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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Lumley Autograph + +Author: Susan Fenimore Cooper + +Posting Date: October 24, 2008 [EBook #2164] +Release Date: May, 2000 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LUMLEY AUTOGRAPH *** + + + + +Produced by Hugh C. MacDougall. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE LUMLEY AUTOGRAPH +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +by +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +Susan Fenimore Cooper +</H2> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<P> +{by Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), daughter of James Fenimore +Cooper. "The Lumley Autograph" was published in Graham's Magazine, +Volume 38 (January-June 1851), pp. 31-36, 97-101. The author is +identified only in the table of contents for Volume 38, p. iii, where +she is described as "the Author of 'Rural Hours'". +</P> + +<P> +{Transcribed by Hugh C. MacDougall, Secretary, James Fenimore Cooper +Society; jfcooper@wpe.com. Notes by the transcriber, including +identification of historical characters and translations of foreign +expressions, follow the paragraphs to which they refer, and are +enclosed in {curly brackets}. The spelling of the original has been +reproduced as printed, with unusual spellings identified by {sic}. +Because of the limitations of the the Gutenberg format, italics and +accents (used by the author for some foreign words, and in a few +quotations) have been ignored. A few missing periods and quotation +marks have been silently inserted. +</P> + +<P> +{A brief introduction to "The Lumley Autograph.": +</P> + +<P> +{"The Lumley Autograph" was inspired, as Susan's introductory note +states, by the constant stream of letters received by her father, +asking in often importunate terms for his autograph or for pages from +his manuscripts, and even requesting that he supply autographs of other +famous men who might have written to him. He generally complied with +these requests courteously and to the best of his ability; after his +death in 1851, Susan continued to do so, as well as selling fragments +of his manuscripts to raise money for charity during the Civil War. +</P> + +<P> +{"The Lumley Autograph" is of interest today primarily because it is a +good story. Its broad satire about the autograph collecting mania of +the mid-nineteenth century is deftly combined with the more serious +irony of a poet's frantic appeal for help becoming an expensive +plaything of the rich, while the poet himself has died of want. Susan +Fenimore Cooper's typically understated expression of this irony +renders it all the more poignant, and the unspoken message of "The +Lumley Autograph" is as relevant today as it was in 1851. +</P> + +<P> +{Though "The Lumley Autograph" was published in 1851, it was written as +early as 1845, when Susan's father first unsuccessfully offered it to +Graham's Magazine, asking "at least $25" for it. [See James Fenimore +Cooper to Mrs. Cooper, Nov. 30, 1845, in James F. Beard, ed., "The +Letters and Journals of James Fenimore Cooper" (Harvard University +Press, 1960-68), Vol. V, pp. 102-102]. Three years later he offered it +to his London publisher, also without success [James Fenimore Cooper to +Richard Bentley, Nov. 15, 1848, Vol. V, p. 390; and Richard Bentley to +James Fenimore Cooper, July 24, 1849, Vol. VI, p. 53.] What Graham's +Magazine finally paid, in 1851, is not known.} +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +THE LUMLEY AUTOGRAPH. +</H1> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BY THE AUTHOR OF "RURAL HOURS," ETC. +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<P CLASS="intro"> +[Not long since an American author received an application from a +German correspondent for "a few Autographs"—the number of names +applied for amounting to more than a hundred, and covering several +sheets of foolscap. A few years since an Englishman of literary note +sent his Album to a distinguished poet in Paris for his contribution, +when the volume was actually stolen from a room where every other +article was left untouched; showing that Autographs were more valuable +in the eyes of the thief than any other property. Amused with the +recollection of these facts, and others of the same kind, some idle +hours were given by the writer to the following view of this mania of +the day.] +</P> + +<P> +The month of November of the year sixteen hundred and — was cheerless +and dark, as November has never failed to be within the foggy, smoky +bounds of the great city of London. It was one of the worst days of the +season; what light there was seemed an emanation from the dull earth, +the heavens would scarce have owned it, veiled as they were, by an +opaque canopy of fog which weighed heavily upon the breathing multitude +below. Gloom penetrated every where; no barriers so strong, no good +influences so potent, as wholly to ward off the spell thrown over that +mighty town by the spirits of chill and damp; they clung to the silken +draperies of luxury, they were felt within the busy circle of industry, +they crept about the family hearth, but abroad in the public ways, and +in the wretched haunts of misery, they held undisputed sway. +</P> + +<P> +Among the throng which choked the passage of Temple-Bar toward evening, +an individual, shabbily clad, was dragging his steps wearily along, his +pallid countenance bearing an expression of misery beyond the more +common cares of his fellow-passengers. Turning from the great +thoroughfare he passed into a narrow lane, and reaching the door of a +mean dwelling he entered, ascended a dirty stairway four stories high, +and stood in his garret lodging. If that garret was bare, cold, and +dark, it was only like others, in which many a man before and since has +pined away years of neglect and penury, at the very moment when his +genius was cheering, enriching, enlightening his country and his race. +That the individual whose steps we have followed was indeed a man of +genius, could not be doubted by one who had met the glance of that +deep, clear, piercing eye, clouded though it was at that moment by +misery of body and mind that amounted to the extreme of anguish. The +garret of the stranger contained no food, no fuel, no light; its +occupant was suffering from cold, hunger, and wretchedness. Throwing +himself on a broken chair, he clenched his fingers over the manuscript, +held within a pale and emaciated hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I die of hunger—or shall I make one more effort?" he exclaimed, +in a voice in which bitterness gave a momentary power to debility. +</P> + +<P> +"I will write once more to my patron—possibly—" without waiting to +finish the sentence, he groped about in the dull twilight for ink and +paper; resting the sheet on a book, he wrote in a hand barely legible: +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Nov. 20th 16—, +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"MY LORD—I have no light, and cannot see to write—no fire and my +fingers are stiff with cold—I have not tasted food for eight and forty +hours, and I am faint. Three times, my lord, I have been at your door +to day, but could not obtain admittance. This note may yet reach you in +time to save a fellow-creature from starvation. I have not a farthing +left, nor credit for a ha'penny—small debts press upon me, and the +publishers refused my last poem. Unless relieved within a few hours I +must perish. +</P> + +<P CLASS="letter"> +"Your lordship's most humble,<BR> + "Most obedient, most grateful servant,<BR> + ———— ————"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +This letter, scarcely legible from the agitation and misery which +enfeebled the hand that wrote it, was folded, and directed, and again +the writer left his garret lodging on the errand of beggary; he +descended the narrow stairway, slowly dragged his steps through the +lane, and sought the dwelling of his patron. +</P> + +<P> +Whether he obtained admittance, or was again turned from the door; +whether his necessities were relieved, or the letter was idly thrown +aside unopened, we cannot say. Once more mingled with the crowd, we +lose sight of him. It is not the man, but the letter which engages our +attention to-day. There is still much doubt and uncertainty connected +with the subsequent fate of the poor poet, but the note written at that +painful moment has had a brilliant career, a history eventful +throughout. If the reader is partial to details of misery, and poverty, +any volume of general literary biography will furnish him with an +abundant supply, for such has too often proved the lot of those who +have built up the noble edifice of British Literature: like the band of +laborers on the Egyptian pyramid, theirs was too often a mess of leeks, +while milk, and honey, and oil, were the portion of those for whom they +toiled, those in whose honor, and for whose advantage the monument was +raised. Patrons, whether single individuals or nations, have too often +proved but indifferent friends, careless and forgetful of those whom +they proudly pretend to foster. But leaving the poor poet, with his +sorrows, to the regular biographer, we choose rather the lighter task +of relating the history of the letter itself; a man's works are often +preferred before himself, and it is believed that in this, the day of +autographs, no further apology will be needed for the course taken on +the present occasion. We hold ourselves, indeed, entitled to the +especial gratitude of collectors for the following sketch of a document +maintaining so high a rank in their estimation. +</P> + +<P> +And justly might the Lumley Letter claim a full share of literary +homage. Boasting a distinguished signature, it possessed the first +essential of a superior autograph; for, although a rose under any other +name may smell as sweet, yet it is clear that with regard to every +thing coming from the pen, whether folio or billet doux, imaginative +poem, or matter-of-fact note of hand, there is a vast deal in this +important item, which is often the very life and stamina of the whole +production. Then again, the subject of extreme want is one of general +interest, while the allusion to the unpublished poem must always prove +an especial attraction to the curious. Such were the intrinsic merits +of the document, in addition to which, sober Time lent his aid to +enhance its value, and capricious Fortune added a peculiar charm of +mystery, which few papers of the kind could claim to the same extent. +The appearance also of this interesting paper was always admitted to be +entirely worthy of its fame. The hand-writing fully carried out the +idea of extreme debility and agitation corresponding with its nature, +while a larger and a lesser blot bore painful testimony to that +recklessness of propriety which a starving man might be supposed to +feel; one corner had been ruthlessly abstracted at the time it was seen +by the writer of this notice, and with it the last figures of the date; +a considerable rent crossed the sheet from right to left, but happily +without injuring its contents; several punctures were also observed, +one of these encroaching very critically upon the signature. But I need +not add that these marks of age and harsh treatment, like the scars on +the face of a veteran, far from being blemishes, were acknowledged to +be so many additional embellishments. The coloring of the piece was of +that precious hue, verging here and there on the dingy, the very tint +most charming in the eyes of an antiquary, and which Time alone can +bestow. In fact, one rarely sees a relic of the kind, more perfect in +color, more expressive in its general aspect, or more becoming to an +album, from the fine contrast between its poverty-stricken air, torn, +worn, and soiled, and the rich, embossed, unsullied leaf on which it +reposed, like some dark Rembrandt within its gilded frame. In short, it +was the very Torso of autographs. Happily the position which it finally +attained was one worthy of its merits, and we could not have wished it +a more elegant shrine than the precious pages of the Holberton Album, a +volume encased in velvet, secured with jeweled clasps, reposing on a +tasteful etagere. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{etagere = small table or shelf for displaying curios (French)} +</P> + +<P> +But I proceed without further delay to relate some of the more +important steps in the progress of this interesting paper, from the +garret of the starving poet to the drawing-rooms of Holberton House, +merely observing by way of preface that the following notice may be +relied on so far as it goes, the writer—Colonel Jonathan Howard of +Trenton, New Jersey,—having had access to the very best authorities, +and having also had the honor of being enlisted in the service of the +Lumley Autograph upon an occasion of some importance, as will be shown +by the narrative. +</P> + +<P> +It was just one hundred years since, in 1745, that this celebrated +letter was first brought to light, from the obscurity in which it had +already lain some half a century, and which no subsequent research has +been able fully to clear away. In the month of August of that year, the +Rev. John Lumley, tutor to Lord G——, had the honor of discovering +this curious relic under the following circumstances. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Lumley was one day perched on the topmost step of a library ladder, +looking over a black letter volume of Hollinshed, from the well filled +shelves of his pupil. Suddenly he paused, and his antiquarian instincts +were aroused by the sight of a sheet of paper, yellow and time worn. He +seized it with the eagerness of a book-worm, and in so doing dropped +the volume of Hollinshed alarmingly near the wig-covered head of his +youthful pupil, who with closed eyes, and open mouth, lay reclining on +a sofa below. The book, grazing the curls of the young lord's wig, he +sprang up from his nap, alive and sound, though somewhat startled. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Hollinshed = Raphael Holinshed (d. 1580), famous writer of British +historical chronicles, used by Shakespeare as source for some of his +plays} +</P> + +<P> +"Hang it Lumley, what a rumpus you keep up among the books! You well +nigh drove that old volume into my head by a process more summary than +usual." +</P> + +<P> +The learned tutor made a thousand apologies, as he descended the +ladder, but on touching the floor his delight burst forth. +</P> + +<P> +"It was this paper, my lord, which made me so awkward—I have lighted +on a document of the greatest interest!" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" asked the pupil looking askance at letter, and tutor. +</P> + +<P> +"An original letter which comes to hand, just in time for my lives of +the tragedians—the volume to be dedicated to your lordship—it is a +letter of poor Otway." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Otway = Thomas Otway (1652-1685), English playwright who wrote a +number of important tragedies in verse, but who died destitute at the +age of 33. The Coopers were familiar with his work; James Fenimore +Cooper used quotations from Otway's "The Orphan" for three chapter +heading epigraphs in his 1850 novel, "The Ways of the Hour"} +</P> + +<P> +"Otway?—What, the fellow you were boring me about last night?" +</P> + +<P> +"The same my lord—the poet Otway—you may remember we saw his Venice +Preserved last week. It is a highly interesting letter, written in +great distress, and confirms the story of his starvation. You see the +signature." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Venice Preserved = a well-known play by Otway, written in 1682} +</P> + +<P> +"That name, Otway?—Well, to my mind it is as much like Genghis Khan." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, my lord!—Thomas Otway clearly—signatures are always more or less +confused. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, have it your own way.—It may be Tom, Dick, or Harry for all I +care," said the youth, stretching himself preparatory to a visit to his +kennels; and such was his indifference to this literary treasure that +he readily gave it to his tutor. In those days, few lords were literary. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Lumley's delight at this discovery, was very much increased by the +fact that he was at that moment anxious to bring out an edition of the +English Tragedians of the seventeenth century. The lives of several of +these authors had been already written by him, and he was at that +moment engaged on that of Otway. A noted publisher had taken the matter +into consideration, and if the undertaking gave promise of being both +palatable to the public, and profitable to himself, a prospectus was to +be issued. Now here was a little tit-bit which the public would +doubtless relish; for it was beginning to feel some interest in Otway's +starvation, the poet having been dead half a century. It is true that +the signature of the poor starving author, whoever he may have been, +was so illegible that it required some imagination to see in it, the +name of Otway, but Mr. Lumley had enough of the true antiquarian +spirit, to settle the point to his own entire satisfaction. The note +was accordingly introduced into the life of Otway, with which the +learned tutor was then engaged. The work itself, however, was not +destined to see the light; its publication was delayed, while Mr. +Lumley accompanied his pupil on the usual continental tour, and from +this journey the learned gentleman never returned, dying at Rome, of a +cold caught in the library of the Vatican. By his will, the MS. life of +Otway with all his papers, passed into the hands of his brother, an +officer in the army. Unfortunately, however, Captain Lumley, who was by +no means a literary character, proved extremely indifferent to this +portion of his brother's inheritance, which he treated with +contemptuous neglect. +</P> + +<P> +After this first stage on the road to fame, twenty more years passed +away and the letter of the starving poet was again forgotten. At length +the papers of the Rev. Mr. Lumley, fell into the hands of a nephew, who +inherited his uncle's antiquarian tastes, and clerical profession. In +looking over the MSS., he came to the life of Otway, and was struck +with the letter given there, never having met with it in print; there +was also a note appended to it with an account of the manner in which +it had been discovered by the editor, in the library of Lord G——, and +affirming that it was still in his own possession. The younger Lumley +immediately set to work to discover the original letter, but his search +was fruitless; it was not to be found either among the papers of his +uncle, or those of his father. It was gone. He was himself a tutor at +Cambridge at the time, and returning to the university, he carried with +him his uncle's life of Otway, in MS. Some little curiosity was at +first excited among his immediate companions by these facts, but it +soon settled down into an opinion unfavorable to the veracity of the +late Mr. Lumley.—This nettled the nephew; and as Lord G——, was still +living, a gouty bloated roue, he at length wrote to inquire if his +lordship knew any thing of the matter. His lordship was too busy, or +too idle, to answer the inquiry. Some time later, however, the younger +Lumley, then a chaplain in the family of a relative of Lord G——'s, +accidentally met his uncle's former pupil, and being of a persevering +disposition, he ventured to make a personal application on the subject. +</P> + +<P> +"Now you recall the matter to me, Mr. Lumley, I do recollect something +of the kind. I remember one day, giving my tutor some musty old letter +he found in the library at G——; and by the bye he came near cracking +my skull on the same occasion!" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Lumley was not a little pleased by this confirmation of the story, +though he found that Lord G—— had not even read the letter, nor did +he know any thing of its subsequent fate; he only remembered looking at +the signature. Not long after the meeting at which this explanation had +taken place, Mr. Lumley received a visit from a stranger, requesting to +see the MS. Life of Otway in his possession. It was handed to him; he +examined it, and was very particular in his inquiries on the subject, +giving the chaplain to understand that he was the agent of a third +person who wished to purchase either the original letter if possible, +or if that could not be found, the MS. containing the copy. Mr. Lumley +always believed that the employer of this applicant was no other than +that arch-gatherer, Horace Walpole, who gave such an impulse to the +collecting mania; he declined selling the work, however, for he had +thoughts of printing it himself. The application was mentioned by him, +and, of course, the manuscript gained notoriety, while the original +letter became a greater desideratum than ever. The library at G—— was +searched most carefully by a couple of brother book-worms, who crept +over it from cornice to carpeting; but to no purpose. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Horace Walpole = Horace Walpole (1717-1797), a prolific writer, +connoisseur, and collector, best known for his extensive +correspondence; he established a taste for literary collecting by +would-be cultured gentlemen in England} +</P> + +<P> +Some ten years later still—about the time, by the bye, when +Chatterton's career came to such a miserable close in London, and when +Gilbert was dying in a hospital at Paris—it happened that a worthy +physician, well known in the town of Southampton for his benevolence +and eccentricity, was on a professional visit to the child of a poor +journeyman trunk-maker, in the same place. A supply of old paper had +just been brought in for the purpose of lining trunks, according to the +practice of the day. A workman was busy sorting these, rejecting some +as refuse, and preserving others, when the doctor stopped to answer an +inquiry about the sick child. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Chatterton = Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770), British poet, who created +an imaginary Thomas Rowley, a supposed medieval monk, to whom he +ascribed some of his poems. Chatterton committed suicide at the age of +18 when a poem of his, allegedly by Rowley, was rejected; he was buried +in a pauper's grave. Susan Fenimore Cooper no doubt has this in mind in +naming a character in this story Theodosia Rowley. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Gilbert = Nicolas Gilbert (1751-1780), French poet, who died in Paris +at the age of 29. The French writer Count Alfred de Vigny (1797-1863), +in his book of essays "Stello" (1832), popularized a legend that +Gilbert had died insane and in abject poverty at the charity hospital +of the Hotel Dieu in Paris, and compared his miserable end with that of +Chatteron; it seems likely that Vigny, whose book appeared while Susan +Fenimore Cooper was studying in Paris, was her source for this +reference to Gilbert. In fact, Gilbert was not impoverished, and died +of injuries after falling from his horse} +</P> + +<P> +"Better, Hopkins—doing well. But what have you here? I never see old +papers but I have an inclination to look them over. If a man has +leisure, he may often pick up something amusing among such rubbish. +Don't you ever read the papers that pass through your hands?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, sir—I 'as no time for that, sir. And then I was never taught to +read writing, and these 'ere papers is all written ones. We puts them +that's written for one trunk, and them that's printed for another, as +you see, sir; one must have a heye to the looks of the work." +</P> + +<P> +"Why yes—you seem to manage the job very well; and I have a trunk, by +the bye, that wants patching up before my boy carries it off with him; +I'll send it round to you; Hopkins. But stay—what's this?" and the +doctor took up a soiled, yellow sheet of paper, from the heap rejected +by the workman; it contained a scrawl which proved to be the identical +letter of the poor poet, the Lumley autograph, though in what manner it +became mingled with that heap of rubbish has never been satisfactorily +ascertained. +</P> + +<P> +"Here's a poor fellow who had a hard fate, Hopkins," said the +benevolent man, thoughtfully. "It is as good as a sermon on charity to +read that letter." +</P> + +<P> +The trunk-maker begged to hear it. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, poor journeyman as I be, I was never yet in so bad a way as +that, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"And never will be, I hope; but this was a poet, Hopkins—and that's +but an indifferent trade to live by. I'll tell you what, my good +friend," said the doctor, suddenly, "that letter is worth keeping, and +you may paste it in the trunk I'll send round this afternoon—put it in +the lid, where it can be read." +</P> + +<P> +The trunk was sent, and the letter actually pasted in it as part of the +new lining. Dr. H——, who, as we have observed, was rather eccentric +in his ways, had a son about to commence his career as a soldier; and +the worthy man thought the letter might teach the youth a useful lesson +of moderation and temperance, by showing him every time he opened his +trunk, the extreme of want to which his fellow beings were occasionally +reduced. What success followed the plan we cannot say. The trunk, +however, shared the young soldier's wandering life; it carried the +cornet's uniform to America; it was besieged in Boston; and it made +part of the besieging baggage at Charleston. It was not destined, +however, to remain in the new world, but followed its owner to the East +Indies, carrying on this second voyage, a lieutenant's commission. At +length, after passing five-and-twenty years in Bengal, the trunk +returned again to Southampton, as one among some dozen others which +made up the baggage of the gallant Colonel H——, now rich in laurels +and rupees. The old trunk had even the honorable duty assigned it of +carrying its master's trophies, doubtless the most precious portion of +the colonel's possessions, though at the same time the lightest; as for +the rupees, the old worn-out box would have proved quite unequal to +transporting a single bag of them, for it was now sadly unfit for +service, thanks to the ravages of time and the white ants; and, indeed, +owed its preservation and return to its native soil solely to the +letter pasted in the lid, which, in the eyes of Colonel H——, was a +memento of home, and the eccentric character of a deceased parent. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{cornet = the lowest officer rank in a British cavalry regiment, below +that of Lieutenant; now obsolete} +</P> + +<P> +The time had now come, however, when the Lumley autograph was about to +emerge forever from obscurity, and receive the full homage of +collectors; the hour of triumph was at hand, the neglect of a century +was to be fully repaid by the highest honors of fame. The eye of beauty +was about to kindle as it rested on the Lumley autograph; jeweled +fingers were to be raised, eager to snatch the treasure from each +other; busy literati stood ready armed for a war of controversy in its +behalf. +</P> + +<P> +It happened that Colonel H—— was invited to a fancy ball; and it also +happened that the lady whom he particularly admired, was to be present +on the occasion. Such being the case, the most becoming costume was to +be selected for the evening. What if the locks of the gallant colonel +were slightly sprinkled with gray? He was still a handsome man, and +knew very well that the dress of an eastern aymeer was particularly +well suited to his face and figure. This dress, preserved in a certain +old trunk in the garret, was accordingly produced. The trunk was +brought down to the dressing-room, the costume examined piece by piece, +pronounced in good condition by the valet, and declared very becoming +by the military friend called in as counsellor. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{aymeer = Emir; a Muslim title signifying commander in Arabic} +</P> + +<P> +"But what a queer old box this is, H——," said Major D——, eyeing the +trunk through his glass. +</P> + +<P> +"It's one I've had these hundred years," replied the colonel. "So you +think this trumpery will do, D——?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do? To be sure it will, my dear fellow—it gives your Milesian skin +the true Nawaub dye. But I was just trying to make out an old letter +pasted in the lid of your trunk, under my nose here. Is this the way +you preserve your family archives?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Milesian = slang term for Irish, from Milesius, mythical Spanish +conqueror of Ireland; Nawaub = from Nabob, Anglo-Indian slang for one +who has returned home from India with a large fortune} +</P> + +<P> +"That letter is really a curiosity in its way," said the colonel, +turning from the glass and relating its history, so far at least as it +was known to himself. +</P> + +<P> +His friend spelt it through. +</P> + +<P> +"My dear fellow, why don't you give this letter to the father of your +fair Louisa; he's quite rabid on such points; you'll make him a friend +for life by it!" +</P> + +<P> +The advice was followed. The letter was cut from its old position in +the lid of the trunk, and presented to Sir John Blank, the father of +the lovely Louisa, who, in his turn, soon placed the hand of his +daughter in that of Colonel H——. +</P> + +<P> +Sir John, a noted follower in the steps of Horace Walpole, had no +sooner become the owner of this interesting letter, than he set to work +to find out its origin, and to fill up its history. Unfortunately, the +sheet had received some wounds in the wars, as well as the gallant +colonel. One corner had been carried away by an unlucky thrust from a +razor—not a sword; while the date and signature had also been half +eaten out by the white ants of Bengal. But such difficulties as these +were only pleasing obstacles in the way of antiquarian activity. Sir +John had soon formed an hypothesis perfectly satisfactory to himself. +His mother's name was Butler, and he claimed some sort of affinity with +the author of Hudibras; as the Christian name of the poor poet had been +almost entirely devoured by the ants, while the surname had also +suffered here and there, Sir John ingeniously persuaded himself that +what remained had clearly belonged to the signature of the great +satirist; as for the date, the abbreviation of "Nov. 20th." and the +figures 16— marking the century, were really tolerably distinct. +Accordingly, Sir John wrote a brief notice of Butler's Life, dwelling +much upon his well-known poverty, and quoting his epitaph, with the +allusion to his indigence underscored, "lest he who living wanted all +things, should, when dead, want a tomb," and placed these remarks +opposite the letter of our starving poet, which was registered in the +volume in conspicuous characters as an "Autograph of Samuel Butler, +author of Hudibras, showing to what distress he was at one time +reduced." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Samuel Butler (1612-1680), another English author popularly believed +to have died in great poverty; he is best known for his long satiric +mock-epic poem, "Hudibras" (1663-1678)} +</P> + +<P> +Here the sheet remained several years, until at length it chanced that +Sir John's volume of autographs was placed in the hands of a gentleman +who had recently read Mr. Lumley's MS. Life of Otway. The identity of +this letter, with that copied by Mr. Lumley, immediately suggested +itself; and now the first sparks of controversy between the Otwaysians +and the Butlerites were struck in Sir John's library. +</P> + +<P> +From thence they soon spread to the four winds of heaven, falling on +combustible materials wherever they lighted on a literary head, or +collecting hands. +</P> + +<P> +By the bye, the rapidity with which this collecting class has increased +of late years is really alarming; who can foresee the state of things +likely to exist in the next century, should matters go on at the same +rate? Reflect for a moment on the probable condition of distinguished +authors, lions of the loudest roar, if the number of autograph-hunters +were to increase beyond what it is at present. Is it not to be feared +that they will yet exterminate the whole race, that the great lion +literary, like the mastodon, will become extinct? Or, perhaps, by +taming him down to a mere producer of autographs, his habits will +change so entirely that he will no longer be the same animal, no longer +bear a comparison with the lion of the past. On the other hand should +the great race become extinct, what will be the fate of the family of +autograph-feeders? What a fearful state of things would ensue, even in +our day, were the supply to be reduced but a quire! The heart sickens +at the picture which would then be presented—collectors turning on +each other, waging a fierce war over every autographic scrap, making a +battle-field of every social circle. Happily, nature seems always to +keep up the balance in such matters, and it is a consoling reflection +that if the million are now consumers, so have they become producers of +autographs; it is therefore probable that the evil will work its own +remedy; and we may hope that the great writers of the next century will +be shielded in some measure by the diversion made in their favor +through the lighter troops of the lion corps. +</P> + +<P> +As for the full merits of the controversy so hotly waged over the +Lumley autograph between the Otwaysians and the Butlerites, dividing +the collecting world into two rival parties, we shall not here enter +into it. In all such matters it is better to go at once to the fountain +head; if the reader is curious on the subject, as doubtless he must be, +he is referred to one octavo and five duodecimo volumes, with fifty +pamphlets which have left little to say on the point. Let it not be +supposed, however, for an instant, that the writer of this article is +himself undecided in his opinion on this question. By no means; and he +hastens to repel the unjust suspicion, by declaring himself one of the +warmest Otwaysians. It is true that he has some private grounds for +believing that a dispassionate inquiry might lead one to doubt whether +Otway or Butler ever saw the Lumley autograph; but what of that, who +has time or inclination for dispassionate investigation in these +stirring days! In the present age of universal enlightenment, we don't +trouble ourselves to make up our opinions—we take and give them, we +beg, borrow, and steal them. True, there are controversies involving +matters so important in their consequences, so serious in their nature, +that one might conceive either indifference or fanaticism equally +inexcusable with regard to them; but there are also a thousand other +subjects of discussion, at the present day, of that peculiar character +which can only thrive when supported by passion and prejudice, and +falling in with a dispute of this nature, it is absolutely necessary to +jump at once into fanaticism. Accordingly, I had no sooner obtained a +glimpse of the letter of the starving poet, embalmed within the +precious leaves of one of the most noted albums of Europe, than I +immediately enlisted under Lady Holberton's colors as a faithful +Otwaysian. With that excellent lady I take a tragical view of the +Lumley Letter, conceiving that a man must be blind as a bat, not to see +that it was written by the author of Venice Preserved, and this in +spite of other celebrated collectors, who find in the same sheet so +much that is comical and Hudibrastic. Strange that any man in his +senses should hold such an opinion—yet the Butlerites number strong, +some of them are respectable people, too; more's the pity that such +should be the case. +</P> + +<P> +As we have already observed, the controversy began in the library of +Sir John Blank, and it continued throughout the life-time of that +excellent and well-known collector. At his death, a few years since, it +passed into the hands of his daughter, the widow of Colonel H——; and +it will be readily imagined that although the main question is still as +much undecided as ever, yet the value of the document itself has been +immeasurably increased by a controversy of twenty years standing, on +its merits. I wish I could add that the fortune of Colonel H—— had +augmented in the same proportion; but, unhappily for his widow, the +reverse was the case; and it was owing to this combination of +circumstances that Lady Holberton at length obtained possession of the +Lumley Autograph. Mrs. H—— became very desirous of procuring for her +eldest son a cornetcy in the regiment once commanded by his father; as +she was now too poor to purchase, the matter required management and +negotiation. How it was brought about I cannot exactly say. Suffice it +to declare that the young man received his commission, through the +influence of Lady Holberton, in a high military quarter, while the +Lumley Autograph was placed on a distinguished leaf of that lady's +velvet-bound, jewel-clasped album. +</P> + +<P> +It so happened that I dined at Holberton-House on the eventful day upon +which the Lumley letter changed owners. I saw immediately, on entering +the drawing-room, that Lady Holberton was in excellent spirits; she +received me very graciously, and spoke of her son, with whom I had just +traveled between Paris and Algiers. +</P> + +<P> +"Wish me joy, Mr. Howard!" exclaimed the lady after a short +conversation. +</P> + +<P> +Of course I was very happy to do so, and replied by some remarks on the +recent success of her friends in a parliamentary measure, just then +decided—Lady Holberton being a distinguished politician. But I soon +found it was to some matter of still higher moment she then alluded. +</P> + +<P> +"I never had a doubt as to our success in the house, last night—no; +rather wish me joy that I have at last triumphed in a negotiation of +two years standing. The Lumley Autograph is mine, Mr. Howard! The +letter of poor Otway, actually written in the first stages of +starvation—only conceive its value!" +</P> + +<P> +Other guests arriving I was obliged to make way, not however, before +Lady Holberton had promised me a sight of her recent acquisition, in +the evening. In the mean time I fully entered into her satisfaction, +for I had already seen her album in Paris, and heard her sigh for this +very addition to its treasures. During dinner the important +intelligence that the Lumley letter was her own, was imparted to the +company generally. +</P> + +<P> +"I knew it! I was sure of it from her smile, the moment I entered the +room!" exclaimed Mr. T—— the distinguished collector, who sat next me. +</P> + +<P> +Another guest, Miss Rowley, also a collecting celebrity, was sitting +opposite, and turned so pale at the moment, that I was on the point of +officiously recommending a glass of water. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you albums in America, Mr. Howard?" inquired a charming young +lady on my right. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no lack of them, I assure you,"—I replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Really! Adela, Mr. Howard tells me they have albums in America!" +repeated the young lady to a charming sister, near her; while on my +left I had the satisfaction of hearing some gratifying remarks from Mr. +T——, as to the state of civilization in my native country, as shown +by such a fact. +</P> + +<P> +"And what are your albums like?" again inquired my lovely neighbor. +</P> + +<P> +"Not like Lady Holberton's, perhaps—but pretty well for a young +nation." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh dear—not like Lady Holberton's of course—hers is quite unique—so +full of nice odd things. But are your albums in America at all like +ours?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why yes! we get most of them from Paris and London." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh dear! how strange—but don't you long to see this new treasure of +Lady Holberton's—that dear nice letter of Otway's, written while he +was starving?" inquired the charming Emily, helping herself to a bit of +pate de Perigord. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{pate de Perigord = an expensive French delicacy: goose liver pate with +truffles.} +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I am exceedingly curious to see it." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't believe it was written by that coarse, vulgar Butler, do +you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed,—it is the pathetic Otway's, beyond a doubt!" +</P> + +<P> +My neighbor, the Butlerite, gave a contemptuous shrug, but I paid him +no attention, preferring to coincide with the soft eyes on my right, +rather than dispute with the learned spectacles to the left. +</P> + +<P> +After dinner when we had done full justice to the bill of fare, +concluding with pines, grapes, and Newtown pippins, we were all +gratified with a sight of the poor poet's letter, by way of bonne +bouche. A little volume written by Lady Holberton—printed but not +published—relating its past history from the date of its discovery in +the library of Lord G——, her grandfather, to the present day, passed +from hand to hand, and this review of its various adventures of course +only added force to the congratulations offered upon the acquisition of +this celebrated autograph. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{pine = pineapple. Newtown pippin = a green, tart, tangy American +apple, originally from Long Island, a favorite of George Washington and +Thomas Jefferson; bonne bouche = a tasty morsel (French)} +</P> + +<P> +While the company were succeeding each other in offering their homage +to the great album, my attention was called off by a tap on the +shoulder from a friend, who informed me that Miss Rowley, a very +clever, handsome woman of a certain age, had expressed a wish to make +my acquaintance. I was only too happy to be presented. After a very +gracious reception, and an invitation to a party for the following +evening, Miss Rowley observed: +</P> + +<P> +"You have Autographs, in America, I understand, Mr. Howard." +</P> + +<P> +"Both autographs and collectors," I replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Really! Perhaps you are a collector yourself?" continued the lady, +with an indescribable expression, half interest, half disappointment. +</P> + +<P> +"No—merely a humble admirer of the labors of others." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," added the lady, more blandly, "perhaps you will be good-natured +enough to assist me." +</P> + +<P> +And, after a suspicious glance toward the spot where Lady Holberton and +Mr. T—— were conversing together, she adroitly placed herself in a +position to give to our conversation the privacy of a diplomatic +tete-a-tete. +</P> + +<P> +"Could you possibly procure me some American autographs for my +collection? I find a few wanting under the American head—perhaps a +hundred or two." +</P> + +<P> +I professed myself ready to do any thing in my power in so good a cause. +</P> + +<P> +"Here is my list; I generally carry it about me. You will see those +that are wanting, and very possibly may suggest others." +</P> + +<P> +And as the lady spoke she drew from her pocket a roll of paper as long, +and as well covered with names as any minority petition to Congress. +However, I had lived too much among collectors of late to be easily +dismayed. The list was headed by Black Hawk. I expressed my fears that +the gallant warrior's ignorance of letters might prove an obstacle to +obtaining any thing from his pen. I volunteered however to procure +instead, something from a Cherokee friend of mine, the editor of a +newspaper. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Black Hawk = Black Hawk (1767-1838), an American Indian (Sac) +chieftain, defeated by the U.S. Army in 1832, whose "Autobiography" +(1833) became an American classic.} +</P> + +<P> +"How charming!" exclaimed Miss Rowley, clasping her hands. "How very +obliging of you, Mr. Howard. Are you fond of shooting? My brother's +preserves are in fine order—or perhaps you are partial to yachting—" +</P> + +<P> +Bowing my thanks for these amiable hints, I carelessly observed that +the letter of the Cherokee editor was no sacrifice at all, for the +chief and myself were regular correspondents; I had a dozen of his +letters, and had just given one to Mr. T——. This intelligence +evidently lessened Miss Rowley's excessive gratitude. She continued her +applications, however, casting an eye on her list. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you correspond also with some rowdies, Mr. Howard? Could you +oblige me with a rowdy letter?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{rowdies = in the mid-nineteenth century, an American slang term for +backwoodsmen or other rough and disorderly types} +</P> + +<P> +I drew up a little at this request; my correspondents, I assured the +lady, were generally men of respectability, though one of them was of a +savage race. +</P> + +<P> +"No doubt; but in the way of autographs, you know, one would correspond +with—" +</P> + +<P> +The sentence remained unfinished, for the lady added, +</P> + +<P> +"I wrote myself to Madame Laffarge, not long since. I am sorry to say +Lady Holberton has two of hers; but although an excellent person in +most respects, yet it cannot be denied that as regards autographs, Lady +Holberton is very illiberal. I offered her Grizzel Baillie, two +Cardinals, William Pitt, and Grace Darling, for one of her Laffarges; +but she would not part with it. Yet the exchange was very fair, +especially as Madame Laffarge is still living." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Madame Laffarge = Marie Lafarge (1816-1853), French woman convicted in +1840 for poisoning her husband; later pardoned. Grizzel Baillie = Lady +Grizel Baillie (1665-1746), Scottish poet. William Pitt = either +William Pitt "the Elder" (1708-1778) or William Pitt "the Younger" +(1759-1806), both British Prime Ministers. Grace Darling = Grace +Darling (1815-1842), English heroine and lighthouse keeper's daughter, +famous for her rescue of castaways in 1838.} +</P> + +<P> +I bowed an assent to the remark. +</P> + +<P> +"And then she herself actually once made proposals for Schinderhannes, +to a friend of mine, offering Howard, the philanthropist, Talma, +William Penn, and Fenelon for him—all commonplace enough, you +know—and Schinderhannes quite unique. My friend was indignant!" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Schinderhannes = German bandit chief, executed in 1803. Howard = John +Howard (1726-1790), English philanthropist and prison reformer. Talma = +Francois Talma (1763-1826), popular French playwright. William Penn +(1644-1718), Quaker founder of Pennsylvania. Fenelon = Francois Fenelon +(1651-1715), French Archbishop and writer} +</P> + +<P> +I ventured to excuse Lady Holberton by suggesting that probably at the +time her stock of notabilities was low. +</P> + +<P> +Miss Rowley shook her head, and curled her lip, as if she fancied the +lady had only been seeking to drive a hard bargain. +</P> + +<P> +"On one point, however, I have carried the day, Mr. Howard. Lady +Holberton is not a little proud of her Vidocq; but I have obtained one +far superior to hers, one addressed to myself so piquant and gallant +too. I called on the dear old burglar on purpose to coax him into +writing me a note." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Vidocq = Francois Vidocq (1775-1857), French police detective who +turned robber, and was exposed in 1832.} +</P> + +<P> +I wondered, in petto, whether I should meet any illustrious convicts at +Miss Rowley's party the next evening; but remembering to have heard her +called an exclusive, it did not seem very probable. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{in petto = silently, to oneself (Latin)} +</P> + +<P> +After running her eye over the list again, Miss Rowley made another +inquiry. +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Howard, could you get me something from an American Colonel?" +</P> + +<P> +I assured the lady we had colonels of all sorts, and begged to know +what particular variety she had placed on her catalogue—was it an +officer of the regular service, or one of no service at all? +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, the last, certainly—officers who have seen service are so +commonplace!" +</P> + +<P> +My own pen was immediately placed at Miss Rowley's disposal, as my +sword would have been, had I owned one. As I had been called colonel a +hundred times without having commanded a regiment once, my own name was +as good as any other on the present occasion. +</P> + +<P> +"You are very obliging. Since you are so good, may I also trouble you +to procure me a line from a very remarkable personage of your +country—a very distinguished man—he has been President, or Speaker of +the Senate, or something of that sort." +</P> + +<P> +To which of our head men did Miss Rowley allude? +</P> + +<P> +"He is called Uncle Sam, I believe." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Uncle Sam = "Uncle Sam" became a popular personification of the United +States during the War of 1812, replacing Brother Jonathan, and was +often used in contradistinction to the British "John Bull"} +</P> + +<P> +This was not so easy a task, for though we have thousands of colonels, +there is but one Uncle Sam in the world. On hearing that such was the +case, Miss Rowley's anxiety on the subject increased immeasurably; but +I assured her the old gentleman only put his name to treaties, and +tariffs; and although his sons were wonderfully gallant, yet he himself +had never condescended to notice any woman but a queen regnant: and I +further endeavored to give some idea of his identity. Miss Rowley +stopped me short, however. +</P> + +<P> +"Only procure me one line from him, Mr. Howard, and I shall be indebted +to you for life. It will be time enough to find out all about him when +I once have his name—that is the essential thing." +</P> + +<P> +I shrunk from committing myself, however; declaring that I would as +soon engage to procure a billet-doux from Prester John. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Prester John = Mythical ruler believed in the Middle Ages to head a +powerful Christian Kingdom somewhere in Asia; later identified with the +Christian Kings of Ethiopia in Africa} +</P> + +<P> +"Prester John! That would, indeed, be quite invaluable!" +</P> + +<P> +This Asiatic diversion was a happy one, and came very apropos, for it +carried Miss Rowley into China; she inquired if I had any Chinese +connections. +</P> + +<P> +"Though altogether, I am pretty well satisfied with my Chinese +negotiations; as soon as the Celestial Empire was opened to the +civilized world, I engaged an agent there to collect for me. But, could +you put me on the track of a Confucius?" +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{opened to the civilized world = following the so-called Opium War, +Britain had in 1842 forced China to open trade with her} +</P> + +<P> +I was obliged to admit my inability to do so; and at the same moment +the collecting instincts of Lady Holberton and Mr. T——, drew their +attention to the corner where Miss Rowley and myself were conversing; +as they moved toward us, Miss Rowley pocketed her list, throwing +herself upon my honor not to betray the deficiencies in her role +d'equipage, or the collecting negociations just opened between us. Lady +Holberton, as she advanced, invited Miss Rowley, with an ill-concealed +air of triumph, to feast her eyes once more on the Lumley autograph, +and not long after the party broke up. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{role d'equipage = muster roll (French); here, Miss Rowley's list of +her autographs} +</P> + +<P> +The next day, in passing Holberton-House, I observed the chariot of a +fashionable physician before the door; and at Miss Rowley's party in +the evening learned from Mr. T—— that Lady Holberton was quite +unwell. The following morning I called to inquire, and received for +answer that "her ladyship was very much indisposed." It was not until a +week later that I saw Lady Holberton herself, taking the air in Hyde +Park. She looked wretchedly—thin and pale. I inquired from the English +friend with whom I was riding, if there was any probability of a change +of ministry? He looked surprised; and then catching the direction of my +eye, he observed, +</P> + +<P> +"You ask on Lady Holberton's account; but Sir A—— B—— tells me her +illness was caused by the loss of the Lumley Autograph." +</P> + +<P> +This unexpected intelligence proved only too true. On returning to my +lodgings, I found a note from Lady Holberton, requesting to see me, +and, of course, immediately obeyed the summons. +</P> + +<P> +"Lost!—lost!—lost! Mr. Howard!" said the lady, endeavoring to conceal +her emotion, as she gave me the details of her affliction. +</P> + +<P> +"It must have been stolen—basely stolen—on the evening of my party. +Oh! why did I so foolishly exhibit it among so many people, and +collectors among them, too! Never again will I admit more than one +collector at a time into the room with my album!" she exclaimed with +energy. +</P> + +<P> +I was shocked; surely Lady Holberton did not conceive it possible that +any of her guests could be guilty of such base conduct? +</P> + +<P> +"How little you know them! But it is that, Mr. Howard, which has +interested me in your favor—you have so much naivete, and ignorance of +the moral turpitude of the old world, that I feel convinced you never +could be guilty of such an action yourself." +</P> + +<P> +I assured Lady Holberton that in this respect she only did me justice; +and, in fact, a theft of the kind she alluded to appeared to me all but +incredible. +</P> + +<P> +"Remember that it was only the other day that —— lost his invaluable +album; remember that last winter Madame de —— had all her notes on +botanical subjects stolen from her own portfolio—and I could mention a +dozen instances of the same wickedness." +</P> + +<P> +These facts were already known to me, but I had forgotten them. I +remarked with a glow of national pride, that we certainly were much +more virtuous in these matters across the ocean; in America we are much +above pilfering autographs; when we do steal, it is by the volume—we +seize all an author's stock in trade at one swoop, and without +condescending to say even, thank ye, for it. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{author's stock in trade = though ostensibly referring to the stealing +of autographs, Susan Fenimore Cooper is also clearly referring to the +widespread pirating of British and other foreign literary works by +American publishers, in the absence of international copyright +laws—which not only cheated the authors, but made life difficult for +American authors expecting to be paid for their creations} +</P> + +<P> +"So I have always understood, Mr. Howard—and I felt that my album was +safe with you," observed Lady Holberton, with tears in her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Wishing to relieve this distress, I proposed advertising for the lost +treasure—applying to the police. +</P> + +<P> +Lady Holberton smiled through her tears, as she assured me that the +police, old and new, had been enlisted in her service an hour after the +discovery of her loss, while communications had been opened with the +municipal governments of Brussels, Paris, and Vienna, on the same +subject. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{police, old and new = the first modern English police force had been +established in 1829 by Sir Robert Peel — from which the British +nickname of "bobby" for policeman.} +</P> + +<P> +"And have you no clue, no suspicions?—your servants—your maid?" +</P> + +<P> +The aspersion on her household was indignantly repelled. +</P> + +<P> +"You will readily believe, Mr. Howard, that a collector, the owner of +such an album as I have the honor of possessing, is particularly +careful as to whom she admits into her family. I will vouch for all +about me; still I have suspicions—but—" +</P> + +<P> +I begged her to speak, if she thought I could be of the least +assistance. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I will trust my son's friend. Mr. Howard, I here solemnly accuse +Theodosia Rowley of having stolen the Lumley Autograph!" +</P> + +<P> +The dignity of manner, the concentrated passion of expression, the +strength of emphasis with which Lady Holberton spoke, would have done +honor to a Siddons. The natural start of horror and amazement on my +part, was also, no doubt, very expressive—for I was speechless with +surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"I see you do not credit this," continued the lady. +</P> + +<P> +But thought, like a flash of lightning, had already recalled some +circumstances of the last evening at Holberton-House. I did credit the +accusation, and immediately informed Lady Holberton of what I had +observed, but forgotten, until reminded of the facts by her own +remarks. I had seen Miss Rowley, bending low over the album at a moment +when some one was telling an exceedingly humorous story which engrossed +the attention of the rest of the company. +</P> + +<P> +"Could she have had an accomplice?" cried the lady, with dashing eyes. +</P> + +<P> +I knew nothing on that point. But, I added, that soon after Miss Rowley +had left the room very quietly; and as I followed her to fulfill +another engagement, she had started, turned pale, and betrayed much +nervousness, scarcely allowing me to assist her to her carriage, +although we left the house at the same instant. +</P> + +<P> +Lady Holberton's suspicions were now confirmed beyond a doubt. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet it seems incredible that any lady should be guilty of such +conduct!" I exclaimed, almost repenting having allowed the previous +remarks to pass my lips. "Miss Rowley is undoubtedly a woman of +principle—or good moral standing." +</P> + +<P> +"Moral standing!—principle!" exclaimed Lady Holberton, bitterly. "Yes, +where an autograph is concerned, Theodosia Rowley has all the principle +of a Magpie." +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Magpie = European bird known for stealing and hiding small bright +objects.} +</P> + +<P> +Whatever might have been the fact, it was clear at least that Lady +Holberton's opinion was now unalterably made up. +</P> + +<P> +"Remember, she is a Butlerite!" added the lady, thus putting the last +touch to the circumstantial evidence against Miss Rowley. +</P> + +<P> +Weeks passed by. The advertisements remained unanswered. The police +could give no information. Lady Holberton was in despair; the +physicians declared that her health must eventually give way under the +anxiety and disappointment consequent upon this melancholy affair. Much +sympathy was felt for the afflicted lady; even Miss Rowley called often +to condole, but she was never admitted. +</P> + +<P> +"I could not see the crocodile!" exclaimed Lady Holberton, quite thrown +off her guard one day, by the sight of Miss Rowley's card which she +threw into the fire. +</P> + +<P> +Some consolation, however, appeared to be derived from the assiduous +attentions of Mr. T——, who personally admired Lady Holberton; at +least he professed to do so, though some persons accused him of +interested views, and aiming at her album rather than herself. But +although his attentions were received, yet nothing could afford full +consolation. At length, all other means failing, at the end of a month, +it was proposed that two persons, mutual friends of Lady Holberton and +Miss Rowley, should call on the latter lady, and appeal privately to +her sense of honor, to restore the autograph if it were actually in her +possession. This plan was finally agreed on; but the very day it was to +have been carried into execution, Miss Rowley left town for an +excursion in Finland. +</P> + +<P> +As for myself, I was also on the wing, and left London about the same +time. The parting with Lady Holberton was melancholy; she was much +depressed, and the physicians had recommended the waters of Wiesbaden. +Mr. T—— was also preparing for an excursion to Germany; and he was +suspected of vacillating in his Butlerite views, brought over by Lady +Holberton's tears and logic. +</P> + +<P> +Returning to London, some three months later, I found many of my former +acquaintances were absent; but Lady Holberton, Miss Rowley, and Mr. +T—— were all in town again. The day after I arrived—it was Tuesday +the 20th of August—as I was walking along Piccadilly, about five +o'clock in the afternoon, my eye fell on the windows of Mr. Thorpe's +great establishment. I was thinking over his last catalogue of +autographs, when I happened to observe a plain, modest-looking young +girl casting a timid glance at the door. There was something anxious +and hesitating in her manner, which attracted my attention. Accustomed, +like most Americans, to assist a woman in any little difficulty, and +with notions better suited perhaps to the meridian of Yankee-land than +that of London, I asked if she were in any trouble. How richly was I +rewarded for the act of good-nature! She blushed and courtesied. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Tuesday, 20th of August = does this date the final composition of "The +Lumley Autograph" or of its setting? August 20 fell on a Tuesday in +1844 and 1850} +</P> + +<P> +"Please, sir, is it true that they pay money for old letters at this +place?" +</P> + +<P> +"They do—have you any thing of the kind to dispose of?" +</P> + +<P> +Judge of my gratification, my amazement, when she produced the Lumley +Autograph! +</P> + +<P> +Of course I instantly took it, at her own price—only half a +guinea—and I further gave her Lady Holberton's address, that she might +claim the liberal reward promised far the precious letter. Tears came +into the poor child's eyes when she found what awaited her, and I may +as well observe at once that this young girl proved to be the daughter +of a poor bed-ridden artisan of Clapham, who had seen better days, but +was then in great want. It is an ill-wind that blows no good luck, and +the contest for the Lumley Autograph was a great advantage to the poor +artisan and his family. The girl had picked up the paper early one +morning, in a road near Clapham, as she was going to her work; Lady +Holberton gave her a handful of guineas as the promised reward—a sum +by the bye just double in amount what the poor poet had received for +his best poem—and she also continued to look after the family in their +troubles. +</P> + +<P> +But to return to the important document itself. Never can I forget the +expressive gratitude that beamed on the fine countenance of Lady +Holberton when I restored it once more to her possession. She rapidly +recovered her health and spirits, and it was generally reported that +seizing this favorable moment, Mr. T—— had offered himself and his +collection, and that both had been graciously accepted. Miss Rowley +called and a sort of paix platree was made up between the ladies. A +cargo of American autographs arrived containing the letter of the +Cherokee editor, the sign-manual of governors and colonels without +number, and I even succeeded in obtaining epistles from several noted +rowdies, especially to gratify the ladies. Lady Holberton made her +selection, and the rest were divided between Miss Rowley and Mr. T——. +Joy at the recovery of the Lumley Autograph seemed to diffuse an +unusual spirit of harmony among collectors; many desirable exchanges +were brought about and things looked charmingly. Alas, how little were +we prepared for what ensued! +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{paix platree = patched-up peace (French)} +</P> + +<P> +On the occasion of the presence in London of two illustrious royal +travelers, Lady Holberton gave a large party. So said the papers at +least; but I knew better. It was chiefly to celebrate the recovery of +the Lumley Autograph, and its restoration to her celebrated Album that +the fete was given. The Album was produced, in spite of a half-formed +vow of Lady Holberton to the contrary, but then His Royal Highness +Prince —— —— had particularly requested to see the letter of the +poor poet, having heard it mentioned at dinner. The evening passed off +brilliantly, their royal highnesses, came, saw, and departed. The crowd +followed them to another house, while a favored few, chiefly +collectors, remained lingering about the table on which lay the Album. +I should have said earlier, that Lady Holberton had appointed a new +office in her household the very day after the loss of the Lumley +Autograph; this was no other than a pretty little page, dressed in the +old costume of a student of Padua, whose sole duty it was to watch over +the Album whenever it was removed from the rich and heavy case in which +it usually lay enshrined. He was the guard of the Album, and was +strictly enjoined never, for one instant, to remove his eyes from the +precious volume from the moment he was placed on duty, until relieved. +</P> + +<P> +Well, there we were, some dozen of us, collected about the table; Lady +Holberton looking triumphant, Mr. T—— very proud; and there stood the +page of the Album, dressed in his Paduasoy gown, with eyes fastened on +the book, according to orders, while he supported its gorgeous case in +his arms. Some remark was made as to the extraordinary manner in which +the precious Autograph had been lost, and then found again. My blood +actually boiled, as one of the company turned to me and asked in a +suspicious tone, if I did not know more of its history than I chose to +confess? My indignation was boundless; fortunately I could produce the +friend walking with me in Piccadilly, and the artisan's family at +Clapham, as witnesses in my favor. Miss Rowley was standing near me at +the moment. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{Paduasoy = a strong corded or gros-grain silk fabric, traditionally +associated with Padua, Italy} +</P> + +<P> +"Still, Mr. Howard," observed that lady; "I really cannot see why you +should resent the insinuation so warmly. Now, do you know, I am not at +all sorry to have it in my power to declare that I have some knowledge +of the fate of that paper during its eclipse." +</P> + +<P> +All eyes were instantly fixed on the speaker. The lady smiled and +continued: +</P> + +<P> +"Lady Holberton thinks the Lumley Autograph was stolen—I understand +she even thought it was stolen by myself—" +</P> + +<P> +She here turned deliberately toward our hostess, who looked uneasy. +</P> + +<P> +"If such were your suspicions, Lady Holberton," continued Miss Rowley, +speaking with great deliberation—"I am happy to say they were quite +correct—you only did me justice—I am proud to declare the deed was +mine—" +</P> + +<P> +We were all speechless at hearing this sudden and bold avowal. +</P> + +<P> +"It was I, Theodosia Rowley, who carried off—the word is of little +consequence—who stole, I repeat, that precious paper. So long as the +treasure was mine, the consciousness of possessing it was sufficient in +itself—but having afterward lost it from my pocket by unpardonable +carelessness, I shall at least now glory in the daring deed which made +it once my own." +</P> + +<P> +Conceive the amazement which these remarks—delivered with calm +enthusiasm—produced among the listening circle. We all know that high +crimes and misdemeanors enough are committed by men, and women too; but +somehow or other the delinquents are not often given to talking of +them; they would just as lief in general that the act should not be +known. The effect of Miss Rowley's words was different on different +individuals. As for myself, I involuntarily felt for the handkerchief +in my pocket. The page of the album drew nearer. Lady Holberton looked +aghast, as though she had seen a cannibal. Some bit their lips; others +opened their eyes. Mr. T——, however, who held the album at the +moment, and was bending over it when Miss Rowley began her +extraordinary disclosure, raised his eyes, fixed his glasses on the +fair speaker, and sent through them such a glance as no words can fully +describe. It was a glance of intense admiration. +</P> + +<P> +"What exalted views! What sublime sentiments!" he exclaimed in an +ecstasy. +</P> + +<P> +But Mr. T——'s blaze of admiration was not the only flame at work, +while he was gazing at the heroine of the moment. In the sudden burst +of enthusiasm roused by the fair purloiner, he forgot all else; the +precious volume in his hand drooped, touched the flame of a wax-light +on the table, and in another instant the great Holberton Album, that +Album of European reputation—was burning before our eyes—its +invaluable leaves were curling, and blackening, and smoking under the +devouring flame! +</P> + +<P> +A shriek from Lady Holberton—an unearthly cry from the page of the +Album—both echoed by the spectators, came too late. The volume was +half consumed. Of the Lumley Autograph not a line remained! +</P> + +<P> +Such was the ill-fated end of the letter of the poor starving poet. It +was written amid gloom and distress; its career closed in a stormy +hour. The loss of the Album of course broke off the engagement between +Lady Holberton and Mr. T——. This however could scarcely have been +regretted under the circumstances, for their union, after the +catastrophe must have been one long series of miserable reproaches. The +sudden change in Mr. T——'s feelings toward Miss Rowley was not a +momentary one; the admiration first kindled by that lady's bold +declaration, grew to be the strongest sentiment of his heart, and only +a few weeks later he was made the happiest of men by receiving as his +own the fair hand which accomplished the deed. Miss Rowley and Mr. +T—— were united in the bands of matrimony and collectorship. Lady +Holberton was still inconsolable when I left London; she was thinking +of traveling among the Hottentots, or in any other clime where albums +are unknown and her loss could be forgotten. The journey to Kaffirland +was however postponed until the next change of ministry, and I have +learned recently that the lady has so far recovered her spirits as to +be thinking of an 'Omnibus.' The very last packet, indeed, brought a +flattering application to myself; Lady Holberton graciously declaring +that the name of Jonathan Howard is not only valued by herself, as that +of a friend, but interesting to collectors generally, as having been +once connected with that much lamented document, now lost to the world, +the letter of the poor starving poet, known as the Lumley Autograph. +</P> + +<P CLASS="footnote"> +{"Omnibus" = in this context, an "omnibus bill" (i.e., one dealing with +a variety of subject) in Parliament} +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Lumley Autograph, by Susan Fenimore Cooper + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LUMLEY AUTOGRAPH *** + +***** This file should be named 2164-h.htm or 2164-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/6/2164/ + +Produced by Hugh C. MacDougall. 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