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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  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: John Forster
+
+Author: Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21815]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN FORSTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Clarke, Geetu Melwani, Sankar Viswanathan,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 JOHN
+
+                               FORSTER
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                          ONE OF HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON
+
+                         CHAPMAN & HALL LTD.
+
+                                 1903
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+JOHN FORSTER.
+
+A MAN OF LETTERS OF THE OLD SCHOOL.
+
+
+One of the most robust, striking, and many-sided characters of his
+time was John Forster, a rough, uncompromising personage, who, from
+small and obscure beginnings, shouldered his way to the front until he
+came to be looked on by all as guide, friend and arbiter. From a
+struggling newspaperman he emerged into handsome chambers in Lincoln's
+Inn Fields, from thence to a snug house in Montague Square, ending in
+a handsome stone mansion which he built for himself at Palace Gate,
+Kensington, with its beautiful library-room at the back, and every
+luxury of "lettered ease."
+
+If anyone desired to know what Dr. Johnson was like, he could have found
+him in Forster. There was the same social intolerance; the same
+"dispersion of humbug"; the same loud voice, attuned to a mellifluous
+softness on occasion, especially with ladies or persons of rank; the
+love of "talk" in which he assumed the lead--and kept it too; and the
+contemptuous scorn of what he did not approve. But then all this was
+backed by admirable training and full knowledge. He was a deeply read,
+cultivated man, a fine critic, and, with all his arrogance, despotism,
+and rough "ways," a most interesting, original, delightful person--for
+those he liked that is, and whom he had made his own. His very "build"
+and appearance was also that of the redoubtable Doctor: so was his loud
+and hearty laugh. Woe betide the man on whom he chose to "wipe his
+shoes" (Browning's phrase), for he could wipe them with a will. He would
+thus roar you down. It was "in_tol_-er-able"--everything was
+"_in-tol-erable!_"--it is difficult to describe the fashion in which he
+rolled forth the syllables. Other things were "all Stuff!" "Monstrous!"
+"Incredible!" "Don't tell me!" Indeed I, with many, could find a
+parallel in the great old Doctor for almost everything he said. Even
+when there was a smile at his vehemence, he would unconsciously repeat
+the Doctor's autocratic methods.
+
+Forster's life was indeed a striking and encouraging one for those who
+believe in the example of "self-made men." His aim was somewhat
+different from the worldly types, who set themselves to become
+wealthy, or to have lands or mansions. Forster's more moderate
+aspiration was to reach to the foremost rank of the literary world:
+and he succeeded. He secured for himself an excellent education, never
+spared himself for study or work, and never rested till he had built
+himself that noble mansion at Kensington, of which I have spoken,
+furnished with books, pictures, and rare things. Here he could,
+Męcenas-like, entertain his literary friends of all degrees, with a
+vast number of other friends and acquaintances, notable in their walks
+of life. It is astonishing what a circle he had gathered round him,
+and how intimate he was with all: political men such as Brougham,
+Guizot, Gladstone, Forster, Cornwall Lewis (Disraeli he abhorred as
+much as his friend of Chelsea did, who once asked me, "What is there
+new about _our Jew Premier_?"): Maclise, Landseer, Frith, and
+Stanfield, with dozens of other painters: every writer of the day,
+almost without exception, late or early. With these, such as Anthony
+Trollope, he was on the friendliest terms, though he did not "grapple
+them to him with hooks of steel." With the Bar it was the same: he was
+intimate with the brilliant and agreeable Cockburn; with Lord
+Coleridge (then plain Mr. Coleridge), who found a knife and a fork
+laid for him any day that he chose to drop in, which he did pretty
+often. The truth was that in any company his marked personality, both
+physical and mental; his magisterial face and loud decided voice, and
+his reputation of judge and arbiter, at once impressed and commanded
+attention. People felt that they ought to know this personage at once.
+
+It is extraordinary what perseverance and a certain power of will, and
+that of not being denied, will do in this way. His broad face and
+cheeks and burly person were not made for rebuffs. He seized on
+persons he wished to know and made them his own at once. I always
+thought it was the most characteristic thing known of him in this
+way, his striding past Bunn the manager--then his enemy--in his own
+theatre, taking no notice of him and passing to Macready's room, to
+confer with him on measures hostile to the said Bunn. As Johnson was
+said to toss and gore his company, so Forster trampled on those he
+condemned. I remember he had a special dislike to one of Boz's useful
+henchmen. An amusing story was told, that after some meeting to
+arrange matters with Bradbury and Evans, the printers, Boz, ever
+charitable, was glad to report to Forster some hearty praise by this
+person, of the ability with which he (Forster) had arranged the
+matters, thus amiably wishing to propitiate the autocrat in his
+friend's interest. But, said the uncompromising Forster, "I am truly
+sorry, my dear Dickens, that I cannot reciprocate your friend's
+compliment, for _a d----nder ass I never encountered in the whole
+course of my life_!" A comparative that is novel and will be admired.
+
+Forster had a determined way with him, of forcing an answer that he
+wanted; driving you into a corner as it were. A capital illustration
+of this power occurred in my case. I had sent to a London "second
+hand" bookseller to supply me with a copy of the two quarto volumes of
+Garrick's life, "huge armfuls." It was with some surprise that I noted
+the late owner's name and book-plate, which was that of "John Forster,
+Esq., Lincoln's Inn Fields." At the moment he had given me Garrick's
+original MS. correspondence, of which he had a score of volumes, and
+was helping me in many other ways. Now it was a curious coincidence
+that this one, of all existing copies, should come to me. Next time I
+saw him I told him of it. He knitted his brows and grew thoughtful.
+"_My_ copy! Ah! I can account for it! It was one of the volumes I lent
+to that fellow"--mentioning the name of the "fellow"--"he no doubt
+sold it for drink!" "Oh, so _that_ was it," I said rather
+incautiously. "But _you_," he said sternly, "tell me what did _you_
+think when you saw my name? Come now! How did it leave my library?"
+This was awkward to answer. "I suppose you thought I was in the habit
+of selling my books? Surely not?" Now this was what I _had_ thought.
+"Come! You must have had some view on the matter. Two huge volumes
+like that are not easily stolen." It was with extraordinary difficulty
+that I could extricate myself.
+
+It was something to talk to one who had been intimate with Charles
+Lamb, and of whom he once spoke to me, with tears running down his
+cheeks, "Ah! poor dear Charles Lamb!" The next day he had summoned his
+faithful clerk, instructing him to look out among his papers--such was
+his way--for all the Lamb letters, which were then lent to me. And
+most interesting they were. In one, Elia calls him "_Fooster_," I
+fancy taking off Carlyle's pronunciation.
+
+As a writer and critic Forster held a high, unquestioned place, his
+work being always received with respect as of one of the masters. He
+had based his style on the admirable, if somewhat old-fashioned
+models, had regularly _learned_ to write, which few do now, by
+studying the older writers: Swift, Addison, and, above all, the
+classics.
+
+He was at first glad to do "job work," and was employed by Dr. Lardner
+to furnish the "Statesmen of the Commonwealth" to his Encyclopędia.
+Lardner received from him a conscientious bit of work, but which was
+rather dry reading, something after the pattern of Dr. Lingard, who
+was then in fashion. But presently he was writing _con amore_, a book
+after his own heart, _The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith_, in
+which there is a light, gay touch, somewhat peculiar at times, but
+still very agreeable. It is a charming book, and graced with exquisite
+sketches by his friend Maclise and other artists. There was a great
+deal of study and "reading" in it, which engendered an angry
+controversy with Sir James Prior, a ponderous but pains-taking writer,
+who had collected every scrap that was connected with Goldy. Forster,
+charged with helping himself to what another had gathered, sternly
+replied, as if it could not be disputed, that he had merely gone to
+the same common sources as Prior, and had found what he had found! But
+this was seasoned with extraordinary abuse of poor Prior, who was held
+up as an impostor for being so industrious. Nothing better illustrated
+Forster's way: "The fellow was preposterous--intolerable. I had just
+as good a right to go to the old magazines as he had." It was, indeed,
+a most amusing and characteristic controversy.
+
+At this time the intimacy between Boz and the young writer--two young
+men, for they were only thirty-six--was of the closest. Dickens'
+admiration of his friend's book was unbounded. He read it with delight
+and expressed his admiration with an affectionate enthusiasm. It was
+no wonder that in "gentle Goldsmith's life" thus unfolded, he found a
+replica of his own sore struggles. No one knew better the "fiercer
+crowded misery in garret toil and London loneliness" than he did.
+
+TO CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+    Genius and its rewards are briefly told:
+      A liberal nature and a niggard doom,
+      A difficult journey to a splendid tomb.
+    New writ, nor lightly weighed, that story old
+    In gentle Goldsmith's life I here unfold;
+      Thro' other than lone wild or desert gloom,
+      In its mere joy and pain, its blight and bloom,
+    Adventurous. Come with me and behold,
+    O friend with heart as gentle for distress,
+      As resolute with fine wise thoughts to bind
+      The happiest to the unhappiest of our kind,
+    That there is fiercer crowded misery
+        In garret toil and London loneliness
+    Than in cruel islands mid the far off sea.
+
+March, 1848.                              JOHN FORSTER.
+
+It will be noted what a warmth of affection is shown in these pleasing
+lines. Some of the verses linger in his memory: the last three
+especially. The allusion to Dickens is as truthful as it is charming.
+The "cruel islands mid the far off sea" was often quoted, though
+there were sometimes sarcastic appeals to the author to name his
+locality.
+
+This _Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith_ is a truly charming
+book: charming in the writing, in its typographic guise, and its forty
+graceful illustrations by his friends, Maclise, Leech, Browne, etc. It
+appeared in 1848. A pleasing feature of those times was the close
+fellowship between the writers and the painters and other artists, as
+was shown in the devoted affection of Maclise and others to Dickens.
+There is more of class apart nowadays. Artists and writers are not
+thus united. The work has gone through many editions; but, after some
+years the whim seized him to turn it into an official literary history
+of the period, and he issued it as a "Life and Times," with an
+abundance of notes and references. All the pleasant air of story
+telling, the "Life and Adventures," so suited to poor Goldy's
+shiftless career, were abolished. It was a sad mistake, much
+deprecated by his friends, notably by Carlyle. But at the period
+Forster was in his _Sir Oracle_ vein and inclined to lofty periods.
+
+"My dear Forster," wrote Boz to him, "I cannot sufficiently say how
+proud I am of what you have done, and how sensible I am of being so
+tenderly connected with it. I desire no better for my fame, when my
+personal dustiness shall be past the contrast of my love of order,
+than such a biographer--and such a critic. And again I say most
+solemnly that literature in England has never had, and probably never
+will have, such a champion as you are in right of this book." "As a
+picture of the time I really think it is impossible to give it too
+much praise. It seems to me to be the very essence of all about the
+time that I have ever seen in biography or fiction, presented in most
+wise and humane lights. I have never liked him so well. And as to
+Goldsmith himself and _his_ life, and the manful and dignified
+assertion of him, without any sobs, whines, or convulsions of any
+sort, it is throughout a noble achievement of which, apart from any
+private and personal affection for you, I think and really believe I
+should feel proud." What a genuine affectionate ring is here!
+
+Later Forster lost this agreeable touch, and issued a series of
+ponderous historical treatises, enlargements of his old "Statesmen."
+These were dreary things, pedantic, solemn and heavy; they might have
+been by the worthy Rollin himself. Such was the _Life of Sir John
+Eliot, the Arrest of the Five Members_, and others.
+
+No one had been so intimate with Savage Landor as he had, or admired
+him more. He had known him for years and was chosen as his literary
+executor. With such materials one might have looked for a lively,
+vivacious account of this tempestuous personage. But Forster dealt
+with him in his magisterial way, and furnished a heavy treatise, on
+critical and historical principles. Everything here is treated
+according to the strict canons and in judicial fashion. On every poem
+there was a long and profound criticism of many pages, which I
+believe was one of his own old essays used again, fitted into the
+book. The hero is treated as though he were some important historical
+personage. Everyone knew Landor's story; his shocking violences and
+lack of restraint; his malignity where he disliked. His life was full
+of painful episodes, but Forster, like Podsnap, would see none of
+these things. He waved them away with his "monstrous!" "intolerable!"
+and put them out of existence.
+
+According to him, not a word of the scandals was true. Landor was a
+noble-hearted man; misjudged, and carried away by his feelings. The
+pity of it was he could have made of it a most lasting, entertaining
+book had he brought to it the pleasantly light touch he was later to
+bring to his account of Dickens. But he took it all too solemnly.
+Landor's life was full of grotesque scenes, and Forster might have
+alleviated the harsh views taken of his friend by dealing with him as
+an impetuous, irresponsible being, amusing even in his delinquencies.
+Boz gave a far juster view of him in _Boythorn_. In almost the year of
+his death Forster began another tremendous work, _The Life of Swift_,
+for which he had been preparing and collecting for many years. No one
+was so fitted by profound knowledge of the period. He had much
+valuable MS. material, but the first volume, all he lived to finish,
+was leaden enough. Of course he was writing with disease weighing him
+down, with nights that were sleepless and spent in general misery. But
+even with all allowance it was a dull and conventional thing.
+
+It has been often noted how a mere trifle will, in an extraordinary
+way, determine or change the whole course of a life. I can illustrate
+this by my own case. I was plodding on contentedly at the Bar without
+getting "no forrarder," with slender meagre prospects, but with a
+hankering after "writing," when I came to read this Life of Goldsmith
+that I have just been describing, which filled me with admiration. The
+author was at the moment gathering materials for his Life of Swift,
+when it occurred to me that I might be useful to him in getting up all
+the local Swiftian relics, traditions, etc. I set to work, obtained
+them, made the sketches, and sent them to him in a batch. He was
+supremely grateful, and never forgot the volunteered trifling service.
+To it I owe a host of literary friends and acquaintance with the
+"great guns," Dickens, Carlyle, and the rest; and when I ventured to
+try my prentice pen, it was Forster who took personal charge of the
+venture. It was long remembered at the _Household Words_ office how he
+stalked in one morning, stick in hand, and, flinging down the paper,
+called out, "Now, mind, no nonsense about it, no humbug, no returning
+it with a polite circular, and all that; see that it is read and duly
+considered." _That_ was the turning-point. To that blunt declaration I
+owe some forty years of enjoyment and employment--for there is no
+enjoyment like that of writing--to say nothing of money in abundance.
+
+He once paid a visit to Dublin, when we had many an agreeable
+expedition to Swift's haunts, which, from the incuriousness of the
+place at the time, were still existing. We went to Hoey's Court in
+"The Liberties," a squalid alley with a few ruined houses, among which
+was the one in which Swift was born. Thence to St. Patrick's, to
+Marsh's Library, not then rebuilt, where he turned over with infinite
+interest Swift's well-noted folios. Then on to Trinity College, where
+there was much that was curious; to Swift's Hospital, where, from his
+office in the Lunacy Commission, he was quite at home. He at once
+characteristically assumed the air of command, introducing himself
+with grave dignity to the authorities, by-and-bye pointing out matters
+which might be amended, among others the bareness of the walls, which
+were without pictures. In the grounds he received all the confidences
+of the unhappy patients and their complaints (one young fellow
+bitterly appealing to him on the hardship of not being allowed to
+smoke, while he had a pipe in his mouth at the time). He would pat
+others on the back and encourage them in quite a professional manner.
+Of all these Swift localities I had made little vignette drawings in
+"wash," which greatly pleased him and were to have been engraved in
+the book. They are now duly registered and to be seen in the
+collection at South Kensington. Poor dear Forster! How happy he was on
+that "shoemaker's holiday" of his, driving on outside cars (with
+infinite difficulty holding on), walking the streets, seeing old
+friends, and delighted with everything. His old friend and class
+fellow, Whiteside, gave him a dinner to which I attended him, where
+was the late Dr. Lloyd, the Provost of the College, a learned man,
+whose works on "Optics" are well known. It was pleasant to note how
+Forster, like his prototype, the redoubtable Doctor, here "talked for
+ostentation." "I knew, sir," he might say, "that I was expected to
+talk, to talk suitably to my position as a distinguished visitor." And
+so he did. It was an excellent lesson in conversation to note how he
+took the lead--"laid down the law," while poor Whiteside flourished
+away in a torrent of words, and the placid Lloyd more adroitly strove
+occasionally to "get in." But Forster held his way with well-rounded
+periods, and seemed to enjoy entangling his old friend in the
+consequences of some exuberant exaggeration. "My dear Whiteside, how
+_can_ you say so? Do you not see that by saying such a thing you give
+yourself away?" etc.
+
+Forster, however, more than redeemed himself when he issued his
+well-known _Life of Dickens_, a work that was a perfect delight to the
+world and to his friends. For here is the proper lightness of touch.
+The complete familiarity with every detail of the course of the man of
+whose life his had been a portion, and the quiet air of authority
+which he could assume in consequence, gave the work an attraction that
+was beyond dispute. There have been, it is said, some fifteen or
+sixteen official Lives issued since the writer's death; but all these
+are written "from outside" as it were, and it is extraordinary what a
+different man each presents. But hardly sufficient credit has been
+given to him for the finished style which only a true and well trained
+critic could have brought, the easy touch, the appropriate treatment
+of trifles, the mere indication as it were, the correct passing by or
+sliding over of matters that should not be touched. All this imparted
+a dignity of treatment, and though familiar, the whole was gay and
+bright. True, occasionally he lapsed into his favourite pompousness
+and autocracy, but this made the work more characteristic of the man.
+Nothing could have been in better taste than his treatment of certain
+passages in the author's life as to which, he showed, the public were
+not entitled to demand more than the mere historical mention of the
+facts. When he was writing this Life it was amusing to find how
+sturdily independent he became. The "Blacking episode" could not have
+been acceptable, but Forster was stern and would not bate a line. So,
+with much more--he "rubbed it in" without scruple. The true reason, by
+the way, of the uproar raised against the writer, was that it was too
+much of a close borough, no one but Boz and his Bear leader being
+allowed upon the stage. Numbers had their little letters from the
+great man with many compliments and favours which would look well in
+print. Many, like Wilkie Collins or Edmund Yates, had a whole
+collection. I myself had some sixty or seventy. Some of these
+personages were highly indignant, for were they not characters in the
+drama? When the family came to publish the collection of letters,
+Yates, I believe, declined to allow his to be printed; so did Collins,
+whose Boz letters were later sold and published in America.
+
+No doubt the subject inspired. The ever gay and lively Boz, always in
+spirits, called up many a happy scene, and gave the pen a certain
+airiness and nimbleness. There is little that is official or
+magisterial about the volumes. Everything is pleasant and interesting,
+put together--though there is a crowd of details--with extraordinary
+art and finish. It furnishes a most truthful and accurate picture of
+the "inimitable," recognizable in every page. It was only in the third
+volume, when scared by the persistent clamours of the disappointed and
+the envious, protesting that there was "too much Forster," that it was
+virtually a "Life of John Forster, with some recollections of Charles
+Dickens," that he became of a sudden, official and allowed others to
+come too much on the scene, with much loss of effect. That third
+volume, which ought to have been most interesting, is the dull one. We
+have Boz described as he would be in an encyclopędia, instead of
+through Forster, acting as his interpreter, and much was lost by this
+treatment. Considering the homeliness and every-day character of the
+incidents, it is astonishing how Forster contrived to dignify them. He
+knew from early training what was valuable and significant and what
+should be rejected.
+
+Granting the objections--and faults--of the book, it may be asked, who
+else in the 'seventies was, not _so_ fitted, but fitted at all to
+produce a Life of Dickens. Every eye looked, every finger pointed to
+Forster; worker, patron, and disciple, confidant, adviser, correcter,
+admirer, the trained man of letters, and in the school in which Boz
+had been trained, who had known every one of that era. No one else
+could have been thought of. And as we now read the book, and contrast
+it with those ordered or commissioned biographies, so common now, and
+perhaps better wrought, we see at once the difference. The success was
+extraordinary. Edition after edition was issued, and that so rapidly,
+that the author had no opportunity of making the necessary
+corrections, or of adding new information. He contented himself with a
+leaf or two at the end, in which, in his own imperial style, he simply
+took note of the information. I believe his profit was about £10,000.
+
+A wonderful feature was the extraordinary amount of Dickens' letters
+that was worked into it. To save time and trouble, and this I was told
+by Mrs. Forster, he would cut out the passages he wanted with a pair
+of scissors and paste them on his MS! As the portion written on the
+back was thus lost, the rest became valueless. I can fancy the
+American collector tearing his hair as he reads of this desecration.
+But it was a rash act and a terrible loss of money. Each letter might
+have later been worth say from five to ten pounds apiece.
+
+It would be difficult to give an idea of Forster's overflowing
+kindness on the occasion of the coming of friends to town. Perpetual
+hospitality was the order of the day, and, like so many older
+Londoners, he took special delight in hearing accounts of the strange
+out-of-the-way things a visitor will discover, and with which he will
+even surprise the resident. He enjoyed what he called "hearing your
+adventures." I never met anyone with so boisterous and enjoying a
+laugh. Something would tickle him, and, like Johnson in Fleet Street,
+he would roar and roar again. Like Diggory, too, at the same story, or
+rather _scene_; for, like his friend Boz, it was the _picture_ of some
+humorous incident that delighted, and would set him off into
+convulsions. One narrative of my own, a description of the recitation
+of Poe's _The Bells_ by an actress, in which she simulated the action
+of pulling the bell for the Fire, or for a Wedding or Funeral bells,
+used to send him into perfect hysterics. And I must say that I, who
+have seen and heard all sorts of truly humorous and spuriously
+humorous stories in which the world abounds at the present moment,
+have never witnessed anything more diverting. The poor lady thought
+she was doing the thing realistically, while the audience was
+shrieking with enjoyment. I do not know how many times I was invited
+to repeat this narrative, a somewhat awkward situation for me, but I
+was glad always to do what he wished. I recall Browning coming in, and
+I was called on to rehearse this story, Forster rolling on the sofa
+in agonies of enjoyment. This will seem trivial and personal, but
+really it was characteristic; and pleasant it was to find a man of his
+sort so natural and even boyish.
+
+At the head of his table, with a number of agreeable and clever guests
+around him, Forster was at his best. He seemed altogether changed.
+Beaming smiles, a gentle, encouraging voice, and a tenderness verging
+on gallantry to the ladies, took the place of the old, rough fashions.
+He talked ostentatiously, he _led_ the talk, told most _ą propos_
+anecdotes of the remarkable men he had met, and was fond of fortifying
+his own views by adding: "As Gladstone, or Guizot, or Palmerston said
+to me in my room," etc. But you could not but be struck by the
+finished shapes in which his sentences ran. There was a weight, a
+power of illustration, and a dramatic colouring that could only have
+come of long practice. He was gay, sarcastic, humorous, and it was
+impossible not to recognise that here was a clever man and a man of
+power.
+
+Forster's ideal of hospitality was not reciprocity, but was bounded by
+_his_ entertaining everybody. Not that he did not enjoy a friendly
+quiet dinner at your table. Was he on his travels at a strange place?
+_You_ must dine with him at his hotel. In town you must dine with him.
+He might dine with you. This dining with you must be according to his
+programme. When he was in the vein and inclined for a social domestic
+night he would let himself out.
+
+Maclise's happy power of realising character is shown inimitably in
+the picture of Forster at the reading of _The Christmas Carol_, seated
+forward in his chair, with a solemn air of grave judgment. There is an
+air of distrust, or of being on his guard, as who should say, "It is
+fine, very fine, but I hold my opinion in suspense till the close. I
+am not to be caught as you are, by mere flowers." He was in fact
+distinct from the rest, all under the influence of emotion. Harness is
+shown weeping, Jerrold softened, etc. These rooms, as is well known,
+were Mr. Tulkinghorn's in the novel, and over Forster's head, as he
+wrote, was the floridly-painted ceiling, after the fashion of Verrio,
+with the Roman pointing. This was effaced many years ago, but I do not
+know when.
+
+By all his friends Forster was thought of as a sort of permanent
+bachelor. His configuration and air were entirely suited to life in
+chambers: he was thoroughly literary; his friends were literary; there
+he gave his dinners; married life with him was inconceivable. He had
+lately secured an important official post, that of Secretary to the
+Lunacy Commissioners, which he gained owing to his useful services when
+editing the _Examiner_. This necessarily led to the Commissionership,
+which was worth a good deal more. Nowadays we do not find the editors of
+the smaller papers securing such prizes. I remember when he was
+encouraging me to "push my way," he illustrated his advice by his own
+example: "I never let old Brougham go. I came back again and again
+until I wore him out. I forced 'em to give me this." I could quite
+imagine it. Forster was a troublesome customer, "a harbitrary cove," and
+not to be put off, except for a time. It was an excellent business
+appointment, and he was admitted to be an admirable official.
+
+In one of Dickens' letters, published by his children, there is a
+grotesque outburst at some astounding piece of news: an event
+impending, which seemed to have taken his breath away. It clearly
+refers to his friend's marriage. Boz was so tickled at this wonderful
+news that he wrote: "Tell Catherine that I have the most prodigious,
+overwhelming, crushing, astounding, blinding, deafening, pulverising,
+scarifying, secret of which Forster is the hero, imaginable, by the
+whole efforts of the whole British population. It is a thing of the
+kind that, after I knew it (from himself) this morning, I lay down
+flat as if an engine and tender had fallen upon me." This pleasantly
+boisterous humour is in no wise exaggerated. I fancy it affected all
+Forster's friends much in the same way, and as an exquisitely funny
+and expected thing. How many pictures did Boz see before him--Forster
+proposing to the widow in his sweetest accents, his deportment at the
+church, &c. There was not much sentiment in the business, though the
+bride was a sweet, charming woman, as will be seen, too gentle for
+that tempestuous spirit. She was a widow--"Yes, gentlemen, the
+plaintiff is a widow," widow of Colburn, the publisher, a quiet little
+man, who worshipped her. She was well endowed, inheriting much of his
+property, even to his papers, etc. She had also a most comfortable
+house in Montague Square, where, as the saying is, Forster had only to
+move in and "hang up his hat."
+
+With all his roughness and bluntness, Forster had a very soft heart,
+and was a great appreciator of the sex. He had some little "affairs of
+the heart," which, however, led to no result. He was actually engaged
+to the interesting L. E. L. (Letitia Landon), whom he had no doubt
+pushed well forward in the _Examiner_; for the fair poetess generally
+contrived to enlist the affections of her editors, as she did those of
+Jerdan, director of the once powerful _Literary Gazette_. We can see
+from his Memoirs how attracted he was by her. The engagement was
+broken off, it is believed, through the arts of Dr. Maginn, and it is
+said that Forster behaved exceedingly well in the transaction. Later
+he became attached to another lady, who had several suitors of
+distinction, but she was not disposed to entrust herself to him.
+
+No one so heartily relished his Forster, his ways and oddities, as
+Boz; albeit the sage was his faithful friend, counsellor, and ally. He
+had an exquisite sense for touches of character, especially for the
+little weaknesses so often exhibited by sturdy, boisterous natures. We
+again recall that disposition of Johnson, with his "bow to an
+Archbishop," listening with entranced attention to a dull story told
+by a foreign "diplomatist." "_The ambassador says well_," would the
+sage repeat many times, which, as Bozzy tells, became a favourite form
+in the _cōterie_ for ironical approbation. There was much of this in
+our great man, whose voice became of the sweetest and most mellifluous
+key, as he bent before the peer. "Lord ----," he would add gently, and
+turning to the company, "has been saying, with much force," etc.
+
+I recall the Guild _fźte_ down at Knebworth, where Forster was on a
+visit to its noble owner, Lord Lytton, and was deputed to receive and
+marshal the guests at the station, an office of dread importance, and
+large writ over his rather burly person. His face was momentous as he
+patrolled the platform. I remember coming up to him in the crowd, but
+he looked over and beyond me, big with unutterable things. Mentioning
+this later to Boz, he laughed his cheerful laugh, "Exactly," he cried.
+"Why, I assure you, Forster would not see _me_!" He was busy pointing
+out the vehicles, the proper persons to sit in them, according to
+their dignity. All through that delightful day, as I roamed through
+the fine old halls, I would encounter him passing by, still in his
+lofty dream, still controlling all, with a weight of delegated
+authority on his broad shoulders. Only at the very close did he
+vouchsafe a few dignified, encouraging words, and then passed on. He
+reminded me much of Elia's description of Bensley's Malvolio.
+
+There was nothing ill-natured in Boz's relish of these things; he
+heartily loved his friend. It was the pure love of fun. Podsnap has
+many touches of Forster, but the writer dared not let himself go in
+that character as he would have longed to do. When Podsnap is referred
+to for his opinion, he delivers it as follows, much flushed and
+extremely angry: "Don't ask me. I desire to take no part in the
+discussion of these people's affairs. I abhor the subject. It is an
+odious subject, an offensive subject _that makes me sick_, and
+I"--with his favourite right arm flourish which sweeps away everything
+and settles it for ever, etc. These very words must Forster have used.
+It may be thought that Boz would not be so daring as to introduce his
+friend into his stories, "under his very nose" as it were, submitting
+the proofs, etc., with the certainty that the portrait would be
+recognised. But this, as we know, is the last thing that could have
+occurred, or the last thing that would have occurred to Forster. It
+was like enough someone else, but not he.
+
+"Mr. Podsnap was well to do, and stood very high in Mr. Podsnap's
+opinion." "He was quite satisfied. He never could make out why
+everybody was not quite satisfied, and he felt conscious that he set a
+brilliant social example in being particularly well satisfied with
+most things and with himself." "Mr. Podsnap settled that whatever he
+put behind him he put out of existence." "I don't want to know about
+it. I don't desire to discover it." "He had, however, acquired a
+peculiar flourish of his right arm in the clearing the world of its
+difficulties." "As so eminently respectable a man, Mr. Podsnap was
+sensible of its being required of him to take Providence under his
+protection. Consequently he always knew exactly what Providence
+intended."
+
+These touches any friend of Forster's would recognise. He could be
+very engaging, and was at his best when enjoying what he called a
+shoemaker's holiday--that is, when away from town at some
+watering-place, with friends. He was then really delightful, because
+happy, having left all his solemnities and ways in London.
+
+Forster was a man of many gifts, an admirable hard-working official,
+thoroughly business-like and industrious. I recall him through all the
+stages of his connection with the Lunacy Department, as Secretary and
+Commissioner and Retired Commissioner, when he would arrive on
+"melting days" as it were. But it was as a cultured critic that he was
+unsurpassed. He was ever "correct," and delivered a judgment that
+commended itself on the instant; it was given with such weight and
+persuasion. This correctness of judgment extended to most things,
+politics, character, literature, and was pleasant to listen to. He was
+one of the old well-read school, and was never without his edition of
+Shakespeare, the Globe one, which he took with him on his journeys. He
+had a way of lightly emphasising the beauty of a special passage of
+the Bard's.
+
+Once, travelling round with Boz, on one of his reading tours, we came
+to Belfast, where the huge Ulster Hall was filled to the door by
+ardent and enthusiastic Northerners. I recall how we walked round the
+rather grim town, with its harsh red streets, the honest workers
+staring at him hard. We put up at an old-fashioned hotel, the
+best--the Royal it was called, where there was much curiosity on the
+part of the ladies to get sly peeps at the eminent man. They generally
+contrived to be on the stairs when he emerged. Boz always appeared,
+even in the streets, somewhat carefully "made up." The velvet collar,
+the blue coat, the heavy gold pin, added to the effect.
+
+It was at this hotel, when the show was over, and our agreeable supper
+cleared away, that I saw the pleasant Boz lying on the sofa somewhat
+tired by his exertions, not so much on the boards as in that very
+room. For he was fond of certain parlour gymnastics, in which he
+contended with his aide-de-camp Dolby. Well, as I said, he was on his
+sofa somewhat fatigued with his night's work, in a most placid,
+enjoying frame of mind, laughing with his twinkling eyes, as he often
+did, squeezing and puckering them up when our talk fell on Forster,
+whom he was in the vein for enjoying. It had so fallen out that, only
+a few weeks before, Trinity College, Dublin, had invited Forster to
+receive an honorary degree, a compliment that much gratified him. I
+was living there at the time, and he came and stayed with me in the
+best of humours, thoroughly enjoying it all. Boz, learning that I had
+been with him, insisted on my telling him _everything_, as by instinct
+he knew that his friend would have been at his best. The scenes we
+passed through together were indeed of the richest comedy. First I see
+him in highest spirits trying on a doctor's scarlet robe, to be had on
+hire. On this day he did everything in state, in his special "high"
+manner. Thus he addressed the tailor in rolling periods: "Sir, the
+University has been good enough to confer a degree on me, and I have
+come over to receive it. My name is John Forster." (I doubt if his
+name had reached the tailor). "Certainly, sir." And my friend was duly
+invested with the robe. He walked up and down before a pier glass.
+"Hey, what now? Do you know, my dear friend, I really think I must
+_buy_ this dress. It would do very well to go to Court in, hey?" He
+indulged his fancy. "Why I could wear it on many occasions. A most
+effective dress." But it was time now to wait on "the senior Bursar,"
+or some such functionary. This was one Doctor L----, a rough, even
+uncouth, old don, who was for the nonce holding a sort of rude class,
+surrounded by a crowd of "undergrads." Never shall I forget that
+scene. Forster went forward, with a mixture of gracious dignity and
+softness, and was beginning, "Doc-tor L----." Here the turbulent boys
+round him interrupted. "Now see here," said the irate Bursar, "it's no
+use all of ye's talking together. Sir, I can't attend to you now."
+Again Forster began with a gracious bow. "Doctor L----, I have come
+over at the invitation of the University, who have been good enough to
+offer me an honorary degree, and--"
+
+"Now see here," said the doctor, "there's no use talking to me now. I
+can't attend to ye. All of ye come back here in an hour and take the
+oath, all together mind."
+
+"I merely wished to state, Doctor L----," began the wondering Forster.
+
+"Sir I tell ye I can't attend to ye now. You must come again," and he
+was gone.
+
+I was at the back of the room, when my friend joined me, very
+ruminative and serious. "Very odd, all this," he said, "but I suppose
+when we _do_ come back, it will be all right?"
+
+"Oh yes, he is noted as an odd man," I said.
+
+"I don't at all understand him, but I suppose it _is_ all right. Well
+come along, my dear friend." I then left him for a while. After the
+hour's interval I returned. The next thing I saw from the back of the
+room was my burly friend in the front row of a number of irreverent
+youngsters of juvenile age, some of whom close by me were saying,
+"Who's the stout old bloke; what's he doing here?"
+
+"Now," said the Bursar and senior fellow, "take these Testaments on
+your hands, all o' ye." And then I saw my venerable friend, for so he
+looked in comparison, with three youths sharing his Testament with
+them. But he was serious. For here was a most solemn duty before him.
+"Now repeat after me. _Ego_," a shout, "_Joannes, Carolus_," as the
+case might be "_juro solemniter_," &c. Forster might have been in
+church going through a marriage ceremony, so reverently did he repeat
+the _formula_. The lads were making a joke of it.
+
+Forster, as I said, was indeed a man of the old fashion of gallantry,
+making his approaches where he admired _sans cérémonie_, and advancing
+boldly to capture the fort. I remember a dinner, with a young lady who
+had a lovely voice, and who sang after the dinner to the general
+admiration. Forster had never seen her before, but when she was
+pressed to sing again and again, and refused positively, I was amazed
+to see Forster triumphantly passing through the crowded room, the fair
+one on his arm, he patting one of her small hands which he held in his
+own! She was flattered immensely and unresisting; the gallant Foster
+had carried all before him. This was his way, never would he be second
+fiddle anywhere if he could help it. Not a bad principle for any one
+if they can only manage it.
+
+I remember one night, when he was in his gallant mood laying his
+commands on a group of ladies, to sing or do something agreeable, he
+broke out: "You know I am a despot, and must have my way, I'm such a
+harbitrary cove." The dames stared at this speech, and I fancy took it
+literally, for they had not heard the story. This I fancy did not
+quite please, for he had no notion of its being supposed he considered
+himself arbitrary; so he repeated and enforced the words in a loud
+stern voice. (Boswellians will recall the scene where Johnson said
+"The woman had a bottom of sense." When the ladies began to titter, he
+looked round sternly saying "Where's the merriment? I repeat the woman
+is fundamentally sensible." As who should say "now laugh if you
+dare!") The story referred to was that of the cabman who summoned
+Forster for giving him a too strictly measured fare, and when
+defeated, said "it warn't the fare, but he was determined to bring him
+there for he were such a harbitrary cove." No story about Forster gave
+such delight to his friends as this; he himself was half flattered,
+half annoyed.
+
+Forster liked to be with people of high degree--as, perhaps, most of
+us do. At one time he was infinitely flattered by the attentions of
+Count Dorsay, who, no doubt, considered him a personage. This odd
+combination was the cause of great amusement to his friends, who were,
+of course, on the look out for droll incidents. There was many a story
+in circulation. One was that Forster, expecting a promised visit from
+"the Count," received a sudden call from his printers. With all
+solemnity he impressed the situation on his man. "Now," he said, "you
+will tell the Count that I have only just gone round to call on
+Messrs. Spottiswoode, the printers--you will observe, Messrs.
+Spot-is-wode," added he, articulating the words in his impressive way.
+The next time Forster met the Count, the former gravely began to
+explain to him the reason of his absence. "Ah! I know," said the gay
+Count, "you had just gone round to _Ze Spotted Dog_--I understand," as
+though he could make allowance for the ways of literary men. Once
+Forster had the Count to dinner--a great solemnity. When the fish was
+"on" the host was troubled to note that the sauce had not yet reached
+his guest. In an agitated deep _sotto voce_, he said, "Sauce to the
+Count." The "aside" was unheard. He repeated it in louder, but more
+agitated tones, "_Sauce_ to the Count." This, too, was unnoticed;
+when, louder still, the guests heard, "_Sauce for the Flounders of the
+Count_." This gave infinite delight to the friends, and the phrase
+became almost a proverb. Forster learning to dance in secret, in
+preparation for some festivity, was another enjoyment, and his
+appearance on the scene, carefully executing the steps, his hands on
+the shoulders of a little girl, caused much hilarity.
+
+All this is amusing in the same way as it was amusing to Boz, as a
+capital illustration of character, genuinely exhibited, and yet it is
+with the greatest sympathy and affection I recall these things: but
+they were _too_ enjoyable. There is nothing depreciating, no more than
+there was in Bozzy's record, who so amiably puts forward the pleasant
+weaknesses of his hero. Though twenty years and more have elapsed
+since he passed from this London of ours, there is nothing I think of
+with more pleasure and affection than those far-off scenes in which he
+figured so large and strong, supplying dramatic action, character,
+and general enjoyment. The figures of our day seem to me to be small,
+thin and cardboard-like in comparison.
+
+Boz himself is altogether mixed up with Forster's image, and it is
+difficult to think of one without recalling the other. In this
+connection there comes back on me a pleasant comedy scene, in which
+the former figured, and which, even at this long distance of time,
+raises a smile. When I had come to town, having taken a house, etc.,
+with a young and pretty wife, Dickens looked on encouragingly; but at
+times shaking his head humorously, as the too sanguine plans were
+broached: "Ah, _the little victims play_," he would quote. Early in
+the venture he good-naturedly came to dine _en famille_ with his
+amiable and interesting sister-in-law. He was in a delightful mood,
+and seemed to be applying all the points of his own Dora's attempts at
+housekeeping, with a pleasant slyness: the more so as the little lady
+of the house was the very _replica_ of that piquant and fascinating
+heroine. She was destined, alas! to but a short enjoyment of her
+little rule, but she gained all hearts and sympathies by her very
+taking ways. Among others the redoubtable John Forster professed to be
+completely "captured," and was her most obstreperous slave. He, too,
+was to have been of the party, but was prevented by one of his
+troublesome chest attacks. Scarcely had Boz entered when he drew out a
+letter, I see him now standing at the fire, a twinkle in his brilliant
+eyes. "What _is_ coming over Forster," he said, ruminating, "I cannot
+make him out. Just as I was leaving the house I received this," and he
+read aloud, "I can't join you to-day. But mark you this, sir! no
+tampering, no poaching on _my_ grounds; for I won't have it. Recollect
+_Codlin's the friend not Short_!" With a wondering look Boz kept
+repeating in a low voice: "'Codlin's the friend not Short.' What _can_
+he mean? What do you make of it?" I knew perfectly, as did also the
+little lady who stood there smiling and flattered, but it was awkward
+to explain. But he played with the thing; and it could only be agreed
+that Forster at times was perfectly "amazing," or "a little off his
+head."
+
+And what a dinner it was! What an amusing failure, too, as a first
+attempt; suddenly, towards the end of the dinner, a loud, strange
+sound was heard, as of falling or rushing waters; it was truly
+alarming; I ran out and found a full tide streaming down the stairs.
+The cook in her engrossment had forgotten to turn a cock. "Ah, the
+little victims play!" and Boz's eyes twinkled. A loud-voiced cuckoo
+and quail were sounding their notes, which prompted me to describe a
+wonderful clock of the kind I had seen, with two trumpeters who issued
+forth at the hour and gave a prolonged flourish before striking, then
+retired, their doors closing with a smart clap. This set off Boz in
+his most humorous vein. He imagined the door sticking fast, or only
+half-opening, the poor trumpeter behind pushing with his shoulder to
+get out, then giving a feeble gasping tootle with much "whirring" and
+internal agonies; then the rest is silence.
+
+On another occasion came Forster himself and lady, for a little family
+dinner; the same cook insisted on having in her husband, "a dear broth
+of a boy," to assist her. Forster arriving before he was expected, he
+was ever _more_ than punctual; the tailor rushed up eagerly to admit
+him, forgetting, however, to put on his coat! As he threw open the
+door he must have been astonished at Forster's greeting "No, no, my
+good friend, I altogether decline. I am _not_ your match in age,
+weight, or size," a touch of his pleasant humour and good spirits.
+
+As of course Forster deeply felt the death of his old friend and
+comrade, the amiable and constant Dickens, he was the great central
+figure in all the dismal ceremonial that followed. He arranged
+everything admirably, he was executor with Miss Hogarth, and I could
+not but think how exactly he reproduced his great prototype, Johnson,
+in a similar situation. Bozzy describes the activity and fuss of the
+sage hurrying about with a pen in his hand and dealing with the
+effects: "We are not here," he said, "to take account of a number of
+vats, &c., but of the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams
+of avarice." So was Forster busy, appraising copyrights, and realizing
+assets, all which work he performed in a most business-like fashion.
+That bequest in the will of the gold watch, to his "trusty friend,
+John Forster," I always thought admirably summarized the relations of
+the two friends. I myself received under his will one of his ivory
+paper-knives, and a paper-weight marked C.D. in golden letters, which
+was made for and presented to him at one of the pottery works.
+
+One of the most delightful little dinners I had was an impromptu one
+at Forster's house, the party being himself, myself, and Boz. The
+presence of a third, not a stranger yet not an intimate, prompted both
+to be more free than had they been _tźte-ą-tźte_. Boz was what might
+best be called "gay." His fashion of talk was to present things that
+happened in a pleasantly humorous light. On this occasion he told us a
+good deal about a strange being, Chauncey Hare Towns-bend, from whom
+he may have drawn Twemlow in _Our Mutual Friend_. Every look in that
+sketch reminds me of him; he, too, had a shy shrinking manner, a soft
+voice, but, in his appearance most of all, was Twemlow; he had a
+rather over-done worship of Dickens, wishing "not to intrude," etc.;
+he was a delicate, unhealthy looking person, rather carefully made up.
+Boz was specially pleasant this day on an odd bequest of his; for poor
+Twemlow had died, and he, Boz, was implored to edit his religious
+writings: rather a compendium of his religious opinions to be
+collected from a mass of papers in a trunk. For which service £1,000
+was bequeathed. Boz was very humorous on his first despair at being
+appointed to such an office; then described his hopeless attempts "to
+make head or tail" of the papers. "Are they worth anything as
+religious views?" I asked. "Nothing whatever, I should say," he said,
+with a humorous twinkle in his eye, "I must only piece them together
+somehow." And so he did, I forget under what title, I think _Religious
+Remains of the late C. H. T._ There was probably some joking on this
+description. It is fair to say that Boz had to put up with a vast deal
+of this admiring worship, generally from retiring creatures whom his
+delicate good-nature would not let him offend.
+
+Forster's large sincerity was remarkable, as was his generous style,
+which often carried him to extraordinary lengths. They were such as
+one would only find in books. I remember once coming to London without
+giving him due notice, which he always imperatively required to be
+done. When I went off to his house at Palace Gate, presenting myself
+about five o'clock, he was delighted to see me, as he always was, but
+I saw he was very uncomfortable and distressed. "_Why_ didn't you tell
+me," he said testily, "a day or two ago would have done. But _now_, my
+dear fellow, _the table's full_--it's impossible." "What?" I asked,
+yet not without a suspicion of the truth--for I knew him. "Why, I have
+a dinner party to-day! De Mussy, the Doctor of the Orleans family, and
+some others are coming, and here you arrive at this hour! Just look at
+the clock--I tell you it can't be done." In vain I protested; though I
+could not say it was "no matter," for it was a serious business. "Come
+with me into the dining-room and you'll see for yourself." There we
+went round the table, and "_The table's full_," he repeated from
+_Macbeth_. There was something truly original in the implied premise
+that his friend was _entitled_ of right to have a place at his table,
+and that the sole dispensing cause to be allowed was absence of space
+or a physical impossibility. It seems to me that this was a very
+genuine, if rare, shape of hospitality.
+
+Of all Forster's friends at this time, of course, after Dickens, and
+he had innumerable ones, his fastest seemed Robert Browning. As every
+Sunday came round it was a rule that the Poet was to dine with him.
+Many were the engagements his host declined on the score of this
+standing engagement. "Should be delighted, my dear friend, to go to
+you, but it is an immemorial custom that every Sunday Robert Browning
+dines with _me_. Nothing interferes with _that._" Often, indeed,
+during the week the Poet would drop in for a chat or consultation,
+often when I was there. He was a most agreeable person, without any
+affectation; while Forster maintained a sort of patriarchal or
+paternal manner to him, though there was not much difference in their
+ages. Indeed, on this point, Forster well illustrated what has been
+often said of Mr. Pickwick and his time, that age has been much "put
+back" since that era. Mr. Pickwick, Wardle, Tupman and Co., are all
+described as old gentlemen, none of the party being over fifty; but
+they had to dress up to the part of old gentlemen, and with the aid of
+corpulence, "circular spectacles," &c, conveyed the idea of seventy.
+Forster in the same way was then not more than forty-five, but had a
+full-blown official look, and with his grave, solemn utterances, you
+would have set him down for sixty. Now-a-days men of that age, if in
+sound order, feel, behave, and dress as men of forty. Your _real_ old
+man does not begin till he is about seventy-five or so.
+
+Browning having an acquaintance that was both "extensive and
+peculiar," could retail much gossip and always brought plenty of news
+with him: to hear which Forster did seriously incline. The Poet, too,
+had a pleasant flavour of irony or cynicism in his talk, but nothing
+ill-natured. What a pleasant Sunday that was when Frederick Chapman,
+the publisher, invited me and Forster, and Browning, with one or two
+more, whose names I have forgotten, down to Teddington. It was the
+close of a sultry summer's day, we had a cool and enjoyable repast,
+with many a joke and retailed story. Thus, "I was stopped to-day,"
+said Browning, "by a strange, dilapidated being. Who do you think it
+was? After a moment, it took the shape of old Harrison Ainsworth." "A
+strange, dilapidated being," repeated Forster, musingly, "so the man
+is alive." Then both fell into reminiscences of grotesque traits, &c.
+This affectionate intercourse long continued. But alas! this
+_compulsory_ Sunday dining, as the philosopher knows, became at last a
+sore strain, and a mistake. It must come to Goldsmith's "travelling
+over one's mind," with power to travel no farther. Browning, too, had
+been "found out by Society"; was the guest at noble houses, and I
+suppose became somewhat lofty in his views. No one could scoff so
+loudly and violently as could Forster, at what is called snobbishness,
+"toadying the great"; though it was a little weakness of his own, and
+is indeed of everybody. However, on some recent visit, I learned to my
+astonishment, that a complete breach had taken place between the
+attached friends, who were now "at daggers drawn," as it is called.
+The story went, as told, I think, by Browning, who would begin: "I
+grew tired of Forster's _always wiping his shoes on me_." He was fond
+of telling his friend about "dear, sweet, charming Lady ----," &c.
+Forster, following the exact precedent of Mrs. Prig in the quarrel
+with her friend, would break into a scornful laugh, and, though he did
+not say "_drat_ Lady ----," he insisted she was a foolish,
+empty-headed creature, and that Browning praised her because she had a
+title. This was taken seriously, and the Poet requested that no
+disparaging remarks would be made on one of his best friends. "Pooh,"
+said Forster, contemptuously, "some superannuated creature! I am
+astonished at you." How it ended I cannot say, but it ended painfully.
+
+Some time elapsed and friends to both sides felt that here was a sort
+of scandal, and it must be made up. No one was more eager than
+Forster. Mutual explanations and apologies were given and all was as
+before. The liberal Forster, always eager to find "an excuse for the
+glass," announced a grand reconciliation dinner, to which came a
+rather notable party, to wit, Thomas Carlyle, Browning and his son,
+the Rev. Whitwell Elwin, the editor of Pope, and sometime editor of
+the _Quarterly_, the young Robert Lytton, myself, and some others whom
+I have forgotten. What an agreeable banquet it was! Elwin was made to
+retell, to Forster's convulsive enjoyment, though he had heard it
+before, a humorous incident of a madman's driving about in a gig with
+a gun and a companion, who up to that moment _thought_ he was sane.
+The Sage of Chelsea had his smoke as usual, a special churchwarden and
+a more-special "screw" of tobacco having been carefully sent out for
+and laid before him. There was something very interesting in this
+ceremonial. We juniors at the end of the table, Robert Lytton and
+myself, both lit a cigar, which brought forth a characteristic lecture
+from Forster; "I never allow smoking in this room, save on this
+privileged occasion when my old friend Carlyle honours me. But I do
+not extend that to you Robert Lytton, and you (this to me). You have
+taken the matter into your own hands, without asking leave or license;
+as that is so, and the thing is done, there is no more to be said."
+Here of course we understood that he wished to emphasize the
+compliment to his friend and make the privilege exclusively his. But
+he would have liked to hear, "May we also smoke?"
+
+Forster's affection for Carlyle and his pride in him was delightful to
+see. I think he had more reverence for him than for anybody. He really
+looked on him as an inspired Sage, and this notion was encouraged by
+the retired fashion in which he of Chelsea lived, showing himself but
+rarely. Browning was seated near his host, but I noticed a sort of
+affected and strained _empressement_ on both sides. Later I heard a
+loud scoffing laugh from Forster, but the other, apparently by a
+strong effort, repressed himself and made no reply. Alas! as was to be
+expected, the feud broke out again and was never healed. Though
+Browning would at times coldly ask me after his old friend.
+
+There was no better dramatic critic than Forster, for he had learned
+his criticism in the school of Macready and the old comedies. He had a
+perfect instinct for judging even when not present, and I recollect,
+when Salvini was being set up against Irving, his saying
+magisterially: "Though I have not seen either Mr. Salvini or Mr.
+Irving, I have a perfect conviction that Salvini is an actor and Mr.
+Irving is not." He had the finest declamation, was admirable in
+emphasis, and in bringing out the meaning of a passage, with
+expressive eye and justly-modulated cadences. I never had a greater
+treat than on one night, after dining with him, he volunteered to read
+aloud to us the Kitely passages from _Every Man in his Humour_, in
+which piece at the acted performances he was, I suspect, the noblest
+Roman of 'em all. It was a truly fine performance; he brought out the
+jealousy in the most powerful and yet delicately suggestive fashion.
+Every emotion, particularly the anticipation of such emotions, was
+reflected in his mobile features. His voice, deep and sonorous, and at
+times almost flutey with softness, was under perfect control; he could
+direct it as he willed. The reading must have called up many pleasant
+scenes, the excitement, his friends, the artists and writers, who all
+had taken part in the "splendid strolling" as he called it, and now
+all gone!
+
+He often, however, mistook inferior birds for swans. He once held out to
+us, as a great treat, the reading of an unpublished play of his friend
+Lord Lytton, which was called _Walpole_. All the characters spoke and
+carried on conversation in hexameters. The effect was ridiculous. A more
+tedious thing, with its recondite and archaic allusions to Pulteney and
+other Georgian personages, could not be conceived. The ladies in
+particular, after a scene or two, soon became weary. He himself lost
+faith in the business, and saw that it was flat, so he soon stopped, but
+he was mystified at such non-intelligence. There was quite a store of
+these posthumous pieces of the late dramatist, some of which I read. But
+most were bad and dreary.
+
+Forster had no doubt some oracular ways, which, like Mr. Peter
+Magnus's in _Pickwick_, "amused his friends very much." "Dicky" Doyle
+used to tell of a picnic excursion when Forster was expatiating
+roundly on the landscape, particularly demanding admiration for
+"yonder purple cloud" how dark, how menacing it was. "Why, my dear
+Forster," cried Doyle, "it's not a cloud at all, but only a piece of
+slated roof!" Forster disdained to notice the correction, but some
+minutes later he called to him loudly before the crowd: "See, Doyle!
+yonder is _not_ a cloud, but a bit of slated roof: there can be no
+doubt of it." In vain Doyle protested, "Why, Forster, I said that to
+you!" "My dear Doyle," said Forster, sweetly, "it's no more a cloud
+than I am. I repeat you are mistaken, _it's a bit of slated roof_."
+
+To myself, he was ever kind and good-natured, though I could smile
+sometimes at his hearty and well-meant patronage. Patronage! it was
+rather wholesale "backing" of his friends. Thus, one morning he
+addressed me with momentous solemnity, "My dear fellow, I have been
+thinking about you for a long time, and I have come to this
+conclusion: you _must write a comedy_. I have settled that you can do
+it; you have powers of drawing character and of writing dialogue; so I
+have settled, the best thing you can do is to write a comedy." Thus
+had he given his permission and orders, and I might fall to work with
+his fullest approbation. I have no doubt he told others that he had
+directed that the comedy should be written.
+
+On another day, my dachshund "Toby" was brought to see him. For no one
+loved or understood the ways of dogs better. He greatly enjoyed "the
+poor fellow's bent legs," rather a novelty then, and at last with a
+loud laugh: "He is _Sir_ Toby! no longer Toby. Yes my dear friend he
+_must_ be Sir Toby henceforth." He had knighted him on the spot!
+
+Forster always stands out pre-eminently as "the friend," the general
+friend, and it is pleasant to be handed down in such an attitude. We
+find him as the common referee, the sure-headed arbiter,
+good-naturedly and heartily giving his services to arrange any trouble
+or business. How invaluable he was to Dickens is shown in the "Life."
+With him friendship was a high and serious duty, more responsible even
+than relationship. His warm heart, his time, his exertions, were all
+given to his friend. No doubt he had some little pleasure in the
+importance of his office, but he was in truth really indulging his
+affections, and warm heart.
+
+Among his own dearest friends was one for whom he seemed to have an
+affection and admiration that might be called tender; his respect,
+too, for his opinions and attainments were strikingly unusual in one
+who thought so much of his own powers of judgment. This was the Rev.
+WHITWELL ELWIN, Rector of Booton, Norwich. He seemed to me a man quite
+of an unusual type, of much learning and power, and yet of a gentle
+modesty that was extraordinary. In some things the present Master of
+the Temple, Canon Ainger, very much suggests him. I see Elwin now, a
+spare wiry being with glowing pink face and a very white poll. He
+seemed a muscular person, yet never was there a more retiring, genial
+and delicate-minded soul. His sensitiveness was extraordinary, as was
+shown by his relinquishing his monumental edition of Pope's Works,
+after it had reached to its eighth volume. The history of this
+proceeding has never been clearly explained. No doubt he felt, as he
+pursued his labours, that his sense of dislike to Pope and contempt
+for his conduct was increasing, that he could not excuse or defend
+him. Elwin was in truth the "complement" of Forster's life and
+character. It was difficult to understand the one without seeing him
+in the company of the other. It was astonishing how softened and
+amiable, and even schoolboy-like, the tumultuous John became when he
+spoke of or was in company with his old friend; he really delighted in
+him. Forster's liking was based on respect for those gifts of culture,
+pains-taking and critical instinct, which he knew his friend
+possessed, and which I have often heard him praise in the warmest and
+sincerest fashion. "In El-win"--he seemed to delight in rolling out
+the syllables in this divided tone--"in El-ween you will find style
+and finish. If there is anyone who knows the topic it is El-win. He is
+your man."
+
+I was bringing out a _magnum opus_, dedicated to Carlyle, Boswell's
+_Life of Johnson_, entailing a vast deal of trouble and research. The
+amiable Elwin, whom I consulted, entered into the project with a host
+of enthusiasm. He took the trouble of rummaging his note books, and
+continued to send me week by week many a useful communication,
+clearing up doubtful passages. But what was this to his service when
+I was writing a Life of Sterne,[1] and the friendly Forster,
+interesting himself in the most good-natured way, determined that it
+should succeed, and put me in communication with Elwin. No doubt he
+was interested in his _protégé_, and Elwin, always willing to please,
+as it were, received his instructions. Presently, to my wonder and
+gratification, arrived an extraordinary letter, if one might so call
+it, which filled over a dozen closely written pages (for he compressed
+a marvellous quantity into a sheet of paper), all literally
+overflowing with information. It was an account of recondite and most
+unlikely works in which allusions to Sterne and many curious bits of
+information were stowed away; chapter and page and edition were given
+for every quotation; it must have taken him many hours and much
+trouble to write. And what an incident it was, the two well-skilled
+and accomplished literary critics exerting themselves, the one to
+secure the best aid of his friend, the other eager to assist, because
+his friend wished it.
+
+[Footnote 1: I recall a meeting by special appointment with Elwin, who
+came to lunch to debate it. He had already my letter, turned it over
+and over again, but without result. The point was what edition should
+be used--the first or the last; this latter having, of course, the
+advantage of the author's latest revision. On the great question of
+"Johnson's stay at Oxford," which has exercised all the scholars, and
+is still in a more or less unsatisfactory way, he agreed with me.]
+
+In the course of these Shandian enquiries, the passage in Thackeray's
+lecture occurred to me where he mentions having been shown Eliza's
+Diary by a "Gentleman of Bath." I wished to find out who this was,
+when my faithful friend wrote to the novelist and sent me his reply,
+which began, "My dear Primrose"--his charmingly appropriate nick or
+pet name for Elwin, who was the very picture of the amiable vicar. It
+resulted in the gentleman allowing _me_ to look at his journal.
+
+Letter from Elwin on the "unfortunate Dr. Dodd":--
+
+Booton Rectory, Norwich,
+
+Oct. 31st, 1864.
+
+     My dear Mr. ----.--I have been ill for some weeks past,
+     which has prevented my writing to you. It is of the less
+     importance that I can add nothing to your ample list of
+     authorities, except to mention, if you are not already aware
+     of it, that there is a good deal about Dr. Dodd and his
+     doings, in "Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea." The
+     contemporary characters which figure in the work are
+     described partly by real, and partly by invented
+     circumstances. But you at least get the view which the
+     author entertained of the persons he introduces on the
+     scene. I missed the first part of your Memoir of Dodd, in
+     the _Dublin Magazine_. The second I saw, and thought it
+     extremely interesting, and very happily written. I was
+     surprised at the quantity of information you had got
+     together. I cannot help you to any detailed account of the
+     Maccaroni preachers. They are glanced at in the second book
+     of Cowper's Task. They have existed, and will exist in every
+     generation, but it is seldom that any record is preserved of
+     them. They are the butterflies of the hour. There are no
+     means by which you can keep worthless men from making a
+     trade of religion, and as long as there are people simple
+     enough to be dupes, so long there will be impostors. It is
+     strange to see what transparent acting will impose upon
+     women. To be popular, to draw large audiences, is the avowed
+     object of many of these preachers. The late R. Montgomery
+     once introduced himself to an acquaintance of mine on the
+     platform at some religious meeting. Montgomery commenced the
+     conversation by the remark, "You have a chapel in the West
+     End." "Yes," said my friend. "And I hope to have one soon,"
+     replied M., "for I am satisfied that I have the faculty for
+     _adapting_ the Gospel to the _West End_." You may tell the
+     story if you give no names.
+
+     You have anticipated my Sterne anecdotes. I will just
+     mention one circumstance. In the advertisement to the
+     edition of Sterne's Works, in 10 vols. (1798), it is stated
+     (Vol. I, p. iv.) "that the letters numbered 129, 130 and
+     131, have not those proofs of authenticity which the others
+     possess." Now, letter 131 is very important, for it is that
+     in which Sterne replies to the remonstrances against the
+     freedoms in Tristram Shandy. It may be satisfactory to you
+     to know that some years after the edition of Sterne's Works
+     the letter was published by Richard Warner (apparently from
+     the original) in the Appendix to his Literary Recollections.
+     He was not, I suppose, aware that it had been printed
+     before. Warner was ordained in the North, and his work will
+     throw some light upon the state of things in those regions
+     at a period close upon Sterne's time. You will find it worth
+     while to glance over it. If I can be of any help to you I
+     shall only be too happy.
+
+Believe me ever, most sincerely yours,
+
+W. ELWIN.
+
+There is something touching in this deep affection, exhibited by so
+rough and sturdy a nature and maintained without flagging for so many
+years. With him it was "the noble Elwin," "the good Elwin," "as ever,
+most delightful," "kinder and more considerate than ever." "Never were
+letters so pleasant to me as yours," he wrote in 1865, "and it is sad
+to think that from months we are now getting on to years with barely a
+single letter." "My dear fellow," he wrote again, "with the ranks so
+thinning around us, should we not close up, come nearer to each other?
+None are so dear to us at home as Mrs. Elwin and yourself and all of
+you." One of the last entries in his diary was, "Precious letter from
+dearest Elwin. December 10th, 1875."
+
+Elwin had, perhaps, a colder temperament, or did not express his
+devotion. But his regard would seem to have been as deep-seated; as
+indeed was shown in the finely drawn tribute he paid him after his
+death, and which is indeed the work of an accomplished writer and
+master of expression. "He was two distinct men," wrote Elwin to John
+Murray the elder, in 1876, "and the one man quite dissimilar from the
+other. To see him in company I should not have recognised him for the
+friend with whom I was intimate in private. Then he was quiet,
+natural, unpretending, and most agreeable, and in the warmth and
+generosity of his friendship he had no superior. Sensitive as he was
+in some ways, there was no man to whom it was easier so speak with
+perfect frankness. He always bore it with gentle good nature."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: To Elwin Forster left £2,000 and his gold watch, no doubt
+the one bequeathed by Dickens. Forster appointed him, without
+consulting him, one of his executors, but knowing well that he could
+rely on his good will, and the legacy no doubt was intended as a
+solatium for the labour thus enforced. Lord Lytton and Justice Chitty
+were the other executors. As Lord Lytton was in India the whole burden
+fell on the other two, and mostly on Elwin. As his son tells, the
+literary part of the business was most considerable; there was an
+edition of Landor to be "seen through" the press; there was a vast
+number of papers and letters to be examined, preserved or destroyed.
+"His own inclination and Forster's instructions were in the direction
+of destroying all personal letters, however eminent the writer might
+be."]
+
+At another time he wrote with warmth, "Most welcome was your letter
+this morning, as your letters always are to me. They come fraught with
+some new proof of the true, warm-hearted, generous friend who has made
+life worth something more to me than it was a year ago," 1857.[3]
+
+[Footnote 3: Memoirs by Warwick Elwin.]
+
+When Forster married, in 1856, he was eager that Elwin should
+officiate, and proposed going down to Norfolk. But legal formalities
+were in the way, and Elwin came to London instead. "He never," says
+Warwick Elwin, "wavered in his attachment to him. Sometimes he would
+be momentarily vexed at some fancied neglect, but the instant they met
+again it was all forgotten." Elwin was, in fact, subject to moods and
+"nerves," and there were times when he shrank sensitively from the
+world and its associations--he would answer no letters, particularly
+after the period of his many sore trials. The last time I saw him was
+at that great _fiasco_, the production of the first Lord Lytton's
+posthumous play on the subject of Brutus, produced by Wilson Barrett,
+with extraordinary richness and pomp: a failure that led to an
+unpleasant dispute between Lytton's son and the lessee.
+
+When the _Life of Dickens_ appeared, Elwin, as in duty bound,
+proceeded to review it in the _Quarterly_. I confess that on reading
+over this article there seems to be a curious reserve and rather
+measured stint of praise. One would have expected from the generous
+Elwin one enthusiastic and sustained burst of praise of his friend's
+great work. But it seems as though he felt so trifling a matter was
+scarcely worthy of solemn treatment. The paper is only twenty pages
+long, and, after a few lines of praise at the beginning and a line or
+two at the end, proceeds to give a summary of the facts. The truth was
+Elwin was too scrupulously conscientious a critic to stretch a point
+in such a matter. I could fancy that for one of his nice feeling it
+became an almost disagreeable duty. Were he tempted to expand in
+praises, it would be set down to partiality, while he was hardly free
+to censure. No wonder he wrote of his performance: "Forster will think
+it too lukewarm; others the reverse." As it happened, the amiable
+Forster was enchanted.
+
+"For upwards of three-and-thirty years," says Mr. Elwin in this review
+(_Q. R._, vol. 132, p. 125), "Mr. Forster was the incessant companion
+and confidential adviser of Dickens; the friend to whom he had
+recourse in every difficulty, personal and literary; and before whom
+he spread, without reserve, every fold of his mind. _No man's life has
+ever been better known to a biographer...._ To us it appears that a
+more faithful biography could not be written. Dickens is seen in his
+pages precisely as he is showed in his ordinary intercourse."
+
+Both Elwin and his friend had that inflexibility of principle in
+criticism and literary utterance which they adhered to as though it
+were a matter of high morals. This feeling contrasts with the easy
+adaptability of our day, when the critic so often has to shape his
+views according to interested aims. He indeed will hold in his views,
+but may not deem it necessary to produce them. I could recall
+instances in both men of this sternness of opinion. Forster knew no
+compromise in such matters; though I fancy in the case of people of
+title, for whom, as already mentioned, he had a weakness, or of pretty
+women, he may have occasionally given way. I remember when Elwin was
+writing his fine estimate of his deceased friend, Mrs. Forster in deep
+distress came to tell me that he insisted on describing her husband as
+"the son of a butcher." In vain had she entreated him to leave this
+matter aside. Even granting its correctness, what need or compulsion
+to mention it? It was infinitely painful to her. But it was not true:
+Forster's father was a large "grazier" or dealer in cattle. Elwin,
+however, was inflexible: some Newcastle alderman had hunted up entries
+in old books, and he thought the evidence convincing.
+
+Another incident connected with the memory of her much-loved husband,
+that gave this amiable woman much poignant distress, was a statement
+made by Mr. Furnival, the Shakesperian, that Browning had been
+employed by Forster to write the account of Strafford, in the
+collection of Lives. He had been told this by Browning himself.
+Nevertheless, she set all her friends to work; had papers, letters,
+etc., ransacked for evidence, but with poor result. The probability
+was that Forster would have disdained such aid; on the other hand, the
+Poet had written a tragedy on the subject, and was, therefore, capable
+of dealing with it. Letters of vindication were sent to the papers,
+but no one was much interested in the point one way or the other;
+save, of course, the good Mrs. Forster, to whom it was vital. I am
+afraid, however, there was truth in the statement; for it is
+completely supported by a stray passage in one of the Poet's letters
+to his future wife, recently published.
+
+Forster, I fancy, must have often looked wistfully back to the old
+Lincoln's Inn days, when he sat in his large Tulkinghorn room, with the
+Roman's finger pointing down to his head. I often grieve that I did not
+see this Roman, as I might have done, before he was erased; for Forster
+was living there when I first knew him. On his marriage he moved to that
+snug house in Montague Square, where we had often cosy dinners. He was
+driven from it, he used to say, by the piano-practising on each side of
+him, which became "in-_tol_-erable"; but I fancy the modest house was
+scarcely commensurate with his ambitions. It was somewhat old-fashioned
+too. And yet in his grand palatial mansion at Kensington I doubt if he
+was as jocund or as irrepressible as then. I am certain the burden of an
+ambitious life told upon his health and spirits.
+
+I often turn back to the day when I first called on him, at the now
+destroyed offices at Whitehall, when he emerged from an inner room in
+a press of business. I see him now, a truly brisk man, full of life
+and energy, and using even then his old favourite hospitable formula,
+"My dear sir, I am _very_ busy--very busy; I have just escaped from
+the commissioners. But you must dine with me to-morrow and we will
+talk of these things." Thus he did not ask you, but he "commanded
+you," even as a king would.
+
+One of the most interesting things about Forster was his
+"receptivity." Stern and inflexible as he was in the case of old
+canons, he was always ready to welcome anything new or striking,
+provided it had merit and was not some imposture. I never met a better
+appreciator of genuine humour. He had been trained, or had trained
+himself; whatever shape it had, only let it have _merit_. He
+thoroughly _enjoyed_ a jest, and furnished his own obstreperous laugh
+by way of applause. As I have said, there was something truly
+_Johnsonian_ about him; everything he said or decided you knew well
+was founded on a principle of some kind; he was a solid judicial man,
+and even his hearty laugh of enjoyment was always based on a rational
+motive. This sort of solid well-trained men are rather scarce
+nowadays.
+
+Forster was also a type of the old Cromwellian or Independant with
+reference to religious liberty. He could not endure, therefore,
+"Romish tyranny," as he called it, which stifled thought. Many of his
+friends were Roman Catholics. There were "touches" in Forster as good
+as anything in the old comedies.
+
+His handsome and spacious library, with its gallery running round, was
+well known to all his friends. Richly stored was it with book
+treasures, manuscripts, rare first editions, autographs, in short all
+those things which may now be seen at South Kensington. He had a store
+of other fine things somewhere else, and kept a secretary or
+librarian, to whom he issued his instructions. For he himself did not
+profess to know the _locale_ of the books and papers, and I have often
+heard him in his lofty way direct that instructions should be sent to
+Mr. ---- to search out such and such documents. He had grand ideas
+about his books, and spared no cost either in his purchases or
+bindings. I have seen one of his quarto MS. thus dressed by Rivičre in
+plain decoration, but which he told me had cost £30.
+
+Once for some modest private theatricals I had written a couple of
+little pieces to be acted by ourselves and our friends. One was called
+_Blotting Paper_, the other _The William Simpson_. A gay company was
+invited, and I recall how the performers were pleased and encouraged
+when the face of the brilliant author of a _Lady of Lyons_ was seen in
+the front row. Forster took the whole under his protection, and was
+looking forward to attending, but his invariable terrible cough seized
+on him. Mrs. Forster was sent with strict instructions to observe and
+report everything that did or could occur on this interesting
+occasion. I see her soft amiable face smiling encouragement from the
+stalls. I rose greatly in my friend's estimation from this attendance
+of the author of _Pelham_. "How did you manage it?" "He goes nowhere
+or to few places. It was a gr-eat compliment."
+
+This little performance is associated in a melancholy way with the
+closing days of Dickens' career. I was naturally eager to secure his
+presence, and went to see him at "his office" to try and persuade him
+to attend; he pleaded, however, his overwhelming engagements. I find
+in an old diary some notes of our talk. "Theatricals led to Regnier,
+whom I think he had been to see in _Les Vieux Garēons_. He said he
+found him very old. "Alas! He is _Vieux Garēon_ himself." I think of
+our few little dinners in my house; would we had had more! Somehow
+since I have been living here the image of him has been more and more
+stamped on me; I see and like him more. The poor, toiling, loveable
+fellow, to think that all is over with him now!"
+
+[At the risk of smiles, and perhaps some suspicion of vanity, I go on
+to copy what follows.] When I saw Mrs. Forster during those dismal
+days, she was good enough to relate to me much about his personal
+liking for me. He would tell them how I could do anything if I only
+gave myself fair play. He said he was going to write to give me a
+sound blowing up. "And yet," he added, "I doubt if he would take it
+from anybody else but me. He is a good fellow." [I still doubt whether
+I should add what follows, but I am not inclined to sacrifice such a
+tribute from such a man; told me, too, only a few days after his
+death.] He praised a novel of mine, _No. 75, Brooke St._, and here are
+his words: "The last scene and winding up is one of the most powerful
+things I have met."
+
+Forster, devoted to the school of Macready, and all but trained by
+that actor, whose bust was placed in his hall, thought but poorly of
+the performances of our time. He pooh-poohed them all, including even
+the great and more brilliant successes. Once a clever American company
+came over, a phenomenal thing at that time, and appeared at the St.
+James's Theatre. They played _She Stoops to Conquer_, with two
+excellent performers as Old Hardcastle and Marlow; Brough was the
+Tony. I induced Forster to come and see them, and we made up a party.
+He listened with an amusing air of patronage, which was habitual with
+him--meant to encourage--and said often that "it was very good, very
+fair indeed." Brough he admitted was perhaps the nearest to the
+fitting tone and spirit of the piece. The two American actors, as it
+seemed to me, were excellent comedians.
+
+I once saw him at St. James's Hall, drawn to hear one of his friend's
+last readings. I saw his entrance. He came piloted by the faithful
+Charles Kent, who led, or rather _cleared_ the way, Forster following
+with a smiling modesty, as if he sought to avoid too much notice. His
+rotund figure was swathed in a tight fitting paletōt, while a sort of
+nautical wrapper was round his throat. He fancied no doubt that many
+an eye was following him; that there was many a whisper, "That is the
+great John Forster." He passed on solemnly through the hall and out at
+the door leading to the artistes' rooms. Alas! no one was thinking of
+him; he had been too long absent from the stage. It is indeed
+extremely strange, and I often wonder at it, how little mark he made.
+The present and coming generations know nothing about him. I may add
+here that, at Dickens' _very_ last Reading at this place, I and
+Charles Kent were the two--the only two--favoured with a place on the
+platform, behind the screens. From that coign, I heard him say his
+last farewell words: "Vanish from these garish lights for evermore!"
+
+One summer Forster and his wife came down to Bangor, I believe from a
+genial good-natured wish to be there with his friends--a family who
+were often found there. He put up at the "George," then a house of
+lofty pretensions, though now it would seem but a modest affair
+enough. What a holiday it was! The great John unbent to an
+inconceivable degree; he was soft, engaging even, and in a bright and
+constant good humour. The family consisted of the mother, two
+daughters, and the son, _moi qui vous parle_--all of whom looked to
+him with a sort of awe and reverence, which was not unpleasing to him.
+The two girls he professed to admire and love; the mother, a woman of
+the world, had won him by her speech at his dinner party, during which
+a loud crash came from the hall; he said nothing, but she saw the
+temper working within, and quoted happily from Pope,
+
+    "And e'en unmoved hears China fall."
+
+Immensely gratified at the implied compliment for his restraint, his
+angry brow was smoothed. To imagine a dame of our time quoting Pope at
+a dinner! at most she would have heard of him.
+
+What walks and expeditions in that delightful Welsh district! and what
+unbounded hospitality! He would insist on his favourites coming to
+dinner every few days or so. It was impossible to refuse; equally
+impossible to make any excuse; he was so overpowering. Everything was
+swept away. At the time the dull pastime of acrostic-writing was in
+high vogue, and some ladies of the party thought to compliment him by
+fashioning one upon his name. He accepted the compliment with much
+complacent gratification; and, when the result was read aloud, it was
+found that the only epithet that would fit his name, having the
+proper number of letters, was "learned." His brow clouded. It was not
+what he expected. He was good-humouredly scornful. "Well, I declare, I
+did not expect this. I should have thought something like 'gallant,'
+or 'pleasant,' or 'agreeable'--but '_learned_!' as though I were some
+old pundit. Thank you, ladies."
+
+No one knew so much as Forster of the literary history of the days
+when Dickens first "rose"; and when such men as Lamb, Campbell,
+Talfourd, Theodore Hook, Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and many more of that
+school were flourishing.
+
+I see him now seated in the stern manipulating the ropes of the
+rudder, with all the air of perfect knowledge; diverting the boatmen,
+putting questions to them, and adroitly turning their answers into
+pieces of original information; lecturing on the various objects of
+interest we passed; yet all the time interesting, and excellent
+company. At times he began to talk of poetry, and would pour forth the
+stores of his wonderful memory, reciting passages with excellent
+elocution, and delighting his hearers. I recall the fine style in
+which he rolled forth "Hohenlinden," and "The Royal George," and the
+"Battle of the Baltic." At the close he would sink his voice to a low
+muttering, just murmuring impressively, "be-neath the wave!" Then
+would pause, and say, as if overcome--"Fine, very, very fine!" These
+exercises gave his audience genuine pleasure. On shore, visiting the
+various show things, he grew frolicsome, and insisted on the visitors
+as "Mr. and Mrs. ----," the names of characters in some novel I had
+written.
+
+It would be an interesting question to consider how far Forster's
+influence improved or injured Dickens' work; for he tells us
+everything written by the latter was submitted to him, and corrections
+and alterations offered. I am inclined to confess that, when in his
+official mood, Forster's notions of humour were somewhat forced. It is
+thus almost startling to read his extravagant praise of a passage
+about Sapsea which the author discarded in _Edwin Drood_. Nothing
+better showed Boz's discretion. The well-known passage in _The Old
+Curiosity Shop_ about the little marchioness and her make-believe of
+orange peel and water, and which Dickens allowed him to mend in his
+own way, was certainly altered for the worse.
+
+I had the sad satisfaction, such as it was, of attending Forster's
+funeral, as well as that of his amiable wife. I had a seat in one of
+the mourning coaches, with that interesting man, James Anthony Froude.
+Not many were bidden to the ceremonial.
+
+Mrs. Forster's life, like that of her husband, closed in much
+suffering. I believe she might have enjoyed a fair amount of health
+had she not clung with a sort of devotion, not unconnected with the
+memory of her husband, to the house which he had built. Nothing could
+induce her to go away. She was, moreover, offered a sum of over
+£20,000 for it shortly after his death, but declined; it was later
+sold for little over a third of the amount. He had bequeathed all his
+treasures to the nation, allowing her the life use, but with much
+generosity she at once handed over the books, pictures, prints,
+sketches, and other things. She bore her sufferings with wonderful
+patience and sweetness, and I remember the clergyman who attended her,
+and who was at the grave, being much affected.
+
+Mrs. Forster was a woman of more sagacity and shrewdness of
+observation than she obtained credit for. She had seen and noted many
+curious things in her course. Often of a Sunday afternoon, when I used
+to pay her a visit, she would open herself very freely, and reveal to
+me many curious bits of secret history relating to her husband's
+literary friends. She was very amusing on the Sage of Chelsea. I
+recollect she treated Mrs. Carlyle's account of her dreary life and
+servitude to her great husband as a sort of romance or delusion,
+conveying that she was not at all a lady likely to be thus "put upon."
+In vulgar phrase, the boot was on the other leg.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I have thought it right to offer this small tribute to one who was in
+his way an interesting and remarkable man. No place has been found for
+him in the series known as English Men of Letters; and yet, as I have
+before pointed out, he had a place in literature that somewhat
+suggests the position of Dr. Johnson. What Forster said, or what
+Forster did, was at one time of importance to the community. This sort
+of arbiter is unknown nowadays, and perhaps would not be accepted. He
+will, however, ever be associated with Charles Dickens, as his friend,
+adviser, admirer, corrector, and biographer. There is a conventional
+meaning for the term "men of letters," men, that is, who have written
+books; but in the stricter sense it is surely one who is "learned in
+letters," as a lawyer is learned in the law. Johnson is much more
+thought of in this way than as a writer. Forster had this true
+instinct, and it was a curious thing one day to note his delight when
+I showed him a recent purchase: a figure of Johnson, _his_ prototype,
+wrought in pottery, seated in chair, in an attitude of wisdom, his
+arms extended and bent, and evidently expatiating. Looking at it, he
+delivered an acute bit of criticism worthy of the Doctor himself.
+
+"The interest," he said, "of this figure is not in the modelling,
+which is good, but because it represents Johnson as he was, in the eye
+of the crowd of his day; who looked on him, not as the writer, but as
+the grand _argufier_ and layer-down of the law, the 'settler' of any
+knotty point whatever; with them the Doctor could decide anything. See
+how his arm is half raised, his fingers outspread, as if about to give
+his decision. You should show this to Carlyle, who will be delighted
+with it."
+
+He often recurred to this and to the delight the Sage would have had.
+I forget whether I followed his advice. On the same occasion he
+noticed a figure of Washington. "Ah! there he stands," he said, "with
+his favourite air of state and dignity, and sense of what was due to
+his position. You will always notice that in the portraits there was a
+little assumption of the aristocrat." Forster's criticism was always
+of this kind--instructive and acute.
+
+Forster was the envied possessor of nearly every one of Boz's MSS.--a
+treasure at the time not thought very much of, even by Dickens
+himself, but since his death become of extraordinary value. I should
+say that each was worth some two or three thousand pounds at the
+least. How amazing has been this appreciation of what dealers call
+"the Dickens stuff" during these years! It is almost incredible. I
+mind the day when a Dickens' book, a Dickens' letter, was taken
+tranquilly. A relation of my own, an old bachelor, had, as we thought,
+an eccentric _penchant_ for early editions of Boz; and once, on the
+great man coming to the provincial city where he lived, waited on him
+to show him what he called his "Old Gold"; to wit, the earlier
+editions of Pickwick and Nickleby. We all smiled, and I remember Boz
+speaking to me good-naturedly of this enthusiasm. Not one of the party
+then--it was in 1865--dreamed that this old bachelor was far wiser
+than his generation. The original Pickwick, that is bound from the
+numbers, is indeed a nugget of old gold. I remember once asking Wills,
+his sub-editor, could I be allowed to have the original MSS. of some
+of Boz's short stories? He said, "To be sure, that nothing was more
+easy than to ask him, for the printer sent each back to him after use,
+carefully sealed up." What became of all these papers I cannot tell;
+but I doubt if anyone was then _very_ eager about them.
+
+Lately, turning over some old papers, I came upon a large bundle of
+proof "slips" of a story I had written for _All the Year Round_. It
+was called _Howard's Son_. To my surprise and pleasure I found that
+they had passed through Boz's own hands, and had been corrected
+throughout in his own careful and elaborate fashion, whole passages
+written in, others deleted, the punctuation altered and improved. Here
+was a _trouvaille_. These slips, I may add, have extraordinary value,
+and in the States would fetch a considerable sum. It was extraordinary
+what pains Boz took with the papers of his contributors, and how
+diligently and laboriously he improved and polished them.
+
+Forster's latter days, that is, I suppose, for some seven or eight
+years, were an appalling state of martyrdom; no words could paint it.
+It was gout in its most terrible form, that is, on the chest. This
+malady was due, in the first place, to his early hard life, when rest
+and hours of sleep were neglected or set at nought. Too good living
+also was accountable. He loved good cheer and had an excellent taste
+in wines, fine clarets, etc. Such things were fatal to his complaint.
+This gout took the shape of an almost eternal cough, which scarcely
+ever left him. It began invariably with the night and kept him awake,
+the waters rising on his chest and overpowering him. I have seen him
+on the following day, lying spent and exhausted on a sofa and
+struggling to get some snatches of sleep, if he could. But as seven
+o'clock drew near, a change came. There was a dinner-party; he "pulled
+himself together:" began another jovial night and in good spirits. But
+he could not resist the tempting wines, etc., and of course had his
+usual "bad" night. Once dining with me, he as usual brought his Vichy
+bottle with him, and held forth on the necessity of "putting on the
+muzzle," restraint, etc. He "lectured" us all in a very suitable way,
+and maintained his restraint during dinner. There was a bottle of good
+Corton gently warming at the fire, about which he made inquiries, but
+which now, alas! need not be opened. When the ladies were gone, he
+became very pressing on this topic. "My dear fellow, you must _not_
+let me be a kill-joy, you must really open the bottle for yourself;
+why should you deny yourself for me? Nonsense!" It suggested Winkle
+going to fight a duel, saying to his friend, "Do _not_ give
+information to the police." But I was inhospitably inflexible. These
+little touches were Forster all over. One would have given anything to
+let him have his two or three glasses, but one had to be cruel to be
+kind. Old Sam Johnson was of the same pattern, and could not resist a
+dinner-party, even when in serious plight. He certainly precipitated
+his death by his greed.
+
+I well recall the confusion and grief of one morning in July, 1870,
+when opening the _Times_ I read in large capitals, DEATH OF CHARLES
+DICKENS. It must have brought a shock more or less to every reader.
+Nothing was less expected, for we had not at that time the recurring
+evening editions, treading on each other's heels, to keep us posted up
+every hour in every event of the day.
+
+I am tempted here to copy from an old diary the impressions of that
+painful time. The words were written on the evening of the funeral at
+6 p.m.: "Died, dear Charles Dickens. I think at this moment of his
+bright genial manner, so cordial and hearty, of the delightful days at
+Belfast--on the Reading Tours--The Trains--the Evenings at the
+Hotel--his lying on the sofa listening to my stories and laughing in
+his joyous way. I think, too, of the last time that I saw him, which
+was at his office in Wellington Street, whither I went to ask him to
+come to some theatricals that we were getting up. We talked them over,
+and then he began to bewail so sadly, the burden of 'going out' to
+dinner parties. He said that he would like to come, but that he could
+not promise. However, he might come late in the night if he could get
+away from other places. I see his figure now before me, standing at
+the table, the small delicate-formed shoulders. Then bringing me into
+another room to show me one of the gigantic golden yellow _All the
+Year Round_ placards, presently to be displayed on every wall and
+hoarding of the kingdom. This was the announcement of a new story I
+had written for his paper, which he had dubbed 'The Doctor's Mixture,'
+but of which, alas! he was destined never to revise the proofs. It
+had been just hung up 'to try the effect,' and was fresh from the
+printers."
+
+I look back to another of Forster's visits to Dublin when he came in
+quest of materials for his _Life of Swift_. He was in the gayest and
+best of his humours, and behaved much as the redoubtable Doctor
+Johnson did on his visit to Edinburgh. I see him seated in the library
+at Trinity College, making his notes, surrounded by the Dons. Dining
+with him at his hotel, for even here he must entertain his host, he
+lit his cigar after dinner, when an aged waiter of the old school
+interrupted: "Ah, you musn't do that. It's agin the rules and
+forbidden." He little knew his Forster; what a storm broke on his
+head--"Leave the room, you rascal. How dare you, sir, interfere with
+me! Get out, sir," with much more: the scared waiter fled. "One of the
+pleasantest episodes in my life," I wrote in a diary, "has just
+closed. John Forster come and gone, after his visit here (_i.e._ to
+Dublin). Don't know when I liked a man more. He was most genial and
+satisfactory to talk with. His amiable and agreeable wife with him.
+She told a great deal of Boz and his life at home, giving a delightful
+picture of his ordinary day. He would write all the morning till one
+o'clock, and no one was allowed to see or interrupt him. Then came
+lunch; then a long hearty walk until dinner time. During the evening
+he would read in his own room, but the door was kept open so that he
+might hear the girls playing--an amiable touch. At Christmas time,
+when they would go down on a visit, he would entertain them by reading
+aloud his proofs and passages not yet published. She described to us
+'Boffin,' out of _Our Mutual Friend_, as admirable. He shows all to
+Forster before-hand, and consults him as to plot, characters, etc. He
+has a humorous fashion of giving his little boys comic names; later to
+appear in his stories. Thus, one known as 'Plorn,' which later
+appeared as 'Plornish.' This is a pleasant picture of the great
+writer's domestic life, and it gives also a faint 'adumbration' of
+what is now forgotten: the intense curiosity and eager anticipation
+that was abroad as to what he was doing or preparing. Hints of his
+characters got known; their movements and developments were discussed,
+and the incidents of his story were like public events. We have
+nothing of this nowadays, for no writer or story rouses the same
+interest. Forster also told us a good deal about Carlyle, whose
+proof-sheets, from the abundant corrections, cost three or four times
+what the original 'setting' did." Thus the diary.
+
+Once, on a Sunday in Dublin, I brought Forster to the cathedral in
+Marlborough Street to hear the High Mass, at which Cardinal Cullen
+officiated. He sat it out very patiently, and I remember on coming out
+drew a deep sigh, or gasp, with the remark, "Well, I suppose it's all
+right."
+
+Forster, whatever might be said of his sire's calling, was at least of
+a good old Newcastle border stock of fine "grit" and sturdily
+independent. He was proud of his stock, and he has often lamented,
+not merely in print, but to myself, how people would confound him with
+mere Fosters. "Now we," he would say vehemently, "are Forsters with an
+_r_." When he became acquainted with a person nearly connected with
+myself, he was immensely pleased to find that she was a Foster; and,
+as she was of rank, it was amusing to find him not quite so eager to
+repudiate the Foster (without the _r_). "We are all the same, my dear
+friend. All Forresters, abbreviated as Forster or Foster, all one; the
+same crest." The lady had some fragments of a fine old crimson Derby
+service, plates with the Foster escutcheon, and he was immensely
+gratified when she presented him with one.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FREDERICK LOCKER was certainly one of the most agreeable and most
+interesting and most amiable beings that could be imagined. His face
+had a sort of Quixote quaintness, so had his talk, while his humour
+had a pleasant flavour. He lived at his place in the country, but I
+always looked forward--and now look back, alas!--to the many pleasant
+talks we would have together, each more than an hour long, on the
+occasion of these rare visits. All his stories were delightful, all
+his tastes elegant. His knowledge of books was profound and truly
+refined. His taste was most fastidious. Towards the close of his
+career he prepared a catalogue of his choice library, which showed to
+the world at once how elegant was his taste and knowledge. At once it
+became _recherché_. A few copies at a guinea were for sale, with a
+view to let the public know something of his treasures, but it is now
+at a fancy price. Once when I was in a dealer's shop "haggling" over
+an "old play," for which I think two guineas was asked, and which
+seemed to me a monstrous price, Locker came in quietly, and took the
+book up, which was the interlude of _Jacke Drum_. I told him of the
+price--"Take it, I advise you, he said, it is very cheap. I assure you
+I gave a vast deal more for my copy." I took it, and I believe at this
+moment I could get for my copy ten times that sum, in fact, there has
+not been a copy in the market. This interesting man was, I fancy,
+happy in both his marriages; the first bringing him rank and
+connection, the second lands and wealth. I bring him in here because
+he associated with Forster in one of his most grotesque moods. To
+Forster, however, this agreeable spirit was taboo. He had offended the
+great man, and as it had a ludicrous cast, and was, besides, truly
+Forsterian, I may here recur to it. Forster, as I have stated, had
+been left by Landor, the copyright of his now value unsaleable
+writings, and he was more pleased at the intended compliment than
+gratified by the legacy itself. My friend Locker, whose _Lyra_ was
+well known, had thoughtlessly inserted in a new edition one, or some,
+of Landor's short pieces, and went his way. One day Forster discovered
+"the outrage," wrote tremendous letters, threatened law, and, I
+believe, obtained some satisfaction for the trespasses. But during the
+altercation he found that a copy had been presented to the Athenęum
+Club library, and it bore the usual inscription and Minerva's head of
+the Club. Forster, _sans faēon_, put the book in his pocket and took
+it away home, confiscated it in fact. There was a great hubbub. The
+committee met, determined that their property had been taken away, and
+demanded that it should be brought back. Forster flatly refused;
+defied the Club to do its worst. Secretary, solicitors, and every
+means were used to bring him to reason. It actually ended in his
+retaining the book, the Club shrinking from entering into public
+contest with so redoubtable an antagonist.
+
+Forster was sumptuous in his tastes; always liking to have the best.
+When he wanted a thing considerations of the expense would not stand
+in the way. He was an admirable judge of a picture, and could in a few
+well-chosen words point out its merits. When he heard Lord Lytton was
+going to India, he gave Millais a commission to paint a portrait of
+the new Viceroy. Millais used good humouredly to relate the lofty
+condescending style in which it was announced. "It gives me, I assure
+you, great pleasure to learn that you are so advancing in your
+profession. I think highly of your abilities and _shall be glad to
+encourage them_;" or something to that effect. Millais at this time
+was at the very top of his profession, as indeed Forster knew well,
+but the state and grandeur of the subject, and his position in
+expending so large a sum--I suppose a thousand guineas, for it was a
+full length--lifted my old friend into one of his dreams. The
+portrait was a richly-coloured and effective one, giving the staring
+owl-like eyes of the poet-diplomatist. Another of Forster's purchases
+was Maclise's huge picture of Caxton showing his first printed book to
+the King.
+
+It was a treat and an education to go round a picture gallery with
+him, so excellent and to the point were his criticisms. He seized on
+the _essential_ merit of each. I remember going with him to see the
+collected works of his old friend Leslie, R.A., when he frankly
+confessed his disappointment at the general _thinness_ of the colour
+and style, brought out conspicuously when the works were all gathered
+together: this was the effect, with a certain _chalkiness_. At the
+Dublin Exhibition he was greatly struck by a little cabinet picture by
+an Anglo-German artist, one Webb, and was eager to secure it, though
+he objected to the price. However, on the morning of his departure the
+secretary drove up on an outside car to announce that the artist would
+take fifty pounds, which Forster gave. This was "The Chess-players,"
+which now hangs at South Kensington.
+
+He had deep feeling and hesitation even as to putting anything into
+print without due pause and preparation. Print had not then become
+what it is now, with the telephone, type-writing, and other aids, a
+mere expression of conversation and of whatever floating ideas are
+passing through the mind. Mr. Purcell's wholesale exhibition of
+Cardinal Manning's inmost thoughts and feelings would have shocked
+him inexpressibly. I was present when a young fellow, to whom he had
+given some papers, brought him the proofs in which the whole was
+printed off without revision or restraint. He gave him a severe
+rebuke. "Sir, you seem to have no idea of the _sacredness_ of the
+Press; you _pitch in_ everything, as if into a bucket. Such
+carelessness is inexcusable." Among them was a letter from Colburn,
+the former husband of his wife. "I am perfectly _astounded_ at you!
+Have you not the tact to see that such a thing as that should not
+appear?" And he drew his pen indignantly across it. That was a good
+lesson for the youth. In such matters, however, he did not spare
+friend or stranger.
+
+It is curious, considering how sturdy a pattern of Englishman was
+Forster, that all his oldest friends were Irishmen, such as Maclise,
+Emerson Tennant, Whiteside, Macready, Quain, Foley, Mulready, and many
+more. For all these he had almost an affection, and he cherished their
+old and early intimacy. He liked especially the good-natured impulsive
+type of the Goldy pattern; for such he had interest and sympathy. As a
+young man, when studying for the Bar, he had been in Chitty's office,
+where he had for companions Whiteside and Tennant, afterwards Sir
+Emerson. Whiteside became the brilliant parliamentary orator and Chief
+Justice; Tennant a baronet and Governor of Ceylon; and Forster himself
+the distinguished writer and critic, the friend and biographer of
+Dickens. It was a remarkable trio certainly. Chitty, the veteran
+conveyancer, his old master, he never forgot, and was always delighted
+to have him to dinner, to do him honour in every way. His son, the
+judge, was a favourite _protégé_, and became his executor. He had a
+warm regard for Sir Richard Quain, who was beside Lord Beaconsfield
+_in extremis_, who literally knew everyone that ought to be known, and
+who would visit a comparatively humble patient with equal interest.
+Quain was thoroughly good-natured, ever friendly and even
+affectionate. Forster's belief in him was as that in a fetish.
+
+The faithful Quain was with his friend to the last moment. Poor
+Forster was being gradually overpowered by the rising bronchial
+humours with which, as he grew weaker, he could not struggle with or
+baffle. It was then that Quain, bending over, procured him a short
+reprieve and relief in his agony, putting his fingers down his throat
+and clearing away the impeding masses.
+
+Sir Richard was not only physician-in-ordinary, but the warm and
+devoted friend, official consultant, as he was of the whole _coterie_.
+For a long course of years he had charge of his friend's health, if
+health it could be called where all was disease and misery; and it was
+his fate to see him affectionately through the great crisis at the
+last. There was a deal of this affection in Quain; he was eminently
+good-natured; good true-hearted Quain! Many a poor priest of his
+country has been to him, and from them he would never take, though not
+of his faith. Quain was indeed the literary man's physician; more so
+than Sir Andrew Clarke, who was presumed to hold the post by letters
+patent. For Clarke was presumed to know and cure the literary
+ailments; but Quain was the genial guide, philosopher and friend,
+always one of themselves, and indeed a _litérateur_ himself. Who will
+forget his quaint little figure, shrewd face, the native accent, never
+lost; and his "Ah me dear fellow, shure what can I do?" His
+red-wheeled carriage, generally well horsed, was familiar to us all,
+and recognisable. How he maintained this equipage, for we are told
+what "makes a mare to go," it was hard to conceive, for the generous
+man would positively refuse to take fees from his more intimate
+friends, at least of the literary class. With me, a very old friend
+and patient, there was a perpetual battle. He set his face against the
+two guinea fee, but humorously held out for his strict guinea, and
+would not bate the shilling. I have known him when a client presented
+two sovereigns empty his pockets of silver and scrupulously return
+nineteen shillings. And what an adviser he was! What confidence he
+imparted! The moment he bade you sit down and "tell him all about it"
+you felt secure.
+
+It was always delightful to meet him. He had his moments of gloom,
+like most of his countrymen, for he never lost his native "hall mark,"
+and retained to the last that sort of wheedling tone which is common
+in the South of Ireland. Yet he had none of that good-natured
+insincerity, to which a particular class of Irish are given. He was
+thoroughly sincere and genuine, and ready to support his words by
+deeds. His humour was racy. As when the Prince of Wales was
+sympathising with him on a false report of his death, adding, good
+naturedly, "I really was afraid, Dr. Quain, that we had lost you, and
+was thinking of sending a wreath." "Well, Sir," said the medico,
+"recollect that you are now _committed to the wreath_." I did not
+note, however, that when the event at last took place the wreath was
+sent. I always fancied that he was a disappointed man, and that he
+felt that his high position had not been suitably recognised; or at
+least that the recognition had been delayed. The baronetcy came late.
+But what he had set his heart upon, and claimed as his due, was the
+Presidency of the College of Physicians. This he was always near
+attaining, but men like Sir Andrew Clarke were preferred to him. I was
+a special friend for many years, and have had many a favoured "lift"
+in his carriage when we were going the same way. I was glad to be
+allowed to dedicate to him some volumes of personal memoirs. The last
+time I met this genial and amiable man was at the table of a
+well-known law lord, whom he astonished considerably by addressing me
+across the table all through dinner by my christian name. He was at
+the time seriously ill, in his last illness in fact, when, as he said,
+he had been "tartured to death by their operations." He had good
+taste in art, was fond of the French school of engraving, and was the
+friend and counsellor of many an artist. He was of the old Dickens
+school, of the _coterie_ that included Maclise, Jerrold and the rest.
+
+Once, when he and his family were staying close to Ipswich, I asked
+him to order me a photograph of the Great White Horse Inn, noted as
+the scene of Mr. Pickwick's adventure, and to my pleasure and
+astonishment found that he had commissioned an artist to prepare a
+whole series of large photographs depicting the old inn, both without
+and within, and from every point of view. In this handsome way he
+would oblige his friends. He was in immense demand as a cheerful diner
+out.
+
+I was amused by a cynical appreciation of a friend and patient of his,
+uttered shortly after his death. We had met and were lamenting his
+loss. "Nothing, nobody can fill his place," he said.--"It is sad to
+lose such a friend."--"Indeed it is," said my companion, "I don't know
+what I shall do. No one else ever understood my constitution. I really
+don't know whom I am to go to now"--and he went his way in a pettish
+mood, as though his physician had rather shabbily deserted him. Alas,
+is there not much of this when one of these pleasant "specialists"
+departs?
+
+His faithful devotion to his old friend Forster during that long
+illness was unflagging. He could not cure, but he did all that was
+possible by his unwearying attention to alleviate. How often have I
+found the red chariot waiting at the door, or when I was sitting with
+him would the door open and the grave manservant announce "Sir
+Rich-hard QUAIN." His talk, gossip, news, was part of the alleviation.
+
+After all that must have been an almost joyous moment that brought
+poor Forster his release from those awful and intolerable days and
+nights of agony, borne with a fortitude of which the world had no
+conception. Eternal frightful spasms of coughing day and night,
+together with other maladies of the most serious kind. And yet, on the
+slightest respite, this man of wonderful fortitude would turn gay and
+festive, recover his spirits, and look forward to some enjoyment, a
+dinner it might be, where he was the old Forster once more, smiling
+enticingly on his favourite ladies, and unflinchingly prepared to go
+back to the night of horrors that awaited him!
+
+Mrs. Forster, as her friends knew well, was one of the sweetest women
+"under the sun," a sweetness brought out by contrast with the
+obstreperous ways of her tempestuous mate. Often when something went
+wrong, rather did not go with the almost ideal smoothness at one of
+his many banquets (and there never was a more generously hospitable
+man), it was piteous to see her trying to smooth away the incident
+with the certainty of inflaming the dictator, and turning his wrath
+upon herself.
+
+She knew well that not he, but his malady, was accountable. She
+believed from her heart in the duality of Forster. There was a hapless
+page boy whose very presence and assumed stupidity used to inflame
+his master to perfect Bersaker fits of rage. The scenes were
+exquisitely ludicrous, if painful; the contrast between the giant and
+the object of his wrath, scared out of his life with terror, was
+absolutely diverting. Thus the host would murmur "Biscuits!" which was
+not heard or not heeded; then louder and more sharply, "BIScuits!"
+then a roar that made all start, "BIScuits!!" Poor Mrs. Forster's
+agitation was sad to see, and between her and the butler the luckless
+lad was somehow got from the room. This attendant was an admirable
+comedy character, and in his way a typical servant, stolid and
+reserved. No one could have been so portentously sagacious as _he_
+looked. It was admirable to see his unruffled calm during his master's
+outbursts when something had gone wrong during the dinner. No violence
+could betray him into anything but the most placid and correct
+replies. There was something fine and pathetic in this, for it showed
+that he also recognised that it was not his true master that was thus
+raging. I recall talking with him shortly after his master's death.
+After paying his character a fine tribute he spoke of his illness.
+"You see, sir," he said at last, "what was at the bottom of it all was
+he 'ad no _staminer, no staminer_--NO STAMINER, sir." And he repeated
+the word many times with enjoyment. I have no doubt he picked it up at
+Forster's table and it had struck him as a good effective English
+word, spelled as he pronounced it.
+
+Such was John Forster.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  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: John Forster
+
+Author: Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21815]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN FORSTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Clarke, Geetu Melwani, Sankar Viswanathan,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>JOHN<br />
+
+FORSTER</h1>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>BY</h3>
+
+<h2>ONE OF HIS FRIENDS</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/image_01.jpg" alt="Seal" width="150" height="97" /></div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>LONDON</h3>
+
+<h3><span class="smcap">Chapman &amp; Hall Ltd.</span></h3>
+
+<h3>1903
+</h3>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p>
+<h2>JOHN FORSTER.</h2>
+
+<h3>A MAN OF LETTERS OF THE OLD SCHOOL.</h3>
+
+
+<p>One of the most robust, striking, and many-sided characters of his
+time was John Forster, a rough, uncompromising personage, who, from
+small and obscure beginnings, shouldered his way to the front until he
+came to be looked on by all as guide, friend and arbiter. From a
+struggling newspaperman he emerged into handsome chambers in Lincoln's
+Inn Fields, from thence to a snug house in Montague Square, ending in
+a handsome stone mansion which he built for himself at Palace Gate,
+Kensington, with its beautiful library-room at the back, and every
+luxury of "lettered ease."</p>
+
+<p>If anyone desired to know what Dr. Johnson was like, he could have found
+him in Forster. There was the same social intolerance; the same
+"dispersion of humbug"; the same loud voice, attuned to a mellifluous
+softness on occasion, especially with ladies or persons of rank; the
+love of "talk" in which he assumed the lead&mdash;and kept it too; and the
+contemptuous scorn of what he did not approve. But then all this was
+backed by admirable training and full knowledge. He was a deeply read,
+cultivated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> man, a fine critic, and, with all his arrogance, despotism,
+and rough "ways," a most interesting, original, delightful person&mdash;for
+those he liked that is, and whom he had made his own. His very "build"
+and appearance was also that of the redoubtable Doctor: so was his loud
+and hearty laugh. Woe betide the man on whom he chose to "wipe his
+shoes" (Browning's phrase), for he could wipe them with a will. He would
+thus roar you down. It was "in<i>tol</i>-er-able"&mdash;everything was
+"<i>in-tol-erable!</i>"&mdash;it is difficult to describe the fashion in which he
+rolled forth the syllables. Other things were "all Stuff!" "Monstrous!"
+"Incredible!" "Don't tell me!" Indeed I, with many, could find a
+parallel in the great old Doctor for almost everything he said. Even
+when there was a smile at his vehemence, he would unconsciously repeat
+the Doctor's autocratic methods.</p>
+
+<p>Forster's life was indeed a striking and encouraging one for those who
+believe in the example of "self-made men." His aim was somewhat
+different from the worldly types, who set themselves to become
+wealthy, or to have lands or mansions. Forster's more moderate
+aspiration was to reach to the foremost rank of the literary world:
+and he succeeded. He secured for himself an excellent education, never
+spared himself for study or work, and never rested till he had built
+himself that noble mansion at Kensington, of which I have spoken,
+furnished with books, pictures, and rare things. Here he could,
+M&aelig;cenas-like, entertain his literary friends of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> degrees, with a
+vast number of other friends and acquaintances, notable in their walks
+of life. It is astonishing what a circle he had gathered round him,
+and how intimate he was with all: political men such as Brougham,
+Guizot, Gladstone, Forster, Cornwall Lewis (Disraeli he abhorred as
+much as his friend of Chelsea did, who once asked me, "What is there
+new about <i>our Jew Premier</i>?"): Maclise, Landseer, Frith, and
+Stanfield, with dozens of other painters: every writer of the day,
+almost without exception, late or early. With these, such as Anthony
+Trollope, he was on the friendliest terms, though he did not "grapple
+them to him with hooks of steel." With the Bar it was the same: he was
+intimate with the brilliant and agreeable Cockburn; with Lord
+Coleridge (then plain Mr. Coleridge), who found a knife and a fork
+laid for him any day that he chose to drop in, which he did pretty
+often. The truth was that in any company his marked personality, both
+physical and mental; his magisterial face and loud decided voice, and
+his reputation of judge and arbiter, at once impressed and commanded
+attention. People felt that they ought to know this personage at once.</p>
+
+<p>It is extraordinary what perseverance and a certain power of will, and
+that of not being denied, will do in this way. His broad face and
+cheeks and burly person were not made for rebuffs. He seized on
+persons he wished to know and made them his own at once. I always
+thought it was the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> characteristic thing known of him in this
+way, his striding past Bunn the manager&mdash;then his enemy&mdash;in his own
+theatre, taking no notice of him and passing to Macready's room, to
+confer with him on measures hostile to the said Bunn. As Johnson was
+said to toss and gore his company, so Forster trampled on those he
+condemned. I remember he had a special dislike to one of Boz's useful
+henchmen. An amusing story was told, that after some meeting to
+arrange matters with Bradbury and Evans, the printers, Boz, ever
+charitable, was glad to report to Forster some hearty praise by this
+person, of the ability with which he (Forster) had arranged the
+matters, thus amiably wishing to propitiate the autocrat in his
+friend's interest. But, said the uncompromising Forster, "I am truly
+sorry, my dear Dickens, that I cannot reciprocate your friend's
+compliment, for <i>a d&mdash;&mdash;nder ass I never encountered in the whole
+course of my life</i>!" A comparative that is novel and will be admired.</p>
+
+<p>Forster had a determined way with him, of forcing an answer that he
+wanted; driving you into a corner as it were. A capital illustration
+of this power occurred in my case. I had sent to a London "second
+hand" bookseller to supply me with a copy of the two quarto volumes of
+Garrick's life, "huge armfuls." It was with some surprise that I noted
+the late owner's name and book-plate, which was that of "John Forster,
+Esq., Lincoln's Inn Fields." At the moment he had given me Garrick's
+original MS. correspondence, of which he had a score of volumes,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> and
+was helping me in many other ways. Now it was a curious coincidence
+that this one, of all existing copies, should come to me. Next time I
+saw him I told him of it. He knitted his brows and grew thoughtful.
+"<i>My</i> copy! Ah! I can account for it! It was one of the volumes I lent
+to that fellow"&mdash;mentioning the name of the "fellow"&mdash;"he no doubt
+sold it for drink!" "Oh, so <i>that</i> was it," I said rather
+incautiously. "But <i>you</i>," he said sternly, "tell me what did <i>you</i>
+think when you saw my name? Come now! How did it leave my library?"
+This was awkward to answer. "I suppose you thought I was in the habit
+of selling my books? Surely not?" Now this was what I <i>had</i> thought.
+"Come! You must have had some view on the matter. Two huge volumes
+like that are not easily stolen." It was with extraordinary difficulty
+that I could extricate myself.</p>
+
+<p>It was something to talk to one who had been intimate with Charles
+Lamb, and of whom he once spoke to me, with tears running down his
+cheeks, "Ah! poor dear Charles Lamb!" The next day he had summoned his
+faithful clerk, instructing him to look out among his papers&mdash;such was
+his way&mdash;for all the Lamb letters, which were then lent to me. And
+most interesting they were. In one, Elia calls him "<i>Fooster</i>," I
+fancy taking off Carlyle's pronunciation.</p>
+
+<p>As a writer and critic Forster held a high, unquestioned place, his
+work being always received with respect as of one of the masters. He
+had based his style on the admirable, if somewhat old-fashioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>
+models, had regularly <i>learned</i> to write, which few do now, by
+studying the older writers: Swift, Addison, and, above all, the
+classics.</p>
+
+<p>He was at first glad to do "job work," and was employed by Dr. Lardner
+to furnish the "Statesmen of the Commonwealth" to his Encyclop&aelig;dia.
+Lardner received from him a conscientious bit of work, but which was
+rather dry reading, something after the pattern of Dr. Lingard, who
+was then in fashion. But presently he was writing <i>con amore</i>, a book
+after his own heart, <i>The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith</i>, in
+which there is a light, gay touch, somewhat peculiar at times, but
+still very agreeable. It is a charming book, and graced with exquisite
+sketches by his friend Maclise and other artists. There was a great
+deal of study and "reading" in it, which engendered an angry
+controversy with Sir James Prior, a ponderous but pains-taking writer,
+who had collected every scrap that was connected with Goldy. Forster,
+charged with helping himself to what another had gathered, sternly
+replied, as if it could not be disputed, that he had merely gone to
+the same common sources as Prior, and had found what he had found! But
+this was seasoned with extraordinary abuse of poor Prior, who was held
+up as an impostor for being so industrious. Nothing better illustrated
+Forster's way: "The fellow was preposterous&mdash;intolerable. I had just
+as good a right to go to the old magazines as he had." It was, indeed,
+a most amusing and characteristic controversy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>At this time the intimacy between Boz and the young writer&mdash;two young
+men, for they were only thirty-six&mdash;was of the closest. Dickens'
+admiration of his friend's book was unbounded. He read it with delight
+and expressed his admiration with an affectionate enthusiasm. It was
+no wonder that in "gentle Goldsmith's life" thus unfolded, he found a
+replica of his own sore struggles. No one knew better the "fiercer
+crowded misery in garret toil and London loneliness" than he did.</p>
+
+<p class="center">TO CHARLES DICKENS.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">Genius and its rewards are briefly told:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A liberal nature and a niggard doom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">A difficult journey to a splendid tomb.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">New writ, nor lightly weighed, that story old<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">In gentle Goldsmith's life I here unfold;<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Thro' other than lone wild or desert gloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">In its mere joy and pain, its blight and bloom,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Adventurous. Come with me and behold,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">O friend with heart as gentle for distress,<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">As resolute with fine wise thoughts to bind<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">The happiest to the unhappiest of our kind,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">That there is fiercer crowded misery<br /></span>
+<span class="i4">In garret toil and London loneliness<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Than in cruel islands mid the far off sea.<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>March, 1848.<span class="smcap sig">John Forster.</span></p>
+
+
+
+<p>It will be noted what a warmth of affection is shown in these pleasing
+lines. Some of the verses linger in his memory: the last three
+especially. The allusion to Dickens is as truthful as it is charming.
+The "cruel islands mid the far off sea" was often<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> quoted, though
+there were sometimes sarcastic appeals to the author to name his
+locality.</p>
+
+<p>This <i>Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith</i> is a truly charming
+book: charming in the writing, in its typographic guise, and its forty
+graceful illustrations by his friends, Maclise, Leech, Browne, etc. It
+appeared in 1848. A pleasing feature of those times was the close
+fellowship between the writers and the painters and other artists, as
+was shown in the devoted affection of Maclise and others to Dickens.
+There is more of class apart nowadays. Artists and writers are not
+thus united. The work has gone through many editions; but, after some
+years the whim seized him to turn it into an official literary history
+of the period, and he issued it as a "Life and Times," with an
+abundance of notes and references. All the pleasant air of story
+telling, the "Life and Adventures," so suited to poor Goldy's
+shiftless career, were abolished. It was a sad mistake, much
+deprecated by his friends, notably by Carlyle. But at the period
+Forster was in his <i>Sir Oracle</i> vein and inclined to lofty periods.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Forster," wrote Boz to him, "I cannot sufficiently say how
+proud I am of what you have done, and how sensible I am of being so
+tenderly connected with it. I desire no better for my fame, when my
+personal dustiness shall be past the contrast of my love of order,
+than such a biographer&mdash;and such a critic. And again I say most
+solemnly that literature in England has never had, and probably never
+will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> have, such a champion as you are in right of this book." "As a
+picture of the time I really think it is impossible to give it too
+much praise. It seems to me to be the very essence of all about the
+time that I have ever seen in biography or fiction, presented in most
+wise and humane lights. I have never liked him so well. And as to
+Goldsmith himself and <i>his</i> life, and the manful and dignified
+assertion of him, without any sobs, whines, or convulsions of any
+sort, it is throughout a noble achievement of which, apart from any
+private and personal affection for you, I think and really believe I
+should feel proud." What a genuine affectionate ring is here!</p>
+
+<p>Later Forster lost this agreeable touch, and issued a series of
+ponderous historical treatises, enlargements of his old "Statesmen."
+These were dreary things, pedantic, solemn and heavy; they might have
+been by the worthy Rollin himself. Such was the <i>Life of Sir John
+Eliot, the Arrest of the Five Members</i>, and others.</p>
+
+<p>No one had been so intimate with Savage Landor as he had, or admired
+him more. He had known him for years and was chosen as his literary
+executor. With such materials one might have looked for a lively,
+vivacious account of this tempestuous personage. But Forster dealt
+with him in his magisterial way, and furnished a heavy treatise, on
+critical and historical principles. Everything here is treated
+according to the strict canons and in judicial fashion. On every poem
+there was a long and profound criticism of many pages, which I
+believe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> was one of his own old essays used again, fitted into the
+book. The hero is treated as though he were some important historical
+personage. Everyone knew Landor's story; his shocking violences and
+lack of restraint; his malignity where he disliked. His life was full
+of painful episodes, but Forster, like Podsnap, would see none of
+these things. He waved them away with his "monstrous!" "intolerable!"
+and put them out of existence.</p>
+
+<p>According to him, not a word of the scandals was true. Landor was a
+noble-hearted man; misjudged, and carried away by his feelings. The
+pity of it was he could have made of it a most lasting, entertaining
+book had he brought to it the pleasantly light touch he was later to
+bring to his account of Dickens. But he took it all too solemnly.
+Landor's life was full of grotesque scenes, and Forster might have
+alleviated the harsh views taken of his friend by dealing with him as
+an impetuous, irresponsible being, amusing even in his delinquencies.
+Boz gave a far juster view of him in <i>Boythorn</i>. In almost the year of
+his death Forster began another tremendous work, <i>The Life of Swift</i>,
+for which he had been preparing and collecting for many years. No one
+was so fitted by profound knowledge of the period. He had much
+valuable MS. material, but the first volume, all he lived to finish,
+was leaden enough. Of course he was writing with disease weighing him
+down, with nights that were sleepless and spent in general misery. But
+even with all allowance it was a dull and conventional thing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It has been often noted how a mere trifle will, in an extraordinary
+way, determine or change the whole course of a life. I can illustrate
+this by my own case. I was plodding on contentedly at the Bar without
+getting "no forrarder," with slender meagre prospects, but with a
+hankering after "writing," when I came to read this Life of Goldsmith
+that I have just been describing, which filled me with admiration. The
+author was at the moment gathering materials for his Life of Swift,
+when it occurred to me that I might be useful to him in getting up all
+the local Swiftian relics, traditions, etc. I set to work, obtained
+them, made the sketches, and sent them to him in a batch. He was
+supremely grateful, and never forgot the volunteered trifling service.
+To it I owe a host of literary friends and acquaintance with the
+"great guns," Dickens, Carlyle, and the rest; and when I ventured to
+try my prentice pen, it was Forster who took personal charge of the
+venture. It was long remembered at the <i>Household Words</i> office how he
+stalked in one morning, stick in hand, and, flinging down the paper,
+called out, "Now, mind, no nonsense about it, no humbug, no returning
+it with a polite circular, and all that; see that it is read and duly
+considered." <i>That</i> was the turning-point. To that blunt declaration I
+owe some forty years of enjoyment and employment&mdash;for there is no
+enjoyment like that of writing&mdash;to say nothing of money in abundance.</p>
+
+<p>He once paid a visit to Dublin, when we had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> many an agreeable
+expedition to Swift's haunts, which, from the incuriousness of the
+place at the time, were still existing. We went to Hoey's Court in
+"The Liberties," a squalid alley with a few ruined houses, among which
+was the one in which Swift was born. Thence to St. Patrick's, to
+Marsh's Library, not then rebuilt, where he turned over with infinite
+interest Swift's well-noted folios. Then on to Trinity College, where
+there was much that was curious; to Swift's Hospital, where, from his
+office in the Lunacy Commission, he was quite at home. He at once
+characteristically assumed the air of command, introducing himself
+with grave dignity to the authorities, by-and-bye pointing out matters
+which might be amended, among others the bareness of the walls, which
+were without pictures. In the grounds he received all the confidences
+of the unhappy patients and their complaints (one young fellow
+bitterly appealing to him on the hardship of not being allowed to
+smoke, while he had a pipe in his mouth at the time). He would pat
+others on the back and encourage them in quite a professional manner.
+Of all these Swift localities I had made little vignette drawings in
+"wash," which greatly pleased him and were to have been engraved in
+the book. They are now duly registered and to be seen in the
+collection at South Kensington. Poor dear Forster! How happy he was on
+that "shoemaker's holiday" of his, driving on outside cars (with
+infinite difficulty holding on), walking the streets, seeing old
+friends,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> and delighted with everything. His old friend and class
+fellow, Whiteside, gave him a dinner to which I attended him, where
+was the late Dr. Lloyd, the Provost of the College, a learned man,
+whose works on "Optics" are well known. It was pleasant to note how
+Forster, like his prototype, the redoubtable Doctor, here "talked for
+ostentation." "I knew, sir," he might say, "that I was expected to
+talk, to talk suitably to my position as a distinguished visitor." And
+so he did. It was an excellent lesson in conversation to note how he
+took the lead&mdash;"laid down the law," while poor Whiteside flourished
+away in a torrent of words, and the placid Lloyd more adroitly strove
+occasionally to "get in." But Forster held his way with well-rounded
+periods, and seemed to enjoy entangling his old friend in the
+consequences of some exuberant exaggeration. "My dear Whiteside, how
+<i>can</i> you say so? Do you not see that by saying such a thing you give
+yourself away?" etc.</p>
+
+<p>Forster, however, more than redeemed himself when he issued his
+well-known <i>Life of Dickens</i>, a work that was a perfect delight to the
+world and to his friends. For here is the proper lightness of touch.
+The complete familiarity with every detail of the course of the man of
+whose life his had been a portion, and the quiet air of authority
+which he could assume in consequence, gave the work an attraction that
+was beyond dispute. There have been, it is said, some fifteen or
+sixteen official Lives issued since the writer's death; but all these
+are written "from out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>side" as it were, and it is extraordinary what a
+different man each presents. But hardly sufficient credit has been
+given to him for the finished style which only a true and well trained
+critic could have brought, the easy touch, the appropriate treatment
+of trifles, the mere indication as it were, the correct passing by or
+sliding over of matters that should not be touched. All this imparted
+a dignity of treatment, and though familiar, the whole was gay and
+bright. True, occasionally he lapsed into his favourite pompousness
+and autocracy, but this made the work more characteristic of the man.
+Nothing could have been in better taste than his treatment of certain
+passages in the author's life as to which, he showed, the public were
+not entitled to demand more than the mere historical mention of the
+facts. When he was writing this Life it was amusing to find how
+sturdily independent he became. The "Blacking episode" could not have
+been acceptable, but Forster was stern and would not bate a line. So,
+with much more&mdash;he "rubbed it in" without scruple. The true reason, by
+the way, of the uproar raised against the writer, was that it was too
+much of a close borough, no one but Boz and his Bear leader being
+allowed upon the stage. Numbers had their little letters from the
+great man with many compliments and favours which would look well in
+print. Many, like Wilkie Collins or Edmund Yates, had a whole
+collection. I myself had some sixty or seventy. Some of these
+personages were highly indignant, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> were they not characters in the
+drama? When the family came to publish the collection of letters,
+Yates, I believe, declined to allow his to be printed; so did Collins,
+whose Boz letters were later sold and published in America.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt the subject inspired. The ever gay and lively Boz, always in
+spirits, called up many a happy scene, and gave the pen a certain
+airiness and nimbleness. There is little that is official or
+magisterial about the volumes. Everything is pleasant and interesting,
+put together&mdash;though there is a crowd of details&mdash;with extraordinary
+art and finish. It furnishes a most truthful and accurate picture of
+the "inimitable," recognizable in every page. It was only in the third
+volume, when scared by the persistent clamours of the disappointed and
+the envious, protesting that there was "too much Forster," that it was
+virtually a "Life of John Forster, with some recollections of Charles
+Dickens," that he became of a sudden, official and allowed others to
+come too much on the scene, with much loss of effect. That third
+volume, which ought to have been most interesting, is the dull one. We
+have Boz described as he would be in an encyclop&aelig;dia, instead of
+through Forster, acting as his interpreter, and much was lost by this
+treatment. Considering the homeliness and every-day character of the
+incidents, it is astonishing how Forster contrived to dignify them. He
+knew from early training what was valuable and significant and what
+should be rejected.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Granting the objections&mdash;and faults&mdash;of the book, it may be asked, who
+else in the 'seventies was, not <i>so</i> fitted, but fitted at all to
+produce a Life of Dickens. Every eye looked, every finger pointed to
+Forster; worker, patron, and disciple, confidant, adviser, correcter,
+admirer, the trained man of letters, and in the school in which Boz
+had been trained, who had known every one of that era. No one else
+could have been thought of. And as we now read the book, and contrast
+it with those ordered or commissioned biographies, so common now, and
+perhaps better wrought, we see at once the difference. The success was
+extraordinary. Edition after edition was issued, and that so rapidly,
+that the author had no opportunity of making the necessary
+corrections, or of adding new information. He contented himself with a
+leaf or two at the end, in which, in his own imperial style, he simply
+took note of the information. I believe his profit was about &pound;10,000.</p>
+
+<p>A wonderful feature was the extraordinary amount of Dickens' letters
+that was worked into it. To save time and trouble, and this I was told
+by Mrs. Forster, he would cut out the passages he wanted with a pair
+of scissors and paste them on his MS! As the portion written on the
+back was thus lost, the rest became valueless. I can fancy the
+American collector tearing his hair as he reads of this desecration.
+But it was a rash act and a terrible loss of money. Each letter might
+have later been worth say from five to ten pounds apiece.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>It would be difficult to give an idea of Forster's overflowing
+kindness on the occasion of the coming of friends to town. Perpetual
+hospitality was the order of the day, and, like so many older
+Londoners, he took special delight in hearing accounts of the strange
+out-of-the-way things a visitor will discover, and with which he will
+even surprise the resident. He enjoyed what he called "hearing your
+adventures." I never met anyone with so boisterous and enjoying a
+laugh. Something would tickle him, and, like Johnson in Fleet Street,
+he would roar and roar again. Like Diggory, too, at the same story, or
+rather <i>scene</i>; for, like his friend Boz, it was the <i>picture</i> of some
+humorous incident that delighted, and would set him off into
+convulsions. One narrative of my own, a description of the recitation
+of Poe's <i>The Bells</i> by an actress, in which she simulated the action
+of pulling the bell for the Fire, or for a Wedding or Funeral bells,
+used to send him into perfect hysterics. And I must say that I, who
+have seen and heard all sorts of truly humorous and spuriously
+humorous stories in which the world abounds at the present moment,
+have never witnessed anything more diverting. The poor lady thought
+she was doing the thing realistically, while the audience was
+shrieking with enjoyment. I do not know how many times I was invited
+to repeat this narrative, a somewhat awkward situation for me, but I
+was glad always to do what he wished. I recall Browning coming in, and
+I was called on to rehearse this story, Forster rolling on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> sofa
+in agonies of enjoyment. This will seem trivial and personal, but
+really it was characteristic; and pleasant it was to find a man of his
+sort so natural and even boyish.</p>
+
+<p>At the head of his table, with a number of agreeable and clever guests
+around him, Forster was at his best. He seemed altogether changed.
+Beaming smiles, a gentle, encouraging voice, and a tenderness verging
+on gallantry to the ladies, took the place of the old, rough fashions.
+He talked ostentatiously, he <i>led</i> the talk, told most <i>&agrave; propos</i>
+anecdotes of the remarkable men he had met, and was fond of fortifying
+his own views by adding: "As Gladstone, or Guizot, or Palmerston said
+to me in my room," etc. But you could not but be struck by the
+finished shapes in which his sentences ran. There was a weight, a
+power of illustration, and a dramatic colouring that could only have
+come of long practice. He was gay, sarcastic, humorous, and it was
+impossible not to recognise that here was a clever man and a man of
+power.</p>
+
+<p>Forster's ideal of hospitality was not reciprocity, but was bounded by
+<i>his</i> entertaining everybody. Not that he did not enjoy a friendly
+quiet dinner at your table. Was he on his travels at a strange place?
+<i>You</i> must dine with him at his hotel. In town you must dine with him.
+He might dine with you. This dining with you must be according to his
+programme. When he was in the vein and inclined for a social domestic
+night he would let himself out.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Maclise's happy power of realising character is shown inimitably in
+the picture of Forster at the reading of <i>The Christmas Carol</i>, seated
+forward in his chair, with a solemn air of grave judgment. There is an
+air of distrust, or of being on his guard, as who should say, "It is
+fine, very fine, but I hold my opinion in suspense till the close. I
+am not to be caught as you are, by mere flowers." He was in fact
+distinct from the rest, all under the influence of emotion. Harness is
+shown weeping, Jerrold softened, etc. These rooms, as is well known,
+were Mr. Tulkinghorn's in the novel, and over Forster's head, as he
+wrote, was the floridly-painted ceiling, after the fashion of Verrio,
+with the Roman pointing. This was effaced many years ago, but I do not
+know when.</p>
+
+<p>By all his friends Forster was thought of as a sort of permanent
+bachelor. His configuration and air were entirely suited to life in
+chambers: he was thoroughly literary; his friends were literary; there
+he gave his dinners; married life with him was inconceivable. He had
+lately secured an important official post, that of Secretary to the
+Lunacy Commissioners, which he gained owing to his useful services when
+editing the <i>Examiner</i>. This necessarily led to the Commissionership,
+which was worth a good deal more. Nowadays we do not find the editors of
+the smaller papers securing such prizes. I remember when he was
+encouraging me to "push my way," he illustrated his advice by his own
+example: "I never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> let old Brougham go. I came back again and again
+until I wore him out. I forced 'em to give me this." I could quite
+imagine it. Forster was a troublesome customer, "a harbitrary cove," and
+not to be put off, except for a time. It was an excellent business
+appointment, and he was admitted to be an admirable official.</p>
+
+<p>In one of Dickens' letters, published by his children, there is a
+grotesque outburst at some astounding piece of news: an event
+impending, which seemed to have taken his breath away. It clearly
+refers to his friend's marriage. Boz was so tickled at this wonderful
+news that he wrote: "Tell Catherine that I have the most prodigious,
+overwhelming, crushing, astounding, blinding, deafening, pulverising,
+scarifying, secret of which Forster is the hero, imaginable, by the
+whole efforts of the whole British population. It is a thing of the
+kind that, after I knew it (from himself) this morning, I lay down
+flat as if an engine and tender had fallen upon me." This pleasantly
+boisterous humour is in no wise exaggerated. I fancy it affected all
+Forster's friends much in the same way, and as an exquisitely funny
+and expected thing. How many pictures did Boz see before him&mdash;Forster
+proposing to the widow in his sweetest accents, his deportment at the
+church, &amp;c. There was not much sentiment in the business, though the
+bride was a sweet, charming woman, as will be seen, too gentle for
+that tempestuous spirit. She was a widow&mdash;"Yes, gentle<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>men, the
+plaintiff is a widow," widow of Colburn, the publisher, a quiet little
+man, who worshipped her. She was well endowed, inheriting much of his
+property, even to his papers, etc. She had also a most comfortable
+house in Montague Square, where, as the saying is, Forster had only to
+move in and "hang up his hat."</p>
+
+<p>With all his roughness and bluntness, Forster had a very soft heart,
+and was a great appreciator of the sex. He had some little "affairs of
+the heart," which, however, led to no result. He was actually engaged
+to the interesting L. E. L. (Letitia Landon), whom he had no doubt
+pushed well forward in the <i>Examiner</i>; for the fair poetess generally
+contrived to enlist the affections of her editors, as she did those of
+Jerdan, director of the once powerful <i>Literary Gazette</i>. We can see
+from his Memoirs how attracted he was by her. The engagement was
+broken off, it is believed, through the arts of Dr. Maginn, and it is
+said that Forster behaved exceedingly well in the transaction. Later
+he became attached to another lady, who had several suitors of
+distinction, but she was not disposed to entrust herself to him.</p>
+
+<p>No one so heartily relished his Forster, his ways and oddities, as
+Boz; albeit the sage was his faithful friend, counsellor, and ally. He
+had an exquisite sense for touches of character, especially for the
+little weaknesses so often exhibited by sturdy, boisterous natures. We
+again recall that disposition of Johnson, with his "bow to an
+Archbishop," listening with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> entranced attention to a dull story told
+by a foreign "diplomatist." "<i>The ambassador says well</i>," would the
+sage repeat many times, which, as Bozzy tells, became a favourite form
+in the <i>c&ocirc;terie</i> for ironical approbation. There was much of this in
+our great man, whose voice became of the sweetest and most mellifluous
+key, as he bent before the peer. "Lord &mdash;&mdash;," he would add gently, and
+turning to the company, "has been saying, with much force," etc.</p>
+
+<p>I recall the Guild <i>f&ecirc;te</i> down at Knebworth, where Forster was on a
+visit to its noble owner, Lord Lytton, and was deputed to receive and
+marshal the guests at the station, an office of dread importance, and
+large writ over his rather burly person. His face was momentous as he
+patrolled the platform. I remember coming up to him in the crowd, but
+he looked over and beyond me, big with unutterable things. Mentioning
+this later to Boz, he laughed his cheerful laugh, "Exactly," he cried.
+"Why, I assure you, Forster would not see <i>me</i>!" He was busy pointing
+out the vehicles, the proper persons to sit in them, according to
+their dignity. All through that delightful day, as I roamed through
+the fine old halls, I would encounter him passing by, still in his
+lofty dream, still controlling all, with a weight of delegated
+authority on his broad shoulders. Only at the very close did he
+vouchsafe a few dignified, encouraging words, and then passed on. He
+reminded me much of Elia's description of Bensley's Malvolio.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There was nothing ill-natured in Boz's relish of these things; he
+heartily loved his friend. It was the pure love of fun. Podsnap has
+many touches of Forster, but the writer dared not let himself go in
+that character as he would have longed to do. When Podsnap is referred
+to for his opinion, he delivers it as follows, much flushed and
+extremely angry: "Don't ask me. I desire to take no part in the
+discussion of these people's affairs. I abhor the subject. It is an
+odious subject, an offensive subject <i>that makes me sick</i>, and
+I"&mdash;with his favourite right arm flourish which sweeps away everything
+and settles it for ever, etc. These very words must Forster have used.
+It may be thought that Boz would not be so daring as to introduce his
+friend into his stories, "under his very nose" as it were, submitting
+the proofs, etc., with the certainty that the portrait would be
+recognised. But this, as we know, is the last thing that could have
+occurred, or the last thing that would have occurred to Forster. It
+was like enough someone else, but not he.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Podsnap was well to do, and stood very high in Mr. Podsnap's
+opinion." "He was quite satisfied. He never could make out why
+everybody was not quite satisfied, and he felt conscious that he set a
+brilliant social example in being particularly well satisfied with
+most things and with himself." "Mr. Podsnap settled that whatever he
+put behind him he put out of existence." "I don't want to know about
+it. I don't desire to discover it." "He had, however,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> acquired a
+peculiar flourish of his right arm in the clearing the world of its
+difficulties." "As so eminently respectable a man, Mr. Podsnap was
+sensible of its being required of him to take Providence under his
+protection. Consequently he always knew exactly what Providence
+intended."</p>
+
+<p>These touches any friend of Forster's would recognise. He could be
+very engaging, and was at his best when enjoying what he called a
+shoemaker's holiday&mdash;that is, when away from town at some
+watering-place, with friends. He was then really delightful, because
+happy, having left all his solemnities and ways in London.</p>
+
+<p>Forster was a man of many gifts, an admirable hard-working official,
+thoroughly business-like and industrious. I recall him through all the
+stages of his connection with the Lunacy Department, as Secretary and
+Commissioner and Retired Commissioner, when he would arrive on
+"melting days" as it were. But it was as a cultured critic that he was
+unsurpassed. He was ever "correct," and delivered a judgment that
+commended itself on the instant; it was given with such weight and
+persuasion. This correctness of judgment extended to most things,
+politics, character, literature, and was pleasant to listen to. He was
+one of the old well-read school, and was never without his edition of
+Shakespeare, the Globe one, which he took with him on his journeys. He
+had a way of lightly emphasising the beauty of a special passage of
+the Bard's.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Once, travelling round with Boz, on one of his reading tours, we came
+to Belfast, where the huge Ulster Hall was filled to the door by
+ardent and enthusiastic Northerners. I recall how we walked round the
+rather grim town, with its harsh red streets, the honest workers
+staring at him hard. We put up at an old-fashioned hotel, the
+best&mdash;the Royal it was called, where there was much curiosity on the
+part of the ladies to get sly peeps at the eminent man. They generally
+contrived to be on the stairs when he emerged. Boz always appeared,
+even in the streets, somewhat carefully "made up." The velvet collar,
+the blue coat, the heavy gold pin, added to the effect.</p>
+
+<p>It was at this hotel, when the show was over, and our agreeable supper
+cleared away, that I saw the pleasant Boz lying on the sofa somewhat
+tired by his exertions, not so much on the boards as in that very
+room. For he was fond of certain parlour gymnastics, in which he
+contended with his aide-de-camp Dolby. Well, as I said, he was on his
+sofa somewhat fatigued with his night's work, in a most placid,
+enjoying frame of mind, laughing with his twinkling eyes, as he often
+did, squeezing and puckering them up when our talk fell on Forster,
+whom he was in the vein for enjoying. It had so fallen out that, only
+a few weeks before, Trinity College, Dublin, had invited Forster to
+receive an honorary degree, a compliment that much gratified him. I
+was living there at the time, and he came and stayed with me in the
+best of humours, thoroughly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> enjoying it all. Boz, learning that I had
+been with him, insisted on my telling him <i>everything</i>, as by instinct
+he knew that his friend would have been at his best. The scenes we
+passed through together were indeed of the richest comedy. First I see
+him in highest spirits trying on a doctor's scarlet robe, to be had on
+hire. On this day he did everything in state, in his special "high"
+manner. Thus he addressed the tailor in rolling periods: "Sir, the
+University has been good enough to confer a degree on me, and I have
+come over to receive it. My name is John Forster." (I doubt if his
+name had reached the tailor). "Certainly, sir." And my friend was duly
+invested with the robe. He walked up and down before a pier glass.
+"Hey, what now? Do you know, my dear friend, I really think I must
+<i>buy</i> this dress. It would do very well to go to Court in, hey?" He
+indulged his fancy. "Why I could wear it on many occasions. A most
+effective dress." But it was time now to wait on "the senior Bursar,"
+or some such functionary. This was one Doctor L&mdash;&mdash;, a rough, even
+uncouth, old don, who was for the nonce holding a sort of rude class,
+surrounded by a crowd of "undergrads." Never shall I forget that
+scene. Forster went forward, with a mixture of gracious dignity and
+softness, and was beginning, "Doc-tor L&mdash;&mdash;." Here the turbulent boys
+round him interrupted. "Now see here," said the irate Bursar, "it's no
+use all of ye's talking together. Sir, I can't attend to you now."
+Again Forster began with a gracious bow. "Doctor L&mdash;&mdash;, I have come<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>
+over at the invitation of the University, who have been good enough to
+offer me an honorary degree, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Now see here," said the doctor, "there's no use talking to me now. I
+can't attend to ye. All of ye come back here in an hour and take the
+oath, all together mind."</p>
+
+<p>"I merely wished to state, Doctor L&mdash;&mdash;," began the wondering Forster.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir I tell ye I can't attend to ye now. You must come again," and he
+was gone.</p>
+
+<p>I was at the back of the room, when my friend joined me, very
+ruminative and serious. "Very odd, all this," he said, "but I suppose
+when we <i>do</i> come back, it will be all right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, he is noted as an odd man," I said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't at all understand him, but I suppose it <i>is</i> all right. Well
+come along, my dear friend." I then left him for a while. After the
+hour's interval I returned. The next thing I saw from the back of the
+room was my burly friend in the front row of a number of irreverent
+youngsters of juvenile age, some of whom close by me were saying,
+"Who's the stout old bloke; what's he doing here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Now," said the Bursar and senior fellow, "take these Testaments on
+your hands, all o' ye." And then I saw my venerable friend, for so he
+looked in comparison, with three youths sharing his Testament with
+them. But he was serious. For here was a most solemn duty before him.
+"Now repeat after me. <i>Ego</i>,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> a shout, "<i>Joannes, Carolus</i>," as the
+case might be "<i>juro solemniter</i>," &amp;c. Forster might have been in
+church going through a marriage ceremony, so reverently did he repeat
+the <i>formula</i>. The lads were making a joke of it.</p>
+
+<p>Forster, as I said, was indeed a man of the old fashion of gallantry,
+making his approaches where he admired <i>sans c&eacute;r&eacute;monie</i>, and advancing
+boldly to capture the fort. I remember a dinner, with a young lady who
+had a lovely voice, and who sang after the dinner to the general
+admiration. Forster had never seen her before, but when she was
+pressed to sing again and again, and refused positively, I was amazed
+to see Forster triumphantly passing through the crowded room, the fair
+one on his arm, he patting one of her small hands which he held in his
+own! She was flattered immensely and unresisting; the gallant Foster
+had carried all before him. This was his way, never would he be second
+fiddle anywhere if he could help it. Not a bad principle for any one
+if they can only manage it.</p>
+
+<p>I remember one night, when he was in his gallant mood laying his
+commands on a group of ladies, to sing or do something agreeable, he
+broke out: "You know I am a despot, and must have my way, I'm such a
+harbitrary cove." The dames stared at this speech, and I fancy took it
+literally, for they had not heard the story. This I fancy did not
+quite please, for he had no notion of its being supposed he considered
+himself arbitrary; so he repeated and en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>forced the words in a loud
+stern voice. (Boswellians will recall the scene where Johnson said
+"The woman had a bottom of sense." When the ladies began to titter, he
+looked round sternly saying "Where's the merriment? I repeat the woman
+is fundamentally sensible." As who should say "now laugh if you
+dare!") The story referred to was that of the cabman who summoned
+Forster for giving him a too strictly measured fare, and when
+defeated, said "it warn't the fare, but he was determined to bring him
+there for he were such a harbitrary cove." No story about Forster gave
+such delight to his friends as this; he himself was half flattered,
+half annoyed.</p>
+
+<p>Forster liked to be with people of high degree&mdash;as, perhaps, most of
+us do. At one time he was infinitely flattered by the attentions of
+Count Dorsay, who, no doubt, considered him a personage. This odd
+combination was the cause of great amusement to his friends, who were,
+of course, on the look out for droll incidents. There was many a story
+in circulation. One was that Forster, expecting a promised visit from
+"the Count," received a sudden call from his printers. With all
+solemnity he impressed the situation on his man. "Now," he said, "you
+will tell the Count that I have only just gone round to call on
+Messrs. Spottiswoode, the printers&mdash;you will observe, Messrs.
+Spot-is-wode," added he, articulating the words in his impressive way.
+The next time Forster met the Count, the former gravely began to
+explain to him the reason of his absence. "Ah! I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> know," said the gay
+Count, "you had just gone round to <i>Ze Spotted Dog</i>&mdash;I understand," as
+though he could make allowance for the ways of literary men. Once
+Forster had the Count to dinner&mdash;a great solemnity. When the fish was
+"on" the host was troubled to note that the sauce had not yet reached
+his guest. In an agitated deep <i>sotto voce</i>, he said, "Sauce to the
+Count." The "aside" was unheard. He repeated it in louder, but more
+agitated tones, "<i>Sauce</i> to the Count." This, too, was unnoticed;
+when, louder still, the guests heard, "<i>Sauce for the Flounders of the
+Count</i>." This gave infinite delight to the friends, and the phrase
+became almost a proverb. Forster learning to dance in secret, in
+preparation for some festivity, was another enjoyment, and his
+appearance on the scene, carefully executing the steps, his hands on
+the shoulders of a little girl, caused much hilarity.</p>
+
+<p>All this is amusing in the same way as it was amusing to Boz, as a
+capital illustration of character, genuinely exhibited, and yet it is
+with the greatest sympathy and affection I recall these things: but
+they were <i>too</i> enjoyable. There is nothing depreciating, no more than
+there was in Bozzy's record, who so amiably puts forward the pleasant
+weaknesses of his hero. Though twenty years and more have elapsed
+since he passed from this London of ours, there is nothing I think of
+with more pleasure and affection than those far-off scenes in which he
+figured so large and strong, supplying dramatic action, character,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> general enjoyment. The figures of our day seem to me to be small,
+thin and cardboard-like in comparison.</p>
+
+<p>Boz himself is altogether mixed up with Forster's image, and it is
+difficult to think of one without recalling the other. In this
+connection there comes back on me a pleasant comedy scene, in which
+the former figured, and which, even at this long distance of time,
+raises a smile. When I had come to town, having taken a house, etc.,
+with a young and pretty wife, Dickens looked on encouragingly; but at
+times shaking his head humorously, as the too sanguine plans were
+broached: "Ah, <i>the little victims play</i>," he would quote. Early in
+the venture he good-naturedly came to dine <i>en famille</i> with his
+amiable and interesting sister-in-law. He was in a delightful mood,
+and seemed to be applying all the points of his own Dora's attempts at
+housekeeping, with a pleasant slyness: the more so as the little lady
+of the house was the very <i>replica</i> of that piquant and fascinating
+heroine. She was destined, alas! to but a short enjoyment of her
+little rule, but she gained all hearts and sympathies by her very
+taking ways. Among others the redoubtable John Forster professed to be
+completely "captured," and was her most obstreperous slave. He, too,
+was to have been of the party, but was prevented by one of his
+troublesome chest attacks. Scarcely had Boz entered when he drew out a
+letter, I see him now standing at the fire, a twinkle in his brilliant
+eyes. "What <i>is</i> coming over Forster," he said, rumin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>ating, "I cannot
+make him out. Just as I was leaving the house I received this," and he
+read aloud, "I can't join you to-day. But mark you this, sir! no
+tampering, no poaching on <i>my</i> grounds; for I won't have it. Recollect
+<i>Codlin's the friend not Short</i>!" With a wondering look Boz kept
+repeating in a low voice: "'Codlin's the friend not Short.' What <i>can</i>
+he mean? What do you make of it?" I knew perfectly, as did also the
+little lady who stood there smiling and flattered, but it was awkward
+to explain. But he played with the thing; and it could only be agreed
+that Forster at times was perfectly "amazing," or "a little off his
+head."</p>
+
+<p>And what a dinner it was! What an amusing failure, too, as a first
+attempt; suddenly, towards the end of the dinner, a loud, strange
+sound was heard, as of falling or rushing waters; it was truly
+alarming; I ran out and found a full tide streaming down the stairs.
+The cook in her engrossment had forgotten to turn a cock. "Ah, the
+little victims play!" and Boz's eyes twinkled. A loud-voiced cuckoo
+and quail were sounding their notes, which prompted me to describe a
+wonderful clock of the kind I had seen, with two trumpeters who issued
+forth at the hour and gave a prolonged flourish before striking, then
+retired, their doors closing with a smart clap. This set off Boz in
+his most humorous vein. He imagined the door sticking fast, or only
+half-opening, the poor trumpeter behind pushing with his shoulder to
+get out, then giving a feeble gasping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> tootle with much "whirring" and
+internal agonies; then the rest is silence.</p>
+
+<p>On another occasion came Forster himself and lady, for a little family
+dinner; the same cook insisted on having in her husband, "a dear broth
+of a boy," to assist her. Forster arriving before he was expected, he
+was ever <i>more</i> than punctual; the tailor rushed up eagerly to admit
+him, forgetting, however, to put on his coat! As he threw open the
+door he must have been astonished at Forster's greeting "No, no, my
+good friend, I altogether decline. I am <i>not</i> your match in age,
+weight, or size," a touch of his pleasant humour and good spirits.</p>
+
+<p>As of course Forster deeply felt the death of his old friend and
+comrade, the amiable and constant Dickens, he was the great central
+figure in all the dismal ceremonial that followed. He arranged
+everything admirably, he was executor with Miss Hogarth, and I could
+not but think how exactly he reproduced his great prototype, Johnson,
+in a similar situation. Bozzy describes the activity and fuss of the
+sage hurrying about with a pen in his hand and dealing with the
+effects: "We are not here," he said, "to take account of a number of
+vats, &amp;c., but of the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams
+of avarice." So was Forster busy, appraising copyrights, and realizing
+assets, all which work he performed in a most business-like fashion.
+That bequest in the will of the gold watch, to his "trusty friend,
+John Forster," I always thought admirably summarized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> the relations of
+the two friends. I myself received under his will one of his ivory
+paper-knives, and a paper-weight marked C.D. in golden letters, which
+was made for and presented to him at one of the pottery works.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most delightful little dinners I had was an impromptu one
+at Forster's house, the party being himself, myself, and Boz. The
+presence of a third, not a stranger yet not an intimate, prompted both
+to be more free than had they been <i>t&ecirc;te-&agrave;-t&ecirc;te</i>. Boz was what might
+best be called "gay." His fashion of talk was to present things that
+happened in a pleasantly humorous light. On this occasion he told us a
+good deal about a strange being, Chauncey Hare Towns-bend, from whom
+he may have drawn Twemlow in <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>. Every look in that
+sketch reminds me of him; he, too, had a shy shrinking manner, a soft
+voice, but, in his appearance most of all, was Twemlow; he had a
+rather over-done worship of Dickens, wishing "not to intrude," etc.;
+he was a delicate, unhealthy looking person, rather carefully made up.
+Boz was specially pleasant this day on an odd bequest of his; for poor
+Twemlow had died, and he, Boz, was implored to edit his religious
+writings: rather a compendium of his religious opinions to be
+collected from a mass of papers in a trunk. For which service &pound;1,000
+was bequeathed. Boz was very humorous on his first despair at being
+appointed to such an office; then described his hopeless attempts "to
+make head or tail" of the papers. "Are they worth any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span>thing as
+religious views?" I asked. "Nothing whatever, I should say," he said,
+with a humorous twinkle in his eye, "I must only piece them together
+somehow." And so he did, I forget under what title, I think <i>Religious
+Remains of the late C. H. T.</i> There was probably some joking on this
+description. It is fair to say that Boz had to put up with a vast deal
+of this admiring worship, generally from retiring creatures whom his
+delicate good-nature would not let him offend.</p>
+
+<p>Forster's large sincerity was remarkable, as was his generous style,
+which often carried him to extraordinary lengths. They were such as
+one would only find in books. I remember once coming to London without
+giving him due notice, which he always imperatively required to be
+done. When I went off to his house at Palace Gate, presenting myself
+about five o'clock, he was delighted to see me, as he always was, but
+I saw he was very uncomfortable and distressed. "<i>Why</i> didn't you tell
+me," he said testily, "a day or two ago would have done. But <i>now</i>, my
+dear fellow, <i>the table's full</i>&mdash;it's impossible." "What?" I asked,
+yet not without a suspicion of the truth&mdash;for I knew him. "Why, I have
+a dinner party to-day! De Mussy, the Doctor of the Orleans family, and
+some others are coming, and here you arrive at this hour! Just look at
+the clock&mdash;I tell you it can't be done." In vain I protested; though I
+could not say it was "no matter," for it was a serious business. "Come
+with me into the dining-room and you'll see for yourself." There we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>
+went round the table, and "<i>The table's full</i>," he repeated from
+<i>Macbeth</i>. There was something truly original in the implied premise
+that his friend was <i>entitled</i> of right to have a place at his table,
+and that the sole dispensing cause to be allowed was absence of space
+or a physical impossibility. It seems to me that this was a very
+genuine, if rare, shape of hospitality.</p>
+
+<p>Of all Forster's friends at this time, of course, after Dickens, and
+he had innumerable ones, his fastest seemed Robert Browning. As every
+Sunday came round it was a rule that the Poet was to dine with him.
+Many were the engagements his host declined on the score of this
+standing engagement. "Should be delighted, my dear friend, to go to
+you, but it is an immemorial custom that every Sunday Robert Browning
+dines with <i>me</i>. Nothing interferes with <i>that.</i>" Often, indeed,
+during the week the Poet would drop in for a chat or consultation,
+often when I was there. He was a most agreeable person, without any
+affectation; while Forster maintained a sort of patriarchal or
+paternal manner to him, though there was not much difference in their
+ages. Indeed, on this point, Forster well illustrated what has been
+often said of Mr. Pickwick and his time, that age has been much "put
+back" since that era. Mr. Pickwick, Wardle, Tupman and Co., are all
+described as old gentlemen, none of the party being over fifty; but
+they had to dress up to the part of old gentlemen, and with the aid of
+corpulence, "circular spectacles," &amp;c., conveyed the idea of seventy.
+Forster in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> same way was then not more than forty-five, but had a
+full-blown official look, and with his grave, solemn utterances, you
+would have set him down for sixty. Now-a-days men of that age, if in
+sound order, feel, behave, and dress as men of forty. Your <i>real</i> old
+man does not begin till he is about seventy-five or so.</p>
+
+<p>Browning having an acquaintance that was both "extensive and
+peculiar," could retail much gossip and always brought plenty of news
+with him: to hear which Forster did seriously incline. The Poet, too,
+had a pleasant flavour of irony or cynicism in his talk, but nothing
+ill-natured. What a pleasant Sunday that was when Frederick Chapman,
+the publisher, invited me and Forster, and Browning, with one or two
+more, whose names I have forgotten, down to Teddington. It was the
+close of a sultry summer's day, we had a cool and enjoyable repast,
+with many a joke and retailed story. Thus, "I was stopped to-day,"
+said Browning, "by a strange, dilapidated being. Who do you think it
+was? After a moment, it took the shape of old Harrison Ainsworth." "A
+strange, dilapidated being," repeated Forster, musingly, "so the man
+is alive." Then both fell into reminiscences of grotesque traits, &amp;c.
+This affectionate intercourse long continued. But alas! this
+<i>compulsory</i> Sunday dining, as the philosopher knows, became at last a
+sore strain, and a mistake. It must come to Goldsmith's "travelling
+over one's mind," with power to travel no farther. Browning, too, had
+been "found out by Society"; was the guest at noble houses, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> I
+suppose became somewhat lofty in his views. No one could scoff so
+loudly and violently as could Forster, at what is called snobbishness,
+"toadying the great"; though it was a little weakness of his own, and
+is indeed of everybody. However, on some recent visit, I learned to my
+astonishment, that a complete breach had taken place between the
+attached friends, who were now "at daggers drawn," as it is called.
+The story went, as told, I think, by Browning, who would begin: "I
+grew tired of Forster's <i>always wiping his shoes on me</i>." He was fond
+of telling his friend about "dear, sweet, charming Lady &mdash;&mdash;," &amp;c.
+Forster, following the exact precedent of Mrs. Prig in the quarrel
+with her friend, would break into a scornful laugh, and, though he did
+not say "<i>drat</i> Lady &mdash;&mdash;," he insisted she was a foolish,
+empty-headed creature, and that Browning praised her because she had a
+title. This was taken seriously, and the Poet requested that no
+disparaging remarks would be made on one of his best friends. "Pooh,"
+said Forster, contemptuously, "some superannuated creature! I am
+astonished at you." How it ended I cannot say, but it ended painfully.</p>
+
+<p>Some time elapsed and friends to both sides felt that here was a sort
+of scandal, and it must be made up. No one was more eager than
+Forster. Mutual explanations and apologies were given and all was as
+before. The liberal Forster, always eager to find "an excuse for the
+glass," announced a grand reconciliation dinner, to which came a
+rather notable party,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> to wit, Thomas Carlyle, Browning and his son,
+the Rev. Whitwell Elwin, the editor of Pope, and sometime editor of
+the <i>Quarterly</i>, the young Robert Lytton, myself, and some others whom
+I have forgotten. What an agreeable banquet it was! Elwin was made to
+retell, to Forster's convulsive enjoyment, though he had heard it
+before, a humorous incident of a madman's driving about in a gig with
+a gun and a companion, who up to that moment <i>thought</i> he was sane.
+The Sage of Chelsea had his smoke as usual, a special churchwarden and
+a more-special "screw" of tobacco having been carefully sent out for
+and laid before him. There was something very interesting in this
+ceremonial. We juniors at the end of the table, Robert Lytton and
+myself, both lit a cigar, which brought forth a characteristic lecture
+from Forster; "I never allow smoking in this room, save on this
+privileged occasion when my old friend Carlyle honours me. But I do
+not extend that to you Robert Lytton, and you (this to me). You have
+taken the matter into your own hands, without asking leave or license;
+as that is so, and the thing is done, there is no more to be said."
+Here of course we understood that he wished to emphasize the
+compliment to his friend and make the privilege exclusively his. But
+he would have liked to hear, "May we also smoke?"</p>
+
+<p>Forster's affection for Carlyle and his pride in him was delightful to
+see. I think he had more reverence for him than for anybody. He really
+looked on him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> as an inspired Sage, and this notion was encouraged by
+the retired fashion in which he of Chelsea lived, showing himself but
+rarely. Browning was seated near his host, but I noticed a sort of
+affected and strained <i>empressement</i> on both sides. Later I heard a
+loud scoffing laugh from Forster, but the other, apparently by a
+strong effort, repressed himself and made no reply. Alas! as was to be
+expected, the feud broke out again and was never healed. Though
+Browning would at times coldly ask me after his old friend.</p>
+
+<p>There was no better dramatic critic than Forster, for he had learned
+his criticism in the school of Macready and the old comedies. He had a
+perfect instinct for judging even when not present, and I recollect,
+when Salvini was being set up against Irving, his saying
+magisterially: "Though I have not seen either Mr. Salvini or Mr.
+Irving, I have a perfect conviction that Salvini is an actor and Mr.
+Irving is not." He had the finest declamation, was admirable in
+emphasis, and in bringing out the meaning of a passage, with
+expressive eye and justly-modulated cadences. I never had a greater
+treat than on one night, after dining with him, he volunteered to read
+aloud to us the Kitely passages from <i>Every Man in his Humour</i>, in
+which piece at the acted performances he was, I suspect, the noblest
+Roman of 'em all. It was a truly fine performance; he brought out the
+jealousy in the most powerful and yet delicately suggestive fashion.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>
+Every emotion, particularly the anticipation of such emotions, was
+reflected in his mobile features. His voice, deep and sonorous, and at
+times almost flutey with softness, was under perfect control; he could
+direct it as he willed. The reading must have called up many pleasant
+scenes, the excitement, his friends, the artists and writers, who all
+had taken part in the "splendid strolling" as he called it, and now
+all gone!</p>
+
+<p>He often, however, mistook inferior birds for swans. He once held out to
+us, as a great treat, the reading of an unpublished play of his friend
+Lord Lytton, which was called <i>Walpole</i>. All the characters spoke and
+carried on conversation in hexameters. The effect was ridiculous. A more
+tedious thing, with its recondite and archaic allusions to Pulteney and
+other Georgian personages, could not be conceived. The ladies in
+particular, after a scene or two, soon became weary. He himself lost
+faith in the business, and saw that it was flat, so he soon stopped, but
+he was mystified at such non-intelligence. There was quite a store of
+these posthumous pieces of the late dramatist, some of which I read. But
+most were bad and dreary.</p>
+
+<p>Forster had no doubt some oracular ways, which, like Mr. Peter
+Magnus's in <i>Pickwick</i>, "amused his friends very much." "Dicky" Doyle
+used to tell of a picnic excursion when Forster was expatiating
+roundly on the landscape, particularly demanding admiration for
+"yonder purple cloud" how dark,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> how menacing it was. "Why, my dear
+Forster," cried Doyle, "it's not a cloud at all, but only a piece of
+slated roof!" Forster disdained to notice the correction, but some
+minutes later he called to him loudly before the crowd: "See, Doyle!
+yonder is <i>not</i> a cloud, but a bit of slated roof: there can be no
+doubt of it." In vain Doyle protested, "Why, Forster, I said that to
+you!" "My dear Doyle," said Forster, sweetly, "it's no more a cloud
+than I am. I repeat you are mistaken, <i>it's a bit of slated roof</i>."</p>
+
+<p>To myself, he was ever kind and good-natured, though I could smile
+sometimes at his hearty and well-meant patronage. Patronage! it was
+rather wholesale "backing" of his friends. Thus, one morning he
+addressed me with momentous solemnity, "My dear fellow, I have been
+thinking about you for a long time, and I have come to this
+conclusion: you <i>must write a comedy</i>. I have settled that you can do
+it; you have powers of drawing character and of writing dialogue; so I
+have settled, the best thing you can do is to write a comedy." Thus
+had he given his permission and orders, and I might fall to work with
+his fullest approbation. I have no doubt he told others that he had
+directed that the comedy should be written.</p>
+
+<p>On another day, my dachshund "Toby" was brought to see him. For no one
+loved or understood the ways of dogs better. He greatly enjoyed "the
+poor fellow's bent legs," rather a novelty then, and at last with a
+loud laugh: "He is <i>Sir</i> Toby! no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> longer Toby. Yes my dear friend he
+<i>must</i> be Sir Toby henceforth." He had knighted him on the spot!</p>
+
+<p>Forster always stands out pre-eminently as "the friend," the general
+friend, and it is pleasant to be handed down in such an attitude. We
+find him as the common referee, the sure-headed arbiter,
+good-naturedly and heartily giving his services to arrange any trouble
+or business. How invaluable he was to Dickens is shown in the "Life."
+With him friendship was a high and serious duty, more responsible even
+than relationship. His warm heart, his time, his exertions, were all
+given to his friend. No doubt he had some little pleasure in the
+importance of his office, but he was in truth really indulging his
+affections, and warm heart.</p>
+
+<p>Among his own dearest friends was one for whom he seemed to have an
+affection and admiration that might be called tender; his respect,
+too, for his opinions and attainments were strikingly unusual in one
+who thought so much of his own powers of judgment. This was the Rev.
+<span class="smcap">Whitwell Elwin</span>, Rector of Booton, Norwich. He seemed to me a man quite
+of an unusual type, of much learning and power, and yet of a gentle
+modesty that was extraordinary. In some things the present Master of
+the Temple, Canon Ainger, very much suggests him. I see Elwin now, a
+spare wiry being with glowing pink face and a very white poll. He
+seemed a muscular person, yet never was there a more retiring,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> genial
+and delicate-minded soul. His sensitiveness was extraordinary, as was
+shown by his relinquishing his monumental edition of Pope's Works,
+after it had reached to its eighth volume. The history of this
+proceeding has never been clearly explained. No doubt he felt, as he
+pursued his labours, that his sense of dislike to Pope and contempt
+for his conduct was increasing, that he could not excuse or defend
+him. Elwin was in truth the "complement" of Forster's life and
+character. It was difficult to understand the one without seeing him
+in the company of the other. It was astonishing how softened and
+amiable, and even schoolboy-like, the tumultuous John became when he
+spoke of or was in company with his old friend; he really delighted in
+him. Forster's liking was based on respect for those gifts of culture,
+pains-taking and critical instinct, which he knew his friend
+possessed, and which I have often heard him praise in the warmest and
+sincerest fashion. "In El-win"&mdash;he seemed to delight in rolling out
+the syllables in this divided tone&mdash;"in El-ween you will find style
+and finish. If there is anyone who knows the topic it is El-win. He is
+your man."</p>
+
+<p>I was bringing out a <i>magnum opus</i>, dedicated to Carlyle, Boswell's
+<i>Life of Johnson</i>, entailing a vast deal of trouble and research. The
+amiable Elwin, whom I consulted, entered into the project with a host
+of enthusiasm. He took the trouble of rummaging his note books, and
+continued to send me week by week many a useful communication,
+clearing up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> doubtful passages. But what was this to his service when
+I was writing a Life of Sterne,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and the friendly Forster,
+interesting himself in the most good-natured way, determined that it
+should succeed, and put me in communication with Elwin. No doubt he
+was interested in his <i>prot&eacute;g&eacute;</i>, and Elwin, always willing to please,
+as it were, received his instructions. Presently, to my wonder and
+gratification, arrived an extraordinary letter, if one might so call
+it, which filled over a dozen closely written pages (for he compressed
+a marvellous quantity into a sheet of paper), all literally
+overflowing with information. It was an account of recondite and most
+unlikely works in which allusions to Sterne and many curious bits of
+information were stowed away; chapter and page and edition were given
+for every quotation; it must have taken him many hours and much
+trouble to write. And what an incident it was, the two well-skilled
+and accomplished literary critics exerting themselves, the one to
+secure the best aid of his friend, the other eager to assist, because
+his friend wished it.</p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> I recall a meeting by special appointment with Elwin, who
+came to lunch to debate it. He had already my letter, turned it over
+and over again, but without result. The point was what edition should
+be used&mdash;the first or the last; this latter having, of course, the
+advantage of the author's latest revision. On the great question of
+"Johnson's stay at Oxford," which has exercised all the scholars, and
+is still in a more or less unsatisfactory way, he agreed with me.</p></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>In the course of these Shandian enquiries, the passage in Thackeray's
+lecture occurred to me where he mentions having been shown Eliza's
+Diary by a "Gentleman of Bath." I wished to find out who this was,
+when my faithful friend wrote to the novelist and sent me his reply,
+which began, "My dear Primrose"&mdash;his charmingly appropriate nick or
+pet name for Elwin, who was the very picture of the amiable vicar. It
+resulted in the gentleman allowing <i>me</i> to look at his journal.</p>
+
+<p>Letter from Elwin on the "unfortunate Dr. Dodd":&mdash;</p>
+
+<p class="sig1">Booton Rectory, Norwich,</p>
+
+<p class="sig2">Oct. 31st, 1864.</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>My dear Mr. &mdash;&mdash;.&mdash;I have been ill for some weeks past,
+which has prevented my writing to you. It is of the less
+importance that I can add nothing to your ample list of
+authorities, except to mention, if you are not already aware
+of it, that there is a good deal about Dr. Dodd and his
+doings, in "Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea." The
+contemporary characters which figure in the work are
+described partly by real, and partly by invented
+circumstances. But you at least get the view which the
+author entertained of the persons he introduces on the
+scene. I missed the first part of your Memoir of Dodd, in
+the <i>Dublin Magazine</i>. The second I saw, and thought it
+extremely interesting, and very happily written. I was
+surprised at the quantity of information you had got
+together. I cannot help you to any detailed account of the
+Maccaroni preachers. They are glanced at in the second book
+of Cowper's Task. They have existed, and will exist in every
+generation, but it is seldom that any record is preserved of
+them. They are the butterflies of the hour. There are no
+means by which you can keep worthless men from making a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span>
+trade of religion, and as long as there are people simple
+enough to be dupes, so long there will be impostors. It is
+strange to see what transparent acting will impose upon
+women. To be popular, to draw large audiences, is the avowed
+object of many of these preachers. The late R. Montgomery
+once introduced himself to an acquaintance of mine on the
+platform at some religious meeting. Montgomery commenced the
+conversation by the remark, "You have a chapel in the West
+End." "Yes," said my friend. "And I hope to have one soon,"
+replied M., "for I am satisfied that I have the faculty for
+<i>adapting</i> the Gospel to the <i>West End</i>." You may tell the
+story if you give no names.</p>
+
+<p>You have anticipated my Sterne anecdotes. I will just
+mention one circumstance. In the advertisement to the
+edition of Sterne's Works, in 10 vols. (1798), it is stated
+(Vol. I, p. iv.) "that the letters numbered 129, 130 and
+131, have not those proofs of authenticity which the others
+possess." Now, letter 131 is very important, for it is that
+in which Sterne replies to the remonstrances against the
+freedoms in Tristram Shandy. It may be satisfactory to you
+to know that some years after the edition of Sterne's Works
+the letter was published by Richard Warner (apparently from
+the original) in the Appendix to his Literary Recollections.
+He was not, I suppose, aware that it had been printed
+before. Warner was ordained in the North, and his work will
+throw some light upon the state of things in those regions
+at a period close upon Sterne's time. You will find it worth
+while to glance over it. If I can be of any help to you I
+shall only be too happy.</p></div>
+
+<p class="sig3">Believe me ever, most sincerely yours,</p>
+
+<p class="sig2"><span class="smcap">W. Elwin</span>.</p>
+
+<p>There is something touching in this deep affection, exhibited by so
+rough and sturdy a nature and maintained without flagging for so many
+years. With him it was "the noble Elwin," "the good Elwin," "as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> ever,
+most delightful," "kinder and more considerate than ever." "Never were
+letters so pleasant to me as yours," he wrote in 1865, "and it is sad
+to think that from months we are now getting on to years with barely a
+single letter." "My dear fellow," he wrote again, "with the ranks so
+thinning around us, should we not close up, come nearer to each other?
+None are so dear to us at home as Mrs. Elwin and yourself and all of
+you." One of the last entries in his diary was, "Precious letter from
+dearest Elwin. December 10th, 1875."</p>
+
+<p>Elwin had, perhaps, a colder temperament, or did not express his
+devotion. But his regard would seem to have been as deep-seated; as
+indeed was shown in the finely drawn tribute he paid him after his
+death, and which is indeed the work of an accomplished writer and
+master of expression. "He was two distinct men," wrote Elwin to John
+Murray the elder, in 1876, "and the one man quite dissimilar from the
+other. To see him in company I should not have recognised him for the
+friend with whom I was intimate in private. Then he was quiet,
+natural, unpretending, and most agreeable, and in the warmth and
+generosity of his friendship he had no superior. Sensitive as he was
+in some ways, there was no man to whom it was easier so speak with
+perfect frankness. He always bore it with gentle good nature."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> To Elwin Forster left &pound;2,000 and his gold watch, no doubt
+the one bequeathed by Dickens. Forster appointed him, without
+consulting him, one of his executors, but knowing well that he could
+rely on his good will, and the legacy no doubt was intended as a
+solatium for the labour thus enforced. Lord Lytton and Justice Chitty
+were the other executors. As Lord Lytton was in India the whole burden
+fell on the other two, and mostly on Elwin. As his son tells, the
+literary part of the business was most considerable; there was an
+edition of Landor to be "seen through" the press; there was a vast
+number of papers and letters to be examined, preserved or destroyed.
+"His own inclination and Forster's instructions were in the direction
+of destroying all personal letters, however eminent the writer might
+be."</p></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span></p>
+<p>At another time he wrote with warmth, "Most welcome was your letter
+this morning, as your letters always are to me. They come fraught with
+some new proof of the true, warm-hearted, generous friend who has made
+life worth something more to me than it was a year ago," 1857.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Memoirs by Warwick Elwin.</p></div>
+
+<p>When Forster married, in 1856, he was eager that Elwin should
+officiate, and proposed going down to Norfolk. But legal formalities
+were in the way, and Elwin came to London instead. "He never," says
+Warwick Elwin, "wavered in his attachment to him. Sometimes he would
+be momentarily vexed at some fancied neglect, but the instant they met
+again it was all forgotten." Elwin was, in fact, subject to moods and
+"nerves," and there were times when he shrank sensitively from the
+world and its associations&mdash;he would answer no letters, particularly
+after the period of his many sore trials. The last time I saw him was
+at that great <i>fiasco</i>, the production of the first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>Lord Lytton's
+posthumous play on the subject of Brutus, produced by Wilson Barrett,
+with extraordinary richness and pomp: a failure that led to an
+unpleasant dispute between Lytton's son and the lessee.</p>
+
+<p>When the <i>Life of Dickens</i> appeared, Elwin, as in duty bound,
+proceeded to review it in the <i>Quarterly</i>. I confess that on reading
+over this article there seems to be a curious reserve and rather
+measured stint of praise. One would have expected from the generous
+Elwin one enthusiastic and sustained burst of praise of his friend's
+great work. But it seems as though he felt so trifling a matter was
+scarcely worthy of solemn treatment. The paper is only twenty pages
+long, and, after a few lines of praise at the beginning and a line or
+two at the end, proceeds to give a summary of the facts. The truth was
+Elwin was too scrupulously conscientious a critic to stretch a point
+in such a matter. I could fancy that for one of his nice feeling it
+became an almost disagreeable duty. Were he tempted to expand in
+praises, it would be set down to partiality, while he was hardly free
+to censure. No wonder he wrote of his performance: "Forster will think
+it too lukewarm; others the reverse." As it happened, the amiable
+Forster was enchanted.</p>
+
+<p>"For upwards of three-and-thirty years," says Mr. Elwin in this review
+(<i>Q. R.</i>, vol. 132, p. 125), "Mr. Forster was the incessant companion
+and confidential adviser of Dickens; the friend to whom he had
+recourse in every difficulty, personal and literary; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> before whom
+he spread, without reserve, every fold of his mind. <i>No man's life has
+ever been better known to a biographer....</i> To us it appears that a
+more faithful biography could not be written. Dickens is seen in his
+pages precisely as he is showed in his ordinary intercourse."</p>
+
+<p>Both Elwin and his friend had that inflexibility of principle in
+criticism and literary utterance which they adhered to as though it
+were a matter of high morals. This feeling contrasts with the easy
+adaptability of our day, when the critic so often has to shape his
+views according to interested aims. He indeed will hold in his views,
+but may not deem it necessary to produce them. I could recall
+instances in both men of this sternness of opinion. Forster knew no
+compromise in such matters; though I fancy in the case of people of
+title, for whom, as already mentioned, he had a weakness, or of pretty
+women, he may have occasionally given way. I remember when Elwin was
+writing his fine estimate of his deceased friend, Mrs. Forster in deep
+distress came to tell me that he insisted on describing her husband as
+"the son of a butcher." In vain had she entreated him to leave this
+matter aside. Even granting its correctness, what need or compulsion
+to mention it? It was infinitely painful to her. But it was not true:
+Forster's father was a large "grazier" or dealer in cattle. Elwin,
+however, was inflexible: some Newcastle alderman had hunted up entries
+in old books, and he thought the evidence convincing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Another incident connected with the memory of her much-loved husband,
+that gave this amiable woman much poignant distress, was a statement
+made by Mr. Furnival, the Shakesperian, that Browning had been
+employed by Forster to write the account of Strafford, in the
+collection of Lives. He had been told this by Browning himself.
+Nevertheless, she set all her friends to work; had papers, letters,
+etc., ransacked for evidence, but with poor result. The probability
+was that Forster would have disdained such aid; on the other hand, the
+Poet had written a tragedy on the subject, and was, therefore, capable
+of dealing with it. Letters of vindication were sent to the papers,
+but no one was much interested in the point one way or the other;
+save, of course, the good Mrs. Forster, to whom it was vital. I am
+afraid, however, there was truth in the statement; for it is
+completely supported by a stray passage in one of the Poet's letters
+to his future wife, recently published.</p>
+
+<p>Forster, I fancy, must have often looked wistfully back to the old
+Lincoln's Inn days, when he sat in his large Tulkinghorn room, with the
+Roman's finger pointing down to his head. I often grieve that I did not
+see this Roman, as I might have done, before he was erased; for Forster
+was living there when I first knew him. On his marriage he moved to that
+snug house in Montague Square, where we had often cosy dinners. He was
+driven from it, he used to say, by the piano-practising on each side of
+him, which be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>came "in-<i>tol</i>-erable"; but I fancy the modest house was
+scarcely commensurate with his ambitions. It was somewhat old-fashioned
+too. And yet in his grand palatial mansion at Kensington I doubt if he
+was as jocund or as irrepressible as then. I am certain the burden of an
+ambitious life told upon his health and spirits.</p>
+
+<p>I often turn back to the day when I first called on him, at the now
+destroyed offices at Whitehall, when he emerged from an inner room in
+a press of business. I see him now, a truly brisk man, full of life
+and energy, and using even then his old favourite hospitable formula,
+"My dear sir, I am <i>very</i> busy&mdash;very busy; I have just escaped from
+the commissioners. But you must dine with me to-morrow and we will
+talk of these things." Thus he did not ask you, but he "commanded
+you," even as a king would.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most interesting things about Forster was his
+"receptivity." Stern and inflexible as he was in the case of old
+canons, he was always ready to welcome anything new or striking,
+provided it had merit and was not some imposture. I never met a better
+appreciator of genuine humour. He had been trained, or had trained
+himself; whatever shape it had, only let it have <i>merit</i>. He
+thoroughly <i>enjoyed</i> a jest, and furnished his own obstreperous laugh
+by way of applause. As I have said, there was something truly
+<i>Johnsonian</i> about him; everything he said or decided you knew well
+was founded on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> principle of some kind; he was a solid judicial man,
+and even his hearty laugh of enjoyment was always based on a rational
+motive. This sort of solid well-trained men are rather scarce
+nowadays.</p>
+
+<p>Forster was also a type of the old Cromwellian or Independant with
+reference to religious liberty. He could not endure, therefore,
+"Romish tyranny," as he called it, which stifled thought. Many of his
+friends were Roman Catholics. There were "touches" in Forster as good
+as anything in the old comedies.</p>
+
+<p>His handsome and spacious library, with its gallery running round, was
+well known to all his friends. Richly stored was it with book
+treasures, manuscripts, rare first editions, autographs, in short all
+those things which may now be seen at South Kensington. He had a store
+of other fine things somewhere else, and kept a secretary or
+librarian, to whom he issued his instructions. For he himself did not
+profess to know the <i>locale</i> of the books and papers, and I have often
+heard him in his lofty way direct that instructions should be sent to
+Mr. &mdash;&mdash; to search out such and such documents. He had grand ideas
+about his books, and spared no cost either in his purchases or
+bindings. I have seen one of his quarto MS. thus dressed by Rivi&egrave;re in
+plain decoration, but which he told me had cost &pound;30.</p>
+
+<p>Once for some modest private theatricals I had written a couple of
+little pieces to be acted by ourselves and our friends. One was called
+<i>Blotting Paper</i>, the other <i>The William Simpson</i>. A gay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> company was
+invited, and I recall how the performers were pleased and encouraged
+when the face of the brilliant author of a <i>Lady of Lyons</i> was seen in
+the front row. Forster took the whole under his protection, and was
+looking forward to attending, but his invariable terrible cough seized
+on him. Mrs. Forster was sent with strict instructions to observe and
+report everything that did or could occur on this interesting
+occasion. I see her soft amiable face smiling encouragement from the
+stalls. I rose greatly in my friend's estimation from this attendance
+of the author of <i>Pelham</i>. "How did you manage it?" "He goes nowhere
+or to few places. It was a gr-eat compliment."</p>
+
+<p>This little performance is associated in a melancholy way with the
+closing days of Dickens' career. I was naturally eager to secure his
+presence, and went to see him at "his office" to try and persuade him
+to attend; he pleaded, however, his overwhelming engagements. I find
+in an old diary some notes of our talk. "Theatricals led to Regnier,
+whom I think he had been to see in <i>Les Vieux Gar&ccedil;ons</i>. He said he
+found him very old. "Alas! He is <i>Vieux Gar&ccedil;on</i> himself." I think of
+our few little dinners in my house; would we had had more! Somehow
+since I have been living here the image of him has been more and more
+stamped on me; I see and like him more. The poor, toiling, loveable
+fellow, to think that all is over with him now!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>[At the risk of smiles, and perhaps some suspicion of vanity, I go on
+to copy what follows.] When I saw Mrs. Forster during those dismal
+days, she was good enough to relate to me much about his personal
+liking for me. He would tell them how I could do anything if I only
+gave myself fair play. He said he was going to write to give me a
+sound blowing up. "And yet," he added, "I doubt if he would take it
+from anybody else but me. He is a good fellow." [I still doubt whether
+I should add what follows, but I am not inclined to sacrifice such a
+tribute from such a man; told me, too, only a few days after his
+death.] He praised a novel of mine, <i>No. 75, Brooke St.</i>, and here are
+his words: "The last scene and winding up is one of the most powerful
+things I have met."</p>
+
+<p>Forster, devoted to the school of Macready, and all but trained by
+that actor, whose bust was placed in his hall, thought but poorly of
+the performances of our time. He pooh-poohed them all, including even
+the great and more brilliant successes. Once a clever American company
+came over, a phenomenal thing at that time, and appeared at the St.
+James's Theatre. They played <i>She Stoops to Conquer</i>, with two
+excellent performers as Old Hardcastle and Marlow; Brough was the
+Tony. I induced Forster to come and see them, and we made up a party.
+He listened with an amusing air of patronage, which was habitual with
+him&mdash;meant to encourage&mdash;and said often that "it was very good, very
+fair indeed." Brough he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> admitted was perhaps the nearest to the
+fitting tone and spirit of the piece. The two American actors, as it
+seemed to me, were excellent comedians.</p>
+
+<p>I once saw him at St. James's Hall, drawn to hear one of his friend's
+last readings. I saw his entrance. He came piloted by the faithful
+Charles Kent, who led, or rather <i>cleared</i> the way, Forster following
+with a smiling modesty, as if he sought to avoid too much notice. His
+rotund figure was swathed in a tight fitting palet&ocirc;t, while a sort of
+nautical wrapper was round his throat. He fancied no doubt that many
+an eye was following him; that there was many a whisper, "That is the
+great John Forster." He passed on solemnly through the hall and out at
+the door leading to the artistes' rooms. Alas! no one was thinking of
+him; he had been too long absent from the stage. It is indeed
+extremely strange, and I often wonder at it, how little mark he made.
+The present and coming generations know nothing about him. I may add
+here that, at Dickens' <i>very</i> last Reading at this place, I and
+Charles Kent were the two&mdash;the only two&mdash;favoured with a place on the
+platform, behind the screens. From that coign, I heard him say his
+last farewell words: "Vanish from these garish lights for evermore!"</p>
+
+<p>One summer Forster and his wife came down to Bangor, I believe from a
+genial good-natured wish to be there with his friends&mdash;a family who
+were often found there. He put up at the "George," then a house of
+lofty pretensions, though now it would seem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> but a modest affair
+enough. What a holiday it was! The great John unbent to an
+inconceivable degree; he was soft, engaging even, and in a bright and
+constant good humour. The family consisted of the mother, two
+daughters, and the son, <i>moi qui vous parle</i>&mdash;all of whom looked to
+him with a sort of awe and reverence, which was not unpleasing to him.
+The two girls he professed to admire and love; the mother, a woman of
+the world, had won him by her speech at his dinner party, during which
+a loud crash came from the hall; he said nothing, but she saw the
+temper working within, and quoted happily from Pope,</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"And e'en unmoved hears China fall."<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Immensely gratified at the implied compliment for his restraint, his
+angry brow was smoothed. To imagine a dame of our time quoting Pope at
+a dinner! at most she would have heard of him.</p>
+
+<p>What walks and expeditions in that delightful Welsh district! and what
+unbounded hospitality! He would insist on his favourites coming to
+dinner every few days or so. It was impossible to refuse; equally
+impossible to make any excuse; he was so overpowering. Everything was
+swept away. At the time the dull pastime of acrostic-writing was in
+high vogue, and some ladies of the party thought to compliment him by
+fashioning one upon his name. He accepted the compliment with much
+complacent gratification; and, when the result was read aloud, it was
+found that the only epithet that would fit his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> name, having the
+proper number of letters, was "learned." His brow clouded. It was not
+what he expected. He was good-humouredly scornful. "Well, I declare, I
+did not expect this. I should have thought something like 'gallant,'
+or 'pleasant,' or 'agreeable'&mdash;but '<i>learned</i>!' as though I were some
+old pundit. Thank you, ladies."</p>
+
+<p>No one knew so much as Forster of the literary history of the days
+when Dickens first "rose"; and when such men as Lamb, Campbell,
+Talfourd, Theodore Hook, Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and many more of that
+school were flourishing.</p>
+
+<p>I see him now seated in the stern manipulating the ropes of the
+rudder, with all the air of perfect knowledge; diverting the boatmen,
+putting questions to them, and adroitly turning their answers into
+pieces of original information; lecturing on the various objects of
+interest we passed; yet all the time interesting, and excellent
+company. At times he began to talk of poetry, and would pour forth the
+stores of his wonderful memory, reciting passages with excellent
+elocution, and delighting his hearers. I recall the fine style in
+which he rolled forth "Hohenlinden," and "The Royal George," and the
+"Battle of the Baltic." At the close he would sink his voice to a low
+muttering, just murmuring impressively, "be-neath the wave!" Then
+would pause, and say, as if overcome&mdash;"Fine, very, very fine!" These
+exercises gave his audience genuine pleasure. On shore, visiting the
+various show things, he grew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> frolicsome, and insisted on the visitors
+as "Mr. and Mrs. &mdash;&mdash;," the names of characters in some novel I had
+written.</p>
+
+<p>It would be an interesting question to consider how far Forster's
+influence improved or injured Dickens' work; for he tells us
+everything written by the latter was submitted to him, and corrections
+and alterations offered. I am inclined to confess that, when in his
+official mood, Forster's notions of humour were somewhat forced. It is
+thus almost startling to read his extravagant praise of a passage
+about Sapsea which the author discarded in <i>Edwin Drood</i>. Nothing
+better showed Boz's discretion. The well-known passage in <i>The Old
+Curiosity Shop</i> about the little marchioness and her make-believe of
+orange peel and water, and which Dickens allowed him to mend in his
+own way, was certainly altered for the worse.</p>
+
+<p>I had the sad satisfaction, such as it was, of attending Forster's
+funeral, as well as that of his amiable wife. I had a seat in one of
+the mourning coaches, with that interesting man, James Anthony Froude.
+Not many were bidden to the ceremonial.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Forster's life, like that of her husband, closed in much
+suffering. I believe she might have enjoyed a fair amount of health
+had she not clung with a sort of devotion, not unconnected with the
+memory of her husband, to the house which he had built. Nothing could
+induce her to go away. She was, moreover, offered a sum of over
+&pound;20,000 for it shortly after his death, but declined; it was later
+sold for little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> over a third of the amount. He had bequeathed all his
+treasures to the nation, allowing her the life use, but with much
+generosity she at once handed over the books, pictures, prints,
+sketches, and other things. She bore her sufferings with wonderful
+patience and sweetness, and I remember the clergyman who attended her,
+and who was at the grave, being much affected.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Forster was a woman of more sagacity and shrewdness of
+observation than she obtained credit for. She had seen and noted many
+curious things in her course. Often of a Sunday afternoon, when I used
+to pay her a visit, she would open herself very freely, and reveal to
+me many curious bits of secret history relating to her husband's
+literary friends. She was very amusing on the Sage of Chelsea. I
+recollect she treated Mrs. Carlyle's account of her dreary life and
+servitude to her great husband as a sort of romance or delusion,
+conveying that she was not at all a lady likely to be thus "put upon."
+In vulgar phrase, the boot was on the other leg.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>I have thought it right to offer this small tribute to one who was in
+his way an interesting and remarkable man. No place has been found for
+him in the series known as English Men of Letters; and yet, as I have
+before pointed out, he had a place in literature that somewhat
+suggests the position of Dr. Johnson. What Forster said, or what
+Forster did, was at one time of importance to the community. This sort
+of arbiter is unknown nowadays, and perhaps would not be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> accepted. He
+will, however, ever be associated with Charles Dickens, as his friend,
+adviser, admirer, corrector, and biographer. There is a conventional
+meaning for the term "men of letters," men, that is, who have written
+books; but in the stricter sense it is surely one who is "learned in
+letters," as a lawyer is learned in the law. Johnson is much more
+thought of in this way than as a writer. Forster had this true
+instinct, and it was a curious thing one day to note his delight when
+I showed him a recent purchase: a figure of Johnson, <i>his</i> prototype,
+wrought in pottery, seated in chair, in an attitude of wisdom, his
+arms extended and bent, and evidently expatiating. Looking at it, he
+delivered an acute bit of criticism worthy of the Doctor himself.</p>
+
+<p>"The interest," he said, "of this figure is not in the modelling,
+which is good, but because it represents Johnson as he was, in the eye
+of the crowd of his day; who looked on him, not as the writer, but as
+the grand <i>argufier</i> and layer-down of the law, the 'settler' of any
+knotty point whatever; with them the Doctor could decide anything. See
+how his arm is half raised, his fingers outspread, as if about to give
+his decision. You should show this to Carlyle, who will be delighted
+with it."</p>
+
+<p>He often recurred to this and to the delight the Sage would have had.
+I forget whether I followed his advice. On the same occasion he
+noticed a figure of Washington. "Ah! there he stands," he said, "with
+his favourite air of state and dignity, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> sense of what was due to
+his position. You will always notice that in the portraits there was a
+little assumption of the aristocrat." Forster's criticism was always
+of this kind&mdash;instructive and acute.</p>
+
+<p>Forster was the envied possessor of nearly every one of Boz's MSS.&mdash;a
+treasure at the time not thought very much of, even by Dickens
+himself, but since his death become of extraordinary value. I should
+say that each was worth some two or three thousand pounds at the
+least. How amazing has been this appreciation of what dealers call
+"the Dickens stuff" during these years! It is almost incredible. I
+mind the day when a Dickens' book, a Dickens' letter, was taken
+tranquilly. A relation of my own, an old bachelor, had, as we thought,
+an eccentric <i>penchant</i> for early editions of Boz; and once, on the
+great man coming to the provincial city where he lived, waited on him
+to show him what he called his "Old Gold"; to wit, the earlier
+editions of Pickwick and Nickleby. We all smiled, and I remember Boz
+speaking to me good-naturedly of this enthusiasm. Not one of the party
+then&mdash;it was in 1865&mdash;dreamed that this old bachelor was far wiser
+than his generation. The original Pickwick, that is bound from the
+numbers, is indeed a nugget of old gold. I remember once asking Wills,
+his sub-editor, could I be allowed to have the original MSS. of some
+of Boz's short stories? He said, "To be sure, that nothing was more
+easy than to ask him, for the printer sent each back to him after use,
+carefully sealed up." What became of all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> these papers I cannot tell;
+but I doubt if anyone was then <i>very</i> eager about them.</p>
+
+<p>Lately, turning over some old papers, I came upon a large bundle of
+proof "slips" of a story I had written for <i>All the Year Round</i>. It
+was called <i>Howard's Son</i>. To my surprise and pleasure I found that
+they had passed through Boz's own hands, and had been corrected
+throughout in his own careful and elaborate fashion, whole passages
+written in, others deleted, the punctuation altered and improved. Here
+was a <i>trouvaille</i>. These slips, I may add, have extraordinary value,
+and in the States would fetch a considerable sum. It was extraordinary
+what pains Boz took with the papers of his contributors, and how
+diligently and laboriously he improved and polished them.</p>
+
+<p>Forster's latter days, that is, I suppose, for some seven or eight
+years, were an appalling state of martyrdom; no words could paint it.
+It was gout in its most terrible form, that is, on the chest. This
+malady was due, in the first place, to his early hard life, when rest
+and hours of sleep were neglected or set at nought. Too good living
+also was accountable. He loved good cheer and had an excellent taste
+in wines, fine clarets, etc. Such things were fatal to his complaint.
+This gout took the shape of an almost eternal cough, which scarcely
+ever left him. It began invariably with the night and kept him awake,
+the waters rising on his chest and overpowering him. I have seen him
+on the following day, lying spent and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> exhausted on a sofa and
+struggling to get some snatches of sleep, if he could. But as seven
+o'clock drew near, a change came. There was a dinner-party; he "pulled
+himself together:" began another jovial night and in good spirits. But
+he could not resist the tempting wines, etc., and of course had his
+usual "bad" night. Once dining with me, he as usual brought his Vichy
+bottle with him, and held forth on the necessity of "putting on the
+muzzle," restraint, etc. He "lectured" us all in a very suitable way,
+and maintained his restraint during dinner. There was a bottle of good
+Corton gently warming at the fire, about which he made inquiries, but
+which now, alas! need not be opened. When the ladies were gone, he
+became very pressing on this topic. "My dear fellow, you must <i>not</i>
+let me be a kill-joy, you must really open the bottle for yourself;
+why should you deny yourself for me? Nonsense!" It suggested Winkle
+going to fight a duel, saying to his friend, "Do <i>not</i> give
+information to the police." But I was inhospitably inflexible. These
+little touches were Forster all over. One would have given anything to
+let him have his two or three glasses, but one had to be cruel to be
+kind. Old Sam Johnson was of the same pattern, and could not resist a
+dinner-party, even when in serious plight. He certainly precipitated
+his death by his greed.</p>
+
+<p>I well recall the confusion and grief of one morning in July, 1870,
+when opening the <i>Times</i> I read in large capitals, <span class="smcap">Death of Charles
+Dickens</span>. It<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> must have brought a shock more or less to every reader.
+Nothing was less expected, for we had not at that time the recurring
+evening editions, treading on each other's heels, to keep us posted up
+every hour in every event of the day.</p>
+
+<p>I am tempted here to copy from an old diary the impressions of that
+painful time. The words were written on the evening of the funeral at
+6 p.m.: "Died, dear Charles Dickens. I think at this moment of his
+bright genial manner, so cordial and hearty, of the delightful days at
+Belfast&mdash;on the Reading Tours&mdash;The Trains&mdash;the Evenings at the
+Hotel&mdash;his lying on the sofa listening to my stories and laughing in
+his joyous way. I think, too, of the last time that I saw him, which
+was at his office in Wellington Street, whither I went to ask him to
+come to some theatricals that we were getting up. We talked them over,
+and then he began to bewail so sadly, the burden of 'going out' to
+dinner parties. He said that he would like to come, but that he could
+not promise. However, he might come late in the night if he could get
+away from other places. I see his figure now before me, standing at
+the table, the small delicate-formed shoulders. Then bringing me into
+another room to show me one of the gigantic golden yellow <i>All the
+Year Round</i> placards, presently to be displayed on every wall and
+hoarding of the kingdom. This was the announcement of a new story I
+had written for his paper, which he had dubbed 'The Doctor's Mixture,'
+but of which, alas! he was destined<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> never to revise the proofs. It
+had been just hung up 'to try the effect,' and was fresh from the
+printers."</p>
+
+<p>I look back to another of Forster's visits to Dublin when he came in
+quest of materials for his <i>Life of Swift</i>. He was in the gayest and
+best of his humours, and behaved much as the redoubtable Doctor
+Johnson did on his visit to Edinburgh. I see him seated in the library
+at Trinity College, making his notes, surrounded by the Dons. Dining
+with him at his hotel, for even here he must entertain his host, he
+lit his cigar after dinner, when an aged waiter of the old school
+interrupted: "Ah, you musn't do that. It's agin the rules and
+forbidden." He little knew his Forster; what a storm broke on his
+head&mdash;"Leave the room, you rascal. How dare you, sir, interfere with
+me! Get out, sir," with much more: the scared waiter fled. "One of the
+pleasantest episodes in my life," I wrote in a diary, "has just
+closed. John Forster come and gone, after his visit here (<i>i.e.</i> to
+Dublin). Don't know when I liked a man more. He was most genial and
+satisfactory to talk with. His amiable and agreeable wife with him.
+She told a great deal of Boz and his life at home, giving a delightful
+picture of his ordinary day. He would write all the morning till one
+o'clock, and no one was allowed to see or interrupt him. Then came
+lunch; then a long hearty walk until dinner time. During the evening
+he would read in his own room, but the door was kept open so that he
+might hear the girls playing&mdash;an amiable touch. At Christmas time,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>
+when they would go down on a visit, he would entertain them by reading
+aloud his proofs and passages not yet published. She described to us
+'Boffin,' out of <i>Our Mutual Friend</i>, as admirable. He shows all to
+Forster before-hand, and consults him as to plot, characters, etc. He
+has a humorous fashion of giving his little boys comic names; later to
+appear in his stories. Thus, one known as 'Plorn,' which later
+appeared as 'Plornish.' This is a pleasant picture of the great
+writer's domestic life, and it gives also a faint 'adumbration' of
+what is now forgotten: the intense curiosity and eager anticipation
+that was abroad as to what he was doing or preparing. Hints of his
+characters got known; their movements and developments were discussed,
+and the incidents of his story were like public events. We have
+nothing of this nowadays, for no writer or story rouses the same
+interest. Forster also told us a good deal about Carlyle, whose
+proof-sheets, from the abundant corrections, cost three or four times
+what the original 'setting' did." Thus the diary.</p>
+
+<p>Once, on a Sunday in Dublin, I brought Forster to the cathedral in
+Marlborough Street to hear the High Mass, at which Cardinal Cullen
+officiated. He sat it out very patiently, and I remember on coming out
+drew a deep sigh, or gasp, with the remark, "Well, I suppose it's all
+right."</p>
+
+<p>Forster, whatever might be said of his sire's calling, was at least of
+a good old Newcastle border stock of fine "grit" and sturdily
+independent. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> was proud of his stock, and he has often lamented,
+not merely in print, but to myself, how people would confound him with
+mere Fosters. "Now we," he would say vehemently, "are Forsters with an
+<i>r</i>." When he became acquainted with a person nearly connected with
+myself, he was immensely pleased to find that she was a Foster; and,
+as she was of rank, it was amusing to find him not quite so eager to
+repudiate the Foster (without the <i>r</i>). "We are all the same, my dear
+friend. All Forresters, abbreviated as Forster or Foster, all one; the
+same crest." The lady had some fragments of a fine old crimson Derby
+service, plates with the Foster escutcheon, and he was immensely
+gratified when she presented him with one.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Frederick Locker</span> was certainly one of the most agreeable and most
+interesting and most amiable beings that could be imagined. His face
+had a sort of Quixote quaintness, so had his talk, while his humour
+had a pleasant flavour. He lived at his place in the country, but I
+always looked forward&mdash;and now look back, alas!&mdash;to the many pleasant
+talks we would have together, each more than an hour long, on the
+occasion of these rare visits. All his stories were delightful, all
+his tastes elegant. His knowledge of books was profound and truly
+refined. His taste was most fastidious. Towards the close of his
+career he prepared a catalogue of his choice library, which showed to
+the world at once how elegant was his taste and knowledge. At once it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span>
+became <i>recherch&eacute;</i>. A few copies at a guinea were for sale, with a
+view to let the public know something of his treasures, but it is now
+at a fancy price. Once when I was in a dealer's shop "haggling" over
+an "old play," for which I think two guineas was asked, and which
+seemed to me a monstrous price, Locker came in quietly, and took the
+book up, which was the interlude of <i>Jacke Drum</i>. I told him of the
+price&mdash;"Take it, I advise you, he said, it is very cheap. I assure you
+I gave a vast deal more for my copy." I took it, and I believe at this
+moment I could get for my copy ten times that sum, in fact, there has
+not been a copy in the market. This interesting man was, I fancy,
+happy in both his marriages; the first bringing him rank and
+connection, the second lands and wealth. I bring him in here because
+he associated with Forster in one of his most grotesque moods. To
+Forster, however, this agreeable spirit was taboo. He had offended the
+great man, and as it had a ludicrous cast, and was, besides, truly
+Forsterian, I may here recur to it. Forster, as I have stated, had
+been left by Landor, the copyright of his now value unsaleable
+writings, and he was more pleased at the intended compliment than
+gratified by the legacy itself. My friend Locker, whose <i>Lyra</i> was
+well known, had thoughtlessly inserted in a new edition one, or some,
+of Landor's short pieces, and went his way. One day Forster discovered
+"the outrage," wrote tremendous letters, threatened law, and, I
+believe, obtained some satisfaction for the trespasses. But during the
+alter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>cation he found that a copy had been presented to the Athen&aelig;um
+Club library, and it bore the usual inscription and Minerva's head of
+the Club. Forster, <i>sans fa&ccedil;on</i>, put the book in his pocket and took
+it away home, confiscated it in fact. There was a great hubbub. The
+committee met, determined that their property had been taken away, and
+demanded that it should be brought back. Forster flatly refused;
+defied the Club to do its worst. Secretary, solicitors, and every
+means were used to bring him to reason. It actually ended in his
+retaining the book, the Club shrinking from entering into public
+contest with so redoubtable an antagonist.</p>
+
+<p>Forster was sumptuous in his tastes; always liking to have the best.
+When he wanted a thing considerations of the expense would not stand
+in the way. He was an admirable judge of a picture, and could in a few
+well-chosen words point out its merits. When he heard Lord Lytton was
+going to India, he gave Millais a commission to paint a portrait of
+the new Viceroy. Millais used good humouredly to relate the lofty
+condescending style in which it was announced. "It gives me, I assure
+you, great pleasure to learn that you are so advancing in your
+profession. I think highly of your abilities and <i>shall be glad to
+encourage them</i>;" or something to that effect. Millais at this time
+was at the very top of his profession, as indeed Forster knew well,
+but the state and grandeur of the subject, and his position in
+expending so large a sum&mdash;I suppose a thousand guineas, for it was a
+full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> length&mdash;lifted my old friend into one of his dreams. The
+portrait was a richly-coloured and effective one, giving the staring
+owl-like eyes of the poet-diplomatist. Another of Forster's purchases
+was Maclise's huge picture of Caxton showing his first printed book to
+the King.</p>
+
+<p>It was a treat and an education to go round a picture gallery with
+him, so excellent and to the point were his criticisms. He seized on
+the <i>essential</i> merit of each. I remember going with him to see the
+collected works of his old friend Leslie, R.A., when he frankly
+confessed his disappointment at the general <i>thinness</i> of the colour
+and style, brought out conspicuously when the works were all gathered
+together: this was the effect, with a certain <i>chalkiness</i>. At the
+Dublin Exhibition he was greatly struck by a little cabinet picture by
+an Anglo-German artist, one Webb, and was eager to secure it, though
+he objected to the price. However, on the morning of his departure the
+secretary drove up on an outside car to announce that the artist would
+take fifty pounds, which Forster gave. This was "The Chess-players,"
+which now hangs at South Kensington.</p>
+
+<p>He had deep feeling and hesitation even as to putting anything into
+print without due pause and preparation. Print had not then become
+what it is now, with the telephone, type-writing, and other aids, a
+mere expression of conversation and of whatever floating ideas are
+passing through the mind. Mr. Purcell's wholesale exhibition of
+Cardinal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> Manning's inmost thoughts and feelings would have shocked
+him inexpressibly. I was present when a young fellow, to whom he had
+given some papers, brought him the proofs in which the whole was
+printed off without revision or restraint. He gave him a severe
+rebuke. "Sir, you seem to have no idea of the <i>sacredness</i> of the
+Press; you <i>pitch in</i> everything, as if into a bucket. Such
+carelessness is inexcusable." Among them was a letter from Colburn,
+the former husband of his wife. "I am perfectly <i>astounded</i> at you!
+Have you not the tact to see that such a thing as that should not
+appear?" And he drew his pen indignantly across it. That was a good
+lesson for the youth. In such matters, however, he did not spare
+friend or stranger.</p>
+
+<p>It is curious, considering how sturdy a pattern of Englishman was
+Forster, that all his oldest friends were Irishmen, such as Maclise,
+Emerson Tennant, Whiteside, Macready, Quain, Foley, Mulready, and many
+more. For all these he had almost an affection, and he cherished their
+old and early intimacy. He liked especially the good-natured impulsive
+type of the Goldy pattern; for such he had interest and sympathy. As a
+young man, when studying for the Bar, he had been in Chitty's office,
+where he had for companions Whiteside and Tennant, afterwards Sir
+Emerson. Whiteside became the brilliant parliamentary orator and Chief
+Justice; Tennant a baronet and Governor of Ceylon; and Forster himself
+the distinguished writer and critic, the friend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> and biographer of
+Dickens. It was a remarkable trio certainly. Chitty, the veteran
+conveyancer, his old master, he never forgot, and was always delighted
+to have him to dinner, to do him honour in every way. His son, the
+judge, was a favourite <i>prot&eacute;g&eacute;</i>, and became his executor. He had a
+warm regard for Sir Richard Quain, who was beside Lord Beaconsfield
+<i>in extremis</i>, who literally knew everyone that ought to be known, and
+who would visit a comparatively humble patient with equal interest.
+Quain was thoroughly good-natured, ever friendly and even
+affectionate. Forster's belief in him was as that in a fetish.</p>
+
+<p>The faithful Quain was with his friend to the last moment. Poor
+Forster was being gradually overpowered by the rising bronchial
+humours with which, as he grew weaker, he could not struggle with or
+baffle. It was then that Quain, bending over, procured him a short
+reprieve and relief in his agony, putting his fingers down his throat
+and clearing away the impeding masses.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Richard was not only physician-in-ordinary, but the warm and
+devoted friend, official consultant, as he was of the whole <i>coterie</i>.
+For a long course of years he had charge of his friend's health, if
+health it could be called where all was disease and misery; and it was
+his fate to see him affectionately through the great crisis at the
+last. There was a deal of this affection in Quain; he was eminently
+good-natured; good true-hearted Quain! Many a poor priest of his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>
+country has been to him, and from them he would never take, though not
+of his faith. Quain was indeed the literary man's physician; more so
+than Sir Andrew Clarke, who was presumed to hold the post by letters
+patent. For Clarke was presumed to know and cure the literary
+ailments; but Quain was the genial guide, philosopher and friend,
+always one of themselves, and indeed a <i>lit&eacute;rateur</i> himself. Who will
+forget his quaint little figure, shrewd face, the native accent, never
+lost; and his "Ah me dear fellow, shure what can I do?" His
+red-wheeled carriage, generally well horsed, was familiar to us all,
+and recognisable. How he maintained this equipage, for we are told
+what "makes a mare to go," it was hard to conceive, for the generous
+man would positively refuse to take fees from his more intimate
+friends, at least of the literary class. With me, a very old friend
+and patient, there was a perpetual battle. He set his face against the
+two guinea fee, but humorously held out for his strict guinea, and
+would not bate the shilling. I have known him when a client presented
+two sovereigns empty his pockets of silver and scrupulously return
+nineteen shillings. And what an adviser he was! What confidence he
+imparted! The moment he bade you sit down and "tell him all about it"
+you felt secure.</p>
+
+<p>It was always delightful to meet him. He had his moments of gloom,
+like most of his countrymen, for he never lost his native "hall mark,"
+and retained to the last that sort of wheedling tone which is common<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>
+in the South of Ireland. Yet he had none of that good-natured
+insincerity, to which a particular class of Irish are given. He was
+thoroughly sincere and genuine, and ready to support his words by
+deeds. His humour was racy. As when the Prince of Wales was
+sympathising with him on a false report of his death, adding, good
+naturedly, "I really was afraid, Dr. Quain, that we had lost you, and
+was thinking of sending a wreath." "Well, Sir," said the medico,
+"recollect that you are now <i>committed to the wreath</i>." I did not
+note, however, that when the event at last took place the wreath was
+sent. I always fancied that he was a disappointed man, and that he
+felt that his high position had not been suitably recognised; or at
+least that the recognition had been delayed. The baronetcy came late.
+But what he had set his heart upon, and claimed as his due, was the
+Presidency of the College of Physicians. This he was always near
+attaining, but men like Sir Andrew Clarke were preferred to him. I was
+a special friend for many years, and have had many a favoured "lift"
+in his carriage when we were going the same way. I was glad to be
+allowed to dedicate to him some volumes of personal memoirs. The last
+time I met this genial and amiable man was at the table of a
+well-known law lord, whom he astonished considerably by addressing me
+across the table all through dinner by my christian name. He was at
+the time seriously ill, in his last illness in fact, when, as he said,
+he had been "tartured to death by their operations." He had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> good
+taste in art, was fond of the French school of engraving, and was the
+friend and counsellor of many an artist. He was of the old Dickens
+school, of the <i>coterie</i> that included Maclise, Jerrold and the rest.</p>
+
+<p>Once, when he and his family were staying close to Ipswich, I asked
+him to order me a photograph of the Great White Horse Inn, noted as
+the scene of Mr. Pickwick's adventure, and to my pleasure and
+astonishment found that he had commissioned an artist to prepare a
+whole series of large photographs depicting the old inn, both without
+and within, and from every point of view. In this handsome way he
+would oblige his friends. He was in immense demand as a cheerful diner
+out.</p>
+
+<p>I was amused by a cynical appreciation of a friend and patient of his,
+uttered shortly after his death. We had met and were lamenting his
+loss. "Nothing, nobody can fill his place," he said.&mdash;"It is sad to
+lose such a friend."&mdash;"Indeed it is," said my companion, "I don't know
+what I shall do. No one else ever understood my constitution. I really
+don't know whom I am to go to now"&mdash;and he went his way in a pettish
+mood, as though his physician had rather shabbily deserted him. Alas,
+is there not much of this when one of these pleasant "specialists"
+departs?</p>
+
+<p>His faithful devotion to his old friend Forster during that long
+illness was unflagging. He could not cure, but he did all that was
+possible by his unwearying attention to alleviate. How often have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> I
+found the red chariot waiting at the door, or when I was sitting with
+him would the door open and the grave manservant announce "Sir
+Rich-hard <span class="smcap">Quain</span>." His talk, gossip, news, was part of the alleviation.</p>
+
+<p>After all that must have been an almost joyous moment that brought
+poor Forster his release from those awful and intolerable days and
+nights of agony, borne with a fortitude of which the world had no
+conception. Eternal frightful spasms of coughing day and night,
+together with other maladies of the most serious kind. And yet, on the
+slightest respite, this man of wonderful fortitude would turn gay and
+festive, recover his spirits, and look forward to some enjoyment, a
+dinner it might be, where he was the old Forster once more, smiling
+enticingly on his favourite ladies, and unflinchingly prepared to go
+back to the night of horrors that awaited him!</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Forster, as her friends knew well, was one of the sweetest women
+"under the sun," a sweetness brought out by contrast with the
+obstreperous ways of her tempestuous mate. Often when something went
+wrong, rather did not go with the almost ideal smoothness at one of
+his many banquets (and there never was a more generously hospitable
+man), it was piteous to see her trying to smooth away the incident
+with the certainty of inflaming the dictator, and turning his wrath
+upon herself.</p>
+
+<p>She knew well that not he, but his malady, was accountable. She
+believed from her heart in the duality of Forster. There was a hapless
+page boy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> whose very presence and assumed stupidity used to inflame
+his master to perfect Bersaker fits of rage. The scenes were
+exquisitely ludicrous, if painful; the contrast between the giant and
+the object of his wrath, scared out of his life with terror, was
+absolutely diverting. Thus the host would murmur "Biscuits!" which was
+not heard or not heeded; then louder and more sharply, "<span class="smcap">Bis</span>cuits!"
+then a roar that made all start, "BIScuits!!" Poor Mrs. Forster's
+agitation was sad to see, and between her and the butler the luckless
+lad was somehow got from the room. This attendant was an admirable
+comedy character, and in his way a typical servant, stolid and
+reserved. No one could have been so portentously sagacious as <i>he</i>
+looked. It was admirable to see his unruffled calm during his master's
+outbursts when something had gone wrong during the dinner. No violence
+could betray him into anything but the most placid and correct
+replies. There was something fine and pathetic in this, for it showed
+that he also recognised that it was not his true master that was thus
+raging. I recall talking with him shortly after his master's death.
+After paying his character a fine tribute he spoke of his illness.
+"You see, sir," he said at last, "what was at the bottom of it all was
+he 'ad no <i>staminer, no staminer</i>&mdash;<span class="smcap">no staminer</span>, sir." And he repeated
+the word many times with enjoyment. I have no doubt he picked it up at
+Forster's table and it had struck him as a good effective English
+word, spelled as he pronounced it.</p>
+
+<p class="sig3">Such was John Forster.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  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: John Forster
+
+Author: Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
+Release Date: June 12, 2007 [EBook #21815]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN FORSTER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Clarke, Geetu Melwani, Sankar Viswanathan,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned
+images of public domain material from the Google Print
+project.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 JOHN
+
+                               FORSTER
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                          ONE OF HIS FRIENDS
+
+
+
+
+                                LONDON
+
+                         CHAPMAN & HALL LTD.
+
+                                 1903
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+JOHN FORSTER.
+
+A MAN OF LETTERS OF THE OLD SCHOOL.
+
+
+One of the most robust, striking, and many-sided characters of his
+time was John Forster, a rough, uncompromising personage, who, from
+small and obscure beginnings, shouldered his way to the front until he
+came to be looked on by all as guide, friend and arbiter. From a
+struggling newspaperman he emerged into handsome chambers in Lincoln's
+Inn Fields, from thence to a snug house in Montague Square, ending in
+a handsome stone mansion which he built for himself at Palace Gate,
+Kensington, with its beautiful library-room at the back, and every
+luxury of "lettered ease."
+
+If anyone desired to know what Dr. Johnson was like, he could have found
+him in Forster. There was the same social intolerance; the same
+"dispersion of humbug"; the same loud voice, attuned to a mellifluous
+softness on occasion, especially with ladies or persons of rank; the
+love of "talk" in which he assumed the lead--and kept it too; and the
+contemptuous scorn of what he did not approve. But then all this was
+backed by admirable training and full knowledge. He was a deeply read,
+cultivated man, a fine critic, and, with all his arrogance, despotism,
+and rough "ways," a most interesting, original, delightful person--for
+those he liked that is, and whom he had made his own. His very "build"
+and appearance was also that of the redoubtable Doctor: so was his loud
+and hearty laugh. Woe betide the man on whom he chose to "wipe his
+shoes" (Browning's phrase), for he could wipe them with a will. He would
+thus roar you down. It was "in_tol_-er-able"--everything was
+"_in-tol-erable!_"--it is difficult to describe the fashion in which he
+rolled forth the syllables. Other things were "all Stuff!" "Monstrous!"
+"Incredible!" "Don't tell me!" Indeed I, with many, could find a
+parallel in the great old Doctor for almost everything he said. Even
+when there was a smile at his vehemence, he would unconsciously repeat
+the Doctor's autocratic methods.
+
+Forster's life was indeed a striking and encouraging one for those who
+believe in the example of "self-made men." His aim was somewhat
+different from the worldly types, who set themselves to become
+wealthy, or to have lands or mansions. Forster's more moderate
+aspiration was to reach to the foremost rank of the literary world:
+and he succeeded. He secured for himself an excellent education, never
+spared himself for study or work, and never rested till he had built
+himself that noble mansion at Kensington, of which I have spoken,
+furnished with books, pictures, and rare things. Here he could,
+Maecenas-like, entertain his literary friends of all degrees, with a
+vast number of other friends and acquaintances, notable in their walks
+of life. It is astonishing what a circle he had gathered round him,
+and how intimate he was with all: political men such as Brougham,
+Guizot, Gladstone, Forster, Cornwall Lewis (Disraeli he abhorred as
+much as his friend of Chelsea did, who once asked me, "What is there
+new about _our Jew Premier_?"): Maclise, Landseer, Frith, and
+Stanfield, with dozens of other painters: every writer of the day,
+almost without exception, late or early. With these, such as Anthony
+Trollope, he was on the friendliest terms, though he did not "grapple
+them to him with hooks of steel." With the Bar it was the same: he was
+intimate with the brilliant and agreeable Cockburn; with Lord
+Coleridge (then plain Mr. Coleridge), who found a knife and a fork
+laid for him any day that he chose to drop in, which he did pretty
+often. The truth was that in any company his marked personality, both
+physical and mental; his magisterial face and loud decided voice, and
+his reputation of judge and arbiter, at once impressed and commanded
+attention. People felt that they ought to know this personage at once.
+
+It is extraordinary what perseverance and a certain power of will, and
+that of not being denied, will do in this way. His broad face and
+cheeks and burly person were not made for rebuffs. He seized on
+persons he wished to know and made them his own at once. I always
+thought it was the most characteristic thing known of him in this
+way, his striding past Bunn the manager--then his enemy--in his own
+theatre, taking no notice of him and passing to Macready's room, to
+confer with him on measures hostile to the said Bunn. As Johnson was
+said to toss and gore his company, so Forster trampled on those he
+condemned. I remember he had a special dislike to one of Boz's useful
+henchmen. An amusing story was told, that after some meeting to
+arrange matters with Bradbury and Evans, the printers, Boz, ever
+charitable, was glad to report to Forster some hearty praise by this
+person, of the ability with which he (Forster) had arranged the
+matters, thus amiably wishing to propitiate the autocrat in his
+friend's interest. But, said the uncompromising Forster, "I am truly
+sorry, my dear Dickens, that I cannot reciprocate your friend's
+compliment, for _a d----nder ass I never encountered in the whole
+course of my life_!" A comparative that is novel and will be admired.
+
+Forster had a determined way with him, of forcing an answer that he
+wanted; driving you into a corner as it were. A capital illustration
+of this power occurred in my case. I had sent to a London "second
+hand" bookseller to supply me with a copy of the two quarto volumes of
+Garrick's life, "huge armfuls." It was with some surprise that I noted
+the late owner's name and book-plate, which was that of "John Forster,
+Esq., Lincoln's Inn Fields." At the moment he had given me Garrick's
+original MS. correspondence, of which he had a score of volumes, and
+was helping me in many other ways. Now it was a curious coincidence
+that this one, of all existing copies, should come to me. Next time I
+saw him I told him of it. He knitted his brows and grew thoughtful.
+"_My_ copy! Ah! I can account for it! It was one of the volumes I lent
+to that fellow"--mentioning the name of the "fellow"--"he no doubt
+sold it for drink!" "Oh, so _that_ was it," I said rather
+incautiously. "But _you_," he said sternly, "tell me what did _you_
+think when you saw my name? Come now! How did it leave my library?"
+This was awkward to answer. "I suppose you thought I was in the habit
+of selling my books? Surely not?" Now this was what I _had_ thought.
+"Come! You must have had some view on the matter. Two huge volumes
+like that are not easily stolen." It was with extraordinary difficulty
+that I could extricate myself.
+
+It was something to talk to one who had been intimate with Charles
+Lamb, and of whom he once spoke to me, with tears running down his
+cheeks, "Ah! poor dear Charles Lamb!" The next day he had summoned his
+faithful clerk, instructing him to look out among his papers--such was
+his way--for all the Lamb letters, which were then lent to me. And
+most interesting they were. In one, Elia calls him "_Fooster_," I
+fancy taking off Carlyle's pronunciation.
+
+As a writer and critic Forster held a high, unquestioned place, his
+work being always received with respect as of one of the masters. He
+had based his style on the admirable, if somewhat old-fashioned
+models, had regularly _learned_ to write, which few do now, by
+studying the older writers: Swift, Addison, and, above all, the
+classics.
+
+He was at first glad to do "job work," and was employed by Dr. Lardner
+to furnish the "Statesmen of the Commonwealth" to his Encyclopaedia.
+Lardner received from him a conscientious bit of work, but which was
+rather dry reading, something after the pattern of Dr. Lingard, who
+was then in fashion. But presently he was writing _con amore_, a book
+after his own heart, _The Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith_, in
+which there is a light, gay touch, somewhat peculiar at times, but
+still very agreeable. It is a charming book, and graced with exquisite
+sketches by his friend Maclise and other artists. There was a great
+deal of study and "reading" in it, which engendered an angry
+controversy with Sir James Prior, a ponderous but pains-taking writer,
+who had collected every scrap that was connected with Goldy. Forster,
+charged with helping himself to what another had gathered, sternly
+replied, as if it could not be disputed, that he had merely gone to
+the same common sources as Prior, and had found what he had found! But
+this was seasoned with extraordinary abuse of poor Prior, who was held
+up as an impostor for being so industrious. Nothing better illustrated
+Forster's way: "The fellow was preposterous--intolerable. I had just
+as good a right to go to the old magazines as he had." It was, indeed,
+a most amusing and characteristic controversy.
+
+At this time the intimacy between Boz and the young writer--two young
+men, for they were only thirty-six--was of the closest. Dickens'
+admiration of his friend's book was unbounded. He read it with delight
+and expressed his admiration with an affectionate enthusiasm. It was
+no wonder that in "gentle Goldsmith's life" thus unfolded, he found a
+replica of his own sore struggles. No one knew better the "fiercer
+crowded misery in garret toil and London loneliness" than he did.
+
+TO CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+    Genius and its rewards are briefly told:
+      A liberal nature and a niggard doom,
+      A difficult journey to a splendid tomb.
+    New writ, nor lightly weighed, that story old
+    In gentle Goldsmith's life I here unfold;
+      Thro' other than lone wild or desert gloom,
+      In its mere joy and pain, its blight and bloom,
+    Adventurous. Come with me and behold,
+    O friend with heart as gentle for distress,
+      As resolute with fine wise thoughts to bind
+      The happiest to the unhappiest of our kind,
+    That there is fiercer crowded misery
+        In garret toil and London loneliness
+    Than in cruel islands mid the far off sea.
+
+March, 1848.                              JOHN FORSTER.
+
+It will be noted what a warmth of affection is shown in these pleasing
+lines. Some of the verses linger in his memory: the last three
+especially. The allusion to Dickens is as truthful as it is charming.
+The "cruel islands mid the far off sea" was often quoted, though
+there were sometimes sarcastic appeals to the author to name his
+locality.
+
+This _Life and Adventures of Oliver Goldsmith_ is a truly charming
+book: charming in the writing, in its typographic guise, and its forty
+graceful illustrations by his friends, Maclise, Leech, Browne, etc. It
+appeared in 1848. A pleasing feature of those times was the close
+fellowship between the writers and the painters and other artists, as
+was shown in the devoted affection of Maclise and others to Dickens.
+There is more of class apart nowadays. Artists and writers are not
+thus united. The work has gone through many editions; but, after some
+years the whim seized him to turn it into an official literary history
+of the period, and he issued it as a "Life and Times," with an
+abundance of notes and references. All the pleasant air of story
+telling, the "Life and Adventures," so suited to poor Goldy's
+shiftless career, were abolished. It was a sad mistake, much
+deprecated by his friends, notably by Carlyle. But at the period
+Forster was in his _Sir Oracle_ vein and inclined to lofty periods.
+
+"My dear Forster," wrote Boz to him, "I cannot sufficiently say how
+proud I am of what you have done, and how sensible I am of being so
+tenderly connected with it. I desire no better for my fame, when my
+personal dustiness shall be past the contrast of my love of order,
+than such a biographer--and such a critic. And again I say most
+solemnly that literature in England has never had, and probably never
+will have, such a champion as you are in right of this book." "As a
+picture of the time I really think it is impossible to give it too
+much praise. It seems to me to be the very essence of all about the
+time that I have ever seen in biography or fiction, presented in most
+wise and humane lights. I have never liked him so well. And as to
+Goldsmith himself and _his_ life, and the manful and dignified
+assertion of him, without any sobs, whines, or convulsions of any
+sort, it is throughout a noble achievement of which, apart from any
+private and personal affection for you, I think and really believe I
+should feel proud." What a genuine affectionate ring is here!
+
+Later Forster lost this agreeable touch, and issued a series of
+ponderous historical treatises, enlargements of his old "Statesmen."
+These were dreary things, pedantic, solemn and heavy; they might have
+been by the worthy Rollin himself. Such was the _Life of Sir John
+Eliot, the Arrest of the Five Members_, and others.
+
+No one had been so intimate with Savage Landor as he had, or admired
+him more. He had known him for years and was chosen as his literary
+executor. With such materials one might have looked for a lively,
+vivacious account of this tempestuous personage. But Forster dealt
+with him in his magisterial way, and furnished a heavy treatise, on
+critical and historical principles. Everything here is treated
+according to the strict canons and in judicial fashion. On every poem
+there was a long and profound criticism of many pages, which I
+believe was one of his own old essays used again, fitted into the
+book. The hero is treated as though he were some important historical
+personage. Everyone knew Landor's story; his shocking violences and
+lack of restraint; his malignity where he disliked. His life was full
+of painful episodes, but Forster, like Podsnap, would see none of
+these things. He waved them away with his "monstrous!" "intolerable!"
+and put them out of existence.
+
+According to him, not a word of the scandals was true. Landor was a
+noble-hearted man; misjudged, and carried away by his feelings. The
+pity of it was he could have made of it a most lasting, entertaining
+book had he brought to it the pleasantly light touch he was later to
+bring to his account of Dickens. But he took it all too solemnly.
+Landor's life was full of grotesque scenes, and Forster might have
+alleviated the harsh views taken of his friend by dealing with him as
+an impetuous, irresponsible being, amusing even in his delinquencies.
+Boz gave a far juster view of him in _Boythorn_. In almost the year of
+his death Forster began another tremendous work, _The Life of Swift_,
+for which he had been preparing and collecting for many years. No one
+was so fitted by profound knowledge of the period. He had much
+valuable MS. material, but the first volume, all he lived to finish,
+was leaden enough. Of course he was writing with disease weighing him
+down, with nights that were sleepless and spent in general misery. But
+even with all allowance it was a dull and conventional thing.
+
+It has been often noted how a mere trifle will, in an extraordinary
+way, determine or change the whole course of a life. I can illustrate
+this by my own case. I was plodding on contentedly at the Bar without
+getting "no forrarder," with slender meagre prospects, but with a
+hankering after "writing," when I came to read this Life of Goldsmith
+that I have just been describing, which filled me with admiration. The
+author was at the moment gathering materials for his Life of Swift,
+when it occurred to me that I might be useful to him in getting up all
+the local Swiftian relics, traditions, etc. I set to work, obtained
+them, made the sketches, and sent them to him in a batch. He was
+supremely grateful, and never forgot the volunteered trifling service.
+To it I owe a host of literary friends and acquaintance with the
+"great guns," Dickens, Carlyle, and the rest; and when I ventured to
+try my prentice pen, it was Forster who took personal charge of the
+venture. It was long remembered at the _Household Words_ office how he
+stalked in one morning, stick in hand, and, flinging down the paper,
+called out, "Now, mind, no nonsense about it, no humbug, no returning
+it with a polite circular, and all that; see that it is read and duly
+considered." _That_ was the turning-point. To that blunt declaration I
+owe some forty years of enjoyment and employment--for there is no
+enjoyment like that of writing--to say nothing of money in abundance.
+
+He once paid a visit to Dublin, when we had many an agreeable
+expedition to Swift's haunts, which, from the incuriousness of the
+place at the time, were still existing. We went to Hoey's Court in
+"The Liberties," a squalid alley with a few ruined houses, among which
+was the one in which Swift was born. Thence to St. Patrick's, to
+Marsh's Library, not then rebuilt, where he turned over with infinite
+interest Swift's well-noted folios. Then on to Trinity College, where
+there was much that was curious; to Swift's Hospital, where, from his
+office in the Lunacy Commission, he was quite at home. He at once
+characteristically assumed the air of command, introducing himself
+with grave dignity to the authorities, by-and-bye pointing out matters
+which might be amended, among others the bareness of the walls, which
+were without pictures. In the grounds he received all the confidences
+of the unhappy patients and their complaints (one young fellow
+bitterly appealing to him on the hardship of not being allowed to
+smoke, while he had a pipe in his mouth at the time). He would pat
+others on the back and encourage them in quite a professional manner.
+Of all these Swift localities I had made little vignette drawings in
+"wash," which greatly pleased him and were to have been engraved in
+the book. They are now duly registered and to be seen in the
+collection at South Kensington. Poor dear Forster! How happy he was on
+that "shoemaker's holiday" of his, driving on outside cars (with
+infinite difficulty holding on), walking the streets, seeing old
+friends, and delighted with everything. His old friend and class
+fellow, Whiteside, gave him a dinner to which I attended him, where
+was the late Dr. Lloyd, the Provost of the College, a learned man,
+whose works on "Optics" are well known. It was pleasant to note how
+Forster, like his prototype, the redoubtable Doctor, here "talked for
+ostentation." "I knew, sir," he might say, "that I was expected to
+talk, to talk suitably to my position as a distinguished visitor." And
+so he did. It was an excellent lesson in conversation to note how he
+took the lead--"laid down the law," while poor Whiteside flourished
+away in a torrent of words, and the placid Lloyd more adroitly strove
+occasionally to "get in." But Forster held his way with well-rounded
+periods, and seemed to enjoy entangling his old friend in the
+consequences of some exuberant exaggeration. "My dear Whiteside, how
+_can_ you say so? Do you not see that by saying such a thing you give
+yourself away?" etc.
+
+Forster, however, more than redeemed himself when he issued his
+well-known _Life of Dickens_, a work that was a perfect delight to the
+world and to his friends. For here is the proper lightness of touch.
+The complete familiarity with every detail of the course of the man of
+whose life his had been a portion, and the quiet air of authority
+which he could assume in consequence, gave the work an attraction that
+was beyond dispute. There have been, it is said, some fifteen or
+sixteen official Lives issued since the writer's death; but all these
+are written "from outside" as it were, and it is extraordinary what a
+different man each presents. But hardly sufficient credit has been
+given to him for the finished style which only a true and well trained
+critic could have brought, the easy touch, the appropriate treatment
+of trifles, the mere indication as it were, the correct passing by or
+sliding over of matters that should not be touched. All this imparted
+a dignity of treatment, and though familiar, the whole was gay and
+bright. True, occasionally he lapsed into his favourite pompousness
+and autocracy, but this made the work more characteristic of the man.
+Nothing could have been in better taste than his treatment of certain
+passages in the author's life as to which, he showed, the public were
+not entitled to demand more than the mere historical mention of the
+facts. When he was writing this Life it was amusing to find how
+sturdily independent he became. The "Blacking episode" could not have
+been acceptable, but Forster was stern and would not bate a line. So,
+with much more--he "rubbed it in" without scruple. The true reason, by
+the way, of the uproar raised against the writer, was that it was too
+much of a close borough, no one but Boz and his Bear leader being
+allowed upon the stage. Numbers had their little letters from the
+great man with many compliments and favours which would look well in
+print. Many, like Wilkie Collins or Edmund Yates, had a whole
+collection. I myself had some sixty or seventy. Some of these
+personages were highly indignant, for were they not characters in the
+drama? When the family came to publish the collection of letters,
+Yates, I believe, declined to allow his to be printed; so did Collins,
+whose Boz letters were later sold and published in America.
+
+No doubt the subject inspired. The ever gay and lively Boz, always in
+spirits, called up many a happy scene, and gave the pen a certain
+airiness and nimbleness. There is little that is official or
+magisterial about the volumes. Everything is pleasant and interesting,
+put together--though there is a crowd of details--with extraordinary
+art and finish. It furnishes a most truthful and accurate picture of
+the "inimitable," recognizable in every page. It was only in the third
+volume, when scared by the persistent clamours of the disappointed and
+the envious, protesting that there was "too much Forster," that it was
+virtually a "Life of John Forster, with some recollections of Charles
+Dickens," that he became of a sudden, official and allowed others to
+come too much on the scene, with much loss of effect. That third
+volume, which ought to have been most interesting, is the dull one. We
+have Boz described as he would be in an encyclopaedia, instead of
+through Forster, acting as his interpreter, and much was lost by this
+treatment. Considering the homeliness and every-day character of the
+incidents, it is astonishing how Forster contrived to dignify them. He
+knew from early training what was valuable and significant and what
+should be rejected.
+
+Granting the objections--and faults--of the book, it may be asked, who
+else in the 'seventies was, not _so_ fitted, but fitted at all to
+produce a Life of Dickens. Every eye looked, every finger pointed to
+Forster; worker, patron, and disciple, confidant, adviser, correcter,
+admirer, the trained man of letters, and in the school in which Boz
+had been trained, who had known every one of that era. No one else
+could have been thought of. And as we now read the book, and contrast
+it with those ordered or commissioned biographies, so common now, and
+perhaps better wrought, we see at once the difference. The success was
+extraordinary. Edition after edition was issued, and that so rapidly,
+that the author had no opportunity of making the necessary
+corrections, or of adding new information. He contented himself with a
+leaf or two at the end, in which, in his own imperial style, he simply
+took note of the information. I believe his profit was about L10,000.
+
+A wonderful feature was the extraordinary amount of Dickens' letters
+that was worked into it. To save time and trouble, and this I was told
+by Mrs. Forster, he would cut out the passages he wanted with a pair
+of scissors and paste them on his MS! As the portion written on the
+back was thus lost, the rest became valueless. I can fancy the
+American collector tearing his hair as he reads of this desecration.
+But it was a rash act and a terrible loss of money. Each letter might
+have later been worth say from five to ten pounds apiece.
+
+It would be difficult to give an idea of Forster's overflowing
+kindness on the occasion of the coming of friends to town. Perpetual
+hospitality was the order of the day, and, like so many older
+Londoners, he took special delight in hearing accounts of the strange
+out-of-the-way things a visitor will discover, and with which he will
+even surprise the resident. He enjoyed what he called "hearing your
+adventures." I never met anyone with so boisterous and enjoying a
+laugh. Something would tickle him, and, like Johnson in Fleet Street,
+he would roar and roar again. Like Diggory, too, at the same story, or
+rather _scene_; for, like his friend Boz, it was the _picture_ of some
+humorous incident that delighted, and would set him off into
+convulsions. One narrative of my own, a description of the recitation
+of Poe's _The Bells_ by an actress, in which she simulated the action
+of pulling the bell for the Fire, or for a Wedding or Funeral bells,
+used to send him into perfect hysterics. And I must say that I, who
+have seen and heard all sorts of truly humorous and spuriously
+humorous stories in which the world abounds at the present moment,
+have never witnessed anything more diverting. The poor lady thought
+she was doing the thing realistically, while the audience was
+shrieking with enjoyment. I do not know how many times I was invited
+to repeat this narrative, a somewhat awkward situation for me, but I
+was glad always to do what he wished. I recall Browning coming in, and
+I was called on to rehearse this story, Forster rolling on the sofa
+in agonies of enjoyment. This will seem trivial and personal, but
+really it was characteristic; and pleasant it was to find a man of his
+sort so natural and even boyish.
+
+At the head of his table, with a number of agreeable and clever guests
+around him, Forster was at his best. He seemed altogether changed.
+Beaming smiles, a gentle, encouraging voice, and a tenderness verging
+on gallantry to the ladies, took the place of the old, rough fashions.
+He talked ostentatiously, he _led_ the talk, told most _a propos_
+anecdotes of the remarkable men he had met, and was fond of fortifying
+his own views by adding: "As Gladstone, or Guizot, or Palmerston said
+to me in my room," etc. But you could not but be struck by the
+finished shapes in which his sentences ran. There was a weight, a
+power of illustration, and a dramatic colouring that could only have
+come of long practice. He was gay, sarcastic, humorous, and it was
+impossible not to recognise that here was a clever man and a man of
+power.
+
+Forster's ideal of hospitality was not reciprocity, but was bounded by
+_his_ entertaining everybody. Not that he did not enjoy a friendly
+quiet dinner at your table. Was he on his travels at a strange place?
+_You_ must dine with him at his hotel. In town you must dine with him.
+He might dine with you. This dining with you must be according to his
+programme. When he was in the vein and inclined for a social domestic
+night he would let himself out.
+
+Maclise's happy power of realising character is shown inimitably in
+the picture of Forster at the reading of _The Christmas Carol_, seated
+forward in his chair, with a solemn air of grave judgment. There is an
+air of distrust, or of being on his guard, as who should say, "It is
+fine, very fine, but I hold my opinion in suspense till the close. I
+am not to be caught as you are, by mere flowers." He was in fact
+distinct from the rest, all under the influence of emotion. Harness is
+shown weeping, Jerrold softened, etc. These rooms, as is well known,
+were Mr. Tulkinghorn's in the novel, and over Forster's head, as he
+wrote, was the floridly-painted ceiling, after the fashion of Verrio,
+with the Roman pointing. This was effaced many years ago, but I do not
+know when.
+
+By all his friends Forster was thought of as a sort of permanent
+bachelor. His configuration and air were entirely suited to life in
+chambers: he was thoroughly literary; his friends were literary; there
+he gave his dinners; married life with him was inconceivable. He had
+lately secured an important official post, that of Secretary to the
+Lunacy Commissioners, which he gained owing to his useful services when
+editing the _Examiner_. This necessarily led to the Commissionership,
+which was worth a good deal more. Nowadays we do not find the editors of
+the smaller papers securing such prizes. I remember when he was
+encouraging me to "push my way," he illustrated his advice by his own
+example: "I never let old Brougham go. I came back again and again
+until I wore him out. I forced 'em to give me this." I could quite
+imagine it. Forster was a troublesome customer, "a harbitrary cove," and
+not to be put off, except for a time. It was an excellent business
+appointment, and he was admitted to be an admirable official.
+
+In one of Dickens' letters, published by his children, there is a
+grotesque outburst at some astounding piece of news: an event
+impending, which seemed to have taken his breath away. It clearly
+refers to his friend's marriage. Boz was so tickled at this wonderful
+news that he wrote: "Tell Catherine that I have the most prodigious,
+overwhelming, crushing, astounding, blinding, deafening, pulverising,
+scarifying, secret of which Forster is the hero, imaginable, by the
+whole efforts of the whole British population. It is a thing of the
+kind that, after I knew it (from himself) this morning, I lay down
+flat as if an engine and tender had fallen upon me." This pleasantly
+boisterous humour is in no wise exaggerated. I fancy it affected all
+Forster's friends much in the same way, and as an exquisitely funny
+and expected thing. How many pictures did Boz see before him--Forster
+proposing to the widow in his sweetest accents, his deportment at the
+church, &c. There was not much sentiment in the business, though the
+bride was a sweet, charming woman, as will be seen, too gentle for
+that tempestuous spirit. She was a widow--"Yes, gentlemen, the
+plaintiff is a widow," widow of Colburn, the publisher, a quiet little
+man, who worshipped her. She was well endowed, inheriting much of his
+property, even to his papers, etc. She had also a most comfortable
+house in Montague Square, where, as the saying is, Forster had only to
+move in and "hang up his hat."
+
+With all his roughness and bluntness, Forster had a very soft heart,
+and was a great appreciator of the sex. He had some little "affairs of
+the heart," which, however, led to no result. He was actually engaged
+to the interesting L. E. L. (Letitia Landon), whom he had no doubt
+pushed well forward in the _Examiner_; for the fair poetess generally
+contrived to enlist the affections of her editors, as she did those of
+Jerdan, director of the once powerful _Literary Gazette_. We can see
+from his Memoirs how attracted he was by her. The engagement was
+broken off, it is believed, through the arts of Dr. Maginn, and it is
+said that Forster behaved exceedingly well in the transaction. Later
+he became attached to another lady, who had several suitors of
+distinction, but she was not disposed to entrust herself to him.
+
+No one so heartily relished his Forster, his ways and oddities, as
+Boz; albeit the sage was his faithful friend, counsellor, and ally. He
+had an exquisite sense for touches of character, especially for the
+little weaknesses so often exhibited by sturdy, boisterous natures. We
+again recall that disposition of Johnson, with his "bow to an
+Archbishop," listening with entranced attention to a dull story told
+by a foreign "diplomatist." "_The ambassador says well_," would the
+sage repeat many times, which, as Bozzy tells, became a favourite form
+in the _coterie_ for ironical approbation. There was much of this in
+our great man, whose voice became of the sweetest and most mellifluous
+key, as he bent before the peer. "Lord ----," he would add gently, and
+turning to the company, "has been saying, with much force," etc.
+
+I recall the Guild _fete_ down at Knebworth, where Forster was on a
+visit to its noble owner, Lord Lytton, and was deputed to receive and
+marshal the guests at the station, an office of dread importance, and
+large writ over his rather burly person. His face was momentous as he
+patrolled the platform. I remember coming up to him in the crowd, but
+he looked over and beyond me, big with unutterable things. Mentioning
+this later to Boz, he laughed his cheerful laugh, "Exactly," he cried.
+"Why, I assure you, Forster would not see _me_!" He was busy pointing
+out the vehicles, the proper persons to sit in them, according to
+their dignity. All through that delightful day, as I roamed through
+the fine old halls, I would encounter him passing by, still in his
+lofty dream, still controlling all, with a weight of delegated
+authority on his broad shoulders. Only at the very close did he
+vouchsafe a few dignified, encouraging words, and then passed on. He
+reminded me much of Elia's description of Bensley's Malvolio.
+
+There was nothing ill-natured in Boz's relish of these things; he
+heartily loved his friend. It was the pure love of fun. Podsnap has
+many touches of Forster, but the writer dared not let himself go in
+that character as he would have longed to do. When Podsnap is referred
+to for his opinion, he delivers it as follows, much flushed and
+extremely angry: "Don't ask me. I desire to take no part in the
+discussion of these people's affairs. I abhor the subject. It is an
+odious subject, an offensive subject _that makes me sick_, and
+I"--with his favourite right arm flourish which sweeps away everything
+and settles it for ever, etc. These very words must Forster have used.
+It may be thought that Boz would not be so daring as to introduce his
+friend into his stories, "under his very nose" as it were, submitting
+the proofs, etc., with the certainty that the portrait would be
+recognised. But this, as we know, is the last thing that could have
+occurred, or the last thing that would have occurred to Forster. It
+was like enough someone else, but not he.
+
+"Mr. Podsnap was well to do, and stood very high in Mr. Podsnap's
+opinion." "He was quite satisfied. He never could make out why
+everybody was not quite satisfied, and he felt conscious that he set a
+brilliant social example in being particularly well satisfied with
+most things and with himself." "Mr. Podsnap settled that whatever he
+put behind him he put out of existence." "I don't want to know about
+it. I don't desire to discover it." "He had, however, acquired a
+peculiar flourish of his right arm in the clearing the world of its
+difficulties." "As so eminently respectable a man, Mr. Podsnap was
+sensible of its being required of him to take Providence under his
+protection. Consequently he always knew exactly what Providence
+intended."
+
+These touches any friend of Forster's would recognise. He could be
+very engaging, and was at his best when enjoying what he called a
+shoemaker's holiday--that is, when away from town at some
+watering-place, with friends. He was then really delightful, because
+happy, having left all his solemnities and ways in London.
+
+Forster was a man of many gifts, an admirable hard-working official,
+thoroughly business-like and industrious. I recall him through all the
+stages of his connection with the Lunacy Department, as Secretary and
+Commissioner and Retired Commissioner, when he would arrive on
+"melting days" as it were. But it was as a cultured critic that he was
+unsurpassed. He was ever "correct," and delivered a judgment that
+commended itself on the instant; it was given with such weight and
+persuasion. This correctness of judgment extended to most things,
+politics, character, literature, and was pleasant to listen to. He was
+one of the old well-read school, and was never without his edition of
+Shakespeare, the Globe one, which he took with him on his journeys. He
+had a way of lightly emphasising the beauty of a special passage of
+the Bard's.
+
+Once, travelling round with Boz, on one of his reading tours, we came
+to Belfast, where the huge Ulster Hall was filled to the door by
+ardent and enthusiastic Northerners. I recall how we walked round the
+rather grim town, with its harsh red streets, the honest workers
+staring at him hard. We put up at an old-fashioned hotel, the
+best--the Royal it was called, where there was much curiosity on the
+part of the ladies to get sly peeps at the eminent man. They generally
+contrived to be on the stairs when he emerged. Boz always appeared,
+even in the streets, somewhat carefully "made up." The velvet collar,
+the blue coat, the heavy gold pin, added to the effect.
+
+It was at this hotel, when the show was over, and our agreeable supper
+cleared away, that I saw the pleasant Boz lying on the sofa somewhat
+tired by his exertions, not so much on the boards as in that very
+room. For he was fond of certain parlour gymnastics, in which he
+contended with his aide-de-camp Dolby. Well, as I said, he was on his
+sofa somewhat fatigued with his night's work, in a most placid,
+enjoying frame of mind, laughing with his twinkling eyes, as he often
+did, squeezing and puckering them up when our talk fell on Forster,
+whom he was in the vein for enjoying. It had so fallen out that, only
+a few weeks before, Trinity College, Dublin, had invited Forster to
+receive an honorary degree, a compliment that much gratified him. I
+was living there at the time, and he came and stayed with me in the
+best of humours, thoroughly enjoying it all. Boz, learning that I had
+been with him, insisted on my telling him _everything_, as by instinct
+he knew that his friend would have been at his best. The scenes we
+passed through together were indeed of the richest comedy. First I see
+him in highest spirits trying on a doctor's scarlet robe, to be had on
+hire. On this day he did everything in state, in his special "high"
+manner. Thus he addressed the tailor in rolling periods: "Sir, the
+University has been good enough to confer a degree on me, and I have
+come over to receive it. My name is John Forster." (I doubt if his
+name had reached the tailor). "Certainly, sir." And my friend was duly
+invested with the robe. He walked up and down before a pier glass.
+"Hey, what now? Do you know, my dear friend, I really think I must
+_buy_ this dress. It would do very well to go to Court in, hey?" He
+indulged his fancy. "Why I could wear it on many occasions. A most
+effective dress." But it was time now to wait on "the senior Bursar,"
+or some such functionary. This was one Doctor L----, a rough, even
+uncouth, old don, who was for the nonce holding a sort of rude class,
+surrounded by a crowd of "undergrads." Never shall I forget that
+scene. Forster went forward, with a mixture of gracious dignity and
+softness, and was beginning, "Doc-tor L----." Here the turbulent boys
+round him interrupted. "Now see here," said the irate Bursar, "it's no
+use all of ye's talking together. Sir, I can't attend to you now."
+Again Forster began with a gracious bow. "Doctor L----, I have come
+over at the invitation of the University, who have been good enough to
+offer me an honorary degree, and--"
+
+"Now see here," said the doctor, "there's no use talking to me now. I
+can't attend to ye. All of ye come back here in an hour and take the
+oath, all together mind."
+
+"I merely wished to state, Doctor L----," began the wondering Forster.
+
+"Sir I tell ye I can't attend to ye now. You must come again," and he
+was gone.
+
+I was at the back of the room, when my friend joined me, very
+ruminative and serious. "Very odd, all this," he said, "but I suppose
+when we _do_ come back, it will be all right?"
+
+"Oh yes, he is noted as an odd man," I said.
+
+"I don't at all understand him, but I suppose it _is_ all right. Well
+come along, my dear friend." I then left him for a while. After the
+hour's interval I returned. The next thing I saw from the back of the
+room was my burly friend in the front row of a number of irreverent
+youngsters of juvenile age, some of whom close by me were saying,
+"Who's the stout old bloke; what's he doing here?"
+
+"Now," said the Bursar and senior fellow, "take these Testaments on
+your hands, all o' ye." And then I saw my venerable friend, for so he
+looked in comparison, with three youths sharing his Testament with
+them. But he was serious. For here was a most solemn duty before him.
+"Now repeat after me. _Ego_," a shout, "_Joannes, Carolus_," as the
+case might be "_juro solemniter_," &c. Forster might have been in
+church going through a marriage ceremony, so reverently did he repeat
+the _formula_. The lads were making a joke of it.
+
+Forster, as I said, was indeed a man of the old fashion of gallantry,
+making his approaches where he admired _sans ceremonie_, and advancing
+boldly to capture the fort. I remember a dinner, with a young lady who
+had a lovely voice, and who sang after the dinner to the general
+admiration. Forster had never seen her before, but when she was
+pressed to sing again and again, and refused positively, I was amazed
+to see Forster triumphantly passing through the crowded room, the fair
+one on his arm, he patting one of her small hands which he held in his
+own! She was flattered immensely and unresisting; the gallant Foster
+had carried all before him. This was his way, never would he be second
+fiddle anywhere if he could help it. Not a bad principle for any one
+if they can only manage it.
+
+I remember one night, when he was in his gallant mood laying his
+commands on a group of ladies, to sing or do something agreeable, he
+broke out: "You know I am a despot, and must have my way, I'm such a
+harbitrary cove." The dames stared at this speech, and I fancy took it
+literally, for they had not heard the story. This I fancy did not
+quite please, for he had no notion of its being supposed he considered
+himself arbitrary; so he repeated and enforced the words in a loud
+stern voice. (Boswellians will recall the scene where Johnson said
+"The woman had a bottom of sense." When the ladies began to titter, he
+looked round sternly saying "Where's the merriment? I repeat the woman
+is fundamentally sensible." As who should say "now laugh if you
+dare!") The story referred to was that of the cabman who summoned
+Forster for giving him a too strictly measured fare, and when
+defeated, said "it warn't the fare, but he was determined to bring him
+there for he were such a harbitrary cove." No story about Forster gave
+such delight to his friends as this; he himself was half flattered,
+half annoyed.
+
+Forster liked to be with people of high degree--as, perhaps, most of
+us do. At one time he was infinitely flattered by the attentions of
+Count Dorsay, who, no doubt, considered him a personage. This odd
+combination was the cause of great amusement to his friends, who were,
+of course, on the look out for droll incidents. There was many a story
+in circulation. One was that Forster, expecting a promised visit from
+"the Count," received a sudden call from his printers. With all
+solemnity he impressed the situation on his man. "Now," he said, "you
+will tell the Count that I have only just gone round to call on
+Messrs. Spottiswoode, the printers--you will observe, Messrs.
+Spot-is-wode," added he, articulating the words in his impressive way.
+The next time Forster met the Count, the former gravely began to
+explain to him the reason of his absence. "Ah! I know," said the gay
+Count, "you had just gone round to _Ze Spotted Dog_--I understand," as
+though he could make allowance for the ways of literary men. Once
+Forster had the Count to dinner--a great solemnity. When the fish was
+"on" the host was troubled to note that the sauce had not yet reached
+his guest. In an agitated deep _sotto voce_, he said, "Sauce to the
+Count." The "aside" was unheard. He repeated it in louder, but more
+agitated tones, "_Sauce_ to the Count." This, too, was unnoticed;
+when, louder still, the guests heard, "_Sauce for the Flounders of the
+Count_." This gave infinite delight to the friends, and the phrase
+became almost a proverb. Forster learning to dance in secret, in
+preparation for some festivity, was another enjoyment, and his
+appearance on the scene, carefully executing the steps, his hands on
+the shoulders of a little girl, caused much hilarity.
+
+All this is amusing in the same way as it was amusing to Boz, as a
+capital illustration of character, genuinely exhibited, and yet it is
+with the greatest sympathy and affection I recall these things: but
+they were _too_ enjoyable. There is nothing depreciating, no more than
+there was in Bozzy's record, who so amiably puts forward the pleasant
+weaknesses of his hero. Though twenty years and more have elapsed
+since he passed from this London of ours, there is nothing I think of
+with more pleasure and affection than those far-off scenes in which he
+figured so large and strong, supplying dramatic action, character,
+and general enjoyment. The figures of our day seem to me to be small,
+thin and cardboard-like in comparison.
+
+Boz himself is altogether mixed up with Forster's image, and it is
+difficult to think of one without recalling the other. In this
+connection there comes back on me a pleasant comedy scene, in which
+the former figured, and which, even at this long distance of time,
+raises a smile. When I had come to town, having taken a house, etc.,
+with a young and pretty wife, Dickens looked on encouragingly; but at
+times shaking his head humorously, as the too sanguine plans were
+broached: "Ah, _the little victims play_," he would quote. Early in
+the venture he good-naturedly came to dine _en famille_ with his
+amiable and interesting sister-in-law. He was in a delightful mood,
+and seemed to be applying all the points of his own Dora's attempts at
+housekeeping, with a pleasant slyness: the more so as the little lady
+of the house was the very _replica_ of that piquant and fascinating
+heroine. She was destined, alas! to but a short enjoyment of her
+little rule, but she gained all hearts and sympathies by her very
+taking ways. Among others the redoubtable John Forster professed to be
+completely "captured," and was her most obstreperous slave. He, too,
+was to have been of the party, but was prevented by one of his
+troublesome chest attacks. Scarcely had Boz entered when he drew out a
+letter, I see him now standing at the fire, a twinkle in his brilliant
+eyes. "What _is_ coming over Forster," he said, ruminating, "I cannot
+make him out. Just as I was leaving the house I received this," and he
+read aloud, "I can't join you to-day. But mark you this, sir! no
+tampering, no poaching on _my_ grounds; for I won't have it. Recollect
+_Codlin's the friend not Short_!" With a wondering look Boz kept
+repeating in a low voice: "'Codlin's the friend not Short.' What _can_
+he mean? What do you make of it?" I knew perfectly, as did also the
+little lady who stood there smiling and flattered, but it was awkward
+to explain. But he played with the thing; and it could only be agreed
+that Forster at times was perfectly "amazing," or "a little off his
+head."
+
+And what a dinner it was! What an amusing failure, too, as a first
+attempt; suddenly, towards the end of the dinner, a loud, strange
+sound was heard, as of falling or rushing waters; it was truly
+alarming; I ran out and found a full tide streaming down the stairs.
+The cook in her engrossment had forgotten to turn a cock. "Ah, the
+little victims play!" and Boz's eyes twinkled. A loud-voiced cuckoo
+and quail were sounding their notes, which prompted me to describe a
+wonderful clock of the kind I had seen, with two trumpeters who issued
+forth at the hour and gave a prolonged flourish before striking, then
+retired, their doors closing with a smart clap. This set off Boz in
+his most humorous vein. He imagined the door sticking fast, or only
+half-opening, the poor trumpeter behind pushing with his shoulder to
+get out, then giving a feeble gasping tootle with much "whirring" and
+internal agonies; then the rest is silence.
+
+On another occasion came Forster himself and lady, for a little family
+dinner; the same cook insisted on having in her husband, "a dear broth
+of a boy," to assist her. Forster arriving before he was expected, he
+was ever _more_ than punctual; the tailor rushed up eagerly to admit
+him, forgetting, however, to put on his coat! As he threw open the
+door he must have been astonished at Forster's greeting "No, no, my
+good friend, I altogether decline. I am _not_ your match in age,
+weight, or size," a touch of his pleasant humour and good spirits.
+
+As of course Forster deeply felt the death of his old friend and
+comrade, the amiable and constant Dickens, he was the great central
+figure in all the dismal ceremonial that followed. He arranged
+everything admirably, he was executor with Miss Hogarth, and I could
+not but think how exactly he reproduced his great prototype, Johnson,
+in a similar situation. Bozzy describes the activity and fuss of the
+sage hurrying about with a pen in his hand and dealing with the
+effects: "We are not here," he said, "to take account of a number of
+vats, &c., but of the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams
+of avarice." So was Forster busy, appraising copyrights, and realizing
+assets, all which work he performed in a most business-like fashion.
+That bequest in the will of the gold watch, to his "trusty friend,
+John Forster," I always thought admirably summarized the relations of
+the two friends. I myself received under his will one of his ivory
+paper-knives, and a paper-weight marked C.D. in golden letters, which
+was made for and presented to him at one of the pottery works.
+
+One of the most delightful little dinners I had was an impromptu one
+at Forster's house, the party being himself, myself, and Boz. The
+presence of a third, not a stranger yet not an intimate, prompted both
+to be more free than had they been _tete-a-tete_. Boz was what might
+best be called "gay." His fashion of talk was to present things that
+happened in a pleasantly humorous light. On this occasion he told us a
+good deal about a strange being, Chauncey Hare Towns-bend, from whom
+he may have drawn Twemlow in _Our Mutual Friend_. Every look in that
+sketch reminds me of him; he, too, had a shy shrinking manner, a soft
+voice, but, in his appearance most of all, was Twemlow; he had a
+rather over-done worship of Dickens, wishing "not to intrude," etc.;
+he was a delicate, unhealthy looking person, rather carefully made up.
+Boz was specially pleasant this day on an odd bequest of his; for poor
+Twemlow had died, and he, Boz, was implored to edit his religious
+writings: rather a compendium of his religious opinions to be
+collected from a mass of papers in a trunk. For which service L1,000
+was bequeathed. Boz was very humorous on his first despair at being
+appointed to such an office; then described his hopeless attempts "to
+make head or tail" of the papers. "Are they worth anything as
+religious views?" I asked. "Nothing whatever, I should say," he said,
+with a humorous twinkle in his eye, "I must only piece them together
+somehow." And so he did, I forget under what title, I think _Religious
+Remains of the late C. H. T._ There was probably some joking on this
+description. It is fair to say that Boz had to put up with a vast deal
+of this admiring worship, generally from retiring creatures whom his
+delicate good-nature would not let him offend.
+
+Forster's large sincerity was remarkable, as was his generous style,
+which often carried him to extraordinary lengths. They were such as
+one would only find in books. I remember once coming to London without
+giving him due notice, which he always imperatively required to be
+done. When I went off to his house at Palace Gate, presenting myself
+about five o'clock, he was delighted to see me, as he always was, but
+I saw he was very uncomfortable and distressed. "_Why_ didn't you tell
+me," he said testily, "a day or two ago would have done. But _now_, my
+dear fellow, _the table's full_--it's impossible." "What?" I asked,
+yet not without a suspicion of the truth--for I knew him. "Why, I have
+a dinner party to-day! De Mussy, the Doctor of the Orleans family, and
+some others are coming, and here you arrive at this hour! Just look at
+the clock--I tell you it can't be done." In vain I protested; though I
+could not say it was "no matter," for it was a serious business. "Come
+with me into the dining-room and you'll see for yourself." There we
+went round the table, and "_The table's full_," he repeated from
+_Macbeth_. There was something truly original in the implied premise
+that his friend was _entitled_ of right to have a place at his table,
+and that the sole dispensing cause to be allowed was absence of space
+or a physical impossibility. It seems to me that this was a very
+genuine, if rare, shape of hospitality.
+
+Of all Forster's friends at this time, of course, after Dickens, and
+he had innumerable ones, his fastest seemed Robert Browning. As every
+Sunday came round it was a rule that the Poet was to dine with him.
+Many were the engagements his host declined on the score of this
+standing engagement. "Should be delighted, my dear friend, to go to
+you, but it is an immemorial custom that every Sunday Robert Browning
+dines with _me_. Nothing interferes with _that._" Often, indeed,
+during the week the Poet would drop in for a chat or consultation,
+often when I was there. He was a most agreeable person, without any
+affectation; while Forster maintained a sort of patriarchal or
+paternal manner to him, though there was not much difference in their
+ages. Indeed, on this point, Forster well illustrated what has been
+often said of Mr. Pickwick and his time, that age has been much "put
+back" since that era. Mr. Pickwick, Wardle, Tupman and Co., are all
+described as old gentlemen, none of the party being over fifty; but
+they had to dress up to the part of old gentlemen, and with the aid of
+corpulence, "circular spectacles," &c, conveyed the idea of seventy.
+Forster in the same way was then not more than forty-five, but had a
+full-blown official look, and with his grave, solemn utterances, you
+would have set him down for sixty. Now-a-days men of that age, if in
+sound order, feel, behave, and dress as men of forty. Your _real_ old
+man does not begin till he is about seventy-five or so.
+
+Browning having an acquaintance that was both "extensive and
+peculiar," could retail much gossip and always brought plenty of news
+with him: to hear which Forster did seriously incline. The Poet, too,
+had a pleasant flavour of irony or cynicism in his talk, but nothing
+ill-natured. What a pleasant Sunday that was when Frederick Chapman,
+the publisher, invited me and Forster, and Browning, with one or two
+more, whose names I have forgotten, down to Teddington. It was the
+close of a sultry summer's day, we had a cool and enjoyable repast,
+with many a joke and retailed story. Thus, "I was stopped to-day,"
+said Browning, "by a strange, dilapidated being. Who do you think it
+was? After a moment, it took the shape of old Harrison Ainsworth." "A
+strange, dilapidated being," repeated Forster, musingly, "so the man
+is alive." Then both fell into reminiscences of grotesque traits, &c.
+This affectionate intercourse long continued. But alas! this
+_compulsory_ Sunday dining, as the philosopher knows, became at last a
+sore strain, and a mistake. It must come to Goldsmith's "travelling
+over one's mind," with power to travel no farther. Browning, too, had
+been "found out by Society"; was the guest at noble houses, and I
+suppose became somewhat lofty in his views. No one could scoff so
+loudly and violently as could Forster, at what is called snobbishness,
+"toadying the great"; though it was a little weakness of his own, and
+is indeed of everybody. However, on some recent visit, I learned to my
+astonishment, that a complete breach had taken place between the
+attached friends, who were now "at daggers drawn," as it is called.
+The story went, as told, I think, by Browning, who would begin: "I
+grew tired of Forster's _always wiping his shoes on me_." He was fond
+of telling his friend about "dear, sweet, charming Lady ----," &c.
+Forster, following the exact precedent of Mrs. Prig in the quarrel
+with her friend, would break into a scornful laugh, and, though he did
+not say "_drat_ Lady ----," he insisted she was a foolish,
+empty-headed creature, and that Browning praised her because she had a
+title. This was taken seriously, and the Poet requested that no
+disparaging remarks would be made on one of his best friends. "Pooh,"
+said Forster, contemptuously, "some superannuated creature! I am
+astonished at you." How it ended I cannot say, but it ended painfully.
+
+Some time elapsed and friends to both sides felt that here was a sort
+of scandal, and it must be made up. No one was more eager than
+Forster. Mutual explanations and apologies were given and all was as
+before. The liberal Forster, always eager to find "an excuse for the
+glass," announced a grand reconciliation dinner, to which came a
+rather notable party, to wit, Thomas Carlyle, Browning and his son,
+the Rev. Whitwell Elwin, the editor of Pope, and sometime editor of
+the _Quarterly_, the young Robert Lytton, myself, and some others whom
+I have forgotten. What an agreeable banquet it was! Elwin was made to
+retell, to Forster's convulsive enjoyment, though he had heard it
+before, a humorous incident of a madman's driving about in a gig with
+a gun and a companion, who up to that moment _thought_ he was sane.
+The Sage of Chelsea had his smoke as usual, a special churchwarden and
+a more-special "screw" of tobacco having been carefully sent out for
+and laid before him. There was something very interesting in this
+ceremonial. We juniors at the end of the table, Robert Lytton and
+myself, both lit a cigar, which brought forth a characteristic lecture
+from Forster; "I never allow smoking in this room, save on this
+privileged occasion when my old friend Carlyle honours me. But I do
+not extend that to you Robert Lytton, and you (this to me). You have
+taken the matter into your own hands, without asking leave or license;
+as that is so, and the thing is done, there is no more to be said."
+Here of course we understood that he wished to emphasize the
+compliment to his friend and make the privilege exclusively his. But
+he would have liked to hear, "May we also smoke?"
+
+Forster's affection for Carlyle and his pride in him was delightful to
+see. I think he had more reverence for him than for anybody. He really
+looked on him as an inspired Sage, and this notion was encouraged by
+the retired fashion in which he of Chelsea lived, showing himself but
+rarely. Browning was seated near his host, but I noticed a sort of
+affected and strained _empressement_ on both sides. Later I heard a
+loud scoffing laugh from Forster, but the other, apparently by a
+strong effort, repressed himself and made no reply. Alas! as was to be
+expected, the feud broke out again and was never healed. Though
+Browning would at times coldly ask me after his old friend.
+
+There was no better dramatic critic than Forster, for he had learned
+his criticism in the school of Macready and the old comedies. He had a
+perfect instinct for judging even when not present, and I recollect,
+when Salvini was being set up against Irving, his saying
+magisterially: "Though I have not seen either Mr. Salvini or Mr.
+Irving, I have a perfect conviction that Salvini is an actor and Mr.
+Irving is not." He had the finest declamation, was admirable in
+emphasis, and in bringing out the meaning of a passage, with
+expressive eye and justly-modulated cadences. I never had a greater
+treat than on one night, after dining with him, he volunteered to read
+aloud to us the Kitely passages from _Every Man in his Humour_, in
+which piece at the acted performances he was, I suspect, the noblest
+Roman of 'em all. It was a truly fine performance; he brought out the
+jealousy in the most powerful and yet delicately suggestive fashion.
+Every emotion, particularly the anticipation of such emotions, was
+reflected in his mobile features. His voice, deep and sonorous, and at
+times almost flutey with softness, was under perfect control; he could
+direct it as he willed. The reading must have called up many pleasant
+scenes, the excitement, his friends, the artists and writers, who all
+had taken part in the "splendid strolling" as he called it, and now
+all gone!
+
+He often, however, mistook inferior birds for swans. He once held out to
+us, as a great treat, the reading of an unpublished play of his friend
+Lord Lytton, which was called _Walpole_. All the characters spoke and
+carried on conversation in hexameters. The effect was ridiculous. A more
+tedious thing, with its recondite and archaic allusions to Pulteney and
+other Georgian personages, could not be conceived. The ladies in
+particular, after a scene or two, soon became weary. He himself lost
+faith in the business, and saw that it was flat, so he soon stopped, but
+he was mystified at such non-intelligence. There was quite a store of
+these posthumous pieces of the late dramatist, some of which I read. But
+most were bad and dreary.
+
+Forster had no doubt some oracular ways, which, like Mr. Peter
+Magnus's in _Pickwick_, "amused his friends very much." "Dicky" Doyle
+used to tell of a picnic excursion when Forster was expatiating
+roundly on the landscape, particularly demanding admiration for
+"yonder purple cloud" how dark, how menacing it was. "Why, my dear
+Forster," cried Doyle, "it's not a cloud at all, but only a piece of
+slated roof!" Forster disdained to notice the correction, but some
+minutes later he called to him loudly before the crowd: "See, Doyle!
+yonder is _not_ a cloud, but a bit of slated roof: there can be no
+doubt of it." In vain Doyle protested, "Why, Forster, I said that to
+you!" "My dear Doyle," said Forster, sweetly, "it's no more a cloud
+than I am. I repeat you are mistaken, _it's a bit of slated roof_."
+
+To myself, he was ever kind and good-natured, though I could smile
+sometimes at his hearty and well-meant patronage. Patronage! it was
+rather wholesale "backing" of his friends. Thus, one morning he
+addressed me with momentous solemnity, "My dear fellow, I have been
+thinking about you for a long time, and I have come to this
+conclusion: you _must write a comedy_. I have settled that you can do
+it; you have powers of drawing character and of writing dialogue; so I
+have settled, the best thing you can do is to write a comedy." Thus
+had he given his permission and orders, and I might fall to work with
+his fullest approbation. I have no doubt he told others that he had
+directed that the comedy should be written.
+
+On another day, my dachshund "Toby" was brought to see him. For no one
+loved or understood the ways of dogs better. He greatly enjoyed "the
+poor fellow's bent legs," rather a novelty then, and at last with a
+loud laugh: "He is _Sir_ Toby! no longer Toby. Yes my dear friend he
+_must_ be Sir Toby henceforth." He had knighted him on the spot!
+
+Forster always stands out pre-eminently as "the friend," the general
+friend, and it is pleasant to be handed down in such an attitude. We
+find him as the common referee, the sure-headed arbiter,
+good-naturedly and heartily giving his services to arrange any trouble
+or business. How invaluable he was to Dickens is shown in the "Life."
+With him friendship was a high and serious duty, more responsible even
+than relationship. His warm heart, his time, his exertions, were all
+given to his friend. No doubt he had some little pleasure in the
+importance of his office, but he was in truth really indulging his
+affections, and warm heart.
+
+Among his own dearest friends was one for whom he seemed to have an
+affection and admiration that might be called tender; his respect,
+too, for his opinions and attainments were strikingly unusual in one
+who thought so much of his own powers of judgment. This was the Rev.
+WHITWELL ELWIN, Rector of Booton, Norwich. He seemed to me a man quite
+of an unusual type, of much learning and power, and yet of a gentle
+modesty that was extraordinary. In some things the present Master of
+the Temple, Canon Ainger, very much suggests him. I see Elwin now, a
+spare wiry being with glowing pink face and a very white poll. He
+seemed a muscular person, yet never was there a more retiring, genial
+and delicate-minded soul. His sensitiveness was extraordinary, as was
+shown by his relinquishing his monumental edition of Pope's Works,
+after it had reached to its eighth volume. The history of this
+proceeding has never been clearly explained. No doubt he felt, as he
+pursued his labours, that his sense of dislike to Pope and contempt
+for his conduct was increasing, that he could not excuse or defend
+him. Elwin was in truth the "complement" of Forster's life and
+character. It was difficult to understand the one without seeing him
+in the company of the other. It was astonishing how softened and
+amiable, and even schoolboy-like, the tumultuous John became when he
+spoke of or was in company with his old friend; he really delighted in
+him. Forster's liking was based on respect for those gifts of culture,
+pains-taking and critical instinct, which he knew his friend
+possessed, and which I have often heard him praise in the warmest and
+sincerest fashion. "In El-win"--he seemed to delight in rolling out
+the syllables in this divided tone--"in El-ween you will find style
+and finish. If there is anyone who knows the topic it is El-win. He is
+your man."
+
+I was bringing out a _magnum opus_, dedicated to Carlyle, Boswell's
+_Life of Johnson_, entailing a vast deal of trouble and research. The
+amiable Elwin, whom I consulted, entered into the project with a host
+of enthusiasm. He took the trouble of rummaging his note books, and
+continued to send me week by week many a useful communication,
+clearing up doubtful passages. But what was this to his service when
+I was writing a Life of Sterne,[1] and the friendly Forster,
+interesting himself in the most good-natured way, determined that it
+should succeed, and put me in communication with Elwin. No doubt he
+was interested in his _protege_, and Elwin, always willing to please,
+as it were, received his instructions. Presently, to my wonder and
+gratification, arrived an extraordinary letter, if one might so call
+it, which filled over a dozen closely written pages (for he compressed
+a marvellous quantity into a sheet of paper), all literally
+overflowing with information. It was an account of recondite and most
+unlikely works in which allusions to Sterne and many curious bits of
+information were stowed away; chapter and page and edition were given
+for every quotation; it must have taken him many hours and much
+trouble to write. And what an incident it was, the two well-skilled
+and accomplished literary critics exerting themselves, the one to
+secure the best aid of his friend, the other eager to assist, because
+his friend wished it.
+
+[Footnote 1: I recall a meeting by special appointment with Elwin, who
+came to lunch to debate it. He had already my letter, turned it over
+and over again, but without result. The point was what edition should
+be used--the first or the last; this latter having, of course, the
+advantage of the author's latest revision. On the great question of
+"Johnson's stay at Oxford," which has exercised all the scholars, and
+is still in a more or less unsatisfactory way, he agreed with me.]
+
+In the course of these Shandian enquiries, the passage in Thackeray's
+lecture occurred to me where he mentions having been shown Eliza's
+Diary by a "Gentleman of Bath." I wished to find out who this was,
+when my faithful friend wrote to the novelist and sent me his reply,
+which began, "My dear Primrose"--his charmingly appropriate nick or
+pet name for Elwin, who was the very picture of the amiable vicar. It
+resulted in the gentleman allowing _me_ to look at his journal.
+
+Letter from Elwin on the "unfortunate Dr. Dodd":--
+
+Booton Rectory, Norwich,
+
+Oct. 31st, 1864.
+
+     My dear Mr. ----.--I have been ill for some weeks past,
+     which has prevented my writing to you. It is of the less
+     importance that I can add nothing to your ample list of
+     authorities, except to mention, if you are not already aware
+     of it, that there is a good deal about Dr. Dodd and his
+     doings, in "Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea." The
+     contemporary characters which figure in the work are
+     described partly by real, and partly by invented
+     circumstances. But you at least get the view which the
+     author entertained of the persons he introduces on the
+     scene. I missed the first part of your Memoir of Dodd, in
+     the _Dublin Magazine_. The second I saw, and thought it
+     extremely interesting, and very happily written. I was
+     surprised at the quantity of information you had got
+     together. I cannot help you to any detailed account of the
+     Maccaroni preachers. They are glanced at in the second book
+     of Cowper's Task. They have existed, and will exist in every
+     generation, but it is seldom that any record is preserved of
+     them. They are the butterflies of the hour. There are no
+     means by which you can keep worthless men from making a
+     trade of religion, and as long as there are people simple
+     enough to be dupes, so long there will be impostors. It is
+     strange to see what transparent acting will impose upon
+     women. To be popular, to draw large audiences, is the avowed
+     object of many of these preachers. The late R. Montgomery
+     once introduced himself to an acquaintance of mine on the
+     platform at some religious meeting. Montgomery commenced the
+     conversation by the remark, "You have a chapel in the West
+     End." "Yes," said my friend. "And I hope to have one soon,"
+     replied M., "for I am satisfied that I have the faculty for
+     _adapting_ the Gospel to the _West End_." You may tell the
+     story if you give no names.
+
+     You have anticipated my Sterne anecdotes. I will just
+     mention one circumstance. In the advertisement to the
+     edition of Sterne's Works, in 10 vols. (1798), it is stated
+     (Vol. I, p. iv.) "that the letters numbered 129, 130 and
+     131, have not those proofs of authenticity which the others
+     possess." Now, letter 131 is very important, for it is that
+     in which Sterne replies to the remonstrances against the
+     freedoms in Tristram Shandy. It may be satisfactory to you
+     to know that some years after the edition of Sterne's Works
+     the letter was published by Richard Warner (apparently from
+     the original) in the Appendix to his Literary Recollections.
+     He was not, I suppose, aware that it had been printed
+     before. Warner was ordained in the North, and his work will
+     throw some light upon the state of things in those regions
+     at a period close upon Sterne's time. You will find it worth
+     while to glance over it. If I can be of any help to you I
+     shall only be too happy.
+
+Believe me ever, most sincerely yours,
+
+W. ELWIN.
+
+There is something touching in this deep affection, exhibited by so
+rough and sturdy a nature and maintained without flagging for so many
+years. With him it was "the noble Elwin," "the good Elwin," "as ever,
+most delightful," "kinder and more considerate than ever." "Never were
+letters so pleasant to me as yours," he wrote in 1865, "and it is sad
+to think that from months we are now getting on to years with barely a
+single letter." "My dear fellow," he wrote again, "with the ranks so
+thinning around us, should we not close up, come nearer to each other?
+None are so dear to us at home as Mrs. Elwin and yourself and all of
+you." One of the last entries in his diary was, "Precious letter from
+dearest Elwin. December 10th, 1875."
+
+Elwin had, perhaps, a colder temperament, or did not express his
+devotion. But his regard would seem to have been as deep-seated; as
+indeed was shown in the finely drawn tribute he paid him after his
+death, and which is indeed the work of an accomplished writer and
+master of expression. "He was two distinct men," wrote Elwin to John
+Murray the elder, in 1876, "and the one man quite dissimilar from the
+other. To see him in company I should not have recognised him for the
+friend with whom I was intimate in private. Then he was quiet,
+natural, unpretending, and most agreeable, and in the warmth and
+generosity of his friendship he had no superior. Sensitive as he was
+in some ways, there was no man to whom it was easier so speak with
+perfect frankness. He always bore it with gentle good nature."[2]
+
+[Footnote 2: To Elwin Forster left L2,000 and his gold watch, no doubt
+the one bequeathed by Dickens. Forster appointed him, without
+consulting him, one of his executors, but knowing well that he could
+rely on his good will, and the legacy no doubt was intended as a
+solatium for the labour thus enforced. Lord Lytton and Justice Chitty
+were the other executors. As Lord Lytton was in India the whole burden
+fell on the other two, and mostly on Elwin. As his son tells, the
+literary part of the business was most considerable; there was an
+edition of Landor to be "seen through" the press; there was a vast
+number of papers and letters to be examined, preserved or destroyed.
+"His own inclination and Forster's instructions were in the direction
+of destroying all personal letters, however eminent the writer might
+be."]
+
+At another time he wrote with warmth, "Most welcome was your letter
+this morning, as your letters always are to me. They come fraught with
+some new proof of the true, warm-hearted, generous friend who has made
+life worth something more to me than it was a year ago," 1857.[3]
+
+[Footnote 3: Memoirs by Warwick Elwin.]
+
+When Forster married, in 1856, he was eager that Elwin should
+officiate, and proposed going down to Norfolk. But legal formalities
+were in the way, and Elwin came to London instead. "He never," says
+Warwick Elwin, "wavered in his attachment to him. Sometimes he would
+be momentarily vexed at some fancied neglect, but the instant they met
+again it was all forgotten." Elwin was, in fact, subject to moods and
+"nerves," and there were times when he shrank sensitively from the
+world and its associations--he would answer no letters, particularly
+after the period of his many sore trials. The last time I saw him was
+at that great _fiasco_, the production of the first Lord Lytton's
+posthumous play on the subject of Brutus, produced by Wilson Barrett,
+with extraordinary richness and pomp: a failure that led to an
+unpleasant dispute between Lytton's son and the lessee.
+
+When the _Life of Dickens_ appeared, Elwin, as in duty bound,
+proceeded to review it in the _Quarterly_. I confess that on reading
+over this article there seems to be a curious reserve and rather
+measured stint of praise. One would have expected from the generous
+Elwin one enthusiastic and sustained burst of praise of his friend's
+great work. But it seems as though he felt so trifling a matter was
+scarcely worthy of solemn treatment. The paper is only twenty pages
+long, and, after a few lines of praise at the beginning and a line or
+two at the end, proceeds to give a summary of the facts. The truth was
+Elwin was too scrupulously conscientious a critic to stretch a point
+in such a matter. I could fancy that for one of his nice feeling it
+became an almost disagreeable duty. Were he tempted to expand in
+praises, it would be set down to partiality, while he was hardly free
+to censure. No wonder he wrote of his performance: "Forster will think
+it too lukewarm; others the reverse." As it happened, the amiable
+Forster was enchanted.
+
+"For upwards of three-and-thirty years," says Mr. Elwin in this review
+(_Q. R._, vol. 132, p. 125), "Mr. Forster was the incessant companion
+and confidential adviser of Dickens; the friend to whom he had
+recourse in every difficulty, personal and literary; and before whom
+he spread, without reserve, every fold of his mind. _No man's life has
+ever been better known to a biographer...._ To us it appears that a
+more faithful biography could not be written. Dickens is seen in his
+pages precisely as he is showed in his ordinary intercourse."
+
+Both Elwin and his friend had that inflexibility of principle in
+criticism and literary utterance which they adhered to as though it
+were a matter of high morals. This feeling contrasts with the easy
+adaptability of our day, when the critic so often has to shape his
+views according to interested aims. He indeed will hold in his views,
+but may not deem it necessary to produce them. I could recall
+instances in both men of this sternness of opinion. Forster knew no
+compromise in such matters; though I fancy in the case of people of
+title, for whom, as already mentioned, he had a weakness, or of pretty
+women, he may have occasionally given way. I remember when Elwin was
+writing his fine estimate of his deceased friend, Mrs. Forster in deep
+distress came to tell me that he insisted on describing her husband as
+"the son of a butcher." In vain had she entreated him to leave this
+matter aside. Even granting its correctness, what need or compulsion
+to mention it? It was infinitely painful to her. But it was not true:
+Forster's father was a large "grazier" or dealer in cattle. Elwin,
+however, was inflexible: some Newcastle alderman had hunted up entries
+in old books, and he thought the evidence convincing.
+
+Another incident connected with the memory of her much-loved husband,
+that gave this amiable woman much poignant distress, was a statement
+made by Mr. Furnival, the Shakesperian, that Browning had been
+employed by Forster to write the account of Strafford, in the
+collection of Lives. He had been told this by Browning himself.
+Nevertheless, she set all her friends to work; had papers, letters,
+etc., ransacked for evidence, but with poor result. The probability
+was that Forster would have disdained such aid; on the other hand, the
+Poet had written a tragedy on the subject, and was, therefore, capable
+of dealing with it. Letters of vindication were sent to the papers,
+but no one was much interested in the point one way or the other;
+save, of course, the good Mrs. Forster, to whom it was vital. I am
+afraid, however, there was truth in the statement; for it is
+completely supported by a stray passage in one of the Poet's letters
+to his future wife, recently published.
+
+Forster, I fancy, must have often looked wistfully back to the old
+Lincoln's Inn days, when he sat in his large Tulkinghorn room, with the
+Roman's finger pointing down to his head. I often grieve that I did not
+see this Roman, as I might have done, before he was erased; for Forster
+was living there when I first knew him. On his marriage he moved to that
+snug house in Montague Square, where we had often cosy dinners. He was
+driven from it, he used to say, by the piano-practising on each side of
+him, which became "in-_tol_-erable"; but I fancy the modest house was
+scarcely commensurate with his ambitions. It was somewhat old-fashioned
+too. And yet in his grand palatial mansion at Kensington I doubt if he
+was as jocund or as irrepressible as then. I am certain the burden of an
+ambitious life told upon his health and spirits.
+
+I often turn back to the day when I first called on him, at the now
+destroyed offices at Whitehall, when he emerged from an inner room in
+a press of business. I see him now, a truly brisk man, full of life
+and energy, and using even then his old favourite hospitable formula,
+"My dear sir, I am _very_ busy--very busy; I have just escaped from
+the commissioners. But you must dine with me to-morrow and we will
+talk of these things." Thus he did not ask you, but he "commanded
+you," even as a king would.
+
+One of the most interesting things about Forster was his
+"receptivity." Stern and inflexible as he was in the case of old
+canons, he was always ready to welcome anything new or striking,
+provided it had merit and was not some imposture. I never met a better
+appreciator of genuine humour. He had been trained, or had trained
+himself; whatever shape it had, only let it have _merit_. He
+thoroughly _enjoyed_ a jest, and furnished his own obstreperous laugh
+by way of applause. As I have said, there was something truly
+_Johnsonian_ about him; everything he said or decided you knew well
+was founded on a principle of some kind; he was a solid judicial man,
+and even his hearty laugh of enjoyment was always based on a rational
+motive. This sort of solid well-trained men are rather scarce
+nowadays.
+
+Forster was also a type of the old Cromwellian or Independant with
+reference to religious liberty. He could not endure, therefore,
+"Romish tyranny," as he called it, which stifled thought. Many of his
+friends were Roman Catholics. There were "touches" in Forster as good
+as anything in the old comedies.
+
+His handsome and spacious library, with its gallery running round, was
+well known to all his friends. Richly stored was it with book
+treasures, manuscripts, rare first editions, autographs, in short all
+those things which may now be seen at South Kensington. He had a store
+of other fine things somewhere else, and kept a secretary or
+librarian, to whom he issued his instructions. For he himself did not
+profess to know the _locale_ of the books and papers, and I have often
+heard him in his lofty way direct that instructions should be sent to
+Mr. ---- to search out such and such documents. He had grand ideas
+about his books, and spared no cost either in his purchases or
+bindings. I have seen one of his quarto MS. thus dressed by Riviere in
+plain decoration, but which he told me had cost L30.
+
+Once for some modest private theatricals I had written a couple of
+little pieces to be acted by ourselves and our friends. One was called
+_Blotting Paper_, the other _The William Simpson_. A gay company was
+invited, and I recall how the performers were pleased and encouraged
+when the face of the brilliant author of a _Lady of Lyons_ was seen in
+the front row. Forster took the whole under his protection, and was
+looking forward to attending, but his invariable terrible cough seized
+on him. Mrs. Forster was sent with strict instructions to observe and
+report everything that did or could occur on this interesting
+occasion. I see her soft amiable face smiling encouragement from the
+stalls. I rose greatly in my friend's estimation from this attendance
+of the author of _Pelham_. "How did you manage it?" "He goes nowhere
+or to few places. It was a gr-eat compliment."
+
+This little performance is associated in a melancholy way with the
+closing days of Dickens' career. I was naturally eager to secure his
+presence, and went to see him at "his office" to try and persuade him
+to attend; he pleaded, however, his overwhelming engagements. I find
+in an old diary some notes of our talk. "Theatricals led to Regnier,
+whom I think he had been to see in _Les Vieux Garcons_. He said he
+found him very old. "Alas! He is _Vieux Garcon_ himself." I think of
+our few little dinners in my house; would we had had more! Somehow
+since I have been living here the image of him has been more and more
+stamped on me; I see and like him more. The poor, toiling, loveable
+fellow, to think that all is over with him now!"
+
+[At the risk of smiles, and perhaps some suspicion of vanity, I go on
+to copy what follows.] When I saw Mrs. Forster during those dismal
+days, she was good enough to relate to me much about his personal
+liking for me. He would tell them how I could do anything if I only
+gave myself fair play. He said he was going to write to give me a
+sound blowing up. "And yet," he added, "I doubt if he would take it
+from anybody else but me. He is a good fellow." [I still doubt whether
+I should add what follows, but I am not inclined to sacrifice such a
+tribute from such a man; told me, too, only a few days after his
+death.] He praised a novel of mine, _No. 75, Brooke St._, and here are
+his words: "The last scene and winding up is one of the most powerful
+things I have met."
+
+Forster, devoted to the school of Macready, and all but trained by
+that actor, whose bust was placed in his hall, thought but poorly of
+the performances of our time. He pooh-poohed them all, including even
+the great and more brilliant successes. Once a clever American company
+came over, a phenomenal thing at that time, and appeared at the St.
+James's Theatre. They played _She Stoops to Conquer_, with two
+excellent performers as Old Hardcastle and Marlow; Brough was the
+Tony. I induced Forster to come and see them, and we made up a party.
+He listened with an amusing air of patronage, which was habitual with
+him--meant to encourage--and said often that "it was very good, very
+fair indeed." Brough he admitted was perhaps the nearest to the
+fitting tone and spirit of the piece. The two American actors, as it
+seemed to me, were excellent comedians.
+
+I once saw him at St. James's Hall, drawn to hear one of his friend's
+last readings. I saw his entrance. He came piloted by the faithful
+Charles Kent, who led, or rather _cleared_ the way, Forster following
+with a smiling modesty, as if he sought to avoid too much notice. His
+rotund figure was swathed in a tight fitting paletot, while a sort of
+nautical wrapper was round his throat. He fancied no doubt that many
+an eye was following him; that there was many a whisper, "That is the
+great John Forster." He passed on solemnly through the hall and out at
+the door leading to the artistes' rooms. Alas! no one was thinking of
+him; he had been too long absent from the stage. It is indeed
+extremely strange, and I often wonder at it, how little mark he made.
+The present and coming generations know nothing about him. I may add
+here that, at Dickens' _very_ last Reading at this place, I and
+Charles Kent were the two--the only two--favoured with a place on the
+platform, behind the screens. From that coign, I heard him say his
+last farewell words: "Vanish from these garish lights for evermore!"
+
+One summer Forster and his wife came down to Bangor, I believe from a
+genial good-natured wish to be there with his friends--a family who
+were often found there. He put up at the "George," then a house of
+lofty pretensions, though now it would seem but a modest affair
+enough. What a holiday it was! The great John unbent to an
+inconceivable degree; he was soft, engaging even, and in a bright and
+constant good humour. The family consisted of the mother, two
+daughters, and the son, _moi qui vous parle_--all of whom looked to
+him with a sort of awe and reverence, which was not unpleasing to him.
+The two girls he professed to admire and love; the mother, a woman of
+the world, had won him by her speech at his dinner party, during which
+a loud crash came from the hall; he said nothing, but she saw the
+temper working within, and quoted happily from Pope,
+
+    "And e'en unmoved hears China fall."
+
+Immensely gratified at the implied compliment for his restraint, his
+angry brow was smoothed. To imagine a dame of our time quoting Pope at
+a dinner! at most she would have heard of him.
+
+What walks and expeditions in that delightful Welsh district! and what
+unbounded hospitality! He would insist on his favourites coming to
+dinner every few days or so. It was impossible to refuse; equally
+impossible to make any excuse; he was so overpowering. Everything was
+swept away. At the time the dull pastime of acrostic-writing was in
+high vogue, and some ladies of the party thought to compliment him by
+fashioning one upon his name. He accepted the compliment with much
+complacent gratification; and, when the result was read aloud, it was
+found that the only epithet that would fit his name, having the
+proper number of letters, was "learned." His brow clouded. It was not
+what he expected. He was good-humouredly scornful. "Well, I declare, I
+did not expect this. I should have thought something like 'gallant,'
+or 'pleasant,' or 'agreeable'--but '_learned_!' as though I were some
+old pundit. Thank you, ladies."
+
+No one knew so much as Forster of the literary history of the days
+when Dickens first "rose"; and when such men as Lamb, Campbell,
+Talfourd, Theodore Hook, Hazlitt, Leigh Hunt, and many more of that
+school were flourishing.
+
+I see him now seated in the stern manipulating the ropes of the
+rudder, with all the air of perfect knowledge; diverting the boatmen,
+putting questions to them, and adroitly turning their answers into
+pieces of original information; lecturing on the various objects of
+interest we passed; yet all the time interesting, and excellent
+company. At times he began to talk of poetry, and would pour forth the
+stores of his wonderful memory, reciting passages with excellent
+elocution, and delighting his hearers. I recall the fine style in
+which he rolled forth "Hohenlinden," and "The Royal George," and the
+"Battle of the Baltic." At the close he would sink his voice to a low
+muttering, just murmuring impressively, "be-neath the wave!" Then
+would pause, and say, as if overcome--"Fine, very, very fine!" These
+exercises gave his audience genuine pleasure. On shore, visiting the
+various show things, he grew frolicsome, and insisted on the visitors
+as "Mr. and Mrs. ----," the names of characters in some novel I had
+written.
+
+It would be an interesting question to consider how far Forster's
+influence improved or injured Dickens' work; for he tells us
+everything written by the latter was submitted to him, and corrections
+and alterations offered. I am inclined to confess that, when in his
+official mood, Forster's notions of humour were somewhat forced. It is
+thus almost startling to read his extravagant praise of a passage
+about Sapsea which the author discarded in _Edwin Drood_. Nothing
+better showed Boz's discretion. The well-known passage in _The Old
+Curiosity Shop_ about the little marchioness and her make-believe of
+orange peel and water, and which Dickens allowed him to mend in his
+own way, was certainly altered for the worse.
+
+I had the sad satisfaction, such as it was, of attending Forster's
+funeral, as well as that of his amiable wife. I had a seat in one of
+the mourning coaches, with that interesting man, James Anthony Froude.
+Not many were bidden to the ceremonial.
+
+Mrs. Forster's life, like that of her husband, closed in much
+suffering. I believe she might have enjoyed a fair amount of health
+had she not clung with a sort of devotion, not unconnected with the
+memory of her husband, to the house which he had built. Nothing could
+induce her to go away. She was, moreover, offered a sum of over
+L20,000 for it shortly after his death, but declined; it was later
+sold for little over a third of the amount. He had bequeathed all his
+treasures to the nation, allowing her the life use, but with much
+generosity she at once handed over the books, pictures, prints,
+sketches, and other things. She bore her sufferings with wonderful
+patience and sweetness, and I remember the clergyman who attended her,
+and who was at the grave, being much affected.
+
+Mrs. Forster was a woman of more sagacity and shrewdness of
+observation than she obtained credit for. She had seen and noted many
+curious things in her course. Often of a Sunday afternoon, when I used
+to pay her a visit, she would open herself very freely, and reveal to
+me many curious bits of secret history relating to her husband's
+literary friends. She was very amusing on the Sage of Chelsea. I
+recollect she treated Mrs. Carlyle's account of her dreary life and
+servitude to her great husband as a sort of romance or delusion,
+conveying that she was not at all a lady likely to be thus "put upon."
+In vulgar phrase, the boot was on the other leg.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I have thought it right to offer this small tribute to one who was in
+his way an interesting and remarkable man. No place has been found for
+him in the series known as English Men of Letters; and yet, as I have
+before pointed out, he had a place in literature that somewhat
+suggests the position of Dr. Johnson. What Forster said, or what
+Forster did, was at one time of importance to the community. This sort
+of arbiter is unknown nowadays, and perhaps would not be accepted. He
+will, however, ever be associated with Charles Dickens, as his friend,
+adviser, admirer, corrector, and biographer. There is a conventional
+meaning for the term "men of letters," men, that is, who have written
+books; but in the stricter sense it is surely one who is "learned in
+letters," as a lawyer is learned in the law. Johnson is much more
+thought of in this way than as a writer. Forster had this true
+instinct, and it was a curious thing one day to note his delight when
+I showed him a recent purchase: a figure of Johnson, _his_ prototype,
+wrought in pottery, seated in chair, in an attitude of wisdom, his
+arms extended and bent, and evidently expatiating. Looking at it, he
+delivered an acute bit of criticism worthy of the Doctor himself.
+
+"The interest," he said, "of this figure is not in the modelling,
+which is good, but because it represents Johnson as he was, in the eye
+of the crowd of his day; who looked on him, not as the writer, but as
+the grand _argufier_ and layer-down of the law, the 'settler' of any
+knotty point whatever; with them the Doctor could decide anything. See
+how his arm is half raised, his fingers outspread, as if about to give
+his decision. You should show this to Carlyle, who will be delighted
+with it."
+
+He often recurred to this and to the delight the Sage would have had.
+I forget whether I followed his advice. On the same occasion he
+noticed a figure of Washington. "Ah! there he stands," he said, "with
+his favourite air of state and dignity, and sense of what was due to
+his position. You will always notice that in the portraits there was a
+little assumption of the aristocrat." Forster's criticism was always
+of this kind--instructive and acute.
+
+Forster was the envied possessor of nearly every one of Boz's MSS.--a
+treasure at the time not thought very much of, even by Dickens
+himself, but since his death become of extraordinary value. I should
+say that each was worth some two or three thousand pounds at the
+least. How amazing has been this appreciation of what dealers call
+"the Dickens stuff" during these years! It is almost incredible. I
+mind the day when a Dickens' book, a Dickens' letter, was taken
+tranquilly. A relation of my own, an old bachelor, had, as we thought,
+an eccentric _penchant_ for early editions of Boz; and once, on the
+great man coming to the provincial city where he lived, waited on him
+to show him what he called his "Old Gold"; to wit, the earlier
+editions of Pickwick and Nickleby. We all smiled, and I remember Boz
+speaking to me good-naturedly of this enthusiasm. Not one of the party
+then--it was in 1865--dreamed that this old bachelor was far wiser
+than his generation. The original Pickwick, that is bound from the
+numbers, is indeed a nugget of old gold. I remember once asking Wills,
+his sub-editor, could I be allowed to have the original MSS. of some
+of Boz's short stories? He said, "To be sure, that nothing was more
+easy than to ask him, for the printer sent each back to him after use,
+carefully sealed up." What became of all these papers I cannot tell;
+but I doubt if anyone was then _very_ eager about them.
+
+Lately, turning over some old papers, I came upon a large bundle of
+proof "slips" of a story I had written for _All the Year Round_. It
+was called _Howard's Son_. To my surprise and pleasure I found that
+they had passed through Boz's own hands, and had been corrected
+throughout in his own careful and elaborate fashion, whole passages
+written in, others deleted, the punctuation altered and improved. Here
+was a _trouvaille_. These slips, I may add, have extraordinary value,
+and in the States would fetch a considerable sum. It was extraordinary
+what pains Boz took with the papers of his contributors, and how
+diligently and laboriously he improved and polished them.
+
+Forster's latter days, that is, I suppose, for some seven or eight
+years, were an appalling state of martyrdom; no words could paint it.
+It was gout in its most terrible form, that is, on the chest. This
+malady was due, in the first place, to his early hard life, when rest
+and hours of sleep were neglected or set at nought. Too good living
+also was accountable. He loved good cheer and had an excellent taste
+in wines, fine clarets, etc. Such things were fatal to his complaint.
+This gout took the shape of an almost eternal cough, which scarcely
+ever left him. It began invariably with the night and kept him awake,
+the waters rising on his chest and overpowering him. I have seen him
+on the following day, lying spent and exhausted on a sofa and
+struggling to get some snatches of sleep, if he could. But as seven
+o'clock drew near, a change came. There was a dinner-party; he "pulled
+himself together:" began another jovial night and in good spirits. But
+he could not resist the tempting wines, etc., and of course had his
+usual "bad" night. Once dining with me, he as usual brought his Vichy
+bottle with him, and held forth on the necessity of "putting on the
+muzzle," restraint, etc. He "lectured" us all in a very suitable way,
+and maintained his restraint during dinner. There was a bottle of good
+Corton gently warming at the fire, about which he made inquiries, but
+which now, alas! need not be opened. When the ladies were gone, he
+became very pressing on this topic. "My dear fellow, you must _not_
+let me be a kill-joy, you must really open the bottle for yourself;
+why should you deny yourself for me? Nonsense!" It suggested Winkle
+going to fight a duel, saying to his friend, "Do _not_ give
+information to the police." But I was inhospitably inflexible. These
+little touches were Forster all over. One would have given anything to
+let him have his two or three glasses, but one had to be cruel to be
+kind. Old Sam Johnson was of the same pattern, and could not resist a
+dinner-party, even when in serious plight. He certainly precipitated
+his death by his greed.
+
+I well recall the confusion and grief of one morning in July, 1870,
+when opening the _Times_ I read in large capitals, DEATH OF CHARLES
+DICKENS. It must have brought a shock more or less to every reader.
+Nothing was less expected, for we had not at that time the recurring
+evening editions, treading on each other's heels, to keep us posted up
+every hour in every event of the day.
+
+I am tempted here to copy from an old diary the impressions of that
+painful time. The words were written on the evening of the funeral at
+6 p.m.: "Died, dear Charles Dickens. I think at this moment of his
+bright genial manner, so cordial and hearty, of the delightful days at
+Belfast--on the Reading Tours--The Trains--the Evenings at the
+Hotel--his lying on the sofa listening to my stories and laughing in
+his joyous way. I think, too, of the last time that I saw him, which
+was at his office in Wellington Street, whither I went to ask him to
+come to some theatricals that we were getting up. We talked them over,
+and then he began to bewail so sadly, the burden of 'going out' to
+dinner parties. He said that he would like to come, but that he could
+not promise. However, he might come late in the night if he could get
+away from other places. I see his figure now before me, standing at
+the table, the small delicate-formed shoulders. Then bringing me into
+another room to show me one of the gigantic golden yellow _All the
+Year Round_ placards, presently to be displayed on every wall and
+hoarding of the kingdom. This was the announcement of a new story I
+had written for his paper, which he had dubbed 'The Doctor's Mixture,'
+but of which, alas! he was destined never to revise the proofs. It
+had been just hung up 'to try the effect,' and was fresh from the
+printers."
+
+I look back to another of Forster's visits to Dublin when he came in
+quest of materials for his _Life of Swift_. He was in the gayest and
+best of his humours, and behaved much as the redoubtable Doctor
+Johnson did on his visit to Edinburgh. I see him seated in the library
+at Trinity College, making his notes, surrounded by the Dons. Dining
+with him at his hotel, for even here he must entertain his host, he
+lit his cigar after dinner, when an aged waiter of the old school
+interrupted: "Ah, you musn't do that. It's agin the rules and
+forbidden." He little knew his Forster; what a storm broke on his
+head--"Leave the room, you rascal. How dare you, sir, interfere with
+me! Get out, sir," with much more: the scared waiter fled. "One of the
+pleasantest episodes in my life," I wrote in a diary, "has just
+closed. John Forster come and gone, after his visit here (_i.e._ to
+Dublin). Don't know when I liked a man more. He was most genial and
+satisfactory to talk with. His amiable and agreeable wife with him.
+She told a great deal of Boz and his life at home, giving a delightful
+picture of his ordinary day. He would write all the morning till one
+o'clock, and no one was allowed to see or interrupt him. Then came
+lunch; then a long hearty walk until dinner time. During the evening
+he would read in his own room, but the door was kept open so that he
+might hear the girls playing--an amiable touch. At Christmas time,
+when they would go down on a visit, he would entertain them by reading
+aloud his proofs and passages not yet published. She described to us
+'Boffin,' out of _Our Mutual Friend_, as admirable. He shows all to
+Forster before-hand, and consults him as to plot, characters, etc. He
+has a humorous fashion of giving his little boys comic names; later to
+appear in his stories. Thus, one known as 'Plorn,' which later
+appeared as 'Plornish.' This is a pleasant picture of the great
+writer's domestic life, and it gives also a faint 'adumbration' of
+what is now forgotten: the intense curiosity and eager anticipation
+that was abroad as to what he was doing or preparing. Hints of his
+characters got known; their movements and developments were discussed,
+and the incidents of his story were like public events. We have
+nothing of this nowadays, for no writer or story rouses the same
+interest. Forster also told us a good deal about Carlyle, whose
+proof-sheets, from the abundant corrections, cost three or four times
+what the original 'setting' did." Thus the diary.
+
+Once, on a Sunday in Dublin, I brought Forster to the cathedral in
+Marlborough Street to hear the High Mass, at which Cardinal Cullen
+officiated. He sat it out very patiently, and I remember on coming out
+drew a deep sigh, or gasp, with the remark, "Well, I suppose it's all
+right."
+
+Forster, whatever might be said of his sire's calling, was at least of
+a good old Newcastle border stock of fine "grit" and sturdily
+independent. He was proud of his stock, and he has often lamented,
+not merely in print, but to myself, how people would confound him with
+mere Fosters. "Now we," he would say vehemently, "are Forsters with an
+_r_." When he became acquainted with a person nearly connected with
+myself, he was immensely pleased to find that she was a Foster; and,
+as she was of rank, it was amusing to find him not quite so eager to
+repudiate the Foster (without the _r_). "We are all the same, my dear
+friend. All Forresters, abbreviated as Forster or Foster, all one; the
+same crest." The lady had some fragments of a fine old crimson Derby
+service, plates with the Foster escutcheon, and he was immensely
+gratified when she presented him with one.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+FREDERICK LOCKER was certainly one of the most agreeable and most
+interesting and most amiable beings that could be imagined. His face
+had a sort of Quixote quaintness, so had his talk, while his humour
+had a pleasant flavour. He lived at his place in the country, but I
+always looked forward--and now look back, alas!--to the many pleasant
+talks we would have together, each more than an hour long, on the
+occasion of these rare visits. All his stories were delightful, all
+his tastes elegant. His knowledge of books was profound and truly
+refined. His taste was most fastidious. Towards the close of his
+career he prepared a catalogue of his choice library, which showed to
+the world at once how elegant was his taste and knowledge. At once it
+became _recherche_. A few copies at a guinea were for sale, with a
+view to let the public know something of his treasures, but it is now
+at a fancy price. Once when I was in a dealer's shop "haggling" over
+an "old play," for which I think two guineas was asked, and which
+seemed to me a monstrous price, Locker came in quietly, and took the
+book up, which was the interlude of _Jacke Drum_. I told him of the
+price--"Take it, I advise you, he said, it is very cheap. I assure you
+I gave a vast deal more for my copy." I took it, and I believe at this
+moment I could get for my copy ten times that sum, in fact, there has
+not been a copy in the market. This interesting man was, I fancy,
+happy in both his marriages; the first bringing him rank and
+connection, the second lands and wealth. I bring him in here because
+he associated with Forster in one of his most grotesque moods. To
+Forster, however, this agreeable spirit was taboo. He had offended the
+great man, and as it had a ludicrous cast, and was, besides, truly
+Forsterian, I may here recur to it. Forster, as I have stated, had
+been left by Landor, the copyright of his now value unsaleable
+writings, and he was more pleased at the intended compliment than
+gratified by the legacy itself. My friend Locker, whose _Lyra_ was
+well known, had thoughtlessly inserted in a new edition one, or some,
+of Landor's short pieces, and went his way. One day Forster discovered
+"the outrage," wrote tremendous letters, threatened law, and, I
+believe, obtained some satisfaction for the trespasses. But during the
+altercation he found that a copy had been presented to the Athenaeum
+Club library, and it bore the usual inscription and Minerva's head of
+the Club. Forster, _sans facon_, put the book in his pocket and took
+it away home, confiscated it in fact. There was a great hubbub. The
+committee met, determined that their property had been taken away, and
+demanded that it should be brought back. Forster flatly refused;
+defied the Club to do its worst. Secretary, solicitors, and every
+means were used to bring him to reason. It actually ended in his
+retaining the book, the Club shrinking from entering into public
+contest with so redoubtable an antagonist.
+
+Forster was sumptuous in his tastes; always liking to have the best.
+When he wanted a thing considerations of the expense would not stand
+in the way. He was an admirable judge of a picture, and could in a few
+well-chosen words point out its merits. When he heard Lord Lytton was
+going to India, he gave Millais a commission to paint a portrait of
+the new Viceroy. Millais used good humouredly to relate the lofty
+condescending style in which it was announced. "It gives me, I assure
+you, great pleasure to learn that you are so advancing in your
+profession. I think highly of your abilities and _shall be glad to
+encourage them_;" or something to that effect. Millais at this time
+was at the very top of his profession, as indeed Forster knew well,
+but the state and grandeur of the subject, and his position in
+expending so large a sum--I suppose a thousand guineas, for it was a
+full length--lifted my old friend into one of his dreams. The
+portrait was a richly-coloured and effective one, giving the staring
+owl-like eyes of the poet-diplomatist. Another of Forster's purchases
+was Maclise's huge picture of Caxton showing his first printed book to
+the King.
+
+It was a treat and an education to go round a picture gallery with
+him, so excellent and to the point were his criticisms. He seized on
+the _essential_ merit of each. I remember going with him to see the
+collected works of his old friend Leslie, R.A., when he frankly
+confessed his disappointment at the general _thinness_ of the colour
+and style, brought out conspicuously when the works were all gathered
+together: this was the effect, with a certain _chalkiness_. At the
+Dublin Exhibition he was greatly struck by a little cabinet picture by
+an Anglo-German artist, one Webb, and was eager to secure it, though
+he objected to the price. However, on the morning of his departure the
+secretary drove up on an outside car to announce that the artist would
+take fifty pounds, which Forster gave. This was "The Chess-players,"
+which now hangs at South Kensington.
+
+He had deep feeling and hesitation even as to putting anything into
+print without due pause and preparation. Print had not then become
+what it is now, with the telephone, type-writing, and other aids, a
+mere expression of conversation and of whatever floating ideas are
+passing through the mind. Mr. Purcell's wholesale exhibition of
+Cardinal Manning's inmost thoughts and feelings would have shocked
+him inexpressibly. I was present when a young fellow, to whom he had
+given some papers, brought him the proofs in which the whole was
+printed off without revision or restraint. He gave him a severe
+rebuke. "Sir, you seem to have no idea of the _sacredness_ of the
+Press; you _pitch in_ everything, as if into a bucket. Such
+carelessness is inexcusable." Among them was a letter from Colburn,
+the former husband of his wife. "I am perfectly _astounded_ at you!
+Have you not the tact to see that such a thing as that should not
+appear?" And he drew his pen indignantly across it. That was a good
+lesson for the youth. In such matters, however, he did not spare
+friend or stranger.
+
+It is curious, considering how sturdy a pattern of Englishman was
+Forster, that all his oldest friends were Irishmen, such as Maclise,
+Emerson Tennant, Whiteside, Macready, Quain, Foley, Mulready, and many
+more. For all these he had almost an affection, and he cherished their
+old and early intimacy. He liked especially the good-natured impulsive
+type of the Goldy pattern; for such he had interest and sympathy. As a
+young man, when studying for the Bar, he had been in Chitty's office,
+where he had for companions Whiteside and Tennant, afterwards Sir
+Emerson. Whiteside became the brilliant parliamentary orator and Chief
+Justice; Tennant a baronet and Governor of Ceylon; and Forster himself
+the distinguished writer and critic, the friend and biographer of
+Dickens. It was a remarkable trio certainly. Chitty, the veteran
+conveyancer, his old master, he never forgot, and was always delighted
+to have him to dinner, to do him honour in every way. His son, the
+judge, was a favourite _protege_, and became his executor. He had a
+warm regard for Sir Richard Quain, who was beside Lord Beaconsfield
+_in extremis_, who literally knew everyone that ought to be known, and
+who would visit a comparatively humble patient with equal interest.
+Quain was thoroughly good-natured, ever friendly and even
+affectionate. Forster's belief in him was as that in a fetish.
+
+The faithful Quain was with his friend to the last moment. Poor
+Forster was being gradually overpowered by the rising bronchial
+humours with which, as he grew weaker, he could not struggle with or
+baffle. It was then that Quain, bending over, procured him a short
+reprieve and relief in his agony, putting his fingers down his throat
+and clearing away the impeding masses.
+
+Sir Richard was not only physician-in-ordinary, but the warm and
+devoted friend, official consultant, as he was of the whole _coterie_.
+For a long course of years he had charge of his friend's health, if
+health it could be called where all was disease and misery; and it was
+his fate to see him affectionately through the great crisis at the
+last. There was a deal of this affection in Quain; he was eminently
+good-natured; good true-hearted Quain! Many a poor priest of his
+country has been to him, and from them he would never take, though not
+of his faith. Quain was indeed the literary man's physician; more so
+than Sir Andrew Clarke, who was presumed to hold the post by letters
+patent. For Clarke was presumed to know and cure the literary
+ailments; but Quain was the genial guide, philosopher and friend,
+always one of themselves, and indeed a _literateur_ himself. Who will
+forget his quaint little figure, shrewd face, the native accent, never
+lost; and his "Ah me dear fellow, shure what can I do?" His
+red-wheeled carriage, generally well horsed, was familiar to us all,
+and recognisable. How he maintained this equipage, for we are told
+what "makes a mare to go," it was hard to conceive, for the generous
+man would positively refuse to take fees from his more intimate
+friends, at least of the literary class. With me, a very old friend
+and patient, there was a perpetual battle. He set his face against the
+two guinea fee, but humorously held out for his strict guinea, and
+would not bate the shilling. I have known him when a client presented
+two sovereigns empty his pockets of silver and scrupulously return
+nineteen shillings. And what an adviser he was! What confidence he
+imparted! The moment he bade you sit down and "tell him all about it"
+you felt secure.
+
+It was always delightful to meet him. He had his moments of gloom,
+like most of his countrymen, for he never lost his native "hall mark,"
+and retained to the last that sort of wheedling tone which is common
+in the South of Ireland. Yet he had none of that good-natured
+insincerity, to which a particular class of Irish are given. He was
+thoroughly sincere and genuine, and ready to support his words by
+deeds. His humour was racy. As when the Prince of Wales was
+sympathising with him on a false report of his death, adding, good
+naturedly, "I really was afraid, Dr. Quain, that we had lost you, and
+was thinking of sending a wreath." "Well, Sir," said the medico,
+"recollect that you are now _committed to the wreath_." I did not
+note, however, that when the event at last took place the wreath was
+sent. I always fancied that he was a disappointed man, and that he
+felt that his high position had not been suitably recognised; or at
+least that the recognition had been delayed. The baronetcy came late.
+But what he had set his heart upon, and claimed as his due, was the
+Presidency of the College of Physicians. This he was always near
+attaining, but men like Sir Andrew Clarke were preferred to him. I was
+a special friend for many years, and have had many a favoured "lift"
+in his carriage when we were going the same way. I was glad to be
+allowed to dedicate to him some volumes of personal memoirs. The last
+time I met this genial and amiable man was at the table of a
+well-known law lord, whom he astonished considerably by addressing me
+across the table all through dinner by my christian name. He was at
+the time seriously ill, in his last illness in fact, when, as he said,
+he had been "tartured to death by their operations." He had good
+taste in art, was fond of the French school of engraving, and was the
+friend and counsellor of many an artist. He was of the old Dickens
+school, of the _coterie_ that included Maclise, Jerrold and the rest.
+
+Once, when he and his family were staying close to Ipswich, I asked
+him to order me a photograph of the Great White Horse Inn, noted as
+the scene of Mr. Pickwick's adventure, and to my pleasure and
+astonishment found that he had commissioned an artist to prepare a
+whole series of large photographs depicting the old inn, both without
+and within, and from every point of view. In this handsome way he
+would oblige his friends. He was in immense demand as a cheerful diner
+out.
+
+I was amused by a cynical appreciation of a friend and patient of his,
+uttered shortly after his death. We had met and were lamenting his
+loss. "Nothing, nobody can fill his place," he said.--"It is sad to
+lose such a friend."--"Indeed it is," said my companion, "I don't know
+what I shall do. No one else ever understood my constitution. I really
+don't know whom I am to go to now"--and he went his way in a pettish
+mood, as though his physician had rather shabbily deserted him. Alas,
+is there not much of this when one of these pleasant "specialists"
+departs?
+
+His faithful devotion to his old friend Forster during that long
+illness was unflagging. He could not cure, but he did all that was
+possible by his unwearying attention to alleviate. How often have I
+found the red chariot waiting at the door, or when I was sitting with
+him would the door open and the grave manservant announce "Sir
+Rich-hard QUAIN." His talk, gossip, news, was part of the alleviation.
+
+After all that must have been an almost joyous moment that brought
+poor Forster his release from those awful and intolerable days and
+nights of agony, borne with a fortitude of which the world had no
+conception. Eternal frightful spasms of coughing day and night,
+together with other maladies of the most serious kind. And yet, on the
+slightest respite, this man of wonderful fortitude would turn gay and
+festive, recover his spirits, and look forward to some enjoyment, a
+dinner it might be, where he was the old Forster once more, smiling
+enticingly on his favourite ladies, and unflinchingly prepared to go
+back to the night of horrors that awaited him!
+
+Mrs. Forster, as her friends knew well, was one of the sweetest women
+"under the sun," a sweetness brought out by contrast with the
+obstreperous ways of her tempestuous mate. Often when something went
+wrong, rather did not go with the almost ideal smoothness at one of
+his many banquets (and there never was a more generously hospitable
+man), it was piteous to see her trying to smooth away the incident
+with the certainty of inflaming the dictator, and turning his wrath
+upon herself.
+
+She knew well that not he, but his malady, was accountable. She
+believed from her heart in the duality of Forster. There was a hapless
+page boy whose very presence and assumed stupidity used to inflame
+his master to perfect Bersaker fits of rage. The scenes were
+exquisitely ludicrous, if painful; the contrast between the giant and
+the object of his wrath, scared out of his life with terror, was
+absolutely diverting. Thus the host would murmur "Biscuits!" which was
+not heard or not heeded; then louder and more sharply, "BIScuits!"
+then a roar that made all start, "BIScuits!!" Poor Mrs. Forster's
+agitation was sad to see, and between her and the butler the luckless
+lad was somehow got from the room. This attendant was an admirable
+comedy character, and in his way a typical servant, stolid and
+reserved. No one could have been so portentously sagacious as _he_
+looked. It was admirable to see his unruffled calm during his master's
+outbursts when something had gone wrong during the dinner. No violence
+could betray him into anything but the most placid and correct
+replies. There was something fine and pathetic in this, for it showed
+that he also recognised that it was not his true master that was thus
+raging. I recall talking with him shortly after his master's death.
+After paying his character a fine tribute he spoke of his illness.
+"You see, sir," he said at last, "what was at the bottom of it all was
+he 'ad no _staminer, no staminer_--NO STAMINER, sir." And he repeated
+the word many times with enjoyment. I have no doubt he picked it up at
+Forster's table and it had struck him as a good effective English
+word, spelled as he pronounced it.
+
+Such was John Forster.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's John Forster, by Percy Hethrington Fitzgerald
+
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