  an  account  of  three  young  girls 
charged  with  some  petty  theft  for  which  one,  as  the 
oldest  offender,  was  sentenced  to  transportation  for 
seven  years  ;  the  other  two  were  let  off  with  three 
months'  imprisonment.  The  one  transported  drops 
her  most  grateful  courtesy  ;  she  thanks  the  Court  for 
sending  her  from  this  country  where  she  can  come  to 
no  good  ;  she  declares  that  it  was  from  the  hope  of 
that  sentence  that  she  committed,  and  induced  her 
accomplices  to  commit,  the  offence.  The  other  two 
hear  the  mild  sentence  of  three  months'  imprisonment 
with  dismay  ;  they  burst  into  tears  ;  they  implore  the 
Court  to  send  them  abroad  ;  they  say  in  the  same 
words  as  the  envied  convict,  *  We  can  come  to  no 
good  ;  we  are  poor  creatures,  without  father  or  mother ; 
we  can't  get  our  bread  honestly ;  transport  us.' 
Moved  by  this  prayer  the  Court  positively  assents,  and 
those  poor  young  Englishwomen,  whose  very  petition 
shows  their  hatred  of  vice,  are  sent  out  from  our 
community.  My  Lord,  if  we  had  such  establishments 
as  I  describe,  do  you  not  think  it  would  have  been 
better  to  have  sent  them  to  school,  to  have  taught  them 
how  to  get  their  bread  in  their  own  land,  and  to  have 
taught  their  children  after  them  to  thank  heaven  that 
they  had  been  born  under  a  Government  which  aided 
the  homeless  and  the  orphan  in  the  struggle  not  to  sin  ? 
Such  a  Government  you  have  the  power  to  make  your 
own." 

LETTER  III 

"DEAR  LORD  JOHN — Permit  me  now  the  natural 
corollary  from  the  propositions  in  my  last. 

"  I  enter  upon  a  field  hitherto  generally  neglected  by 
statesmen,  lying  remote  from  party  discussion,  and  not 
at  the  first  glance  comprehended  in  the  chart  of 
popular  reform. 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

"  Yet  this  is  the  true  nursery-ground  from  which  all 
that  can  fertilise  the  mind,  and  enrich  the  industry  of 
thought,  is  gathered  and  transplanted. 

"  You  do  not  complete  by  a  sound  scheme  the  moral 
and  intellectual  culture  of  the  nation  if  you  neglect  the 
parent-ground  of  all  cultivation.  Consummate  the 
survey  of  popular  schools  by  considering  the  arch- 
normal  school  of  all — the  literature,  the  art,  the  science, 
which  furnish  the  materials  of  all  education,  which 
constitute  the  province  and  provide  the  nourishment  of 
moral  and  intellectual  growth.  These  are  the  domain 
of  the  mind.  Instruction  is  but  the  implement  that 
tills  it. 

"  Is  it  not  a  trick  and  a  delusion  to  the  young  student 
to  coax  and  decoy  him  on  to  that  point  in  which  he 
may  become  a  useful  craftsman,  an  intelligent  drudge, 
but  to  hold  before  him,  as  a  terrible  example  of 
punishment  for  excess,  the  rewards  you  will  bestow  on 
him  if  his  zeal  kindle  him  to  genius,  if  his  toils  swell 
to  the  originality  of  knowledge  ?  Maintain  your 
present  modes  of  rewarding  literature,  and  you  do  not 
act  fairly  to  the  multitude  if  you  do  not  proclaim  that, 
if  one  of  the  pupils  you  summon  to  your  schools  should 
so  far  excel  the  rest  as  to  be  in  his  turn  the  diffuser  of 
instruction  and  delight,  you  have  for  him  no  employ- 
ment in  your  State,  no  prize  amongst  its  honours  ;  and 
that  when  life,  health,  industry,  and  talent  are  fairly 
worn  out,  and  the  fragments  of  them  left,  all  you  can 
offer  him  is  the  chance  of  an  annuity  which  you  would 
apologise  for  offering  to  your  valet ! 

"  You  count  upon  awaking  a  moral  ambition  for 
intellectual  eminence  amongst  the  people — you  need 
their  co-operation.  Are  these  to  be  gained  while  you 
hold  up  the  beggary  of  literature  to  public  pity  and 
disdainful  wonder  ?  No,  my  Lord  ;  if  you  invite  your 
acute  and  practical  countrymen  to  share  in  the  banquet 


APPENDIX  I 

of  letters,  you  must  give  some  honour  to  those  who 
find  the  feast. 

"  Nor  do  I  believe  that  a  much  more  popular  act  even 
with  the  populace  could  be  conceived  than  one  which 
should  deal  with  the  peaceful  civilisers  of  the  nation  in 
a  spirit  more  worthy  of  their  merits  and  our  obligations. 
For  the  literary  man,  beset  with  rivals  in  his  own 
sphere,  persecuted  as  he  often  is  by  the  opinions  he 
disturbs,  calumniated  by  the  jealousies  he  provokes,  is 
always  popular  with  the  masses.  Like  themselves,  he 
is  a  workman.  There  is  a  secret  but  an  imperishable 
bond  between  the  writer  and  the  people.  Not  the 
silkworm  lives  more  for  the  weaver  than  the  author  for 
mankind.  If  in  his  own  character  he  be  the  most 
selfish  of  egotists,  in  his  character  of  writer  he  exists 
but  for  others.  There  is  no  people  where  there  are  no 
writers.  I  submit  to  you,  therefore,  my  Lord,  some 
extension  of  the  Fund  set  apart  for  art,  literature,  and 
science.  It  is  not  for  me  to  presume  to  suggest  the 
sum  requisite  for  such  a  purpose,  though  I  think  a 
sum  not  larger  than  that  devoted  by  the  State  to  a 
single  one  of  its  principal  officers  will  suffice.  I  would 
only  venture  to  suggest  a  wider  range  between  the 
maximum  and  the  minimum  of  the  existing  limit. 
You  cannot  at  present  give  more  than  ^300  a  year  to 
your  greatest  poet,  or  your  ablest  philosopher.  You 
do  not  give  to  the  last,  and  he  is  not  necessarily  the 
least  upon  the  list,  a  smaller  pittance  than  £50. 
Would  it  be  too  much  to  hope  that  the  maximum 
might  reach  ^500  a  year,  and  the  minimum  not 
dwindle  below  £100? 

"Yet  I  cannot  consider  that  this  pension  list,  whatever 
its  amount,  does  of  itself  suffice  for  the  object  in  view, 
viz.  : — the  exaltation  of  intellectual  advantages  in  the 
eyes  of  those  whom  you  summon  to  cultivate  them. 
Observe  that  here,  and  indeed  throughout,  I  argue  less 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

on  behalf  of  literary  men  themselves  than  of  the  people, 
whom  you  would  allure  to  partake  of  the  benefits 
conferred  by  them.  Literature  may  exist  in  its  highest 
forms,  though  a  Government  give  no  honour  to  the 
work,  and  though  the  nation  starve  the  professor. 
Don  Quixote  is  not  the  less  genially  produced,  though 
Cervantes  composes  it  as  a  prisoner,  and  goes  to  his 
grave  a  pauper.  But  it  is  wholly  another  question  if 
you  desire  to  make  literature  universal.  In  that  case, 
the  multitude  are  attracted  by  the  honour  it  receives. 
No  State  can  busy  itself  in  exciting  genius  to 
masterpieces — all  that  it  should  do  is  to  excite  the 
people  to  mental  exertions,  and  prove  to  them  that 
whatever  is  excellent  interests  the  State,  and  has  a 
claim  to  its  distinctions  and  rewards. 

"  I  do  not  advance  the  absurd  doctrine  that  because 
a  man  is  a  writer  he  is  therefore  fit  for  public 
employment.  I  only  complain  that  it  often  happens 
that  because  he  is  a  writer  all  public  employment  is 
shut  out  from  him.  I  know  a  melancholy  instance, 
not  a  rare  one,  of  a  man  who  had  not  only  pleased  the 
public,  but  who  had  materially  served  the  Government 
by  his  compositions.  A  periodical  in  which  he  was 
engaged  changed  its  politics  ;  with  that  change  (for  he 
changed  not)  he  lost  the  sole  certain  source  of  his  exist- 
ence.1 I  loved  this  man,  and  respected  him.  I  knew 
from  his  inalienable  probity,  his  intense  application,  his 
great  adaptability  of  resources,  his  ready  promptitude, 
and  his  docile  understanding,  that  he  could  become  an 
invaluable  public  servant.  My  Lord,  I  wearied  such 
friends  as  I  possessed  in  the  Government  of  that  day 
on  his  behalf.  They  acknowledged  his  services,  they 
recognised  his  talents  ;  even  for  my  sake,  I  believe, 
they  were  willing  to  assist  him.  But  their  answer  was, 
'  What  is  in  our  gift  for  a  literary  man  ?  Had  he  been 

1  Laman  Blanchard.     See  Vol.  II.  p.  135. 
517 


APPENDIX  I 

a  lawyer,  had  he  been  a  clergyman,  had  he  been  a 
soldier  or  sailor,  something  might  be  found.  For  a 
writer  we  have  nothing.'  And  nothing  my  poor  client 
obtained. 

"  What  are  the  results  of  education,  carried  to  the 
highest  ?  Art,  literature,  science.  These  are  the  triple 
flowers  of  the  divine  plant,  and  these  flowers  in  return 
give  the  seed  from  which  the  plant  is  eternally  renewed. 
Do  not  deceive  yourself  with  the  belief  that  you  can 
make  intellectual  culture  the  noble  necessity  of  the 
community,  unless  you  can  show  to  the  community 
that  you  are  prepared  to  honour  the  highest  results  to 
which  culture  can  arrive.  Is  it  so  now  ?  Look  to  the 
encouragement  which  the  State  gives  to  art,  literature, 
and  science.  To  art,  beyond  the  mere  grant  to  a 
society  wholly  irresponsible,  it  affords  no  encouragement 
at  all.  You  have  a  National  Gallery  for  the  dead — a 
fitting  institution  to  which  I  give  all  the  homage  that 
is  due.  But  you  have  no  gallery  for  the  living.  Of 
late  (and  this  is  an  era)  you  have  afforded  some 
stimulus  to  one  branch  in  art,  that  of  fresco-painting. 
But  this,  you  are  already  aware,  is  extremely  partial  in 
its  effects.  You  do  not  find,  I  apprehend,  the  highest 
of  your  artists  amongst  the  competitors,  partly  because 
it  hardly  suits  their  dignity  to  submit  their  works  to  a 
tribunal,  the  judgment  of  which  is  not  precisely  as 
sound  as  that  of  the  Medici  ;  partly  because  fresco- 
painting  is  not  perhaps  that  kind  of  painting  in  which 
their  genius  has  been  taught  to  excel.  I  do  not  blame 
this  attempt  to  encourage  one  department  of  art — I 
applaud  it.  But  do  not  think  this  is  analogous  to  a 
generous  and  genuine  homage  to  art's  haughty  and 
multiform  divinity.  We  are  told  by  an  old  Greek 
author  of  some  wise  man  .who  thought  to  save  his  bees 
the  trouble  of  ,i  flight  to  Hymettus — cut  off  their  wings 
and  set  the  flowers  before  them.  The  bees  did  not 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

flourish  upon  the  allowance.  Let  art  select  its  own 
flowers  at  its  own  will,  then  buy  the  honey  if  you 
please.  In  a  word,  add  to  your  National  Gallery 
for  the  old  masters  a  gallery  for  the  living.  Be  not 
led  away  by  the  notion  that  the  public  are  all-sufficient 
patrons.  The  public  buy  what  they  require,  and  that 
is  all.  Those  individuals  that  compose  the  public  have 
no  houses  large  enough  for  historical  pictures.  They 
have  not  always  the  taste  for  high  art.  They  have  not 
always  the  money  to  pay  the  high  prices  that  modern 
painters  are  compelled  to  charge  if  they  really  devote 
long  time  and  patient  labour  to  their  cfafs-tfafuvrf. 
Hence  most  painters,  depending  solely  on  the  patron- 
age of  the  public,  either  turn  portrait  painters  (for 
every  one  likes  a  portrait  of  himself,  his  wife,  his  baby, 
or  even  his  pet  dog)  ;  or  they,  find  that,  while  the 
large  or  elaborate  picture  obtains  no  buyers,  the  small 
squares  of  canvas  hastily  struck  off,  coming  more  within 
the  means  of  the  public,  bring  large  returns.  The 
public  love  names.  A  man  likes  to  say,  '  I  have  a 
picture  by  Tinto  or  Finto,'  and  he  thinks  that 
equivalent  to  saying,  *  I  have  Tinto's  masterpiece  ; ' 
or,  *  This  picture  took  Finto  three  patient  years  to 
complete.'  It  is  but  just  to  our  artists  to  give  them 
that  higher  field  of  emulation  which  every  other  State 
professing  to  honour  art  liberally  bestows. 

"  I  have  already  touched,  my  Lord,  as  connected  with 
this  part  of  my  subject,  the  main  blot  upon  the  justice 
of  the  State  and  the  gratitude  of  the  people.  It  is  the 
provision  at  present  allowed  to  the  literature,  art,  and 
science  of  three  nations — a  yearly  pension  list  of  £1200 
a  year.  Just  conceive  the  false  position  of  a  statesman 
calling  aloud  upon  the  people  to  read,  and  write,  and 
study,  while  he  is  forced  (if  he  speak  truth)  to  acknow- 
ledge that  the  worst  thing  that  can*  happen  to  any  pupil 
so  encouraged,  is  to  read  deeply  enough  to  instruct 


APPENDIX  I 

others,  write  well  enough  to  charm  multitudes,  grow 
entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  and  be  referred 
by  it  in  old  age  and  sickness  to  a  claim  upon  the 
Pension  List ! 

"  Surely,  if  your  Lordship  will  look  somewhat 
narrowly  into  the  various  departments  of  State  patron- 
age, some  places  may  be  found  for  which  literary 
capacities  may  be  no  disqualification,  which,  as  a  general 
rule,  might  be  set  apart  for  those  familiarised  to  the 
habit  of  acquiring  details  with  ease,  and  conveying 
information  with  vigour  and  precision.  I  should  not 
expect  to  see  such  places  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  higher 
and  more  popular  authors,  to  whom,  not  from  merit  so 
much,  but  from  the  choice  of  subject,  literature  is  an 
available  profession  ;  the  choice  would  be  better  made 
from  writers  of  a  graver  class,  and  to  whom  business 
would  not  be  incompatible  with  the  occasional  exercise 
of  their  abstruse  studies.  His  duties  at  the  India 
Board  have  not  unfitted  Mr.  J.  Mill  for  the  composition 
of  his  noble  History  of  Logic,  and  the  History  of  Logic 
did  not  unfit  him  for  the  India  Board.  A  few  such 
selections  made  with  judgment  and  discretion  would  do 
much  to  render  literature  a  thing  less  apart  from  the 
State,  would  afford  to  the  writer  the  easy  leisure  for 
many  a  valuable  work,  give  to  the  Government  many  a 
competent  and  intelligent  administrant,  and  afford  to 
the  people  no  uninstructive  examples  of  your  sincerity 
in  the  homage  you  assert  to  knowledge. 

"Beyond  this, and  with  far  greater  diffidence,  I  venture 
to  hazard  two  suggestions,  istly,  In  any  great  scheme 
of  national  education,  you  will  scarcely  suffer,  I  think, 
your  endeavours  to  cease  with  the  age  of  childhood. 
Man,  when  engaged  in  labour,  always  remains  a  child. 
Always  do  we  have  something  to  learn  ;  but  mostly 
those  employed  in  practical  pursuits,  in  which  everyday 
science  hints  some  improvement,  or  startles  prejudice 

520 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

with  some  innovation.  Hence,  imperceptibly — hence, 
in  the  recognition  of  this  truth — arose  the  Mechanics' 
Institutes,  colleges  for  the  labouring  adult. 

"  Of  these  auxiliaries  already  founded,  but  far  from 
maturely  efficient,  I  apprehend  your  scheme  for  diffusing 
knowledge  will  scarcely  neglect  the  valuable  co- 
operation. 

"  There  is  nothing  (your  observation  has  doubtless 
already  made  you  aware)  which  is  more  readily  sought 
after  in  these  societies  than  lectures  by  competent 
persons.  Would  it  be  possible  to  establish  a  certain 
number  of  professorships,  with  moderate  salaries,  but 
some  social  designations  of  respect,  whose  duty  it  might 
be  to  teach  to  audiences  so  prepared  to  favour,  and  so 
interested  on  the  subject,  all  that  science  in  its  rapid 
progress  can  bring  to  bear  upon  their  calling.  In 
manufacturing  towns  or  in  agricultural  districts,  I  need 
scarcely  say  that  such  discourses  from  authorities  of 
high  repute  would  signally  facilitate  the  admission  of 
improvements,  would  communicate  the  experiences  and 
inventions  of  other  countries,  would  diffuse  and  circulate 
truths  that  come  home  to  the  business  of  the  listeners, 
and  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  nation.  Salaries  so  given 
would  be  repaid  to  the  public  in  every  field  where  a  new 
crop  is  produced  or  the  old  increased  ;  in  every  factory 
where  the  improvement  of  a  machine  lightens  the  labour 
or  refines  the  work.  That  in  such  an  undertaking,  if 
put  on  its  right  footing,  and  treated  with  dignity  by 
the  State,  you  would  have  the  cheerful  assistance  of  the 
first  scientific  teachers  who  have  turned  their  philosophy 
to  such  practical  uses,  I  have  no  doubt.  And  here 
again  you  would  effect  that  which  to  satiety  I  seek  to 
impress,  viz.  connection  between  the  highest  intellect 
and  the  most  popular  instruction. 

"  2ndly,  My  Lord — and  this  proposition  I  make 
still  more  timidly  than  the  first ;  aware  as  I  am  of  the 

521 


APPENDIX  I 

ridicule  which,  in  a  system  profoundly  aristocratic, 
attaches  to  all  attempts  to  claim  for  merit  some  slight 
share  in  the  distinction  monopolised  by  rank — or  in  a 
community  mainly  occupied  by  traffic,  to  inculcate  the 
doctrine,  that  there  are  other  rewards  than  money. 

"  The  distinctions  of  honour  that  England  affords  are 
two-fold — that  of  titles — that  of  decorations.  With 
the  exception  of  knighthood,  titles  are  hereditary. 
They  require,  therefore,  and  justly,  the  possession  of  a 
certain  fortune  to  save  any  privileged  order  from  the 
worst  curse  that  can  befall  it — the  sullen  pride  or  the 
abject  neediness  of  beggared  rank.  Necessarily,  then, 
such  titles  are  not  open  to  all  merit  ;  they  are  open  only 
to  merit  accompanied  with  wealth  ;  they  are  almost  at 
the  command  of  wealth  without  the  merit.  Sir  Robert 
Peel  offered  Mr.  Southey  a  baronetcy,  which  Mr. 
Southey  sensibly  refused  on  the  plea  of  want  of  fortune 
to  support  the  dignity.  So  obvious  is  it  that  these 
hereditary  titles  cannot  answer  the  purpose  of  awarding 
merit  or  honouring  intellect  independent  of  fortune, 
that  I  need  waste  no  words  in  support  of  so  evident  a 
proposition. 

"  The  order  of  knighthood  unconnected  with  decora- 
tions has  been  so  perverted  from  its  original  character 
and  intention  —  so  separated  from  all  dignifying 
association,  and  appropriated  to  civic  offices,  to  some 
legal  appointments,  with  now  and  then  an  exception  in 
favour  of  medical  men — that  it  would  be  far  easier  to 
give  weight  to  a  new  title  than  to  restore  its  noble 
character  to  an  old  one  so  long  degraded. 

"  The  Crown  has  next  at  its  gift  the  decorations  of  the 
Garter  and  the  Bath.  The  first,  in  its  origin  an 
essentially  military  distinction,  is  now  almost  the 
exclusive  property  of  royal  foreigners  and  the  heads  of 
our  great  houses.  A  Garter  is  vacant ;  you  have  but 
to  consider  who  is  the  man  belonging  to  the  party  of 

522 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

the  Minister  of  the  highest  rank,  to  be  sure  that  the 
vacancy  will  fall  upon  him.  He  has  a  right  to  com- 
plain of  slight  if  he  is  overlooked.  The  Order  of  the 
Bath,  which  was  at  its  origin  an  almost  purely  civil 
dignity,  now  supersedes  the  Garter,  and  becomes  a 
military  distinction,  with  some  reservations^  favour  of 
diplomatists.  The  orders  of  Scotland  and  Ireland  are 
the  privileges  of  the  nobles  in  those  sections  of  the 
empire. 

"  For  the  people  there  is,  then,  no  distinction  what- 
ever. Every  other  Government,  even  under  absolute 
monarchies,  has  at  its  disposal  various  dignities  which 
are  objects  of  emulation  to  the  mass  of  the  people.  In 
that  country  which  boasts  itself  most  free,  in  which  the 
people  are  professedly  the  most  regarded — in  which 
certainly  the  people  are  the  real  source  of  all  greatness 
and  all  wealth — in  that  country  alone  the  people  are  ex- 
cluded from  every  participation  in  the  testimonials  to 
merit  or  the  marks  of  honour.  Howsoever  a  man  may 
have  adorned  or  served  his  country,  unless  he  is 
comparatively  rich,  you  can  give  him  no  title.  Unless 
he  is  an  earl,  you  cannot  give  him  the  Garter  ;  unless 
he  is  soldier,  sailor,  or  diplomatist,  you  cannot  give 
him  the  Bath  ;  and  even  the  dignity  of  Doctor  is  con- 
ferred by  the  Universities,  not  the  State.  Would  it  be 
against  the  spirit  of  the  constitution,  against  the  temper 
of  the  age,  against  the  principles  by  which  ambition  is 
stirred  and  emulation  aroused,  if  the  Crown  were  advised 
to  institute  a  new  order,  open  to  the  mass  of  this  great 
people,  and  to  which  merit,  comprehending  indeed  birth 
and  fortune,  but  wholly  independent  of  them,  should 
constitute  the  sole  claim  ?  An  order  which  the 
Marquess  of  Northampton  might  share  with  Professor 
Airy  or  Mr.  Babbage ;  Lord  Mahon  with  Mr.  Moore  ; 
Lord  George  Hill,  who  has  improved  the  population  of 
a  district,  with  the  manufacturer  who  has  invented 

523 


APPENDIX  I 

some  signal  improvement  in  a  machine.  I  pass  over,  as 
wholly  irrelevant,  the  ridicule  of  would-be  sages  upon 
medals  of  silver  and  shreds  of  ribbon.  All  things, 
even  to  gold  itself,  have  their  value,  as  the  tokens  of 
what  society  admits  them  to  represent.  I  could  under- 
stand the  ridicule,  if  in  England  you  had  no  titles,  and 
no  decorations  at  all ;  but  I  cannot  understand  that  you 
should  admit  their  partial  application — that  you  should 
allow  how  powerfully  such  incentives  act  upon  men  of 
one  rank,  and  yet  suppose  them  no  incentives  at  all  to 
men  of  another  ;  that  you  should  allow  that  their  hope 
animates  the  noblest  heart  that  beats  beneath  a  uniform, 
and  suppose  it  would  be  silent  in  the  heart  which  human 
nature  influences  under  a  frock-coat.  The  question  is 
not  whether  the  State  should  have  the  gift  of  conferring 
marks  of  distinction — it  has  them  already  ;  but  whether 
in  a  free  country  they  should  be  confined  to  wealth,  rank, 
and  military  achievements  ;  whether,  at  a  time  when  you 
exhort  the  people  to  intellectual  cultivation,  intellectual 
eminence  should  be  excluded  from  the  favour  of  the 
Sovereign ;  whether  alone  to  art,  letters,  and  the 
peaceful  improvers  of  mankind,  the  fount  of  honour 
shall  be  sealed. 

On  these  considerations  I  hazard  the  suggestion  of 
an  order  to  which  merit  shall  give  the  claim — an  order 
emanating  from  the  Sovereign,  but  accessible  to  all 
her  people — its  decorations  not  given  exclusively  to 
the  merit  which  is  poor  and  low-born,  or  society,  at 
once  aristocratical  and  commercial,  would  not  value 
them.  But  he  indeed  knows  little  of  our  higher 
orders  who  will  not  allow  that  no  aristocracy,  except 
the  Athenian,  ever  produced  in  all  departments  so  large 
a  proportion  of  eminent  men.  There  will  be  selections 
enough  from  them  to  give  to  such  a  brotherhood  what- 
ever grace  merit  may  take  from  high  station  ;  only  let 
these  lists  be  open  to  all  competitors  who  write  upon 

524 


LETTERS  TO  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL 

their  shield,  *  Service  to  Great  Britain,'  whether  that 
service  be  rendered  in  arts,  letters,  inventive  improve- 
ment, great  virtue,  or  useful  deeds,  let  no  party  favour 
promote  the  undeserving  or  slight  the  meritorious. 
Surely  such  an  institution  is  in  harmony  with  the  age. 
When  Napoleon  made  himself  member  of  the  Institute, 
he  said — *  I  am  sure  to  be  understood  by  the  lowest 
drummer.'  If  one  distinguishes  men  into  the  classes 
of  military  and  civil,  one  establishes  two  orders,  while 
there  is  but  one  nation  ;  if  one  decrees  honour  only  to 
soldiers,  the  nation  goes  for  nothing — La  nation  ne 
serait  plus  rien ;  so  said  Napoleon  when  he  founded  the 
Legion  of  Honour — an  institution  which  the  subsequent 
abuses  that  have  perverted  its  intention  and  lowered  its 
dignity  do  not  the  less  prove  to  have  been  based  upon 
the  profoundest  views  of  human  nature,  and  in  the  true 
spirit  of  generous  legislation. 

"  Here,  my  Lord,  I  close  these  suggestions — all,  from 
the  establishment  of  a  village  school,  to  the  honours  due 
to  those  deserts  which  each  pupil  sent  to  that  school 
may  attain — all  belonging,  I  believe,  to  any  scheme, 
wide,  sound,  and  comprehensive,  for  the  encouragement 
of  education  and  the  diffusion  of  intelligence. 

"  Found  schools  and  starve  the  scholar — declaim  on 
the  rewards  of  intellectual  accomplishment  and  civil 
virtue,  and  then  exclude  the  highest  specimens  your 
declamation  can  produce  from  the  service  of  the  State 
and  the  honours  of  the  Crown,  and  I  warn  you  that  you 
will  place  your  edifice  upon  a  hollow  foundation,  whilst 
you  reject  your  surest  co-operator  in  the  moral  spirit 
your  system  should  animate  and  evoke  ;  and  that  the 
common-sense  of  mankind  will  see  that  your  object  is 
not  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge,  but  to  contract 
its  height  whilst  demarking  its  circumference.  As  the 
Chinese  dwarf  their  oaks,  you  place  a  hoop  of  iron 
round  the  roots  which  you  plant ;  and  thus  you  will 

525 


APPENDIX  I 

have  stunted  into  a  toy  the  branches  which  should  be 
vocal  with  the  birds  of  heaven,  and  the  stem  that  should 
shoot  the  loftier  with  every  storm  that  assails  it. — I 
have  the  honour  to  be,  dear  Lord  John  Russell,  &c., 
&c.,  &c., 

EDWARD  LYTTON. 


526 


APPENDIX    II 

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The  Disowned.     3  vols.     H.  Colburn,  1828. 
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*  Asmodeus  at  Large.      1833. 

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527 


APPENDIX  II 

Athens,  Its  Rise  and  Fall,  with  Views  of  the  Literature,  Philosophy,  and 
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1837- 
Ernest  Maltravers.     3  vols.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1837. 

Alice ;  or,  The  Mysteries.     A  Sequel  to  Ernest  Maltravers.      3  vols. 

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Leila ;    or,    The   Siege   of  Grenada ;    and    Calderon,    The    Courtier. 

Longman,    Orme,    Brown,    Green,    and    Longmans    for    Mr. 

Charles  Heath,  1838. 
The  Lady   of  Lyons;   or,   Love  and  Pride.      A    Play   in   five   Acts. 

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added  Historical  Odes  on  the  Last  Days  of  Elizabeth;  Cromwell' 's 

Dream;    The  Death  of  Nelson.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1839. 
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Saunders  and  Otley,  1839. 

Money.     A  Comedy  in  five  Acts.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1840. 
Collected  Works.     H.  Colburn  and  Saunders  &  Otley,  1840. 
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Zanoni.     3  vols.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1842. 
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and  other  Tales  and  Poems.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1842. 
The  Last  of  the  Barons.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1843. 
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Schiller's  Life.     2  vols.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1844. 
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Esq.,  editor  of  The  New  Monthly  Magazine.    H.  Colburn,  1845. 
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1846. 

A  Word  to  the  Public.     Saunders  &  Otley,  1847. 
King  Arthur.     Henry  Colburn,  1848. 

Harold,  The  Last  of  the  Saxon  Kings.     3  vols.     R.  Bentley,  1848. 
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The  Caxtons :  A  Family  Picture.   3  vols.   W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1 849. 
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*  Published  anonymously. 
528 


APPENDIX  II 

Outlines  of  the  Early  History  of  the  East,  with  Explanatory  Descriptions 
of  some  of  the  more  remarkable  Nations  and  Cities  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament.  A  Lecture  delivered  at  the  Royston  Mechanics 
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My  Novel,  by  Pisistratus  Caxton ;  or,  Varieties  in  English  Life.  4 
vols.  W.  Blackwood  and  Son,  1853. 

The  Haunted  and  the  Haunters.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1857. 

What  will  he  do  with  it?  by  Pisistratus  Caxton.  4  vols.  W.  Black- 
wood  &  Son,  1858. 

Dramatic  Works,  collected.      I  vol.     Routledge,  1860. 

*St.  Stephens:  A  Poem.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1860. 

A  Strange  Story,     z  vols.     Sampson,  Low,  Son  &  Co.,  1862. 

Caxtoniana:  A  Series  of  Essays  on  Life,  Literature,  and  Manners. 
2  vols.  W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1863. 

The  Boatman,  by  Pisistratus  Caxton.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1864. 

Poems,  collected  and  revised.     John  Murray,  1865. 

The  Lost  Tales  of  Miletus.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1866. 

Miscellaneous  Prose  Works.     3  vols.     R.  Bentley,  1868. 

The  Rightful  Heir.     A  Drama  in  five  Acts.     John  Murray,  1868. 

The  Odes  and  Epodes  of  Horace.  A  Metrical  Translation  into  English, 
with  Introduction  and  Commentaries.  W.  Blackwood,  1869. 

Walpole ;  or,  Every  Man  has  his  Price.  A  Comedy  in  Rhyme,  in 
three  Acts.  W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1869. 

King  Arthur.     Revised  Edition.     Charlton  Tucker,  1870. 

*The  Coming  Race.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1871. 


POSTHUMOUS 

The  Parisians.     4  vols.     W.  Blackwood  &  Son,  1873. 

Kenelm    Chillingly  :    His   Adventures   and    Opinions.       3  vols.      W. 

Blackwood  &  Son,  1873. 
Pausanias,  the  Spartan,  1876. 
Darnley.     First  published  in   Miscellaneous   Prose   Works,   Vol.   II. 

Knebworth    Edition,    1882.     G.    Routledge    and    Sons.     An 

unfinished  Drama  in  five  Acts. 

*  Published  anonymously. 


VOL.  II  529  2  M 


APPENDIX  III 


LIST   OF   RESIDENCES 


31  Baker  Street,  London 
Dr.  Ruddock's  School  at  Fulham 
Dr.  Curtis's  School  at  Sunbury 

Mr.  Dempster's  School  at  Brighton  .  .  . 

Dr.  Hooker's  School  at  Rottingdean. 
Dr.  Burnet's  School  at  Upper  Homerton,  Hackney  . 
The  Rev.  Charles  Wellington,  tutor,  at  Baling  ., 
Mr.  Thomson,  tutor,  at  St.  Lawrence,  near  Ramsgate 
Trinity  College,  and  afterwards  Trinity  Hall, 
Cambridge  .  .  .  .  . 

5  Upper  Seymour  Street,  London  (Mother's  House) 
Berkeley  Square,  London       . 
4  Craven  Hill  . 

24  St.  James's  Square  . 

Woodcot,  Nettlebed,  Oxfordshire      . 
Weymouth  and  Tunbridge  Wells 
Vineyard  (or  Vine)  Cottage,  Fulham 
36  Hertford  Street,  London. 
Pinner  Wood,  Pinner,  Middlesex 
Allen  Cottages,  Hounslow    . 
2  A  Albany    .... 
Berrymead  Priory,  Acton 
8  Charles  Street,  Berkeley  Square,  London 

36  Hertford  Street,  London. 
105  Piccadilly,  London 
Craven  Cottage,  Fulham 

23  Bryanston  Street,  London 

37  Curzon  Street,  May  fair,  London 
36A  Hertford  Street,  London 
Knebworth  House,  Hertfordshire 

19  James  Street,  Buckingham  Gate  . 

53° 


May  25,  1803 
1812 

1812-1814 
1814-1815 
1815-1818 
1818 

1819-1820 
1821 


1822-1825 


1825 
1826 
1827 

1827-1829 

Sept.  i828-May,  1829 
Sept.-Dec.  1829 
1830-1835 
June,  i83i-March,  1832 

•  1833 

•  1835-1837 
1835-1836 
1837-1839 
1839-1840 
1840 
1840 

1840-1841 
1842-1843 
1843-1846 
1844-1873 
1846-1849 


APPENDIX  III 

4  Hereford  Street,  London  .             .             .             .  1851-181:2 

I  Park  Lane               .....  1852-1861 

35  St.  James's  Place,  London             .              .              .  1862-1864 

2 1  Park  Lane            .....  1864-1866 

35  St.  James's  Place               ....  1866-1868 

Copped  Hall,  Totteridge,  Hertfordshire         .              .  1862-1867 

Argyll  House,  Torquay         ....  1867-1873 

12  Grosvenor  Square,  London            .              .              .  1868-1873 


531 


f 


\ 


INDEX 


The  initials  E.B.L.  in  this  Index  represent  the  subject  of  the  biography  : 
the  abbreviation  Mrs.  E.B.L.  is  used  for  his  "wife. 


ABDUL  Medjid,  Sultan  of  Turkey,  and 
the  Crimean  War,  ii.  205, 
206,  207,  227 

Abercromby,  Helen,  and  her  mother, 
deaths  of,  ii.  86  ». 

Aberdeen,  4th  Earl  of,  Foreign  Minister, 
i.  75,  403  ;  policy  misunder- 
stood, i.  395  ;  coalition 
ministry,  ii.  186,  210  ;  and 
the  Crimean  war,  ii.  206, 
209,  221,  225 

Achilles,  Homer's  treatment  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  385 

Actors  and  Actresses,  amateur,  in  the 
Knebworth  theatricals,  ii.  131 
».  ;  amateur  and  other,  in 
Many  Sides  to  a  Character, 
comedy,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  140  n. 

Ada  Reis,  by  Lady  Caroline  Lamb,  i.  165 

Addington  and  Pitt,  ii.  238 

Addison,  Joseph,  and  The  Spectator, 
i.  504,  ii.  245 

Adventurer,  The,  see  Lady  of  Lyons 

Adversity,  lessons  of  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  95-6 

Advertisement  tax,  abolition  of  (see 
also  Newspapers,  taxes  on), 
E.B.L.'s  share  in,  1.43  3-4  etsqq. 

yEschylus,  study  of,  advised  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  385 

After-thought,  by  Tennyson,  ii.  75 

Agnew,  Sir  Andrew,  Sabbath  Observance 
Bill  of,  opposed  by  E.B.L., 
1.451 

Agricultural  depression,  causes  of,  i.  390-2, 

ii.  165 

Districts,  disturbances  in,  in  1829,  and 
later,  i.  404,  406 


Agricultural  depression — continued 

Interest    in   Parliament   (circ.    1834), 

E.B.L.  on,  i.  464,  499-500 
Agriculturists     and     the     Corn     Laws, 

ii.  84  5  and  the  Malt  Duty, 

ii.  185-7  ;  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  187, 

214 

Agrippa,  magic  of,  ii.  47 
Ainsworth,  William   Harrison,  i.  548  ; 

editor      of      Nciu      Monthly 

Magazine,       ii.       22  ;       and 

Blanchard,  ii.  132,  135 
Ainsworth's       Magazine,       Blanchard's 

contributions  to,  ii.  135 
Airy,  Professor  (afterwards  Sir  George), 

Astronomer-Royal,  ii.  523 
Aix-la-Chapelle,     E.B.L.'s     visits      to, 

i.  550-1,  ii.  353 

A/astor,  by  Shelley,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  366 
Albany,   the,   E.B.L.'s    life    at,  i.    308  ; 

scene   made   by  his   wife   at, 

i-  333-4 

Albemarle,  6th  Earl  of,  ii.  449 
Albertus  Magnus,  magic  of,  ii.  47 
Albuda  exchanged  for  Portendio,  ii.  294 
Alcaeus,  and  Byron,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  361, 

474-5 

"  Alcibiades,"  pen-name  used  by  Tenny- 
son, ii.  75 

Alexander  the  Great,  Seneca's  epithet 
for,  ii.  124 

Alexandra,  Queen,  arrival  of,  in  England, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  355-6  ;  tribute 
to,  ii.  356 

Alfred,  Prince  (late  Duke  of  Saxe- 
Coburg  and  Gotha),  Greek 
throne  declined  by,  ii.  354 


533 


INDEX 


Alice,  or  The  Mysteries,  novel,  by  E.B.L., 
autobiographical  features  of, 
i.  528 

Alison,  Sir  Archibald,  ii.  197  n. 

All  the  Tear  Round,  E.B.L.'s  novel 
published  in,  correspondence 
on,  ii.  341-7 

Alma,  battle  of  the,  ii.  208 

Almack's,  famous  Club,  ii.  13 

Almack's,  "  A  Satiric  Sketch "  of,  in 
Weeds  and  Wildfloiuers,  by 
K.B.L.,  i.  153,  172,  380 

'Alp,'  in  The  Siege  of  Corinth,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  364 

Alpine  passes,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  122 

Althorpe,  Viscount  (later  3rd  Earl 
Spencer,  q.-v.),  character  and 
expression  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  418,  420  ;  and  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832,  i.  422,  his 
speech  on,  i.  418  ;  and  the 
Newspaper  taxes,  i.  435  ; 
succeeds  to  the  Earldom, 
i.  470 

Amadis  de  Gaul,  Southey's  translation 
of,  i.  37,  41,  ii.  418 

Ambleside,  lodgings  at,  with  a  bad 
character,  i.  84-91 

Amulet,  The,  E.B.L.'s  contribution  to, 
i.  527 

Anacreon,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  385 

Anaxagoras,  belief  of,  in  animal  souls, 
ii.  405 

Ancient  Mariner,  The,  by  Coleridge, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  420 

Andrews,  William,  letter  to,  from  E.B.L. 
on  penny  post,  i.  434  &  «. 

Animal  Magnetism,  farce  by  Mrs. 
Inchbald,  cast  of,  as  given 
at  Knebworth,  ii.  131  n. 

Animals,  souls  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  401,  405 

Anti-Corn  Law  League,  ii.  150  ; 
reformation  of,  proposed, 
ii.  184 

Anti-slavery  Society,  and  Negro  Appren- 
ticeship, i.  521  ;  appreciation 
by,  of  E.B.L.'s  speech  thereon, 
i.  526 

'  Arbaces,'  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  446 

Archaeological  Society,  E.B.L.  as 
President  of,  ii.  454 

'  Arden,'  ii.  70 

'  Ardworth,'  the  elder,  in  Lucretia, 
ii.  87,  89 

'Ardworth,  Walter,'  in  Lucretia,  ii.  89 


'  Argiope,'  in   The  Secret  Way,  poem  by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  364 
Argyll,  8th  Duke  of,  on  E.B.L.'s  speech 

on    Reform    Bill    of    1866, 

ii.  318 
Argyll  House,  Torquay  home  of  E.B.L., 

ii.  459  et  sqq. 

Ariosto,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  394,  396,  423 
Aristocracy,     E.B.L.    on,     ii.    309  n. ; 

favouritism    to,    in    Crimean 

war,  ii.  212,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  223 
Aristocratic    Government,    doctrine    of, 

ii.  308-9 
Arnold,  Matthew,  letters  from,  to  E.B.L., 

occasion  of  the  first,  ii.  443-4; 

on     E.B.L.'s     influence     on 

his  writings,  ii.  445,  451-2; 

remarks       on,     E.B.L.      at 

Knebworth,  ii.  452-3 
Arrotu  war,  the,  i.  398  n.,  ii.  252  et  sqq.  ; 

E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  256-7 
Art  and  Genius,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  400 
Legislation  on  behalf  of,  supported  by 

E.B.L.,  i.  427 
Articles     by    E.B.L.,    see    Names,    and 

Essays    and     Articles,    under 

Writings,  Prose 
"Artists,    The,"    by    Schiller,   E.B.L.'s 

translation  of,  ii.  57 
Artists'  General  Benevolent  Institution, 

ii.  145 

"  Assignation,  The,"  by  Schiller,  trans- 
lated by  E.B.L.,  ii.  57 
Astrology,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  44 
Atalanta     in     Calydon,     by    Swinburne, 

ii.  431,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  433 
Athalie,  by  Racine,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  425 
Athenifum,  The,  and  the  date  of  E.B.L.'s 

second   love  letter,  i.  169  n.  ; 

Hood's  Ode  to  Rae  Wilson  in, 

ii.  63  ;  reviews  by,  of  Zanoni, 

ii.  34,  and  of  The  Coming  Race, 

ii.  468 

Athens,  E.  R.  Lytton  at,  ii.  359 
Athens,    its    Rise   and    Fall,    by    E.B.L., 

partial  publication  of,  i.  528 
Auckland,  1st  Earl  of,  death,  ii.  1 1 5  &  ».2 
Auldjo,  John,  letter  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on 

Rienzi,   and    The    Last  Days, 

i.  445 

Aumale,  Due  d',  ii.  480 
Austen,    Jane,    novels    of,    E.B.L.    on, 

i.  457,  ii.  86,  425 
Australia,  mail  contract  with,  abolished 

by  E.B.L.,  ii.  284 


534 


INDEX 


Austrian   affairs    (1846    and    onwards), 
s  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  78,  118,  120, 
,158,  228-9 
Authority    in    matters    of    Faith    and 

Intellect,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  411 
Authorship,  trials  of,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  249, 

ii.   195-7  ;    R.  L.   Stevenson 

on,  i.  249 
Autobiographical  suggestions  in  E.B.L.'s 

heroes,  ii.  498-9 

Autobiography  of  E.B.L.,  i.  4  et  sqq.,  ii.  3 
'Ayesha,'   in   A   Strange    Story,    E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  346,  349 
Aytoun,  Professor,  ii.  197  ». 

BABBAGE,  Charles,  ii.  13  &  «.,  523 
Baillie-Cochrane,  A.D.R.W.  (ist  Lord 

Lamington),  letter   to,   from 

E.B.L.,     on      public     affairs 

(1849),  ii.  H9&»v  1 20 
Baker    Street,    No.    31,    birthplace    of 

E.B.L.,  i.  3 

Balaklava,  battle  of,  ii.  208,  223 
Balfour,  Lady   Betty,  see   Personal   and 

Literary  Letters  of  the  Earl 

of  Lytton 

Ballot,  the,  advantages  of,  ii.  322 
Bandmann,  Daniel  E.,  actor,  ii.  450 
Baronetcies,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  522 
Baronetcy  conferred  on  E.B.L.,  i. '507, 

ii.  245 
Barrett,  Wilson,  E.B.L.'s  tragedy  Brutus, 

renamed    and     produced     by, 

ii.  96  n. 

Barrot,  Odillon,  ii.  52 
Bath,  Order  of  the,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  522-3 
Bath,  visits  to,  ii.  443 
Battle  of  Waterloo,  early  epic  by  E.B.L., 

i.  S6 
Bavaria,    and    the    revolution   of   1848, 

ii.  118 

Bayliss,  Messrs.,  ii.  135 
Bayon's      Manor,      Mr.      D'Eyncourt's 

library  at,  i.  425 
Beaufort,  6th  Duke  of,  i.  352 
'  Beaufort,'  in  The  Rightful  Heir,  ii.  450 
Beaumont,      Mr.,      and       the      spirits, 

ii.  45-6 

Beaux,  ancient,  E.B.L.,  ii.  13-14 
Belgium,    H.    Bulwer's    secret    mission 

to,  i.  403-5  &  n.i 
Bell,    Robert,    in     Many    Sides     to    a 

Character,  ii.  140  n. 
Belle     Assembles,     journal,     edited     by 

Blanchard,  ii.  135 


Benger,  Miss,  and  E.B.L.'s  first  meeting 

with  his  wife,  i.  155  &  n. 
Bentham,  Jeremy,  axiom  of,  on  happi- 
ness,   applied    to    poetry    by 
E.B.L.,   ii.    397-8  ;    and   ex- 
tended representation,  i.  393  ; 
Mill  on,  i.  508,  509  n. 
Bentinck,  Lord  George,  ii.  84,  151,  510 
Beranger,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  477 
Berkeley,  Bishop,  philosophy  of,  i.  205 
Berri,  Duchesse  de,  at  Venice,  i.  264-5 
Berry,  Miss,  error  regarding,  i.  155  n. 
Berrymead    Priory,  Acton,    E.B.L.   and 

his  wife  at,  i.  308 

Bibliography  (see  also  Writings),  ii.  527-9 
Bills,  endorsing  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  388-9 
Biography  and  Poetry,  Carlyle  on,  ii.  59 
Birmingham,  as  described  by  E.B.L., 

'•  453 

'  Bishop  Blougrarri '  in  Browning's  poem, 
ii.  411 

Bishop  Stortford  School,  E.B.L.  on  his 
speech  at,  ii.  249 

Black  Sea  question,  ii.  211  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  226 

Blackwood,  Stevenson  Arthur  (later  Sir 
S.  Blackwood),  letter  from, 
to  E.B.L.,  on  his  resignation, 
ii.  305-6 

Blackwood,  Messrs.,  and  Black-wood's 
Magazine,  E.B.L.'s  works 
published  by,  and  in,  ii.  105, 
122,  251-2,  327,  350,  444, 
451,  467-9,  480,  481 

Blanchard,  Laman,  and  E.B.L.'s  efforts 
to  help,  ii.  135  et  sqq.,  517 
&  n.,  518  ;  Memoir  on,  by 
E.B.L.,  ii.  132-4,  136 

Blanchard,  Mrs.,  death  of,  ii.  136 

Blank  verse,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  366 

Blessington,  Countess  of,  i.  503  ;  E.B.L.'s 
friendship  with,  i.  381-2, 
ii.  4,  113-4;  famous  literary 
parties,  i.  254  n.,  381  ;  finan- 
cial ruin,  ii.  116-7;  portrait, 
i.  449;  death,  ii.  78,  113, 
116-7 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  after  his 
separation,  and  his  replies, 
i.  382-3,  ii.  4  et  sqq. ;  on  the 
dinner  to  Lord  Durham,  and 
his  reply,  i.  464  ;  on  Falkland, 
i.  190  ;  on  The  Lady  of  Lyons, 
and  his  reply,  i.  536-7  ;  on 
Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  446-7 


535 


INDEX 


Blessington,  Countess  of — continued 
Letters  to,  from  Disraeli  on  E.B.L.'s 

play  of  La  Failure,  i.  530-2 
from  E.B.L.,  on  contributing  to 
Health's  Book  of  Beauty,  edited 
by  her,  i.  449-50 ;  on  his 
dejection,  and  depression  in 
general,  i.  457-8  &  «.,  and  on 
Ireland,  Pompeii,  burning  of 
the  Houses  of  Parliament, 
and  her  reply,  i.  459-62  j  on 
Fonblanque,  etc.,  i.  448,  449  ; 
on  Italian  journey  (1846), 
ii.  80-4  ;  on  The  Letter  on  the 
Crisis,  i.  489  ;  on  his  mother's 
death,  ii.  20  ;  on  King  Arthur, 
etc.,  ii.  114-5  5  on  her  losses, 
ii.  116-75  on  the  reception 
of  Lucretia,  ii.  89-90 

Blessington,  Earl  of,  and  his  daughter's 
marriage,  i.  382 

Blunt,  Wilfrid  Scawen,  letters  of  E.B.L. 
and  his  son,  owned  by, 
ii.  437  n.  i 

Boccaccio,  borrowings  and  lendings  of, 
ii.  419 

Body  and  Mind,  relations  between,  Mrs. 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  330-1 

Bolingbroke,  Lord,  verses  of,  ii.  425 

Bonn,  E.  R.  Lytton's  school  days  at, 
ii.  378 

Book  of  Beauty,  i.  448,  461  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  115  &«. ;  on  contributing 
to,  i.  449 

Books,  E.B.L.'s  early  delight  in,  i.  34 
et  sqq. 

Borough  franchise,  qualifications  for,  in 
various  Reform  Bills,  ii.  311-2 

Borough-monger,  the,  ii.  316-7 

Borstal  Association,  Annual  Report  of, 
for  1908,  on  effect  of  prison 
life,  i.  363  n. 

Boulogne,  E.B.L.  at,  and  the  duel  of 
F.  Villiers,  i.  127  et  sqq. 

Bourchier,  Humphrey,  ii.  490 

Bournemouth,  visited,  ii.  in 

Bowen,  Sir  George,  first  Governor  of 
Queensland,  and  E.B.L.'s 
letter  to,  on  appointing  him, 
ii.  284,  285  et  sqq. 

Bowring,  Dr.,  afterwards  Sir  John,  and 
E.B.L.'s  first  election,  i.  398 
&  n. ;  hoaxed  by  M6rimee's 
verses,  i.  451  ;  letters  to, 
from  E.B.L.,  on  disturbances 


Bowring,  Dr. — continued 

in  1831.,  ii.  405-6;  on  his 
withdrawal  from  Southwark, 
i.  403  ;  and  the  Arrow 
war,  i.  398  «.,  ii.  252,  253, 
254;  E.B.L.'s  reference  to, 
ii.  256-7 

Boyle,  Mary,  in  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.  131  n. 

Boz,  see  Dickens,  Charles 

Bradlaugh,  Charles,  M.P.,  ii.  478 

'  Bragelone '  in  La  Vall'dre,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  557  ;  Macready  as,  i.  529, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  559 

Brahmin  Dervish,  the,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  456,  458 

'Brandon'  and  his  wife,  in  Paul  Clifford^ 
Elliott  on,  i.  365 

Breadalbane   House,  purchased,  ii.  354, 

413 

Bride,  The,  of  Lammermoor,  by  Scott, 
E.B.L.  on  love  motif  in, 
ii.  367 

Brieux,  J.  A.  P.,  poem  by,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  429  Sen. 

Bright,  Rt.  Hon.  John,  ii.  246  ;  and 
the  Anti-Corn  Law  League, 
ii.  150  ;  denunciations  by,  of 
the  Crimean  war,  ii.  207, 
the  "  Angel  of  Death  "  speech, 
ii.  210  ;  E.B.L.  on  his  nature, 
ii.  229  ;  efforts  of,  for  Re- 
form, ii.  311 

Brighton,  school  at,  i.  43-4  ;  visits  to, 
i.  124,  ii.  in 

British  Columbia,  incorporation  of,  as 
Colony,  by  E.B.L.'s  Colonial 
administration,  ii.  288-9 ; 
his  speeches  on,  ii.  290, 
291-3 

Broadstairs,  visit  to,  i.  116 

Brocket,  visit  to,  i.  118  et  sqq.  ;  death 
of  Palmerston  at,  ii.  362 

Brougham,  Lord,  and  the  proposed 
creation  of  Peers,  i.  423  ;  and 
theatrical  monopoly,  i.  433  ; 
and  the  Coercion  Act,  i.  452  ; 
phrases  used  by,  i.  453,  454, 
ii.  239  ;  letter  from,  to 
E.B.L.,  ii.  465-6  ;  quarrel 
with  Lord  Durham,  i.  464-7$ 
letters  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on 
violence  in  the  Press,  i.  503 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  Essay  on,  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  508 


536 


INDEX 


Browning,  Robert,  poet,  i.  448,  529  ; 
and  Forster,  i.  373  ;  poems 
by,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  396,  397, 
400,  411,  430  ;  and  Richelieu, 
i.  544  &  «. 

Friendship  of,  with  E.  R.  Lytton, 
ii.  383  ;  letter  to  him,  on 
the  death  of  E.B.L.,|ii.  489-90 

Browning,  Elizabeth  Barrett,  ii.  383 

Brownlow,  Countess,  ii.  470 

Brussels,  visit  to,  i.  133 

Brutus,  tragedy  by  E.B.L.  unpublished, 
produced  as  The  Household 
Gods  (q."v.}i  ii.  96  &  «.,  125 

'  Buckhurst,"  in  Coningsby,  prototype 
of,  ii.  119  n. 

Buckstone,  J.  B.,  the  comedian,  and 
Blanchard,  ii.  135 

Buffon,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 

Buller,  Charles,  M.P.,  i.  520,  529 ; 
'  Union  '  speeches  of,  i.  78 

Bulver,     Torold,    ancestor    of    E.B.L., 

'•3 

Bulwer,  Edward  George  Earle  Lytton, 
later  Bulwer-Lytton,  Sir 
Edward,  and  ist  Baron 
Lytton,  subject  of  this  bio- 
graphy ;  ancestry,  parents  and 
family,  i.  3  et  sqq.  ;  appear- 
ance, i.  58,  97,  163  n., 
ii.  17-18  ;  autobiography,  i.  4 
et  sqq.,  ii.  3  j  calligraphy, 
i.  48,  ii.  306 

Character  and  characteristics,  i.  27-8, 
43,  45  &«.,  47-8,  58,  72,  77, 
146-7  &«.,  163  n.,  214,  2l6, 
217,276,285,342,366,471, 
ii.  9,  13,  14,  16,  40  n.,  62, 
67>  69,  74.  78,  94-5.  264, 
37i,  375.  376-7»  492-3.  495, 
502,  503  et  sqq.  ;  himself  on, 
i.  285,  ii.  9,  11-12,  503-4 
business  capacity,  i.  2 1 7,  ii.  49  3  &  «. ; 
chief  defect,  ii.  494,  497  ; 
dandyism,  ii.  13,  14,  17,  72  ; 
deafness,  ii.  191,  370,  371, 
483,  502  ;  fluency,  ii.  493  ; 
love  of  riding,  i.  117,  139, 
ii.  16  ;  melancholy,  i.  44,  59, 
65,  70,  138-9,  149,  175, 
457-60,  ii.  191,  357;  sensi- 
tiveness, i.  28,  47,  342,  ii.  3, 
94-6,  123,  268,  351,  499, 
502  ;  smoking  habits,  ii.  18 
19  j  strong  family  affections, 


Bulwer,  Edward  George  Earle  Lytton — 

continued 
Character  and  characteristics — contd. 

Business  capacity — continued 

i.  192,  277-8,  299-300,  ii.  19 
et  iqq.  ;  summary,  ii.  493 
Friends,  see  Arnold,  Blessington, 
Butler,  Cockburn,  Cosway, 
Cowper,  Cunningham,  Dis- 
raeli, D'Orsay,  Durham, 
Fonblanque,  Forster,  Gait, 
Halliday,  Irving,  Kinsela, 
Knowles,  Lamb,  Landon, 
Macaulay,  Macready,  Mel- 
bourne, Moore,  Mulgrave, 
O'Connell,  Ord,  Praed, 
Rochejaquelein,  Shell,  Sher- 
borne,  Smith,  Swinburne, 
Townshend,  Villiers 
Health,  lifelong  delicacy  of,  i.  7, 

ii.  502  et  alibi 
Homes  and  houses,  i.  3,  12,  38  &  se e 

Appendix  III.,  ii.  530-1 
Honours  conferred  on  : — 

Baronetcy,  i,  501,  ii.  245 

Grand  Commandership  of  St. 
Michael's  and  St.  George, 
ii.  459 

Peerage,  ii.  318,  324,  368-70 
Letters  from,  and  to,  see  under  Names 
of  Correspondents 

characteristics  of,  i.  302-3 
Life,  in  order  of  Dates  : — 

Domestic  : — 

1803-12  birth,  birthplace,  early 
years,  i.  3-7  et  sqq.  ;  the 
cutlass  affair  and  the  flogging, 
i.  15,  20-2  ;  early  lessons, 
i.  22-6  j  the  madman's  pre- 
diction, i.  26-8  ;  first  intro- 
duction to  Books,  i.  34-8  ; 
schools,  i.  39  et  sqq. ;  further 
education,  i.  51  et  sqq.,  first 
love,  i.  59,  65,  83,  153, 
1 55  a. 

1822-5  Cambridge  life,  friends  and 
successes  (see  also  Sculpture), 
i.  72,  80  ;  travels  in  England, 
i.  82  et  sqq.  ;  an  odd  land- 
lord, 184-91  ;  travels  in 
Scotland,  visit  to  Robert 
Owen,  i.  91  et  sqq. ;  stay 
at  Scarborough,  i.  96-100  ; 
with  the  gipsies,  i.  101-15, 
Mirny's  prediction,  i.  102-3, 


537 


INDEX 


Bulwer,  Edward  George  Earle  Lytton — 

continued 
'£  Life — continued 

Domestic — continued 

114,  ii.  505  ;  further  home 
journeys,  Broadstairs,  visit  to 
Lady  Caroline  Lamb,  i.  116 
et  sqq. 

1825-6  travels  abroad,  Villier's 
duel,  127  et  sqq.;  life  in  and 
near  Paris,  i.  134  et  sqq.  ; 
meeting  with  future  wife, 
courtship  and  its  difficulties, 
i.  154,  162-3,  x^5  et  511- 

1827  marriage  and  early  married 
life,  i.  202  et  sqq. 

1828-32  births  of  children,  i.  209, 
247,  368  ;  first  hints  of  do- 
mestic troubles,  i.  213-9  5 
how  aggravated,  i.  219  et  iqq. 

1833-8  breakdown  from  overwork 
and  continental  journey  with 
wife,  i.  260-71,  disastrous 
end  of,  i.  271  et  sqq.,  274, 

338»  389»  439  et  m- 

1833  (and  after)    love  outside  the 
home,  i.  3I2&«.,  ii.  265,  503, 
504 

1834  increasing'domestic  difficulties 
and     life    apart     from     his 
wife,    i.    272    et    sqq.,    490  5 
quarrels    and    reconciliations 
— the    worst    scene,    i.    281, 
284  et  sqq. 

1835  conditions  of  reunion  offered 
by,  i.  295-304  ;    separation, 
partial,  i.   303,  308  et  sqq.  ; 
total,  proposed,  i.  315,  333, 
carried   out,   i.    334,  514-5  ; 
miseries  following,  i.  338-42, 

494-5.  507,  5z8 
1836-8  separation,  and  after,  ii.  3, 

5»9-"»  94 
Literary,  see  also  Names  of  works, 

and  Writings 
General  references  : — 

characteristics  of  his  writings, 
ii.  496-8  5  defects  in  style, 
ii.  494,  500 ;  heroes  and 
heroines  of,  autobiographical 
touches  in,  ii.  498-9  j  his 
incessant  industry,  ii.  14,  1 6, 
37 1  et  alibi ;  his  intention  of 
ceasing  to  write,  i.  144-5  5 
lasting  popularity  of  his 


Bulwer,  Edward  George  Earle  Lytton — 

continued 
Life — continued 

Literary — continued 

works,  ii.  500 ;  literary 
fame  in  Italy,  i.  269  ;  literary 
proclivities,  early  evidence 
of,  i.  23  et  sqq.,  44,  56,  57 
&«.,  58,  65  «.,  70  ;  methods 
of  work,  ii.  14-16,  18 

1819-25  first  published  work, 
i.  56-7  ;  second  book  written, 
and  published,  1823.,  i.  75  n. ; 
studies  in  style,  i.  88-9,  later 
evolution  of,  i.  89 ;  prize 
poem,  see  Sculpture ;  first 
beginnings  of  novel-writing, 
i.  81,  139  Sen.,  145 

1826-39  nafd  work  to  maintain 
his  family,  i.  207,  216-9,  239, 
248  et  sqq.,  257,  283,  285, 
345  et  sqq.  ;  reputation  gained 
by,  i.  243  ;  editorship  of  The 
Neiv  Monthly,  i.  366  et  sqq., 
passim  ;  literature  chosen,  in 
preference  to  office,  i.  491 
et  sqq.,  dependence  on,  and 
proficiency  in,  i.  494-5 

1836-40  dramatic  authorship 
begun,  i.  527-63 

1840-46  period  of  greatest  activity 
and  highest  quality,  i.  563  et 
sqq.,  ii.  30-1  et  sqq.  ;  satire 
on  Tennyson,  and  his  reply, 
ii.  70  et  sqq. 

1851  play  written  on  behalf  of  Guild 
of  Literature,  ii.  131,  139, 
140  et  sqq. 

1854  elected  Hon.  President  of 
Associated  Societies  of  Edin- 
burgh University,  i.  95,  his 
.  address  to  students  and  speech 
at  Banquet,  ii.  193  et  sqq.  ; 
address  on  Education  at 
Leeds,  ii.  198  et  sqq. 

1860— i  association  with  All  the 
Tear  Round,  ii.  340,  341  et 
sqq.,  400-1  ;  presiding  at 
banquet  to  Dickens,  ii.  443 

1868  play  by,  performed  in  town, 
ii.  450-1 

1870-2  last  works,  ii.  460  et  sqq. 

Political  and  Public,  see  also  all 
Bills,  Topics  of  Debate,  and 
Writings 


533 


INDEX 


Bulwer,  Edward  George  Earle  Lytton — 

continued 
Life — continued 

Political  and  Public — continued 

1831-41  in  Parliament,  i.  181,  248, 
305,  325,  367  ;  election  for 
St.  Ives,  i.  254  &«.,  260, 
411-35  earlier  search  for  a 
seat,  i.  397-8,  400  ;  maiden 
speech,  on  Reform  Bill, 
i.  415  5  elected  for  Lincoln, 
i.  424,  parliamentary  activi- 
ties, i.  426  et  sqq.,  451-2  ; 
Irish  journey,  i.  453  et  sqq. ; 
gradual  change  of  views, 
i.  471  etsqq. ;  refusal  of  office, 
1.491  et  sqq.  ;  political  activi- 
ties, i.  495,  503-6 ;  last 
speech  as  a  Liberal  (1838), 
i.  520  ;  re-elected  for  Lincoln, 
i.  489,  495  ;  loss  of  the  seat 
(1841),  i.  526,  563 

1841-52  eleven  years  out  of  Parlia- 
ment, ii.  3-149  ;  change  of 
views  during,  causes,  etc., 
ii.  149  et  sqq.  ;  attempts  to 
secure  a  seat,  ii.  78,  96, 
in-3,  156-7 

1851-7  events  before  and  after 
return  to  Parliament,  ii.  181 
et  sqq.,  re-entry  as  a  Conserva- 
tive, ii.  155,  1785  speeches 
in  new  House,  ii.  187  et  sqq.; 
attitude  to  Crimean  war, 
ii.  203,  speeches  thereon, 
ii.  213  et  sqq.,  248;  other 
activities,  ii.  242  et  sqq.,  252 
et  sqq.)  office  destined  for 
(1857),  ii.  224,  242 

1858-9  life  and  duties  as  Colonial 
Secretary,  ii.  261,  269  et 
sqq.,  280  et  sqq.  ;  resigna- 
tion, reasons  for,  ii.  295 
et  sqq. 

1866  elevation  to  Peerage,  n.  178, 

324,     368     et    sqq.  ;     silence 

in  House  of  Lords,  ii.  371  ; 

success  of,  ii.  502 

Mystical  and  occult  interests,  i.  149, 

ii.    3°>    32,  39  et  *11">   340, 

345  et  sqq. 
Opinions  on  Men  and  Books,  ii.  417 

et  sqq. 
Portrait  of,  in  New  Monthly  Magazine 

(1831),  i.  254 


Bulwer,  George"Edward  Earle  Lytton— 

continued 
Religious  views  (see also  under  Religion), 

i.  70,  ii.'4OO  et  sqq. 
Speeches,  see  under  Topics  dealt  with 
Political,      manner      of     delivery, 
gesture,  etc.,  ii.  282-3,  3OI» 
302-4,  501-2 

Bulwer,  General  William  Earle,  father 
of  E.B.L.,  ii.  3  ;  character, 
i.  5,  8  ;  desire  for  peerage, 
i.  8-9  ;  land  purchases  of, 
i.  9-11  ;  death,  i.  10 

Bulwer,  Henry  (Lord  Calling),  brother 
of  E.B.L.,  i.  4,  43,  134,  223, 

235.  237>  37°,  387»  449  i 
and  his  mother,  i.  6 ;  at 
Cambridge,  i.  73  et  sqq.  ; 
character  and  abilities  of, 
i.  76  j  secret  mission  to 
Belgium,  i.  403-5  &  n.  i  ; 
M.P.  for  Coventry,  i.  412, 
413  ;  book  by,  i.  461  Sen. 
Bulwer,  Mrs.  Edward  (later  Lady 
Lytton),  see  also  Wheeler, 
Rosina,  wife  of  E.B.L.,  early 
married  life  and  homes, 
i.  204  et  sqq.  ;  first  child, 
i.  208-12,  228  5  difficulties, 
beginning  and  growth  of, 
i.  258  et  sqq. ;  second  child, 
i.  368  ;  unwise  friends,  i.  260  ; 
continental  travels  with 
E.B.L.,  disappointing  results, 
and  final  catastrophe  of, 
i.  260-73,  443  5  bases  of 
differences  between  her  and 
E.B.L.,  i.  273  et  sqq.,  278,  295, 
299-300,  ii.  494  j  quarrels, 
reconciliations,  first  parting, 
i.  281  et  sqq. ;  diary  of,  during 
first  separation,  extracts  from, 
i.  326  etsqq.;  violent  scene 
with  E.B.L.,  and  his  letter 
after  it,  i.  284  et  sqq. ;  re- 
sort by,  to  stimulants,  onset 
of,  i.  289 

Life  at  Gloucester,  illness,  visit  from 
E.B.L.,  i.  290,  304  ;  violent 
outbreak  of,  on  hearing  of 
E.B.L.'s  infidelity,  i.  308-9, 
her  apology,  i.  310-11,  her 
suspicions  justified,  i.  311-12 
& «.  ;  visit  to  the  Albany, 
scene  by,  i.  333-45  last  appeal 


539 


INDEX 


Bulwer,  Mrs.  Edward — continued 
Life  at  Gloucester — continued 

to  E.B.L.,  i.  309-11  ;  final 
arrangements  for  separation 
completed,  i.  334  et  sqq.,  ii.  3  ; 
chief  pain  of,  to  E.B.L.,  ii.  95 
Life  after  separation,  custody  and  life 
of  the  children,  i.  514-5, 
ii.  100-2  ;  means,  ii.  262, 264, 
271,  275  &  ».  j  relations  with 
E.B.L.,  her  hatred  and  per- 
secution of  him,  i.  339  et  sqq., 
ii.  10-11,  how  manifested, 
ii.  3,  z62etsqq.,  266-7,  356-7  j 
abusive  writings  of,  i.  341, 
ii.  262,  267-8  ;  mental  insta- 
bility evinced  by,  ii.  266  ft  sqq., 
restraint  suggested,  ii.  267, 
the  last  straw,  ii.  269-70, 
restraint  decided  on,  her 
letters,  ii.  271-2,  restraint 
effected,  ii.  272,  326  n.  ;  un- 
wisdom thereof,  ii.  273-5  i 
release,  son's  devotion,  ii.  274 
et  sqq,,  379  et  sqq.  ;  effects 
of  her  conduct  on  E.B.L.'s 
health,  etc.,  ii.  295-300  et  sqq., 
376  et  passim,  his  own  words 
thereon,  ii.  503-4 ;  death, 
i.  342,  ii.  279  Sen. 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  (see  also  his 
to  her,  infra],  of  apology, 
i.  310-11  ;  of  appeal,  i.  313 
to  Emily  Bulwer-Lytton,  ii.  201, 
and  behaviour  at  her  last 
illness,  ii.  102 

to  Mary  Greene,  on  domestic  life, 
i.  210  et  sqq.,  218;  on  first 
clouds,  i.  213  ;  on  E.B.L.'s 
lavishness  to  her,  i.  214-6  ; 
kindness  from  E.B.L.'s 
mother,  i.  231  ;  on  house- 
hunting in  town,  i.  245-7  5 
on  domestic  life  at  Hertford 
Street,  i.  253  et  sqq.;  on  her 
daughter,  i.  260-2  ;  fon  the 
continental  journey  of  1833., 
263-71 ;  on  her  uncle,  i.  278  ; 
on  life  at  Acton,  i.  308  ;  on 
popular  expectations  from 
the  Reform  Bill,  i.  409-10 
to  Mrs.  Vanderstegen,  on  agricul- 
tural disturbances,  i.  406-7 
to  Mrs.  W.  E.  Bulwer,  see  under 
Bulwer,  Mrs.  W.  E. 


Bulwer,  Mrs.  Edward — continued 

Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.,  and  her 
replies,  on  first  experience  of 
Parliamentary  life,  i.  414  j 
during  partial  separation, 
i.  281-3,  °f  apology  after  the 
'scene,'  i.  284-6;  of  re- 
proaches, i.  290-4,  295-302, 
304 ;  on  final  separation, 

i-  3lS~7i  3I9-2O>  on  a 
compromise,  i.  315-6  ;  at  the 
time  of  the  final  separation, 
i.  334-6 ;  after  the  worst 
scene,  i.  284  et  sqq, 

Bulwer,  Mrs.  W.  E.  (later  Mrs.  Bulwer- 
Lytton),  mother  of  E.B.L., 
i.  3  et  sqq,,  10-12,  14,  21,  25, 

3°,  34,  38,  43,  45,  46,  49, 
71,  74,  80,  ii.  13,  263 
Character  and  characteristics,  i.  6,  7, 

14,23,118,235,256 
and  E.B.L.'s  marriage,  her  attitude 
before  and  after,  i.  138, 
149-50,  154-5  &».,  156,  162, 
166-7,  I7°t  272>  et  a^' 
passim  ;  money  arrangements 
made  by  her,  for  E.B.L. ,  his 
wife,  and  his  child,  i.  174-5, 
238  et  sqq.,  314,  317,  334, 
411-12,  ii.  264  ;  strong  aver- 
sion to  Miss  Wheeler,  i.  176  ; 
responsibility  for  subsequent 
disasters,  i.  222,  238,  243-4 
Letter  to  E.B.L.  on  Falkland,  i.  187-9 
Letters  to  : — 

from  Dr.  Hooker,  on  E.B.L.'s 
character  (1818),  i.  45  Sen. 

from  E.B.L.,  on  his  courtship 
and  marriage,  i.  171,  174-5, 
179,  190-2,  195-201,  ii.  95  j 
after  marriage,  on  their 
estrangement,  i.  223  et  sqq., 
her  refusal  to  receive  his 
wife,  i.  232  et  sqq.  ;  re- 
signing his  allowance,  i.  238 
et  sqq. ;  on  a  loan  for  election 
;  expenses,  i.  411-2  ;  with  his 
first  frank,  i.  413  ;  on  his 
separation,  i.  305-6  ;  on  his 
despondency,  etc.,  1.455  ft  sqq. 

from  Mrs.  E.  Bulwer,  on  E.B.L.'s 
literary  overwork,!.  257,  283; 
on  Last  Days  of  Pompeii, 
i.  289-90  ;  after  the  violent 
scene  with  E.B.L.,  i.  286-8 


540 


INDEX 


Bulwer,  Mrs.  W.  E. — continued 
Mrs.  E.  Bulwer's  abuse  of,  ii.  262 
Relations  with   E.B.L.,  i.   6-7,    138, 

220     et      sqq.,      243-4,      338, 
ii.  20,  369 

Death,  E.B.L.'s  grief  at,  ii.  19-22,  54; 
inheritance  after  (see  Kneb- 
worth),  ii.  149  ;  subsequent 
illness,  ii.  22,  54;  letters 
on,  from  E.B.L.  to  friends, 
ii.  20  et  sqq.  ;  letter  on,  from 
Miss  Martineau,  ii.  54  et  sqq. 
Bulwer,  Mrs.  William,  i.  206,  209,  210, 

Bulwer,  William,  brother  of  E.B.L., 
i-4,  12,  95,  228,  314,  ii.  449; 
character,  i.  75-6  ;  relations 
with  his  mother,  i.  6,  10  ; 
relations  with  E.B.L.  and  his 
wife,  i.  206,  207,  209,  213, 

233 

Bulwer  -  Lytton,  Emily  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  E.B.L.,  i.  328  ; 
birth  and  babyhood  of,  i.  208, 
209,  210-12,  228  ;  training 
of,  her  mother  on,  i.  261-2  ; 
money  settled  on,  by  Mrs. 
Bulwer-Lytton,  consequent 
friction,  i.  314,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  317;  in  charge  of  Miss 
Greene,  and  life  in  Germany, 
ii.  99-101  ;  illness  and  early 
death,ii.43&«.,78,99, 101-2, 
377-8  ;  grief  of  her  brother, 
poetical  expression  of,  ii.  103 

Bulwer-Lytton,  Edward  Robert,  son  of 
E.B.L.,  later,  ist  Earl  of 
Lytton,  ii.  126,  152,  272, 
357,  466;  birth,  i.  247, 
368-9  ;  childhood,  early  life, 
health,  school-days,  i.  329-30, 
ii.  32-3,  78,  100-3,  IIS> 
117,  263,  378-9;  devoted 
conduct  to  his  mother, 
ii.  274  et  sqq.,  341,  379 
et  sqq. ;  diplomatic  life, 
i.  441,  ii.  235,  279,  357,  390 
et  alibi ;  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  396  ; 
marriage,  ii.  359,  382,  413; 
first  son,  ii.  361,  370 Sen. 
Letters  to  : — 

from  E.B.L.  on  the  anodyne  of  work, 
and  his  translation  of  Horace, 
ii.  247  ;  on  an  article  by  him, 
in  Edinburgh  Review,  ii.  447  j 

541 


Bulwer-Lytton,  Edward  Robert — contd. 
Letters  to — continued 

on  Caxtoniana,  and  on  "trying 
the  Drama  again,"  ii.  352  ;  on 
Chaucer,  ii.  419  ;  on  Chinese 
affairs  (1857),  ii.  252  ;  on 
Coleridge's  Works,  ii.  420-1  ; 
on  The  Coming  Race,  ii.  467-9  ; 
on  the  Commune  in  Paris, 
ii.  475  etsqq. ;  on  his  deafness, 
ii.  191  ;  on  his  own  elevation 
'  to  the  Peerage,  ii.  368-70 ; 
on  further  trouble  from  his 
wife,  ii.  356  ;  on  his  health, 
and  resignation  of  office, 
ii.  305  ;  on  his  health, 
ii.  358-9,  459;  on  Johnson, 
Ariosto  and  others,  ii.  422 
et  sqq. ;  on  Keats,  de  Musset 
and  others,  ii.  428  ;  on  Hugo, 
ii.  429  5  on  The  Lost  Tales  of 
Miletus,  ii.  361-7  ;  on  literary 
idleness,  ii.  193  ;  on  his 
marriage,  ii.  360  ;  on  his  own 
Miscellaneous  Prose  Works, 
ii.  447-8  ;  on  Palmerston's  fall 
in  1858,  and  on  office  offered 
to  himself,  ii.  260-1  ;  on  The 
Parisians,  and  on  The  Coming 
Race,  ii.  481  ;  on  his  play 
The  Rightful  Heir,  ii.  451  ; 
on  Pausanias,  the  Spartan, 
ii.  248  ;  on  his  own  Reform 
Bill  speech,  ii.  317-8  ;  on 
Reviewing,  and  on  his 
Servian  Poems,  etc.,  ii.  394 
et  sqq. ;  on  the  Schleswig 
Holstein  affair,  ii.  357-8  ; 
on  Society,  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  his  undelivered 
speech  on  Irish  Church  Bill, 
ii.  453-5  ;  on  his  speech  to 
schoolboys,  ii.  249  ;  on  Spirit 
manifestations,  ii.  42-4  ;  on 
A  Strange  Story,  ii.  340,  345, 
347-51  ;  on  the  same,  and 
on  religion,  ii.  401  et  sqq. ; 
on  the  success  of  his  own 
Horace,  ii.  451  ;  on  Swin- 
burne, and  on  his  early 
poems,  ii.  433,  437-8 

from  R.  Browning  on  the  death  of 
his  father,  ii.  489 

from  W.  G.  Steinmetz,  on  E.B.L.'s 
Homerton  escapade,  i.  50  «. 


INDEX 


Bulwer-Lytton,  Edward  Robert — contd. 

Poems  by,  ii.   361,  392,  4.01-2,  411, 

430;  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395  &H., 

396 
Relations    with    E.B.L.,    ii.    359-60, 

369,  376,  377,  378  et  sqq., 
412  et  sqq.,  483,  495-6 

Bulwer-Lytton,  Mrs.  Edward  Robert 
(later  Countess  of  Lytton), 
"  ii.  361  ».,  370;  marriage, 
ii.  359 ;  relations  pf,  with 
E.B.L.,  ii.  382,  final  geni- 
ality of,  i.  483-4,  his  letters 
recognising  this,  ii.  484-5  ; 
on  E.B.L.'s  appearance  and 
habits,  ii.  17-8 

Bulwer-Lytton,  Edward  Rowland  John, 
son  of  ist  Earl  of  Lytton, 
ii.  18,  361,  370  &». ;  death, 
ii.  382 

Buol,  Count,  and  the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
ii.  212,  232 

Buonarotti,  Michael  Angelo,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  424-5  _ 

Burdett,  Sir  Francis,  appearance  and 
political  views  of,  i.  417,  420 
&  a.  2,  421 

Burges,  George,  on  Pelham,  i.  347 

Burke,  Edmund,  Reflections  on  the  French 
Re-volution  by,  i.  473-4 

Burnet,  Dr.  F.,  schoolmaster,  i.  50  n. 

Buxton,  visits  to,  ii.  443 

Byng,  Frederick,  dinner  given  by,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  1 1-2 

Byron,  Lord,  i.  330,  ii.  419  ;  calumnies 
on,  i.  121,  378  ;  epithet  of, 
for  Gell,  i.  270  ;  and  Lady 
Caroline  Lamb,  i.  119  et  sqq.; 
as  poet,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  361, 
364,  367,  393,  399,  420, 
473-5  ;  parallel  between  him 
and  Praed,  i.  73  ;  his  Works, 
copies  of,  at  Knebworth, 
ii.  117;  as  remembered  by 
Venetian  gondoliers,  i.  263-4 

Byronic  cult,  supersession  of,  by  Pelham, 
'•  347 

CABRERA,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  119 

Caleb  Williams,  by  Godwin,  i.  364 

Call,  Sir  John,  i.  147 

Cambridge,' E.B.L.'s  career  at,  and  suc- 
cesses, i.  4,  66-80,  122,  126  «., 
153,  155  n. 

Campagna,  the,  Mrs.  E.B.L.  on,  i.  268 


Campbell,  John  (later  ist  Baron),  and 
theatrical  monopoly,  i.  433 

Campbell,  Thomas,  i.  162,  366,  371,  448 

Canada  question,  the,  i.  513 

Canning,  Rt.  Hon.  George,  i.  55-6; 
and  Reform,  i.  394  ;  foreign 
policy,  i.  395,  E.B.L.  in 
favour  of,  i.  397  ;  oratory, 
i.  418  ;  verses,  ii.  425 

Canton,  treaty-port,  ii.  253,  forts  at, 
destroyed  (1857),  ii.  254 

Capacities  of  Man,  as  evidence  of  his 
Soul,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  401,  402 

et  sqq. 

'  Capitaine  Phoebus,'  in  Notre  Dame,  by 
Hugo,  ii.  429 

Captives,  The,  Drama  by  E.B.L.,  un- 
performed and  unpublished, 
ii.  441-2 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  letters  from,  to  E.B.L., 
on  Zanonifi'i.  39  ;  on  the  trans- 
lation of  Schiller's  poems, 
ii.  58-60 

Carnarvon,  4th  Earl  of,  ii.  302,  449  ; 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  280-1 

Cassandre,  by  Victor  Hugo,  ii.  422 

Castellamare,  why  held  by  English 
(1860),  ii.  332 

Catalepsy,  Clairvoyance,  etc.,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  48 

Catholic  Relief  Bill,  an  historical  com- 
ment on,  i.  411 

Catiline,  tragedy,  by  Voltaire,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  422 

Catullus,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  399 

'  Caxton,  Austin,' traits  in,  of  E.B.L.'s 
grandfather,  i.  68 

Caxtoniana,  Essays,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  125, 
352,  4I3&H.,  445 

Caxtons,  The,  novel  by  E.B.L.,  i.  68  ; 
character-drawing,  ii.  498  ; 
characteristics  of,  publication, 
and  anonymity  of,  ii.  30, 
104  et  sqq.,  122  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  105  ;  letter  on,  from  Mrs. 
Robert  Southey,  ii.  105-6  ; 
mistake  in,  found  by 
Macaulay,  ii.  123  ;  written 
simultaneously  with  Lucretia, 
ii.  1 6  n. 

Cecil,  Lord  Robert  (later  3rd  Marquis 
of  Salisbury),  ii.  212 

Censorship,  see  Dramatic  Censorship 

Censure,  '  see  Motion  of  Censure,  and 
Vote  of  Censure 


542 


INDEX 


Chairolas,  by  E.B.L.,  where  published, 
letter  on,  from  Me>im£e, 
i.  450 

Chamberlain,  Rt.  Hon.  Joseph,  and 
Tariff  Reform,  ii.  155 

Chambord,  Henri,  Comte  de  (Henri  V.), 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  479  Sen. 

Chaplin,  Ellen,  in  Many  Sides  to  a  Char- 
acter, ii.  140  «. 

Character,  value  of,  in  a  Democracy, 
ii.  322 

Character-drawing  of  E.B.L.,  ii.  497-9 

Charles  Albert,  King  of  Sardinia  and 
Piedmont,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  83, 
abdication,  ii.  1185  funeral, 
ii.  121-2 

Charles  I.,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.   52,  308,  328, 

329,  33^332.  333»  335,  336 

Charles  X.,  King  of  France,  ii.  81,  135, 

397,  479  n.  ;  and  the  Charter, 

»•  395-6 

Charles  Lamb  and  some  of  his  Companions, 
Essay  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  420,  440 

Charron,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  477 

Chastelard,  by  Swinburne,  ii.  432 

Chatham,  ist  Earl  of,  ii.  239  j  verses  of, 
ii.  425 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  419-20 

Cheltenham,  visit  to,  i.  172 

Chesterfield,  8th  Earl  of,  cited  on 
Dramatic  Censorship,  i.  428 

Children,  Mrs.  E.B.L.'s  attitude  to,  and 
views  on  training  of,  i.  209, 
258,  261-2,  278,  321,  329, 

515 

China,  difficulties  with,  see  Arroio  war 
Chinese    Question,     Election    of     1858 

fought  on,  ii.  258 
Cholera  in  London  (1848),  ii.  108 
Chrhtabel,     by     Coleridge,    E.B.L.     on', 

ii.  420 

Christianity,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  410  et  sqq. 
Chronicle,  The,  i.  513 
Chronicles  and  Characters,  by  E.  R.  Lytton, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  411 
Gibber,     Colley,    on    enacting    villains, 

ii.  123 

Cicero,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424,  470 
Civil  List  Fund,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  516  et  sqq. 
Civil     War,    English,    contrasted    with 

the     Reign     of    Terror,    by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  52     • 

Civil  War  in  the  United  States,  ii.  353 
Clanricarde,  ist  Marquis  of,  appointment, 

effects  of,  ii.  261  Sen. 


'Clara,'  in  Money,  i.  553 

Clarendon,  4th  Earl  of,  ii.  359 

Clarke,  Mrs.,  ii.  273 

Classical  education,  value  of,  E.B.L.  on, 

"•  193-5 
Classical  writers,  E.B.L.'s  knowledge  of 

and  admiration  for,  ii.  418  ; 

study  of  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  396, 447  ' 
'  Claude   Melnotte '    in    Lady    of  Lyons, 

i.  555  ;  part  liked  by  actors, 

i-  S3 5 

'  Cleopatra,'  flight  of,  in  Horace's  lyrics, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  363 

Clifford,  Mrs.,  actress,  i.  551 

Clytemnestra,  and  other  Poems,  by  Owen 
Meredith  (E.  R.  Lytton), 
ii.  103  n.  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  384 &». 

Cobbett,  William,  and  Reform,  i.  393 

Cobden,  Richard,  ii.  246  ;  vote  on 
Arrow  debate,  ii.  258  ;  and 
the  Anti-Corn  Law  League, 
ii.  150;  on  the  Arrow 
war,  ii.  255,  258 

Cobdenite  or  Manchester  school  of 
politics,  ii.  159,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  161 

Cockburn,  Alexander,  later  Attorney- 
General  and  Baron,  E.B.L.'s 
Cambridge  friendship  with, 

'•  75.  76,  78,  ii.  197  «•  i,  389 
Coercion    Bills,    Grey's,    i.    452,    481, 

E.B.L.'s    opposition,    i.  426, 

438  5  Peel's  (1846),  ii.  93  n. 
"Coffinmaker,    The,"    story    by    Mrs. 

Norton,  i.  380 
Colburn,  — ,  books  by  E.B.L.  published 

by,  i.  185,  186,  346,  ii.  501 
Coleman,    Benjamin,    letter    to,    from 

E.B.L.,  stating    his    "views, 

succinctly  "  on   Spiritualistic 

manifestations,  ii.  49-50 
Coleridge,      Samuel     Taylor,     ii.     61  ; 

favourite   poet    of    Patmore, 

ii.  61,  and  of  E.B.L.,  ii.  419  ; 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  420-1,  426 
Coliseum,  the,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  442 
Collins,    Wilkie,    in    Many    Sides     to    a 

Character,  ii.  140  n. 

Colonies,  Cobdenite  attitude  to,  ii.  160 
E.B.L.    as     Secretary    of    State    for, 

ii.  261,  269  ;  staff  and  work, 

ii.  280  et  sqq,* 
Columbia     River,    gold    found     along, 

results  of,  ii.  289 


543 


INDEX 


Combermere,  Viscountess,  ii.  449  ; 
E.B.L.'s  letter  to,  on  Spiritual- 
istic phenomena,  ii.  457 

Comedy,  characteristics  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  561-2 

Coming  Race,  The,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  462-4, 
480,  497  ;  letters  on,  from 
E.B.L.  to  Forster,  ii.  464-7  ; 
satire  of,  ii.  475  }  success 
of,  ii.  468-9,  481 

Commerce  and  Education,  relative  value 
of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  512  et  sqq. 

Commune  in  Paris,  ii.  475  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  478  ;  novel  based  on, 
ii.  480  et  sqq. 

Compton,  Mrs.,  in  Many  Sides  to  a 
Character,  ii.  140  n. 

Confessions,  of  Rousseau,  E.B.L.'s  first 
impressions  of,  i.  69 

Confessions  of  a  Water  Patient,  Essays  by 
E.B.L.,  ii.  22 

Congress  of  Vienna,  ii.  210-2,  225, 
232,  241  ;  E.B.L.'s  speech  in 
support  of  his  motion  of 
censure  on  Lord  John  Russell's 
conduct  at,  ii.  229-33 

Congreve,  William,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395 

Coningsby,  by  Disraeli,  ii.  119  n. 

Consciousness,  problem  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  407 

Conservative  party,  consolidation  of 
(1859),  ii.  307,  309;  E.B.L. 
as  member  of,  ii.  178  et  sqq. 

Conservativism,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  309-10 

Conspiracy  to  Murder  Bill,  debate  on, 
ii.  258  ;  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  260-1 

Constitutional  changes,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  452,  472 

Constitutional,  The,  Blanchard's  connec- 
tion with,  ii.  135 

Continental  travels  of  E.B.L.  (1825), 
i.  1 27  et  sqq.,  &  see  later,  passim 

Copenhagen,  E.  R.  Lytton  at,  ii.  357,  359 

Copped  Hall,  purchase  of,  ii.  354,  413, 

4H,  493 

Corfu,  E.B.L.  at,  ii.  339 

Corn  Laws,  and  Repeal,  i.  392,  464  ; 
E.B.L.'s  views  and  speeches|on, 
1.424,  526,  ii.  80,  151,  154, 
1 66,  see  also  Derby,  and  Peel 

Corneille,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  422,  425,  477 

Cornflowers,  title  of  E.B.L.'s  collected 
poems,  ii.  384 

Costello,  Dudley,  in  Many  Sides  to  a  Char- 
acter, ii,  140  n. 


Cosway,  Mrs.,  later  Mrs.  Halliday  (f.v.), 
ii.  472  n.,  letters  to,  from 
E.B.L.,  on  the  reissue  of 
King  Arthur,  ii.  472 ;  on 
Byron,  ii.  473-5 

County  franchise,  qualifications  for, 
in  various  Reform  Bill?, 
ii.  311-2 

Coup  d'Etat,  of  Napoleon  III.,  results  in 
England,  ii.  181  et  sqq. 

Courier,  The,  and  Blanchard,  ii.  135 

Court    Journal,     The,     and     Blanchard, 

»•  135 

Court  Theatre,  Darnley  produced  at, 
ii.  79  «. 

Covent  Garden  monopoly,  opposed  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  427 

Cowley,  Abraham,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  398 

Cowper,  Countess  (later  Viscountess 
Palmerston),  i.  153,  ii.  I3&«. 

Crime  as  subject  for  Fiction,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  385-6,  ii.  85-90,  123 

Crimean  war,  causes,  outbreak,  and 
chief  events  of,  ii.  204  et  sqq., 
debates  on,  E.B.L.'s  share  in, 
ii.  208  et  sqq.,  213  et  sqq., 
248,  effect  of,  on  his  political 
standing,  ii.  242  ;  election 
of  1858  fought  on,  ii.  258 

Criminal  Law  Reform,  stimulated  by 
Paul  Clifford,  i.  362 

Crisis,  The,  see  Letter  to  a  Cabinet 
Minister  on  the  Present  Crisis 

Crockford's,  famous  Club,  i.  551 

Croker,  John  William,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  420 

Cromwell,  Play  by  E.B.L.,  unperformed, 
i.  528-9 

Cullum,  Sir  Thomas,  i.  334 

Cunningham,  Miss,  i.  206  ;  recollections 
of  E.B.L.,  i.  147-9 

Cunningham,  Mrs.,  E.B.L.'s  friendship 
with,  i.  147  et  sqq.  ;  letter 
from,  to  E.B.L.,  i.  151  ; 
letters  to,  from  him,  i.  165  ; 
on  marriage,  i.  149-50,  151-4, 
193-4,  205-6  ;  on  Mrs. 
Wheeler,  i.  163  ;  on  his 
writings,  i.  164,  184,  187; 
on  entering  Parliament,  i.  18 1 

Cunningham,  Peter,  in  Many  Sides  to  a 
Character,  ii.  140  n. 

Curtis,  Dr.,  schoolmaster,  i.  43 

Custozza,  battle  of,  ii.  118 

Cutlass  adventure  of  E.B.L.,  i.  15-22 


544 


INDEX 


'  Cydippe,'  character  and  poem,  in  Lost 
Tales  of  Miletus,  E.B.L.  on, 
"•  363>  364»  365 

D'AGUILAR,  Colonel,  i.  528 
Daily  Telegraph,  and  Lady  Lytton,  ii.  274 
'  Dalibard,'  in  Lucretia,  ii.  93 
Bailing,  Lord,  see  Bulwer,  Henry 
Dandyism,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  13-14 
Dante,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  366,  399 
Dardanelles  question,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  226 
Darnley,  Comedy  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  79&». 
'  Darrell '  in  What  will  he  do  tvith  it  ? 

Forster  on,  ii.  251 
Darwin,  Charles,  quiz  on,  in  The  Coming 

Race,  ii.  465,  468 
David,  King,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  256-7 
Death -penalty,     early     igth     century, 

i.  360-1 

Debates,  The,  on  the  Grand  Remonstrance, 
essays    by    Forster,    E.B.L.'s 
article     on,     correspondence 
concerning,  ii.  327  &  n.  et  sqq. 
de  Blaquiere,  Lady  H.,  i.  518 
Decorations,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  522  et  sqq. 
de  Kock,  Paul,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  394-5 
Delmour,  or  a  Tale  of  a  Sylphid,  and  other 
Poems,  E.B.L.'s  second  book, 
published,  i.  75  n. 

Demagogues,  and  Mob  orators,  ii.  322 
Democracy,   ii.    309,    322 ;   E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  303-4,  308,  314 
Demosthenes,  training  in  recitations  from, 

i.  56 

Dempster,  Mr.,  schoolmaster,  i.  43 
de  Musset,  Alfred,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  428 
'  Denby,'  the  bookseller,  in  Zanoni,  ii.  39 
Depression,     E.B.L.   on,     i.     65,     175, 

ii.  127,  455-6,  457  et  alibi 
Derby,  I4th  Earl  of  (formerly  Lord 
Stanley,  q.-v.),  ii.  370 ;  in 
office  (1852),  ii.  183-6;  on 
the  Corn  Laws,  ii.  183-4; 
office  refused  by,  ii.  236  «.  ; 
office  destined  by,  for  E.B.L., 
ii.  224,  242  ;  and  the 
Crimean  war,  ii.  209,  238  ; 
in  office  (1857)  and  the 
Arroiv  war,  ii.  252  et  sqq., 
304  ;  E.B.L.'s  speech  on  the 
war,  ii.  255-7;  in  office  (1858), 
ii.  261-307  ;  and  the  Ionian 
Islands,  ii.  295  ;  office  given 
by,  to  E.B.L.,  ii.  261  ;  letters 
to,  from  E.B.L.  tendering  his 

VOL.  II 


Derby,  I4th  Earl  of — continued 

resignation,  and  the  reply, 
ii.  295  et  sqq.,  301  ;  Re- 
form Bill  of  1859.,  ii.  302, 
311-2  et  sqq,,  E.B.L.'s 
speech  on,  ii.  302  et  sqq.  ; 
in  office  (1866-7),  and  the 
Household  Suffrage  Bill, 
E.B.L.'s  speeches  on,  ii.  312, 
313  et  sqq, 

E.B.L.'s  line  on,  ii.  70 ;  translation 
by,  of  Homer,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  361  ;  death,  ii.  459 

Dervishes,  and  the  religious  tempera- 
ment, E.B.L.  on,  ii.  456, 
458 

Descartes,  belief  of,  in  animal  souls, 
ii.  405 

Descriptive  Poetry,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  427 

Devereux,  by  E.B.L.,  publication  and 
reception  of,  i.  348,  351-2; 
E.B.L.  on  the  book,  i.  349  ; 
price  paid  for,  i.  350  ;  dedica- 
tion of,  i.  445  &  n. 

Devey,  Miss,  Letters  of  the  Late  Lord 
Lytton  to  his  Wife  published 
by,  i.  169  n.,  326 

Devonshire  House,  E.B.L.'s  comedy, 
Many  Sides  to  a  Character 
first  performed  at,  ii.  I4O&«., 
267 

'  Devonshire  House  Set,'  mode  of  speech 
of,  i.  119 

d'Eyncourt,  Tennyson,  friend  of  E.B.L., 
famous  library  of,  i.  424-5, 
ii.  71 

Diary  of  E.B.L.,  in  1838,  extracts  from, 
ii.  9  et  sqq. 

Dickens,  Charles  (Boz),  i.  448,  ii.  13,  74, 
317,  442;  and  Blanchard, 
ii.  132  ;  friendship  with 
E.B.L.,  ii.  430,  495;  associ- 
ated with  E.B.L.  in  founding 
the  Guild  of  Literature  and 
Art,  ii.  132  et  sqq. ;  E.B.L.  on 
his  writings,  ii.  430,  and  their 
public  reception,  ii.  90,412; 
E.B.L.'s  speech  at  banquet 
to,  ii.  443&«.;  Hunted  Dcnvn 
by,  foundation  of,  ii.  86  &cn. ; 
and  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.  1 3 1  &  n.,  and  tour  of  Many 
Sides  to  a  Character,  ii.  140  &  n. 
et  sqq.;  on  E.B.L.'s  generosity, 
"•  345 
545  2  N 


INDEX 


Dickens  Charles — continued 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on  a  tale  for 
All  the  Tear  Round,  and  the 
replies,  ii.  341-7,  on  Money, 
i.  553-4;  letter  to,  from  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  ii.  267 
Dickens,  Mrs.  Charles,  in  Knebworth 

theatricals,  ii.  131  n. 
Dickens,      Frederick,     in      Knebworth 

theatricals,  ii.  131  «. 
'  Diomed,'  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  \.  446 
Diplomacy    as    a    career,    E.B.L.    on, 

ii.  389-90 
Disestablishment    and     Disendowment, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  455 

Disowned,  The,  by  E.B.L.,  publication 
and  chief  interest  of,  i.  229, 
348-9  ;  price  paid  for,  i.  350  ; 
reception  of,  i.  212 

Disraeli,  Benjamin  (later  Earl  of  Beacons- 
field),  i.  253,  ii.  177  ;  friend- 
ship with  E.B.L.,  ii.  162, 
163,  367-8,  377,  448;  a 
resemblance  between  them, 
i.  492;  success  of,  predicted 
by  E.B.L.  after  failure  of  first 
speech,  ii.  83 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  on  the 
Crimean  war,  ii.  235-7,  on 
their  friendship,  i.  370  ;  on 
the  Letter  to  John  Bull, 
ii.  172-3  ;  on  proposed  letter 
by  E.B.L.  to  The  Times, 
ii.  240-1 ;  to  E.  R.  Lytton,  on 
the  death  of  E.B.L.,  ii.  489  ; 
to  Lady  Blessington  on 
E.B.L.'s  play  of  La  Valliere, 
i.  530-2 

Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.  on  the  affairs 
of  The  Examiner,  i.  447-8  ;  on 
the  Crimean  war,  ii.  234-5, 
237-41  ;  on  his  journey  to 
Ireland,  etc.,  i.  452-5  ;  on  his 
Letter  to  John  Bull,  ii.  163-4, 
172  ;  on  resigning  office, 
ii.  296,  301,  and  the  reply, 
ii.  298-9 ;  on  The  Toung 
Duke,  i.  368-9  ;  from  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  ii.  267 

Literary  works,  contributions  to  Books 

of  Beauty,  Ne-w  Monthly,  etc., 

i.  369,  448,  see  also  Coningsby, 

Vivian  Grey,  Young  Duke 

Political    references ;     absorption 

politics,  ii.  299-300  ;   attack 


Disraeli,  Benjamin — continued 
Political  references — continued 

by,  on  Peel,  ii.  151  ;  as  Chan- 
cellor of  Exchequer  (1852), 
ii.  184,  189,  Budget  Speech, 
ii.  1 8  5,  Gladstone  on,  ii.  185-6, 
E.B.L.  on,  first  speech  in 
new  house,  i.  187-91;  and 
Gladstone,  beginning  of  feud 
between,  ii.  185,  186;  rival 
leadership  of,  ii.  307,  309 ; 
again  Chancellor  (1866-7), 
and  Household  Suffrage 
Bill,  ii.  312-3  ;  and  the 
Crimean  war,  ii.  207-8,  209, 
210;  and  the  Reform  Bill  of 
1859.,  ii.  302  ;  speech  on 
E.B.L.'s  motion  of  censure 
on  Lord  John  Russell,  ii.  234; 
Tory  Democracy  of,  ii.  154, 
163;  on  the  offer  of  the 
Greek  throne  to  Lord  Stanley, 

»•  354-5 

Disraeli,  Isaac,  letter  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  443-4 

Dissenters,  relief  of,  from  Church  rates, 

supported  by  E.B.L.,  i.  426 
Di-ver,  The,  by  Schiller,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  364 
Divina  Commedia,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  327 
Divinition,   E.B.L.'s   investigation   into, 

ii.  44 
Divorce,  unattainable  by  E.B.L.  and  his 

wife,  ii.  265,  503 
Doctor,  The,  by  Southey,  ii.  105 
Dogs,  devotion  to,  of  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  i.  211, 

257-8,  261,  270,  278 
'  Doleful,  Mr.,'  in  Money,  i.  551  Sen. 
Domestic    Economy,    E.B.L.'s    writings 

on,  i.  217 
Legislation,  E.B.L.'s  views  on  (1833), 

i.  436  et  sqq. 
Domesticity,  or  a  Dissertation  upon  Ser-vants, 

Essay  by  E.B.L.,  i.  217 
Don   Quixote,  and   the   poverty  of  Cer- 
vantes, E.B.L.  on,  ii.  517 
D'Orsay,    Count    Alfred,    i.    331,    537 
et  alibi  $  marriage  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  382  ;  reprint  of  Godolphin 
dedicated  to,  i.  450 
Dove,  river,  ii.  427 
Dow,  — ,  i.  529 
Downing    College,    Cambridge,    Henry 

Bulwer  at,  i.  74-5 

Doyle,  Mr.,  uncle  of  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  i.  1 59, 
161 


546 


INDEX 


Doyle,  Mrs.,  i.  161 

Doyle,  Sir  Francis,  i.  292,  309,  310,  314, 

316,    317,    320,   334;  letter 

to,  from  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  ii.  267 
Doyle,  Sir  John,  i.  158,  160,  162,  180, 

212,  314 
Drama,   Greek,   moral    retribution     in, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  433 

Writing  of,  E.B.L.  on,  11.363,  366,412 
Dramas,    by    E.B.L.    (see    Names,    and 

Writings),  chief  incentive  to 

writing,    i.    562  ;     sustained 

success  of,  ii.  501 
Dramatic  Censorship,  i.  432  ;   E.B.L. 's 

attack  on,  i.  428 
Copyright  obtained  by  E.B.L.,  i.  427, 

429,   438  ;    his  remarks   on, 

i.  428 
Dress,  change  in,  attributed  to  influence 

of  Pelham,  i.  348 

Drouyn  de  Lhuys,  Monsieur,  ii.  212 
Drury  Lane  Theatre,  i.  539  ;  monopoly 

of,  opposed  by  E.B.L.,  i.  427 
Dryden,  John,  E.B.L.   on,  ii.  92,  385, 

393,4-19 

Dublin,  "  an  Irish  Naples,"  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  454 

du  Bouchet,  or  Bochet,  Jean  Jacques, 
i.  354». 

Duchesse  de  la  Valliere,  La,  play  by 
E.B.L.,  dedication,  i.  529, 
540  ;  E.B.L.  on,  i.  554  et  sqq. ; 
production,  i.  529,  a  failure, 
i.  530,  ii.  500  ;  Disraeli  on, 
to  Lady  Blessington,  i.  530-1, 
Lady  Blessington  on,  i.  530 

Duelling,  E.B.L.'s  first  experience  of, 
i.  127  et  sqq. 

Dumas,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395,  398, 
429 

Durham,  ist  Earl  of,  i.  448,  484 ; 
ambassador  to  Russia,  i.  501 ; 
banquet  to,  i.  464,  466, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  464  ;  policy  of, 
Mill  on,  i.  512  et  sqq. 
E.B.L.'s  friendship  with  and  support 

of,  i.  367,  427,  452^  463-4  _ 
Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  on  diplomatic 

life,  i.  501-3 

Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.  on  The  Letter 
on  the  Present  Crisis,  i.  488-9  ; 
on  his  second  election  for 
Lincoln,  and  on  his  health, 
i.  490  ;  on  the  Whig-Radical 
party,  i.  496  et  sqq.,  499,  and 


Durham,  ist  Earl  of — continued 
Letters  to,  from  E.B.L. — continued 

his     replies,     i.     498,     501 

et  sqq. 

Duty,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  130-1,  391 
Dying,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  488 

BALING,  E.B.L.'s  studies  at,  i.  51  et  sqq., 
and  love  affair,  i.  59-65  &«., 
83  et  sqq.,  echoes  of,  in  writ- 
ings, i.  153,  ii.  484 

Eardley-Wilmot,  Sir  John,  resolution  of, 
on  Negro  Apprenticeship, 
i.  520-1 

Earned  and  unearned  Incomes,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  191-2 

East  India  Company,  Monopoly  of,  E.B.L. 
on  Committee  on,  i.  426 

Eastern  question,  rise  of,  ii.  186 

Eaux  Bonnes,  E.B.L.  at,  ii.  441 

Eclectic  Review,  The,  favourable  to 
A  Strange  Story,  ii.  349-50 

Edgeworth,  Miss,  on  a  wife's  interest 
in  her  husband's  pursuits, 
i.  298 

Edinburgh,  visit  to,  i.  91  j  E.B.L.  on  its 
charms,  i.  94 

Edinburgh  Re-view,  E.B.L.'s  contribu- 
tions to,  i.  248,  508,  ii.  12; 
his  son's  article  in,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  446-7 

Edinburgh  University,  Associated  So- 
cieties of,  E.B.L.  elected 
Honorary  President  of,  i.  95, 
ii.  193,  address  by  to  Students 
on  Classical  Education, 
ii.  193-5,  and  speech  at 
Banquet,  195-7  &"• 

Editorial  posts  held  by  E.B.L.,  i.  163  «. 
248,  366,  384,  426,  ii.  12,  132 

Education,  E.B.L.  on  : — 
Middle-class,  ii.  249 
National,   ii.   199  et    sqq.,   332,    513 
et  sqq. 

Edward  IV.  the  merchant  king, 
ii.  166-7 

Efficacy,  The,  of  Praise,  Essays  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  94 

Egan,  Pierce,  appreciation  by,  of  Pelham, 
i.  389 

Egg,  Augustus,  A.R.A.,  in  Knebworth 
theatricals,  ii.  131  ».,  in  Many 
Sides  to  a  Character,  ii.  140  n. 

Egypt,  paper  on,  by  Disraeli,  in  New 
Monthly,  i.  369 


547 


INDEX 


Eldon,  ist  Earl  (the  Judge),  on  the 
deterrent  effect  of  the  Death 
Penalty,  i.  362 

Electricity  (see  also  Vril),  E.B.L.'s  use 
of,  in  The  Coming  Race, 
ii.  465-7  ;  magic  in  relation 
to,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  48 

Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard,  by  Gray, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  399 

Elizabethan  poets,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  385 

Ellenborough,  Lord,  ii.  261,  269 

Elliott,  Ebenezer,  Corn  Law  Poet, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  74  ;  letters 
from,  to  E.B.L.,  on  Eugene 
Aram,  i.  387-8  ;  on  Paul 
Clifford,  i.  364,  365 

Elwin,  W.  Whitwell,  Editor  of  Quarterly 
Review,  ii.  334,  335 

Emma,  and  other  novels  by  Jane  Austen, 
E.B.L.'s  remarks  on,  i.  457, 
ii.  86,  425 

Ems,  E.B.L.  on  his  visit  to,  ii.  106  et  sqq. 

Encumbered  Estates  Bill  for  West 
Indian  Colonies,  passed  during 
E.B.L.'s  Secretariat,  ii.  293 

Endymion,  by  Keats,  E.B.L.  on  form  of, 
ii.  427-8 

Engineers,  E.B.L.'s  speech  to,  on 
embarkation  for  British 
Columbia,  ii.  291 

England,  E.B.L.'s  two  minds  on, 
ii.  128,  129 

England  and  the  English,  by  E.B.L., 
i.  89,  248,  379,  399&«.2j 
cited,  on  functions  of  Govern- 
ment, i.  436  et  sqq.  ;  Mill 
on,  i.  385 

English  and  American  Political  Consti- 
tutions, comparison  between, 
E.B.L.'s  'Union'  speech  on, 
i.  77-8 

English  Lakes,  visit  to,  i.  83 

English  Prize  poem,  Gold  Medal  for, 
won  by  E.B.L.,  i.  80,  126  «., 
I55«.,  162;  published  in 
Weeds  and  Wildficfwers,  i.  1 5 3 

Enoch  Arden,  by  Tennyson,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  431 

Epic  poetry,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  366 

Erigena,  on  animal  souls,  ii.  405 

'Erippe,'  in  Lost  Tales  of  Miletus,  ii.  362, 

363 

Ernest  Maltra-vers,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  14  «. ; 
publication  of,  i.  528  ;  special 
interest  of,  ib. ;  E.B.L. >  on, 


Ernest  Maltra-vers — continued 

ii.  9,  498,  500  ;  on  author- 
ship, i.  249 

Essay  on  Man,  by  Pope,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  433 

Essays  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names,  and  under 
Writings,  Prose 

Etonian,  The,  i.  72 

Eugene  Aram,  by  E.B.L.,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  349,  364  5  criticisms  on, 
and  E.B.L.'s  reply,  i.  385-6, 
ii.  85  ;  origin  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  386-7  ;  alteration  in 
later  editions,  i.  389  n.  i  ; 
written  simultaneously  with 
Godolfhin,  ii.  16  «.  ;  drama 
on,  abandoned,  design  for, 
Elliott's  letter  on,  i.  387-8  ; 
Pierce  Egan's  appreciation 
of,  i.  389 

Euripides,  E.B.L.'s  delight  in,  i.  56,  88, 
89  ;  study  of,  advised  by 
him,  ii.  385 

'  Europa,'  story  of,  in  Horace's  Lyrics, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  363 

Eva,  and  other  Poems,  by  E.B.L.,  refer- 
ences to,  in  letters  to  Forster, 
ii.  53  5  Macaulay  on,  ii.  91 

'  Eveline,'  in  The  Rightful  Heir,  ii.  450 

'  Evelyn,'  in  Money,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  551  Sen.,  561 

Evening  dress,  early  igth  century,!.  118 

Every  Man  in  His  Humour,  Comedy  by 
Ben  Jonson,  cast  of,  as  given 
at  Knebworth,  ii.  I3i&«., 
132 

Examiner,  The,  ii.  119,  124,  392,  393  ; 
Blan chard's  connection  with, 
ii.  135  ;  difficulties  of, E.B.L.'s 
interest  in,  i.  447-8  ;  E.B.L.'s 
contributions  to,  i.  248,  and 
difficulties  concerning,  ii.  157 
et  sqq.  ;  Forster's  critique  of 
King  Arthur  in,  ii.  98-9  ; 
politics  of,  i.  513,  ii.  173, 
229  j  reviews  by,  of  The 
Coming  Race,  ii.  468,  and  of 
The  Disowned,  and  De-vereux, 
i.  349 

Excise  Duties  Bill,  E.B.L.'s  speech  on, 
ii.  214 

Expression  in  prose,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 

'  FABER  '  and  his  conversations,  in 
A  Strange  Story,  E.B.L.  on, 
i;-  345»  347,  34-8-9 


548 


INDEX 


Factory  Law  reform,  E.B.L.'s   activity 

on  behalf  of,  i.  426 
Faery     Queen,     by     Spenser,     E.B.L.'s 

pleasure  in,  ii.  418 

Fahey  (Faa),  genuine  gipsy  clan,  i.  103 
Faliero,    Marino,    Byron's    tragedy    on, 
i.  264 

Falkland,  by  E.B.L.,  outline,  i.  8 1  ; 
publication,  i.  185,  ig4&«.j 
biographical  interest  in, 
i.  186  ;  E.B.L.  on,  139,  164, 
186,  187,  to  Mrs.  Cunning- 
ham, ii.  186-7,  to  Miss 
Wheeler,  i.  185,  to  his 
mother,  i.  229  ;  letters  on, 
from  Lady  Blessington,  i.  190, 
from  Mrs.  Bulwer-Lytton, 
i.  187  et  sqq,  ;  promise  of, 
i.  346  ;  reception  of,  i.  187, 
194,  ii.  500 

Falkland,  Viscount,  the  Cromwellian, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  330,  333,  337 

Falls  of  Clyde,  Morton's  leap  over, 
copied  by  E.B.L.,  i.  91-2 

Family  ties,  attitude  to,  of  E.B.L.  and 
of  his  wife,  i.  277-9,  3°° 

Faquirs,  Mohammedan,  and  the  religious 
temperament,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  458 

Farquhar,  George,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395 

Fashions    in    1831,    Mrs.    E.B.L.    on, 

i.  256 

Male,  change  in,  after  appearance  of 
Pelham,  i.  348 

Faubourg  St.  Germain,  E.B.L.'s  ac- 
quaintances in,  i.  134  et  sqq. 

Faucit,  Helen,  actress,  i.  529 

Faust,   by   Goethe,   E.B.L.   on,   ii.   348, 

397,  398 
Fechter,  success  of,  in  The  Lady  of  Lyons, 

ii.  442 
'  Fen  wick,'  in  A  Strange  Story,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  47&».,  345,  346,348,349 
Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor  of  Austria,  ab- 
dication, ii.  118 
Ferdinand  II.,  King  of  Naples,  and  his 

Queen,  i.  271,  ii.  81 
Ferrara,  Tasso's  cell   at,  Byron's   name 

carved  in,  i.  265 

Fielding,  Henry,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395 
First  nights,  Macready  on,  i.  534 
Florence,    Mrs.    E.B.L.'s     impressions 

of,  i.  265 
Fonblanque,  Albany  de,  i.  446,  448,  488, 

ii.  125  ;   wit  of,  ii.   ii  j   on 


Fonblanque,  Albany  de — continued 

E.B.L.'s  speech  on  Slave 
Emancipation,  ii.  12  &  H.I 

Fontainebleau,  revisited,  ii.  84 

Foreign  Enlistment  Bill,  ii.  209 ; 
E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  216 
et  sqq. 

Foreign  Quarterly  Revieiv,  E.B.L.'s  con- 
tributions to,  ii.  51 

Forester,  Lord,  ii.  173 

Forster,  John,  i.  529,  ii.  434,  435,  439  ; 
and  Blanchard,  ii.  132,  136; 
and  the  Examiner  (q.v.}, 

»•  392,  393 
Friendship     with     E.B.L.,     i.     372, 

»•  377,  4955  note  on,  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  372-3  ;  difficulties 
between  them,  causes  and 
adjustment,  ii.  J73-7> 
ii.  324-6 ;  in  Knebworth 
theatricals,  ii.  131  «.,  1755 
in  Many  Sides  to  a  Character, 
ii.  140  n.  ;  part  played  by, 
in  the  Tennyson-E.B.L.  verse 
war,  ii.  73  ;  writings  of, 
i.  372,  reviews  of,  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  104,  327  et  sqq. 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on  Corn 
Laws,  and  differences  with 
E.B.L.,  i.  173  et  sqq.  ;  on 
his  nap  during  reading  of 
Richelieu,  and  the  reply, 
i.  544-5  ;  on  their  long 
friendship  and  E.B.L.'s  letters 
on  the  same,  ii.  325,  326-7  ; 
on  the  re  -  issue  of  King 
Arthur,  ii.  471 

Letter  to,  from  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  ii.  267 
Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.  on  his  adap- 
tation of  (Edipus  Tyrannus, 
ii.  84-5  ;  on  his  anonymity 
in  regard  to  The  New  Timon, 
ii.  73-4 ;  on  his  article  on 
the  Reign  of  Terror,  ii.  51-2  ; 
on  attacks  on  the  morality  of 
his  novels,  ii.  85-9  ;  on  The 
Coming  Race,  ii.  464-7 ;  on 
his  daughter's  death,  ii.  102  ; 
on  his  difficulties  in  reference 
to  changed  politics,  and  on 
writing  for  The  Examiner, 
ii.  157,  173  et  iqq.\  on 
the  French  Revolution  of 
1848,  and  on  King  Arthur, 
ii.  97-9  j  on  Forster's  ill- 


549 


INDEX 


Forster,  John — continued 

Letters  to,  from  E.B.L. — continued 

health,  ii.  460  ;  on  his  health, 
and  his  Crimean  speeches, 
ii.  221  ;  on  Knowles'  play 
The  Hunchback,  i.  372  ;  on 
Italian  travels  (1846), 
ii.  79-80  ;  on  King  Arthur, 
ii.  96-7  ;  on  Leigh  Hunt's 
affairs,  i.  373-4  ;  on  his  loss 
of  the  Lincoln  seat  (1848), 
ii.  156  ;  on  Money,  i.  552-3  ; 
on  political  upheavals  in  1848., 
ii.  97-81,  161-2  ;  on  public 
events  (1849),  ii.  119  et  sqq.; 
on  reluctant  return  to  Eng- 
land (1850),  ii.  129  ;  on  his 
speech  on  crushing  the  power 
of  Russia,  ii.  229  ;  on 
A  Strange  Story,  ii.  344-5  ;  on 
the  supernatural,  ii.  47-9 ; 
on  his  translation  of  the  Odes 
of  Horace,  ii.  246-7 ;  on 
Voltaire  and  on  Vico, 
ii.  421-2;  on  writing 
comedy,  ii.  96  ;  on  Walpole, 
ii.  353,  460-2;  on  water- 
cure  at  Ems,  ii.  106  et  sqq.  ; 
on  Zanoni,  ii.  32-3 

Relations  with  E.  R.  Lytton,  ii.  379, 
and  letter  to  him  on  E.B.L.'s 
death,  ii.  489 

Fortnightly  Review,  on  re-issue  of  King 
Arthur,  ii.  472 

Fox,  Charles  James,  ii.  238  ;  verses  of, 
ii.  425 

Fox,  George,  mental  state  of,  Macaulay 
on,  ii.  278  «. 

France,  autocracy  for,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  480 ; 
history  of,  as  exhibited  in 
E.B.L.'s  three  plays,  his 
own  comments  on,  i.  554 
et  iqq. 

Francis  Joseph,  Emperor  of  Austria, 
accession,  ii.  118 

Francis,  Sir  Philip,  and  Foreign  Enlist- 
ment, ii.  218-9 

Franco-Prussian  war,  and  Commune, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  475  et  sqq. 

'  Frankenstein '  and  his  giant,  ii.  429 

Frankfort,  Peace  of,  ii.  475 

Franks,  i.  256-7  ;  E.B.L.'s,  i.  48  ;  his 
first,  i.  413 

Fraser  River,  gold  found  along,  results 
of,  ii.  288,  289 


Prater's  Magazine,  attitude  of,  to  E.B.L., 

i.  81,  547,  ii.  430 
Free    importation    of    Corn    in    "  dark 

ages,"  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  166 
Free  Trade,  introduction  of,  ii.  150-1  ; 

E.B.L.'s  views  on,  ii.  158 
French  fiction,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  394 
French  and   German  literature,  mutual 

indebtedness,      E.B.L.      on, 

ii.  477 
French  National  Guard,  visit  to  England, 

ii.  in 
French  Republic,  under  Louis  Napoleon, 

ii.  118-9 
French  Revolutions   (1793),  effects    in 

England,  i.  390-2,  394,  395, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  329, 336, 477-8; 

Macaulay's    '  Union  '    speech 

on,   i.   79 ;    (1848),   i.   118 ; 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  97-9 

Fridolin,  by  Schiller,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  364 
Fulham,   associations    of,   with   E.B.L., 

i.  39-41,  212  et  sqq. 

GAIETY  Theatre,  ii.  461 

Gait,  John,    book  by,',  i.  253  ;  fate  of, 

i.  285 
Gambetta,    L£on,    and    the    Commune, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  476 
Gambling,      E.B.L.'s      resolution       on, 

i.  146-7  Sen. 
Game    Laws,  E.B.L.'s    farewell    speech 

at  the '  Union '  on,  i.  80  &  H.I, 

126  n. 
Gardiner,  Lady  Harriet,  marriage  of,  to 

Count  D'Orsay,  i.  382 
Garibaldi,  Giuseppe,  ii.  118,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  119,  126,  127,  332,  333 
Garret,  Dr.,  on  E.B.L.'s  smoking  habits, 

ii.  19 

Garrick,  David,  ii.  146 
Garter,  Order  of  the,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  522-3 
Gascoigne,    General,    and    the    Reform 

Bill,  i.  408 
'  Gaul,   the,'  in   Lost    Tales   of  Miletus, 

ii.  362,  363,  364 
Cell,   Sir   William,   i.    270,  443  ;   Last 

Days  of  Pompeii  dedicated  to, 

i.  447 

Geneva,  Lady  Bulwer  at,  ii.  263 
Genius  and  Art,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  400 
and    the    Poetic    faculty,   E.B.L.    on, 

ii.  424-5 
Genoa,    Duke    of,    visit    to    E.B.L.    at 

Knebworth,  ii.  452-3 


55° 


INDEX 


George  III.,  ii.  218 

George  IV.,  interest  of,  in  The  Disowned, 

i.   212 

German  language,  study  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  386 

German  and  French  literature,  mutual 
indebtedness  of  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  477 

Germany,  insurrections  in  (1848),  results 
of,  ii.  1 1 8  ;  references  to,  in 
Chaucer  and  other  poets, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  419  ;  E.B.L.'s 
travels  in,  ii.  96,  117 

Ghost-seer,  The,  by  Schiller,  ii.  81 

Ghost  stories,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  49 

Gibbon's  History,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  423-4 

Gibson,  John,  sculptor  association  of, 
with  E.B.L.,  i.  441 

Gibson,  T.  Milner,  ii.  225,  246,  260, 
261  ;  resolution  of,  on  Con- 
spiracy to  Murder  Bill,  ii.  259 

Gipsies,  E.B.L.'s  life  with,  i.  101  et  sqq. 

Gipsy  customs,  as  to  Animal  food,  i.  107  ; 
as  to  Marriage  for  a  term, 
i.  109-10 

Gladstone,  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.,  ii.  240  ; 
E.B.L.  on,  in  New  Timon, 
ii.  70  ;  on  his  oratory,  ii.  261 ; 
on  public  view  of,  in  1871., 
ii.  477 

Greek  throne  declined  by,  ii.  354 
Letter  of,  on  E.B.L.'s  death,  ii.  489 
political  references  to  :  at  Colonial 
office  (1841),  ii.  150-15 
change  of  politics  (1852), 
ii.  185  ;  Chancellor  of 
Exchequer  (1852),  ii.  1 86, 
E.B.L.'s  speech  on  his  first 
budget,  ii.  191-2  ;  in  favour 
of  Reform,  ii.  3115  Crimean 
war  budgets  of,  ii.  207,  214, 
E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  225  ; 
desire  for  peace,  ii.  212, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  225  ;  Ionian 
mission  of,  ii.  294  ;  votes  of, 
against  his  party,  on  Arrow 
war,  ii.  258,  and  on  Con- 
spiracy to  Murder  Bill, 
ii.  260;  and  the  Home  Rule 
split,  ii.  155  ;  rivalry  between 
him  and  Disraeli,  ii.  307,  309, 
beginning  of,  ii.  186 

Gladstone,  Viscount  (Herbert),  i.  363  «. 

Glasgow  banquet  to  Lord  Durham, 
i.  466 


Glasgow  University,  E.B.L.  thrice  Lord 
Rector  of,  his  Rectorial  speech 
(1857),  ii.  249 

'  Glaucus  '  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  444 

Gleig,  C.  R.,  book  by,  ii.  92 

Glenarvon,  Lady  Caroline  Lamb's  novel, 
Byron  depicted  in,  i.  120 

Gloucester,  life  at,  of  Mrs.  E.B.L.  during 
first  separation,  i.  273,  289  ; 
fiasco  of  E.B.L.'s  visit, 
i.  304-5  et  sqq. 

Godolphin,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  385,  ii.  446  ; 
dedication,  1834  edition, 
i.  450  ;  writing  and  publica- 
tion, i.  389  &  «.2,  ii.  16  n. 

Godwin,  William,  book  by,  i.  364  ;  in 
favour  of  Reform,  i.  393  ; 
letters  from,  to  E.B.L.,  on 
Paul  Clifford,  \.  364-5  ; 
on  E.B.L.'s  Parliamentary 
candidature  and  election, 
i.  399-401  ;  letters  to,  from 
E.B.L.  on  the  latter  subject, 
i.  398,  402-3 

Goethe,  J.  W.,  E.B.L.'s  preference  for, 
ii.  419  ;  ranked  below  Schiller 
by  him,  ii.  53  ;  study  of, 
advised  by  him,  ii.  396,  397, 
398  ;  quoted,  ii.  130-1,  on 
dissertation  in  narrative, 
ii.  347-8,  on  the  writing  of 
Werther,  i.  1 86 

Gold,  discovery  of,  in  Canada,  ii.  288-90 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  i.  554  j  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  108,  399,  424,  429 

Good-Natured  Man,  The,  play,  by  Gold- 
smith, i.  554 

Gore  House,  Lady  Blessington's  parties 
and  hospitality  at,  i.  381, 
ii.  6,  116 

Gosse,  Edmund,  on  E.B.L.  and  Swin- 
burne, ii.  434 

Government,  functions  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  436  et  sqq. 

Graham,  Sir  James  Robert,  ii.  240 

Grammar,  English  insecurity  in,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  423 

Grand  Commandership  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Michael  and  St.  George 
conferred  on  E.B.L.,  ii.  459 

Grant,  Sir  A.,  eulogy  by,  of  The  Coming 
Race,  ii.  468 

Granville,  2nd  Earl,  at  the  Foreign 
Office,  ii.  182 

'  Graves,  Mr.,'  in  Money,  hint  for,  i.  99 


551 


INDEX 


Gray,  Thomas,  poems  of,  E.B.L.'s  views 

on,  i.  399,  ii.  421 
Great  Rebellion,  the,  Forster  essays  on, 

E.B.L.'s  criticism  on  and  the 

letters  concerning,  ii.  327  &». 

et  sqq. 
Greece,  Grote's  History  of,  i.  528  ;  throne 

of,    offered,    amongst   others, 

to  E.B.L.,  ii.  354,  letter  on, 

to  his  son,  ii.  355 
Greek    Christians,    and    the    Crimean 

war,  ii.  205 
Poets  and  writers,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  193-4, 

385,  433 

Greene,  Mary,  friendship  of,  with  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  i.  158-9  et  sqq. 
passim  ;  influence  of,  i.  259  ; 
as  peacemaker,  i.  272 
Letters  to,  from  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  on 
domesticity,  i.  218  5  on 
kindness  from  E.B.L.'s 
mother,  i.  231  j  on  house- 
hunting in  London,  i.  245-7  ; 
on  domestic  life  at  Hertford 
Street,  etc.,  i.  253  et  sqq.  ;  on 
popular  expectations  from  the 
Reform  Bill,  i.  409-10 ;  in 
praise  of  her  husband, 
i.  214-6 

Memoir  by,  on  her  relations  with 
Mrs.  E.B.L.,  extracts  from, 
i.  159  et  sqq.  ;  on  Falkland, 
i.  187  ;  on  married  life  of 
E.B.L.,  i.  208,  247-9,  3'5  5 
on  their  letters  while  first 
separated,  i.  288-9  ;  entrusted 
with  the  Bulwer  children, 
ii.  262-3,  514;  her  relations 
with  Emily  Bulwer -Lytton, 
ii.  i  oo- 1 
Mrs.  E.B.L.  on,  i.  327-8 

Greenwood,  Frederick,  and  E.B.L., 
ii.  449  &  «. 

Gregory  XVI.,  Pope,  appearance  of,  i.  267 

Greville,  unfinished  novel  by  E.B.L., 
1.348 

Grey,  2nd  Earl,  i.  453  ;  administration 
of,  i.  408  et  sqq.,  452  ;  and 
the  Reform  Bill  of  1832., 
i.  408,  422  ;  and  the  creation 
of  Peers,  i.  423  ;  E.B.L.  on 
his  government,  i.  481-2; 
banquet  to,  at  Edinburgh, 
i.  464  ;  declines  to  form  new 
Ministry  (1835),  i.  492  ;  on 


Grey,  2nd  Earl — continued 

Foreign  Enlistment,  cited  by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  220 
Griffiths,  George,  ii.  86  n. 
Grosvenor  Square,  No.  12,  bought  by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  354,  447  &n. 
Grote,  George,  i.  497  ;  book  by,  i.  528 
Grotius,  and  Vico,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  422 
Guardian,    The,    on    A    Strange    Story, 

ii.  350 
'  Guenevere,'  in   E.B.L.'s  King  Arthur, 

ii.  472 
Guernsey,  early  home  of  Mrs.  E.B.L., 

i.  158 
Guild  of  Literature  and  Art,  founded  by 

E.B.L.  and   Dickens,  ii.   69, 

132,  139  et  sqq.,  267  ;  Bill  for, 

and  fate  of,  ii.   144  et  sqq.  5 

Macaulay  on,  ii.  145 
Guizot,  F.  P.  G.,  fall  of,  ii.  98,  118 
Guz/a,  "Illyrian"  verses,  by  Me>im6e, 

his     letter     on,    to     E.B.L., 

i.  45o&«.,  451 

HACKNEY,  E.B.L.'s  school  escapade  at, 
i.  48-50  Sen. 

Hades,  vision  of,  in  Horace's  Lyrics, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  363 

Hague,  The,  E.  R.  Lytton  at,  ii.  279 

Haig,  Dr.,  dietary  teaching  of,  ii.  29 

Hale,  Henry,  in  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.  131  n. 

Hall,  Robert,  ii.  458 

Hall,  S.  C.,  i.  380  ;  on  E.B.L.,  appear- 
ance, i.  i63&».,  character, 
ii.  494-5  ;  as  Editor  and  con- 
tributor to  Neiv  Monthly 
Magazine,  i.  366-7  ;  on 
Rosina  Wheeler  in  1826., 
i.  163  «. 

Hall,  Mrs.  S.  C.,  letter  to,  from 
E.B.L.,  on  his  mother's  death, 
ii.  21-2 

Halliday,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Cosway,  q.v.), 
letters  to,  from  E.B.L.,  on 
Coleridge,  and  Gray,  ii.  421 ; 
on  his  views  on  Jane  Austen, 
Keats,  Shelley,  etc.,  ii.  425-6  ; 
on  Kenelm  Chillingly,  ii.  481; 
on  Michael  Angelo,  ii.  424-5  ; 
on  Tennyson's  poems, 
ii.  430-1  ;  E.B.L.'s  last 
dinner  with,  ii.  486 

Hampden,  John,  our  debt  to,  Forster  on, 
ii.  331 


55' 


INDEX 


Hanover,  and  the  revolution  of  1848., 
ii.  uS 

Hare,  Sir  John,  Darnley  produced  by, 
ii.  79  n. 

Harold,  by  E.B.L.,  written  at  Bayon's 
Manor,  i.  425  5  publication 
of,  ii.  30,  104 ;  speed  at 
which  written,  ii.  16,  99 

Harrogate,  visited,  ii.  192 

Harry  Lorrequer,  by  Lever,   E.B.L.  on, 

"•  395 
Hartington,  Marquis  (later  8th  Duke  of 

Devonshire),  ii.  304 
Hawkins,       Henry,      in       Knebworth 

theatricals,  ii.  131  n. 
Haymarket    Theatre,   Money    produced 

at,  i-  553 
Heath,  Charles,  of  Books  of  Beauty  (q.-v.), 

fame,  ii.  115  &H.I 
Hector    and    Andromache,    E.B.L.    on, 

ii.  386 
Hegel,  E.B.L.  on,  and  study  of,  ii.  353, 

427 

Helen  of  Troy,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  386 
Hemans,  Mrs.,  poetess,  contributions  by, 

to    Books   of  Beauty,  i.    448  ; 

letter    from,    to    E.B.L.,    on 

The    Last    Days    of   Pompeii, 

i.  444-5 
Henri    V.,    de  jure    King    of    France, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  479  Sen. 
Henrietta  Temple,  by  Disraeli,  i.  531 
Heroes  and  Heroines  of  E.B.L.'s  novels, 

ii.  498-9 
Heron,  Sir  Robert,  Bill  of,  concerning 

re-election    of    Ministers    on 

taking    office,    E.B.L.'s    sug- 
gestion on,  i.  451 
Hertford,  4th    Marquis   of,  i.    332  ;    as 

dancer,  i.  118 
Hertford  election  (1858),  esclandre   at, 

by   Lady  Lytton,  ii.  269-70, 

274 
Hertford  Street,  No.  36,  London  home 

of    E.B.L.     and     his     wife, 

i.  247,  252 
Hertfordshire,   E.B.L.    as    member    for, 

ii.  178  et  sqq.,  186  et  sqq. 
Hertfordshire  Gazette,  and  Lady  Lytton, 

ii.  274 

Hesiod,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  385 
Heydon  Hall,  i.  3,  7  j  Eugene  Aram's 

association  with,  i.  386 
High  spirits  in  narrative  writing,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  394 


Highlands,  visit  to,  i.  95 

Hildyard,  Robert,  i.  76 

Hill,  Dr.  Gardiner,  in  charge  of  Lady 
Lytton,  ii.  274,  277 

Hill,  Lord  George,  ii.  523 

History  of  Athens,  unfinished,  by  E.B.L., 
i.  248 

History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  by  Edward 
Gibbon,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  423-4 

History  of  England,  by  Rapin,  E.B.L.'s 
studies  in,  i.  73 

History  of  Greece,  by  Grote,  i.  528 

History  of  Logic,  by  J.  S.  Mill,  ii.  520 

History    of  the    Thirty    Tears'  Peace,    by 
Harriet  Martineau,  i.  467  n. 

Hogarth,  Miss,  in  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.  131  n. 

Holland,  Lady,  ii.  91,  manner,  ii.  13 

Holland,  3rd  Lord,  i.  469 

Holland,  Queen  of  (Sophia),  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  470-1 

Holland,  and  William  of  Orange,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  229 

Holland  House,  society  at,  i.  82,  ii.  13 

Holy  Places,  guardianship  of,  and  the 
Crimean  war,  ii.  205 

Holyoake,  George  Jacob,  on  E.B.L.'s 
speech  on  abolition  of  News- 
paper Stamp  duty  (1885), 
ii.  244  et  sqq. 

Home,  Sir  William  (ex-Solicitor-General, 
1832),  i.  417 

Home  Rule  for  Ireland,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  455  ;  Liberal  split  on, 
ii.  155 

Homer  (Pope's),  E.B.L.'s  childish  delight 
in,  i.  23  ;  later  love  for, 
ii.  419  ;  E.B.L.  on  high  spirits 
of,  ii.  394,  popular  element 
in,  ii.  193,  385-6,  399  ;  study 
of,  advised  by  him,  ii.  429 
Translation  of,  by  the  Earl  of  Derby, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  360 

Homeric  Hymns,  rhymed  translation  of, 
by  Shelley,  ii.  366 

Homme,  L',  qui  rit,  by  Hugo,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  429 

Hood,  Thomas,  E.B.L.'s  correspondence 
with,  and  on  behalf  of, 
ii.  62-9 

Letters  from,  to  Ward,  ii.  62,  63-6  5 
to  E.B.L.,  ii.  66-8 

Hood's  Magazine,  ii.  66  ;  E.B.L.'s  con- 
tributions to,  ii.  62 


553 


Hooker,     Dr.,     E.B.L.'s    schoolmaster, 

i.  44 ;  letters  from,  on  E.B.L., 

i.  45&». 
Horace,    poems    of,   i.  56  j    E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  361,  363-4,396,399,423, 

428 
Odes  and  Epodes  of,  E.B.L.'s  translation 

of,  ii.  246-8,  418,  440,  444, 

4Si. 

Home,  R.  H.,  in  Many  Sides  to  a  Char- 
acter, ii.  140  n. 

Horoscope,  in  verse,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  149 
Houghton,  Lord  (see  also  Milnes),  ii.  436 
House-hunting,     Essay     on,     by    E.B.L., 

i.  217 
House  of  Lords,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  453  ;  his 

silence   there,    ii.    371  ;    and 

Reform    Bills    of    1831    and 

1832.,  i.  422-3 
Household    Gods,    The,    Play    by    E.B.L. 

originally       called       Brutus, 

ii.  96  Sen. 

Household  Suffrage,  Bill  for,  ii.  312-3 
Houses  of  Parliament  burnt  down,  i.  46 1  -2 
Hudson   Bay  Company,  and  Vancouver 

Island,  ii.  288-9,  293 
Hugo,  Victor,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  557,  ii.  422, 

428,  429 

Humanity,  Spirit  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  199 
Hume,  the  medium,  ii.  48 
Hume,    the    philosopher,     E.B.L.    on, 

ii.  346 
Hume,  Joseph,  M.P.,  anecdote  of,  i.  462  ; 

Stamp   tax  repeal  speech  of, 

i.      505-6  ;      and     theatrical 

monopoly,  i.  433 
Humphrey  Clinker,  by   Smollett,   E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  395 
Hunchback,   The,  by  Sheridan    Knowles, 

»•  372 

Hungarian  Rebellion,  and  Kossuth, 
ii.  118,  119 

Hunt,  Leigh,  ii.  61  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  377-8  ;  pecuniary  troubles 
of,  E.B.L.'s  joint  efforts  with 
Forster  to  relieve,  i.  373  j 
letters  on,  and  from,  i.  374-8  j 
Life  of  Byron  by,  i.  206 

Hunted  Down,  by  Dickens,  foundation 
of,  ii.  86  «. 

Hyde,  Edward,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  331,  333 

Hyperion,  by  Keats,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  426 


"IDEAL,    THE,"    by    Schiller,    E.B.L.'s 
translation  of,  ii.  57 


Illustrated  Times,  The,  ii.  302 
Imagination,    E.B.L.'s    gift    of,   himself 

on,  ii.  496-7 

Immortality,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  401,  402 
Inchbald,    Mrs.,   farce    by,    cast    of,    as 
.  given  at  Knebworth,  ii.  131  «. 

Income  Tax,  E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  191-2 
Indicator,  The,  Leigh  Hunt  on,  i.  376 
Infant    Custody   Bill,   E.B.L.'s    attitude 

to,  and  its  supporters,  i.  514, 

5t$crjff. 

Inhabited     House     duty,    increase     of, 

ii.  185  j  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  187 
Inkermann,  battle  of,  ii.  208 
Inner  Life  of  the  House  of  Commons,   by 

William     White,     cited     on 

E.B.L.,  ii.  282,  302  &«. 
International  copyright,  E.B.L.'s  pioneer 

work  as  affecting,  i.  429 
Inverness  Lodge,  Brentford,  Lady  Lytton 

under  restraint  at,  ii.  272-3, 

275,  277 

'  lone,'  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  445 
lone,     opera     by      Petrella,     inspiration 

of,  i.  441 
Ionian  Islands,  Gladstone's  mission  to, 

ii.    294  j    E.B.L.'s    visit    to, 

»•  339 
Ireland,  E.B.L.  on  his  visit  to  (1834), 

1.452  etsaq. 

Famine  in  ( 1 846-7),  ii.  9 3  &  n.,  ii.  1 50, 
and  the  Reform  Bill  (of  1832), 
i.  408-9,  410-11 

People    of,  characteristics,  and   state, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  454,  455,  456, 
460,  462-3 
Scenery  of,  E.B.L.   on,   i.  454,  456, 

461 
Irish    Church,    conflict    on,    inevitable, 

E.B.L.  on,  i.  476 
Irish    Church  Bill,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  449, 

453;4 
Irish  Obstruction,  forecast  of,  by  Sheil, 

i.  425-6 

Irishwomen,  Lady  Blessington  on,  ii.  4 
Irving,  Washington,  i.   253  j  contribu- 
tions by,  to  Books  of  Beauty, 

etc.,  i.  448 
Ismael,    an    Oriental    Tale,    by    E.B.L., 

published  with  other  verses, 

i.  56  Sen. I 
Italian  verse,  debt  to,  of  English  poets, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  386 
Italy  and  Austria,  ii.  1185    E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  78,  1 20- 1 


554 


INDEX 


Italy'and  Austria — continued 

Disagreeables  of  travel  in,  Mrs.  E.B.L. 

on,  i.  263  et  sqq. 

Tour  in,  of  E.B.L.  and  his  wife, 
events  of,  novels  due  to,  and 
its  unfortunate  end,  i.  260-7, 
271  etsqq.,  274,  338,  389, 

439  et  m- 

I-vanhoe,  by  Scott,  ii.  507 
Ixion    in    Heaven,    by    Disraeli,    i.    327, 

369  5  E.B.L.  on  ("Elysium"), 

J-455 

'JAMES  WEATHERCOCK,'  pen-name  of 
Wainewright,  ii.  86  n. 

Jennet,  E.B.L.'s  favourite,  i.  117,  139 

Jennings,  Hargrave,  book  by,  E.B.L.'s 
letter  on,  ii.  41,  42 

Jerrold,  Douglas,  ii.  74  ;  and  Blanchard, 
ii.  132  ;  in  Knebworth  theat- 
ricals, ii.  131  «.,  140  n. 

Jewish  disabilities,  removal  of,  supported 
by  E.B.L.,  i.  427 

John  Bull,  Letters  to,  Pamphlet,  by  E.B.L., 
letters  on,  from  E.B.L.  to 
Disraeli,  ii.  163,  172  ;  con- 
tents, ii.  164  et  sqq.,  4945 
Disraeli's  letter  to  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  172-3  ;  Macaulay's 
letter  on,  ii.  145  et  sqq. 

Johnson,  Dr.,  ii.  80  ;   E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 

Jones,  Sir  William,  i.  33 

Jonson,  Ben,  ii.  422  ;  play  by,  given  at 
Knebwortn,  ii.  131  &  «.,  132 

Journalistic  writings  of  E.B.L.,  i.  366-7 

Jowett,  Professor  Benjamin,  funeral 
sermon  by,  on  E.B.L.,  ii.  491 

'Julia,'  in  The  Hunchback,  i.  372 

'Julia,'  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  446 

Junius,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 

KARS,  capitulation  of,  ii.  213  ;  E.B.L.'s 

speech  on,  ii.  248 

Kean,  Charles,  in  Othello,  E.B.L.  on,ii.  12 
Keats,  John,  E.B.L.  on  his  style,  ii.  385, 
425, 428,  and  on  his  influence 
on  later  poets,  ii.  426 
Keepsakes,  etc.,  see  Books  of  Beauty 
Kemble,  Fanny,  diary  of,  i.  327 
Kenelm  Chillingly,  by  E.B.L.,  character- 
istics of,  ii.  104;  written  simul- 
taneously with  The  Parisians, 
ii.    16  «.,  posthumously  pub- 
lished,   ii.    480,    481,    482, 
484  ;  huge  sales,  ii.  500 


Kennedy,  Benjamin  Hall,  at  the 
'  Union,'  i.  79 

Kent,  Duke  of,  i.  61 

Kilsalaghan,  Irish  home  of  the  Doyles, 
i.  161 

'  King  Arthur,'  in  Tennyson's  poems, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  431 

King  Arthur,  Poem  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  30  ; 
letters  on,  from  him  to  Lady 
Blessington,  ii.  114-55  to 
Forster,  ii.  96-9,  108  ;  re- 
vision and  re-issue,  letters 
on,  from  E.B.L.  to  Forster, 
ii.  469  et  sqq.  j  preface  to, 
difficulties  in,  ii.  471-2  ;  re- 
ception of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  472 

Kinglake,  A.  W.,  ii.  449 

Kinsela,  Abb6,  and  E.B.L.,  i.  135  et  sqq., 

145,  IS* 

Kitchen,  The,  and  the  Parlour,  or  Household 
Politics,  Essay  by  E.B.L.,  i.217 

Knebworth,  i.  3,  7,  165,  288;  partial 
demolition  of,  i.  38  ;  left  to 
E.B.L.  on  his  mother's  death, 
i.  244 ;  his  alterations  at, 
ii.  248  5  costliness  of,  ii.  359, 
369  ;  E.B.L.'s  affection  for, 
ii.  376-7,  and  life  at,  ii.  130-1, 
440,  449,  454,  459,  481  ; 
reliques  of  Lady  Blessington 
at,  ii.  117  ;  Swinburne's  visit 

tp,  ii.  434, 43  5.437-9  j  theat- 
rical performance  at  (1850), 
ii.  I3i&«.,  object  of,  132} 
works  at,  by  Gibson,  i.  441 

Knebworth  edition  of  E.B.L.'s  works, 
original  text  of  Student  in, 
ii.  444  n. 

Knight,  Charles,  in  Knebworth  theat- 
ricals, ii.  140  n. 

Knighthood,  order  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  322 

Knightley,  Sir  Charles,  ii.  173 

Knowledge,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  435,  ii.  198 

Knowles,  Sheridan,  relations  with 
E.B.L.,  i.  371-2 

Kossuth,  Louis,  ii.  124 

Kotzebue,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  431 

Kreuznach,  visit  to,  ii.  119 

KUnstler,  Die,  by  Schiller,  H.  Martineau 
on,  ii.  37 

LABOUCHERE,    Henry,    and    the    Arrow 

war,  ii.  255 
La  Croix,  Consul,  ii.  125 


555 


INDEX 


'  Lady  Mary,'  hypothetical  bride  of 
E.B.L.,  i.  151-2,  194 

Lady  of  Lyons,  The,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  532; 
dedication  of,  i.  53672.5 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  554,  ii.  450  ; 
E.B.L.'s  refusal  to  be  paid 
for,  i.  539  et  sqq.  ;  letter  on, 
from  Mrs.  Shelley,  i.  538  ; 
success  of,  i.  534,  ii.  105,  442  ; 
speed  at  which  written,  ii.  16 

La  Fontaine,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  477 

Laissez  faire,  doctrine  of,  ii.  160 

Lamartine,  A.  de,  admired  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  333,  428 

Lamb,  Charles,  Essay  on,  by  E.B.L.,i.  377 
V.'    Lamb,  Lady  Caroline,  i.  153  ;  E.B.L.'s 
**\  friendship  with,  i.  118  et  sqq.; 

eccentricities  and  musical 
gifts  of,  i.  119,  1 20  ;  friend- 
ship of,  with  Miss  Wheeler, 
i.  162,  163 ».,  176}  letter 
from,  to  E.B.L.,  i. ''164-5; 
writings  of,  Ada  Reis,  i.  165, 
and  Glenarvon,  i.  120 

Lamb,  William,  M.P.,  and  theatrical 
monopoly,  i.  433 

Lamington,  istLord,  see  Baillie-Cochrane 

'  Lancelot,'  in  Tennyson's  poem,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  431 

v  Landon,  Letitia  Elizabeth  (L.E.L.), 
friend  of  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  i.  211, 
and  of  E.B.L.,  i.  383,  ii.  ii  ; 
poems  of,  i.  384,  448  ;  death 
of,  i.  384,  E.B.L.  on,  f.  543-4 

Landon,  Mr.,  dog  given  by,  to  Mrs; 
E.B.L.,  i.  211 

Land-prices,  in  Ireland  (1834),  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  456 

La  Place,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  346,  347 

'Lara'  and  'Kaled,'  loves  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  367 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  by  E.B.L.,  dedi- 
cation of,  i.  447  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  349,  364,  460,  to 
Disraeli,  i.  454-5  ;  gay  tone, 
and  lively  style,  i.  443,  ii.  104; 
Italian  translations,  i.  445  ; 
Mrs.  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  290 ; 
origin  and  sources,  i.  262, 
440,  442,  443  ;  reception  of, 
and  letters  on,  from  Auldjo, 
Lady  Blessington,  Isaac 
Disraeli,  and  Mrs.  Hemans, 
i.  443  et  sqq. ;  cited  on  lessons 
of  Adversity,  ii.  95-6 


Last  of  the  Barons,  by  E.B.L.,  a  character 
in,  ii.  490 ;  publication  of, 
ii.  30,  77  j  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  53-4,  Miss  Martineau  on, 

»•  55 

Laurie  Todd,  by  Gait,  i.  253 
'  Lauzun,'   in    La    Valliere,    E.B.L.    on, 

»•  559 

La  Vendee,  heroine  of,  i.  135 
Lavinia,   novel,   by   George   Sand,  used 

in  Lucile,  a  poem,  by  E.  R. 

Lytton,  ii.  392 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  i.  254  n. 
Lay,   The,  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  420 

Leben  Jesu,  by  Strauss,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  411 
le  Brun,  Charles,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  477 
le    Brun,    Pigault,    E.B.L.    on,   ii.  353, 

394 

Leech,  John,  in  Knebworth  theat- 
ricals, ii.  131  n. 

Leeds,  E.B.L.'s  speech  at  Mechanics' 
Institute,  on  Knowledge, 
Humanity,  Education,  ii.  198 
et  sqq. 

Legion  of  Honour,  why  founded,  ii.  525 

Leigh,  Mrs.,  i.  266,  271  j  and  Byron, 
calumnies  concerning,  i.  121 

Lemon,  Mark,  in  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.  131  n.,  and  in  Many  Sides 
to  a  Character,  ii.  140  n. 

Lending,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  388-9 

Leominster,  E.B.L.'s  unsuccessful  candi- 
dature for,  ii.  111-3 

Le  Sage,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  125 

Letters  to  a  Cabinet  Minister  on  the  Present 
Crisis,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  473 
et  sqq.,  ii.  501  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  488-9 ;  letters  on,  from 
Melbourne,  i.  487-8,  from 
Mulgrave,  i.  485-6  ;  sale  of, 

i.  473»474-&»-i,  489 
Letter  to  Delme  Raddiffe,  Esq.,  by  E.B.L., 
proposed    publication    of,    in 
Times,  ii.  239&«.,  240-1 
Letters  of  the  Late   Lord  Lytton    to   his 
Wife,     published      by     Miss 
Devey,  cited,  i.  169  n. 
Letters  to  John  Bull,  Pamphlet  by  E.B.L., 
contents,  ii.  164  et  sqq.,  494  ; 
letters    on,    from    E.B.L.    to 
Disraeli,  ii.  163,  172;   letter 
on,  from  Disraeli  to  E.B.L., 
ii.    173-4 ;    letter    on,   from 
Macaulay,  ii.  145-7 


556 


INDEX 


Letters  to  Lord  John  Russell,  by  E.B.L., 
on  various  topics,  ii.  152 
et  sqq.,  507  et  sqq. 

Letters  from  the  Mountains,  by  Mrs. 
Grant,  i.  218 

Lever,  Charles,  writings  of,  E.B.L.  on, 

»•  394-5 

Levitation,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  48 
Lewes,  George  Henry,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  438 
Lewis,   Sir  George   Cornewall   and    the 
abolition   of  the   Newspaper 

Stamp   Duties,  ii.  243,  244, 

245 

Liaisons,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  387-8 
Liberal  party,  consolidation   of  (1859), 
ii.    307,    309  ;    division     in, 

Brougham      on,     i.     465-6  ; 

E.B.L.    associated    with,    on 

entering  Parliament,  i.  367 
Liberal-Unionist  fusion,  result  of,  ii.  155 
Liberty  of  the  Press,  Macaulay's  'Union' 

speech  on,  i.  79 

Life,  as  a  game,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  129 
Life  in  London,  by  Pierce  Egan,  i.  389 
Life  of  Byron,  by  Leigh  Hunt,  i.  206 
Life    of   Lord   Ed-ward   Fitzgerald,    by 

T.  Moore,  i.  255 
Life  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  485-6 
Life,    Letters,    and    Literary    Remains    of 

Ediuard  Bultver,  Lord  Lytton, 

out  of  print,  i.  4 
Life  of  Montalembert,  by  Mrs.  Oliphant, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  485 
Life  of  Oliver  Goldsmith,  by  John  Forster, 

i.   372  j  reviewed   by  E.B.L., 

ii.  104 
Life  of  Mrs.  Norton,  by  Miss  Perkins, 

i.  517 
Life  of  Rosina,   Lady   Lytton,   edited    by 

Miss    Devey,  extracts    from, 

i.  326  et  sqq. 
Life    of    Warren    Hastings,    by    Gleig, 

ii.  92 
"Lilian,"  poem  by  Coventry  Patmore, 

ii.  6 1 
'Lilian,'  in  A  Strange  Story,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  346,  348 
'  Lily,'  in    Kenelm    Chillingly,  prototype 

of,  ii.  484 

Lincoln,    E.B.L. 's    parliamentary     con- 
nection with,  i.  424,  489-90, 

526,  ii.  96,  150,  156 
'Lionel'  in  What  -will  he  do  ivith  it? 

ii.  251 


'  Lismahago,'  in  Humphrey  Clinker,  ii.  395 

Literary  men,  E.B.L.'s  kindness  to, 
ii.  62-9,  74 

Literary  Gazette,  E.B.L.'s  contributions 
to,  i.  248  ;  praise  by,  of 
Zanoni,  ii.  34 

Literature,  connecting  of,  with  a  man's 
profession,  E.  B.L.  on,  ii.  387  ; 
E.B.L.'s  chief  support,  i.  494, 
his  fame  derived  from,  i.  495, 
summary  of  his  status  in, 
ii.  496  et  sqq.  j  legislation  on 
behalf  of,  supported  by  E.B.L., 
i.  427 

"Little  Boots,"  E.B.L.'s  name  for  his 
eldest  child,  i.  210 

"Little  Ella,"  by  "Owen  Meredith," 
lines  from,  on  death  of  his 
sister,  ii.  103  &«. 

Li-ves  of  the  Philosophers,  by  Diogenes 
Laertius,  i.  37-8 

Li-ves  of  the  Poets,  by  Johnson,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  423 

Living,  cost  of  (1861),  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  409 

Lizzard  Connel,  paternal  home  of  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  i.  158 

Local  colour,  Merim6e  on,  i.  451 

Lockhart,  J.  G.,  i.  212,  ii.  449 

London,  cholera  in,  ii.  108  ;  return  to 
of  E.B.L.  (1826),  first  meet- 
ing with  future  wife,  i.  154, 
i55&«.; 

London  Magazine,  The,  Wainewright's 
articles  in,  ii.  86  n. 

London  and  Westminster  Re-view,  Mill's 
connection  with,  and  writings 
on,  i.  507,  508,  510 

Londonderry,  3rd  Marquis  of,  i.  500-1 

Long  Journeys  -with  Short  Purses,  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  217 

Lost  Tales,  The,  of  Miletus,  Poems,  by 
E.B.L.,  his  letters  on,  to  his 
son,  ii.  361-75  gift  of,  to 
Swinburne,  ii.  431-2 

Louis  XIV.,  i.  148  5  E.B.L.  on,  i.  555 
et  sqq.,  ii.  228-9 

'  Louis  XIV.,'  in  La  Valliere,  E.B.L.  on, 

'•559 
Louis     XVI.,    concessions     made     by, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  329  $  execution 

of,  i.  420  n.  i 
Louis    XVIII.,    Charter    of,    i.    395  ; 

restoration  of,  i.  147 
Louis    Napoleon    (Napoleon   III.   q.-v.}, 

President  of  the  French  Re- 


557 


INDEX 


Louis  Napoleon — continued 

public,  ii.   113,  1 1 8-9  j    Coup 
d'Etat  of,  ii.  181 

Louis  Philippe,  fall  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  97-9,  1 18,  329 

Love,  in  Drama,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  367 

Lucile,  poem  by  E.  R.  Lytton  (as  Owen 
Meredith),  charge  of  plagiar- 
ism concerning,  E.B.L.'s  letter 
thereon,  ii.  392-4 

Lucretia,  or  the  Children  of  the  Night, 
novel,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  83,  84, 
86  «. ;  written  at  the  same 
time  as  The  Caxtons,  ii.  i6«., 
104 ;  publication,  and  re- 
ception of,  ii.  85  j  Macaulay 
on,  ii.  92-3 

'  Lucretia  Clavering,'  in  Lucretia,  basis 
of,  ii.  86  «. 

'  Lucy  Ashton  '  and  '  Ravenswood,'  loves 
of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  367 

Lushington,  Sir  Godfrey,  on  effects  of 
Prison  Life,  i.  363  &  n. 

Luther,  poem  by  Montgomery,  ii.  92 

Lyndhurst,  Lord,  i.  531 ;  and  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832.,  i.  422,  423  ; 
letter  to,  from  Mrs.  E.B.L., 
ii.  267 

Lyons,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  83 

Lyric  Offerings,  by  Blanchard,  E.B.L.'s 
review  of,  ii.  135,  138 

Lytton,  Countess  of,  see  Bulwer-Lytton, 
Mrs.  Edward  Robert 

Lytton,  Elizabeth  Barbara  Warburton, 
see  Bulwer,  Mrs.  W.  E. 

Lytton,  1st  Baron,  see  Bulwer,  afterwards 
Bulwer  -  Lytton,  Edward 
George  Earle  Lytton,  subject 
of  this  Biography 

Lytton,  ist  Earl  of,  see  Bulwer-Lytton, 
Edward  Robert 

Lytton,  Lady,  wife  of  E.B.L.,  see  Bulwer, 
Mrs.  Edward,  and  Wheeler, 
Rosina 

Lytton,  Mr.,  grandfather  of  E.B.L., 
character,  i.  30,  31  Sen.,  32-3  ; 
E.B.L.'s  recollections  of,  i.  12 
et  sqq.  ;  library  of,  i.  12,  13, 
33-7,  68  ;  relations  with 
his  daughter,  i.  12  ;  death, 
i.  30 

Lytton,  Mrs.,   grandmother  of  E.B.L., 

i.  5.  7»  I2'  30 

Lytton,  surname  of,  assumed  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  263 


MACCARTHY,  Justin,  ii.  282  n.  ;  on 
E.B.L.  as  orator,  ii.  501-2 

Macaulay,  Thomas  Babington  (ist 
Baron),  ii.  249,  314,  387, 
E.B.L.  on  his  appearance, 
i.  420,  conversation,  i.  79, 
and  style,  ii.  243 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  on  his  com- 
plaints of  the  reception  of 
his  writings,  ii.  915  on 
E.B.L.'s  Edinburgh  speeches, 
ii.  198  ;  on  the  Guild  of 
Literature  and  Art,  ii.  145-7  5 
on  his  Letters  to  John  Bull, 
and  on  Many  Sides  to  a 
Character,  ii.  145-7  ;  in 
praise  of  Night  and  Morning, 

».  31 

Literary  style  of,  Arnold  on,  ii.  446, 
Mill  on,  i.  508,  E.B.L.  on, 
423  ;  mistake  found  by,  in 
The  Caxtons,  ii.  122  ;  and 
Negro  Apprenticeship,  i.  521 ; 
'Union,'  speeches  of,  i.  79 

Mackintosh,  Sir  James,  Vindicite 
Gallicte  by,  i.  4i9-2o&«.i 

McLean,  — ,  Governor  of  the  Gold 
Coast,  husband  of  "  L.E.L.," 
i.  384,  ii.  ii 

McMahon,  Marshal,  ii.  476 

Macready,  William  Charles,  famous 
actor,  i.  429,  ii.  79,  122, 
friendship  with  E.B.L.,  plays 
invited  from,  and  written  for 
him  by  the  latter,  i.  528 
et  sqq.,  562  et  sqq.,  ii.  96  ;  as 
'  Bragelone,'  E.B.L.  on,  i.  559 
Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  on  The  Lady 
of  Lyons,  i.  532  et  sqq.  ;  on 
Many  Sides  to  a  Character, 
ii.  139-40  ;  on  Money,  i.  550  j 
on  the  Sea  Captain,  i.  546,  549 
Melancholy  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  33  j 
'  CEdipus '  as  a  character  for, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  84 ;  parts 
preferred  by,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  123  ;  on  La  Valliere's  first 
night, i.  529-30;  on  Richelieu, 

'•  542,  543,  545 

'  Maga,'  see  Black-wood's  Magazine 
Magazine-writing,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  386,  387 
Magic,  E.B.L.  on  his  belief  in,  ii.  48 
Maginn,  Dr.,  of  Frazer's  Magazine,  and 

E.B.L.,  i.  8 1 
Mahon,  Viscount,  i.  374,  ii.  523 


558 


INDEX 


Malade  Imaginaire,  by  Moliere,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395 

Malt  duties,  proposed  reduction  of 
(1852),  ii.  185,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  187;  increase  of  (1854) 
opposed  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  214 

Malvern,  Water-cure  at,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  25  et  sqq.,  96,  and  resort 
to,  ii.  54,  248 

Management,  The,  of  Money,  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  413 

Manchester,  public  dinner  at,  concerning 
the  Guild  of  Literature  and 
Art,  ii.  143-4  ;  social  condi- 
tions in  (1833),  i.  436 

Manchester  Liberals,  E.B.L.'s  one  action 
in  concert  with,  ii.  255 

Manners-Sutton,  Sir  Charles  (later  Vis- 
count Canterbury),  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons, 
i.  417,  481 

Manufactures,  effect  on,  of  the  French 
wars,  i.  391-2 

Manufacturing  districts,  disturbances  in, 
in  1829  and  later,  i.  404-5 

Many  Sides  to  a  Character,  or  Not  so  Bad 
as  We  Seem,  Comedy  by  E.B.L., 
why  written,  ii.  139  ;  first 
production,  cast,  and  audience, 
ii.'i4O&«.,tour,ii.  141-3,267; 
Macaulay  on,  ii.  145,  147 

Mardyn,  Mrs.,  a  would-be  contributor 
to  The  Neiv  Monthly,  letter 
from,  i.  378-9 

Margate,  visits  to,  i.  164 

'  Margrave,'  in  A  Strange  Story,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  346,  347,  348,  401 

Maria    da    Gloria,  Queen   of   Portugal, 

'•  395 

Marie,  by  Brieux,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  429  &  n. 
Marie  Antoinette,  i.  148 
Marlborough,  John  Churchill,  1st  Duke 

of,  foreign  troops  of,  ii.  219 
Marriage,  crisis  at,  in  relation   between 

child    and    parent,  i.   220-2  ; 

E.B.L.'s  letters   on,  to   Mrs. 

Cunningham,      i.     149  -  54, 

193-4,  205-6 

Gipsy  style,  for  a  term,  i.  109-10 
Proposals,  early,  for  E.B.L.,  i.  1 37  etsqq. 
Marriages,  ill-assorted,  i.  4 
Married  love,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  367 
Marston,  Westland,  in  Many  Sides  to  a 

Character,  ii.  140  «. 
Marten,  Henry,  regicide,  ii.  441  Sen. 


Martineau,  Miss  Harriet,  book  by, 
i.  467  n.,  letters  from,  to 
E.B.L.  on  his  mother's  death 
and  his  intention  to  cease 
fiction-writing,  ii.  54-6  ;  on 
his  translation  of  Schiller's 
Poems,  ii.  56-8  ;  on  Zanoni, 
her  interpretation  of  the 
book,  ii.  35-8,  346 

'  Matilde,'  in  Deiiereux,  i.  352 

'  Matthew  Bramble,'  in  Humphrey 
Clinker,  ii.  395 

Maurice,  F.  D.,  at  the  '  Union,'  i.  78 

Mazzini,  Giuseppe,  ii.  118,  119,  126,  127 

Medical  science,  basis  of,  modern  reforms 
in,  ii.  25,  28,  29 

'  Mejnour,'  in  Zanoni,  ii.  32 

Melbourne,  2nd  Viscount,  E.B.L.'s  ac- 
quaintance with,  i.  367  ; 
administrations  of  (1834), 
fall  of,  i.  466-7,  470,  defects 
attributed  to  by  Radicals, 
i.  472-3,  (1835-41)  fall  of, 
ii.  150;  character  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  482-3  ;  and  Hon.  Mrs. 
Norton,  i.  515 

Letters  from,  to  E.B.L.  on  the  Letter 
on  the  Crisis,  i.  487 ;  on 
reduction  of  Stamp  duty  on 
Newspapers,  i.  503 

Office  offered  by,  to  E.B.L.  but  de- 
clined, i.  492-5  ;  and  the 
Stamp  duties  abolition,  ii.  243 ; 
cited  on  E.B.L.'s  early  genius, 
i.  380 

Memoir  of  Laman  Blanchard,  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  132-4,  136 

Mercadante,  composer,  and  E.B.L.'s 
CEdipus  adaptation,  ii.  84 

'  Meredith,  Owen,'  pen-name  of  Edward 
Robert  Bulwer-Lytton,  q.-v. 

Merime'e,  Prosper,  letter  from,  to  E.B.L., 
on  Chairolas,  and  on  his  own 
Guzla,  i.  450  &  ».,  45 1 

Merit,   Order  of,  suggested   by  E.B.L., 

»•  »53»  523-4 
'  Merlin '  in  Tennyson's    poem,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  431 

'  Mervale,  Mrs.,'  in  Zanoni,  ii.  35 
Metres  in  verse,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  365 
Michelet,  Jules,  ii.  422 
Middle     Classes,     enfranchisement     of, 

ii.  310  ;  E.B.L.  on,  ii.   315  ; 

and    Social    Reform,    E,B.L, 

on,  ii.  511-2 


559 


INDEX 


Milan,    picture    at,    inspiring    E.B.L.'s 

Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  i.  440 
Militia  Bill  (1852),  ii.  182-4,  3*8 
Mill,    James,    ii.    447  5     and     Reform, 

i.  393 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  ii.  520  ;  letters  from, 
to  E.B.L.  on  various  topics, 
i.  507-145  political  ideas  of, 
on  land,  ii.  478,  479,  on 
suffrage,  ii.  314 

Miller,  Thomas,  basket-maker  poet, 
i.  330&H. 

Milnes,  Richard  Monckton  (later,  1st 
Lord  Houghton  (q.-u.")}, 
ii.  431  5  letter  to,  from 
E.B.L.,  ii.  74 

Milton,  John,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  365,  366, 
386,  399,  433  Sen. 

"  Milton,"  poem  by  E.B.L.,  in  Weeds 
and  WUdfio'wers,  i.  153 

Mirny,  E.B.L.'s  gipsy  friend,  i.  101  etsqq., 
prediction  by,  i.  102-3,  •*»" 
filled,  i.  505 

Mind,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  128-9,  4°6  et  *??• 

Ministers  of  the  Crown,  and  the  public, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  222 

Re-election  of,  on  appointment  to 
Office,  Bill  on,  E.B.L.'s  sug- 
gestions, i.  451 

Minor  Latin  poets,  E.B.L.'s  study  of, 
ii.  125 

Miscellaneous  Prose  Works  of  E.B.L., 
Collected  Edition  issued, 
ii.  96,  444  & ». ;  gift  of,  to 
Arnold,  his  letter  of  thanks 
for,  ii.  446  ;  E.B.L.  on,  to 
his  son,  ii.  447-8 

Miserable^,  Les,  by  Hugo,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  42 

*  Mr.  Graves,'  in  Money,  i.  5  5 1 

Moliere,  J.  B.  P.  de,  E.B.L.  on  his 
plays,  etc.,  ii.  395,  428,  433, 
441,  477,  560,  561 

Monarchy,  The,  of  the  Middle  Classes  in 
France,  by  Henry  Lytton 
Bulwer,  i.  461  Sen. 

Moncrieff,  Lord,  ii.  197  «. 

Money,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  550 ;  his  last 
important  dramatic  work, 
i.  562  ;  where  written, 
"•  353  5  production  and 
success  of,  i.  553,  ii.  315 
character  in,  hint  for,  i.  99  ; 
Dickens  on,  i.  554  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  i,  559  et  s<ft. 

560 


Mont  Dore,  visited,  ii.  361 

Montaigne,  M.  E.  de,  as  essayist,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  447-8,  477 

Montgomery,  Robert,  poems,  ii.  92 

Monthly  Chronicle,  E.B.L.'s  contributions 
to,  i.  248,  ii.  32;  criticism 
in,  by  E.B.L.  on  J.  S.  Mill's 
writings,  i.  510;  edited  by 
E.B.L.,  ii.  12 

Monthly  Magazine,  The,  Blanchard's 
connection  with,  ii.  135 

Moody,  Colonel,  ii.  293 

Moore,  Thomas,  i.  253,  330,  ii.  523  ; 
contributions  by,  to  Books  of 
Beauty,  etc.,  i.  448  ;  Life  of 
Lord  Edward  Fitzgerald 
by,  i.  255  ;  Mrs.  Norton  on, 
i.  254  ;  wit  of,  ii.  ii 

Moral  Intention  in  Poetry,  E.B.L.  on, 

"-.433 

'Mordaunt,'  in  The  Disowned,  i.  351 
Moreton,  Augustus,  i.  44 
Moreton  Bay,  ii.  288 
Morley,    John    (Viscount     Morley    of 

Blackburn),  ii.  478,  489 
Morning    Chronicle,    and    The    Letter    to 

John  Bull,  ii.  172 
Morpeth,   Viscount  (later,  7th   Earl  of 

Carlisle),  ii.  108 

"  Mortimer,"  basis  of  Pelham,  \.  89 
Morton's     Leap,     copied      by     E.B.L., 

i.  91-2 
Motion  of  Censure  against   Lord  John 

Russell,  by   E.B.L.,  and    his 

speech  in  support,  ii.  229-33 
Moxon,  and  Swinburne's  poems,  ii.  434, 

435.  436,438 

Muirhead,  James,  ii.  197  n. 

Mulgrave,  2nd  Earl  of  (later,  1st  Marquis 
of  Normanby),  i.  367,  464  ; 
character  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  485  n.  ;  Letter  on  Crisis  .  .  . 
by  E.B.L.  addressed  to,  his 
letteracknowledging,  {.485-65 
on  the  political  importance  of 
Lord  Althorp,  i.  486 

Muller,  Prof.  Max,  eulogy  by,  of  The 
Coming  Race,  ii.  468 

Murray,  John,  publisher,  E.B.L.'s  rela- 
tions with,  i.  150,  ii.  361 

My  Novel,  by  E.B.L.,  character-drawing 
in,  ii.  498  ;  characteristics 
of,  104;  publication  of, 
ii.  30 5  success  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  191 


INDEX 


NANKIN,  Treaty  of,  and  the  Chinese 
treaty-ports,  ii.  253 

Naples,  ii.  247,  268  5  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  9, 
79-80  ;  novels  associated  with, 
i.  440,  442  ;  King  and  Queen 
of,  see  Ferdinand  II.  ;  Mrs. 
E.B.L.'s  flirtation  at,  and  the 
results,  i.  271-5,  297,  312 

&«•,  33!-2»439 

Napoleon  I.,  i.  558  ;  English  dread  of, 
ii.  182  ;  as  Member  of  the 
Institute,  his  saying,  ii.  525  j 
struggle  with,  effect  of,  on 
England,  i.  390-2 

Napoleon  III.  (see  also  Louis  Napoleon) 
and  the  Orsini  bomb  affair, 
ii.  258  j  and  the  Crimean 
war,  ii.  205-6,  211,  229, 
230,  241  ;  surrender  after 
Sedan,  ii.  475  ;  death,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  486 

Nash,  John,  architect,  story  of,  by  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  i.  245-7 

Nationality,  essential  in  popular  writings, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  396,  422 

Natural  Claim  of  a  Mother  to  the  Custody 
of  her  Children,  as  affected  by 
the  Common  Law  Right  of  the 
Father,  pamphlet  by  Hon. 
Mrs.  Norton,  i.  515 

Negro  Apprenticeship,  subject  of  E.B.L.'s 
last  speech  in  Parliament, 
i.  520,  522  et  sqq.,  ii.  I2&». 

Neoradicalism,  i.  509 

Nero's  court,  ii.  125 

Nevill,  Lady  Dorothy  (nee  Walpole), 
ii.  109  «. 

New  Monthly  Maga-zine,  edited  by 
Harrison  Ainsworth,  ii.  22, 
135  ;  Disraeli's  contributions 
to,  i.  369  ;  E.B.L.'s  con- 
tributions to,  i.  248,  366, 
387-8,  527,  ii.  22  ;  E.B.L.'s 
editorship,  i.  163  n.,  248,  366, 
426,  ii.  132;  relinquished, 
i.  384 ;  friendships  resulting 
from,  i.  367  et  sqq.  ;  Leigh 
Hunt's  wish  to  work  on, 
i.  375,  376 ;  notable  con- 
tributors to,  i.  369,  371-80  j 
portrait  in,  of  E.B.L.  (1831), 
i.  254 

New  South  Wales,  separation  of, 
from  Queensland,  effected  by 
E.B.L.,  ii.  284 

VOL.  II 


New  Testament,   the   study   of,   E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  406-7 
New  Timon,  The,  Poem  by  E.B.L.,  nature 

of,  the  references  to  Tennyson 

in,  etc.,  ii.  69  et  sqq.,  430,  501; 

lines    from,  on    an     average 

man's  view  of  morals,  ii.  504 
New    Timon,     The,    and    the    Poets,    by 

Tennyson,  ii.  72-3  &  n. 
Newgate     Calendar,    statistics     of,     for 

1819-25.,  i.  361-2 
Newspaper    Press   Agitation   over   Lady 

Lytton's  detention,  ii.  274 
Newspapers,  Taxes  on  E.B.L.'s  motion 

against,  and  the  abolition  of, 

i-427.  433.  452  «"??•,  503; 
Lord    Melbourne's    letter   to 
him    on,    i.     503  ;    E.B.L.'s 
Speech  on,  ii.  224,  242-3 
Newton,  Sir  Isaac,  ii.  406,  411 
Nice,  visits  to,  ii.  117  et  sqq.,  440 
Nicholas   I.,    Czar  of  Russia,   and    the 
Crimean   war,   ii.   205,   206, 
208  ;  death  of,  ii.  211 
Night  and  Morning,  by  E.B.L.,  publica- 
tion,    ii.     31  ;     attacks    on, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  85-6  ;  interest 
of,  Macaulay's  praise,  ii.  31 
"Night,    The,    of   Song,"    by    Schiller, 

E.B.L.'s  translation,  ii.  57 
"  Nineteen    Points,"    the,    presented    to 
Charles  I.,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  328, 
329 
Nineteenth      Century      characteristics, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  199 

Norfolk,  agricultural  disturbances  in 
(1829  and  1830),  i.  406-7; 
attachment  to,  of  its  sons, 
i.  7,  8  ;  the  Bulwer  connection 
with,  i.  3,  4 

Normal  Clairvoyance,  The,  of  the  Imagina- 
tion, Essay  by  E.B.L.,  11.496-7 
'  Norman,'  in  The  Sea  Captain,  i.  546 
Normans,  the,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  14 
Norton,  Hon.  George  Chappel,  i.  380 
Norton,      Hon.     Mrs.     (nee     Caroline 
Sheridan),   i.    153,  380 ;    ad- 
vocacy   of     Infant    Custody 
Bill,    pamphlet    on,    i.    515, 
letters  on,  to  E.B.L.,  i.  517 
et  sqq.  ;    contributor   to    The 
New    Monthly,    i.    38o&«., 
letters      from,      to      E.B.L., 
i.    380-1  ;    on   Tom   Moore, 
i.  254 

561  2  O 


INDEX 


Notre  Dame  de  Paris,  by  Hugo,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  429-30 

Nou-velle  Helo'tse,  La,  by  Rousseau,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  69-70 

Novara,  battle  of,  ii.  118 

Novel-writing,  rules  for,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  460-1 

Novels  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names,  and  under 
Writings,  Prose 

'  Nydia,'  in  Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  epis- 
tolary references  to,  i.  444, 
445,  446 

OBSERVATION,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  496-7 

Occult  Studies  of  E.B.L.,  i.  149,  ii.  32, 
39  et  sqq. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  M.P.,  E.B.L.'s 
acquaintance  with,  i.  367, 
453  j  appearance  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  419 ;  brogue  and 
oratory,  i.  79,253  ;  on  politics, 
i.  426,  452,  453,  496 ;  on 
E.B.L.'s  Negro  Apprentice- 
ship speech,  i.  522 

Ode  to  Rae  Wilson,  by  Hood,  ii.  63 

Odes  and  Epodes  of  Horace,  E.B.L.'s 
translation  of,  ii.  246-8,  418, 
440,  444,  451 

CEdipus,  in  old  Greek  Drama,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  433 

CEdipus  Tyrannus,  of  Sophocles,  adapta- 
tion of,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  83,  84, 
85,  90-1 

Offences  punishable  by  Death  early  igth 
century,  i.  360-1 

Old  Mortality,  by  Scott,  i.  91 

Oliphant,  Mrs.  (Margaret),  book  by, 
ii.  485 

O'Neill,  or  the  Rebel,  poem  by  E.B.L., 
i.  150,  164,  194;  topics  of, 
i.  184-5 

Opposition,  an,  definitions  of,  by  Disraeli, 
ii.  236,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  238 

Orangemen,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  454 

Oratory  of  E.B.L.,  contemporary  state- 
ments on,  ii.  282-3,  3OI> 
302  et  sqq.,  501 

Ord,  William,  Cambridge  friend,  i.  79  ; 
visit  to,  i.  82 

Order  of   Merit,   suggested    by  E.B.L., 

ii-  'S3.  5*3-4 
"  Ordonnances,"  the,  i.  396 
Orford,  3rd  Earl  of,  i.  407 
Orford,    4th    Earl     of,    see     Walpole, 
Lord 


Orleanist  party,  after  Sedan,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  475-6 

Orleans,  House  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  480 
Orsini,  attempt  of,  to  murder  Napoleon 

III.,  consequences  of,  ii.  258 

et  sqq. 
Osbaldiston,    — ,    manager    of    Covent 

Garden,  and  E.B.L.,  i.  539 
Osborne,  Lady,  ii.   13  ;    letter  to,  from 

E.B.L.,  on  his  mother's  death, 

ii.  21 
Otho,   King   of   Greece,  abdication    of, 

i'-  354 

Ottoman  Empire,  Russian  proposal  to 
divide,  ii.  205  5  and  the  politi- 
cal stability  of  Europe,  ii.  206 

Ovid,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  399 

Owen,  Robert,  E.B.L.'s  visit  to,  i.  92  ; 
local  opinion  on,  i.  93-4 

Owl,  The,  ii.  119  n. 

Oxmantown,  Lord,  i.  262 

Palamon  and  Arcite,  by  Dryden,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  419 

Pall  Mall  Gazette,  editor  of,  ii.  449  &  ». 

Palmer,  Rt.  Hon.  Roundell  (later  ist 
Earl  of  Selborne),  ii.  212 

Palmerston,  Viscount,  ii.  237,  238,  240  ; 
and  the  Coup  d'Etat,  ii.  181, 
182  j  in  the  Coalition 
Ministry,  ii.  186;  and  the 
Crimean  war,  ii.  206  ;  and 
the  Congress  of  Vienna, 
ii.  229,  230 ;  speech  on 
E.B.L.'s  motion  of  censure  on 
Lord  John  Russell,  ii.  233-4  j 
driven  from  office  by  the 
Orsini  bomb  affair,  ii.  258-61; 
on  E.B.L.'s  speech  on  the 
Derby  Reform  Bill,  ii.  302  ; 
vigorous  age  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  361  ;  Whig  administration 
of  (1854),  ii.  210  ;  death  of, 
effect  on  Reform  projects, 
ii.  311,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  362 

Palmerston,  Viscountess  (formerly 
Countess  Cowper),ii.  354,  384 

Panshanger,  memorable  ball  at,  i.  122-3 

Paper  duty,  abolition  of,  E.B.L.'s  share 
in,  i.  433  et  sqq. 

Paradise  [Lost,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  366, 
433  Sen. 

Parent  and  Child,  mutual  duties  of, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  415-6 

Paris,  Comte  de,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  480 


56: 


INDEX 


Paris,  the  Commune  in,  ii.  475  j  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  478  ;  his  novel  based 
on,  ii.  480  et  sqq. ;  death  in, 
of  Lady  Blessington,  ii.  78, 
113,  116,  117;  E.B.L.'s  life 
in  (1825),  i.  134,  143,  visits 
to,  i.  315,  321  ;  subsidised 
theatres  in,  i.  431 

Paris,  Peace  of,  ii.  213,  241 

Parisians,  The,  by  E.B.L.,  origin  of, 
ii.  480-1  ;  written  at  the 
same  time  as  Kenelm  Chillingly, 
ii.  1 6  ». 

Parkes,  Joseph,  M.P.,  and  a  proposed 
new  party,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  499 

Parkes,  Mr.  (later,  Sir  Harry),  and  the 
Arrow  affair,  ii.  253 

Parliamentary  life  of  E.B.L.,  see  under 
Bulwer,  E.  G.  E.  Lytton, 
Life,  Political  and  Public 

Parliamentary  Reform,  see  under  Reform 

Parnell,  Sir  Henry,  i.  464 

Parr,  Dr.  Samuel,  i.  33,  68  ;  letter  from, 
to  E.B.L.,  on  his  early  verses, 
i.  56  &  n.  z  j  on  -vice  "versa, 
ii.  108 

"Partition,  The,  of  the  Earth,"  by 
Schiller,  E.B.L.'s  translation, 
ii.  57 

Party    ties,   strain    on,    illustrations    of, 

»•  IS4-S 
Passions,  the,  in  popular  poetry,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  399 
Patmore,  Coventry  K.,  Poems  by,  E.B.L.'s 

praise    of,    and    the   author's 

letter  of  thanks,  ii.  6o&n.i 

et  sqq. 

Patroclus,  death  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  385 
Paul    Clifford,     by    E.B.L.,    publication 

of,    i.   348,    360,   362,    390; 

criticisms,    i.    385,    ii.    85  ; 

Disraeli's  favourable  opinion, 

i.  369  5  E.B.L.  on,  i.  363-4  ; 

keynote,  i.    360,    362,   435  ; 

letters  on,  from  Godwin  and 

from  Elliot,  i.  364-5 
'  Pauline  Deschapelles  '  in  Lady  of  Lyons, 

a  popular  part,  i.  535 
Pausanias  the  Spartan,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  340, 

357  •  posthumously  published, 

ii.  248  ;  letter  on,  by  E.B.L., 

ii.  248 

Peace  of  Paris,  ii.  213,  241 
Peace    party    in    England,    recruits    to 

(1855),  ii.  212 


Peace  policy  of  Aberdeen   Government 

(1852),  ii.  186 
Pearson,  Charles,  ii.  134 
Peculiarities  of  London   Tradesmen,  Essay 

by  E.B.L.,  i.  217 
Peel,  Lady  Emily,  i.  449 
Peel,    Sir    Robert,    i.    55,    421,    423, 

ii.  249,  449  ;  administration 

of  («34)»  '•  4-18'  +7°»  472. 
489,  491,  fall  of,  i.  492  ; 
administration  of  (1841-6), 
and  Corn  Laws  and  Free 
Trade,  ii.  80  et  sqq.,  151, 
E.B.L.'s  views  on,  ii.  107, 
108, 152-3  &  see  Appendix  I., 
p.  507;  fall  (1846),  ii.  93«., 
151,  153  ;  and  Hood's 
pension,  ii.  62,  67  ;  and 
Lord  Londonderry,  i.  500-1  ; 
Reform  Bill  speech,  i.  418; 
and  Southey,  ii.  522 

Peelite  M.P.'s,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  225 

Peerage  conferred  on  E.B.L.,  ii.  318, 
324,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  368-70 

Peers,  threatened  creation  of,  to  carry 
third  Reform  Bill,  i.  423 

Pelham,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  164.  Sen.,  401; 
basis  of,  i.  89  ;  begun,  i.  8 1  ; 
characters  in,  originals  and 
hints  for,  i.  133  ;  criti- 
cisms on,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  369  ; 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  363,  ii.  865 
French  experiences  described 
in,  i.  145-6,  148  ;  Nash's 
appreciation  of,  i.  246  ;  price 
paid  for,  i.  350;  publication 
of,  i.  148,  circumstances  of, 
i.  346-7,  influence  of,  on 
Byronism  and  on  dress, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  347-8  5  re- 
review,  proposed  of,  by 
Forster,  ii.  123  ;  Scott's 
praises  of,  i.  212 

'  Pelham,  Lady  Frances,"  on  male  attire, 
i.  348 

Penal  code,  English,  in  early  igth 
century,  statistics  of  its 
working,  i.  361-2 

and  Prison  Discipline,  Paul  Clifford 
written  to  draw  attention 
to,  i.  360-2,  435 

Penny  post,  first  suggested  in  Parlia- 
ment by  E.B.L.,  i.  434 

Penryn,  overtures  from,  to  E.B.L., 
i.  398 


563 


INDEX 


Pensions,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  482,  ii.  71  ;  for 
literary  persons,  E.B.L. 
on,  to  Lord  John  Russell, 
ii.  516  et  sqq.;  one  secured 
for  Tom  Hood,  ii.  62,  Hood 
on  his  deserts  as  to,  ii.  64 

Peregrine  Pickle,  by  Smollett,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395 

Periodical  Literature,  E.B.L.'s  contri- 
butions to  (&  see  Titles), 
i.  248,  and  views  on,  i.  367, 
ii.  138 

Perkins,  Miss,  on  Mrs.  Norton's  view 
of  the  Woman's  Movement, 
i.  5I7&H. 

Personal  and  Literary  Letters  of  the  Earl 
of  Lytton,  edited  by  Lady 
Betty  Balfour,  cited,  with  a 
correction,  ii.  326  n. 

Petronius,  the  Satyricon  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  125 

Phantom,  Mr.,  in  Knebworth  theatri- 
cals, ii.  131  ». 

Phelps,  Samuel,  actor,  ii.  85 

Pickwick  Papers,  The,  by  Dickens, 
E.B.L.'s  praise  of,  ii.  74 

Picture  at  Milan,  associated  with 
The  Last  Days  of  Pompeii, 
i.  440,  445 

Piedmont,  E.B.L.'s  foresight  on,  ii.  78 
King  of,  see  Victor  Emanuel  II. 

Pilgrims  of  the  Rhine,  by  E.B.L.,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  364,  385  &«.,  389  Scn.z 

Pindar,  poetry  of,  E.B.L.  on  intention 
in,  ii.  433 

Pinner,  stay  at,  of  E.B.L.  and  his  wife, 
i.  260 

Pitt,  William,  and  Addington,  ii.  238  j 
on  Reform,  i.  394;  verses 
of,  ii.  425 

Pius  IX.,  Pope,  ii.  126  ;  restoration 
of,  ii.  118 

Plagiarism,  E.B.L.  on,  to  his  son,  in 
reference  to  Lucile,  a  poem 
by  the  latter,  ii.  392-4 

Plato,  difference  between  teachings  of, 
and  of  the  New  Testament, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  407 

Platonists,  later,  powers  claimed  by, 
ii.  47 

Plautus,  adaptation  from,  by  E.B.L., 
see  Captives 

Plays  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names,  and  Dramas, 
under  Writings 

Pliny's  Villa,  i.  263 


Poems,  by  C.  K.  Patmore,  E.B.L.'s 
praise  of,  and  the  author's 
letter  of  thanks,  ii.  6o&n.i 
et  sqq. 

Poems  and  Verses  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names, 
and  under  Writings 

Poems  by  E.  R.  Bulwer-Lytton,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395  &«.,  396,  401-2 

Poems  and  Ballads,  by  Swinburne,  hostile 
reception  of,  E.B.L.'s  help 
and  letters  on,  and  the  replies, 
ii.  434  et  sqq. 

Poetic  Faculty  and  Genius,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  424-5 

Poetical  Horoscope,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  149 

Poetry,  and  Biography,  Carlyle  on,  ii.  59 

Poetry,  E.B.L/s  taste  in,  ii.  418  et  sqq. 
Popular     element     in,     E.B.L.     on, 
ii.  385-6,    395,    396,  398-9, 
411,  420 

Polignac,  Prince  de,  Ambassador  at 
St.  James's,  and  his  later 
ministry,  i.  396 

Political  Economy,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  170 
et  sqq. 

Political  History  of  years  from  1841 
to  1852  inclusive,  ii.  149, 
I  50  et  sqq. 

Political  Reform  (see  also  Reform), 
ii.  307  et  sqq. 

Politics,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  158,  305, 
356&w.,  391 

Pompeii,  excavations  at,  i.  443  ;  re- 
peopled  by  E.B.L.'s  char- 
acters, i.  446 

Ponsonby,  Lord,  i.  358 

Poor  Law  Reform,  E.B.L.'s  activity  on 
behalf  of,  i.  426 

Pope,  Alexander,  ii.  92,  419  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  and  on  his  writings, 
ii.  427-8,  431,  433 

Popularity  in  writing,  see  Poetry,  and 
Prose 

Portendio,  exchanged  for  Albuda,  ii.  294 

Post,  the,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  109-10 

Penny,  suggested  by  E.B.L.,  i.  434 Sen. 

Post  Office  administration,  speech  on 
by  E.B.L.,  i.  452 

Power,  Mary  Anne,  Baronne  de  St. 
Marsault,  death  of,  ii.  82  Sen. 

'  Poyntz,  Mrs.,'  in  A  Strange  Story, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  347,  349 

Praed,  Winthrop  Mackworth,  at  Cam- 
bridge, i.  374  ;  as  speaker  at 
the  '  Union,'  i.  72,  77,  78,  79 


564 


INDEX 


Prayer,    E.B.L.    on,    ii.    407  -  9,    457, 

458 
Preparatory  Schools,  early  i  gth  century, 

i.  40 
Press,  The,  ii.  239  ;  and  the  Peace  (1855), 

ii.  234 
Priam,   Homer's    treatment    of,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  386 

Priessnitz,  Water  Cure  of,  ii.  24 
Printing,    application    to,     of     Steam, 

effects  of,  i.  392 

Prior,  Matthew,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  108 
Prisons  of  England  and  Wales  in  1835, 

and  present  day,  i.  363  &«. 
Prize  medal  won  by  E.B.L.'s  poem  on 

Sculpture  (q.-v.},  i.  80 
Prohibition,  stimulus  given  by,  E.B.L. 

on,  i.  505 
Prose,    popularity    in    writing,    E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  105 
Protection  of  Life  in  Ireland,  Bill  for, 

defeated,  effects  of,  ii.  1 5 1 
Protection,    the    case    for,    as  stated    by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  164-5 
Protectionist     party,    revenge     of,    for 

Repeal  of  Corn  Laws,  ii.  151 
Pro-vast  of  Bruges,  Macready  on,  i.  534 
Prussia,   and    the   revolution    of    1848., 

ii.  118 
Psychical    phenomena,    attitude    to,    of 

E.B.L.,  ii.  41  et  sqq. 
Public,  the,  and  Ministers,  during    the 

Crimean  war,  ii.  222 
Punch,  E.B.L.  on  its  attitude   to  him, 

ii.  74  ;  Tennyson's  lines  in, 

on  E.B.L.,  ii.  72-3  &».,  74 
"Pups,"  and    "Poodle,"  pet    names  of 

E.B.L.  and  his  wife,  i.  259 
Pushkin  (Russian  poet),  and  MeVimee's 

Guzla,  i.  451 
Pym,   John,   E.B.L.    on,    ii.   328,    330, 

337;  Forster  on,  ii.  331 
Pym  -versus  Falkland,  article  by   E.B.L. 

in     the     Quarterly    Re-view, 

ii.  338-9 

Quarterly     Essays,    by    E.B.L.,    i.    377, 

"•  338-9 

Quarterly  publications,  E.B.L.'s  contri- 
butions to,  ii.  420  5  collected, 
ii.  /m  j  writing  for,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  387 

Quarterly  Re-view,  E.B.L.'s  proposed 
critique  in,  on  Forster's  essays 
on  the  Great  Rebellion,  and 


Quarterly  Review — continued 

the    correspondence    on    the 

matter,    ii.    327  &«.  et  sqq.  ; 

other   contributions,  ii.  420, 

446 
Queensland,   separation    of,    from    New 

South     Wales,    effected     by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  284 

RACINE,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  425 

Radcliffe,  Delme,  in  Knebworth  theatri- 
cals, ii.  1 3 1  «.  ;  Letter  to,  by 
E.B.L.,  proposed  publication 
of,  in  The  Times,  ii.  239  &  n., 
240-1 

Radical  party,  E.B.L.'s  association  with, 
i.  427,  471-2,  495  ;  Reform 
projects  of,  i.  495  5  separating 
from  the  Liberal  party,  Mill 
on,  i.  511 
Utilitarianism,  Mill  on,  i.  509-10 

Raglan,  Lord,  and  the  Crimean  war, 
ii.  221,  223-4  ;  death,  ii.  212 

Raphael  Santo  d'Urbino,  re-interment 
of,  i.  267 

Reciprocity  in  Trade,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  168 

Reed,  Dr.,  ii.  295,  296,  300 

Re-election  of  Ministers  on  appointment 
to  office,  E.B.L.'s  suggestions 
on,  i.  451 

Reepham, Norfolk,  disturbance  at  (1830), 
i.  406-7 

Rejections  on  the  French  Re-volution,  by 
Edmund  Burke,  i.  473-4 

Reform,  origin  of  desire  for,  i.  392  ; 
early  advocates  of,  i.  393  ; 
impetus  to  demand  given  by 
French  affairs,  i.  393-5  ; 
E.B.L.'s  attitude  to,  i.  393, 

397,  "•  310 
Reform  Bills  : — 

1831.,  i.  408-10 

1832, 'progress  and  passing  of,  i.  414 
et  sqq. ;  last  night  of,  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  417  et  sqq.  ;  effects  of, 
generally,  ii.  308  -  10,  on 
young  Reformers,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  467  et  sqq.,  himself  in- 
fluenced by,  i.  471-2 

1852.,  ii.  182 

1859,  and  defeat  of  the  Government, 
ii.  302,  307  ;  E.B.L.'s  note, 
ii.  308,  and  speech  on,  ii.'3o2 
etsqq.,  313-5 


565 


INDEX 


Reform  Bills — continued 

1860,  E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  315-6 

1866,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  316-7,  praises  of 

his  speech,  ii.  317-8 

1867,  and  the  growth  of  democracy, 

ii.  309  ;  dangers  in,  foreseen 
by  E.B.I,.,  ii.  321-3  ;  his  un- 
delivered speech  on,  ii.  318-9 

Reform  Bills,  between  1832  and  1866., 
ii.  308,  311 

Reform  League,  the,  ii.  311 

Reforms  desired  by  E.B.L.,  i.  480 

Registration  of  voters,  ii.  321 

Regulus,  speech  of,  in  Horace's  Lyrics, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  363 

Reign  of  Terror,  article  on,  by  E.B.L., 
letter  on,  to  Forster,  ii.  5 1-2 

Rejected  Addresses,  authors  of,  (.371 

Religion,  letters  on,  from  E.B.L.  to 
Lady  Sherborne,  ii.  455-8  ; 
to  his  son  E.  R.  Lytton, 
ii.  400  et  sqq. 

Religious  temperament,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  448,  458 

Representation,  Parliamentary,  true 
principles  of,  E.B.L.'s  view 
of  (1860),  ii.  319-22 

Republic,  first  French,  period  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  557-8 

Residences  of  E.B.L.,  List  of,  ii.  530-1 

Resumption  of  Cash  Payments,  Act  for, 
effects  of,  i.  392 

Retrospect  of  a  Long  Life,  by  S.  C.  Hall, 
cited,  on  E.B.L.  and  his 
future  wife,  i.  163  n.  ;  on 
E.B.L.'s  character,  i.  366-7, 
ii.  494-5  Sen. 

Reuben  Apsley,  novel,  by  Horace  Smith, 
i.  371  &». 

Reveries,  by  Rousseau,  style  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  69-70 

Revolutions,  popular,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  309  n., 
329,  475  etsqq. 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  Lectures  by,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395 

Rhymeless  quatrains,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  365 

Ricardo,  David,  and  Reform,  i.  393 

Riche  et  Pau-vre,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  12 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  554-7, 
ii.  329,  470 

Richelieu,  Play  by  E.B.L.,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  554  et  iqq.  ;  evolution, 
i.  542 -4  &n.  ;  production, 
i.  545  5  swiftly  written,  i.  542, 
ii.  16 


Rienxi,  by  E.B.L.,  i.  442,  inspiration  and 
sources,  i.  262,  440-1 ;  publi- 
cation and  reception,  i.  445, 

527 

Rienzi,  Opera  by  Wagner,  i.  441 
Rightful  Heir,   The,  Play  by  E.B.L.  (see 

also       The       Sea       Captain], 

'•  549-5°.  "•  450'1 

Ritter,  Carl,  ii.  43 

"River,  The,"  poem  by  Coventry 
Patmore,  ii.  60 

Robertson,  Peter,  ii.  197  n. 

Robinson  family,  i.  3 

Rochfort,  Henriette,  see  Wilson, 
Harriette 

Rochejacquelein,  Marquise  de  La,  i.  135 

Roderick  Random,  by  Smollet,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395 

Roebuck,  John  Arthur,  M.P.,  Sebastopol 
Committee  secured  by,ii.  209, 
212;  E.B.L.'s  speech  on, 
ii.  221-2 

Rogers,  Sir  Frederick  (later  ist  Lord 
Blachford),  on  Lord  Carnar- 
von and  E.B.L. at  the  Colonial 
Office,  ii.  281 

Roman  Catholic  faith,  Saints  of  (see  also 
Names),  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  485-6 

Romances  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names,  and 
under  Writings 

Romantic  vein  of  early  igth  century,  in 
relation  to  E.B.L.'s  domestic 
and  literary  life,  ii.  499-500 

Rome,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  441-2,  ii.  8fc,  126, 
128  3     his    novel    connected 
with  (Rienzi,  q."v.\  i.  440 
Events  at  (1848-9),  ii.  118-9 
Mrs.  E.B.L.'s  impressions  of,  i.  266 
et  sqq. 

Romeo,  Rosalind  and  Juliet,  E.B.L.  on 
the  loves  of,  ii.  367 

Rosicrucians,  Society  or  Brotherhood  of, 
E.B.L.'s  association  with, 
ii.  41,  and  letter  from,  to 
Hargrave  Jennings,  ii.  41-2 

Rosicrucians,  The,  ...  by  Hargrave 
Jennings,  E.B.L.'s  letter  on, 
ii.  41  &«.,  42 

Rossetti,  Dante  Gabriel,  E.B.L.'s  implied 
opinion  of,  ii.  131 

Rottingdean,  E.B.L.'s  school  at,  i.  44-5 

Rousseau,  J.  J.,  cited  by  Carlyle,  on 
humour,  ii.  58  5  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  69-70,  ii.  424,  477 

Routledge,  publisher,  ii.  473 


566 


INDEX 


Royal  Literary  Fund,  ii.  145,  148 

Ruddock,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bowen,  school 
of,  E.B.L.  at,  i.  39-43 

Rules  for  Novel -writing,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  460-1 

'  Rupert  of  Debate,'  E.B.L.'s  epithet 
for  Stanley,  ii.  70 

Russell,  Lord  John,  ii.  150,  217,  260; 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  421,  ii.  165, 
238,  240,  and  lines  on,  ii.  70 
Political  references,  and  the  South  wark 
seat,  i.  400  ;  and  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1831.  and  1832., 
i.  408,  414  et  sqq.  ;  ministry 
of,  after  Repeal  of  Corn  Laws, 
ii.  151  ;  letters  to,  from 
E.B.L.,  on  social  politics, 
ii.  152-4,  507  et  sqq.  ;  and 
the  Coup  d'Etat,  ii.  182-3  i 
Secretary  for  Foreign  affairs 
(1852),  ii.  186  ;  at  the  Con- 
gress of  Vienna,  ii.  210-12, 
motion  of  Censure  on  his 
conduct  by  E.B.L.,  and  speech 
in  support,  ii.  229-3  3  5  resigna- 
tion, ii.  231  ;  and  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1859.,  ii.  302,  304  ; 
in  favour  of  Reform, 
ii.  311-12;  Reform  Bills  of, 
why  rejected,  ii.  312;  on 
E.B.L.'sspeech  on  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1866.,  ii.  317-8 

Russell-Gladstone  Reform  Bill  of  1866 
t       as    to    Borough   and    County 
Franchise,  ii.  312 

Russell  -  Palmerston  Reform  Bill  of 
1860,  as  to  Borough  and 
County  Franchise,  ii.  312 

Russell,  William  Howard,  letters  of,  to 
The  Times,  on  the  Crimean 
war,  ii.  209 

Russia,  after  the  Crimean  war,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  226-8  ;  prejudice 
against  in  the  'fifties,  ii.  216 

Russian  ships  in  the  Black  Sea,  question 
of,  ii.  211,  212;  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  226 

"  Russians,"  equivalent  to  later  "  Pro- 
Boers,"  ii.  213-4 

Ruy  Bias,  by  Hugo,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  557, 
ii.  422 

Ryves,  Miss,  ii.  271,  273,  275 


SABBATH    Observance   Bill,   opposed  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  451 


Sadler's  Wells  Theatre,  ii.  85 

St.    Albans,    E.B.L.    invited    to    stand 

for,  i.  41 1 
St.  Augustine,  ii.  458  ;  on  animal  souls, 

ii.  405 
St.  Ives,  E.B.L.'s  first  seat  in  Parliament, 

1.260,411-13;  disfranchised, 

i.  424 
St.     Lawrence,    near     Ramsgate,    Mr. 

Lytton's     home,     afterwards 

house  of  E.B.L.'s  tutor,  i.  12 

et  sqq.,  67 

St.  Leonards,  Lord,  ii.  406 
St.  Mark's,  Venice,  Mrs.  E.B.L.  on,  i.  264 
St.  Paul,  ii.  411 
St.  Pierre,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 
St.  Simon  Stylites,  ii.  456 
St.  Stephen1!,  Poem  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  324,  327 
St.  Teresa,  ii.  456,  458 
Salons,    French,    early    igth    century, 

tone  of,  i.  136 
Sand,  Georges,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  477  ;  story 

by,  used  in   Lucile   by  E.  R. 

Lytton,  ii.  392 

Sardinia,  King  of,  see  Charles  Albert 
Satiric  Sketch,  A  [of  Almack's],by  E.B.L., 

persons  alluded  to  in,  i.  153 
Satirist,    The,   malignity    of,    Melbourne 

on,  i.  503 
Saturday    Re-view,    critique    in,   on    The 

Lost  Tales  of  Miletus,  ii.  366 
Satyricon,  the,  of  Petronius,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  125 

Saunders  and  Otley,  publishers,  i.  473 
Scarborough,  E.B.L.'s  stay  at,  i.  96-100 
Schiller,  F.  von,  poems  of,  ii.  37  ; 

E.B.L.'s  pleasure  in,  ii.  418, 

473-4,    and     comments    on, 

ii.  8 1,  364,  421 
Poems   and  Ballads  by,  translated    by 

E.B.L.   with   a   biography  of 

Schiller,  ii.  53,  442  ;  Arnold 

on,  ii.  446  ;   Miss  Martineau 

on,  ii.  56-8 
Schleswig-Holstein  affair,  letters  on,  from 

E.B.L.  to  his  son,  ii.  357-8 
Schuster,    Mrs.,    on    E.B.L.'s    gifts    as 

financier,  ii.  493  n. 

Scipio,  on  looking  on  at  battles,  ii.  126 
Scotland,  opposition  in,  to  Reform  Bill, 

i.  409,  410 
Scotsman,  The,  review  by,  of  The  Coming 

Race,  ii.  468 
Scott,  Sir  Walter,  i.   91,    352,  ii.    105, 

398,   420 ;    and    anti-reform 


567 


INDEX 


Scott,  Sir  Walter — continued 

bill  violence,  i.  409  &  n. ; 
mental  failure  of,  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  285  ;  Pelham  praised  by, 
i.  212;  works  of,  E.B.L.'s 
liking  for,  and  comments  on, 

»•  35°>  365.  396-7>  398» 
412,  419 

"  Sculpture,"  subject  of  English  Prize 
poem  by  E.B.L.,  i.  80,  126  n., 
155  n.,  162;  published  in 
Weeds  and  Wildjioiuers,  i.  1 5  3 

Sea  Captain,  The,  Play  by  E.B.L.,  pro- 
duction of,  i.  544  ;  Macready 
on,  i.  545-6,  549  ;  Thackeray's 
attacks  and  later  regrets,!.  547 
et  sqq.  ;  revision  suggested, 
i.  546-7,  561-2,  ii.  125-6, 
450,  see  Rightful  Heir 

Seamore  Place,  scene  of  Lady  Blessing- 
ton's  parties,  i.  381 

Sebastopol,  siege  of,  ii.  208,  226,  228  ; 
fall  of,  ii.  212 

Sebastopol  Committee,  appointment  of, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  221  et  sqq. 

Secondary  Education,  E.B.L.  on,ii.  520-1 

"Secret  Way, The,"  poem,in  Lost  Tales  of 
Miletus,E.R.L.on,n.  362,  364 

Sedan,  battle  of,  ii.  475 

Self-government,  Arnold  on,  ii.  452 ; 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  200 

Seneca,  E.B.L.'s  study  of,  ii.  124,  127 

Sentiment,  in  popular  poetry,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  399 

Septennial  Parliaments  Act,  Repeal  of, 
opposed  by  E.B.L.,  i.  451-2 

Servian  Poems,  by  Owen  Meredith  (E.  R. 
Lytton),  ii.  395  Sen.  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  395-6 

Sexagenarian,  The,  by  Beloe,  i.  49 

Seymour,  Admiral  Sir  Michael,  and  the 
Canton  forts,  ii.  254 

Shaftesbury,  7th  Earl  of,  ii.  326  n.,  353 

Shakespeare,  William,  Coventry  Pat- 
more  on,  ii.  6 1  $  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  402,  406,  on  his  borrow- 
ings, ii.  393,  394 ;  on  crime 
in  his  plays,  ii.  86 ;  on 
husbands'  dishonour  motif  in, 
i.  561  ;  E.B.L.'s  studies  in, 
i.  88,  89,  and  views  on,  ii.  385, 
397,  398  j  spiritualistic  mani- 
festation of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  43 

Sheil,  R.  S.,  M.P.,  friend  of  E.B.L., 
i,  367  ;  letter  from,  to  E.B.L., 


Sheil,  R.  S.,  M.P. — continued 

forecasting  Irish  Obstruction, 
i.  425-6  ;  oratory  of,  i.  425, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  426  ;  and  the 
Reform  Bill,  i.  417  ;  and 
theatrical  monopoly,  i.  433  ; 
on  E.B.L.'s  parliamentary 
prospects,  ii.  12 

Shelley,  Mary,  letter  from,  to  E.B.L.  on 
The  Lady  of  Lyons,  i.  538-9 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  ii.  105  ;  advice'of, 
to  Byron,  i.  538  ;  compared 
with  Coleridge  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  421  ;  poems  of,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  366,  399 

Sherborne,     Lady,     friend     of     E.B.L., 

ii.  448&w.,  449,  467,  470 
Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.,  on  general 
topics,  ii.  449-50  ;  on  Lives  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales,  and  of 
Montalembert,  ii.  485-6 ;  on 
religion,  ii.  455  et  sqq. 

Sherborne,  Lord,  ii.  448  &  n.,  450 

Sherbrooke,  Mrs.,  i.  223 

Sheridan,  Caroline, see  Norton,  Hon.  Mrs. 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brinsley,  plays  by, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  560  ;  verses  of, 
ii.  425 

Short  Parliaments,  E.B.L.'s  preference 
for,  i.  452 

Siamese  Twins,  The,  Poem  by  E.B.L., 
i.  385,  ii.  500 

Sicily,  Garibaldi  in,  ii.  332,  333 

Siddons,  Sarah,  ii.  146 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  as  Exquisite,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  14 

Siege  of  Corinth,  by  Byron,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  364,  420 

Silius  Italicus,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  125 

Sinecures,  defended  by  the  Grey  Adminis- 
tration, i.  481 

"  Sir  Hubert,"  poem  by  Coventry 
Patmore,  ii.  61 

'Sir  John  Vesey,'  in  Money,  E.B.L.  on, 

i-  5S3»  561 
"  Sisyphus,"     poem    in    Lost    Tales    of 

Miletus,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  362 
Sixty   Tears    of  an    Agitator's    Life,    by 

G.  J.  Holyoake,  cited,  ii.  244 
Sketch  of  Last  Night  of  the  Reform  Bill 

(i  832)  in  the  House  of  Commons, 

by  E.B.L.,  i.  417  et  sqq. 
"  Sketches  of  Men   and   Manners,"   by 

E.B.L.,        incorporated        in 

England  and  the  English,  i.  89 


$68 


INDEX 


Skiddaw,  ii.  427 

Slavery,  West  Indian,  gradual  abolition 

of,  i.  521 

Smith,  genuine  gipsy  clan,  i.  104 
Smith,  Henry  P.,  letter  from,  to  E.B.L. 

on     Thomas     Wainewright, 

ii.  86  n. 
Smith,  Horace,  friendship  with,  i.  3  71  &  n. ; 

letter    to,    from    E.B.L.    on 

historical  tales,  i.  371 
Smith,  James,  friendship  with,  i.  371 
Smith,    Rev.    Sydney,    on    expectations 

from      the      Reform       Bill, 

i.  409 

Smollett,  T.,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  395 
Social  Reform,  E.B.L.'s  Letters  on,  to 

Lord  John    Russell,   ii.    152 

et  sqq.,  507  et  sqq. 

Society,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  389-90,  434,  435 
Somerset    Gazette,    and     Lady     Lytton, 

ii.  274 
Sophocles,  CEdipus  Tyrannus  of,  translated 

by    E.B.L.,    ii.    83,    84,    85, 

90-1  ;    study   of,   advised    by 

E.B.L.,  ii.  385 

Sorrows  of  Werther,  see  Werther 
Soul,  the,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  400,  402  et  sqq., 

406  et  sqq. 
Sotist,  Dr.,  Hydropathist,  at  Ems,  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  106  et  sqq. 
Southey,  Mrs.  Robert,  letter   from,   on 

The  Caxtons,  ii.  105 
Southey,  Robert,  i.  7 1  ;  baronetcy  refused 

by,  ii.  522  ;  poem  by,  ii.  105  ; 

translation  by,  of  Amadis  de 

Gaul,  i.  37,  41,  ii.  418 
Southwark    election,     E.B.L.'s     corre- 
spondence on,  with  Godwin, 

i.   398-403  ;     letter    on,    to 

Bowring,  ii.  403 
Speaker   of   the    House    of    Commons, 

election  of  (1835),  ii.  491 
Speaking   Harlequin,    The,    or    The   Two 

Losses,  in  One  Act,  by  Disraeli, 

in  The  New  Monthly,  i.  369 
Spectator,  The,  review  by,  of  The  Coming 

Race,  ii.  468 
Spectator,  The  (Addison's),  how  ruined, 

E.B.L.  on,  i.  504,  ii.  245-6 
Spencer,   2nd    Earl,   death    of,   i.   470 ; 

E.B.L.  on,  477  et  sqq. 
Spencer,  3rd  Earl  (see  also  Althorp  for 

all    references    prior    to    and 

including,    i.    470),    succeeds 

to  the  Earldom,  i.  470,  479 


Spenser,  Edmund,  poetry  of,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii.  386,  399 

Spirit  of  Humanity,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  199 
Spiritualistic    phenomena,    E.B.L.'s    in- 
vestigations of,  and  letters  on, 
ii.  42  etsqq. 

Spring  Guns,  Bill  for  Setting,  i.  418 
"  Squatter "    question,    in    Queensland, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  285 

Stamp  Duties  on  Newspapers,  see  News- 
papers, Taxes  on 

Stanhope,  Earl  and  Countess,  ii.  449 
Stanley,  Lord  (later  1 4th  Earl  of  Derby), 
ii.  126  ;  and  Negro  apprentice- 
ship, i.    521,    522  ;    E.B.L.'s 
lines  on,  ii.  70  ;  on  E.B.L.'s 
parliamentary  prospects,  ii.  12 
Stanley,  Lord  (later  I5th  Earl  of  Derby), 
adverse      to       Free      Trade, 
ii.  1 50 5  Greek  throne  declined 
by,  ii.  354-5  ;  on  "crushing 
Russia,"  ii.  228  ;  on  E.B.L.'s 
views  on  Peace  (185 5),  ii.  239 
"Star"  system  in  the  theatre,  i.  429-30 
State-aid,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  200 
Steam,  uses  of,  effects  of,  i.  392 
Steamship,     large,    visited     by     E.B.L. 

(1838),  ii.  ii 

Steele,  Sir  Richard,  i.  504,  ii.  245 
Steinmetz,    W.    T.,     letter    from,    to 
ist     Earl     of     Lytton,     on 
E.B.L.'s  schooldays  at  Homer- 
ton,  i.  50  n. 

Stevenson,   Robert   Louis,   on    the  pro- 
fession of  Authorship,  i.  249 
Stone,  Frank,  in  Knebworth  theatricals, 
ii.   1 3 1  n.  ;  in   Many  Sides  to 
a  Character,  ii.  140?;. 
Storks,  Sir  Henry,  ii.  295,  339 
Story,  Principal,  on  E.B.L.'s  speech  at 
Edinburgh  Banquet,  ii.  197". 
Strafford,   Earl  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.   328, 

329 

Strange  Story,  A,  by  E.B.L.,  ii.  40,  47  &  «.; 
origin  of,  ii.  340-1  ;  published 
anonymously  in  All  the  Tear 
Round,  ii.  344-5,  reception 
of,  ii.  350-1 

Letters  on,  from  E.B.L.  to   Forster, 
ii.  344  ;  to  his  son,  ii.  340, 

34S»  347-5  !>  4QQ-1 
Stratford    de    Redcliffe,    Viscount,    and 

the  Crimean  war,  ii.  206 
Strauss,  D.,  book  by,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  411 
Strikes,  in  1829.,  i.  404-5 


.     569 


INDEX 


Student,  The,  Essays  and  tales  by  E.B.L. 
collected  in,  i.  248,  440,  450, 
527,  ii.  446  ;  two  editions 
of,  ii.  444  «. 

Style,  literary,  of  E.B.L.,  ii.  497,  500 
Subsidies     to     Theatres,      E.B.L.      on, 

i.  430-1 

Sue,  Eugene,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  398,  429 
Sully,  Julia,   Portrait   of  E.B.L.,   given 

by,  to  author,  i.  254  n. 
Sully,   Robert    M.,   Portrait   of  E.B.L. 

by,  i.  254  «. 

Sunbury,  E.B.L.'s  school  at,  i.  43 
Supernatural,  the,  E.B.L.  on,  to  Forster, 

ii.  47-9 

Suppression  of  Disturbances  Bill,  E.B.L. 
on,  adverse  to  Coercion, 
i.  438 

Sussex,  Duke  of,  ii.  12 
Swedish  manual  treatment,  ii.  29 
Swinburne,  Algernon  Charles,  E.B.L.'s 
views  on,  and  on  his  poems, 
ii.  431,  437-8,  439;  letters 
from,  to  E.B.L.  on  his  poems, 
ii.    432,    434;    visit    of,    to 
E.B  L.,  ii.  437,  438-9 
Switzerland    and    Austria,    E.B.L.    on, 

ii.  228-9 

Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  ii.  288 
Syracuse,  Count  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  81 

T.,  Miss  ROSE,  E.B.L.'s  first  love, 
i.  24,  25  &  H. 

Tacitus,  ii.  125 

Tale,  The,  of  a  Dreamer,  in  reference 
to  E.B.L.'s  Ealing  romance, 
i.  65  n.,  153 

Talfourd,  Thomas  Noon  (Serjeant  at 
Law),  5.  529,  535-7  ;  Infant 
Custody  Bill  of,  E.B.L.'s 
attitude  to,  i.  514;  Lady  of 
Lyons,  dedicated  to,  in  book 
form,  and  his  letter  to 
E.B.L.  acknowledging  it, 

i-  534  «-,  536  »• 
Tariff  Reform    arguments   in    E.B.L.'s 

Letter  to  John  Bull,  ii.  167-8 
Unionist  split  on,  ii.  155 
Tartuffe,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  433 
Tasso,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  423 
Taste,  E.B.L.'s  defect  in,  ii.  494,  497 
Taunton,  Lady  Lytton  at,  ii.  266,  269, 

270,  271,  279,  356 
Taxes  upon  Knowledge,  see  Newspapers, 

Taxes  on 


Tchernaya,  battle  of,  ii.  212 
Tennent,  Sir  Emerson,  ii.  221 
Tenniel,  John,  in  Many  Sides  to  a  Char- 
acter, ii.  140  n. 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  poet  (later,  ist  Baron), 
i.  424,  448,  ii.  60,  6 1  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  375,  385,  396,  397, 
400,410,412,430-1;  E.B.L.'s 
lines  on,  in  New  Timon,  and 
his  reply,  ii.  71  et  sqq.;  refer- 
ences to  his  Idylls,  in  E.B.L.'s 
King  Arthur,  omitted  in 
2nd  edition,  ii.  47 1 

Thackeray,  William  Makepeace,  i.  448  ; 
and  Blanchard,  ii.  132; 
criticisms  by,  of  E.B.L.'s 
writings,  i.  81,  547,  ii.  494; 
regrets  and  apologies,  i.  547, 
letters  expressive  of,  to  Lady 
Blessington,  and  to  E.B.L., 
i.  548-9 ;  E.B.L.'s  views 
on,  ii.  430 
Theatrical  monopoly,  opposed  by  E.B.L., 

i.  427,  438 
Thompson    River,    gold    found    along, 

results  of,  ii.  289 

Thomson,  Hale,  Lady  Lytton's  examina- 
tion     by,     and     letters     to, 
ii.  271-2 
Thomson,    — ,    E.B.L.'s    St.    Lawrence 

tutor,  i.  67  et  sqq. 

Thomson,  Mrs.  Antony  Todd  ("  Grace 
Wharton  "),  letters  to,  from 
E.B.L.  on  The  Last  of  the 
Barons,  ii.  53-4 

Thorwaldsen,  and  Mrs.  E.B.L.,  i.  271 
Thurtell,  — ,    the    murderer,    caul    of, 

given  to  E.B.L.,  i.  389 
Times,  The,  abuse  by,  of  E.B.L.,  ii.  12-3  j 
attack    by,    on     Swinburne's 
poems,     ii.     436  ;      E.B.L.'s 
proposed    letter    for,   on    the 
peace        question        (1855), 
ii.  239  &  ».,  Disraeli's  views 
on,  ii.   240-1  ;    and  the    Re- 
form Bill,  i.  409  ;  Russell's 
Crimean  letters  in,  ii.  209 
Tissot,  — ,  on  Consciousness,  ii.  407 
Tom  and  Jerry,  by  Pierce  Egan,  i.  389 
'  Tomlinsoniana,'  in  Paul  Clifford,  Elliott 

on,  i.  365 
Tooke,  Home,  i.  421  ;  son  of,  at  the 

'Union,'  i.  78 

Topham,  E.  W.,  in  Many  Sides  to  a 
Character,  ii.  140  n. 


570 


INDEX 


Torquay,  winter  home  of  E.B.L.  after 

1864.,  ii.  357,442,  444,447; 

last  years  at,  ii.  459,  460,  482, 

483  ;  death  at,  ii.  487 
Tory    Democracy,    E.B.L.'s    association 

with,  ii.  154,  163 
"To  Thee,"  poem  by  E.B.L.,  in  Weeds 

and    Wildfloiuers,    motif    of, 

i.  153 
Townshend,    Chauncy    Hare,    E.B.L.'s 

friendship    with,    i.    70  & «., 

71  ;      life     of,    E.B.L.     on, 

ii.     39 ;       friendship      with 

E.  R.  Lytton,  ii.  379 
Translations  by  E.B.L.,  see  Names,  and 

under  Writings 
Transportation      for      small      offences, 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  514 
Treaty   of    Nankin,    and    the    Chinese 

treaty  ports,  ii.  253 
Trianon,  the,  associations  of,  i.  148 
Trinity    College,     Cambridge,     E.B.L. 

at,  i.  72 
Trinity    Hall,    Cambridge,    E.B.L.    at, 

i.  74  et  sqq. 
True    Son,   The,  Blanchard's    connection 

with,  ii.  135 
Tucker,  Charlton,   publisher   of  second 

edition      of     King     Arthur, 

ii.  469,  471,  473 
Tunbridge     Wells,     visit     to,     of    the 

Bulwers,  i.  212 
Turkey,  Sultan  of  (Abdul   Mejid),  and 

the    Crimean    war,    ii.    205, 

206,  207,  227 

Turnbull,  Dr.,  aurist,  ii.  371 
Twopenny  Register,    The,    Cobbett's,    in- 
fluence of,  i.  393 

ULLSWATER,  E.B.L.'s  sentimental  journey 
to,  i.  65  «.,  83  et  sqq. 

Uniform,  official,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  288 

Union  Debating  Society,  giants  of, 
i.  72-3  ;  E.B.L.'s  speeches  at, 
i.  77-80,  126  ».,  127-9 

Unionist  Party,  a  foreshadowing  of,  by 
E.B.L.,  i.  469  ;  split  in,  on 
Tariff  Reform,  ii.  155 

United  States,  Civil  War  in,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  353 

Universal  Suffrage,  ii.  321 

Upper  Homerton,  school  escapade  at, 
i.  48-50  Sen. 

Upper  Seymour  Street,  home  of  E.B.L.'s 
mother,  i.  154,  162 


Upper  Sydenham,  death  at,  of  Lady 
Lytton,  i.  342,  ii.  279  n. 

VALANCE,  Aymer  de,  i.  3 

Valletort,  Viscount,  speech  on  Reform 
Bill,  i.  417 

Vancouver  Island,  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Company,  ii.  288-9 

Vanderstegen,  Mrs.  (Mrs.  Van),  i.  210, 
212  ;  letters  to,  from  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  on  agricultural  dis- 
turbances, i.  406-7;  on 
E.B.L.'s  first  election,!.  412-3 

Van  de  Weyer,  Monsieur,  mission  of, 
i.  404,  405 

Vane,  Sir  Harry,  ii.  330 

'  Vanini,'  in  Chronicles  and  Characters,  by 
E.R.Lytton,  E.B.L.on,ii.4i  i 

'  Varney,'  in  Lucretia,  ii.  93  ;  basis  of, 
ii.  86  n. 

Venice,  ii.  121,  mosquitoes  at,  i.  263 

Versailles,  stay  at,  i.  139,  148 

Verses,  see  Poems  and  Verses,  under 
Writings 

Vezins,  the  two,  actors,  ii.  450 

Vice  versa,  a  barbarism,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  108 

Vico,  G.,  Italian  philosopher,  E.B.L. 
on,  ii.  422 

Victor  Emanuel  II.,  King  of  Piedmont 
(later  of  Italy),  accession, 
ii.  118 

Victoria,  Queen,  ii.  150,  293,  302,  304  ; 
autograph,  i.  271 ;  coronation, 
i.  507  ;  and  the  Coup  d"£tat, 
ii.  181  ;  at  Devonshire  House 
play,  ii.  140,  267  ;  E.B.L. 
on,  in  1838.,  ii.  12 

Vienna,  Congress  of,  ii.  210-2,  225, 
232,  241  ;  E.B.L.'s  motion 
of  Censure  on  Lord  John 
Russell's  conduct  at,  and 
speech  in  support,  ii.  229-33 

Vienna,  E.  R.  Lytton  at,  i.  441 

'Vigors,'  in  A  Strange  Story,  E.B.L.  on, 

ii-  347 
Villiers,    Rt.    Hon.    Charles    Pelham, 

ii.    318,    391-2;    and    Free 

Trade,    ii.     150;      'Union' 

speeches  of,  (.78 
Villiers,  Edith  (later,  Countess  of  Lytton), 

see      Bulwer  -  Lytton,      Mrs. 

Edward  Robert 
Villiers,  Hon.  Frederick  (later  4th  Earl  of 

Clarendon),  family,  i.  124-5, 


571 


INDEX 


Villiers,  Hon.  Frederick — continued 

life  and  character,  i.   125-6, 

duel    affair,    i.    127    et   sqq., 

tour  with,  i.  133 
Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Women,  by 

Mary  Wollstonecraft,  i.  515 
Vindicite       Gallicae,      by       Sir      James 

Mackintosh,  i.  4i9-2o&«.i 
Vineyard      Cottage,      Fulham,      second 

married     home    of     E.B.L., 

i.  212  ft  sqq. 

Virgil,  E.B.L.'s  liking  for,  ii.  419,  and 

remarks  on,  ii.  399,  423 
Virginibm  Puerisque,  by  R.  L.  Stevenson, 

cited  on  Authorship,  i.  249 
Vivian  Grey,  by  Disraeli,  i.  253  ;  when 

published,  i.  155  «. 
Volney,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  424 
Voltaire,    ii.    470 ;    cited   on    Moliere's 

Misanthrope,  i.  560  ;   E.B.L. 

on  his  style,  ii.  394,  477,  and 

on  his  tragedies,  ii.  421-2 
Vote  of  Censure  on  the  Crimean  war, 

E.B.L.'s  speech  on,  ii.  225-9 
Vril,    in     The     Coming    Race,    ii.    463  ; 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  466-7 

WAGNER,  Richard,  on  the  inspiration 
for  his  opera  Rienxi,  i.  441 

'Waife'  in  What  -will  he  do  -with  it? 
Forster  on,  ii.  250,  251 

Wainewright,  Thomas,  and  his  wife, 
characters  based  on,  ii.  86  Sen. 

Walker,  Mr.,  first  tutor  of  E.B.L., 
i-  22,  35 

Waller,  Sir  Wathen,  i.  247 

Wellington,  Rev.  Charles,  E.B.L.'s  pre- 
ceptor, at  Baling,  i.  5 1  et  sqq. 

Walpole,  Horace,  on  the  hurry  of  life, 
i.  283 

Walpole,  Lord  (later  4th  Earl  of  Orford), 
ii.  I09&».,  391-2;  E.B.L.'s 
opinion  on,  ii.  109 

Letters  to,  from  E.B.L.,  on  duty, 
ii.  130-1  ;  on  events 
(1849-50),  ii.  126  et  sqq. ;  on 
Leominster  election,  etc., 
ii.  111-3  >  on  occult  studies, 
ii.  44;  on  politics  (1848), 
ii.  109  et  sqq. 

Walpole  (Sir  Robert),  i.  480  ;  Comedy 
in  rhyme  on,  begun  by  E.B.L., 

>'•  352,  353.  357,  45I>4°°-1 
War  loan  for  Crimean  war,  E.B.L.  on, 
ii.  214-5 


Ward,  F.  O.,  E.B.L.'s  correspondence 
with,  on  Tom  Hood's  affairs, 
ii.  62,  68-9  ;  letters  to,  from 
Tom  Hood,  ii.  62,  63-6 

Warwick,  Earl  of  (King-maker),  and 
The  Last  of  the  Barons, 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  33,  34 

Water-cures,  E.B.L.'s  resort  to  and  writ- 
ings on,  ii.  24,  54,  1 06  et  sqq. 

Watering-places,  social  life  at,  early 
1 9th  century,  i.  68,  117 

Waterloo,     battle     and     battlefield     of, 

>•  134,  137 

Wealth,  the  one  subject  of  Political 
Economy,  ii.  170  et  sqq. 

Webster,  Benjamin,  actor,  i.  553  ;  and 
The  Sea  Captain,  i.  546 

Weeds  and  Wildfloivers,  collected  Poems 
by  E.B.L.  (see  also  Sculpture, 
prize  poem),  references  to  his  * 
early  romance,  i.  65  «.,  155, 
163  ;  publication,  i.  139,  153 

Weller,  Sam,  and  laissez  faire,  ii.  1 60 

Wellington,  ist  Duke  of,  on  politics, 
i.  470  ;  foreign  policy  mis- 
construed, i.  395  ;  and  Catho- 
lic Emancipation,  i.  480  ; 
ministry  of,  and  Reform, 
i.  394,  423  ;  and  the  Whigs, 
E.B.L.  on,  i.  475,  476; 
windows  smashed  by  mob, 
i.  408 

Wemyss,  General,  duel  with  F.  Villiers, 
i.  127  et  sqq. 

Werther,  Sorrows  of,  by  Goethe,  E.B.L. 
on,  i.  164,  186,  ii.  397,  398 

West  Indies,  Apprenticeship  in,  E.B.L.'s 
great  speech  against,  i.  520 
et  sqq. 

Encumbered  Estates  Bill  for,  passed 
during  E.B.L.'s  Secretariat, 
ii.  293 

Westmeath,  Countess  of,  i.  324 

Westminster  Abbey,  burial  in,  of  E.B.L., 
and  his  epitaph,  ii.  490  ; 
Jowett's  funeral  sermon  there, 
ii.  491 

Westminster  Review,  E.B.L.'s  contribu- 
tions to,  i.  248 

Wetherall,  Sir  Charles,  speech  by,  on 
Reform  Bill,  i.  417,  421, 
ii.  243  ;  and  theatrical 
monopoly,  i.  433 

Weymouth,  visit  to,  of  E.B.L.  and  his 
wife,  i.  209  et  sqq. 


572 


INDEX 


What  will  he  do  with  iff  by  E.B.L., 
Forster's  approval  of,  11.250-2; 
cited  on  politics,  ii.  356  n. 
Wheeler,  Frederick  Massey,  father  of 
Mrs.  E.B.L.,  i.  158,  161, 
171,  278 

Wheeler,  Henrietta,  sister  of  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  i.  158,  161,  171, 
i8o&«.,  278 

Wheeler,  Mrs.  F.  M.,  mother  of  Mrs. 
E.B.L.,  character  and  views 
of,  i.  158,  159;  attitude  to 
her  elder  daughter,  i.  162, 
176,  201,  278  ;  E.B.L.  on, 
i.  171 

Wheeler,  Rosina  (Mrs.  Edward  Lytton 
Bulwer,  q.-v.  for  life  after 
marriage),  beauty,  character, 
characteristics  and  story, 
i.  I55&«.,  156  et  sqq., 
i63&«.,  206;  devotion  to 
dogs,  i.  213,  257-9,  261, 
265-6,  324,  331,  410  j  ex- 
travagance and  domestic 
ignorance,  i.  217-8,  258  ; 
lack  of  motherly  tenderness, 
i.  209,  258,  278,  321,  515  ; 
unsuited  to  E.B.L.'s  character, 
i.  2O2  et  sqq.,  et  passim 
First  meeting  with  E.B.L.,  their 
stormy  courtship,  letters, 
refusals,  separations  and  re- 
conciliations, i.  165  et  sqq.  ; 
marriage,  i.  195,  ii.  202,  204, 
205 
Literary  and  other  friends  of,  i.  162, 

163  Sen. 

Whig  party  before  and  after  Reform, 
i.  394  ;  E.B.L.  on,  i.  468-9  ; 
E.B.L.'s  support  of,  i.  472 
et  sqq. 

Whig-Radical  party,  letter  from  E.B.L. 
on,  to  Lord  Durham,  and 
his  reply,  i.  496  et  sqq.  ; 
Mill  on,  i.  511 

Whist,  E.B.L.'s  skill  at,  i.  147  n. 
White,  Lydia,  literary  coterie  frequenting, 

i.  82 

White,    William,    book    by,    cited    on 
E.B.L.'s    oratorical    manner, 
ii.  282-3,  302  et  sqq. 
'  White  Lady  of  Avenel '  (Scott),  E.B.L. 

on,  ii.  350 

Wife,  The,  of  Miletus,  Poem  by  E.B.L., 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  362,  363,  364 


Wildbad,  E.B.L.'s  resort  to,  ii.  324 
Wilhelm  Meister,  by  Goethe,  ii.  348 
Will,  power  of,  E.B.L.  on,  ii.  24 
'William     Mainwaring'     in     Lucretia, 

ii.  87,  89 
William    of    Orange    (William    III.), 

ii.  228-9,  331 
William  II.,  German  Emperor,  i.  550 
William    IV.,    and    the    Reform    Bills, 

i.  408,  410,  414,  467, 469-70  ; 

threat     of      creating      Peers, 

i.  422-3  ;  death,  i.  507 
Williams,    General,    defender   of   Kars, 

ii.  213 
Wills,  William  Henry,  sub-editor  of  All 

the  Tear  Round,  ii.  342 
'  Wilmot,'  in  E.B.L.'s  Play  Many  Sides 

to  a  Character,  Macready  on, 

ii.  140  ;  Macaulay  on,  ii.  147 
Wilson,  Dr.,  Hydropathic  establishment 

of,    ii.    24 ;    E.B.L.    on    his 

treatment  at,  ii.  25  et  sqq.,  54 
Wilson,  Harriette,  letters  from,  to  E.B.L., 

with  references  to  his  novels, 

i.  350  et  sqq. 

Windermere,  Lake  of,  i.  84 
Wolff,  Sir  Henry  Drummond,  letter  to, 

from    E.B.L.    on   democracy, 

ii.  308 
Wollstonecraft,   Mary   (Mrs.    Godwin), 

book  by,  on  Women's  Rights, 

'•  5'3 

Women,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  153,  388 

Women's  Rights,  early  advocates  of, 
i.  515  ;  Mrs.  Norton  on, 
i.  516-7 

Wondrous  Tale,  The,  of  Alroy,  by  Dis- 
raeli, in  The  New  Monthly, 
i.  369 

Wood,  Alderman  Sir  Matthew,  M.P., 
i.  418 

Woodcot,  House,  early  married  home  of 
E.B.L.,  i.  205,  207-8;  literary 
activities  at,  i.  345  et  sqq. 

"Woodman's  Daughter,"  poem  by 
Coventry  Patmore,  ii.  60 

Word  to  the  Public,  A,  Pamphlet  by 
E.B.L.,  occasion  of,  ii.  91, 
96,  Macaulay  on,  ii.  93-4 

Wordsworth,  William,  i.  71  ;  advice  to 
a  young  poet,  ii.  397  ;  in- 
fluence on  Patmore,  ii.  61 

Working  classes,  enfranchisement  of, 
how  effected,  ii.  310  et  sqq.  • 
E.B.L.  on,  ii.  313  et  sqq.  . 


573 


INDEX 


Working  classes — continued 

and     Reforms,     E.B.L.     on, 
ii.    511;    Parliamentary    re- 
presentation   of,   E.B.L.    on, 
ii.  319-20 
Writings     (see     alto     Bibliography),     by 

E.B.L.  :— 

High  prices  paid  for,  ii.  500  ;  sustained 
popularity  of,  ii.   500  ;    style 
of,  ii.  494,  497,  500 
Miscellaneous,       collected       editions, 

ii.  99,  444&«.,  446,  447-8 
Poems  and  Verses  : — 

Battle     of    Waterloo,     unpublished, 

i.  56 

Collected  Editions,  ii.  357,  361 
Cornflowers  (collection),  ii.  384 
Delmour,  or  a  Tale  of  a  Sylphid,  and 

other  Poems,  i.  75  ». 
Eva,  and  other  Poems,  ii.  53,  91 
Horoscope,  for  Miss  Cunningham, 

i.  149 

Ismael,  an  Oriental  Tale,  \.  56  Sen. i 
King   Arthur,    ii.    30,    96-9,     108, 

114-5,469  et  sqq.  ;   471-2 
Lost  Tales,  The,  of  Miletus,  ii.  361-7, 

431-2 

Mind  and  Soul,  i.  458  Sen. 
Neiv  Timon,  The,  ii.  69  et  sqq.,  97, 

430,  501,  504 

Odes  and  Epodes  of  Horace  (transla- 
tion), i.  246-8,  418,  440,  451 
O'Neill,  or   the  Rebel,  i.   150,   164, 

184-5,  *94 

Poems  and  Ballads  of  Schiller  trans- 
lated with  a  Brief  Sketch  of 
Schiller's  Life,  ii.  53,  56  etsqq., 
418,  442,  446 

Sculpture,  Prize  Poem  at  Cambridge, 
i.  80,  I26».,  153,  155  n.,  162 
Siamese  Twins :  A  Satirical  Tale  of 
the   Times,  "with    other  poems, 
i.  385,  ii.  500 
St.  Stephen's,  ii.  324,  327 
Weeds  and  Wildflowers  (collection), 
i.  65«.,  153,  155  n.,  162,  163, 
172 
Prose  : — 

Autobiography,  i.  4  et  sqq.,  ii.  3 
Diary,  in   1838,  unpublished,  ii.  9 

et  iqq. 
Dramas  : — 

Adaptation  of  (Edipus  Tyrannus 
of  Sophocles,  ii.  83,  84, 
85,  90-1 


Writings,  by  E.B.L. — continued 
Prose — continued 
Dramas — continued 

Brutus,   unpublished    (see    House- 
hold Gods),  ii.  96  Sen.,  125 
Captives,    The,  unperformed  and 

unpublished,  ii.  441-2 
Cromwell,  unperformed,  i.  528-9 
Darnley,  incomplete,  ii.  79  Sen. 
Duchesse     de     la     Vallikre,     La, 

i-  529-30  etm-i  537,  539-40, 
554  et  sqq.,  ii.  500,  559 

Household  Gods,  The,  ii.  96  &«. 

Lady  of  Lyons,   The,  i.  532,  534, 

536  ».,  538,  539  et  m->  554, 

555,  n.  16,  105,  442 
Many  Sides  to  a  Character,  or  Not 

so   Bad  as  We  Seem,  ii.   139 

et  sqq.,  141-3,  145,  147,  267 
Money,  i.  99,    550,    551-3,  554, 

559,  561-2,  ii.  31,  353 
Richelieu,     or      The      Conspiracy, 

i.  542-4 Sen.,  545,  554  etsqq., 

ii.  16 
Rightful  Heir,   The    (see  also  The 

Sea      Captain),     i.     549  -  50, 

ii.  550-1 
Sea    Captain,    The    (see    also    The 

Rightful  Heir),  i.  545-6,  547 

et     sqq.,      549-50,      561-2, 

ii.  125-6,  450-1 
Sketch-drama   of  Eugene  Aram, 

1.387-8,389 
Walpole,  or  Every  Man  has  his 

Price,     ii.    352,     353,    357, 

451,  460 

Essays,    Articles,    Pamphlets,    Re- 
views, etc.  : — 
in  Amulet,  i.  527 
in  Books   of  Beauty,  referred  to, 

i.  448,  449 
Caxtoniana,  ii.  94&«.,  125,  352, 

4.13  Sen.,  445 
Charles   Lamb,    and    some   of  his 

Companions,  ii.  420,  440 
Confessions  of  a  Water  Patient,  ii.  22 
on  Domestic  Economy,  i.  217 
Efficacy,  The,  of  Praise,  ii.  94 
England  and  the  English,   i.    89, 

248,    379,    385>   389&«-2, 

436  et  sqq. 

on  Forster's  Life  of  Oliver  Gold- 
smith, ii.  104 
Journalistic,  i.  366-7 
Letter   to  a   Cabinet  Minister  on 


574 


INDEX 


Writings,  by  E.B.L. — continued 
Prose — continued 
Essays — continued 

the  Present  Crisis,  i.  473  et  sqq., 
485-6,  488-9,  ii.  501 
Letter    to    Delme   Radcliffe,   Esq., 

ii.  239  Sen.,  240-1 
Letters  to  John  Bull,  ii.  145,  163, 

164  et  sqq.,  172,  173,  494 
Letters    to    Lord   John    Russell, 

ii.  152  et  sqq.,  507  et  sqq. 
Management     of     Money,      The, 

ii.  413  Sen. 
Normal  Clairvoyance,  The,  of  the 

Imagination,  ii.  496-7 
Pamphlets  and  Sketches,  i.  474&H-3 
in    Periodical     Publications    (see 

also  under  Names),  i.  367 
in  Hood's  Magazine,  ii.  62 
in  Literary  Gazette,  i.  248 
in   Monthly   Chronicle,   i.    248, 

510,  ii.  32 

in    New    Monthly    Magazine, 
i.  248,  366,  387-8,  527,  ii.  22 
Pym  versus  Falkland,  ii.  338 
in  Quarterly  publications,  see  also 

under  Names 
in  Edinburgh  Re-view,  i.  248, 

508,  ii.  12 
in  Foreign  Quarterly   Review, 

ii.  51-2 

in  Quarterly  Review,    ii.    420, 
440 

in  Westminster  Review,  i.  248 
on  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  i.  508 
Sketch   of  Last  Night  of  Reform 
Bill      (1832),      unpublished, 
i.  417  et  iqq. 
in  Student,  i.  248,  440,  450,  527, 

ii.  444,  446 
in  Weeds  and  Wildjlowers  (q.v .), 

i.  153 
Word    to    the   Public,  A,   ii.    91, 

93-4.  96 
History  : — 

Athens,  its  Rise  and  Fall,  i.  248, 

528 
Memoir       of      Laman       Blanchard, 

ii.  132  et  sqq. 
Novels  and  Romances  : — 

Alice,  or  The  Mysteries,  i.  528 
Caxtons,  The,  i.  68,  ii.  16  «.,  30, 
104  et  sqq.,  105, 106, 122,  123, 
498 
Chairolas,  i.  450 


Writings,  by  E.B.L. — continued 
Prose — continued 

Novels  and  Romances — continued 
Coming  Race,  The,  ii.  462  et  sqq., 

475,  480-1,  497 
Devereux,    i.     348,     349,     350, 

351-2,  445  &». 

Disowned,  The,  i.  212,  229, 348-5 1 
Ernest   Maltravers,  i.   249,   528, 

ii.  9,  14  «.,  498,  500 
Eugene  Aram,  i.  349,  364,  385-8, 

389  &«.i,  ii.  16  n.,  85 
Falkland,  i.  8 1,  139,  164,   185-8, 

190, 194&«.,  229,  346, ii.  500 
Godolpkin,    i.     385,     389&».2, 

450,  ii.  16  «.,  446 
Greville,  unfinished,  i.  348 
Harold,  i.  425,  ii.  16,  30,  99,  104 
Kenelm   Chillingly,  ii.   16  n.,  104, 

480,  481,  482,  484,  500 
Last  Days  of  Pompeii,  The,  i.  262, 

29°>    349.    364,    440,    442, 

443  et  m-  447.  454-5.  460, 

ii.  95-6,  104 
Last  of  the   Barons,   The,  ii.    30, 

33.34,53-4,55.77.49° 
Lucretia,  or   The    Children  of  the 

Night,  ii.   1 6  «.,  83,  84,  85, 

86&H.,  87,  89,  92-3,  104 
My  Novel,  ii.  30,  104,  191,  498 
Night  and  Morning,  ii.  31,  85-6 
Parisians,  The,  ii.  16  «.,  480-1 
Paul  Clifford,  i.   348,  360,    362, 

363-4,  365.   369,   385,   39°, 

435,  ''•  85 
Pausanias,  the  Spartan,    ii.    248, 

34°,  357 
Pelham,  i.   81,   89,    133,    145-6, 

148,      i64&».,     212,      246, 

346-8,    350,    363,   369,  401, 

ii.  86,  123 
Pilgrims,  The,  of  the  Rhine,  i.  364, 

385  &«.,  389&H. 
Rienzi,  i.  262,  440-1,  442,  445, 

527 
Strange  Story,  A,  ii.  40,  47  &  n., 

340-1,  344,  345-51,  400-1 
What     'will     he     do    'with     it  ? 

ii.  250-2,  356  «. 
Zanoni,  i.  441,  ii.   22,   30,   32-8, 

39.  4°,  53,  54-5,  58»   34°. 

346,  497 
Preface    to    collected    Edition    of 

Early  Plays,  i.  552  et  sqq. 
Wycherley,  William,  E.B.L.  on,  i.  561 


575 


INDEX 


'XANTHUS,'   in    Lost    Tales   of  Miletus, 
ii.  362 

YEH,    Governor,    of    Canton,    and    the 

Arrow  war,  ii.  254  &«. 
Yellvwplush  Papers,  by  Thackeray,  i.  547 
Yorke,  Hon.  Eliot,  M.P.,  in  Knebworth 

theatricals,  ii.  131  ». 
Young,  Sir  John,  ii.  294,  295 
Young    Duke,  The,  by  Disraeli,  E.B.L.'s 

criticism      and      letter      on, 

i.  368,  369 
"  Young  England  "  party,  ii.  119  n. 


Zanoni,  by  E.B.L.,  dedication  of,  i.  441  ; 

E.B.L.  on,  ii.  30,  53 
Letters  on,  from  E.B.L.   to   Forster, 
ii.  32-5  ;  from  H.  Martineau 
to  E.B.L.,  ii.  35-8,  54  et  sqq., 
and  her  interpretation,  ii.  38, 
346  ;  from  Carlyle,  ii.  39 
Occultism  in,  ii.  40  ;  origin  of,  ii.  32, 
340  ;  publication  of,  ii.  30 

'  Zariades,'  in   The  Secret  ff^ay,  poem  by 
E.B.L.,  ii.  364 

Zica,  a    forecast    of   Zanoni,  by  E.B.L., 
ii.  32 


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Lytton,  Victor  Alexander 
4931      George  Robert  Bulwer- 
L8        Lytton 
v.2          The  life  of  Edward 
cop. 2     Bulwer 


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